Jim Bohannon has to be one of the most interesting people in radio that I’ve ever met. Jim has a home on Lake Hartwell and he occasionally pops by to sit in on Morning Talk. That’s how I finally got the chance to meet him. Of course, like any other listener, I felt like I already knew him. His great voice, quick wit, and easy going style are something I’ve enjoyed and admired for years. Meeting him I discovered something else equally enjoyable: he’s a kindred radio spirit who links me to some great memories of broadcast days when music still played on AM stations, FM was trying to gain ground, and the only “net” we had was for tennis.
This comes to mind from listening to Jim do his Off Beat feature on America in the Morning awhile back. Usually it’s a story about the crazy things humans do when left to their own thoughts. On this particular installment he shared stories from his early days in radio. It set me wandering through the archives of my own radio history and some of the more interesting events and people that populate it.
One of our afternoon hosts during the music days of the 80’s had a prosthesis on one of his legs from the knee down. Doug wasn’t at all self-conscious and would often make jokes about it. But the joke was on me when I went into the men’s room one afternoon and saw it standing by itself complete with athletic sock and tennis show. Not the sort of thing you expect to see when entering the restroom…or any room for that matter. When I mentioned it to him, he replied “oh yeah, thanks! I wondered where it wandered off.”
Remotes were a bigger deal in those days. We did them everywhere, including a drive through ATM. In fact, the remote ran all night with our afternoon guy (a different one) camping there. He had a lawn chair and a broadcast unit. We ran the Larry King Show overnights then and our guy called the show. Larry thought it was a hoot that he was out there all night. That bank has since changed names, Larry has moved on to other ventures,, and the ATM site is now a parking lot. But we’re still here.
During the mid-80’s we had a program director who hosted the mid-day show. In the process of taking requests, he would often get a call from a woman who would accuse us of spying on her through her radio. She thought we could actually see her. After many occasions of assuring her that wasn’t the case, he finally gave in. He told her we were watching her through her toaster not her radio. She’s also the woman who came to the station with a kitchen knife looking for our morning man. Careful what you say to a lady with a watchful toaster.
On one of my first shifts back in the WIDE 107 FM days, I too received a rather interesting call. I was 16 and working Saturday overnight. I answered the phone ready to take a request. It was a request alright. The woman on the other end wanted to know if it was okay if she made love to me over the phone. Stunned, I didn’t know what to say. As it turns out neither did she and she hung up. Of course you have to remember I had only worked at WBCX as a volunteer jock to that point. We never got calls unless we mispronounced the name of a classical composer during the Saturday Morning Classics Show. When I was at WBCX I would often put on a long song, run down to my car, and drive around the block listening to the station. I’m goofy…I know already.
Of course radio is littered with characters. One was Hugh “Baby” Jarrett who was a member of The Jordanaires. They used to do background vocals for Elvis. Hugh went from the Jordanaires into radio and had a few big gigs in his day. He wound up working in Gainesville at WLBA and later for us at WGGA. Hugh was famous for coming in ten minutes late and asking the jock who was waiting to go home “how’s my show sound so far?”
I know it’s not much of a life, but it’s the only one I’ve got. See you on the radio or maybe on your toaster.
