"I Was There"
Seventy-Fifth of a series ...

Waaahoooooo!!!!!! Yes, YES!!!! A few columns ago I wrote about a baseball superstar- to-be named Jeff Francoeur who is a rookie with the Atlanta Braves. I understand that the column was copied and handed out to a lot of students, faculty and coaches at Parkview High School (in Georgia) which Jeff attended. Terrific!!! He and they should be VERY proud because I have just learned that Jeff will be on the cover of the next Sports Illustrated. Pretty incredible for a rookie!!! Hey, who knows… maybe those guys and ladies at SI read my column and got the Jeff/front cover idea…if so I want a royalty/commission. Just kidding!!! All I know is that Jeff has the proper attitude in life to self motivate AND to motivate others….just as those broadcasters with the proper attitude can motivate other broadcasters.

I am in Dallas, and being here has reminded me of one of the most hysterical events that has occurred in radio; however, it wasn’t too funny to the police. The scene is three decades ago. A disc jockey (I do not recall his name) was on KLIF (a 50 share guy….you read that correctly…a FIFTY share of audience radio station jock) was doing his afternoon drive shift. It was rush hour….5 PM or so. The jock abruptly turned off the record he was playing and stated, “Here is a traffic bulletin for all of you traveling north on the North Central Expressway. Pull over to the side of the expressway and stop. Someone will come tell you what to do.” And he repeated it. As you might imagine fifty per cent of the listening drivers pulled over…by the thousands..…and the other fifty percent pulled over because they didn’t know why the first fifty percent pulled over!!! For ten minutes nothing happened!!!! Then the police showed up and asked, “Why have you all pulled over”?? The general response was, “Sorry officer, but we were instructed to do so by the disc jockey on KLIF”. And, of course, the officers told the drivers what they wanted to hear….START DRIVING!!! So the jock had not lied…someone had come along and told them what to do…the COPS!!! Five minutes later the police were at the KLIF studios…and it gets a little hazy here…there are lots of opinions/rumors as to what happened next. However, at the request of the police some unknown announcer grabbed a mic and said, “Those who are stopped on North Central Express….start your engines, and continue on your way”. Rumor has it the disc jockey was jailed and Gordon McLendon, the station’s owner, had to bail him out. Another rumor was that Gordon, himself, was arrested. Another rumor was that the offending jock drove to Love Field and took the next flight to anywhere. Another rumor was the police complained to the FCC and asked for a KLIF license revocation. Another rumor was that Gordon bodily through the jock out the front door, and fired him. SOOOO….I don’t know what the final result of this hoax is…but maybe someone who knows Dallas radio history has the answer…and will e-mail it to me…so I can write it for YOU next week. I do know that Dallas folks still talk and laugh when telling the story …yet, one more time!!!

And more from Dallas…the Dallas Morning News printed the names of those to be inducted in the Texas Radio Hall of Fame come November5th. Along with George Carlin, Sam Donaldson, Milo Hamilton and other greats is the late Hugh Lampman. To my knowledge he is the first all night air personality to ever be elected to any Hall of Fame. And believe me he deserves it!!! He set the pace and style for all night programs around the US. The entire overnight was sponsored by American Airlines who knew about Hugh’s large listening audience and popularity. Hugh had a mid-range voice…not too high, not too low. You heard EVERY word he said. He had a very informal style. He had a medium to slow speed delivery. This is a sample of what he might have said, “You’re on your all night flight…sponsored by American Airlines. I’m Hugh Lampman….let’s fly together”. And, of course, the record to follow would probably be Come Fly With Me by Frank Sinatra or something similar. Hugh was the BEST segue jock…ever!!!! (Machine Gun Kelly…known as MG Kelly these days is second). Brilliant announcer/personality was Hugh!!!! I know because I WAS THERE. I listened to him many times.

And in closing some Dallas radio trivia. I have been told by many over the decades that Jack Ruby….the man who killed Lee Harvey Oswald…visited the KLIF studios frequently. And, indeed called on the hot line and/or request line to say hello to the jocks….too often!!!!
 

e-mail Kent kent@kentburkhart.com