I do not recall the year but I think it may have been 2005. Maybe a year or two earlier. Back then I was making a summer visit to North Dakota and would weave my way down to Nashville, Tennessee. I'd take a different route each year, staying off the freeways much of the time as I was in no rush and in 'explorer' mode. The idea was based on hearing different radio stations and grabbing a recording via my Mini Disc Recorder Player AM/FM radio. Many times it was boring satellite feeds but I caught some real gems and I visited a few places. I really regret not stopping by WHOW AM & FM at the time.
Scanning the dial I caught the blowtorch AM signal. A scratchy record of the likes of Eddy Arnold was playing. I found that interesting and started a blank mini disc on record. The song faded except for the scratches and the next song on the record started. I heard three songs before, with pot up, the DJ turned off the turntable in deep fade on the third song.
The jock sounded like he was having a blast. Not great sounding but he was having fun. He explained they were stuck playing records that day. He announced he was playing a record his Dad used to have and he'd track side one, announcing the songs. The album side played.
It was now 5 pm. The jock announced he had been jumped on for forgetting to do a legal ID on the hour, so he had some friends record some. What sounded like a cassette began playing complete with the loud click between recordings and the obvious 'automatic level control' adjusting as the ID was voiced by no less than 8 people back to back. Once concluded, the jock at half laugh says he thinks he got that ID thing right and immediately went in to the National Weather Service audio. Once it began to repeat, the DJ turned down the audio and said "I think we've heard that before" and introduced the next record, Vangelis Chariots of Fire...yep, side 1, and it even got stuck about 10 minutes in. About a minute later, the jock realized what was happening, saying he wasn't too sure at first that the record was skipping. At some point in that hour they played a McDonalds commercial. There was a promo for radio advertising. Both spots were so bass-heavy, it was a struggle to comprehend what was being said. Think the sound of adults on Charlie Brown specials.
Needless to say, I saw a diamond there and my boss said to check in to it. I wound up calling the Chamber of Commerce to get a perception of how the town felt about WHOW. He wasn't gentle in his words. He flatly told me a good number had tried to buy the stations but nobody ever could get the owner to follow through. It seems the son of the guy that started the station was running things and there was the feeling the guy might be mentally ill. The station had not served the community in years and to his knowledge nobody was selling any advertising. In fact, one guy that contacted them about some ads ran a schedule but never got a bill, even after asking for one. It seems the Chamber guy had been to the station and it was in horrible shape, an unsafe workplace as he put it. He called the place scary as in he feared things were so poorly put together, if someone died or the place burned to the ground, he would not be surprised but rather expected it. He thought when something broke down, if they couldn't fix it at no cost, it was never replaced and the staff learned to live without it.
Later I heard the station was running spots on cassette and they had one turntable that worked going through a Radio Shack mixer. As was told to me, just weeks after my listen, it seems an engineer came in and either died or was injured working on the equipment. Whether or not it was related, the FCC shut down the station very quickly after the incident with the engineer. It seems the new buyer had to do a full proof on the AM before going back on the air. That tells me they had serious issues.
However, from a listening standpoint, it was a 'I can't believe what I'm hearing' mixed with feeling the fun the jock was having regardless (I could relate as I have been there) and being thrilled at being able to record this unusual station. .
Scanning the dial I caught the blowtorch AM signal. A scratchy record of the likes of Eddy Arnold was playing. I found that interesting and started a blank mini disc on record. The song faded except for the scratches and the next song on the record started. I heard three songs before, with pot up, the DJ turned off the turntable in deep fade on the third song.
The jock sounded like he was having a blast. Not great sounding but he was having fun. He explained they were stuck playing records that day. He announced he was playing a record his Dad used to have and he'd track side one, announcing the songs. The album side played.
It was now 5 pm. The jock announced he had been jumped on for forgetting to do a legal ID on the hour, so he had some friends record some. What sounded like a cassette began playing complete with the loud click between recordings and the obvious 'automatic level control' adjusting as the ID was voiced by no less than 8 people back to back. Once concluded, the jock at half laugh says he thinks he got that ID thing right and immediately went in to the National Weather Service audio. Once it began to repeat, the DJ turned down the audio and said "I think we've heard that before" and introduced the next record, Vangelis Chariots of Fire...yep, side 1, and it even got stuck about 10 minutes in. About a minute later, the jock realized what was happening, saying he wasn't too sure at first that the record was skipping. At some point in that hour they played a McDonalds commercial. There was a promo for radio advertising. Both spots were so bass-heavy, it was a struggle to comprehend what was being said. Think the sound of adults on Charlie Brown specials.
Needless to say, I saw a diamond there and my boss said to check in to it. I wound up calling the Chamber of Commerce to get a perception of how the town felt about WHOW. He wasn't gentle in his words. He flatly told me a good number had tried to buy the stations but nobody ever could get the owner to follow through. It seems the son of the guy that started the station was running things and there was the feeling the guy might be mentally ill. The station had not served the community in years and to his knowledge nobody was selling any advertising. In fact, one guy that contacted them about some ads ran a schedule but never got a bill, even after asking for one. It seems the Chamber guy had been to the station and it was in horrible shape, an unsafe workplace as he put it. He called the place scary as in he feared things were so poorly put together, if someone died or the place burned to the ground, he would not be surprised but rather expected it. He thought when something broke down, if they couldn't fix it at no cost, it was never replaced and the staff learned to live without it.
Later I heard the station was running spots on cassette and they had one turntable that worked going through a Radio Shack mixer. As was told to me, just weeks after my listen, it seems an engineer came in and either died or was injured working on the equipment. Whether or not it was related, the FCC shut down the station very quickly after the incident with the engineer. It seems the new buyer had to do a full proof on the AM before going back on the air. That tells me they had serious issues.
However, from a listening standpoint, it was a 'I can't believe what I'm hearing' mixed with feeling the fun the jock was having regardless (I could relate as I have been there) and being thrilled at being able to record this unusual station. .