Hi Again Everyone...Many names that have been mentioned I either worked with at some point, or had a good working relationship with.
Remember before hitting the college trail in 1972, I used to just bother everyone at WKAL in Rome. I used to go there from age 7, when they were located atop the Capitol Theater. At that time, Carmen Paccica was doing mornings, Arnie Pugh was doing afternoons, and Gerry Prouty who was also the Chief Engineer was doing nights. Back in the mid to late 60's, these guys were pulling 6-hour shifts as I recall. And there wasn't any format. Mornings were big bands, afternoons were country and at night, they switched to "Nightime" and added to whatever year it was, to the title. It was an all request show where Prouty used to take requests and read everyones name who wanted to hear a song on the air.
After KAL moved to South Jay Street, they increased their AM-1450 frequency to 1,000 watts from 250 during the day, and went back to 250 watts at night. They were eventually allowed to stay at 1KW day and night. Once they moved, they also put on their FM and 95.9 and did a simulcast for many years. They later automated this 3KW FM with Drake Chenault soft AC and changed their slogan to K-Lite. They later ended up changing dial positions and moved to 96.1. That was because 95X in Syracuse I think was originally on 95 something, and, if both stations moved their dial position, they could both increase their power from 3KW to 25KW. WKAL never did increase their power with their original ownership and the signal at 3KW was terrible because they had the FM antenna mounted on the AM tower which was only 105 feet above average terrain. Not good. Anyway, after Frog bought the station, the rest is history.
On that AM side of WKAL 1450, some popular people ended up working there in the late 60's and early 70's before I left for college. Some names you might remember and some you might not. A few, have already been listed. Maurice Burke and George Boyce both worked at WTLB and ended up doing nights at WKAL when KAL was a very popular local station. You could not pick up WTLB in Rome at night and still can't, so WKAL did very well, even against WRUN. Dick Romano who was at WTLB also worked nights, then it was Dave Eastwood. Later on Howell Gatchell III came on board, then later left and had a very successful stint at the Buck Owens Country station in Bakersfield California.
After I got out of college, I ended up at KAL, then ended up in Chicago for 4-years, then back again at KAL, until it was sold to the FROG people. My time at WKAL was great and I have fond memories, including the afternoon at 4:12-PM when a freak storm rolled through and knocked the tower, located right behind the building right into the ground. Just missed the building by inches. All that was left was a 25-foot stump of a tower. And in true engineer talk, I remember Gerry Prouty saying something to the effect of..."I'll get us back on at lower power with that small tower piece that is left.
Have also had some great memories in Chicago, where I learned so much, and then back at WIBX, FROG, and Lite. Kncok on wood, the business has been good to me. Well, that's it for now. I think we could all go on for hours going back in time.