Looking at one of the smaller markets now, Texarkana sits pretty much in the middle of truckers’ commute between Dallas and Little Rock… not much interesting radio for someone just driving through, but if you were to have been tuning around back in the early 80s, you might have stumbled upon KOSY. This AM / FM simulcast took on the FM personna of Y102.
It’s not bad, some interesting bits here and there. We like the fact that the jocks actually had something to say. No liner card reading here!
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I got “Texarkana Memories” from my friend Pat O’Brient, who currently lives in Texarkana, and has been in radio over 30 years. Pat is “on the beach” and looking for work, so if anyone needs a talented morning man, let me know and I’ll put you in touch with him! Thanks to Steve for putting this up!
what’s up pat o’ brient, whatever happened to walt beamon, and Pete Wiesner back in the late 70’s..??
Let me comment about this collection. Not all of it was on air. Some, as you can tell, was behind the scenes and some were made just for fun.
But it is nice to know it is there for all to enjoy.
ThanksQ!
I miss those days when I was on middays at Y-102…Ran across this site and listening to the airchecks brought back some great memories…There was great talent on the air back in those days…and I tried to absorb as much of it as I could…Pat O, Dan Marshall, Mario Garcia, Bill Morris, Don Michaels, Bob Stroud, Bryce Wray, and my dear friend Pete Wiesner–that was real radio…and I certainly miss it!
Paul Mills, Las Vegas, Nevada
(Paul St. John)
I don’t know if you guys heard, but Bob Stroud passed away. He had a very unusual past that most didn’t know about. You can view this website for details: http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/JonestownReport/Volume7/Stroud-Marley.htm
I never knew these facts about Bob, even after working with him.
It really surprised me.
Just a note, expanding on Pat O’ Briant’s 12/27/2008 comment: The part on this aircheck in which I brag about being “the best disc jockey” at the station was a JOKE that never aired. My real job was on KOSY’s AM station, and I never was really on KOSY-FM “Y102,” except as a voice on some commercials. [My daughter found this audio via Google, and thought it was real, so I wanted to set that straight.]
All that said, I do share my pals’ memories of (some) good times there, and our collective pain, as mentioned by Paul Mills on 1/2/2009, at the recent death of our friend, Pete Wiesner — better known in those days on the air as “Keith Griffin.” He was the very first jock with whom I worked at KOSY. The P.D., Don (“Don Michaels”) Rushin, had me sit in with him the first three days until I could figure out how the programming should go (which, as Pete noted back then, didn’t really take that long, but Rushin wanted it that way). I’d had the privilege of getting reacquainted with Pete in the last year or so via e-mail, but sadly learned a couple of weeks back that he had died. Gone too soon, ol’ buddy; R.I.P.
man I miss all the guys, back in the late 70’s and early 80’s, I remember the old location by ST.Michaels hospital downtown, and I would be in the old DIANA ROSS ALBUM COVER wearing that ‘bra-less’ t-shirt and ‘fantasizing’ (AND) the great guys that I worked with “pat o’ on the radio’ Mario Garcia, (My Soul Brotha- Pete Weisner) don michaels, walt (where is he now) beamon and more…GUYS IF YOU’RE OUT THERE …I LOVE YA! P.S. I ACTUALLY BEGAN ON THE AM SIDE, TRYIING TO BE AS GOOD AS ‘MIKE SHANNON’, THERE’S ONE FOR YA (FM)!
I had the honor of working with Bob at KLLI 96 FM in Texarkana after he left KOSY from ‘87-’89 and then we both went to work for KWKH in Shreveport. Bob was a good friend and I didn’t find out until earlier this year about his passing. I put this aircheck on my Ipod. Good to remember those days. I hardly even recognize Texarkana anymore. If anyone has any KLLI airchecks, please e-mail me at onurradio@comcast.net. Thanks, Rick Daniels.
I worked at kosy am, kosy fm (78-82) and Klli, (which was called Kelli 96) back in the day, It then changed to ‘Thunder 95.9″ where I did nights, and had a country format!I still got some airchecks…Fan interactive, Man..Bring back old time (80’s 90’s) radio …lol
The late 70s at KOSY were good times — a great bunch of guys to work with. The nice thing was that Rushin would hire anyone no matter how terrible he or she was (myself included) so there wasn’t too much pretension or big egos. Moreover, it was a good place to get your feet wet in the business. A lot of us ended up around the country in better places; I found a niche in anchoring news in places like Oklahoma City and Little Rock once I grew up a bit. Our beloved Pete Weisner went on to work in major markets including Boston and Dallas. Then, after JK Smith (the manager) sold out, Rushin apparently committed suicide in 1997 (found dead in his home, in his 40s). Time flies . . . and you never know what twists and turns will flow with time.