Web master's note: I coined the phrase "Brigadoon on the Bayou" myself. Houston used to be called "Baghdad on the Bayou," but that phrase has lost its original romantic flavor.
1961: KXYZ turns Houston into Brigadoon on the Bayou
Announcer One: "The feathers of the sunbird dangle down
from the sky to dazzle on the asphalt of Houston streets."
Announcer Two: "The great waves of verdant foliage in
Houston parks seem capped with crests of gold."
Announcer One: "Veils of mist rise from lakes and rivers
like water sprites dancing into day."
Announcer Two: "The green, glistening sides of a fish
are seen as he shatters the glass surface of a lake against
a background of . . ."
Announcer One: ". . .Prelude."
KXYZ, Houston,
August 25, 1961, Part 1
KXYZ, Houston,
August 25, 1961, Part 2
Come with me now mentally to a leaner, greener, cleaner Houston.
Light classical favorites and Irish folk songs on AM radio?
Such things were still possible in the Houston of the 1960's.
So much for the myth that Houston was just an oversized cow
town. So much for the myth that sixties' radio was just rock
and roll.
Although the audio quality is low, this recording captures
the KXYZ beautiful music format just weeks after it was launched.
It was a distinctive formula which served Houston well for
the remainder of the decade.
I obtained this material by trading
a copy of one of my own original recordings.
KXYZ exuded a wit and ingenuity rarely heard in stations
playing light classical and orchestral pop music.
They constantly ran announcements to promote their own image, but the items were often hard to classify as promos, PSA's, commercials, or brief feature stories. You'll see what I mean in the above air checks.
They promoted odd products such as a Chinese junk and an
executive yo yo. On one pseudo snooty occasion, a product
was offered only to "those with proper references."
Station promos recommended competing stations by name for
people who wanted a "change of pace" from beautiful music.
They read lyrics of rock and roll songs to help parents keep
up with their teenagers.
One of the lyrics they read was "UM, UM,
UM, UM, UM, UM" by Major Lance. I don't have a recording, but that poetic reading would have gone something like this:
Walking through the park, it wasn't quite dark
There was a man sitting on a bench
Out of the crowd as his head lowly bowed
He just moaned and he made no sense
He'd just go
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um
I just couldn't help myself
Yes, I was born with a curious mind
I asked this man just what did he mean
When he moaned if he'd be so kind
And he'd just go
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Now that I've grown up
And the woman I love she has gone
Now that I'm a man, I think I understand
Sometimes everyone must sing this song
Listen to me sing
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Can't you hear me, now
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Everybody now
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Can't you hear me, now
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um
One more time, now
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um
Um, um, um, um, um, um
That is a lot of "ums." Naturally, KXYZ edited
the lyrics when they read them over the air. They cut the
verses but left in a lot of ums. The Percy Faith orchestra
soon recorded that song, and it was a version fit for KXYZ.
The KXYZ broadcast day was divided into segments of several
hours with names like Rhapsody, Firelight, Nocturne, and Reverie,
Each half hour opened with some poetic prose aimed at setting
a mood for that time of day.
When taken as a whole, KXYZ promos made Houston sound like
a majestic place to be, creating an electronic Brigadoon on the Bayou.
The original Brigadoon story was about a lost village which mysteriously appears in the wilderness. Similarly, one KXYZ promo quoted a 19th Century writer who called Houston "a city lost in forest."
I only dimly recall that quote but I think they attributed it to a Frenchman, possibly Alexis de Tocqueville. I need some Houston historian to help me
put that quotation in context and identify its true author.
Houston lost in a forest — what a concept. I think
Houston must really be lost in a forest. Just look at the
names of places surrounding Houston: The Woodlands, Kingwood,
Roman Forest, etc. Of course, if you grew up on the southeast side as I did, the forest fantasy is a bit of stretch.
KXYZ was so stylized that it almost seemed to lampoon itself.
But it was never dull, except to the dullards. The nameless
KXYZ announcers projected an attitude of high mindedness mixed
with whimsy:
Two KXYZ intros and
a midnight time announcement, June, 1966
If I am not mistaken, the voice giving the time and the phone
number of the time service is Pat Brown, an announcer who
had worked for KTRH when they were still playing music.
KXYZ simulcast 24 hours a day, and I recorded these items
off the AM 1320 side. Even though they are bit over modulated,
I had a better tape recorder at this point, so the overall
quality is decidedly better than my 1964 KXYZ-FM material.
I liked both the music and the format, and, unlike the typical
conformist teenager, I moved easily between KXYZ and the top
40 stations.
Beautiful music formats are rare today. I know of none in
Houston. The few which exist around the country function more
as background music services than as creative radio forces.
Their main audiences are in retirement communities.
