Hans Olson interview

Since I didn't have the space in the paper to include much of my interview with Hans, here's the full 15-minute audio file of our talk. For fans of that distinctive voice, listening to Hans talk is the next best thing to hearing him sing.

Quick talk with Hans Olson about the AMEHOF ceremony

Had the privilege of talking with Hans Olson about the Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame induction ceremony to be held this Sunday, April 17, at the Dodge Theatre. Unfortunately, I had to edit our talk down to fit into a tiny 350-word blurb in our Night & Day section. But it's a quick read that will, hopefully, get people interested in attending. Check it out here.

HELLO FROM DANIEL!

Daniel,

Thanks for the response. Starting with the people on THIS email: HELLO FROM DANIEL! Repeat, Daniel says HOWDY!

He misses you and thinks of you often and he would love to hear from you. Write or call Daniel now.

Love,

Russ

----- Original Message -----

From: Daniel

Cc: Lee Powell

Sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2005 2:18 PM

Subject: Re: THE RON WORTHAM EMAIL CHAIN (?)

Yes. Wonderful Russ, please, say "Howdy!" to everyone for me! Thanks!

And... my old and now defunct email address is somehow still in this mailing list - KCAC/KDKB/RFPhx Daniel (Rebirth) - please remove that one from your address books, you'll just get an "undeliverable" error message anyway, but keep the one at gmail.com. Thanks again.

I sure hope you all have a good time...

:~)aniel
www.vagabondvet.com

----- Original Message -----

From: Russell Shaw

Sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2005 12:39 PM

Subject: Re: THE RON WORTHAM EMAIL CHAIN (?)

I will be there Sunday. If there is anyone on this list who isn't able to attend but would like me to "say hello to everyone" for you - just say so. In fact, Lee Powell and I are going to ride down to the Dodge Theater together in my car with the top down. So I can get a running start on "saying hello to everyone" for you by telling Lee YOU said, "Hello Lee".

----- Original Message -----

From: Ron Wortham

Sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2005 3:23 AM

Subject: THE RON WORTHAM EMAIL CHAIN (?)

Can you say BLOG? The KCAC Lives! blog is really neat. Check it out if you haven't as yet.

Monday, April 11, 2005

The Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

We're excited about seeing a strong representation of the KCAC/original KDKB contingent at the Arizona Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony this Sunday. Andy, Cheryl and I will be so looking forward to seeing you ! All of you on the Ron Wortham email chain, you Compton cohorts, please know that you will also be honored that night, in the hearts of your fans.
-Liz Boyle

The Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

We're excited about seeing a strong representation of the KCAC/original KDKB contingent at the Arizona Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony this Sunday. Andy, Cheryl and I will be so looking forward to seeing you ! All of you on the Ron Wortham email chain, you Compton cohorts, please know that you will also be honored that night, in the hearts of your fans.
-Liz Boyle

PLANT YOUR SEEDS

The past, the present, the future are really all one.

Our existence is defined by the boundaries - of Deja' Vu
~~My autobiography including much of KCAC is now online~~

