One more misheard lyric:

"'Scuse me, while I kiss this guy!"...Jimi Hendrix (1968)

Bill Certain - former KTUL audio engineer - now Chief Engineer at Bell's probably has a copy of "No, no Nora" (and NOT by Jim Ruddle!) on a non-digital medium - he collects old Edison recordings. He was also a Ralph Blane nephew - we used to rib him about "The Trolley Song" till SNL did it every week and I guess his uncle had little checks rolling in....

Per Bill Certain, he is unrelated to Ralph Blane...webmaster, 2/24/2003

Okay, I hate to get into this lyrics stuff because Neil Diamond and Bruce Springsteen do not exist in my record collection. (You have to be an antique to talk about a "record collection.")

Anyway, one of my daughters had a marvelous mishearing of a pop tune of thirty or so years ago. She heard:

"The sky, the sky, the sky's in love with you...."

Which, of course, was really: "This guy, this guy, this guy's in love with you...."

But if you sing it, you understand the confusion.

I was always fascinated by old Edison and Victrola recordings, and knew as much about songs of the teens and twenties as I did about what was current in the forties. This was, I suppose, the equivalent of kids in the nineties who thought the fifties were so neat.

One of the old songs I learned from a Victor recording was "No, No, Nora," a bouncy little bit that ended with the line--as I sang it--

"And would I trade you for peanuts?
No, no, Nora, no, no."

About three years ago, I sailed to a little Massachusetts town called Padanarum where I found an odd, ill-lighted store that sold all manner of junk, including old sheet music. I was picking through the piles, buying stuff I recognized, for fifty cents a copy, when I came across "No, No, Nora."

At that point, I had been singing the song over the course of about fifty years and felt as if I'd met an old friend. I opened the music, hummed to myself, and got to the last line--Well, I'll be damned! It wasn't "trade you for peanuts," rather it was "trade you for Venus."

All I could think of was that I'd been an idiot for half a century. Of course, other people probably had thought that for other reasons.

"No, No, Nora" isn't in my database, but the "sky" song is the Bacharach/David tune "This Guy's In Love With You", performed by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass originally. Maybe she associated it with the Jimi Hendrix lyric, "'Scuse me while I kiss the sky". I have 500+ LP's, and I don't use them for scratching (rap), so that may date me as well.

Since "Blinded By The Light" was such a thought-provoker, here is a selection of misheard lyrics from Am I Right?

Neil Diamond's, "Forever In Blue Jeans"
Misheard Lyrics:
I'd much rather be the reverend blue jeans
Correct Lyrics:
I'd much rather be forever in blue jeans

Music evokes strong feeling. Whenever I heard this one on the radio, the "Reverend Blue Jeans" interpretation forced itself upon me, causing me to exclaim "What a stupid song!"

In keeping with the "Quick Draw McGraw" theme previously introduced, how about:

Helen Reddy's, "Delta Dawn"
Misheard Lyrics:
El Kabong what's that flower you have on?
Correct Lyrics:
Delta Dawn what's that flower you have on?

("El Kabong" was the Zorro-like alter ego of cartoon horse Quick Draw McGraw)

And finally:

Neil Young's, "Ohio"
Misheard Lyrics:
4 diddle-ee o-i-o
Correct Lyrics:
4 dead in Ohio

Trivializes it a bit.

I remember the "Freedom isn't free" program that Christopher Columbus Elementary did in the early '80's...Is there anyway to get a copy????And I remember the BIBLE BOWL!!!!!THAT WAS ONE OF MY FAVORITES.

"Bible Bowl" has been mentioned here previously (try the search engine), but it would be a near-miracle if video for either show is still in existence. You never know, though...

....that makes three of us that played "Hornbeck" on stage, Randall, Ruddle and me. I did the role at the OLD Globe Theatre in San Diego. Why do you suppose broadcasters were cast as the "smart-ass" character, so often?

Good lord! I had completely forgotten Gomi. What a nice kid he was and a favorite with everybody at KOTV, even though I always wondered what kind of Oklahoma accent he took back to Japan.

