John:
Thanks so much for this web site. I had the privilege of working with Misty (Frontier Girl) on a Lubbock AM station back in 1998. We had a great time. She is unbelievable. She would only play vinyl, while we had an elaborate Scott Seaburg system with over 3200 songs and a capacity for 7000. I was on from 6 to 9 pm while Misty, as usual, was on from 9 to 12. She showed me the proper way to cue vinyl and I showed her how to get her e-mail. Even though she went on at 9, she was there at 7, going through HER records and planning her show. I would come in at 5 minutes to 6, clear my throat and turn on the mikes. The phone would begin to ring and the e-mail would come in with requests and we would be off to the races. The internet hook up was so good that we were getting requests ( but no advertising dollars) from all over the world. I had calls from Norway, England, South Africa, Canada and a place I will never forget-Salt Ash, Australia. Even though the station was undercapitalized and mismanaged, Misty gave it a touch of class and professionalism. She has such a large fan following. She is in her 48th year as a radio personality, has logged over 65,000 air hours and is still very active as a public TV telethon volunteer. I consider myself very lucky to know this wonderful person so dedicated to her profession. It was fun just to sit back and watch her go. She would never give me advice unless I asked for it. I once asked how to improve my radio voice (as I suffer from a terrible West Texas accent). Her answer was "lower and slower, Dee." It worked!
Thanks again,
Dee Kingston

Hi, John......I checked out www.kxol1360.com and sure enough, there I was, many years younger, I must say!!!!! You are to be commended for keeping the KXOL legend alive! I hope others feel as grateful as I do. What a history of Radio! Hurry up and win the lottery and let's get KXOL back in Ft. Worth and return to the time when radio WAS radio!!!! Many thanks, again, for your dedication.
You are a true radio personality who won't let the legend die! What a dear friend I value very much and I am so grateful that you came into my life.
Kindest regards,
Misty (The Frontier Gal)

JOHN, FELLOW KXOLER,
WE THOUGHT YOU WOULD LIKE TO KNOW THAT WE, NORM ALDEN AND JOE WILLS, ARE TALKING ABOUT YOU AND THE OLD STATION, AND CHECKING OUT YOUR WEB SITE. NICE MEMORIES. WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW? WISH WE COULD SEND YOU PIX OF US, NOW AND THEN, BUT WE WILL HAVE TO FIND THEM FIRST.
THANKS FOR KEEPING THE LOVE LIGHTS OF KXOL BURNING.
NORM WILL BE IN FORT WORTH SOON. HAVE A TABLE READY AT THE COFFEE SHOP.

SIGN OFF, 1360 KILOCYCLES
NORM AND JOE.

Hi John - What a great job on the "new" KXOL website. Really enjoyed it! You might want to add to your line-up of characters, that were at KXOL News, the name Neil Baird. When I was in high school (long-long ago) he was the news director there and was one of the pioneers of "on the scene news coverage" for the station. As I recall he drove around in a little tan colored Ford Courier Sedan Delivery. I think he was there probably from about 1953-1955. He was succeeded by Bill Hightower who hired Neal, Schieffer and me while doing the Cats baseball games in the studio in his t-shirt. I think I succeeded Hightower as news director about 1958. I love the new website..Thanks for thinking about us old farts...Roy

Hello you wonderful people,
Having grown up spending all my spare time at KXOL during the late 50's I recall Carlin and Roddy and Mitchell and on and on.
Today I discovered your site about KXOL.
First, congratulations... it is terrific.
Regarding Bill Enis.
Some of my best memories are of Bill at that home made but VERY nice control board in the control room, two rooms away from the newsroom, being separated by the production room. (In the production room were two Ampex 200's and also a vinyl disc recorder.)
More about Bill Enis.... he was a very generous man. This is being said by someone who benefited from that generous spirit. Many hours he allowed me to watch as he played records and announced on the air. One time I rode with Bill as he drove to a spot just north of the Lake Worth bridge when Bill was doing a gig for a summer Saturday afternoon teenage dance party. I forget the name of that location but it was also a popular place for youngsters to go swimming.
Somewhere I have a 35mm slide of Bill Enis behind that audio control board. Man I loved those switches on that board. As you may recall, the mike key was Red in color while all the other keys were black. And instead of the switch keys moving left and right as a Gates brand audio board does, these keys moved up and down.
One more thing about Bill Enis. Maybe the very best voice over I ever heard has been that voice over on the head of the Pams promotional package that was widely distributed for series 29. On the head of that 4 inch reel of quarter inch tape is an example of a great voice speaking energetically and with perfect pace as the music bed promotes WABC in New York. Bill never work there of course, but of course, Pams was in Dallas.
When I first heard that promo package (back in the in the sixties) I instantly recognized the voice of Bill Enis. I was in radio in Panama City Florida at the time and never saw Bill in person again, never was able to confirm that is indeed his voice. However did recieve an email from John Wolfert at Jams today and he is checking it out.

