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WVLK
Nov 23, 2009 11:07:04 GMT -5
Post by purplezinger on Nov 23, 2009 11:07:04 GMT -5
Does anyone (other than me) remember Arty Kay. He was the morning wake-up on WVLK. I believe during the late 1940's and most of the 1950's? His tag lines were "1st cup of coffee hour" "2nd cup of coffee hour" etc.
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WVLK
Nov 23, 2009 16:47:29 GMT -5
Post by John Quincy on Nov 23, 2009 16:47:29 GMT -5
I remember listening to Artie in the '60s and very early '70s. I believe he started there in the '50s. I remember his "first cup of coffee" time checks. The 6a hour was the first cup of coffee, the 7a hour was the second cup of coffee, etc.
I e-mailed one of his WVLK contemporaries, Jim Jordan, and asked him for more on Artie. He wrote:
Died from heart attack which he had at the radio station. Was number 1 in market for years. He was a great fellow. Loved a 6 hr board shift. When we cut him to 4 hrs he was upset.
His hobby was poodle dogs; loved to raise and sell them. He was very protective of HIS record closet...wore a tie to work always.
He was a delightful man...loved radio and his work and set the ratings bar way up there in Lexington morning radio. Followed on the air by JERRY DEAN who we hired out of OHIO.
He got tons of mail for song requests for birthdays etc....and read them from end to end on the air.
One of his favorite sayings was GEE WHIZ......AK on a MONDAY, ETC. He worked his own board but didn't really know how to get a live report on or a phone interview on the air, so someone had to help with that...but he was great.
He must have had 30 school districts report in on snow days. It was unreal and they swore by him. NO OTHER station had anywhere near that in LEXINGTON.
He did live a few years after his heart attack but as fate would have it he could not speak very well after the attack.
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WVLK
Nov 26, 2009 5:43:54 GMT -5
Post by John Quincy on Nov 26, 2009 5:43:54 GMT -5
We received this e-mail from former WVLK weekend jock Jim Plummer on November 25, 2009:
John -
Kindly forward my e-mail address to Jim Jordan or send me his as I would like to get back in touch with those guys sometime. My small place in WVLK history was the having LAST live show from the Phoenix Hotel and after my live two hour music show, we transitioned to the Towers during the first hour of Dick Clark's Rock, Roll and Remember, with me finishing my Sunday evening shift from the Towers new control room that night. The big "Official" transition was the next morning (Monday drive time) but the first live words from Kincaid were my "Rainbow Radar" weather forecasts during those RR&R final two hours, which gave Paul Dunbar the knowledge that the main control room mics, all 6 cart machines and both turntables were indeed working very well for the "Big Show" the following morning. As such, I was the last air talent to "play the hits," close down, and ride the service elevator from the 8th floor of the Phoenix on that Sunday evening.
I was on air weekends there from 1978 to 1983, and with my first phone license, could legally fly the all night shift alone from the transmitter site, which I did a few times. My jock shout is in the 1979 jingles you have posted on the web page, which shows how well WVLK treated even the week enders. Ralph and Jimmy were great to work for and it was a good time for me those five years and it was all "clean" on air work. I never turned a screwdriver for Bluegrass Broadcasting, but was making a decent living doing that very thing for the area 1 KW tea-kettles and in television engineering work full time.
Everywhere else, I was just "The Engineer" and only a few folks knew I had limited "dual threat" status over the years and knew the importance of properly operating remote starts, down timers, secondary tones for carts, clean audio and such from first hand experience on the other side of the mic!
I'm going to get around to digging out some more "stuff" I have from the area stations soon.
Thanks.
Jim Plummer aka: James Kay
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WVLK
Nov 29, 2009 0:08:49 GMT -5
Post by radiorob on Nov 29, 2009 0:08:49 GMT -5
If I remember correctly, Artie Kay was one of several who migrated to the "Mighty Five-Nine-Oh" from the old WKLX. Artie's reign as morning man ended in the very early seventies. His replacement didn't last long and was replaced with Dan Kelly who held mornings until about 1977. Dan was replaced by Jack Pattie. WLAP morning man Dave Murray was hired away and did afternoons. When Jack left for WLAP, Dave took over mornings and the PD position. Dave left for Oklahoma City in 1982 and Dan Kelly was rehired for mornings and PD. Dan left WVLK in 1984 and Jack returned to mornings without the PD title and has been there ever since.
Dave Murray did mornings in OKC until he retired earlier this decade. After WVLK, Dan Kelly worked at WWKB Buffalo (former WKBW). He eventually replaced long time morning man Dan Neaverth and handled the shift until KB's demise. At last report, he's retired in Buffalo. I guess Jack wins the prize for Lexington morning man longevity; twenty-five years not including his work during the seventies.
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WVLK
Feb 3, 2010 16:51:06 GMT -5
Post by rickleigh on Feb 3, 2010 16:51:06 GMT -5
John: please pass this along to purplezinger. I also worked with Artie Kay at WVLK...he was on later in the 60's as well.. He smoked Antonio Green Cigars at 5:30am for his morning show. And one claim to fame was while he was board "riding" and feeding numerous stations during the KHSAA Sweet 16 tournament--nature called, and he was afraid to leave the control room, so the AP news bucket caught it all. Probably what AP news was really worth!! Rick Leigh
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WVLK
May 18, 2010 18:25:13 GMT -5
Post by cincykid on May 18, 2010 18:25:13 GMT -5
Just wondering if anyone remembers the years that WVLK was on the Burger Beer Baseball Network and carried the Cincinnati Reds' games? I was going to college in south-central Kentucky in 1962-63-64 and used to pick up the daytime broadcasts from WVLK. Hearing them at night was much more difficult as the station must have cut its power and/or went directional. When I first turned in, I noticed how WVLK's signal was much better toward the south than to the north (back toward Cincinnati). I'm not sure how many seasons that station was a part of the network carrying the Reds. Maybe some has some information or details about those days.
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WVLK
May 21, 2010 19:08:15 GMT -5
Post by radiorob on May 21, 2010 19:08:15 GMT -5
WVLK's daytime signal protect WKZO Kalamazoo www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WVLK&service=AM&status=L&hours=DThe night time signal protects Atlanta and a slew of other 590's and adjacent channels www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WVLK&service=AM&status=L&hours=NIt's worth noting WVLK suffers the same fate as many post war regional AM's covering the market that grew. WVLK was originally licensed to Versailles (W..Versailles Lexington Kentucky) so the bulk of the night signal had to cover the COL. At the time, the nulls through Lexington affected farmland but became the area of growth twenty years later. The Atlanta null actually runs along Man of War Blvd. There were many discussion on moving the tower farm but it would have been cost prohibitive.
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WVLK
Sept 29, 2010 11:05:46 GMT -5
Post by mikeproctor on Sept 29, 2010 11:05:46 GMT -5
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WVLK
Aug 20, 2011 20:31:57 GMT -5
Post by jphflyspy on Aug 20, 2011 20:31:57 GMT -5
Each morning Artie Kay would telephone my uncle, Laurence Sheets, at his restaurant, Laurence's Sandwich Shop, to ask what the special of the day. There was a short discussion back and forth. Anybody remember that?
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