Bill Donaldson was a big, beefy fellow who had majored in theater at Sarah Lawrence College, I believe, and who, at least for some time, was manager of the Brook Theater, in Brookside. He did some Little Theater work, too. I was in "Inherit the Wind" with him in which he played the William Jennings Bryan character to Barney Melekian's Darrow-clone. I was the smart-ass Menckenian, Hornbeck.

(7/14/2001: See Don Norton's comments below about Kazuo Gomi...he just wrote in to Guestbook 84!)

Tulsa Central High School's own Tony Randall played the Hornbeck role in the original 1955 production of the play. Here is A. Leonard Rosenberg from the 1937 Tom Tom, courtesy of Don Norton. Mr. Randall became a father for the first time in 1997 at age 77. He pulled it off again in 1998.

Enough already!!

Here are the much discussed-lyrics:

"Yeah he was blinded by the light. Cut loose like a deuce another runner in the night."

One wonders what Bruce Springsteen was thinking when he wrote that one?

"Deuce" meaning "devil" as in "the deuce you say!" or "little deuce coupe"...is the line an automotive expression of teen-age angst?

The Manfred Mann version of Springsteen's lyric is alleged to be "revved up like a deuce".

While I was writing my piece Saturday on the World War Two roundup of west coast Japanese, I remembered something very few people are around to remember these days--certainly not the "young gang" at KOTV. "Buddy" Allison would remember, but he's being buried in Sand Springs today (Rest in Peace, "Buddy," you were a heckuva nice guy and you saved a lot of people's bacon).

Anyhow, KOTV once had a Japanese intern. NHK, the Japanese broadcasting colossus, sent over a promising young man named Kazuo Gomi ("Just call me 'Gomi.'") in the summer of, I think, l956. Wrede Petersmeyer took him home for the first couple of nights and then Gomi moved to the downtown YMCA for the rest of the summer. He didn't spend much time in the newsroom since he was here to study production techniques, but we got to chat and eat lunch together occasionally. As someone noted recently, most of the off-hour movies being shown then were of the "shoot-'em-up," Yanks vs. Japs World War Two action genre, but he took it all in stride. He spoke excellent English and was occasionally recruited by the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce to serve as an interpreter when a few Japanese businessmen came through. Gomi went home to Japan via Europe, and I remember discussing with him the marked difference in the German spelling and pronunciation of the Bavarian capital, and its English approximation--Munich. (Odd the trivia people will remember).

I've occasionally wondered about Gomi; I seem to remember a brief story about NHK a lot of years back quoting Kazuo Gomi as spokesman, so he evidently had a good career (Japanese employers and workers are noted for clinging to each other). Maybe I'll try to write NHK about him, although he could well be dead by now, as are many of the people who were at KOTV when he was (and I was).

See Guestbook 84 for a response from Kazuo Gomi! He notes that he worked for NTV rather than NHK.

I thought it was "...wrapped up like Scaramouche, you wear a Napster in the night...".

We didn't know what Napsters were back then - my 83 yr. Dad now thinks it (Napster) is a hamster that sleeps a lot....

These durned lyrics are so cornfusing.....

Haven't been in here for a while so forgive my "day late" comment, but I sure did think that line in Blinded by the Light was: "Wrapped up like a douche you wear a sweater at night" No?

Getting back to reviewers in Lewis Meyer's days - someone whose name I can't remember - did film reviews on KTUL for a while in the '70's - he was not a staff person. Bill Donaldson was it? Long time World or Tribune Entertainment Editor. What ever happened to him? I know the TU Drama profs hated him...

Didn't Clyde Parker do the same on 6 for a long time? Can't remember why Clyde left 6 - Buddy Allison would have known...

A station in OKC - maybe it was 5 - carried Davey Martin Jones' movie reviews for a while. The guy was a legend here in DC (wore a hat on camera, too) and I think was based at Gannett owned channel 9 here.

He was quirky, downright weird to see - maybe having a good review once out of each 10 times appeared. Don't know why he stopped being on air here.

