This issue:   Voting Begins for 2015 Class   -    Luther Masingill  -   Birthdays and New Members 



November 2014


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ENTER THE TENNESSEE RADIO HALL OF FAME WEBSITE
 
  Gair:  He's Everywhere!  He's Everywhere!
 OFF MIC         

     His full name was William Luther Masingill. We, and all of Chattanooga, knew his simply as, "Luther." As we know, He passed away last month at the age of 92. After attending his Memorial Service on Oct. 23rd, HOF VP Doug Combs, TAB Leader Whit Adamson, and I were returning to Nashville and stopped for a snack, and young clerk asked about the ribbons (a seating designation) on our lapel. We explained the ribbons purpose, and following a moment of silent bewilderment, the young clerk said, "You mean Luther?" That’s branding. Luther did it his way. And it worked. For years. One great career. One great man.

     Another Chattanooga visit, on the 18th, HOF board and members, stepped back into the 70’s with a visit to legendary WFLI’s studios, (see the pics on Facebook) followed by a board meet and greet. A really enjoyable time… thanks to Garry Mac and David Carroll for putting it together.

     November will be exciting. We start voting (online) for the career nominees, so look for an email with instructions for casting your votes for next May’s induction class!  You may have already received it!

     Hope to have more exciting news about a merchandise line following our board meeting on the 8th.
Keep Calm…

Gary Beaty
President 

 Dwindling, Yet Very Relevant
SMALL CITY RADIO
by Paul Randall Dickerson
    Someone smarter than I am once said, "The smaller the town, the more important is its radio station." I believe that’s true.
    It’s heartening to see our organization’s website featuring small-town stations celebrating milestones. Can we do more than celebrate with them?
    Many of these stations are struggling financially and none of the owners is getting rich. More often than not, the radio station holds fast out of a sense of duty and love of community. Few of these are in a city with a local daily newspaper.
    In Ashland City, WQSV went silent for a year after a bankruptcy and was only turned back over to the owner when the lienholder’s deal with a prospective purchaser fell through. So I wrote and voiced a thirty for the station that keys on "small town, important station" and I did it gratis. I have also been asked to host a candidate debate and, if the second candidate agrees to debate, I will do that at no charge.
    Being retired, I can do an occasional favor.
     Can you?

(Paul Randall Dickerson is pictured at the controls of one of the original studio control consoles of Chattanooga's WFLI during our recent "field trip".)         
                         
  Donate it and Deduct it!
  WE'RE A 501(c)3 
                                                                       
REMINDER: All donations to the Tennessee Radio Hall Of Fame are tax-deductible. If you have some items you want to donate to keep your memory of Tennessee radio alive, contact Skip Woolwine or Nick Archer.  Vintage broadcast gear is welcome, regardless of age or functionality.   
                                                        
INDUCTION BANQUET PHOTOS
                                 
A reminder once again, that professional photos from the 2014 TRHOF awards banquet may be purchased (at a very low price!) from our own Leslie Pardue, owner of Flashmasters. Take a peek at the banquet photos at   THIS LINK 
                               
THE TWITTER FEED! 
The Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame has a Twitter account!  What do we have to tweet about?   FOLLOW US!  Our Twitter handle is @TENNRHOF
 NEXT MEETING  
Our next meeting is an important one. It is only for the Board of Directors and the Advisory Council, as this is the meeting where the 2015 Legacy (posthumous) Class will be chosen by this group of members.  Also, the 2015 Legendary Station will be decided.  It will be held Saturday, November 8th at the usual meeting place, 2 International Plaza, Nashville, TN 37217 in the main floor conference room. Please check "Events" on our website. 
                           
 WHAT'S NEWS?
--- Please send any news, promotions, stories, trivia…maybe you have an old radio story you’d like to share with us….anything that may be of interest to our membership.  Please email it any of the newsletter staff listed below.  Our newsletter is published the first of every month and back issues may be viewed on our official website at tennradiohalloffame.org   Please keep your email address current so you don’t miss an issue!  
 
--- A committee has been formed to collect and purchase Tennessee radio memorabilia, including old microphones, on-air signage, transmitter parts, and anything related to TN radio stations. If you have items you'd like to donate (or purchase on Ebay, Craigslist, etc.) please contact Nick Archer.  Nick also oversees the TRHOF Facebook page which now boasts over 1000 members, and also our YouTube Page with over 150 airchecks (over 27,000 views!) and other audio/video memories
                               
--- Looking for a gig in Radio, or do you have a spot to fill at your station?  Post it HERE next month.

