What worries me is that come '07 there won't be enough money to organize any kind of grand unearthing of the thing, rust or no rust.

Anyone know what, if any, plans are being made for this event? I am looking forward to bringing my son to the event when it happens...he'll be 7 then.

I should be able to send some KTUL funnies sometime soon. I've started a collection, and I'm itching to share them.

Congratulations on your impending nuptuals, Emily.

Floor crew...Richard Wilson, John Heatley and Clint (Duke) Baul. Betty (Mom) Fields/Thompson at the front desk. Bob Grissom and P. Kent Doll as directors. Chuck Blaker (Scott's little bro) in audio. Chris Fleming as projectionist/switcher.

There's more that others can add...

Frank Morrow wrote a paragraph about El Wino commercials on KAKC in Guestbook 37.

I remember seeing "The Big Broadcast of 1938" (Bob Hope's first movie) for the first and only time on the Mazeppa show.

Edwin, Sonny and other folks may need me to help fill in the blanks or prompting with names forgotten.

When I went to 8 in 1972:

Bob Snider was VP of Engineering. He always seemed to wear white and a string tie, would be polite to us young'uns but hands off. He lived up N. of Turley (where the OK Farriers School was at) as I recalled. Had a private office that at one time had a projection booth in it. He's been long gone...

Lew Brown was Chief Engineer - a man with a good sense of humor and seemingly invariably in a orange day-glo hat - out of hunting season. I think Lew is still around.

Bob Sullivan aka "Sully" was next in line and I think after he retired, he came back to help out on big projects a couple of times. Sully is no longer with us.

Leon Holland was Engineering Supervisor and may have assumed Sully's duties. Leon was called "Sardo" by everyone then - why I don't know... Last word - Leon is still in Sapulpa.

Findlay "Huck" West was senior tape man and often first engineer at the station each morning. He was another father figure to a lot of us. On Chick Show shifts - he would "woooo" on the intercom during toe-tapping musical numbers. Huck had cancer - got into remission and returned to 8 but cancer won out in the end. He was the first of the best at 8 to leave us....

Then we had Don Lloyd and Ken Mahorny (the man who never knew deodorant) as general engineers...

Ed "Moe" Morris worked day/night shifts in tape or shading. Plus working 8's remote trucks. He later was a Chief Engineer with Alf Landon's radio group and WJOL in IL and is somewhere in MO now.

Gary Clausing - still at 8 - was a xmitr engineer that served a while at 8's studios before spending years at the big stick as "the kid" then. When I last saw him 3 years ago - we both have aged! He joined the late Otto Harris (called AUGHT-TOW), the late Cal Clopton (called "Clompton" by Matt Bunyan/Cy Tuma) and I forget whom else at Coweta.

Contemporary engineering hires were Howard Craig Smith and R.L. Bullock - whom both had worked together in Fayetteville at a station where they were often not paid. They were the "kid" engineers to all the old guys.

After Gene Tincher had been at 8 - he was there before these "kids" - Jack Maynard came on board. I think Mahorny went to Jonesboro, AR.

In the Projection Dept. - we had "Jumbo" Jim Phillips as Senior Op/Trainer, Joe Creek (before he was a director at 8 - twice!), John Winkleman - whom I replaced, and David Banks - later Don Lundy. David and Don and later me - worked a split camera/projection shift - the pathway to directing at 8...Jonathon Jeffries did it later. Other projectionists were Steve Smith (now a City Mgr. in PA), Jack Hobson - who could do anything, ditto the brilliant Pete Abrams who directed at 8 but also could engineer.

As for Production folks - Hurst Swiggart was a director and the Production Manager with directors Glen Blake and Wayne "Tuffy" Johnson (Tuffy had been Prod. Mgr. at one time too..) and I forgot whom else directed. Later Mike Denney, Joe Creek, Bob Welsh (who had been a news photog and could run studio camera), Mike Simmons from OKC, and Howard Sanders were directors. Verdell Sexton had left as a Director, gone to jail, and came back a producer for some client. Phil Atkisson was another 8 alum Director held in great regard - he was doing film work.

