This is a first look photo and "Ed and Bob" the new morning team on WNOX 100.3 FM!


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Happy Birthday to Jay Kersting (2day) and Chuck Edwards (2maro)!

Bill Thomas "The Birdman" was a very popular radio personality. 101 was airchecking when he signed off WKVQ for the final time...



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Looks like Laura Ingraham and not Alan Colmes will be heard on the new 100.3 FM starting Monday from 10p-1a.

"I’m wondering if anybody remembers, or has any dirt on Glenn McNish from back in the days…Supposedly with WKGN?…circa James Brown days/way back. Bob Collins and Buddy O’Shea were a couple of his air names. He says he was about a year behind Ed Brantley out of Fulton. Stormin’ Norman still hanging out at WLIL…Wish they hadn’t cleaned out the old studios before I came back. There used to be rare treasures there that disappeared. Man, some of that stuff was priceless. At least it was to me… I’d like to have had a few of the old albums, and “In The Bible” with Arthur Wilkerson tapes, and other aircheck tapes that were there in the 90’s. Peace!"

Norman Rhyne
Operations Manager/Account Executive
WLIL-AM Radio
“The Legendary AM 730”
norman@wlilcountry.com
http://wlilcountry.com

Next Monday Ed Brantley and Bob Thomas will reunite and host the new morning show on 100.3 FM...

6-10 Ed Brantley and Bob Thomas
10-12 Neal Boortz
12-3 Dave Ramsey
3-6 Dave Hooker and Terry Fair
6-9 Michael Savage
9-10 Info Overload Hour
10-1 Alan Colmes
1-5 Coast to Coast AM

Today 101 takes a look back...30 years to the summer of '80!

The #1 country song as June arrived was "He Stopped Loving Her Today" by George Jones.

Celeste was the midday DJ at WIVK, soon to be replaced by Bob Thomas (of course Bob returns on 8-2 to 100.3's new morning show).

Phil Williams was working 10a-2 on WNOX 990. Other DJs there were Eddie Rogers, Randy Miller, Scott Majors, Tom Michaels, and James Maurice.

WKGN was known as "Love 13" and featured Jeff Winters, POA with a talk show from 9a-noon, Arch Bishop, and Chuck Edwards.

Bob Kagan left WRJZ for WBCY Charlotte and was replaced by JJ Scott as Operation Manager and Fred Story as Program Director.

A new country night club opened that summer in West Knoxville. It was called Sam Houston's and Jamey Kerr and I were the DJs!

In Oak Ridge WOKI's line up was Michael Henry Martin from 6-10a, Gary Adkins 10-noon, Joe Blackmon noon-3p, Mike Beverly 3-7p, Brother John 7-12, and The Brothers at midnight.

The April/May ARB ratings were-

WEZK 19.9
WIVK-FM 19.7
WRJZ 10.5
WIVK 9.9
WOKI 8.3
WNOX 7.1
WIMZ 6.1

Mike Beach was morning DJ at WIMZ but left for Kansas City...Kerry Lambert, Kim Mayo, Dave Elrod, and Carson Cooper could also be heard on Rock 104!

And in September '80 Bob Kesling left WIVK radio to become Sports Director at WBIR-TV Channel 10...

From the 101 inbox~

"In 1976 I was doing mornings at WROA in Gulfport, MS., WRNO New Orleans, heard me and offered me a job. Took it. WNOE-FM New Orleans had this famous New Orleans Disc Jockey Buzz Bennett who asked me to come talk to him over a beer. Went to the quarter and had a beer. Came back to work at WRNO and got fired for talking to the opposition. Yep its true! February of 1977 I went to KSTT in Davenport, Iowa to a work for Dr. Don Michaels who did music and afternoons at WROA in Gulfport while I was there. Did promos for the station. My promos were good and did mornings and KSTT had a #1 12+ in am drive. Went to WKY in Oklahoma City and later worked at U-102 in Knoxville when it opened in 1981. Mornings were Dave Dunaway and Colvin Idol, Tom Van Hart did middays, Bill Burkett did afternoons, Mick St. John did the late afternoon shift and I did 7pm-Midnite and enjoyed some of the best work I ever did. That station did live liners for promos, sort of an album oriented rock approach to Adult Contemporary. By Fall 1982 our numbers were really good. Part of the staff moved to Nashville where we tried to duplicate the success of U-102 at Y-107 and got waxed by WLAC-FM at 106.7. No one ever made the effort to dial down to 107.7. We were toast. Went to KLOL in Houston Texas and came back to Ktown and did mornings at WNOX with Paul Oscar Anderson. Then I got out of radio and took up sales and brought up our two kids who are marvelous young people going to Grad School!" (Steve Harrison)

