 |
| Author | Post |
|---|
artmorris
Administrator
|
Posted: Thu Apr 5th, 2007 06:20 pm |
|
Here's the link to the mp3 file
http://pages.suddenlink.net/artmorris/buddy1976.mp3
As many of you know, I worked at Buddy Deane's famous KOTN in Pine Bluff, Arkansas back in the early 70's. Buddy is a legend is our business, and best known for the "Buddy Deane Show" on Baltimore TV in the 60's. His show, and it's difficulty with racial integration, was spoofed in "Hairspray", the movie and show. "The Corny Collins Show" was loosely based on Buddy's TV show. Buddy's actually in the movie, as a news reporter in one scene.
After Baltimore, Buddy returned to his native Arkansas, and purchased KOTN. Like many other "Class IV" AM's in medium sized cities, KOTN was Top-40 powerhouse in the late 60's and 70's.
This recording is from 1976. I had left Arkansas, and moved to Missouri by then, but visited my folks often. This particular time, I brought a cassette recorder and captured Buddy's morning show. It is actually telescoped, but Buddy talked a lot, so it's still 45 minutes long.
Other voices you hear are Duane Haaman, John (Wellenberger) Wellington, and Larry Hart.
Sadly, Buddy passed away a couple of years ago.
It's like 6megs, so it takes a minute to download. It's a real time capsule. Enjoy!
Art
Last edited on Thu Apr 5th, 2007 07:25 pm by artmorris
|
MediaMogul
Member
| Joined: | Thu Apr 5th, 2007 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 8 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 6th, 2007 03:49 am |
|
KOTN was once a great station, and Pine Bluff was one time a thriving city.
KOTN is dark and will be lucky to ever come back. Pine Bluff is impoverished to the point that I don't know that it will ever return unless the new I-69 comes close enough to make it a traffic hub of some sort. The last thing they had going for them was the convention center that would host Razorback games and state tournaments, and now they don't even use that much.
That is truly a place that won't ever try... because it might require a bit of energy.
|
Kent Clark
Member
| Joined: | Sun Apr 8th, 2007 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 42 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Sun Apr 8th, 2007 03:07 pm |
|
Actually, Mogul, I have to agree with you on Pine Bluff. Rand McNally has also rated it in the bottom five places in America to live for something like 15 years now. It's been rated as the absolute worst at least once and probably quite-a-bit more. My father has told me stories about visiting Pine Bluff on business in the late 70's/early 80's. He was told not to open his hotel door after 5 PM no matter who the person knocking said they were. Otherwise, "They will rob you and kill you." He also told me about the houses with vending machines on the porches. He was told he was in the red light district and people waiting for their turn would buy a Coke to mix with their booze. Shortly after I started working at KLOZ, Big Dave and I were talking, and I found out he used to live in Arkansas. He found the same out about me. I heard lots of Pine Bluff stories from him since he used to work in radio there (I'm thinking at the now-struggling KPBQ)! I'm fortunate enough to have never been there myself, and I think that's a good thing!
Radio stations have left Pine Bluff in droves over the years. Some of them, like 1590, have just gone dark while KZLR/KOLL and KIPR have moved to Little Rock. KIPR, which I seem to remember as being co-owned with KOTN at one time, still remains licensed to Pine Bluff but is a Pine Bluff station in license only while KOLL relicensed itself to Maumelle about 15 years ago. The old KZLR 1270 became KPBA in 1988, which was about a year before KZ-95 gave way to Cool 95, but it has since gone dark, too. The remaining Pine Bluff stations are operating on life support.
Last edited on Sun Apr 8th, 2007 05:28 pm by Kent Clark
|
MediaMogul
Member
| Joined: | Thu Apr 5th, 2007 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 8 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Mon Apr 9th, 2007 01:18 am |
|
| Big Dave?? The one who recently worked in Arkansas?
|
Kent Clark
Member
| Joined: | Sun Apr 8th, 2007 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 42 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Mon Apr 9th, 2007 02:25 am |
|
| Don't know if it's the same one or not, but I know he's worked in Pine Bluff and Harrison at KHOZ. I was thinking he had worked in Rolla and Ft. Leonard Wood before going to KLOZ, but he could have had another stop between.
|
artmorris
Administrator
|
Posted: Mon Apr 9th, 2007 01:16 pm |
|
Regarding Pine Bluff.....
I share your sadness for what has happened to the stations, and the community. I've watched Pine Bluff go from a vibrant small city in the 60's and early 70's into a blighted, poor place that many people have fled.
I grew up nearby, in Stuttgart, Arkansas. While it's only 30 miles away, Stuttgart was a world away from Pine Bluff. Stuttgart was about rice farming and duck hunting. Pine Bluff was about cotton & tree farming and a giant paper mill. Pine Bluff was also the home of Arkansas AM&N college (now UAPB), which was a nationally known school, with an almost entirely black student body. This population skewed the demographic, and of course, influenced the formats of the stations.
Even KOTN, which was a Top-40 station, skewed heavily toward R&B. One of our competitors, KCAT, was an all R&B station, and had a record store in the front office. It was truly unusual.
My mom still lives down there, and we get to Pine Bluff once in a while. It's so sad to see what's happened to the town. But, I can't say it's much different than many other similar size cities. Farming has been taken over by corporate entities, limiting the profit farmers can make. Many industries left (many overseas), leaving entire classes of workers without income. It's not a unique story.
I have warm, fuzzy memories of Pine Bluff and KOTN. But, they're just that, memories.
art
|
Current time is 03:32 am | |
|
|
|
|
