In the early part of my railroad career back in the late 70's I was driving a lot between Memphis and North Little Rock. There was an AM Top 40 station in the Little Rock area that I listened to quite a bit, and I think it was KLAZ, and I think the frequency was 1240. Does this sound familiar to anyone, and if so, did they ever issue a paper music survey like so many radio stations used to do?
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LRock Top 40 station 1978
- Thread starter AlbumOldies
- Start date
AlbumOldies said:In the early part of my railroad career back in the late 70's I was driving a lot between Memphis and North Little Rock. There was an AM Top 40 station in the Little Rock area that I listened to quite a bit, and I think it was KLAZ, and I think the frequency was 1240. Does this sound familiar to anyone, and if so, did they ever issue a paper music survey like so many radio stations used to do?
If memory serves me correctly, KLAZ, at that time, was at 98.5 FM. I seem to recall that they referred to it as Z-98.
You may be referring to the old KALO Radio, but I'm just not sure. The other station on the AM side of the dial that was a Top 40 station was KAAY 1090.
The paper music survey issue, I just don't recall.
Hope some of you folks that have better memories than I do can jump in here.
That would have been KLAZ (AM)
It was on 1250 with 1,000 watts, if memory serves. Dunno about the nighttime specs, but it had a three-tower array right in the middle of town. It had been KALO for years and was a bastion of R & B music before the format and call letter change. I seem to remember the KLAZ (AM) calls and format lasting about a year before the KALO calls were reinstated and the music returned to Black-oriented, but sudden and frequent changes were a hallmark of of Curtis Communications.
I don't think they ever did printed music surveys, but I coulda missed that, too...
It was on 1250 with 1,000 watts, if memory serves. Dunno about the nighttime specs, but it had a three-tower array right in the middle of town. It had been KALO for years and was a bastion of R & B music before the format and call letter change. I seem to remember the KLAZ (AM) calls and format lasting about a year before the KALO calls were reinstated and the music returned to Black-oriented, but sudden and frequent changes were a hallmark of of Curtis Communications.
I don't think they ever did printed music surveys, but I coulda missed that, too...
'78 would be a little late for printed music surveys. It's been well over 30 years since I saw a new printed survey.
justgohogs said:'78 would be a little late for printed music surveys. It's been well over 30 years since I saw a new printed survey.
I've got them from as late as 1980 from WHBQ in Memphis, but you're correct that they were starting to dwindle in number by the late 70's.
A registry of us old DJs and where we've served our time, shows some Top 40 activity on 1250 KALO in 1965. I remember hearing them on my way through Little Rock, using the slogan "Arkansas's Lively One." Preceding those call letters, they'd been KAJI for several years, using "Hi-Fi K-Jye" ... and before that, they'd been KGHI, which most folks who mentioned them at all, also pronounced "K-Jye." Googling shows that they were on 1150 in 1928, then had moved to 1200 by 1930. Don't know when they made the shift to 1250. Interesting personnel note: in 1954 one of their staffers was Bud Connell. By 1955, he'd gone to KXLR which was then on 1150, programming it to strong ratings before doing the same for stations like WNOE, New Orleans; WFUN, Miami; and one in St. Louis whose CLs don't light up any memory chips. He later went on to produce a lot of popular TV. And between his KXLR and then later KAAY, KGHI/KAJI/KALO slowly faded from the mass audience scene. Don't remember 1250 ever wearing the KLAZ calls, but LAZ appeared (on FM) while I was out west so no direct knowledge of LR at that time.
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Believe it or not, they still had printed music surveys in Orlando in the late 80's...
I have a couple of old WHLY Y-106 surveys from the summer of 87'......
I have a couple of old WHLY Y-106 surveys from the summer of 87'......
wow...u guys have elephant memories about KKYK. I was there. Jim Cassidy was the PD. Voice so low it could make ur toe-nails curl. "The Radio" was a lousy effort to compete against KLAZ. They mopped the floor with us until 81' when Ron White came in as PD from Michigan and Craig O'Neill defected from KLAZ to KKYK. After that it was a heavenly decade.
PS- Jason O'Neill (Jeff Hoyt of Hoyt and Walker Productions) was the morning guy before Craig. Great but misplaced talent. Jeff is a national voice over talent now who does TV spots like 1-800 contacts. A true genius and all around nice guy.
PS- Jason O'Neill (Jeff Hoyt of Hoyt and Walker Productions) was the morning guy before Craig. Great but misplaced talent. Jeff is a national voice over talent now who does TV spots like 1-800 contacts. A true genius and all around nice guy.
