It was great hearing from Earl Nall. He sent 101 these photos via David Clary, a 25-year WATO employee.

Do you have a WATO story? 

Lots of big names passed through...Mike Clark, Dennis Willard, Randy Miller and on the FM Q94 side- Eddie Beacon, Jeff Winters, and Joe Grant.

In late spring 1981 Dave Young became GM, I was on the Q94 staff...he made me morning DJ at WATO, assistant PD at WATO, and MD at both stations. My first morning show was Monday May 25...the turn tables were broken, and the headphones would not work. I made May 26 my last show, as the radio gods were beginning to tell me to run forest run! (soon it was to be platters to platters for me- radio to restaurants).

WATO went on the air in 1948 at 1490 on the dial with 250 watts and was on the air 18 hours per day. In 1959 the station moved to 1290 on the dial. The station was led by Sam (Speedy) Thrower Jr.

In those days WATO carried Mutual's Game of the Day (major league baseball).

As the 1960s arrived the station increased power to 5KW.

In 1967 Rau Broadcasting purchased the station from Sam Thrower, etc. for $350k. That same year WATO-FM 94.3 was hatched.

That frequency became WUUU-FM and then WETQ-FM, followed by WKNF-FM in 1985.

Below are the photos of the demise of the building...

 

 

I first met Jeff Hawkins in the 70's as we were both weekend DJs at WIVK. Later we worked at the start up Q94 in Oak Ridge, his on air name was Jeff Winters. In Ktown he also spent time at WKGN and WNOX. Fast forward to the 21st century and Jeff and I were both living in Orlando, we periodically enjoyed fortune cookies together (he and family would dine at our PF Chang's). Later Jeff relocated to Middle Tennessee...and he's back on the radio!

 

I was never accused of being the next Larry Lujack, but I did love being a DJ. In late 1981 I joined the brand new Q94, WETQ 94.3 in Oak Ridge. We were the sister station of the legendary WATO 1290.

Dubbed "The Greek" by Bobby Denton during my 5 years at WIVK, the 101 Audio Vault features my debut on Q94...

 

The Swingin' Deacon

Did your radio career cross paths with Eddie Beacon? Mine did twice, 1981 at WETQ and 1982 at WRJZ. 

This glamour shot is current day Eddie aka Elwood P Suggins!

Got photo? Send to 101 at KtownRadio@gmail.com

PS- I also enjoyed working with Eddie and Jimmy Vineyard on a weekly racing show called Bumper2Bumper on WNOX FM 100.3, this was around 2010 and for the next few NASCAR seasons, vroom!

Eddie Beacon 2020 Living Legend...

Introducing the 2020 Living Legend Award...Eddie Beacon "The Swingin' Deacon"!!!

I'm not sure what dial position that Eddie has not occupied during his wall of fame career in East Tennessee.

I was honored to team up with Eddie and Jimmy Vineyard starting back in 2010 to host a weekly racing show called Bumper2Bumper on the then WNOX-FM 100.3, owned and operated by our first Living Legend Award recipient Johnny Pirkle.

Eddie's career goes back to his working at the transmitter days for WNOX 990 to WKGN to W149 to 15Q to...well the list goes on!

I got to work with Eddie at Q94 in Oak Ridge in '81, he cohosted mornings with Linda Scott. Then the next year he and I joined 62 WRJZ when the station played country music.

Did you work with Eddie? 101 would love to hear from you at ktownradio@gmail.com.

Here are (some) of the stations where Eddie shared his insegrevious talent...WLIL, WNOX, WCPH, WPXI, WAAY, WGYW, WJBE, WKGN, WORD, WIMO, W149, 15Q, WROL, WRJZ, WTNQ, WATO, KGAL, WMFJ, NewsTalk 100.3, WSEV, WDLY, WBMK.

PS...for those of you holding your breath for all these decades wondering, Eddie was born Clay Huskisson!

