In August 1976 Steve West had moved from mornings at 15Q to the same slot at WKGN 1340. The DJ line up was West 6-10, PD Dr Al Adams 10-3, Pat O'Brien, formerly of WMAK Nashville 3-7p, Barry Tucker (Mike Beck) 7-12, and Kris Lee (Kerry Lambert) overnights. Vic Rumore was GM. Joe Anderson and Kathy Clark were the news anchors with Phil Michaels and David Todd on the weekend.

...from the 101 Audio Vault, Pat O'Brien~

Page 3...

The 101 InBox:

(about the '86 radio reunion) A fun weekend! I can’t believe it was almost 40 years ago. Gary and I reunited as the original Brothers from 15Q after 10 years. Cheers and Happy New Year! (Alan Sneed)

(about the Phil Williams b'day photo) That’s the Phil I know from WNOX! He did middays and I did afternoons! What a blast. (Randy Miller)

 

Mike Keith has been named the new Voice of the Vols. In the top photo you will notice that the year 1951 is missing...say hello to Allen Stout!

Happy Birthday to Phil Williams...

 

WHEL 1240

It's March 1980 and Stoner Broadcasting; the new owner of WBIR AM/FM changes the call letters to WIMZ 103.5 and WHEL 1240.

Here's the on air line up at WHEL-

6  Ken McGavin

9  Bob Ogles

12 Win Maxwell

2  Bill Page

6  Mike Johnson

12 Larry King 

Can you believe the reunion was 39 quick years ago? 

Back in '86 the year kicked off with Vols football finishing #4 in the final AP poll.

WIMZ featured Phil Williams as morning DJ.

Eddie Beacon and Bill Beason were both working at WNOX 990.

Sam Brown and Diane May were the news faces on WATE Live 6 TV.

Tony White was UT's was named to the All-SEC basketball team.

Bobby Cox was GM for the Braves, Chuck Tanner was manager, and Dale Murphy was superstar. 

...and Grady's Goodtimes was great and growing with three restaurants open- Papermill at Kingston Pike in Knoxville, Charlotte, and Atlanta. A couple of other popular casual dining restaurants in West Knoxville were The Quarterback and Kotsi's!

Where were you in '86?

Knoxville Radio History (101) is filled with rich memories of great stations and incredible personalities and many behind the scene types too.

Bobby Denton gave me a shot when I was age 18 and a frosh at UT. WIVK was my fraternity thru college, and decades later those memories remain prominent as an incredible chapter in my book of life. 

As we close out 2024, the 101 Audio Vault features "Booby"...

 

 

The 101 Audio Vault travels back to WKGN in the 1970s and Bob Thomas! 

PS- Bob can still be heard on the radio these days, catch him on NewsTalk 98.7 WOKI-FM.

 

Merry 101 Christmas

It's the 101 MailBox...

In the “old days” I inspected diaries multiple times. My two scariest findings:

**A diary filled out in crayon!

**A diary with “no listening” dutifully checked every day and in the comments section, “I am deaf!”

(Alan Sneed)

George, the fourteen years I spent at U-102 were fantastic! I had the chance to be part of a team of real pros. I’ll forever be grateful. 

(Mike Clark)

The FM 102.1 dial position in Knoxville came to prominence when Mooney Broadcasting bought WSEV AM-FM Sevierville in late 1980.

The new U-102, now WMYU, went on the air with a dynamic air staff,,,

6-10 Dave Dunaway with Colvin Idol

10-2 Bill Burkett (PD)

2-7 Tom Van Hart

7-12 Steve Harrison

12-6 Rick Hudson

News: Colvin Idol, Mike Clark

...and in June 1981 Phil Williams joined as the afternoon DJ!

Fast forward to today, the station is WWST Star 102.1 and features Marc & Kim 5-10a, Christine 10-3, and DJ Eric B afternoons.

Oh, and somewhere in between, CP and Walker hosted the morning show!

What's in a number...

 101 took a peek at the latest radio ratings-

Nielsen Oct '24 12+ Mon-Sun 6a-12mid

WIVK 13.4

WIMZ 8.8

WJXB 8.3

WWST 5.4

WUOT 4.7

WCYQ 4.1

WNML 4.1

WOKI 3.3

WNFZ 2.8

...and over at WCYQ 100.3 The Wolf-

6-10 Bobby Bones

10-3 Hanah and Matt

3-7 Dingo

7-12 B-Dub

Page 3...

I asked my childhood friend and radio and TV star Scott Sams where is on air name (Jamie Rivers) came from when he was a DJ at 15Q...Ron Baptist the PD dubbed him Jamie. He was also Michael O'Shea one day when he and I filled in for Earl Lauderdale on the morning show on WBLC 1360 Lenoir City. 

Two members of Knoxville radio royalty...Mike Beach and Phil Williams, cohosted the morning show for a while back in the 80s on (WIMZ) Rock 104!

It's the 101 Audio Vault~