WKOR-FM
Encyclopedia
WKOR-FM is a country music
formatted radio station
based in Columbus, Mississippi
. WKOR is owned by Cumulus Licensing LLC. WKOR serves East Central Mississippi
and parts of West Central Alabama
with an ERP of 50,000 watts. Cities in the primary coverage area are Columbus
, West Point
, and Starkville, Mississippi
.
and KLVE in Los Angeles
), Butch Luke (former Mississippi State football player and later continued as a big local personality) and Jon Robin (from WACR in Columbus). The station, known then as "The Voice Of The Golden Triangle," was Top 40. First GM was former TV newsman Lep Boyd (he later ran an airplane banner service in the Carolinas) and the sales manager was Lew Sadler. The owner was C.K. "Ken" Irby.
Later DJs included Giles K. Ward (Louisville, MS), Stan Ryder (he later worked for Wurlitzer, the piano and organ company), J. Mark Shands (a Starkville High student who also used the name Terry McGrew at first and went on to WJDX-WZZQ/Jackson, Y-100/Miami, WRNO/New Orleans, Power 96/Miami and DMX MUSIC/Los Angeles), Tom Collins (later Gary Gallagher - KIKK Houston, KYTE Portland), Grady Moates (who was also station engineer while at WKOR and is now a nationally known audio and broadcast engineer) Larry London (who, using his real name, Randy Bell, became a well known newsman in Jackson), Mike Grace, and Dalton Middleton. Other former KOR talents included Dontan Smith, Bill Evans (now a meteorologist at WABC-TV in New York City), Glen James, Larry Blakeney, John "Boogie" Bailey, Fred Wilson, Rob Grayson, Josh "Buckshot" Taylor, "Skinny Johnny Franklin" (John Weeks, who owns his own produce company), Burt Brown (video producer and former KZLA-Los Angeles jock) and news director Jodi Roberts, now heard on WWMS-FM in Tupelo, Mississippi
.
Don R. Vaughan, Ph.D. in Mass Communication, and former air talent, has written "The Big 98, WKOR: A Pop Cultural Phenomenon".
The station studio was located at 201 Lampkin Street in Starkville. Sometime in the distant past, the WKOR-AM station building was a doctor's office which was next door to a funeral home. Word is that bodies were sometimes stored in the basement of the doctor's office, which is where the WKOR control room was later located! Many former WKOR-AM staffers report tales of ghosts and strange noises in the night there in the old WKOR building back in the 60's, 70's and 80's. One former program director, Dennis Hudson (Who became a well known TV newsman in the area), said he thought the ghost was the old doctor who once worked there.
After the National Anthem, the first song KOR played was The Horse by Cliff Nobles & Co. Other early songs include Sky Pilot by Eric Burdon & The Animals, MacArthur Park by Richard Harris, Grazing in the Grass by Hugh Masekela, Don't Take It So Hard by Paul Revere & The Raiders, Some Things You Never Get Used To by The Supremes, Indian Lake by The Cowsills, People Got To Be Free by The Rascals, Angel Of The Morning by Merilee Rush, Sunshine Of Your Love by Cream, Stoned Soul Picnic by 5th Dimension, and Here Comes The Judge by Pigmeat Markham. Early in WKOR's life the station received a gold single award for Hooked On A Feeling by BJ Thomas, which was displayed in the station lobby for many years.
In the early days of the station, WKOR had a huge old style mobile home, known as the "KOR Caravan" for remote broadcasts, the first being at Woolco in the Gateway Shopping Center. On a Saturday afternoon in October 1968 the caravan was in the nearby town of Maben. Butch Luke got so many groupies into the back of the caravan that it stood up on its end. Bill Tanner was on the air when suddenly all he could see was the sky. J. Mark Shands rushed back to the main studio in Starkville and nervously went on the air, his first time.
WKOR had listener reports as far away as Memphis, back in 1968. It is the station that ended WSSO's radio monopoly in Starkville and was the first media in the area dedicated to the young people.
At last report WKOR was an ESPN
affiliate. It has also been reported that the station is regularly off the air due to technical problems.
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
formatted radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
based in Columbus, Mississippi
Columbus, Mississippi
Columbus is a city in Lowndes County, Mississippi, United States that lies above the Tombigbee River. It is approximately northeast of Jackson, north of Meridian, south of Tupelo, northwest of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and west of Birmingham, Alabama. The population was 25,944 at the 2000 census...
. WKOR is owned by Cumulus Licensing LLC. WKOR serves East Central Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
and parts of West Central Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
with an ERP of 50,000 watts. Cities in the primary coverage area are Columbus
Columbus, Mississippi
Columbus is a city in Lowndes County, Mississippi, United States that lies above the Tombigbee River. It is approximately northeast of Jackson, north of Meridian, south of Tupelo, northwest of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and west of Birmingham, Alabama. The population was 25,944 at the 2000 census...