Thanks to Derrick Anderson for posting this on our 101 Facebook page! 11/8/81 Knoxville newspaper ad.

I was on the original on air staff back in November 1980-

6 Jeff Winters

10 Mike Stewart (PD)

2 Ralph Emery

3 Rick Hudson

7 Daniel Collett

12 David Brownell

George Michael (me)

Don Cutts

Jan Jennings

These days he calls the greater Nashville area home, not too long ago we were almost neighbors here in Central Florida...hello to Jeff Hawkins!

Back in the day Jeff ran the circuit working at several prominent Knoxville radio stations...WIVK, WNOX, WKGN, WETQ, etc.

Most recently Jeff has been mic'd up at WHIN in Hendersonville TN.

PS- Jeff has been aka Jeff Winters and aka Jeff Shannon on the radio!

The 101 Audio Vault travels to the 70's and Jeff on WIVK...

Page 3...

The 3rd installment of our 101 podcast adventure is now available and in living color at-

www.anchor.fm/talkgeorge

This go around we look in to the WNOX DJ strike from 1972!

The 101 Audio Vault features a WETQ jingle and station ID, circa '82...

1982 was an interesting country year in Ktown...WIVK AM 850 was fully separated from the FM, ie- Claude Tomlinson hosted Great Day on the FM while across the hallway the CP and Walker show was on the AM. WNOX became Proud Country, Q94 (94.3) beamed its signal in from Oak Ridge, and WRJZ had flipped from Top 40. All these stations attracted top talent...Your Dave was back at WNOX and Eddie Beacon was on WRJZ.

WRJZ had brought in Steve Bridgewater to program and work morning drive alongside veteran newsman David Henley. The 101 Audio Vault features Steve aka Dr Don West...

Page 3...

Thoughts and prayers and get well wishes soon to Bob Anderson aka The Bandit, he's recovering from an accident!

1982~ where were you?

It's early 1982...

WIVK-AM 850 was separated from the FM and the DJ line up for the daytime only signal was CP and Walker 6-10, Becky Lynn 10-3, and Dan Bell at 3p! The catch phrase was "you can hear the difference".

The FM side at WIVK was 6-10 Claude Tomlinson, 10-3 Bob Thomas, 3-7 Ed Brantley, 7-12 Mickey Dearstone, and 12-6 Terry Womack.

WNOX 990 featured Phil Williams 6-10, Jim Donovan 10-3, Bill Evans 3-7, Jeff Shannon 7-12, and James Maurice 12-6.

The UT basketball starters were Steve Ray and Dale Ellis at forward, Willie Burton was center, Michael Brooks and Tyrone Beaman started at guard. Don DeVoe was the head ball coach.

The news team at WRJZ included David Henley, Ernie Baker, and Brad Schulz.

In Oak Ridge at Q94 the team featured Dan King in the morning, Arch Bishop middays, and Tony Eubanks in the afternoon.

In April WNOX went country and became AM 99 Proud Country...Rick Kirk, Scott Majors, and Your Dave were the DJs.

...and that's a look back at early '82! Where were you?

I was a member of the original Q94 (WETQ 94.3 Oak Ridge) on air staff. The station signed on in late '80 succeeding WUUU and was the sister station to the iconic WATO.

The GM was Janice Bond with Mike Stewart PD and my former teammate at WIVK, Jeff Winters, morning drive. Some big names passed thru that microphone including Eddie Beacon.

The DJ line up on day one featured Jeff Winters 6-10, Mike Stewart 10-3, Rick Hudson 3-7, Daniel Collett 7-12, and Dave Brownell 12-6. I was still a student at UT so I worked weekends along with Dan Cutts. Tom Barish was the morning news man with Jan Jennings anchoring the afternoon news...day one was Tuesday November 25th 1980.

As 1981 rolled in Russ Brown was named News Director, Jan Jennings exited and Debbie Carroll came on board. 