From the 101 B'day Club...

Former DBC sports anchor in K'town and Nashville Paul Lyle celebrates on Saturday and Citadel traffic manager Cindy Arnold is 29 on Sunday! (Are Cindy and Thelma the only 2 to ever hold that position at WIVK?)

In early 1976 the WOKI FM 100 line up was~

6-10 Johnny Pirkle
10-3 Russ Skinner
3-7 Suitcase Simpson
7-12 Mike Beverly
12-6 JL Myers

101 says hello today to MRB~

"Hi, George. I saw on your site that I "was" a fixture in Knoxville radio. That caused me to check and make sure my radio station key fob still worked. I'm one of the small handful of 70's radio folks still managing to draw a radio paycheck around here. I'm the production director at South Central Radio Group after spending several years running West 105.3 and building the Horne Radio Group before leaving for here in 2002. In my secret life, I am also a station owner. I have three small AM's between Knoxville and Chattanooga that will give me some place to go when I retire from the big city. Enjoy the site...Keep up the good work!" (Mike Beverly)

A few days ago 101 posted a Dave Foulk question...some of the answers we received are...Hal Wanzer, Chuck Nichols, Jim Hess, and Eddy Roy~

Here is a Knoxville radio and television trivia question.

Okay 101'ers:Name the man who was the morning "D-J' on WEZK Radio...who, after his radio shift, went upstairs to host a live television show on Channel 26, WTVK. The television show featured a live band and feature interviews. I remember the name well, because I was a news anchor for WEZK at the time. I was also an automation operator, board operator, Scully tape machine and Carousel cart machine cleaner, copy writer, and even ran the television audio board and studio cameras some.

The answer: Lloyd Immel

I still remember the car he drove (a blue Fiat)..because many cold mornings, I had to drive over to Fort Sanders area and pick him up because the Fiat was doing what a Fiat does best...fail to start. Lloyd left Knoxville for Spartanburg...WORD (?).

101 travels back to 12-25-76 via the 101 Audio Vault and features "The Allen Free Project, the lost years"! Here's Allen on WKVQ...



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Knoxville radio station "apps" are popping up...so far 101 has found WIVK, WNOX, WNML, WOKI, and WIMZ apps! Things sure have changed since my first little transistor radio days!

After Claude Tomlinson and before Andy and Alison, Wilhite and Wall hosted the morning show on WIVK. Here's an announcement today from Darren Wilhite...

"I'm happy/sad to tell everyone that Tim Wall took a job outside of radio. I'm really thrilled for him. It's a very good job and will take him back to St. Louis. We had a great run as Wilhite and Wall and got to experience alot of cool things. No regrets. I wish everyone had an opportunity to work with someone like Tim...He educated me, talked me off proverbial ledges, could come up with a punchline with 30 seconds left in a song and did a lot of grunt work to keep us on top. Without him, there would be no CMA awards or multitude of listeners/friends that have followed us for 21 years. [Cue Budweiser Real American Hero music] "Here's to you Tim Wall. Years ago you took a chance on a little redneck from Arkansas to do a morning show. You became immune to noxious odors and bad jokes. You never threatened to shoot him (even though you probably wanted to). You endured the long hair, acid washed jeans, Russia, Detroit, the near firing of playing a laugh track under "In the Ghetto" on April Fools Day (It's a long story, we're really not that stupid) and a hours of impressions, corporate radio. And you never complained. Probably because your co-host was whining about it." So raise a frosty mug of hops and barley to yourself, you purveyor of wit and whimsy. Be proud, o Bishop DuBourg graduate, even though you finished in the last 10%. You've come a long way from selling baloney to Ruth at corner market and helping John Ulettpick out music for KSHE. You made us think, you made us cry and mostly you made us laugh. So here's to you Tim Wall...Real American Radio hero!"

