Below are some emails received at
Houston Retro Radio. Additional emails appear on the various
aircheck pages.
The KILT Horse Doctor
On February 10, 2010, Steve Weldon wrote:
Rick Candea (Captain Jack) hired me in 1983 at KILT and said "Do you like horses?" I said "Yes, sir, I sure do!" He said,"Good! I'm gonna call you the Horse Doctor on the air and you are gonna make helping starving horses and the Animal rescue league your cause."
He said,"everybody needs a purpose and this is gonna be yours". I thought it was damn corny but I needed a job and I said "I'm your Horse Doctor!"
He put me in a Doctors smock with a stethoscope big as Texas, a Hoss Cartwright hat and Big black boots that didn't fit! Well I'll be darned if it didn't work! I worked for Rick for 6 of the best years of my life. Rick was my boss and is still my very dear friend. What a great asset to Houston radio! We need more like him!
Steve "Horse Doctor" Weldon
UFO SITED IN GALVESTON
KUFO is now out of this world, but its body has been found! KUFO was an attempt at an album rock station for Galveston.
On October 19, 2009, Josh Holstead wrote:
Hey Grady:
Josh Holstead here. aka Rowdy Yates from KILT. I do not suppose you have any shots of the old KUFO studios?
I was in Sea Isle the other day and saw a place that I SWEAR had the top to their old studio screwed on to it. I even took a picture.
Let me know, and love the web site.
Josh
My response:
Hello, Josh,
I only went to KUFO once, but I think it was on the Flagship Hotel pier. If that was the case, then it would have to be the saucer shaped image in the background of this image.
This photo was taken in the fall of 1980 when I was on the seawall every weekend to practice my photography. I wish I had taken more photos emphasizing the buildings and businesses of the time.
Please let me know whether KUFO was on the Flagship pier or not. If so, I will post this photo along with your message.
Here is the picture I sent to Josh. Look where the red arrow is pointing.That seems to be the KUFO saucer building in the right background on the Flagship pier.
Josh wrote back:
That is IT! I'm going to send you a pic from my phone of just where that thing sits now. Might be something interesting for your site.
Thanks
Josh
Here is the recent picture which Josh sent:
Josh explained:
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry.... It is in Sea Isle, on Lampassas Drive. Kind of hard to miss!
Can anybody help verify whether either picture was the KUFO building? You can click on my seawall photo for a better view.
I am not completely certain that the new photo is the same saucer as the one on the pier. The top is missing, and I am not sure the windows look the same. It is hard to tell since my own photo was taken at a great distance.
I know that there was more than one building around in the shape of a saucer. I remember seeing one featured in a magazine in the 70's. As I recall, it was somewhere in Texas but not in the Houston area . I need someone who worked at KUFO to look at both pictures.
Gordon Bassham
On October 25, 2009, Gordon Bassham wrote:
Hi Grady,Good to see someone still remembers the “golden days” of Houston radio. Hope the years have treated you well GB.
My response:
Hello, Gordon,
Believe it or not, I was just thinking about you — mainly about how ridiculously long it took me to answer you when you wrote a couple of years ago.
That was when everybody seemed to be writing me at once, and I was spending most of my free time trying to get the remaining airchecks on line.
Right now, I am spending less time on the radio page content while I learn more about web site development. Most of what I have ever learned about creating web sites has come from trial and error methods. I am at a point where I need to hit the computer books more and learn more about the underlying technology.
Thanks for writing. I hope you are doing well.
Note: Gordon attended Communications classes with me at the University of Houston. He had previously worked at KMSC in Clear Lake and went on to a long career in broadcasting.
Lou Hanlon
On October 1, 2009, Mary Dillon wrote:
Dear Grady,
Hello and THANK YOU for such a fantastic site and all the memories -- brought back many, many fond memories of being at various radio stations with my Dad as a child in Houston and going with him to functions, events, and even some interviews he did.
My name is Mary Dillon. I'm 53 years old and reside in the Austin, Texas area.
My father was Lou Hanlon (radio name and the name his friends knew him by); full name Luther O'Hanlon. He was a radio newscaster and DJ during the 1960s and 70s in Houston. He passed away in the early 1990s and I'm currently trying to track down ANYONE in Radio during that time who remembers him.
I'm ultimately trying to put together a chronological history of where he worked when (which stations, dates) AND would gladly pay for ANY recordings of his voice. (I listened to several things - most I think!) on your site and didn't hear him, though I recognized jingles and station announcements that he too would make.
I know he worked at KTRH, KEYH (talk/news). The only DATE I have is that he was at KEYH News in 1976. He also once worked at KODA in the 1960s. I believe he also worked at KPRC and KXYZ and KULF. Possibly others and maybe one of these is wrong.
He was a very petite man, but quite handsome, lots of red/(auburn brown as he got older) hair. He originally came out of Armed Forces Radio; did numerous radio shows back then overseas in Europe (I was born in Germany). I have many photos of him in radio recording rooms back in the late 1940s and 50s - and one from the early-mid-70s in Houston. I could scan this and send it to anyone who thinks they may have known him.
He had a marvelous deep baritone friendly voice, was a people person, great interviewer and liked either investigative reporting or human interest stories. I've run into people over the years who recall listening to him and the name, but no one yet who was in Radio back then that knew him. He also worked as a DJ off and on; worked a lot of late night hours too.
Any suggestions? Or do you know anyone else I could write to that may recall him?
ANY assistance at all would be greatly appreciated!
Best Regards,
Mary (O'Hanlon) Dillon
Chuck McCann
On August 18, 2009 Chuck McCann wrote:
Hi Grady,
Just came across your site.
I, like all the others, enjoyed so
much the memories of early Houston/Galveston radio.
Names and events I have long forgotten
were reborn again.
Thanks for the memories.
Chuck McCann – KMSC, KRBE, KNUZ,
KILE. 1968-1972
President - A.R.E. Network
Austin, Texas
512-349-2119
Bill Moffett
On September 29, 2008, Bill Moffett
- Moffett Productions wrote:
I found your
site by fortune the other night while enjoying surfing.
I worked at the very latter days of KXYZ from 1975-1979.
It was one of the greatest stations I ever worked at and
I worked at a few. KXYZ KLOL KFMK KAUM KSRR WLS.
I love your site. Please contact me.
Bill Moffett, President/CEO
Moffett Productions, Inc.
16140 Kuykendahl, Suite 126
Houston, Texas 77068
PH: 281-440-0044
On July 26, 2008, Roger Reini wrote:
I still keep up with the Houston
Retro Radio site, and I've found a tie-in to that.
On Buddy McGregor's KNUZ clip from
June 16, 1965, they talk of watching P.J. Proby's appearance
on Shindig that evening. That episode of Shindig is available
on YouTube in seven segments. The first segment, the only
one I've watched so far, is at http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=LhBhfuGRWfI.
The other 6 segments are there, too; look for SHINDIG 40.
Now that's what I call an interesting
convergence, indeed!
Roger Reini
Aircheck:
KNUZ, Houston,
June 16, 1965, Buddy McGregor
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