  Another year.  And you look MAHVELOUS!
 HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

  Donna Brake
Ed Brantley
Ben Cagle
David Carroll
Kyle Croft
Ferrand "Lee Stevens" Cumpton
Lee Dorman
Earl Freudenberg
Watt Hairston
Ernest Harper, Jr.
Gator Harrison
Drue Huffines
Jon Johnson
Fred Moore
Duane Nelson
Don Raines
Rick Schrand
Bob Todd
Ralph Vaughn

 


If you have a trivia fact you wouldn't mind sharing with our members, please email it to one of the following Newsletter staff:
Editor:Cathy Martindale cathymartindale@comcast.net
Buddy Sadler sbuddy@bellsouth.net
Melissa McDonald starmagic@comcast.net
Skip Woolwine  woolwine@comcast.net
 Paul Randall Dickerson tnbackcountry@gmail.com
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ennRadioHallOfFame.org 

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 Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame
PO Box 158921
Nashville, TN 37215
 Career Voting Underway, Legacy Voting Coming
NOVEMBER IS ELECTION MONTH!      by Dave Nichols
     November 1 through November 30 is the voting period for Career Nominees for the Class of 2015 of the Tennessee Radio Hall Of Fame. All Full Members who are in good standing for the membership year that began July 1 are eligible to vote.
     Voting members will receive an email containing their username and password and a link to the online ballot. You can view each nominee’s photo and brief resume by clicking on their name on the ballot page. NOTE: Please disable the pop-up blocker on your browser to view the photos and resumes.
     Again this year, voting is being conducted and tabulated through Elections Online USA. Members who have not provided an email address will receive a paper ballot via US Mail. Paper ballots must be returned and received no later than November 30 to be counted.
     If you are an eligible voting member and have not received your voting information email by Monday, November 3, please check your email spam folder. For further assistance, contact Election Coordinator Dave Nichols directly at
davenichols@comcast.net
     . Voting for Legacy Nominees for the Class of 2015 will be held at a joint meeting of the Board of Directors and the Advisory Council Saturday, November 8 at 10:00 AM at the offices of the Tennessee Association of Broadcasters at Two International Plaza off Briley Parkway in Nashville. Members of the Board and the Council who are in good standing will be eligible to participate and vote at that meeting and all Board and Council members are urged to attend. Members who attend that meeting via conference call will be eligible to vote via text/email during the meeting. The 6 top vote-getters (plus ties) in each category will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at our annual induction banquet May 2, 2015 at the Embassy Suites in Murfreesboro. Watch for banquet ticket and sponsor information in future editions of this newsletter and on our website at http://tennradiohalloffame.org.
     This is your opportunity honor Tennessee’s rich Radio heritage and help shape our Hall of Fame. You’ll find photos and thumbnail resumes of each nominee on our website at
http://tennradiohalloffame.org. Just click on the “Inductees” tab and select “2015 Nominees”.
     The 2015 Induction Banquet is Saturday, May 2, 2015 at the Embassy Suites in Murfreesboro.
     Don’t forget to vote!
 