101 received the following press release from John Pirkle~

It’s about time for something new in sports drive time.

Hence, Dave Hooker and Terry Fair will take the airwaves on Aug. 2 on 100.3 WNOX.

Hooker, a longtime veteran of the Knoxville sports media, and Fair, an all-time former Vol great and NFL standout, will provide a fun, informative look into local athletics everyday from 3-6 p.m. beginning on Aug. 2. Expect a heavy emphasis on Tennessee sports with the insight that only a former Vol can provide.

Fair has more than proved himself as a broadcast standout during his time as a sportstalk co-host in Phoenix, a co-host on The Double Coverage Radio Show and a regular employee for the Vol Network.

Hooker, who was also named WNOX’s sports director, has worked in radio and newspaper for over a dozen years after graduating from the University of Tennessee in 1998 with a degree in Communications.

Hooker leaves the News Sentinel after five years in which he covered UT football with an emphasis on recruiting for the newspaper and its website GoVolsXtra.com. Before that, Hooker worked as a daily beat reporter covering Tennessee football and basketball for what was then WNOX 99.1FM/990AM.

While there, Hooker developed and hosted several specialty sports shows, all of which are still in existence, including Monday Night Vols, Prep Sports Tonight, Football Futures and The Lead Lap. He also handled play-by-play duties for high school football and arena football.

Needless to say, Hooker is more than willing to lean on Fair’s vast football knowledge.

Fair was a four-year starter for the Vols and became a member of the SEC All-Freshman team in 1994 and a member of the All-SEC team in 1996 and 1997. In 1996, he made the All-SEC team as a defensive back and punt returner, then as a defensive back in 1997. Fair recently earned his degree in Psychology from UT.

Fair was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the first round of the 1998 NFL Draft. In Fair’s first season with the Lions, he was named to the NFL All-Rookie Team, All-Pro Team, and was a Pro Bowl Alternate. Fair played with the Lions for five seasons before joining the Carolina Panthers in 2002 and suffering an ankle injury that sidelined him for the next two seasons. Fair returned in 2005 with the St. Louis Rams, but his return was cut short due to a neck injury.

After Fair’s football career, he coached at Phoenix College for three years in Phoenix, Ariz., sending four defensive backs to Division I schools.

As for Hooker, he was named one of the top three news writers in the state twice and was recently named the second best feature writer in the state by the Tennessee Sports Writers Association.

While at the News Sentinel, Hooker also developed and hosted a daily radio sports talk show, The Sports Page, that featured News Sentinel writers. The show, which airs from 10 a.m. to noon, recently achieved the highest rating for any sports talk show in Knoxville.

Hooker has been married for 14 years and has two children

Fair has been married five years and has two children.

Hooker and Fair are taking suggestions for the name of their new show. Suggestions can be sent to davehooker@live.com

Hot off the 101 sports wire...

From John Pirkle~

"It's about time for something new in sports drive time...

Hence, Dave Hooker and Terry Fair will take the airwaves on August 2 on 100.3 WNOX"


They will be on the air daily from 3-6p, more tomorrow on 101!

It's trivia time, here's Dave Foulk~

"Here is a Knoxville radio and television trivia question. Okay 101'ers: Name the man who was the morning 'D-J' on WEZK radio...who, after his radio shift, went upstairs to host a live television show on Channel 26 WTVK. The television show featured a live band and feature interviews.

I remember the name well because I was a news anchor for WEZK at the time. I was also an automation operator, board operator, Scully tape machine and Carousel cart machine cleaner, copy writer, and even ran the television audio board and studio camera some."

Send your fun guesses to 101 at KtownRadio@gmail.com

Happy Monday and Happy Birthday wishes to Wayne Wood and Eddy Roy! Eddy was a long time Ktown DJ and was PD and morning man on WNOX~

With the 100.3 FM dial position in the news these days, we canvassed the 101 Audio Vault searching for WOKI classics. Mike Beverly was a longtime fixture in Ktown, beginning with his night time stint on WOKI...