Edwin Fincher was Lighting Director in the studio with Mike Denney (a Tulsey CBS star now as a director), Toby Brown (now retired in OK), David Banks (later a Director at 8 and teacher at Claremore Jr. College - now RSU), Fred Schweers (working on his Masters at TU), "LD" - David Finch, and the late and beloved Al Clauser as Floor Director and Scenic Carpenter.

Audio was John Chick, Cy Tuma, Matt Bunyan, Tom Roberts, Carl Bartholomew (besides doing Zeb). Later Scott Blaker, his brother-in-law the legendary Dave Jones (now at the Weather Channel), Doug Dodd, Dick Ralston, Dick Van Dera, Rich Louden (who was audio then camera then a reporter), Bill Certain and Lawrence Heatley came along - somewhere in there Sonny came aboard but I was off to 6 then. Jim Hill was a salesman but he could run audio in production and do "the book" - last seen at the KWGS 50th Anniversary - Jim is a stockbroker now. Jimmy Reid...

Soooo many folks, so many good times then!

I have been using nlawson@cox.net Would you try again, please?

I too recall the KWGS radio trivia about the legendary Johnny Martin. Two of the most difficult questions were

What was Johnny Martin's Friday Night "Case Night" theme song? Answer - Basically Blues (Live) - Buddy Rich - Blue Note Records

Who was named as the official "scribe" of the Midnight King's court? Answer - Chuck Wheat of the Tulsa World

Bonus - What was the name of Wheat's Radio/TV column? Answer - Wheat's Field

If I recall correctly Mr Wheat went on to Time magazine.

Thanks, Kay. I added a link to the Blue Note Buddy Rich album on Amazon.com, where you can hear a sound sample of the song. Also added your lore to the Johnny Martin page.

Chuck Wheat also took early note of Lee and Lionel.

Don Lloyd also was a smoker of cigars and cigarettes but I never think to excess. When Leon as Engineering Supervisor (3rd from the top top at 8's Engineering pecking order then...), he crossed swords with KTUL management 25 years ago or so - he was let go. Leon went on to a career at OETA and re-invented himself as a good listener, leader and diagnostician.

Don left later but can't remember when - I thought that he came from Telex or went back to Telex. Don was a spinner of tall tales - often not that believable, but he too was a Korean vet I believe or maybe post Korean vet of maybe the Air Force.

Got word yesterday that Don Lloyd passed away this past week. Sorry, but I don't know any more than that.

Jack ??? was the series host - help me - he has contributed here before!

That's Jack Frank; he has contributed by doing the "Remembering long-lost shows from Tulsa TV's golden days" story on Channel 2, featuring this site.

By the way, I had been married a little over a year before the burial occurred.

The car will be living once more.
As soon as they open the door.
When they finally exhume,
They'll notice the leg room,
And wish that the new cars had more.

It was a great sized apt., Danny Meyers lived there before us. We moved out when the apt. upstairs flooded the bathroom and our downstairs bathroom ceiling fell in. Your uncle took 2-3 mos. to repair it and taking a shower while the upstairs folks took a shower meant you were double-showering! That's why we moved. Wayne moved to a house with Loye Brannon - I got Greg/Marty Sherrill's penthouse on West 14th as a rental.

Webmaster Mike Ransom and I walked thru it before it was to be torn down by TU and not much had changed but the rental clientele seemed to have gyred downword.

Opening theme - Tenderly. Charlie Spivak and his Orchestra. RCA Victor.

Closing theme - So Long For Now. Eddy Howard and his Orchestra (or this instrumental version). Mercury.

Added this good information to the Johnny Martin page.

I later went on to be Program Director of KFMJ and then a jock for FM 96 KRAV in the late 1970's. Now managing in Louisville and can be reached at jlawathome[at]aol[dot]com. Thanks for the memories......

I think it is available at Steve's Sundries, but don't know about Amazon.com yet.

BTW - the way I still remember coming back to the now demolished 7th Street apt. that we shared circa New Year's Day 1974. This was after being up in Chicago for a late Xmas ( had to work Xmas Day at KTUL - so my parents moved Xmas to 12/26). I came home to find our apt. kitchen stove literally melted down into a mass of metal/bakelite/plastic - no note, no Wayne. I think it "done blew up" one night on Wayne between Xmas and New Years and the TFD paid a visit on a "hot run". Wayne bailed to stay with his folks in Claremore.