TU J-school grad Vern Stefanic and later a print journalist with the World or Tribune - did a "At the Movies" show with some now forgotten gal that aired on Cox Cable in OKC in the '80's.

Added Me and Ted Against the World: The Unauthorized Story of the Founding of CNN to the TTM Gift Shop. Also, read some of the latest chapters of this book online at MeAndTed.com.

Frank Morrow's note about the death of Virginia Banfield Thompson reminds me of the fact that "book reviewing" was once a minor art form in Tulsa. It flowered before television really took hold and well before the advent of talking books. It was a staple of many a ladies' luncheon and school assembly. Virginia was one of the triumvirate of "stars" in the reviewing firmament.

"Book Reviewing" was not what it sounds like. These were not literary explications or critical evaluations, but simply shortcut versions of the text, with the "reviewer" playing as many parts as necessary to tell the story.

The other two notables on the reviewing circuit were a hammy old speech and elocution teacher named Richard Mansfield Dickinson, (whose real name I always suspected was probably something like Hector Guzzwell, but I could be wrong) and Lewis Meyer, the radio and television book guru of a later time.

All of these people were excellent performers for the kind of thing they did--weeping into handkerchiefs, arching eyebrows, raising and lowering their voices, and switching genders in nanoseconds to meet the plot requirements.

They're all gone now and so, I imagine, is the demand for similar services, although--did I mention this?--I could be wrong.

Here's an obit for a significant Tulsan, Virginia Banfield Thompson. I remember seeing her in a Little Theater play with Frank Simms and Bill Hyden.

At age 83, she passed away March 15, 2001. Born July 12, 1917 in Springfield, MO to R.C. Banfield and Ruth Richards Banfield. The family moved to Tulsa in 1925 where Mr. Banfield began numerous meat packing operations. Virginia graduated from Central High School and attended the University of Kansas. In 1936 she married B. Paul Thompson after a 2-week courtship. They were married for 51 years until Mr. Thompson's untimely death in 1987. A well known actress in Tulsa Little Theater productions, she was one of the founders of The Spotlight Club. She and her husband were judges for the KTUL Talent Shows and several other talent competitions. She also performed book reviews and wrote 2 novels of her own. She was supporter of the Tulsa Civic Ballet and Tulsa Opera. She was a member of the Tulsa Club and Southern Hills Country Club. Besides her husband, a daughter, Diana Taylor, preceded Virginia in death. She is survived by: a son, Robert Thompson of Houston; a daughter, Paula Howse of Tulsa; 3 grandchildren; and 1 great-granddaughter.

Lowell Thomas, the renowned news broadcaster, world traveler, author, and narrator of many movie newsreels, was notorious for his break-ups. His main problem was that, instead of just stopping and laughing or having the mike killed while he laughed, he would try to continue to talk. This would result in some funny, garbled sounds that would break up everyone even worse.

In the early 1950s, Thomas had an early evening newscast on CBS that we carried on KTUL. One night Thomas was finishing his program with a story about President Eisenhower’s visit to “the chocolate city, Hershey, Pennsylvania, where Ike saw people making Hershey candy bars, with and without nuts.”

Lowell snickered, then started laughing. Apparently behind the scenes there had been a joke made about the people “with and without nuts” phrase. He attempted to proceed with the story, talking about Ike playing a round of golf with the incredible Ben Hogan, who also gave an exhibition. As Thomas continued to try to finish the story, the worse his laughter became.

After several seconds, Thomas turned the mike over to the announcer, who was supposed to read a commercial for Kaiser-Fraser cars. (Although the announcer was not identified, I recognized his voice. He was Michael Fitzmorris, who also had played the role of Superman on the radio series.) Fitzmorris prefaced his commercial by saying, “Well, Lowell, I’m not going to putter around with that one. Instead, I’m going to tee off by telling the people who are in the market for a new car, how they can drive a hard bargain.”

At this point Fitzmorris broke up. Having only a limited time left in the program, he tried to finish the commercial, but he kept cracking up. Finally, he gained control of himself just in time for the program’s ending, but not after saying, “The easy Kaiser-Fraser payment plan will cost you only a few dollars a day. And, I’ll be needing a few dollars a day from now on.”

