Galveston's KILE Radio in the 60's
Darrell Hendrix was a B.O.I. ("Born
on the Island") KILE announcer in the late 60's. Darrell
mailed us his own 1969 airchecks already organized into
mp3 files. They arrived from Nebraska, a state where hurricanes
hardly happen.
By the way, 1969 was also the year
when Glen Campbell and songwriter Jimmy Webb looked at Galveston
and catapulted its name into a top ten hit.
My guess is that the first aircheck
was recorded on June 13, 1969, since it was the only Friday
the 13th that year.
KILE,
Galveston, 1969, Darrell Hendrix, Part 1
KILE,
Galveston, 1969, Darrell Hendrix, Part 2
KILE,
Galveston, 1969, Darrell Hendrix, Part 3
More KILE air checks
KILE,Galveston,
July 5, 1961, Paul Williams
KILE,
Galveston, July, 12, 1966, Tom Nathan Tyler
A local station for Clear Lake City: Girl DJ's and all that jazz
KMSC, Clear Lake City - Houston, August 17, 1968
This aircheck features Linda Allen.
I never talked to her personally, but she was one of several
obscure DJ's I heard during the pre-dawn hours that particular
summer.
Who was Linda Allen? I doubt that
was the exact form of her name on her birth certificate.
Even in 1968, it was unlikely that a woman working the all
night show -- probably alone -- at a suburban radio station
would have used her real name.
Of all the FM stations, I tended
to give extra attention to KMSC. Located in Clear Lake City
near NASA, it was in my part of the Houston area. I visited
the studio on at least one occasion while still in my teens. I tended to think of it as a local station for southeast Harris County and the bay area.
As this aircheck indicates, KMSC
played up its proximity to the space program: "Overlooking
NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center from luxurious studios..."
That also explained the call letters.
John "Shorty" Powers, the
NASA voice for early manned space launches, held an interest
in the station at one point. When I was about 16, I called
the station, and Powers picked up the phone. That was when
I first learned that it is not all that hard to meet a celebrity.
This 1968 recording was made at a
time when I only listened occasionally. Jazz is not my strong
suit, and I actually listened much more during its early
history, 1965 and 1966.
At that time, KMSC sounded more like a cross between KXYZ
and KQUE. The staff included KXYZ veteran Jeff
Thompson, all night man Hert Porter, Gordon Bassham
(who I knew later at the University of Houston), folk music
aficionado Jim Bell, and Bob Elton, a DJ who became station
manager during its Jazz Age. All the while, much was made
of the NASA connection, and KMSC even staged its own "real
time" coverage of manned space launches.
KBTL has a very specialized format
KBTL,
Texas City, September 7, 1983-1
KBTL, Texas
City, September 7, 1983-2
Roger
Reini sent this material from Michigan.
Houston Retro Radio is hosted as part
of VASTHEAD.COM.
You can also access these pages by
going to http://houstonretro.com. |
