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Why do you so fondly remember
the station? After all, it was just a radio station...right?
It was a part of "me" - I was of
the transistor radio generation and I remember have a really cool radio with
earphones. Talking about the DJs' conversation out you on the "inside." The
songs were played frequently, which allowed me to learn the words well -
another sign of "coolness." The very definition of cool for me was hanging out
at Clarksville pool in the summertime - laying on a towel with my transistor
tuned to 79!
Do you remember when you
first became aware of WAKY?
I think it was in middle school.
I do recall liking WAKY because they played a lot of Partridge Family
and Bobby Sherman.
What was so appealing about the station?
I loved the DJ's and the fact
that I could tune in anytime and hear something I knew and liked. I remember
when I was a bit older listening to Bill Bailey in the morning.
In the days before iPods and ear-buds, I could put my transistor under my
pillow and fall asleep to WAKY!
Did you regularly listen to WKLO (or any other Louisville station)?
NO - NO - NO. I was only a WAKY
listener.
Who was your favorite WAKY air personalities?
Coyote Calhoun! I suppose since I now teach with Mike Wascher,
I should say Bill Graham. I do remember
Bill Bailey and Reed Yadon, but I always LOVED Coyote Calhoun.
Coyote Calhoun
Do you remember any
particular WAKY outside promotions -- events that happened away from the
station?
I remember going to a basketball
game where 'KLO DJ's played WAKY DJ's. I think it might have been at
Jeffersonville High School, but I don't recall where. It was the place to be
"seen" - THAT'S what I remember! I also remember WAKY's Haunted
House.
When I think back on
those days - it was a sort of a "coming of age" drama in which WAKY radio was
a star player. While I don't remember, in great detail, specific things. I DO
know that being a teen in the Louisville/Southern Indiana area meant WAKY
radio - at least in my peer group. The DJ's were the adult players who could
be trusted to not embarrass those of us who would prefer not to listen to
parents! At a time when we didn't trust anyone over 30 - guys like Coyote
Calhoun were ageless.
I remember well listening to
Three Dog Night's "Joy to the World." I LOVED THAT SONG!! And WAKY played
it often! Also, while nearly all of my peers were trying hard to be too cool
for "bubblegum" music, WAKY allowed me to listen and like guys like David
Cassidy, Bobby Sherman and Donny Osmond. It was a sort of
"unintentional listening" - if it was on the radio, and you happened to be
tuned in, you were "forced" to listen. (Don't you just love teenaged
rationalization??!!)
If I hear (sadly, this type of
music is lost today) "I Think I Love You," I am immediately back in
Clarksville with my room plastered in David Cassidy posters. Hearing The
Monkees takes me back to sleepovers at my friend Celine's house, where we
used to sneak into her older sister's room to steal Davy Jones trading
cards! (When I think of that music and those songs, I lament that a genre of
music appears to be lost.) While WAKY radio didn't drive that psychedelic bus,
it was always waiting comfortably at the next stop!
You know, what's really funny is that I use music from the '60s and '70s to
teach literature and literary devices: symbolism, metaphor, foreshadowing,
etc. My students love Wednesdays - they get to listen to "when music was
music." (There's a good deal of obligatory eye-rolling, but they actually
really seem to like it!) For students in this generation who get their info in
30 second sound bites - music is truly the universal language. I used to keep
a radio on low in the background in my classroom but the Oldies station (it
was safe, if you know what I mean) in Orlando is no more - Sure wish I had
WAKY!
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