, West Point
West Point, Mississippi
West Point is a city in Clay County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 12,145 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Clay County and the principal city of the West Point Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of the larger Columbus-West Point Combined Statistical...
, and Starkville, Mississippi
Starkville, Mississippi
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 21,869 people, 9,462 households, and 4,721 families residing in the city. The population density was 851.4 people per square mile . There were 10,191 housing units at an average density of 396.7 per square mile...
.
History
WKOR's AM station has been around for many years. Aside from a series of late night broadcasts for testing purposes, WKOR (980 kHz) went on the air for the first time at Noon July 9, 1968. First DJs were Program Director Bill Tanner (who went on to Y-100 in MiamiMiami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
and KLVE in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
), Butch Luke (former Mississippi State football player and later continued as a big local personality) and Jon Robin (from WACR in Columbus). The station, known then as "The Voice Of The Golden Triangle," was Top 40. First GM was former TV newsman Lep Boyd (he later ran an airplane banner service in the Carolinas) and the sales manager was Lew Sadler. The owner was C.K. "Ken" Irby.
Later DJs included Giles K. Ward (Louisville, MS), Stan Ryder (he later worked for Wurlitzer, the piano and organ company), J. Mark Shands (a Starkville High student who also used the name Terry McGrew at first and went on to WJDX-WZZQ/Jackson, Y-100/Miami, WRNO/New Orleans, Power 96/Miami and DMX MUSIC/Los Angeles), Tom Collins (later Gary Gallagher - KIKK Houston, KYTE Portland), Grady Moates (who was also station engineer while at WKOR and is now a nationally known audio and broadcast engineer) Larry London (who, using his real name, Randy Bell, became a well known newsman in Jackson), Mike Grace, and Dalton Middleton. Other former KOR talents included Dontan Smith, Bill Evans (now a meteorologist at WABC-TV in New York City), Glen James, Larry Blakeney, John "Boogie" Bailey, Fred Wilson, Rob Grayson, Josh "Buckshot" Taylor, "Skinny Johnny Franklin" (John Weeks, who owns his own produce company), Burt Brown (video producer and former KZLA-Los Angeles jock) and news director Jodi Roberts, now heard on WWMS-FM in Tupelo, Mississippi
Tupelo, Mississippi
Tupelo is the largest city in and the county seat of Lee County, Mississippi, United States. It is the seventh largest city in the state of Mississippi, smaller than Meridian, and larger than Greenville. As of the 2000 United States Census, the city's population was 34,211...
.
Don R. Vaughan, Ph.D. in Mass Communication, and former air talent, has written "The Big 98, WKOR: A Pop Cultural Phenomenon".
The station studio was located at 201 Lampkin Street in Starkville. Sometime in the distant past, the WKOR-AM station building was a doctor's office which was next door to a funeral home. Word is that bodies were sometimes stored in the basement of the doctor's office, which is where the WKOR control room was later located! Many former WKOR-AM staffers report tales of ghosts and strange noises in the night there in the old WKOR building back in the 60's, 70's and 80's. One former program director, Dennis Hudson (Who became a well known TV newsman in the area), said he thought the ghost was the old doctor who once worked there.
After the National Anthem, the first song KOR played was The Horse by Cliff Nobles & Co. Other early songs include Sky Pilot by Eric Burdon & The Animals, MacArthur Park by Richard Harris, Grazing in the Grass by Hugh Masekela, Don't Take It So Hard by Paul Revere & The Raiders, Some Things You Never Get Used To by The Supremes, Indian Lake by The Cowsills, People Got To Be Free by The Rascals, Angel Of The Morning by Merilee Rush, Sunshine Of Your Love by Cream, Stoned Soul Picnic by 5th Dimension, and Here Comes The Judge by Pigmeat Markham. Early in WKOR's life the station received a gold single award for Hooked On A Feeling by BJ Thomas, which was displayed in the station lobby for many years.
In the early days of the station, WKOR had a huge old style mobile home, known as the "KOR Caravan" for remote broadcasts, the first being at Woolco in the Gateway Shopping Center. On a Saturday afternoon in October 1968 the caravan was in the nearby town of Maben. Butch Luke got so many groupies into the back of the caravan that it stood up on its end. Bill Tanner was on the air when suddenly all he could see was the sky. J. Mark Shands rushed back to the main studio in Starkville and nervously went on the air, his first time.
WKOR had listener reports as far away as Memphis, back in 1968. It is the station that ended WSSO's radio monopoly in Starkville and was the first media in the area dedicated to the young people.
At last report WKOR was an ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
affiliate. It has also been reported that the station is regularly off the air due to technical problems.