> > Where were you on 22 November 1963? That year I got a job as 8p-mid "air talent" at the 1340 in Winston Salem NC. I had a written contract!! making the princely sum of $88/week (my overnight in Durham paid 65 so I was happy to move). The contract was basically a joke, except for the non-compete 6 month, the 1st of only 2 times in my life I ever had one.
I was living in a rented spare bedroom in some guy's house along with another jock, one "Bob Kelly" on the air. "Kelly" drove one of the famous Corvairs (rear engine and all that) that Ralph Nader made famous. I had a 55 Olds and I think that was the car I then drove in those years. We all had fake air names, copied from real,authentic successful jocks in other markets. This was the doing of the PD, who made the princely sum of $300 per week. More on him later. I was home during the day and tuning around on my RCA 810-K1 and tuned past WDNC with the first JFK bulletin, I had just finished a log on 540 WRIC Richlands Va, as I recall, for a report that never got sent. I and everyone else, was on hand at the station within the hour. No "phone tree" (I did not even have a phone, anywhere) -- we just showed up. We dumped format, actually the on-air jock and the secretary made that decision. PD was not then to be found, for some unknown reason. One of them made the decision to call in a local minister who did an impromptu, unscripted eulogy which was quite moving and garnered a lot of good local press coverage, as none of the other stations had done this. I think it was around 2:15 PM. We played the Star Spangled Banner out of the eulogy and then went classical. People had to go home to find and bring in classical LP's to play. I think the station's record library fit on one shelf. You can imagine the print media, limited by the choke-point of the AP wire (just like us) all frantically tuning in all the radio media to try and get that little bit of "extra" that they did not have, and imagined we did. That's how the eulogy got picked up so well. That was a nice coup for us. Or else, just to see how far behind the curve we were. The then-missing PD (his initials were JHV) soon materialized and demanded we "return to format" (a tight playlist Top-40). The market leader in Top-40, WTOB 1380 didn't do that and neither did we. Hal, the PD, was overruled on the format question by everyone else there, and groused for 3 days wishing they would "get him into the ground so we could get back to format" as he was heard to say, more than once. Our station was regarded as a lightweight in the Top 40 ratings compared to TOB. I think the eulogy bit got us more favorable PR than anything else that was done - and it was opposed by the PD ! I was just turning 21 then. Like just a few things in a lifetime, I remember that afternoon with great clarity, but much less of the surrounding days. Not having a TV, I never saw the Ruby shooting. Hrd about it from a girl I knew, the next day. That girl (then) Susan Cash still (presumably) has my high school ring, the price I paid for not accepting her "suggestion" of marriage. Hard to now imagine life without TV, a phone, no FM radio*, computer/internet, hardly even an address, just a PO box. But we managed, and had a full life with many experiences. *The station actually had a RCA 10 kW FM but it just simul'd the AM and no one cared if it was off the air. A piece of coupling line in the driver stage once opened up and it was off the air until I figured out how to repair it with a torch, fixing a crystallized solder joint. I think it was a BTA-10F, It had six 673 mercury recifiers that were always tripping the rig off. I will never forget that purple glow. I remember loggings of KHVH-1040 from the Hawaiian Village Hotel on some Sunday mornings when WHO was silent on the 810 that year I spent in W-S. Had just a small loop. Staying up until 3 AM was just something we did. As PVZ remarked, I too heard nothing about it (the anniversary) on any of the media coverage I got today. It's a different world now. But, as with every year, there is much to give thanks for, as we will do tomorrow, and afterwards. Be well, all, - Bob 2240 est _______________________________________________ IRCA mailing list [email protected] http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/irca Opinions expressed in messages on this mailing list are those of the original contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IRCA, its editors, publishing staff, or officers For more information: http://www.ircaonline.org To Post a message: [email protected]
