Can you name this DJ?

 

Allen Free

 

My heart is saddened tonight as I learned the passing of childhood and radio friend Allen Free. Allen and I attended high school together at Bearden in Knoxville, both got our radio start at WBLC Lenoir City...and the rest is history.  

Allen lived in Dallas and remained live long friends with our friend Scott Sams. Scott had kept in touch with me since Allen became ill and passed the news to me. Scott visited with Allen today before Allen passed.

May his memory be eternal! We will miss you.

Steve Howard checks in regarding Tim Edwards and WMFJ...

 

WDAT 1380 (actually licensed to Ormond Beach) was the more prominent Top-40 for Daytona (plus they were 5kW) during the early and mid 70s, but they were a daytimer. WMFJ, at 1450, was an "old" Class-IV (1 kW/day, 250 W/night, non-D), so they got the audience after sunset.

Tim was followed 7-midnight by Kris Earl Phillips, who was probably WMFJ's most prominent jock by virtue of that situation. 

 

I was overnights at WRJZ when Tim (who had left Z before I got there in '80) was brought back in early '81 as PD to replace Fred Story. He and I chatted a lot, and he told me about his time at WMFJ.

 

I didn't personally remember hearing him there; I confessed to listening to Tommy Walker, who was on afternoons on WDAT opposite Tim.

 

Remember those road maps our parents kept in the car's glove compartment, this is not one of them! This was sent from Mike Beach, he received this from WNOX engineer John Maples back in the 70's!

Before WRJZ...

In the fall of 1976 WETE became WRJZ, the afternoon DJ was imported from WMFJ in Daytona Beach. PS- Eddie Beacon also worked at WMFJ at one point.

The 101 Audio Vault features Tim Edwards...

 

prayers please!

 Hey George,

Our longtime friend Allen Free went into the hospital on Friday for a normal procedure.

That procedure went well, but in the recovery room Allen suffered a major heart attack. Doctors were able to fix his heart, but he is still in Intensive Care and is on a respirator. His heart is being pumped for him. I have been visiting him daily, but he's heavily sedated and is not responding well.

Scott Sams

HBD to...

 ...Walker Johnson! WKGN, WETE, WRJZ, WIVK, WMYU- and more!!!

Dr. Al stories? Oh yeah! Al had made his second departure from WKGN by the time I met him. The first one was to WIL in St Louis when the remarkable Dave Diamond hired him to do nights. The second was to program WKDA in Nashville. When I met him, Al was on his way from Nashville to Cincinnati and WKRC and I was on WKGN. We never worked together there, but I caught up with him about a year later at WKRC, where I became assistant PD and music director.

One of my Dr. Al stories comes from just after that:

I had been hired to rework WEBR in Buffalo from a tired old standards station into an adult contemporary format. Having worked with Al at WKRC in Cincinnati and admiring his talent, I hired him to do nights on WEBR. Weren't quite ready to squeeze the trigger on the new format yet, so I had told him to stay put for a couple of weeks before turning in his resignation. He was set to do that in about three days when I got this call from the new PD at WKRC - a really good midday man the station had promoted beyond his competence. He asked me if I had any place for Al, because they were "going in a different direction" in Cincinnati. This was a really nice guy, but I had to let this joke play out. "Aw, Jerry, I'm sorry, but I don't," I told him. "Gee, if I had known this just two days ago... I already hired a guy for the last shift I had open. Jerry felt awful. I immediately called Al and told him to let 'KRC fire him. He did. Instead of working out two weeks of notification, Al walked away that day with something like a month's severance and went on my payroll the next week. He chuckled about that all the way to Buffalo.

thanks for hangin' with the Possum

Phil Jarnagin

Uncle Phil as he was known on Merle-FM, Ktown radio and TV veteran Phil Jarnagin passed away on March 31 at age 60. Phil was a bright light, including his participation here at our 101 blog.

This classic photo is from his earliest radio days on WSBM.

Gone Too Soon...

Welcome Dr Al Adams, newest member of the 101 Living legends!

This year 101 welcomes Allen Johnson aka Dr Al Adams as our "Living Legend".

Dr Al was an incredible night time DJ at WKGN in the 1960s (along with Willard the Duck and Witch Hazel). The good doctor left Ktown for greener radio pastures but returned in 1975 as Program Director at WKGN, which featured the good old songs, heavy Chevy trivia, and...Mike Beach in the afternoon. Dr Al teamed up with Joe Anderson to anchor morning drive. 

Dr Al turned his radio knowledge in to education as he later took over the WKCS Fulton High radio program, and oh so many future stars he produced including Jeff Jarnigan and Randy Miller.

In 2022 101 salutes this incredible living legend! PS- send your Dr Al stories to KtownRadio@gmail.com!