Over at WATO 1290 Dennis Willard was PD with Mike Clark and Gary Wallace as on air personalities. PS- in April, Eddie Beacon popped up on WATO!

In March Tony Perry was added to the DJ line up at Q94 working 1-3p allowing Stewart to only be on the air three hours daily to concentrate on programming.

April '81 saw Rick Hudson exit for the all new U-102 so Tony Perry moved to afternoons, Dan Collett to middays and Debbie Carroll went full time at night. Mike Clark also took off for U-102, Joe Grant was added from WIVK...next thing you know, Your Dave Young is hired to be GM of WATO/WETQ and The Joe Show (Joe Grant) slides in to afternoon drive on Q94.

In May Your Dave offered me a great opportunity...mornings on WATO, assistant PD at WATO, and music director for WATO/Q94. YDY also named Eddie Beacon and Linda Scott as the morning team on Q94. Mike Stewart was shifted from Q94 to be PD at WATO. My time at WATO was short but sweet...not many can say they were morning drive in the Atomic City!

More shuffling occurred in June as both Your Dave and Eddie Beacon exited stage left...shorty thereafter Ken Mynatt came on board to run the stations.

...and that's a whirlwind look at year one! Fast forward- do you recognize this voice? It's Q94, morning drive, 1982...

He's Back...

Wouldn't it be fun to be back on the radio! Multi-award winning Nashville photographer Jeff Hawkins has made it happen.

Jeff has joined WHIN as a weekend DJ, heard "live" every Saturday from 10a-3p. The station is outside of Nashville in Sumner County, Hendersonville.

Thru the years Jeff worked at several East Tennessee stations...WIVK, WNOX, WKGN, WETQ, etc. His monikers included Jeff Winters and Jeff Shannon. On WHIN he's known as Jeff Shannon, check him out this weekend!

...and that's a wrap!

Were you one of those teenagers driving around in your heavy chevy, listening to AM radio...and playing DJ? Sure you were, we all were!

It's time to close the 2017 Knoxville Radio History 101 chapter...and jump in to a great '18! Thanks for reading, listening, and story telling!

My radio career was short but sweet. Back in '81 I was on the air staff at WETQ 94.3 Oak Ridge. Here's the 101 Audio Vault~ PS- Happy New Year!

Here's a 2011 "101 Reload" from Bill Edwards~

"I remember WATO and WETQ..It was still owned by Rau Radio at the time. I got my first job in radio there in 1982 after attending Russ Skinner's Professional Academy of Broadcasting and following my stint as an Antique Photos photographer at the World's Fair. I was interviewed and hired by PD Jeff Mosier, aka J.J. Jeffries. I worked the morning drive shift, which was my first experience in going to work before the sun came up -- quite a departure from my previous life as a professional student majoring in partying! The news director at the time was (Margaret?) Fifield and the station manager was Ken Mynatt, who I think I heard was working in the sheriff's department in Kingston,TN...correct me if I'm wrong. WATO is where I became an avid Braves fan after working the boards for both Braves and UT football games. I still have dreams about being on the air in that old building on the dead end Eastburn Lane in Oak Ridge -- it was dilapidated even then! I still drive by it every now and then, which probably fuels the dreams, and it is almost in shambles. The last time I was there, the old tower was lying in tall grass in the back. A few months after being hired, WATO changed its format to Big Band/Oldies or, as it was referred to by J.J., "music by dead people." Needless to say, he wasn't very happy about the change and soon left for greener pastures -- unfortunately I lost touch with him after he left. I eventually became program director at WATO and also worked infrequently on the country side (WETQ-FM). Other people I worked with before leaving included Greg Patterson, Tommy Rowe, Melanie and David Shirk, who was hired as our news director. I left WATO in 1983 to take a job as a news anchor at U102, which was still in Sevierville at the time, working for and with Roger Hawkins (News Director), David Henley, Mike Clark and Darla Medway. I remember working in the news department the day the space shuttle Challenger blew up...very sad. I also got to meet Dolly Parton and dub the original music to cassettes used by Dollywood as the park’s background music when it opened in 1986 -- it was all Dolly Parton songs as I recall. Dolly's manager had called me (I had become production manager position by then) and asked if I could work with Dolly to dub and select the songs to be used. She was going to come by the station to do it, but he told me not to tell anyone for fear of a crowd showing up. I kept the secret, sort of...about 30 minutes before she was to arrive, I decided to at least tell PD Bill Miller and Gary Downs (station manager) about it. Somehow word spread, and a crowd showed up anyway! I remember how friendly and natural Dolly was. She put me totally at ease as we worked together in the old production room in Sevierville. I remember she put her hand on my arm as we talked -- I didn't wash that arm for weeks. U102 DJ's at the time included Dave Dunaway, Tom Van Hart, Larry Trotter, Phil Jarnigan, and Mark Herzog. Later, CP and Walker and Jeff Jarnigan also joined the staff just before the station moved to Knoxville at 8419 Kingston Pike in an old bank building in front of the BooksAMillion at Walker Springs Rd. I ended up realizing I couldn't make enough money in radio to attract a wife, given that my rugged, good looks weren't doing the trick, so I went back to school and became a software developer. Now I have a wife and 2 daughters who, thankfully, look like their mother. Sorry to be long- winded, but waxing nostalgic is fun! Love the blog -- keep up the good work."