DaleDribble said:wow...u guys have elephant memories about KKYK. I was there. Jim Cassidy was the PD. Voice so low it could make ur toe-nails curl. "The Radio" was a lousy effort to compete against KLAZ. They mopped the floor with us until 81' when Ron White came in as PD from Michigan and Craig O'Neill defected from KLAZ to KKYK. After that it was a heavenly decade.
PS- Jason O'Neill (Jeff Hoyt of Hoyt and Walker Productions) was the morning guy before Craig. Great but misplaced talent. Jeff is a national voice over talent now who does TV spots like 1-800 contacts. A true genius and all around nice guy.
A heavenly decade? Um, maybe until about Spring 1986, but a decade? Not so much... ;D
Well....the station was #2 in annual revenue throughout the entire 80s. I guess KSSN is the only station that could call that un-heavenly. ;D
Yeah, Jim Cassidy. He could read the phone book and sound great. You're right...when Craig O'Neal came over from KLAZ, KKYK mopped up for quite awhile. With "Sherman Bonner" doing weather, and "Candid Radio", the mornings were great. Whatever happened to Craig anyway...? I heard he was doing TV of all things...! Surely not, with that face and those lips...! (lol)
DaleDribble said:Well....the station was #2 in annual revenue throughout the entire 80s. I guess KSSN is the only station that could call that un-heavenly. ;D
I don't think that's correct, but it's been a long time. They may have been number 2 in billing for most of the decade, but I think KSSN and KZOU had them beaten for most of 86 and part of 87. They certainly weren't anywhere near number two ratings wise in the latter part.
Anyway, as for Craig, he's at KTHV. He left KKYK and went to KURB after the switch from KZOU. I personally think if KZOU could have convinced Craig to jump the KKYK ship right after Jerry left KZOU would have dominated well into the 90s. From what I remember they just didn't have the financial will to make that happen.
...but that was a long time ago.
saur...you have a general lay of the land, but ur facts r off. I was there in sales...saw every Miller Kaplan. KKYK was #2 biller all through the 80's and until 91 when the new owners from Michigan ran Craig off. Their new vision for the station was a disaster and ended in a fire sale in 1992 to Phillip Johnnson for less than $2M.
The 25-34 demo + Craig made for a long term billing machine at KKYK despite being a diminished ratings machine after 86.
KZOU came in like a tornado in 86 and waxed KKYK in the ratings. KKYK regrouped and gained dominance over KZOU in 87 and was never beaten by them again in the ratings. After KKYK regained Top 40 dominance over KZOU, their morning man/PD Uglee Jerry left town and management floundered with morning shows like Peter and The Butler...but the influx of docket 80-90 stations like Power 92 and KOLL cut into the KKYK ratings for the rest of the decade.
Craig started at KARN in 72 at Snider Corp, even doing some weekend fill-in shifts at KKYK (Snider). Some doofus in the Snider leadership chain pushed Craig into sales. He was miserable. Ron Curtis at KLAZ hired him away in 76. KKYK stole him back with Eric Brown (side kick) in 80....where he stayed until 91. He was well taken care of by Snider...as he should have been. He made Snider millions. Susan Newkirk, the GM of KTHV had the foresight to pirate Craig into TV from B-98. She was a genius.
The 25-34 demo + Craig made for a long term billing machine at KKYK despite being a diminished ratings machine after 86.
KZOU came in like a tornado in 86 and waxed KKYK in the ratings. KKYK regrouped and gained dominance over KZOU in 87 and was never beaten by them again in the ratings. After KKYK regained Top 40 dominance over KZOU, their morning man/PD Uglee Jerry left town and management floundered with morning shows like Peter and The Butler...but the influx of docket 80-90 stations like Power 92 and KOLL cut into the KKYK ratings for the rest of the decade.
Craig started at KARN in 72 at Snider Corp, even doing some weekend fill-in shifts at KKYK (Snider). Some doofus in the Snider leadership chain pushed Craig into sales. He was miserable. Ron Curtis at KLAZ hired him away in 76. KKYK stole him back with Eric Brown (side kick) in 80....where he stayed until 91. He was well taken care of by Snider...as he should have been. He made Snider millions. Susan Newkirk, the GM of KTHV had the foresight to pirate Craig into TV from B-98. She was a genius.
