First, thank you very much for putting this site together. It is obviously a labor of love from someone who I will always be grateful to for their Sunday night oldies show, long after I left AM radio behind. I thoroughly agree with you about today's "oldies" stations.
I was raised in the old Ninth Ward (before it was called that gentrified name, "Bywater", except for the phone exchange), and like anybody else who grew up in the 60s and 70s (I was born in 1955), WTIX and WNOE were a big part of my life until I started listening more to FM around 1970 or so. Seems I recall that FM radios were not too easy to come by (especially in small transistor radio format), and all they played on them was jazz and classical anyway, at least until WRNO started around 1967. Funny thing is, that is all I generally listen to now, outside of R&B and R&R from the 1950s-1980s. I like some C&W (with the emphasis on Western) music (the older, the better), but now that Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings have moved on, why bother? Most of today's country bands sound like rock wannabes to me. Hank didn't do it that way.
Anyway, your site flooded my own mind with memories, not to mention being overjoyed at some of the things you have on it (I certainly never expected to hear "Ice Man" in this lifetime again!), but it also triggered some questions that I would like to know if you might have answers to.
1.) When I would have the chance to listen to FM radio in the mid-1960s, I would enjoy hearing Toby's Tower of Jazz and Poppa Stoppa on WNNR-FM. The former was one of the very few radio programs (Al Gourrier on WYLD was another) with a jazz format in the music's birthplace. I will forever be grateful to Mr. Falcon (thanks for mentioning him in your list of local DJs) for fostering an appreciation for John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, Miles Davis, and as Toby would put it, "Dinah ... Dinah ... WASH-ING-TON." Do you recall the show, and do you know whatever happened to Mr. Falcon?
2.) When the Charlie Douglas Road Gang rode the overnight airwaves at WWL in the 1970s-80s, I loved listening to his show on late Sunday nights-early Monday mornings when he would have a country "oldies" show. Before going to CBS news on the hour, he would play a western swing instrumental that has stayed in my mind for years, but he would never say what was the song's title or the name of the band (could have been Bob Wills, but I doubt it). Do you have any idea where I might find that information? BTW, when I was a kid, it was a real treat for me when you DJs would play the whole instrumental song before going to a newscast.
3.) Whatever happened to Jim Stewart, the WNOE legend? To this day, I think he was the most surreal DJ I have ever heard. God, he was funny! Thank goodness for those program directors who let him have free reign of his show.
4.) I'm asking this next one with a straight face, and I would appreciate a straight answer to this one. Did WTIX ever consider playing a Frank Zappa/Mothers of Invention record in the late 1960s? I know "Brown Shoes Don't Make It" would have been out of the question, but "Any Way The Wind Blows" was on the same level as Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes. BTW, I still think the original Mothers were the all-time 50s cover band, in spite of all the other craziness they took part in, because they would play it with obvious love and respect.
Now for a few short comments. 1.) Thanks for educating me on the sorry state of radio today with your editorial. It's so ridiculous, I can't even listen to WRNO ("All Nazareth. All the time.") anymore. Sorry, I find Walton & Johnson funny only 10% of the time. But it's even worse for classical music and jazz. At least WWNO tries. Thank you, Lord, for compact discs and Internet sites such as yours. 2.) I noticed Bobby Charles of Abbeville and J&M Recording Studios is not listed among your area artists. Any chance of rectifying that? 3.) I would give a week's paycheck to hear one of the Larry Regan's "Rascals" segments from the 1970s. Oh, man, they were right-on! And Larry's soothing late night voice was so unforgettable! "Larry (breath) Regan here (breath) with you." or "And the current (breath) temp (breath) is 82 (breath) degrees.". 4.) Good luck on finding Ted ("It's the Teddy-Go-Round!") Green. Fond, fond memories. 5.) THANK YOU VERY MUCH for your tribute to Mr. Clarence, Poppa Stoppa. Listening to him, even as late as the 1980s on WYAT, was like entering a venerable museum or cathedral. I often would think he must really like this music! And when he would play the very occasional Beatles record, it would be one of their core songs, "There's A Place"! Such rarified taste! 6.) I ate many a roast beef and potato sandwich (remember gravy sandwiches?) at Martin Bros. on St. Claude until they closed in the mid-1970s, but Clarence & Lefty's on Almonaster (just past the Franklin Ave. split) served some great ones, too! Acy's Pool Hall on Sophie Wright Place wasn't bad either. 7.) Artista's Pizza Parlor on Franklin Ave. did only one thing that made their pizzas so great. Every one of them was made from scratch (including the dough it seemed), and the warmth and freshness oozed from every black olive and bell pepper. Tower of Pizza on Downman Road was a good place to go, too.
Thanks again for all the wonderful memories and your wonderful site!
BOB:
Glad you enjoyed! There's always more coming too! Now a few answers:
Toby Falcon (Toby's Tower Of Jazz on WNNR): I suppose he's passed away by now but I worked the shift before him many times and I remember the "royal" air he carried when he entered the studio to share another Tower of Jazz with his audience. A tall, big man, kinda stuffy but ok.
