Tag Archives: KBOA

Jeff Wheeler (1942-2015)

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Jeff Wheeler

Jeff Wheeler died last Friday. In 2002 a massive stroke left him unable to speak or walk and he spent the past 13 years in an assisted living facility in Kennett, MO.

When I applied for a job at KBOA in 1972, Jeff set me up in a studio with some copy and a tape recorder for my audition tape. I got the job and he showed me what I needed to know to work at a small town radio station. We worked together for most of the next dozen years.

I never met anyone who knew more about music. He built and maintained a huge record library (with double-entry card catalog) for the radio station. Like many in markets that size, Jeff did everything: DJ, news, sports, commercials, etc.

The stroke that took Jeff’s voice (and mobility) left his cognition in tact. He understood what other said to him, he just couldn’t respond.

A few weeks (?) after his stroke, Jeff’s wife died suddenly of cancer. That, my friends, is some Old Testament shit. I doubt anyone knows how Jeff really felt about the hand he was dealt ‘cause Jeff wasn’t talking. Never again.

His daughter and brother-in-law got in touch to see if I had any recordings of Jeff. Like a lot of radio guys, Jeff never got around to saving air checks and such because, well, he thought he’d always be working in radio.

I found an hour-long “History of KBOA” Jeff produced in 1976 and pulled out 4 minutes they played during his funeral. First time in 13 years anyone had heard Jeff’s voice. First time ever for a few, I suppose.

What you could hear in those few minutes was how much Jeff loved what he was doing. How much he liked talking on the radio. And you could hear how painful it must have been these last 13 years to be unable to utter a word.

But he’s back on the air now. Somewhere. Probably. Doing play-by-play, the county spelling bee, Trading Post, the Hometown News. Never sounded better.

The Lumpkin Family

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The Lumpkin Family

I’d watch a TV show based on a 50’s era family that made their living performing on small town radio stations. I might make one or both of the children “little people” passing as kids. Maybe the wife transgender. The gimmick would be they are all very talented but couldn’t make it as solo acts and discover — by humorous accident — that they’re a hit as a family. The thing practically writes itself.

Some KBOA colleagues

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Below are a few of the people I worked with at KBOA (Kennett, MO) in the 70’s. Not sure when or why these photos were taken and they’re obviously no professional pics but I share them here, for the record. Top row: Ted Guffy, Keith Parker, John Mays. Middle row: Charlie Isbell, Charlie Austin, Larry Anthony. Bottom row: Bob Conner. More on KBOA at KBOA830.com

Before digital

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stevemays-kboa

Taken sometime in the early 80’s? My desk at KBOA (Kennett MO). Manual typewriter instead of computer; rotary dial phone; 45rpm records in the shelves behind me; paper desk calendar; bulletin board; cassette tape.

Gaylon Watson

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Gaylon Watson and smays
Yesterday I drove to the little town of Piedmont, in southeast Missouri, to meet Gaylon Watson. Gaylon worked at KBOA back in the fifties and I have long wanted to meet him and capture some oral history from those early days of the station where my father and I once worked. Gaylon’s eighty now but healthy and sharp as a tack. His 28 years in broadcasting covered a lot of ground and we only captured some of it in this recording.
Gaylon’s eighty now but healthy and sharp as a tack. His 28 years in broadcasting covered a lot of ground and we only captured some of it in this recording. We had to leave some on the editing room floor because of the noisy restaurant. After lunch Gaylon gave me the “Chamber of Commerce” tour of Piedmont (where he was mayor for 16 years) and then took me to meet his three dogs who live in splendor on 20 beautiful acres in the Missouri Ozarks.

Tom Colvin

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Tom Colvin died last night. He was one of a handful of people who thought I was amusing. We co-hosted a daily, hour-long talk show on a little radio station during the 70’s. The Grapevine was one from one until two each weekday afternoon and featured interviews, listener calls and such. But on most days we just shot the shit and it was great fun (for us). Tom had a really infectous laugh and it wasn’t difficult to get one from him. And he was a good sport. One year we drove a golf cart in the fall festival parade, dressed as Laurel and Hardy. We tossed out hundreds of photos (below) that almost nobody picked up.

Stan_Ollie

Once a month (more often?) we spent our hour of airtime playing trivia with listeners. This was pre-internet so you had to know your stuff and Tom did. The guy watched a LOT of television. Here we are with the other members of our team. L-R: Jeff Wheeler, John Robison (seated), Tom, and me.

KBOA_trivia_bowl

Tom was a hard-working radio news guy and loved doing play-by-play sports as well. I left the station in 1984 and Tom shortly thereafter, as I recall. He worked in a number of small markets in Missouri before failing health forced him to retire. I went to see him last September at his home in Rolla. Must have been 20 or 25 years since we’d seen each other. I’m glad I knew him. I’m glad I got to work with him.

Time for Talk: KBOA830.com

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Time for Talk was (is?) a public access program on the local cable system in Kennett, MO. As I recall, it started about the same time I began working at the local radio station, KBOA.

Time for Talk was a labor of love for Dr. Russ Burcham (a local dentist) and his wife, Rosemary. Rosemary did the interviews and Russ worked the camera. Sort of Wayne’s World with Aunt Bea and Sheriff Taylor replacing Wayne and Garth.

Time for Talk was 15 minutes long, as I recall. And it was kind of big deal in our little town because it was about the only way you’d ever see your self on television without getting arrested or dying in bus crash.

Because I was “on the radio,” Russ and Rosemary had me on several times over the years. Before YouTube, the only way you’d see one of these treasures was to go to Kennett.

This one was recorded in 1998, fourteen years after I left Kennett. Rosemary asked me to talk about the website I created for the local station (my first effort at a website). Enjoy.

A quest to save AM radio

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Most of my on-air time for the dozen years (1972-82) I worked at my hometown radio station was on the AM station. In the 60s (?) the station sold (at cost?) “FM converters” because so few cars had FM receivers. This NY Times story tells the tale:

“In 1978 half of all radio listening was on the AM dial. By 2011 AM listenership had fallen to 15 percent, or an average of 3.1 million people, according to a survey by Veronis Suhler Stevenson, a private investment firm. While the number of FM listeners has declined, too, they still averaged 18 million in 2011. (The figures are averages based on measuring listeners every 15 minutes.)”

“In 1970 AM accounted for 63 percent of broadcast radio stations, but now it accounts for 21 percent, or 4,900 outlets, according to Arbitron. FM accounts for 44 percent, or 10,200 stations. About 35 percent of stations stream content online.”

“Nearly all English-language AM stations have given up playing music, and even a third of the 30 Major League Baseball teams now broadcast on FM. AM, however, remains the realm of conservative talk radio, including roughly 80 percent of the 600 radio stations that carry Rush Limbaugh.”