WELCOME TO JIM ROSE REMEMBERS RADIO

Issue #139

January 13, 2006

ALL THE NEWS THAT IS NEWS

TODAY IS FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH In America's part the Western world, a good portion of our friends and neighbors feel like bad things might happen when the 13th day of the month touches base with Friday. This fear of Friday the 13th is known as paraskevidekatriaphobia. Try to say that ten times in a row real fast, or even once. The creepy cringe of Friday the 13th has no chain of reasoning in the scientific world. Just like most superstitions, we folks fear that date without any need for sound reasoning. Kind of like, Don't step on the lines in the sidewalk! It'll bring you bad luck! If we have the choice, do we begin a new radio gig, get married, or close on a house on Friday the 13th? Most of us do not think of doing any of those gizmos, even though deep down inside, we don't really believe in this worthless waddle. Just to be on the safe side, we do try to be on our very best behavior on Friday the 13th.

BARRY KILGORE (Austin, TX) When I went to Houston, Barry Kaye and I sort of switched jobs. I went to KRBE FM and he went to KHFI FM, Austin which I programmed for a couple of years. Not just you but everyone called me at KRBE, KNUZ and KQUE to ask if I was Barry Kaye. The weird thing is that everyone called him in Austin to ask if he was me. I found that out years later when I worked for Metro Networks in Houston and was lined up with him doing news and traffic when he was at KLDE. We had a great rapport and joked that between us we had more than 100 years experience. On air we suggested that we do a two man show call Barry Barry. Sort of a disease show. Dave Morris passed away and Arch Yancey I believe passed away too as did Buddy Covington. The last time I heard from Larry Vance was after he left KNUZ/KQUE and went to the valley. I did some show openers and station image voicers for him at his station there. KTEM was also one of my former stations also back in the mid 70s. Lynn Woolley was at a station in Dallas doing news but later joined us at KTEM. Lynn's a good guy. I also cut my radio teeth at KEEE, Nacogdoches under Gene Stallings. Good old days. Just relocated back to Austin from Houston. Not in radio now. Clear Channel sort of cured me of conglomerate radio. One morning I was their golden boy...the next thing I knew I was shown the door for being insubordinate. Heck I made a career out of that. Plus I managed to PO just about everyone I worked for...loose cannon...free spirit...normal DJ stuff. I do miss it though. For the last couple of years I was the Executive Director of a 501c3 in Houston and got a lot of Houston, statewide and national coverage. Channel 13 TV (Jessica Willey) did a special on me and the 501c3 as did the Legal News magazine. I briefly created and hosted a program for the 501c3 on KSEV in Houston and globally on the Internet. It was all going great but I managed to PO the state director and hit the beach again. Barry Kilgore

BARRY KAYE is the Program Director and PM Drive DJ (3-7p) on KVST FM in Conroe, as K-Star Country hands out Country music to Houston area listeners. Brad Witt, who is AM Drive DJ at KMCV FM when I am Program Director there in 1979, is the Production Director and noon-3pm DJ at KVST FM. K-Star Country's Web site is www.kvst.com/.

HOWARD REYNOLDS (Houston, TX) Subject: KNUZ documentary. I will need to get your segment for the documentary. I want to start shooting again sometime this month. I have several folks to share their experiences with KNUZ. I usually use the KODA studios for the shoot. Most take place on Saturday when the facilities are open. Do you have any photos or audio from your time there? All photos are scanned and returned, and all audio is recorded to CD and shared with other aircheck collectors. KODA/Sunny 99.1 is now located at 2000 West Loop South on the fifth floor. It's easy to get to. When we set a date, I come down and let you in the building. Let me gather thoughts together, and see when I might be able to get started. The one good thing I have found about shooting video with radio people, they always have a lot to say. Thanks Jim. HVR

KNUZ-1230/KQUE FM number of former DJs and newscasters who write to our column grows another notch to 24 broadcasters.

DICK RALSTON (Denver, CO) Subject: KNUZ update. Jim. I have been a bit reluctant to have my name included in the KNUZ roster. My time with KNUZ was the best of times and the worst of times. (1969). KNUZ was Top 40. I did the all night show. Picked my own music. Introduced Houston to some pretty heavy music {I.E. Iron Butterfly) and was told by Barry Kaye I was making a difference. I don't think Buddy McGregor, the M.D. knew what the late teens were into at the time. So. he would leave maybe six or seven LP's in the studio to play around with. One of the albums contained the song, "In-A-Gada-Divida." the 17 minute version. I played it. You would not believe the calls I got after that song was over. The bad times occurred while I was going to work. I lived in Hegwig Village in NW Houston. I got the call from my wife when I got to the station on Caroline St. The guy was tearing down the screen and trying to open the window. I think Barry Kaye did my shift that night. If he did, I want to thank him now. I asked Joe Ford to loan me his guard dog for a couple of weeks, the dog would attack on the command, "Biscuit", Joe declined. Joe thought I was ready for mid-days, but Dave Morris didn't, so I moved on. It was a **** of an experience. I treasure the memories. And, to Paul Berlin... Dixieland Jazz ain't Rock and Roll. Turn in your key to the library, bro.