The Charlie Douglas Instrumental: No idea, but I'll give the number of Charlie's office in Nashville if you really feel like pursuing it.
Jim Stewart: Alive but Missing In Action away from New Orleans at this writing (12/27/03). I'll try to put a tracer on Jim the Stew.
WTIX and Frank Zappa: Nope, never did we ever consider playing any Zappa music. We played Top 40 and chose our playlist from the Billboard charts. To my knowledge Zappa never had a single ('45) hit on the charts, or if he did it did not rise high on it.
... now, back to my yummy Gravy Sandwich from Clarence & Lefty's
...
I played bass with The Playboys in 1960 and '61, and then with The
Crowns (after Starkey left for the service) in '62 and '63. After that I
spotted quite a bit in the Quarter with just about everyone passing through.
How about those Sunday evening dances at Star of the Sea at St. Roch Park?
After a few years of kicking around I finally settled in the Lafayette area in the early '70's, where I reside to this day.
Weren't the '50's and '60's a great time to be in New Orleans?
BOB:
Yes that era was a great time, and especially within the charm of New Orleans.
Hmmm...a light just went on in my head. There was a guy in my class at De
La Salle (Class of '63) who played with the Playboys as I recall...Dennis
Turgeau. Is my memory on target?? Of course this was the New Orleans band
known as the Playboys, not John Fred's Playboys.
FOLLOWUP FROM PETE LATINO:
Bob, you're correct - Dennis Turgeau sang with the Playboys.
In addition, the original group consisted of Kenny Hebert on guitar (now in Houma), Rudy Valentino on drums (passed away in the '70's), Kippy Kimble on trumpet, Harris Deffess on alto / tenor (passed away in the '70's), and Joe Miller on baritone sax.
Dennis and I played together again for a couple of years in the late '60's at the Ramada Inn at Michoud, with Tommy Woodin on drums and Ritchie Ladner on piano.
BOB:
No Dawnbusters tape or disk recordings exist as far as I can determine.
What a pity...they would be such classics now. But Phil Cheramie (Email
From Visitors, Page 24) sent me the lyrics to Arise:
ARISE', ARISE', ARISE'
YOU CAN'T STAY IN DE BED ALL THE DAY
YOU GOT TO FIX THE MIRLITON
YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING BIG COCHON
ARISE', ARISE', ARISE', ARISE'.
...and I assume in the song it was pronounced the good ole Cajun way
... "Aroise."
A few Sundays ago I was driving through Hammond on my way to Houston. Just for fun, I tuned into to 'TIX to see if "JOE CULOTTA" was still there. Remember him? I used to get $10 if I took meter readings for him during his show. The '70's . What a fun time. Skinny (Tom Cheney) and I rooming. What a trip.
It's a nice thing you've done with the site. So many personalites come and go and once they've left, many are gone forever. Best of luck to you always.
BOB:
Don, really nice to hear from yet another member of the old WTIX gang. Radio
began to be a poorer place when you left the air in 1979. And it's hard
to believe that Joe Culotta and "Let's Talk It Over" have been
off the air since 1989, and that Joe and Miriam just celebrated their 50th
wedding anniversary.
I've been reading for a couple of hours. I couldn't turn this off. Of course it flodded my mind with remembrances of my own. I am a fifties child and I thank God everyday for it. I could restate eveything I read about, but there is no need to. You have heard it all. But I do have one thing I haven't seen here to tell you about. When my husband and I were dating we would go to Mac's Fried Chicken in Algiers, get a take-out box of chicken and head down the street to the Algiers Drive-in Theater. We would listen to the radio and eat our chicken until the movie started. Also another one of my special memories is going to see Mr. Bingle in the Maison Blanche Store on Canal St. with my mom, dad, and 2 sisters. Then we would ride over to the French Quarter for coffee, chocolate milk, and beignets. This was our yearly adventure across the river.ha-ha As my husband would say, "You can take the Girl out of Gretna, but you can't take Gretna out of the Girl." (Westbank is the Bestbank)
Thank You so much for all these Memories. I plan to pass this site on to all my Friends and Family!!
BOB:
We all shared so many of the great things New Orleans had to offer back
then. I hope that was WTIX you were listening to on the radio!
I grew up in Shreveport, but came to New Orleans often to visit my grandmother, who lived at 1607 Broadway near Tulane. Even I remember many of the things in your recollection, as I went to Loyola right after Hurricane Betsy in '65. I remember The Raven well. And the streetcar was, and is, the greatest.
How about....Cusimano's, K&B's on seemingly every major intersection, corner groceries, Tulane Stadium, the Loyola Fieldhouse, the azaleas blooming on the Avenue every spring. It must have been really great growing up in New Orleans in the '50's and '60's. What a fun city. Thanks for the memories.
BOB:
Eddie Price's turned into The Boot around 1970 and I think it's still there.
And I think to this day that The Raven on Maple Street made the best pizza
anywhere. What a great tasted, washed down with a freezing cold pitcher
of beer!