[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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