DR. BRUCE NELSON (Corpus Christi, TX) Subject: Jim Rose Remembers Radio (#138-1) Wednesday, January 11. 2006. RE: Eddie Cruz, He blew through Corpus Christi several years back and did a few weekend shifts for me. Was living in his traveling trailer and selling Tie-Dye T-shirts on the beach. That raggedy *** dog he used to live (Travel) with was nowhere in sight, most likely a good thing as they much resembled each other and I often was not sure who to hand the check to. Anyhow that was my last sighting of this infamous DJ. A follow up on Eddy Cruz, Bobby Langham called me this AM and mentioned Cruz was dead...I was on air so I didn't get details...perhaps somebody can call him...Dr. Bruce

TRIVIA QUESTION: What is Kid Rock's birth name? The answer is below.

DAVE BRUCE (Cape Cod, MA) Jim, What is Bill Mack doing these days? He was at WBAP as I said, then somewhere else. The Midnight Cowboy rides again was his lead-in at midnight with the trucker's Open Road Show. dave bruce

BILL MACK wins many awards in Country radio. This includes a Grammy and Country Music DJ of the Year. In 1982 Bill enters the Country Music Disc Jockey Hall of Fame in Nashville. You can hear Mack pickin', singin' and spinnin' tunes on his DJ show on these XM Satellite Radio channels: Request-America: XM 10, Saturday Night Request-X Country: XM 12, Satellite Cowboy Request-Radio Classics: XM 164, Satellite Cowboy-Open Road: XM 171 and Sunday Show Request-Open Road: XM 171.

LIZ PATRANELLA (Austin, TX) Subject: The TEJAS pix are here! Jim, Tejas is a real cutie! Congrats on your "adoption"...I'm sure she will give you many years of happiness and companionship. Liz

SAM PATE (Dallas, TX) When the crime factor becomes out of hand completely, the cops fill out miscellaneous reports instead of the true crime sheets. The mayor tells the press that the crime factor in coming down so all of the citizens say..hey! Look! The crime factor is way down. The News people put it in the news because they don't know any better. Remember back in the 50's and 60's a mobile news reporter goes to the scene and gets an interview if possible. Now a camera man takes the photos etc., then the newsman reads the information on the poop sheet. When we were doing it, we went to the scene, got all of the info and hooked them to the next one. Hey, I remembered the day JFK landed at Love Field. Joe gave this look report from Love Field, not hardly...Joe said that the Big Jet has landed and There it is...Emblazoned on the side of the plane...AIR FORCE ONE! Air Force One is never painted on the aircraft...Think about it...Joe's story was somewhere in Dallas but not at Love Field. Just like Ron and Hampton...I REALLY KNOW the truth. Sam Pate

DR. JEFF CUNNINGHAM (Dallas, TX) Hey, Jim. I noticed the conversation about Jack Roth from KONO/KITY. I went to work there in 1983 as chief engineer for the station. Mr. George Ing was getting ready to retire (yeah, right) and he needed someone to replace George. Rick Reynolds, who I had worked for in Tyler, gave me a good reference and then warned me that Jack would be WAYYYYYY too much pressure for me. As it turned out, Jack Roth was easily the best radio boss that I ever had. He never gave me one bit of trouble, he was patient with every project that we had and he was also one of the kindest men I ever met. The only people who ever talked badly about him were the ones who simply did not do their jobs. George "Super" Cooper stayed with Jack for years, as did several other employees that not only loved the station, they were fond of Jack as well. I am glad to hear he is still kicking and that he is remembered well by people other than me. As a side note, anytime you visit the San Antonio Zoo, Jack Roth should be on your mind. He was on their board of directors for years and was apparently instrumental in some monumental expansions of the zoo, including getting a gorilla exhibit. You know, those gorillas do not just grow on trees! Jeff Cunningham, DC

