[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 114 (Wednesday, September 3, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1643-E1644]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TRIBUTE TO RADIO STATION WGAP
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HON. JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR.
of tennessee
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, September 3, 1997
Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, while we were on our district work period in
August, radio station WGAP of Maryville, TN, celebrated a great
milestone--its 50th anniversary.
Local radio stations are very important to this Nation. They not only
help our citizens stay informed, but they also help promote the local
economy and support the general well-being and cohesiveness of a
community. WGAP has certainly done this, and has provided great
community service to the citizens of Maryville and throughout Blount
County.
In a day when many people do not stay with one company for very long
and loyalty is not regarded as highly as it once was, I especially want
to call attention to and commend the career of Carl Wells. Mr. Wells
has been with WGAP from the very first day and has certainly been
instrumental in keeping this station on the air and successful over the
years. Not many small businesses are able to survive for this many
years, and I want to congratulate station owner Steve Corbitt and all
of those who have worked for this outstanding radio station over the
years.
Walker Johnson wrote a very interesting and informative article about
a small part of the history of this station for the August 15, 1997,
Knoxville News Sentinel. I would like to call this article to the
attention of my colleagues and other readers of the Record.
[From the Knoxville News Sentinel, Aug 15, 1997]
WGAP Proud of Its Sports Heritage
(By Walker Johnson)
Maryville's WGAP turned 50 years old Aug. 13. To get a true
historical perspective of the station, I talked with a group
of men who had been connected with WGAP from the beginning.
When I asked them about the station's sports history, they
all told the same story.
WGAP was the first member of the Vol Network. Steve
Corbitt, third owner of the station, said that when Lindsey
Nelson and University of Tennessee Coach Robert Neyland
formed the Vol radio network, the Knoxville flagship station
was WKGN, but due to a certain sponsor, WGAP was to be
included in the first broadcast. The first sponsor on the Vol
Network was Aluminum Company of America, and the execs there
told Nelson the Maryville station had to be included in the
broadcast or they would not sponsor the games.
Over the next five decades, WGAP carried the Vols,
Maryville College football, the Brooklyn Dodgers, NASCAR and
high school sports. The local sports announcer positions have
been held by Tom Lyons, Ken Kribbs, Pete Williams, Steve
Corbitt and Maryville's mayor, ``Skeeter'' Shields. Glen
Morton is currently doing local play-by-play.
The fuel that has kept WGAP running over the past 50 years
had been their wide and loyal client base. Carl Wells started
with the station on Day One and is still selling advertising.
Wells told me he has about 20 clients on his list, and he
tries to touch base with most of them every day.
My father, Charles W. Johnson, held the title of the
longest-running client of the station until he retired in the
late 1970s. Dad's
[[Page E1644]]
show fired up at 6:45 every morning, and the theme song was
Eddy Arnold's ``Cattle Call.''
If you are not familiar with the tune, let me inform you:
It starts cold with Eddy yodeling. I cannot begin to describe
the mental state that can be induced by a clock radio
awakening someone from a sound sleep to the sound of a long,
high, drifting yodel.
I knew the show was working when my first-grade teacher,
Mrs. Timmons, asked her class to stand and introduce
themselves. When I stood up and proudly said, ``Walker
Johnson, and my daddy has the J&K Super Stores,'' that yodel
drifted up from the back row.
Carl was my dad's account executive. Today the title of
longest-running account in held by Maryville Furniture, and
Carl is also their link to the station. A strictly
unconfirmed report places Carl's age at 81; if that is true
he holds seniority over every broadcast account executive
I've ever known.
There is a absolutely no way I can begin to cover the
entire history of WGAP in two short columns. An entire book
could be written about the Sunday live broadcasts when
preachers and singers would lift the roof off the station.
Another chapter could tell of the station's involvement
with Blount County's ``Hillbilly Homecoming'' and how WGAP
provided emcees to introduce such acts as the Lennon Sisters,
Pat Boone, Red Foley and Patsy Cline.
And somewhere in that book there might be a tiny paragraph
about a fine-looking 22-year-old announcer who was discovered
by the station through the help of his father, who just
happened to be their oldest advertiser.
WGAP is a classic example of the need to preserve our
broadcast heritage before the memories and the pioneers all
fade away.
I promised you last week I would tell about the cherry-
bombing of the Blount County Courthouse. I'll give you the
Cliffs Notes version.
When the station was across from the courthouse, a certain
current station owner and a former Blount County politico and
pizza proprietor came to the realization that the Blount
County jail was well within slingshot range.
Late one evening a fine and accurate sling was procured,
along with a number of cherry bombs. Yardage was carefully
calculated, windage checked, and repeated launchings
commenced.
Heavily armed officers charged out of the jail doors,
looking for the gun battle that must be taking place in the
street. The launch team quickly faded back into the shadows
of WGAP, and to this day, their identity is a deeply guarded
secret.
Quick Takes
WMYU's morning co-host is leaving the station. Dean Scott
told me he is running two businesses, and he just ran out of
time for radio. Scott said his last day on the air will be
Aug. 22.
Account executive Jamie Lewis has also resigned from WMYU;
she will be the sales manager for Praise 96.3 WJBZ.
My 102 Boomsday activities will not include the My 102
Boomsday 5K race on Saturday, Aug. 30. Promotions Director
Mary Deschamps said the station has expanded the program to
such an extent on the day of the show that they will no
longer do the race.
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