I'm going to amaze you...I have the Big 30 survey dated August 20, 1969 with a picture of Don Bishop, Johnny Laine and Dan Stone with the caption "so heavy it takes three Big 97 jocks to hold it"...of course they were holding the new KAKC Solid Gold album...and at that time if something was awesome, it was "heavvvvyyyy". Inside were pictures of all the jocks. The cover was a picture of the Tulsa skyline (which I took on a Polaroid as I did all the pictures we used on the Big 30 survey) and then we reversed polarity to get the effect. I have a couple...and one is still in the wrap. I believe we sold close to 10,000 of them...and it was only available by phone order for a period of two weeks...

I still have a laminated cover of the album on my office wall...

Thanks for asking...it's always fun to go back and dig up pictures and to go through the bunch of Big 30 surveys I saved from that time.

KAKC airchecks, circa 1969!

Here is a special treat: a collection of Lee Bayley "airchecks"! (approx. 13 minutes...storage courtesy of Tim Schmitz, WebDub.com)

(from Guestbook 90) Joy Cooper on the airchecks: I could just close my eyes and believe I was tooling down Harvard in my Corvair listening to KAKC...the radio was about the only thing that worked on that car! You hear the songs now on "oldies" stations, but it isn't the same as actually listening to the "patter" of your favorite radio station and disc jockeys...that sound becomes ingrained in your memory and that is true "oldies" radio like none other. I enjoyed the heck out of this, thanks webmaster!!

(via email to webmaster) Lee Bayley on the airchecks:

• I am really proud of the "timing" all the jocks of KAKC did on their shows. I hope you will notice that. Not just the tightness… but as an example at the end of the KAKC part of the tape you will hear a station ID that includes the jingle singers with a shotgun blast in the middle of the jingle…leading in to Jr. Walker. You will hear a number of songs starting under the last few seconds of cold voice commercials. Nine minutes in you will hear a 6 a.m ID I did over the intro of the Dells….it's a 32 second talkover on Saturday morning.
• At this time we were still using turntables and records and carts…
• We didn't talk much but tried to pack a lot into what we said.
• You will hear some of the programming specials and contests we did. The history of rock and roll pre-promos, a "History of Rock and Roll contest" where we took lines out of the show and asked listeners to identify the speaker and did a "3 Punch contest on air"…..the "Jet Set" for a trip to Hawaii"….."the Cash Cruiser".
• The ID voice is Bill Drake. He is also the voice on the "Number 1 then and Number 1 now" type things.
• These are the original Drake jingles sung by the Johnny Mann singers (a group that I worked with after moving to L.A.)
• You will hear the original "20-20 News" and an example of how we occasionally came out to an oldie (Roy Orbison). The "Solid Gold Weekend"
• You will hear the tape speed varies from too slow to too fast…but then, it is 30 years old…

(via 8/31/2001 email to webmaster) Sonny Hollingshead on the airchecks:

• The first part of the compilation apparently aired in January, 1971. That is when "River Deep-Mountain High" by the Supremes and "Watchin' Scotty Grow" by Bobby Goldsboro were hits. There is a reference to a Firestone January Clearance Sale. (and "at Beneficial...doot, doot...you're good for more")
• The next part of the compilation is from the Summer of '71. You'll note the different jingles used by KAKC from late Spring of '71 through Spring of '72. (This was my personal favorite KAKC jingle package.) One of the songs on the aircheck with a Tulsa connection is David Gates' "Mother Freedom" by Bread.
• Next is a grouping of parts of airchecks from 1969. Watson Jelks (KAKC 20/20 News) makes reference to the date April 23, 1969. The compilation then moves to the fall of '69 and includes a promo for the Drake/Chenault radio classic "The History of Rock 'N Roll", which aired in October of that year. One of the songs during the 1969 portion of the tape is "Dismal Day", which was the first hit (a minor regional hit only) for Bread.
• If my memory is correct, Lee Bayley left KAKC in the early Spring of 1972 and was replaced by Simon Trane. At about the same time, KAKC changed consultants from Bill Drake to Paul Drew. AM Top-40 radio went into decline a couple of years later due to a switch of the format to the FM band.
• Watson Jelks did news for a while at KAKC, then went on the other side of the window as DJ Woody Williams. He then replaced Chuck Adams as morning man at KRMG, until he himself left was replaced by John Erling. The KRMG lineup in the early 70's was Jelks in the morning, Dick Ford during midday, Jerry Vaughn for afternoon drive, then Johnny Martin and Bob Lafitte.

Bits of history such as the Lee Bayley compilation are rare. It's a shame there have been no books written to chronicle the golden years of AM Top-40 radio. For more airchecks, visit reelradio.com. That site is dedicated to keeping the history of AM radio and the legendary DJs alive.

Listen to Lee's farewell on KAKC (discovered at reelradio.com by Erick Church)

(from Guestbook 23) Lee Bayley said:

Hear Lee on KAKC circa 1970!
(courtesy of Steve Suttle)

I was unaware of the "memories" location and am happy to restore a link to the city. Needless to say, after doing morning drive for KAKC during the late 60s and doing "Pepsi's Dance Party" at the same time, Tulsa is one my fondest memories. I was recently interviewed (at Channel 8 in Dallas) for the upcoming KOTV 50th program and was asked if I missed the city. Let it be known...I miss the city and I miss the people. I am still indebted to Dick Schmitz for hiring me at KAKC and Steve Hope for lining me up with Pepsi. I left Tulsa in '71 for Los Angeles where I ran a company programming 300+ radio stations, then ran a company for the Disneys in Dallas, then formed my own company to consult radio stations nationwide and am still doing that. In Tulsa I helped put K107 on the air, put Magic99 on the air, and worked with KRMG when they returned to #1.

In addition to programming radio stations I do limited voice work...if you call the city of Dallas chances are it will be me talking to you if put on hold...or Nations Bank..and others. It would be nice to hear from any of you who were part of the great years in Tulsa.

lee.radio@verizon.net

7/2000: Lee recently went to work as a golf pro in Dallas.

10/31/2001: Lee retired from the radio business.

Lee Bayley tells how John Chick (Mr. Zing) showed an early-teenaged Lee the ropes at KRMG...near the bottom of the Mr. Zing & Tuffy page.

And don't forget that Lee was a host of
Pepsi's "Dance Party" on KOTV!