Then he kicked it back for Lowell Thomas’ traditional ending, in which he said, “So long until tomorrow.” After Thomas gave a quick, groaning laugh, the wrung-out Fitzmorris almost lost it again, but finally managed a very professional, “This is the CBS radio network.”

All of us in the KTUL studios were both in a state of shock and laughing at the same time. Then, reality quickly set in, as I realized that it was my turn to give a station break and commercial. Fortunately, I made it through all right.

After I exited the announcers’ booth and went into the control room to talk about the incident with the two, still laughing engineers, I expressed regret that we didn’t have a recording of the incident. The engineer on the board, Louie (I can’t remember his last name.), said, “Oh, I recorded it. Got it all.”

I still have of one of the greatest breakups of all time in my record collection.

Anyone besides me watch OETA last night (Friday, March 16) when Festival 2001 presented, "The German Americans"? Who should turn up but our own HARRY VOLKMAN!

Harry said that in the early days of World War Two, neighbors told his family that "government agents" (probably FBI) had been asking about the Volkmans--was it a "German family?" He also said that as a high-school teenager, he had and used a low-power radio transmitter at his home--until his older brother told him he had spotted an unmarked car on their street with an antenna pointed at their attic! "Scared me to death," admitted Harry, who promptly signed off for good.

This was one part of the wartime hysteria that included the internment of west coast Japanese-Americans (and some German- and Italian-Americans as well--though not nearly as many). The Japanese were particularly targeted because of Pearl Harbor, of course, as well as the country's generally anti-Asian attitude. But many west coast residents saw a chance to "steal" Japanese businesses and property through distress sales. California Governor Earl Warren, later to develop a reputation as a liberal supreme court (chief) justice was a leader in the "round-'em-up" movement.

Long-time friend Johnny Dick, now retired from wholesaler Radio, Inc., told me Japanese in Tulsa were ordered to bring in their radios so that the shops could remove short wave reception capability.

Having researched a speech on "loyalty" for my battalion commander in Dallas in 1989 (to the Irving VFW, no less!) I know that J. Edgar Hoover, despite what we have come to know about him since his death, opposed this general roundup of Japanese- Americans (he felt it would be easier to track subversives by leaving them at home). And there was nothing like a general roundup of security risks in Hawaii where the Pearl Harbor attack actually occurred.

It was at the very least poetic justice that the U. S. Army's most decorated unit out of World War Two (for its size) was the l00/442 Regimental Combat Team (two regiments put together because of the tremendous casualties both took--the Army's highest rate). It fought some mighty bloody battles moving north up Italy--and both regiments consisted almost entirely of Japanese-Americans recruited out of the internment camps--and in Hawaii.

Good to take a look at history, once in awhile.

At one point when I worked at KOTV, I anchored the early morning news cut-ins and sometimes (because of staying up too late the night before) would arrive seconds before air time.

Buddy Allison would have ripped the AP wire and have the copy on the set for me to attempt to read, cold!

He used to call me “Lou Groza.” As Buddy put it: “You can really boot ‘em.” (For you youngsters, Lou Groza was a place kicker for the Cleveland Browns.)

Buddy Allison was so much more than a camera operator. He was an unofficial part of the news department. Buddy was family as well.

I think it's quite possible the person who penned "Louie, Louie" doesn't even know what the lyrics are.

We are installing gear here in DC in our Master Control room and airing now is "Cookin' Cheap" - a show done by Blue Ridge Public TV. One of the co-hosts - Laban Johnson - died last year so this is a re-run today with him on it. Buddy Allison would have chuckled at Laban's patter.

Watching this show so reminds of the Coffee Break show on 6 that aired at 10:55am for so many years. With Donnell Green for ONG. Also of the good times of working with Leon Meier and Buddy Allison. We had fun. You need to have fun in TV work. Can't ever see another small market cookin' show and not think of Buddy making wise-cracks on headset during all those shows I did at 6.

Ah, Buddy. Last time I talked to him was before the reunion for 6.

He was on my list of people I "need to see the next time I get to Tulsa"...

