Houston Retro Radio
If you have original Houston radio tapes that you would like to see on this web site, please write to this web site Upon request, the tapes will be returned along with an mp3 disc of all the material. Most newer CD and DVD players can play mp3 CD's, and each disc can contain several hours of material. The mp3 files can also be copied to your computer or portable device. If you prefer regular CD's, you can use the mp3 files to burn them on your computer. |
KEY PAGES ON THIS SITE:
The James Thomson Poetry Works
Alamo Page: Final Appeals from Travis
An Unhurried Look at Time Management
All Business and Training Articles
Weather Over, Near and Surrounding Houston
Bertha Rita McAllister (1924-2OO2)
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Unless otherwise indicated, all commentary and photography on this site are by Grady McAllister.
On October 28, 2008, Bill Young wrote:
Bill Young was program director of KILT at the time of most of the KILT airchecks. His voice appears in many places on this site, including numerous commercials and the intro for the Alex Bennett show. Bill Young also did the midday show at KILT, and you'll find his airchecks on the Mainly '60's page. The Jim Wood recording is also on the Mainly '60's page. |
Hudson & HarriganAdded December 24, 2008 KILT, Houston, June
15, 1977,
I never recorded Hudson and Harrigan myself, and this is the first H & H aircheck to appear on this site. When the first Harrigan joined the late Mac Hudson in 1968, I never dreamed the names would still be a major franchise 40 years later. Apparently this material has previously appeared on the internet. I don't go out of my way to collect airchecks from other sites, but I will use them when people send them as mp3 files. Even though I rarely listened to the show, the chatter on this recording brings back some personal memories. H and H mention the massive street flooding which had struck Houston a year earlier. During that period, I had to drive 80 miles each way for my night job at KIOX in Bay City. I lived on a Montrose area street that never flooded, but it flooded that day. I decided not to even attempt my absurdly long commute to Bay City. That decision didn't win me any points with the radio station, but it turned out to be right one. When I drove to work the following afternoon, I noticed abandoned vehicles all along South Main. If I had tried to drive in the deluge, I would have never made it beyond my own street. This aircheck also mentions the recent appointment of Harry Caldwell as Houston police chief. It was around that time that he appeared on my Sunday night talk show on KIKK. Please bear in mind that I am no expert on the Hudson and Harrigan franchise and the various personnel changes over the years. I do remember that the show started with the late Hudson Mac Roach, and I also remember listening when he was trying out the first Harrigan. Beyond that my memory is vague. In my adult life, I have never been a regular morning drive listener. Whenever I have to experience a day with 6:00 A.M. in it, I am in no mood to listen to the patter if a DJ duo or nineteen minutes of commercials per hour. I do know that there have been various other Hudsons and Harrigans and that KLOL's Stevens and Pruett were some sort of breakaway continuation of an H and H team. I am also fairly certain that this 1977 aircheck does not contain the either the original Hudson or the original Harrigan. Hopefully, the few facts I have stated here are correct. Perhaps somebody who knows the entire history can write me a brief summary. Grady McAllister On November 2, 2009,Bill Bradley wrote:
My response:
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Mainly '70's
KULF IN THE EARLY 70'SKULF, Houston, A Compilation from 1972 & 1973 Use this link to listen to all of the materials at once. Individual cuts are listed and described below. Bob Green, program director of KULF in 1972 and 1973, sent this material from Houston. KULF was one of the several incarnations of AM 790. (For a more general background, please see "All Receivers Are Go" in the column to the right.) Even though I was not a consistent KULF listener, all of the DJ's that Green mentions are familiar to me — at least as familiar as the KILT personalities of the day. The AM 790 of 1972 placed a heavy emphasis on personality in both its DJ's and its newscasters. That gave the station a glow that looked very different from the industrialized Demand Radio style of 1962. And yet, I don't recall hearing any abrupt, all encompassing format change at a single time.One thing that was usually true from the 50's through the early 80's was that the station aimed at a more mature audience than the reigning top 40 stations. When did KTHT become KULF? My own recollection is that early one evening I was driving by St. Joseph Hospital near the I-45 overpass south of downtown Houston. I was not very far from the KTHT studio in the Central National Bank Building. I was tuned to the news on that station. At the very end of the newscast, the announcer stated that KTHT had become KULF on that very day. (I tend to think that this was in the fall of 1969. If you have the exact date of the change, please send me a note.) Bob Green describes these KULF recordings as follows:
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A Roundup of Airchecks from the '70'sThese airchecks came from other people. The undated items seem to be from the early 70's. I determined the names simply by listening to the material. In the case of K.O. Bayley, I had to look up the spelling on the internet. Please let me know if there are any errors. KILT, Houston, Barry Kaye #1 |
KRBE in the Mid 70'sFormer Houston area resident Roger Reini sent this material from Michigan. Reini states that he appreciated "the clip of Buddy McGregor" even though he is "too young to remember him in his heyday." Reini recalls hearing that "Garner State Park" anthem on an oldies show around 1979 or 1980. According to Reini, that could have been either on a program MacGregor had on KQUE or on another oldies show on KULF. Reini's continues: Web master's commentary: It's hard to imagine the 70's without the National Lampoon. I was a long time subscriber, and I've managed to keep a few issues. I still have the issue with "Sargent Shriver's Bleeding Hearts Club Band" as well as the Lemmings and Radio Dinner phonograph records. They contain materials which wouldn't pass muster for today's Political Correctness. The publication took shots at all parts of the political spectrum and always managed to reach new heights in low taste.I remember that 3-D issue. The 3-D idea is a fad that comes back from time to time but never seems to stick. A few days before I received this aircheck, I saw the 3-D movie Beowulf (2007). Unlike the old 3-D glasses, the theater gave me ones with light grayish lenses. The old kind of glasses used a red lens and a cyan lens. (Cyan is the color of the border around the column you are now reading . It is also called aqua.) The National Lampoon had a real radio program for a time. I remember hearing it on KLOL in 1974. Added December 3, 2007 Houston Retro Radio is hosted as part of VASTHEAD.COM. You can also access these pages by going to http://houstonretro.com. |
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