Nowadays, the mere mention of light orchestra music invites
derisive remarks about "elevator music" (as if you
could still actually hear that kind of music in elevators).
If you listen to Henry Mancini, Mantovani, or the Hollyridge
Strings, don't tell anybody. Otherwise, you'll get clobbered
by Cool Dudes and classical purists alike.
By the way, if you like the kind of music on these KXYZ airchecks,
I recommend the Golden
Age of Light Music series, available from Amazon.com.
Some recordings in this series would have been too dated even
for KXYZ in the 60's, but the material from the 50's and 60's
would have fit right in with the KXYZ beautiful music style.
If you know where I can obtain more KXYZ recordings from
the 60's, please
let me know.
I have this fantasy that someone will send me a crate of
unscoped KXYZ airchecks, recorded at 7.5 ips. I will then
turn the entire collection into one 20-hour mp3 CD and listen
to it for a few months in my car.
In short, KXYZ was a far cry from what people think of as 60's music. Even then, it had an anachronistic quality, and much of its style seemed removed from its own time and place, perhaps a hundred years out of place, either forward or back.
In the original Brigadoon story, the village awakens only after sleeping for one hundred years. Maybe, something like KXYZ will arise in Houston in 2061. Let's wait and see.
Grady McAllister, M.S.
(Occupational Technology Education)
Revised February 20, 2010.
KXYZ: Slowly, silently now...
KXYZ-FM, Houston, October,
1964
KXYZ news, commercials, and promos. I recorded each item
off KXYZ-FM (96.5 MHz) on at least two different days.
Does the Walter
Jenkins headline remind you of a recent political scandal?
Notice the KXYZ beautiful music promos. Each opens another
half hour and tries to set the mood for each time of day:
You can almost tell time by the distinctive sounds of the
city. Traffic becomes quieter, less raucous. Footsteps of
leisurely window shoppers replace those of impatient pedestrians.
It is mid morning in Houston as KXYZ continues with beautiful
music.
Or, how about this one from the nighttime:
Slowly, silently now, the moon walks the night, lighting
her way with silver beams. Below, men marvel and are inspired
by her grace and serenity, matched only by the beauty of
KXYZ music on Nocturne.
The first words of this doggerel are lifted straight from
a poem by Walter de la Mare. To view the original, go to my full moon page and check out "Silver," the second poem listed by
Walter de la Mare.
I place an especially high value on KXYZ materials from the
sixties. You simply can't hear programming like this any more.
Material prior to the switch to beautiful music is also wanted.
If you have any KXYZ recordings , please send them to me
now. Here is my mailing address:
Grady McAllister
PO Box 87518,
Houston, TX 77287
Write
to this web site.
KQUE: Drunk on air?
KQUE,
Houston, September, 1976,
Bob Jones, Take 1
KQUE,
Houston, September, 1976,
Bob Jones, Take 2
KQUE, Houston,
September, 1976,
Bob Jones, Take 3
These are recordings of a DJ who is alleged to have been
drunk on the air.
I was reluctant to post this material on my web site. How many of use can honestly say that we would like to publicize our worst moment on the radio or our worst moment
on anything else?
I would not be posting this material if Bob Jones were still
alive.
Bob Jones is one of several people I should have met
in radio but never did. Not only were we in radio at the same
time, but I have known his sister since high school.
I first heard about this material from the sister in January,
2003. We were having coffee, and it was our first meeting
since the 70's outside of a couple of high school reunions.
She mentioned that she had recently heard a morning drive
shock jock play the "drunk DJ" recording over the
air.
At that point, I didn't really think of myself as an aircheck
collector. My only involvement was that I had just started
copying my own radio tapes to CD.
Later that year, I just happened to come across that Bob
Jones material when I met with an old radio friend who wanted
to trade airchecks.
I later obtained another version of the recording from an
out of state aircheck trader.
That, by the way, was the only
time I ever exchanged recordings with a stranger. The trade
was mainly to get my KXYZ recording from 1961 and my Weird
Beard recording from 1965.
There was a part of my mind that didn't even want to get
involved with the "drunk DJ" recordings, and I think
I would have left it alone if I had not known the sister.
That was enough to make me wonder what the material was like.
I had the sister listen to all of it. She expressed the opinion
that Bob Jones was not drunk. She said that he had tended
to have trouble speaking whenever he was really tired.
Also, at a point when he doesn't seem to know his microphone
is open, you hear him state that he is sick.
Obviously, he
is struggling to get through a shift.
I offer no opinion. You decide.
Revised September 11, 2009.
Cool jazz on 95.7 in 1964?
KHUL, Houston, December,
1964
The call letters were KHUL, and you pronounced them "cool."