-=PLANT YOUR SEEDS=-
~~~~~~~~~~~~CLICK HERE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://plantyourseeds.blogspot.com/

Rebirth headlines

If you haven't yet, be sure to check out Daniel's tribute to Rebirth, a Phoenix underground newspaper published from around '69 to '72. From his story page you can find a link to some great photos of original ads, headlines and amazing cover art. Here's a sample of one issue's table of contents:

And here's some advice someone snuck in above an article:

Anon Y. Mouse

Ron here-

(Anon Y. Mouse)

I may as well warn you guys that Wonderful Russ is a collector (and is nice enough to share) some of the most unusual pictures in the world.  I KNOW for sure, that he is going to be posting some wonderful (pun intended) action photos.

 

I for one, collect ALL of them except one of a Monte Cristo sandwich served with a side of grubs, like they eat in Africa.

 

Here is a beauty he sent me a couple of years ago of a good-natured cowboy who had either just gotten bucked off a horse or maybe fell off a pickup truck.

 

Them Flagstaff dudes - wow.

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The past, the present, the future are really all one. Our existence is defined by the boundaries - of Deja' Vu
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is a test to see if Jimmy is telling the truth :-)

It would have been much easier for him to just hit delete on all of those emails he didn't want.  Instead he took the time to set this up.  It damn well better work or I am going to want my money back.

 

Thanks Jimmy!

 

Love,

 

Wonderful Russ

Post by e-mail!

NOTE: Posting by e-mail has been temporarily disabled in an attempt to eliminate spam. Sorry!

The Beatles Or Something Like It - The Day The Music Died

Conspiracy theories are a part of living and dying. It's almost as if you can't believe yo mamma no mo.

KCAC was physically cradled at first in the front of Wallich's Music City - 40th Street and Thomas somewhere between Taco Bell and Tempe.
My first "employees" were Scott Nicholson and Mike Kollassa in that tiny front room studio - right behind the glass at the front of the store. We were supposed to play OLDIES (which to me, meant 50's) untill Bill and Hank could dump their positions at KRUX and KTAR respectively. OLDIES.

Scott and Mike rebelled. We were at a buffet of new rock with all the demo albums just outside the door and I was faced with Scott trying to tell me that Disraeli Gears by Cream was oldies music. Well, it HAD been out for a month or more................

I will never forgive Scott and Mike for their rebellion and I shall be eternally grateful for their inspired sense of timing. By the time Bill and Hank made it over, the station was already "hot". The arrival of "Little Willie Sunshine" and the soon-to-be "Incredible Hank" was BIG news in the Phoenix radio world.

Some months into the station, I was paid a visit by several "representatives" of a Chicago underground newspaper, breaking the story tha Paul McCartney was dead. We did a long interview with all the clues - playing records backwards, etcetera.

It was all too much. I took the 4 beatles photos from the White Album and taped them in the window. John on top, Ringo to his right, George to his left and Paul below - upside down.


The Beatles
Don't Pass Me By
by Unknown


I listen for your footsteps coming up the drive,
Listen for your footsteps but they don’t arrive,
Waiting for your knock dear on my old front door,
I don’t hear it,
Does it mean you don’t love me anymore?

I hear the clock a-ticking on the mantelshelf,
See the hands a-moving but I’m by myself,
I wonder where you are tonight and why I’m by myself,
I don’t see you.
Does it mean you don’t love me anymore?

Sorry that I doubted you
I was so unfair,
You were in a car crash and you lost your hair,
You said that you would be late an hour or two
I said that’s all right
I’m waiting here just waiting to hear from you.

Don’t pass me by, don’t make me cry, don’t make me blue,
‘Cause you know daring I love only you,
You’ll never know it hurt me so,
How I hate to see you go,
Don’t pass me by,
Don’t make me cry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Go ahead - Click the link
http://www.total411.info/2005/03/no-ix-masonic-assassination-of-james.html

Chat room

I thought of adding a chat room/message board to this site, but I discovered Andy and Liz's Radio Free Phoenix already has an excellent one going. Click here to go to the Radio Free Phoenix forum and get in on some fun discussions about Valley radio, past and present (of particular interest to this group may be the "Free Form Radio History" thread). You can also click on the link at the top of this page to go directly to the forum.

KCAC podcast, pt. 4

In the conclusion of Compton’s Independence Day collage, we hear snippets of “Give Peace A Chance” (Leon Russell), “Never Kill Another Man” (Steve Miller Band), “Peace Brother Peace” (Bill Medley), “America” (Simon and Garfunkel), and “The National Anthem” (Peter Sarstead). “America, as seen through the eyes of KCAC and myself,” Bill says, before spinning two more tracks from the Steve Miller Band, “I Love You” and “Seasons.” All in all, a hopeful message, delivered in turbulant times – something we could use again today.