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101 heard from Suitcase, evening before the 100.3 format announcement~

"Hello George! Ran into Bob Thomas and Jimmy Vineyard earlier tonight at Wild Wing Cafe. Bob and Jimmy were gnawing on some chicken wings and bluegrass music from The Leadbetters and special guest Darrell Webb. Just found out that 100.3 WNOX will stay talk with Ed Brantley and Bob in the mornings. By the time everyone reads this, it will be old news, but I'm very pleased to see Ed and Bob teaming up. Knoxville is a far more stable market than most- it isn't often that one of the 100,000 FMs has a wholesale talent shake up. It's exciting.

Also wanted to add my kudos about the late Bill "Birdman" Thomas. Great talent, but also one of the nicest guys I've ever met."

Bill Miller (I Am Still Suitcase Simpson)

*** Glenn Beck is replacing Neal Boortz in the 10 am time slot on News Talk 98.7 as Boortz is joining the 100.3 line up!

Bob Thomas is known as the midday host on WIVK, he worked there for 20 years. Before WIVK, Bob was a DJ at WKGN. 101 has learned that Bob will cohost the new 100.3 FM morning show with Ed Brantley! From the 101 Audio Vault, here's Bob on The Famous 1340~

WNOX RADIO TO STAY PUT, REMAIN NEWS-TALK

Radio listeners who enjoy keeping up with the news and opinion programs of WNOX FM 100.3 will like the long-awaited announcement of the station's format plans.

“As of midnight July 31, when our marketing agreement with Citadel Communications ends, WNOX will continue broadcasting a full schedule of local and network news and talk programs to serve all the people of Knoxville and surrounding states,” said WNOX General Manager Ed Brantley. Brantley, former manager of the Citadel stations in Knoxville, was hired by WNOX owner John Pirkle to create Knoxville's only locally owned and operated 100,000 watt FM station, which will remain on its 100.3 frequency once the agreement with Citadel and its programs ends.

Brantley, who made his name with WIVK as an air personality and host of the “Sound Off” program for almost 20 years, will host the morning drive talk show on WNOX. “We have the largest-wattage transmitter and the highest antenna allowable under FCC Rules, giving WNOX Knoxville radio's largest coverage area, and one of the strongest signals in the nation. We are excited to continue providing quality news and talk programing to parts of several states."

“As much as I like the business side of broadcasting, I have, in recent years, found myself missing also being on the air,” Brantley said. “My new role allows me to start each day doing talk radio, then spend the remainder of the day in management, sales and community involvement. After several years in absentee-owned corporate radio, this is like a dream come true for me.” A bonus for the Knoxville community, Brantley says, is the creation of new jobs. “We are currently interviewing applicants for approximately a dozen jobs, most of them in advertising sales.

“We hope the listeners will like the quality programs we will be offering, including Neal Boortz, Michael Savage, liberal commentator Alan Colmes (formerly of Hannity and Colmes) and other nationally known names.”

Brantley says the station will also offer something that is not otherwise available on Knoxville news talk radio. “We will include sports in our mix of news and talk, offering listeners a balance they cannot get on a single FM station.” Brantley says discussions with several sports anchors are underway, and their names will announced in the near future.

Here's some fun stuff from WKGN, circa mid 70's...Phil Michaels and Rick Davis~



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At MIDNIGHT 101 will have info regarding 100.3!

Back in its early days WOKI FM 100 was automated, the precursor to voice tracking. The midday DJ was Russ Skinner...

101 is kickin' off the fireworks weekend with Mike Beach!



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Things sure have changed, yesterday via my "i heart radio" app, I listened to Jack Diamond aka Coyote Calhoun on WAMZ Louisville.

Rumors abound...what will 100.3 be called, what about 98.7? Back in the day there was no question where the WNOX call letters belonged~ to the Big 99! (AM 990).

Here's a taste of the old days featuring Dick Winstead and POA!