Y. MARTINEZ (Watertown, MA) Subject: KRLD 60's DJ. Hi--I came across your webpage after I realized I could Google "Dallas radio, 1960s, AM." WOW what a read! (April 15, 2005) I think I may have found a source to answer a long-burning question of mine. I grew up in Laredo glued to the radio, mostly San Antonio AM (KONO, KSAT). Somehow I one night (1970?) discovered KRLD, on AM, coming in all the way from Dallas. It was late '60s freak music, but I do recall him playing Don McLean's "American Pie" every single night for weeks. Then almost as mysteriously as it appeared the signal didn't come through anymore. I was never sure of the DJ's name, but I think he pompously went by the last name of Dylan. (Dillon?) It sounded like 'Montage Dylan' to me, but that doesn't sound like much of a name to me. Perhaps you or one of your friends on "Jim Rose Remembers" can help me solve this mystery. I've crossed the 50-yr mark and there are some questions that just won't quit! In any case, Texas radio is a fine thing indeed! Thanks for any leads. Sinceramente, Y. Martinez, Watertown, MA

MS. MARTINEZ informs us that she's a free-lance writer and prefers to use only her initial plus last name. Works quite well for the YWCA and YMCA. Meet you at the Y. For awhile, Prince doesn't want to use any name.

KRLD-1080 undergoes many changes since the 1970s. It changes owners, studio locations, complete staff changes, format switches and everything else I can think of. KRLD is a wasted giant. KRLD-1080 is a 50,000 watt clear channel frequency which is heard by skip wave all over the USA. Skip waves are like a bunch of mirrors in the atmosphere. Due to weather conditions, these mirrors change angles from time to time. When a powerful AM radio frequency sends out its signal into the atmosphere, it bounces off those mirrors and lands back on earth in various places.

DON MCLEAN's tune, American Pie, on United Artists records lands on Billboard's chart on December 4, 1971. It is #1 in the nation for four weeks into 1972. This tune is so popular that nearly all radio station formats play it. American Pie remains on the nation's charts for a total of 17 weeks.

WFAA-820 which is also a 50,000 watt clear channel AM radio frequency is my home from 1967-68 as a DJ. A few years later, WFAA-820 becomes WBAP-820. Radio is the most fun and exciting profession to be involved with, but it is also the most insecure. Please don't confuse the broadcast company Clear Channel Communications with the AM radio designation of clear channel. The only thing they have in common is that they refer to radio.

ATLANTIC RECORDS (New York, NY) Death Cab for Cutie Makes Plans for Saturday Night. Death Cab for Cutie debuts on Saturday Night Live this weekend, Saturday, January 14th, 2006, when they perform on the show opposite guest host Scarlett Johansson. The band plays songs from their latest album, Plans. Saturday Night Live airs on NBC at 11:29 PM/EST, 10:29PM/CST. Check your local listings. The 2006 Grammy-nominated Death Cab for Cutie also announces details of their upcoming DVD, Directions, an anthology of 12 short films inspired by each track from Plans. Every song, including the singles Soul Meets Body and Crooked Teeth, are delivered by a different director. Each Monday starting 1/16, a new video unveils on the band's website www.deathcabforcutie.com.

TRIVIA ANSWER: Kid Rock’s birth name is Robert James Ritchie. Robert comes to life on January 17, 1971 in Romeo, MI. Kid Rock's name often associates with Detroit's rap scene. But, Robert grows up in the predominantly white suburb of Romeo. As a teenager, Ritchie sneaks into Motown to attend rap concerts and talent shows. James' early musical tastes are an odd mixture of Bob Seger, Hip-Hop and Electro sounds. This is during the early days of the break-dance craze. Davy D and AJ Scratch entangle into a DJ match as Robert feasts his peepers during the Fresh Fest Tour. This gives way to young Ritchie to try his hand at being a DJ. James destroys his mom's record player. Robert's rapper and DJ mishaps lead to basement parties and criminal mischief in the black neighborhoods of nearby Mt. Clemens. For his dramatic efforts, James receives a $100,000 record deal with Jive Records where he opens for Boogie Down Productions on their new label. Kid Rock is reborn.

CHARLES F. PAYNE (Dallas, TX) Subject: Jim Rose Remembers Radio (#135-1) Wednesday, January 4. 2006. Happy New Year. When managing WINS in NYC, we had visitors from Dallas, San Francisco and VA. but living in United Nations Plaza was the charm. In our building such neighbors as Johnny Carson, Angela Lansbury, author Truman Capote and U S Sen. ROBERT KENNEDY, ETHEL and the kids. Special events and parties always on tap---WINS was a fun challenge and my wife KATY misses all the fashion activity of NYC, plus shows and music. Probably never again. Wishing you the best New Year you've ever enjoyed. CPINBIGD

LEO TOLSTOY (1828-1910) In the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you.

Jim Rose and Kei-Kou

Houston, Texas - Laus Deo