KCAC Article in Arizona Days & Ways

"I think we're more of a spiritual-force. KCAC is an exercise in freedom" - Bill Compton

KCAC in its day, did receive some press in the mainstream media. The above quote is from a great article I've had posted on my site, radiofreephoenix.com. It's a story from the September 20, 1970 issue of Arizona Days & Ways (a magazine insert that used to come in the Sunday "Arizona Republic") This is just the part of the article that pertains to KCAC. Other stations profiled in the same article include KRIZ, KRUX, KOY & KTAR-FM. I thought it was such a great piece that I made sure I saved the paper that day. Here's the link:
KCAC Article in Arizona Days & Ways

KCAC podcast, pt. 3

If you only download one part of this broadcast, this is the one to hear. In part 3 of Bill Compton's Fourth of July program from 1970, Bill boldly breaks the tone of the times by calling for compassion from both sides of the generation gap. He then spends eight minutes of air time reading the entire Declaration of Independence, and launches into one of his patented music collages, featuring parts of: "I Saw America" (Stone the Crows); "Mother Country" (John Stewart); "The Story of Issac" (Leonard Cohen); "The Great Mandela" (Theodore Bickell); "Monster" (Steppenwolf); "Freedom" (Michael Collins); Compton reading a quotation by Henry Ward Beecher; “Let’s Get Together” (Youngbloods); “Aquarious (Let The Sunshine In)” (Fifth Dimension). The last nine minutes of the collage, followed by Bill's closing commentary, will be here tomorrow. You won't want to miss that.

Ron Wortham - FreeSpeak

Good news! Ron Wortham started a blog today. Hopefully he will get around to publishing excerpts from his autobiography, "Plant Your Seeds" ("The only part anyone read was about KCAC and KDKB," he jokes. "The rest was used as rolling papers and was burned.").
In the meantime, check out his introductory post, in which Ron rightly dubs Radio Free Phoenix the "latest incarnation" in the KCAC-KDKB geneology. Here's an excerpt:
"It is INCREDIBLE to see and even be able to share in the evolution of all this. I look back at these hingepoints of my life and appreciate more and more the uniqueness of the KCAC times. The spirit is still there, holding it all together almost in desperation, until the times we live in can be as one with the world we tried to create back then."

KCAC podcast, pt. 2

In part 2 of the KCAC podcast, Bill drops a Kahlil Gibran poetry reading into the middle of a long Gordon Lightfoot collage (remember when Gordon Lightfoot was cool?) and introduces us to an "unbelievably good" new album called "The Who Live at Leeds." Plus, more of those great old commercials (four-track stereo tape sale at Mad Man Muntz!). Legal eagles: I've been perusing the copyright laws to see if it's OK to post old radio broadcasts in this manner, and I'm assuming since the licensing was already paid once for the original broadcast, and this falls under archival/research purposes, and the relatively low quality of the recording doesn't take away from the "value" of the original records, I think this falls under the "fair use" doctrine. But let me know if I need to trim the music out (I'd rather not: listening to the full, unedited broadcasts really takes you back!).

We've got a team!

Twenty-four hours into this thing and we've already got a team forming! Check out the "Contributors" list at left and the "Community" links below that. Looking forward to some good posts from all those signing up. Let the insanity begin!

Marty Manning - progressive still!

Be sure to check out Marty Manning's brand new blog. His first post is already a gem:
"My first experience with 'free-form' radio was listening to Bill do the KRUX Underground show on Saturday nites on KRUX 1360 AM. I literally couldn't get out of the car. I remember sitting in the car for hours at 7th Street & Pierce. 'Darkness, Darkness' by the Youngbloods grabbed me and wouldn't let me go."
His quick timeline brings us all the way up to satellite radio, about which he remarks:
"It'll take a while before it takes over, if it does at all, and that's a good thing for a guy who makes a living doing commercials. But it does make you wonder what Bill Compton would be doing now, 27 years after his untimely death. I think he'd be looking at satellite. And figuring out a way to do it better than anyone else."
For more from Marty, click here.

KCAC podcast, pt. 1

Check out part 1 of a Bill Compton broadcast on KCAC from July 4, 1970. (Right-click to download, or simply click to play in browser.) Thanks to Tom Wright of Tempe for archiving the original reel-to-reel recording on CD. And keep coming back for more, in sequence, from this original broadcast!

Compton on Kent State (excerpt)

For the full 18-minute file of part 1 of Compton's July 4, 1970 broadcast, see "KCAC podcast, part 1" above.