Carlin was also had that same generous spirit of Enis, allowing me in the control room when ever I wanted.
I always remember the George Carlin Coca Cola Hi-Fi Club. I recall it as being from 8:30 to 9:00PM.
I picked up a trick from watching Carlin that I used later in my own stint as a DJ and that was this..... exactly as the mike was keyed on, his legs began an up and down movement. I had not seen anyone else do that before. At the time I assumed he was doing that to give his speaking a pace. I saw and visited with George during the 80's when he was a guest on a show I worked on for many years, the Merv Griffin Show. (Coincidentally those same Hollywood studios were the last time I saw Roddy when he came in to do some voice over work.) God how I loved all those guys and treasure all the memories.
And just a quick note about Bill Warren. As you know Bill Warren had a very tough act to follow. When Carlin left, Bill Warren was hired for that time slot. Also, Bill's real name was Warren Webber. He was married but I forget his wife's name. I am fairly sure Warren's last name was Webber because I recall it closely matched the name of my first reel to reel recorder, which was a Webcor that I purchased from Montgomery Wards on 7th Street.

Just a note or two about me......
I moved from announcing to engineering in the late 60's and have been a video engineer in Los Angeles since 1977, moving here from Dallas where I worked at KTVT channel 11. I worked in the production facilities on North Central Expressway in Dallas. Even though I had known him at KXOL, it was at KTVT that Jim Tucker and I worked together for four years.
My first gig in Los Angeles was video controller for most of the Norman Lear shows, including "All In the Family" and "Fernwood 2Night".
While with "The Merv Griffin Show" I was the first video controller for the then new program "Entertainment Tonight". When negotiations between them and myself broke down over a new pay package, I departed and went onto many others television shows. after leaving Fox sports in 1997 I went back to ET where I have remained to this day.
Well, guess that's enough of that.
With the hope this message is of some value to you and with best wishes,
Larry Huchingson

John:

Way to go! I look forward to seeing the site grow!
John

Cool....

Also, please note my tenure was 6 years, 1961-1967

Thanks for being our "caretaker"

John...

VERY cool!

I was there from September of 1980 till June of 1981.

Jody

Greetings!

My name is Mark Johns, and I live in Austin. I did afternoons at "Mother Lovin' XOL" in 1969-1970, as Mark "Brother" Shane.

Thanks.

Hi there,

I was a DJ/Newsman at KXOL from 1967 to 1969, airname Joe Gracey. I worked for Jack Murray and also for Rusty Reynolds on the FM side. I worked for Roy Eaton and Joe Holstead in the news.

JG
--
Joe Gracey,
President-For-Life, Sunbird/Jackalope Records
http://www.kimmierhodes.com

Here is a “Fun Fact”. Roy Eaton and Bruce Neal helped to get German Shepherds donated to the very first Ft. Worth Police Department K-9 Patrol.

Jim Ewing

Hi,
I just got turned on to your website and wow what a lot of memories flashed back.
One of the names on your list was/is a good friend of mine that I worked with when I was going to college in Abilene. His name is Jim Ridgeway. Do you have any idea whatever happened to him and where he might be now?

When I was there Ridgeway, Jim Tucker, and Bob Schieffer were on he staff. The PD was Bill Enis who I understand passed away years ago. Hope you can check out my website when you have a minute. It deals mostly with my radio career in Seattle which was 12 years.
If there is anymore KXOL stuff on the net I would appreciate the information.

All the best,
Lan Roberts
Bonham, TX…now and retired from radio..
Tune into the Unofficial Lan Roberts Web Site at
http://www.texoma.net/~lanbo

Thanks for the memories!

KXOL is where it all really began for me and the list of former employee names really opens up the mental floodgates.

I have just scanned the site and must get to the studio but I am looking forward to spending some time reading your research and listening to the audio clips. Thank you again John for spending the time to assemble such a great package of memorabilia from the days when radio was like the Wild West! Come to think of it, KXOL was located where the West Begins. How appropriate it was for the time. Sorry you missed the early years, they were most unique and never to be duplicated.

Thanks again for recalling the “early days” of my career.

Rod Roddy

Send your emails to jlpjr@sbcglobal.net

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