A few old airchecks

[Jeff Miller]

I added several old airchecks (1960s, 1970s), mostly from Beckley, to my W. Va. Broadcasting History web site. All the sound files are now indexed on this page:

http://jeff560.tripod.com/sounds.html

[Ace Purple]

This is great stuff! Thanks for putting them online, Jeff.

[Jeff Miller]

I added a few more airchecks:

WHAJ top of the hour produced ID into NBC News, 1978, back when it was beautiful music

WOAY-FM top of the hour live ID by Hugh McPherson going into UPI Radio News (with really poor quality phone line UPI audio)

2 WJLS things.

If you'd like contribute a file, that would be great!

I'm supposed to be getting a great old WKEE aircheck from the 1960s soon...

http://jeff560.tripod.com/sounds.html

[CoolBreeze]

Jeff just posted a spot I did for the locally famous "Budget Tapes & Records", where I'm hawking this album.




(Also a little of my show on WCAW that someone recorded off their radio)

I hope to hear The Daddy-O-of the radi-O (Jay Jarrell) on there some day!

[Hoosier Daddy]

I hope to hear The Daddy-O-of the radi-O (Jay Jarrell) on there some day!

Ask and ye shall receive. Try THIS.

[CoolBreeze]

Wow! On one hand it was great to hear his voice. On the other, he sounded a little different because he was doing a skit instead of playing DJ. I don't ever recall him doing skits like that in Charleston, and he sounds a little more "feminine" in that. Is that at KAZ?
(I used to listen to him in 1965 through 1972 when we worked together)

[Jeff Miller]

Wow, thanks, the WKAZ aircheck was great!

I uploaded a seven-minute aircheck: May 1973, tuning around in Bluefield about 5 p.m. Includes WHIS-1440 going into NBC News, WKJC-106.3, and WKOY-1240.

http://jeff560.tripod.com/sounds.html

[Jeff Miller]

Also added the Cincinnati Reds winning the NL pennant and the World Series in 1976

http://jeff560.tripod.com/sounds.html

(bottom of the page)

[Hoosier Daddy]

Wow! On one hand it was great to hear his voice. On the other, he sounded a little different because he was doing a skit instead of playing DJ. I don't ever recall him doing skits like that in Charleston, and he sounds a little more "feminine" in that. Is that at KAZ?
(I used to listen to him in 1965 through 1972 when we worked together)

Yes. WKAZ in January 1970. The skit with "Granny" was an ongoing playful bitch-slap between newsman Jim Byard (the voice of Granny) and Jarrell. As I understand it, Poppa Jay and Byard did this unrehearsed routine in the WKAZ hallways and, over time, the jocularity spilled over into the on-the-air skit you heard. I think there was some thinly veiled adult humor and inside jokes buried in these routines. I know Jarrell's comment about "that great big cow from Bristol" was probably a gig at a member of the WKAZ office or sales staff ("Bristol" = Bristol Broadcasting Company).

I am still fascinated by the free form nature of his program and how it broke almost every rule of radio. Jarrell seemed very comfortable with his on-air persona and had the ratings to prove it. Former GM Bob Turley told me WKAZ's best advertisers lined up to sponsor his program. Pepsi bought an entire hour every night. Coke was there, too. The Diamond Department Store sponsored the "show stopper" rapidly rising hit song of the night, as well as other hourly spots during Poppa Jay's 7pm to midnight shift.

Other things: I love the mic reverb. Love the jingles and wish they were used more. Like most Top 40 stations of the day, WKAZ's music was all over the board. No niche formats like you find today. That "boing" time tone was uniquely Charleston. I've never heard it used anywhere else. Did anyone else catch the beep tone on the phone lines when a caller was being recorded? At one time, I believe this was required by the FCC.

I have several of these classic aircheck CDs I'm trying to edit and post online. I'll let you know when I get them done. There's some real radio history here.

For what its worth, Jay Jarrell was a US Air Force veteran and worked as an announcer for the Armed Forces Radio Network in Japan. He was very ill during the mid 70s and finally retired from radio in 1985. Jarrell died of cancer in 1995 at the age of 59.

[CoolBreeze]

"Rockin And A Boppin at S.B.C"
A phrase he used often for Silverbrand Clothes.

Here's a really horrible depiction of us on a weekly rock survey:

[RadioCriminal]

I hope to hear The Daddy-O-of the radi-O (Jay Jarrell) on there some day!

Ask and ye shall receive. Try THIS.

I just spent the past 32 minutes with headphones on, absolutely spell bound. Wow, did that bring back some great memories of what an entertainer Jay was. Yes he was very comfy in his act and did you notice how he made a seamless switch to straight man while doing the (rip-n-read) news. At the very end of the newscasts, he'd do a word or two back in The Poppa groove just to let us know the straight laced stuff was definately over for another hour.

There he was talking to school kids, working stiffs, executives. Shooting good lines and zingers connecting with a wide demographic. Willing to be a bit on the corny side, mentioning people by name ... owning the market. Listening to him now confirms my memories of Jay having a lot of heart and an instinctive knack for doing entertaining radio.

I agree about the reverb. It made KAZ sound alive and other stations sound flat. Yes, there was a FCC requirement for those warning tones when phone conversations were recorded.

As if hearing Jay wasn't enough of a treat, there was Bob Turley doing his killer job on the formal station ID.

Mucho thanks for a really thrilling blast from the past.

[CoolBreeze]

A few mid 60s phrases I remember Pappa Jay saying all the time:

"The Poppy Jay Soiree!" (Swa-rae)

"The Juiciest Jock In Town!"

"Good Googa Miss Mooga!"

"Stop Swinging That Cat By It's Tail!"

"The Daddy-O-Of-The_Radi-O"

[WVHillbilly]

Apparently there are a couple of hours of these.
I'd sure like to hear some more, as well as some WKAZ PAMS ids.

[Jeff Miller]

I added about a dozen interesting sound files contributed by Scott Reppert. Fairmont radio, mostly WTCS...

http://jeff560.tripod.com/sounds.html

[Scott Reppert]

I added about a dozen interesting sound files contributed by Scott Reppert. Fairmont radio, mostly WTCS...

Your choice of words are touching! Thanks so very much!

Seriously!

Who in their right mind would want the radio to sound like the radio?