WRKA vs. WASE

[Mountain Man]

Thanks for your clarification. Your apology is humbly accepted.

[Kevin]

An additional comment on the WASE vs WRKA vs WAKY situation:

Neither WASE nor WRKA seem to develop their DJ's like WAKY did. I am not knocking the current DJ's but you might think that PD's would encourage and develop DJ's into real characters like WAKY in the 60's and 70's.

Why not have skits and put-on's?
Maybe the PD's think it would irratate listeners, but wouldn't it be worth a try to get some wildass DJ's in there? Maybe a Wolfman Jack sound alike? Or someone who does different voices like Burbank? They all seem to be so polite and "Executive" sounding (whatever that means).

I dunno, I probably should get back to cleaning out my garage and let the experts decide what's best, but I for one would be listening to a radio station that had more personality like WAKY had in 1972.

[R J]

Hey Kevin,

I know what you mean. The closest thing to that in town now is probably Fox 93.1's morning show with Tony and Dwight. Though they are a lot edgier than local sensibilites would allow in '72.

Not too sure you can train a guy to be a Bailey, Burbank, Coyote, Weird Beard or Wolfman Jack. They were pretty much one of a kind type of deals who only come around once.

[bobo123]

I have listened to WASE for a very very long time, and I must say that I have never heard them sound as good as they do now. After bringing Les Cook on board, it certainly has been a plus for the station! I wonder tho, how much freedom they allow him as far as doing "His" thing. He has the voice and the talent to be a WACKY jock. The music blend is great, the only thing I would change is Marvin! Most times it sounds like he is on a caffeine high, and trying to understand all he says, which most of the time is way too much...can be a task in itself! I also wonder if Les Cook and Steven Lee are related? I assume not, mainly because Les is so much better in my opinion. Too many stations have too many that sound the same, WASE does not, and I like that. I recently looked at the poll WASE is doing on the website, and totally agree, 60's and 70's are what they need, RKA, I think gets their selections out of the attic..maybe Marvin's attic? Why is RKA even doing Oldies? Seems like they should switch formats now while they are even on the ratings chart. Anyhow, just my opinion!

[R J]

If WASE has a stronger signal and better air talent than WRKA as most people who post here seem to think, where are their ratings? WRKA has on average a 4 share and WASE barely has a 1 share. The finger is usually pointed in the direction of the Program Director by upper management as it is that persons responsibility to make sure the station reaches its ratings potential. Who is the program director there?

After listening to both stations yesterday, in my opinion it isn't even close. WRKA wins every daypart in every one of the categories. Thats why they quadruple their numbers. Other than Les Cook in the morning WASE sounds just as they should. Like a small town station.

[big joe]

yes

[RAY]

GUEST RAY WASE IS TRULY THE BEST OF THE 2 STATIONS COME ON WOULD RKA EVER PLAY THE SONG TIMOTHY HESRD ON KOOL WASE, THEY ALSO HAVE THE BEST SOUNDING JOCKS
EVEN HAVE PEOPLE THAT DO ON AIR REMOTES THAT HAVE PERSONALITY ABOUT WHAT THEY ARE DOING,BUT THE BREAD AND BUTTER IS THE MUSIC

[JTOWN JERRY]

AMEN BROTHER RAY

ANOTHER THING. A LOT OF PEOPLE ON HERE ON HERE HAVE BEEN LAYIN IN TO MY MAN MICHAEL MARVIN. THING IS, HE PROBABLY KNOWS MORE ABOUT THE MUSIC THAN THE REST OF THEM PUT TOGETHER. I KNOW FROM TIME TO TIME HE COMES OFF WITH SOME CRAZY---- . BUT IF YOU CAN GET PAST THAT PART OF HIS SHOW YOU CAN REALLY START TO LIKE THE GUY. ANYONE WHO PLAYS SNOOPY AND THE RED BARON IN AFTERNOON DRIVE ON A FRIDAY CAN'T BE ALL BAD.