Photographs and Memories~

~control room photos! Here are Frank Erwin WKGN, Jeff Winters WETQ, and Bill Beason WNOX!

 

 

101 travels back to June 1981...

WNOX-
6 John E Douglas
10 Gary Beach
2 Bill Evans
6 Tom Michaels
10 Jim Donovan
2 James Maurice

WETQ-
6 Tony Perry
9 Mike Stewart
12 Dan Collett
3 Joe Grant
7 Debbie Carroll
12 Dave Brownell

WMYU-
6 Dr Dave Dunaway
10 Bill Burkett
12 Tom Van Hart
4 Phil Williams
8 Mick St John
12 Phil Jarnagin

WRJZ-
6 CP and Walker
10 Adele
3 Tim Edwards
7 Jeff Jarnigan
12 Steve Howard

WOKI-
6 Mike Beverly
10 Chuck Edwards
2 Rich Randle
6 Fast Eddie
10 Lynn Wright
2 Larry Coffey

Time to crank up another week on 101 and the 101 Audio Vault!

Everyone loved Joe Grant, I had the pleasure of working with him at WIVK...he DJ'd at WETQ and WNOX and other dial positions too!

Do you remember Jeff Winters on WIVK? How about Jeff Shannon on WNOX? I worked with Jeff at WIVK and at WETQ, he was the morning DJ at Q94 when the station was birthed in '81 (sister to WATO). Oh, and his real name is Jeff Hawkins, he and I both reside in Orlando these days. Check out his website "Dangling Participle Productions".

Here's Jeff in the dusty 101 Audio Vault~

Happy Father's Day!!!

Jim Young posted this (sad) photo of WATO in Oak Ridge...did you ever work at WATO or WETQ?  

In late '80 the FM was cranked up, exiting an automated format to become Q94 with a country format. Some booming voices manned the microphone as the dial position attempted to play big league ball vs the frog.

Several famous Ktown names passed thru, either on the air or in a leadership position...Eddie Beacon, Joe Grant, Jeff Winters, Rick Hudson, Russ Brown, Sundra Thompson, Your Dave, Linda Scott, Ken Mynatt...

And over at sister WATO were Gary Wallace, Dennis Willard, and Mike Clark!

Rau Radio owned the stations.

101 travels to August 1981 and WNOX 990...

• 530-10 John E Douglas
• 10-2    Gary Beach
• 2-6      Bill Evans
• 6-10    Jim Donovan
• 10-2    Jeff Shannon
• 2-530 James Maurice

...and here's a potpourri of sounds from that year~