He was funny, philosophical, and a good egg.

Buddy said he had had a problem with demon drink in the '50's and found God, but you know I can never see Buddy as anything but the way he presented himself at 6. Everyone loved him.

He got started in the biz doing window displays for sponsors - for I think KTUL radio - a job of the old radio days now long since gone.

To paraphrase him, "Son, you won't be forgotten"....

Today, I get to do the gasp that so many others had recently. Buddy Allison was one of the happy parts of the years I spent in Tulsa, and my time there was brief.

I know how much his passing will be felt by those who were his friends for a much longer period of time. I don't think Buddy had anything but friends.

My sympathy, prayers, and warm wishes to his family and everyone who was close to him. A true broadcaster.

Saw this in this morning's paper. Don't know the gentleman, but many of you probably do:

Harold M. "Buddy" Allison , 76, KOTV production manager, died Wednesday. Services pending. Mobley-Dodson Sand Springs.

He was a nice guy. Before the KOTV reunion, I talked with him about his wartime experiences with landing craft, "spitkits". He was wondering where that term came from after all these years. I did some research and found out this was old navy lingo for a spittoon, in other words, an unseaworthy craft. I passed on a letter to this effect from the Naval Historical Society to him at the reunion, which he appreciated. He was deeply affected by what he saw in the Pacific, and still had trouble talking about it.

I know he will be missed by many ex-KOTV people.

Everybody knows it was "wrapped up in a goosh, you know the grinder in the night," an obvious reference to a Philadelphia hoagie left out till morning after being dressed with oil and vinegar.

Up next: the lyrics to "Louie, Louie," as sung by Bob Gregory....

And also ahead: more praise for the Webmaster, reprising my initial posting to this place: "Sheesh, what a devilish time waster." Now more than ever, as both NBC and Nixon said.

Stay tuned.

The 2nd line of Manfred Mann's "Blinded By the Light" is, of course, "ragged up like a pusher in the glomer in the night." Actually, they are "rapped up like a deuce, another runner in the night." You'll have to ask The Boss what that all means.

I'd like to do just that. "Racked up like a douche, into the roller in the night" is all I could extract from many repetitions on the radio back in '77.

"MAINTAIN - A concert of video realizations" (created by Edwin Fincher, et al) can be simulated with Windows MediaPlayer 7 in full screen mode (see main page for link to download it). As we learned in Guestbook 69, MAINTAIN was a late night show on KTUL in 1973 that provided visual interpretation of some of the spacier music of the era (such as Yes, ELP, Pink Floyd...what else, Edwin?)

Just tried Napster for the first time; works like a charm, but a bit slow with a 56K bps modem. Downloaded...you guessed it, "Blinded By The Light", and listened to it with the Windows MediaPlayer. The song is better than I remember, but no easier to understand.

Sad to see another former colleague leave us.

At every station, engineers seem to etch a place in my memory. This phenomenon began with Dave Oliphant.

Dave was the engineer on the late shift at KTUL Radio when I went to work there in 1959. He was very quiet and slept some of the time. (In all fairness, there wasn't much for him to do. Mostly transmitter duties.) However, he played records for an hour before sign-off and never opened his microphone. Although he was a man of few words, the program was listed in the newspaper as “Dave’s Show.” He was very proud.

Dave was a nice guy. Gary Chew and I exchanged emails about him only a few weeks ago. He'll remain in our thoughts.

Here is the obit for a previous radio engineer in Tulsa.

L. David Oliphant, Jr., 86, born July 21, 1914 at Kariuizawa, Japan, the son of Loreley David and Katherine (Goodwin) Oliphant Sr. He died in Broken Arrow on Wednesday, March 7. He was a high school graduate of Greeley, CO. He received a B.A. Degree from Greeley Colorado University and also attended Phillips University. He married Hazel Ingram on May 30, 1945. They moved to Broken Arrow in 1987. David was a Transmitter Radio Engineer for KTUL-TV for 20 years and also worked for KOMA and KELI. He taught school at Potkin Kansas High and Tulsa Tech. He enjoyed woodworking and was a member of Northside Christian Church where he was an Elder and taught Sunday School.

