*** WAPI 1949-1965 RUNDOWN *** (notes by Russell Wells) 0.00 - 02/27/1949: Spike Jones Show into The Jack Benny Program Includes a brief clip of an earlier Spike Jones ending, promoting future appearances of "The Musical Depreciation Revue" in Birmingham and ... Savannah, Georgia (where yours truly lives). CBS network handoff, into a station identification for WAPI, mentioning its studio location in the Protective Life Building. A short spot for Ivory Snow follows, and the time is given before going into Jack Benny. I love how old-school, dignified and stoic the announcer sounds while giving the time. There was something downright elegant about radio announcers back then, even those doing short local breaks like this. 1.47 - ca. 1956: Golden Flake Potato Chips spot, with station ID Makes mention of WAPI's eventual upgrade to 50,000 watts. 2.07 - 1961: Newscast intro and Amoco commercial (I didn't know a car battery went "galumph!" before dying!) 3.17 - 1961(?): (audio from WAPI-TV 13) Cousin Cliff goes postal!!! I'm sure the kids in the studio didn't mind putting away the birthday cakes intended for no-shows Sam, Bud, Marcia and Joan. Cousin Cliff tears their Moms and Dads new ones ... but quickly goes into a Popeye cartoon. That'll show 'em! 5.01 - 12/1961: Everett Holle - "The Merry-Go-Round" A pleasant run of tape from a December Sunday afternoon and one of WAPI's popular music shows, hosted with great wit by Everett Holle and sponsored by Southern Advertising - phone TRemont 9 - 1681. (an old Homewood exchange - that was my grandparents' prefix!). PS - I would love to find more recordings of this kind of music program. 15.06 - 1965: Everett Holle - clips from alive broadcast of the Ala. Pops Finally, we have a simulcast of WAPI AM & FM - introductions of the Alabama Pops Orchestra at what was then Howard College (now, of course, Samford University). I don't have a date for this, but there is a humorous reference to The Beatles, so I'm going to say 1965, although it might be 1964. Eh, I'll go with '65. It was a good year; I was born. :-) # # #