So to commiserate the loss of the stove (AND the furnace was also off by the TFD's suggestion in case of gas leaks) - I went looking for a gallon of good vodka that I had won as a door prize at the KTUL Xmas party at Southern Hills that year. Wayne (who does not drink) had offered some to visitors I guess at Xmas - but somehow they made it all "evaporate"....But Wayne was a great room-mate!

Busey Blames His Pesky Alter Ego

Bad-boy actor Gary Busey says he has multiple personalities, and that's what got him banned from the Howard Stern Show.

* * *

"I have 13 separate personality parts that I know of", the actor said. "That personality you saw on Howard Stern that day is 'Pesky, the Excitable Boy'."

Friends link Busey's bizarre behavior to a 1988 motorcycle crash in which he nearly died of head injuries....

Besides Pesky, they say his other characters include a...Charles Dickens personality, a futuristic man...and a crazy, likeable guy named - Teddy Jack Eddy.

Well, how could my fellow Tulsans allow Rex's to close in my absence? I guess I will only be stopping at Braum's for my mix, Taco Bueno for my chicken & potato burrito and Bama for my chocolate chip cookies.

Can't wait to be livin' on Tulsa time again (at least for a couple of days)!!

Actually, "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" was a 13 minute piece from ATOM HEART MOTHER; I seem to remember more than eggs cooking on the track, but then I haven't heard that album in years.

Compared to other things that were coming out at the time, the music of John Cage, Cecil Taylor, Sun Ra, The Art Ensemble of Chicage, and even the Beatles' under-rated "Revolution #9" - not to mention John & Yoko's more abstract works - "Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving With a Pict" has a structure and one could argue that it was an (unorthodox) blues. "Seamus" from MEDDLE (which is a traditional blues) has always been my choice for most bizarre Pink Floyd concept; it has a dog howling throughout the track. Being a dog lover, I never really get to enjoy the song because even when I try to listen to it on headphones the nearest dog runs into the room and joins in on the "singing."

Along with the dog whistle on the U.K. version of The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," the psychedelic period of rock music was a golden age for canine music appreciation.

"Several Species" could be a blues only in an abstract sense; it doesn't appear to be in any musical key whatever.

“Cool! I used to have that CD. That IS one of Floyd's strangest tracks on any album they ever did. It was at the height of their LSD phase in 1969. Another track off that album was called "Alan's (as in Alan Parsons Project, and who was Pink Floyd's Engineer) Psychedelic Breakfast". The entire track consists of the sound of frying eggs in a pan. No music or vocals, just the recorded sound of frying eggs. They thought they were being funny, but I think that they fried too many brain cells along with the eggs.”

I believe the "Alan" of "Breakfast" fame was Alan Stiles, one of Pink Floyd's roadies, though Alan Parsons was the engineer. This track consisted of 3 pieces of music linked by delicious breakfast sounds. It is on the "Atom Heart Mother" album, as Wilhelm notes in the next Guestbook entry.

Convention Hall had two big drawbacks. The first was that the stage was built at such an angle that dancers had trouble not landing in the front rows. Ballet performers hated the place. The cant was so acute that grand pianos had to be roped to the floor.

The other drawback was the proximity to the train tracks, only a couple of blocks away. At almost every performance a train would come whistling by. This made no difference if the Tulsa Philharmonic was playing tutti, but it made for some distasteful and humorous situations if the concert was only for one or two performers.

When Burl Ives was singing, he stopped when the whistle began. He used the time to tell a naughty (for that time) joke about a foul-mouthed parrot. It was much more embarrassing when Jascha Heifetz was playing a concert. He was in the middle of a piece when a train decided to make it a duet. The violinist stopped playing, dropped his fiddle to his side, and stood silently until the train was out of earshot. When quiet was restored, he resumed playing, never saying a word.

Bravo Mike on a fantastic website! I discovered it while looking for anything having to do with Channel 8's "Plenty Scary Movie." I was a huge fan of that program. I really appreciate the promo clip that Carl provided for the site. It brought back so many great memories.

