Introducing new Contributor Bob Buchhauer, and the first of many original airchecks!
Bob says he’s not very tech-saavy, but he decided to scope these down for us, and judging by his first attempt, we’re not complaining!
Here’s what appears to be a full-day composite of 55 KSD (Now News/Talk KTRS), beginning with Ron Morgan’s morning show. All the elements of full-service AM radio are present in this recording… lots of time and temperature checks – and, boy, it’s cold in the nation’s mid-section this particular morning… at 10 below zero (F) even the dogs won’t go outside!
Listen as this recording moves through it’s 11 minutes, and hear all about 55 KSD’s Disney Dream Vacation contest… Sports from Jim Holder, Barbara Howard News, then hear jocks Ed Scarborough, John St. John “The Voice of Labor”… and short clip of Doug (I *think* the last name is Kera or Kara) and what is probably an early evening talk show (one of our listeners knows), then back to the music with Lee Feller on “MusicRadio 55 KSD”.
This is the kind of radio I remember from my teen years, although I never heard KSD, as I was a kid from Massachusetts, we had a station that sounded this good, WBZ ‘Radio 1030’. Everybody listend to BZ back then. I suspect, in St. Louis, everybody’s mom was listening to KSD back in ’79!
Does this ever bring back memories. And thanks to Bob Bucchauer.
Just a few clarifications …
John St. John was the “Saint,” or “The Saint that Ain’t” as he’d like to say … his comment the “Voice of Labor” was limited to relating to a couple of local strikes happening at the time of the show.
The evening personality was talk show host, Doug Carrick. The overnight personality, tracked (even in the 70’s) was Lee Fowler. Lee was the PD of KSD Radio.
It was a great radio station … a great working environment … and this aircheck brings back wonderful memories. Many thanks!
Great to hear RON MORGAN again — I had the pleasure to work with Ron at KHTR & KLOU in St. Louis and later at WMBD in Peoria. Sadly, Ron passed away about 12 years ago (2000 if I recall). However, his son TODD MORGAN carries on the family tradition as part of the morning show on Emmis’ K-HITS 96 in the Gateway City. Here’s a link to Todd’s bio: //www.k-hits.com/toddmorgan/home.aspx
Ed Scarborough (who commented above) crossed the street to KMOX-FM not too long after this aircheck and gradually transitioned 103.3 FM to HITRADIO KHTR in December 1982. KHTR took the market by storm and was the #1 music station in St. Louis by the Spring of ’83.
Joe, Didn’t Ron go on Indianapolis to host the morning show at WIBC, now WFNI?
Bob… if I remember the timeline correctly, Ron Morgan left St. Louis in the early 90’s for a short tenure doing mornings at an AC in Houston and came back to the Midwest as the swing/fill-in talk host on WIBC/Indy for a couple of years. He was the PD at WMBD/Peoria in 94/95 when he hired me for my first shot at doing talk radio. After that he returned to St. Louis and spent some time with KTRS before he passed away.
Many thanks for this (and the other St. Louis radio airchecks.) 55KSD helped inspire me to begin a career in radio. Fond memories of a great radio station.
Wow! Amazing after all these years, and travels up & down the dial, to find this aircheck. What incredible memories and times. In those days before consolidation, homogenization and pasteurization… KSD radio was but a part of the Pulitzer Family holdings. We were also KSD-TV, NBC for St. Louis, and (in those dark, prehistoric days before the web/internet)the headquarters for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, at 1111 Olive Street. Some days indeed. To the crew at Airchexx, thanks for the memories!
How wonderful to hear Ron again- one of the best people to work with I ever met. KSD in the 70s was a very nice radio station. I was hired there to replace someone who rescinded his resignation (don’t recall who) so I never actually worked there, but I did love the station.