  We Remember
  LUTHER                                            by Chip Chapman
     The broadcast community lost a great friend and colleague on Monday, October 20.
     At 6:00am sharp, William "Luther" Masingill drew his final breath on this earth, and signed on the air in heaven. For 74 years, Luther always signed on the air at 6:00am sharp. He was always consistent, even in dying. A consistent ratings leader. For decades, no other station in the Chattanooga market even came close.
     A consistent presence on both radio and TV. I mean...Luther was always "there". He never even took a single sick day until 2001! That's right - from New Year's Eve, 1940, until 2001, Luther was always at work.
     But forget all that. Forget the fact he was the world's longest running broadcaster. Same station, same call letters, same time slot, same ratings success. Forget the fact he helped find tens of thousands of lost pets, and helped out thousands of listeners and viewers when their lives were devastated by tragedy. Forget the fact he privately - and anonymously - paid tuition for college students whom he'd never met. Forget the fact he bought bicycles for needy children for Christmas and forget the fact that he was listed in the telephone directory so his listeners and viewers could contact him at any time, day or night.
     But never forget the fact Luther loved our industry and loved his fans. I've never seen an individual more dedicated to his faith, his family, his friends, and his community. I've never seen a person with a bigger heart and giving spirit. Even when Luther had good reason to be bitter or cynical towards the changing broadcast industry, he never was.
     Luther most personified the term "paying it forward". He was the original "social media".
     I'm surprised his picture doesn't come up when you Google the word "Gentleman". He was a true credit to our profession, and he was a dear and close personal friend. I know I'll see him again one day...but I sure wish we had one more day here on earth to enjoy his charm, grace, and dignity. "I love you, ole pal" were the last words Luther said to me, and I to him.
     I'll close with something Luther said to me hundreds of times over the 30 something years we worked together as we were leaving the studio for another day: "So long, ole pal...so long".
  Tennessee Has Talent!
 TN RADIO CELEBRITIES
      Tennessee sure is full of exceptional broadcasters, aren't we?
      The CMA Awards are Wednesday, November 4th, but the broadcast awards have already been revealed and the city of Chattanooga is showing off! WUSY (US 101) captured the CMA trophy for Small Market Station of the Year and Gator Harrison, StyckMan, and Cowboy Kyle have been named Small Market Air Personalities of the Year. Congratulations to all!
                                  Congrats to Keith Bilbrey who was honored with a ROPE (the REunion of Professional Entertainers) Lifetime Achievement Award and to SiriusXM's Kyle Cantrell for the IBMA awards Bluegrass Broadcaster of the Year.
                                                                           
Congrats to Gary Beaty who's scored a speaking part on an upcoming episode of ABC TV's "NASHVILLE". He plays a Judge near the end of episode 310, probably airing in late November.  (Here come da judge!)
 
 
                                    
Member Maxine Wiseman's daddy, Mac Wiseman, was inducted into the Country Music Association's Hall Of Fame.(Pictured with Brent Stoker, left)  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                             
                                        
 Let's Do The Time Warp Again!
 WFLI/CHATTANOOGA FIELD TRIP
  Saturday October 18th was a perfect day weather-wise to tour the retro studios of Chattanooga's 50,000-watt "Jet-Fly" WFLI, one of the state's Top-40 superstar stations of the 1960s and 70s.  So many of the city's biggest radio names passed through there.  We saw a lobby full of vintage radios, fully-functioning studios full of vintage boards, turntables and cart machines, plus a spacious transmitter room with 70+ year old RF gear.  It was a radio geek's paradise.  
 WFLI's signal pattern is directional both day and night and it takes 6 towers to torque the signal away from that mountain, due west, in the background of this photo. 3 towers are in play in Daytime, shooting the 50,000-watt signal due east, while a 4-tower combination ratchets the 2500-watt Nighttime signal toward the southeast.  
One of the early, original audio boards, still in use today, in the WFLI production room.    
1943 Western Electric 50,000-watt transmitter. Out of service today, but they turned it on for us to see the warm glow radiating from the cabinets.   
 This is the main control room as it is today.  It hasn't changed much in 40-50 years. On the left is a 16-inch turntable, and on the right are a couple of 3-stack ITC cart machines. The Gates board is circa mid-1960s   
                           
  Did YOU....  re-NEW?
 WELCOME NEW MEMBERS 
     29 new members joined our ranks in October!  If you haven't done so yet, RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP online by logging in, and clicking Member Profile.  If you're not a bona-fide member, JOIN US NOW, and become eligible to VOTE (November) for the next class of Inductees into the Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame on May 2nd, 2015!  But, join NOW: The eligibility deadline for voting is November 5th. Our membership year is July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2015. This enables you to receive our monthly email newsletter, with Full Members eligible to nominate and vote on inductees and on our annual Board of Directors. Click the "JOIN" tab under our logo on the Home Page. We welcome these New Members in October:

Billy Goodman
MJ Lucas
Preston Martinez
Coleman Walker
Kent Stephens
Teri King
Jonathan Boyce
Fred Anthony Burton
Danny Crouch
Tim Hitt
Jo Smith
Jeremiah Wiser
John Mclane
Fred Gault
Tim Cunningham

 
Maxine Humphreys
Allen L. Johnson
Todd Starnes
Michael King
Fred Buc
John Ivey
Lynda Campbell
Matthew Hill
Jerry Zimmer
Jessica Zimmer
Billy Harper
Karen Lykins
Kyle Nash
Bryan Barrett