It was a jazz station for refreshingly cool libation.
As most Houston radio buffs know, the FM station at 95.7
MHz was country station KIKK-FM for nearly four decades.
Then,
in this decade it became a jazz station and remained one until
2008. However, few realize that 95.7 was also a jazz station
in the 60's before it switched to country.
Of course, the music that was called jazz back then was quite
a bit different from the recent Smooth Jazz format. The emphasis
then was on big bands, and vocals were relatively few.
This recording only gives you a small taste of KHUL. I cut
the length of this recording at some point, so what you hear
is only a fraction of the original material.
In the following description, I will include some details
I remember that you don't actually hear on the aircheck.
The main DJ is Hugh Foley, and there is another man making
comical remarks in the background.
Foley announces that Tom
Overton, the DJ scheduled to come on duty, has been delayed
about fifteen minutes.
Overton can't really be all that far away. You can hear him
coming down the hallway.
(These guys really knew how to play around with the sound
effect records. That is what this aircheck is really about.)
The Overton theme music and sound effects ran on for about
another fifteen minutes. Not only did you hear the footsteps,
but you continued to hear drinks pouring in anticipation of
Overton's arrival.
Overton kept pounding down the hallway, but it seemed he
would never really arrive.
Then, at long last, you finally
heard the voice of the elusive radio star, Tom Overton. I
must have decided that his journey down the hall ate up too
much of my valuable tape and cut the length of the recording.
The reference to "private stock" meant that the
DJ's brought in their own album collections. It may have also
referred to the libation that poured so freely.
Tim and Bob on KPRC
KPRC,
Houston, February 1, 1962, Tim & Bob
KPRC, Houston,
January, 1971, Tim & Bob
The second item was sent recently by Jake Rees.
KENR
KENR,
Houston, 1972, Scotty Morgan
KULF in 1972 & 1973
KULF, Houston,
A Compilation from 1972 & 1973.
Use this link to listen
to all of the materials at once. Individual cuts are listed
and described below.
Bob Green,
program director of KULF in 1972 and 1973, sent this material
from Houston. KULF was one of the several incarnations of
AM 790. (For a more general background, please see "All
Receivers Are Go" in the column to the right.)
Even though I was not a consistent KULF listener, all of
the DJ's that Green mentions are familiar to me — at
least as familiar as the KILT personalities of the day. The
AM 790 of 1972 placed a heavy emphasis on personality in both
its DJ's and its newscasters.
That gave the station a glow
that looked very different from the industrialized Demand
Radio style of 1962.
And yet, I don't recall hearing any abrupt, all encompassing
format change at a single time.
One thing that was usually
true from the 50's through the early 80's was that the station
aimed at a more mature audience than the reigning top 40 stations.
When did KTHT become KULF? My own recollection is that early
one evening I was driving by St. Joseph Hospital near the
I-45 overpass south of downtown Houston. I was not very far
from the KTHT studio in the Central National Bank Building.
I was tuned to the news on that station. At the very end of
the newscast, the announcer stated that KTHT had become KULF
on that very day. (I tend to think that this was in the fall
of 1969. If you have the exact date of the change, please
send me a note.)
Bob Green describes these KULF recordings as follows:
Here are several airchecks and other cuts from KULF circa
1972. The fact was that the MUSIC on KULF (essentially chicken
pop/MOR mix) didn't, by it's nature, define the station.
Incredible air personality-entertainers and self effacing
production helped give it definition ... your entertainment
station.
Here are the cuts included:
Cut 1 & Cut
2: Bits from the Joe Bauer Show: Joe was definitely
the most talented air personality I have ever worked with.
Cut 3: Jim Tate
aircheck. Wonderful guy & talent
Cut 4: David
Fowler: A STYLIZED newscast!
Cut 5 & Cut 6: A few of
over 100 "Jim Tate — your friend in the Morning"
promos we did, No script — we just winged it. And as
for the "singing"— my apologies.
Cut 7: Three
Promos for a Tate feature from Dick Orkin: "You had
to be There."
Cut 8: Promos
for the "KULF Big Balloon Race" at Astroworld.
Cut 9: Assorted
"Show & Tell" promos (same way as cut 5) cross
promoting our outdoor campaign.
Cut 10. Two
promos for "Vacation in Spain" giveaway.
Cut 11: "People
to like music by" promos
Cut 12: Ron Morgan
Birthday surprise. Ron had a "spot" indicated
on his log, but when he hit the cart- this is what happened.
Next is a "Simon & Gar" promo for Ron. Chutzpah
continued with my "singing."
Cut 13: Jim
Tate rode the Dexter Freebish Coaster at Astroworld to beat
the record for the Guinness Book. Here's the ride condensed
to 2 min.
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