Galveston,
Clear Lake, Texas City, Bay City
Added October 21, 2006 . . . Revised
April 14 , 2008
KILE 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
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.
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.
Added December 15, 2007
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.
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