In the 1960’s and 70’s, the pocket transistor radio was essential gear carried by an average young person to keep up with the top 40 hits of the day. Comedian Allan Sherman, best known for his recorded “Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh” letter from Camp Granada, paid homage to this portable, miniature sound device in a 1962 novelty song, “Twelve Gifts of Christmas.” He put a Japanese transistor radio (the Mark IV model, the one that’s been discontinued) in place of the partridge-in-a-pear-tree. Whenever the lyrics circled back to this first gift, the radio’s features were extolled: its “leatherette case with holes in it, so you can listen right through the case,” and the “wire with a thing on one end that you can stick in your ear, and a thing on the other end that you can’t stick anywhere, because it’s bent.” The radios broadcast the music and voices of on-air personalities that defined pop culture.
One of the popular radio hosts in Chattanooga was John E. Douglas, the morning man at WGOW-AM from 1978 to 1980. This was a transitional period for the radio industry, as teenagers matured into young adults and album-oriented rock music drew listeners to the FM dial. Adult contemporary music, such as “What a Fool Believes,” “Morning Train,” and “Cat’s in the Cradle” was WGOW’s new format. John E. Douglas attracted listeners with his sense of humor and ability to do voice characterizations.
One of his characters was “Guy N the Sky,” who provided humorous reports of traffic conditions in a Gomer Pyle-like voice. Here’s a typical exchange between John and Guy. “Hellooo there, Mr. Douglas, this is Guy N the Sky up here in Helichopper 1150, high atop Amnicola Highway.” John asks how the traffic looks, to which Guy replies, “It’s movin’ in both directions.” Guy would go on to talk about anything but the traffic. Another of John’s characters sounded a bit like Foghorn Leghorn, and would call up to teach him how to speak Southern.
John also played sound effects on his show, with one causing a bit of alarm at our house. My wife had the radio on, and thought that she heard the clucking sound of a chicken outside. The neighbor’s dog was prone to steal chickens from a farm nearby, and bring them to our yard for a feast. My wife looked outside, expecting to see a pile of chicken feathers. It took her looking out three windows before she realized that the sound was coming from the radio. John was playing chicken sound effects on top of the music.
While at WGOW, John won Billboard Magazine’s award for best disc jockey in the U.S. medium markets. He competed against 2,500 others across the country to earn this distinction. John E. Douglas left WGOW in 1980 for WNOX in Knoxville, followed by WIBC-Indianapolis and WHK – Cleveland. Today, he runs a magazine for car enthusiasts called “Cruisin’ Times” (www.cruisintimes.org), and lives with his family near Cleveland, Ohio.
I contacted John to see what he remembered about Chattanooga. He recalled that the city was “pretty impressive even back then,” with its skyline and views of mountains and river as one entered by Interstate 24. John said that he had a great time in Chattanooga, and that it was his favorite of all of the towns where he spent time on the radio. He remembered doing special promotions, such as giving away Chinese dinners at Thanksgiving when other stations gave away turkeys. John also recalled that his station was a promoter of the St. Jude Telethon.
In future weeks, I hope to locate others from Chattanooga’s radio history, and do a short biography of them. If you have a favorite D.J., please send me an e-mail at jolleyh@signaldata.net. Also, as a follow-up to last week’s article on the International Glass House, a reader wants to know who hosted WDOD’s “Breakfast Club” which was a morning, live-remote program from that restaurant. Please send me an e-mail if you know the answer.