However, there is another theme that I've had lodged in my memory over the years. One day when I was working in a local comic book shop, the man I worked for was playing an old Pink Floyd album that I'd never heard before called "Ummagumma." I was working away and minding my own business, when suddenly I felt a chill crawl up my spine. Something was frightening me. It was then that I became aware of a track off that album weirdly entitled "Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving With a Pict." (Yes, that's actually the title.) At the same time that I was hearing this track, visions of Frankenstein, The Wolfman, etc., were entering my brain. I knew this music. And I knew that it was somehow associated with Plenty Scary Movie. Perhaps it was a second promo for the show that I'm remembering. I just need someone from the good 'ol days of Channel 8 to confirm this for me. It's a very bizarre sound pastiche of animal noises and other weirdness.

Anyways, I spent several hours perusing all the great stuff on your website (8's the place, Mazeppa, and more) and I haven't even scratched the surface. I'll be coming back for a while I can tell. I have long had a fondness for the "pop culture" of Tulsa and am so glad that someone has undertaken the glorious task of chronicling it. I'm also glad to see so many of the individuals involved with it dropping in. Keep up the good work!

John Russell
www.AdmiralTwin.com

Welcome, John, and thanks. I know you are correct about the Pink Floyd "tune"; Wilhelm also mentioned it in a recent email. A brief clip of it (though not the part used on PSM, which sounds like "uk-it-a-come-boat-ahh-whee") can be heard at CD Universe.

John's band, Admiral Twin, is named after the local drive-in theater. They have toured internationally with another Tulsa band, Hanson, and recorded a number of well-received power pop-oriented CDs (available from their site or Amazon.com).

I see they are managed by Richard De La Font, remembered by many Tulsans as the hypnotist at Captain's Cabin for many years. Another act seen there, the Smokehouse Band, was inquired about by a young Scotsman in Guestbook 139.

Sapulpa Royal Jazz Festival, featuring the Don Ryan Band; the Chuck Gardner Quartet; Teegarden, Tripplehorn & Crosby; the Mike Bennett Jazz Band; the Frank Brown Trio; Steve Ham's Jambalaya Jass Band; the Pam Van Dyke Jazz Group; and the Sapulpa High School Jazz Band
When: 7-9 p.m. Thursday, 6:30-10:30 p.m. Friday, and 2 p.m. until 10:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Kelly Lane Park, Spirit Bank, Doodle's Hallmark and Freddie's Steakhouse in Sapulpa
Admission: Free, except for the Freddie's Steakhouse shows (at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday), which cost $25 for one night or $40 for both nights, including a buffet dinner.

I bet it's called the "Royal" festival because of the fact that Marshal Royal, long-time lead alto saxophonist for Count Basie, was born in Sapulpa. I enjoyed his playing with Dave Frishberg, too.

Do you like "The Naked Gun" (or "Police Squad!") theme? Marshal Royal had a hand in Count Basie's "M-Squad" TV theme, upon which it is transparently based.

The free Starlight Jazz Concert is tonight at 8 pm at the Reynolds Amphitheater on the west side of the river at 21st Street. In today's World, John Wooley talks with announcer Vic Bastien about a number of subjects, including Sonny Gray's Rubiot jazz club (discussed in Guestbook 131 on this site). Vic moved to Tulsa from Muskogee along with Channel 8 back in the 50s. A building formerly in the vicinity of 11th and Yale called the "Saba Grotto" is also mentioned. Anyone remember that?

"Joyce Martel Meets Bat Boy", coming to the Performing Arts Center August 9, will include "Brother Love", "Bubba" and Joyce herself. Could this Perry Mason episode, The Case of the Deadly Double, be the origin of the name, "Joyce Martel"? For more info, call the American Theater Company at 747-9494.

Just heard from Stu Odell in Dallas - he is with MPE. Their website is www.movpix.com. Stu worked for years at both 6 and 8 before moving to Dallas a long time back and worked for years as a motion picture colorist.

Our next event to show my watercolors and prints will be Saturday, October 4th at Utica Square. We have always been assigned the space in front of the GAP. I believe we will be in that same location again this year. I will have many new paintings showing for the first time in Tulsa during this show. The show runs from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.

I'm not sure how many artists will be there with their work, but in the past they have been scattered throughout the center. A person could make an entire day viewing the work and visiting with the artists.

Monte did the artwork for Plenty Scary Movie and 8's The Place, among many other projects over his career at KTUL.

He also is now a novelist, about which you soon will be hearing more on this site.