Ok. I won’t claim to remember numbers I saw 20 years or so ago because it’s a good bet I’d be wrong.. I do know when KKYK hired me to try and repair their technical air sound in ’89 the place was a mess except for the control room. Craig was still there as well Kevin Miller but they’d been through a few PD’s. As a matter of fact, I’m not sure they ever HAD a PD while I was there. I didn’t ever talk to anyone about the work except Jim Grant, I believe it was. The rest of the dayparts were unmemorable.
BTW Craig and Kevin sre two of the nicest radio folks I've ever met...and I've met a lot.
BTW Craig and Kevin sre two of the nicest radio folks I've ever met...and I've met a lot.
lol....20 years of Snider corporate wiring u had to sift through? Ouch. They owned Snider Telecom; 2 stations; ARN network; Muzak franchise. There was enough Belden in the building to go to the moon.
They had a guy named Rick build a new console in 89...and a guy named Tom, I think....do the technical stuff. Tom?
KKYK had very few PDs. Jim Cassidy 78-80; Ron White 80-87. Greg Rolling from B-97 in New Orleans from 87-90. Brian Bridgman 90-91.
Craig and Kevin were there in 89. Jo Mama at night (DC at Alice 107.7). Excellent air staff and PDs.
I hope they paid u big $$$ on the tech upgrade. Hazardous Duty !!!!! ;D
anyway...a sweet station to sell for.
They had a guy named Rick build a new console in 89...and a guy named Tom, I think....do the technical stuff. Tom?
KKYK had very few PDs. Jim Cassidy 78-80; Ron White 80-87. Greg Rolling from B-97 in New Orleans from 87-90. Brian Bridgman 90-91.
Craig and Kevin were there in 89. Jo Mama at night (DC at Alice 107.7). Excellent air staff and PDs.
I hope they paid u big $$$ on the tech upgrade. Hazardous Duty !!!!! ;D
anyway...a sweet station to sell for.
Back to the KALO/KLAZ-AM question, if I haven't killed too many brain cells in the past few years, here's how it went.
Ron Curtis bought KALO in the late seventies...'77 or '78 possibly, switched the calls to KLAZ-AM and flipped the format to CHR with Grady (Dr.) Brock as PD. That proved to be, shall we say, an unwise move, and shortly thereafter the format was flipped back to Urban, however the KALO calls were not available, having been taken (by of all things) an ocean-going freighter. Luckily for Ron, another legendary set of Urban calls, KOKY, were available as that station had flipped to Gospel, and he was able to grab those.
So for a very brief time, there was a KLAZ-AM doing CHR on 1250.
Ron Curtis bought KALO in the late seventies...'77 or '78 possibly, switched the calls to KLAZ-AM and flipped the format to CHR with Grady (Dr.) Brock as PD. That proved to be, shall we say, an unwise move, and shortly thereafter the format was flipped back to Urban, however the KALO calls were not available, having been taken (by of all things) an ocean-going freighter. Luckily for Ron, another legendary set of Urban calls, KOKY, were available as that station had flipped to Gospel, and he was able to grab those.
So for a very brief time, there was a KLAZ-AM doing CHR on 1250.
DaleDribble said:They had a guy named Rick build a new console in 89...and a guy named Tom, I think....do the technical stuff. Tom?
That would be me...
Jim Cassidy had a great smooth voice, totally cool. I still have a tape of KKYK from 78 or 79 with him on it somewhere in my pile of tapes.
I did always prefer Craig O on KKYK instead of The Uglies on KZOU. Not putting them down but just my preference. Craig's characters and callers were always funnier than the "ding-ding" bells & such. Everybody who listened to Craig remembers the Lashonda Reed call. And I could hear my dad's gospel quartet sing "Happy Birthday" on his show. He was emcee at a gospel show in Magnet Cove on time. He heard them sing & asked them to record the song for him on his portable tape recorder.
I asked him to sign an autograph for me that night, and he signed "No. Craig O'Neill."
Greatness.
I did always prefer Craig O on KKYK instead of The Uglies on KZOU. Not putting them down but just my preference. Craig's characters and callers were always funnier than the "ding-ding" bells & such. Everybody who listened to Craig remembers the Lashonda Reed call. And I could hear my dad's gospel quartet sing "Happy Birthday" on his show. He was emcee at a gospel show in Magnet Cove on time. He heard them sing & asked them to record the song for him on his portable tape recorder.
I asked him to sign an autograph for me that night, and he signed "No. Craig O'Neill."
Greatness.
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