Manfred Man or Mann is German, right - some things don't tranlate well - like half of the ABBA lyrics but ya can't get them tunes outta yer head!

...I really did think E. John WAS doing a tribute to Auggie Dawg all of those years - I am now crushed!

Believe it ot not, "Blinded By The Light" is a Springsteen song... although Mr. Mann took some liberties with it.

Thanks for the site.

A few things...

Regarding The Rogues V and Dance Party. The Rogues V were a great group of musicians from Sand Springs who also had a single "Too Good For Love", which was the first local record I ever heard played on the radio (anyone remember "Feel Allright" by Cargoe?). I took guitar lessons from Randy Ess when I was 12, in 1966 and I remember being a little star struck by Randy because his group had already led off Paul Revere and The Raiders at a Civic Center show.

I was a radio personality in Tulsa for 10 years, under the name of Mike Evans, working mostly at the old FM96KRAV (try FM96KRAV.com for a few photos, etc., which you're welcome to post on this site).

I also have a question for G.Ailard S.Artain...

Was that Gailard in the diner scene in "The Big Lebowski" in the background? This is the scene with John Goodman losing it and making a scene with Jeff Bridges, after which, we see a hint of someone looking a lot like Gailard, glaring in Goodman's direction.

Randy is a talented guy. My brother Alan played bass on his single, "Fat City", back in '80. A picture of Randy from his Rogues V days can be seen on the Dance Party page. He and his wife Margarita were wonderful when Alan was in the hospital last year.

Appreciate the visit, Michael.

Any fool can do a web page, but the work is in the maintainance and a site of this magnitude is a wonder to behold. Kudos to Mike in this Augean task!

Keep those encomia comin'! Yes, sometimes the old stable does need a little hosedown...an AugieDoggian task. But seriously, thanks, everyone. I'm glad to be doing a site that people enjoy.

Speaking of Augie Doggie (somewhat tangentially; he was part of the Quick Draw McGraw Show), I found a fun site recently: Am I Right? It is a database of misheard song lyrics. I confess to leaving a few of my own there.

Example: Elton John's "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"
Correct Lyrics:
I can't light no more of your darkness

Misheard Lyrics:
I can't lie...no more Augie Dogness

And has anyone ever understood the 2nd line of "Blinded By The Light" by Manfred Mann's Earth Band?

I'd like to join Don and Lee in thanking Mike for the work he does on this site. TTM is a very welcome relief to read on days when things get a little hectic.

Attention Webmaster: Mike, you perform an invaluable service to the Tulsa media past and present with this website. It's clearly a labor of love on your part, and I hope that you don't one day consider it your Frankenstein's monster. I join Lee Woodward in saluting you for a job very well done. Hats off to Mike Ransom, folks!

Just archived Guestbook 73.

There, we saw some of Gailard Sartain's past and current art. Lee Woodward told a Bob Gregory story. We learned from Mike Bruchas that Mike Miller has heard from Bob via email...we hope to see him here soon. Coincidentally, I just found a copy of Bob Gregory's book about Dizzy Dean, "Diz", and am enjoying the vivid evocation of the Depression era and Diz' unrepressed personality. See the Oiler Park page for more.

A researcher is looking for any pictures or info about Doug Montgomery, Tulsa's own Bozo The Clown...let us know if you have either.

In the last three weeks, we lost several well-known Tulsa people, who were remembered in Guestbook 73: D.B. Wilkerson, Johnny Harden, Scott Yates (Bob Scott), and Mack Creager. Mack is also remembered on the Mack Creager: In Memoriam page. The passing of Saturday morning TV star Dale Evans was noted here by Lowell Burch.

We also heard in Guestbook 73 about Lorenzo The Clown, a Philly-based show seen here in Tulsa in the late 50s/early 60s. NPR and KRMG were discussed briefly. TTM contributor Don Lundy has a new link. Frank Morrow recalled the term "race records", which prompted Lee Woodward's story of interviewing Louis Armstrong in the late 50s.

Check it out!