I HAD TO BE IN NEW YORK CITY FOR ABOUT A WEEK A COUPLE MONTHS AGO. WHILE I WAS THERE I HAD MOST OF THE AFTERNOON FREE, SO ONE AFTERNOON I CAUGHT A CAB NEAR CENTRAL PARK, WHEN I GOT INTO THE GUYS CAB HE WAS LISTENING TO OLDIES. I ASKED HIM WHAT STATION HE HAD ON AND HE SAID WBZO FM. WHEN I GOT BACK TO THE HOTEL I LISTENED TO IT FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS, JUST LET ME SAY THIS, THE GUY ON THE AIR THERE IN NYC DIDN'T PUT ON HALF THE SHOW THAT MARVIN PUTS OUT.

PUT ME DOWN FOR WASE AND MR. OLDIES MICHAEL MARVIN

[OKOLONA RICKY]

HEY ITS WASE OVER RKA ANYTIME THE MUSIC IS GREAT, AND THE JOCKS ARE GOOD,I LISTEN
OVERNIGHT AND THEY EVEN HAVE ON AIR VOICES ON THEN AND NOTHING BUT THE BEST AND MOST OLDIES ANS I LOVE ALL OF THE GIVE AWAYA AND STUFF THEY GIVE AWAY JUST LIKE THE OLD DAYS LISTENING IN OKOLONA ITS RICKY

[Nancy B in Radcliff Ky]

Interesting post from BoBo123. Almost sounds like an insider? Especially the part about deciding which personality is better based on whether or not they are related? Come on. As for me, Les does have a good voice though it sounds verrry monotone at times. When he is doing his show it sounds one way, but on every commercial he is on, and it seems like he is on 99% of them, it has a very distorted sound, too loud compared to everything else. But tht is being very nitpicky. Just listen and you'll hear what I mean. Mr. Oldie Michael Marvin actually has the best voice on the station. Finally, I think Steven Lee truly has the WAKY sound. I wish he were on the air more than just Saturdays. I can remember hearing him on WAKY and WHAS on the weekends. He sounds very nice and in a way reminds me of how Johnny Randolph sounded. Anyhow, just my opinion.

Don't get me wrong Les is not bad, but the morning man WASE had on the air before he arrived was really better overall. But it has been so long ago I can't seem to recall his name. Does anyone remember?

I work in Valley Station and live in Radcliff.

Overall I like the WASE DJ's and their contests better.

[Travis]

Les Cook IS the program director for WASE and is not related to Steven Lee Cook.

Somewhere on this board is an explanation as to why WASE has such a lower share than that of WRKA. I can't find it, but it has something to do with the way ratings are applied to a given market, such as Louisville, and WASE's location in Elizabethtown.

I met Michael Marvin at U of L's campus radio station (WXKE) in '74. He has a photographic memory and could answer any music related question we threw at him. He even knew the lengths (in minutes & seconds), the labels, BMI or ASCAP and in some cases, even the serial numbers on the record labels.

I don't know if he still has all of that in his head today, but if you feel he gives out entirely too much information on his show, you are probably only getting a fraction of what he actually knows.

By the way. It was Les Cook's father who founded WPDF in Corydon, Indiana, and gave a young man by the name of Carl Burton Markert his first job in radio. Burt would later go from there to WINN and then to WAKY where he is best remembered today as... the Weird Beard.

Thought I'd throw that in just to keep this thread somewhat relevant to WAKY.

[Larry D Etown]

Hey Ricky,
Are you the same Okolona Ricky who played with the Beer Drinking Rodeo Band?

Here's my vote for Mike Marvin and Kool.

[BIG DAN LOUISVILLE]

FOR DJS KOOL: FAVOITES: MIKE MARVIN GREG LAHA STEVE LEE COOK

THEIR 70S MUSIC IS THE BEST...ALSO AM NOT OPPOSED TO THE 50'S STUFF THEY PLAY IT GIVES SOME VARIETY.

[Jim]

Not to say Snoopy vs. the Red Baron wasn't a good song. But given the choice I'd rather hear One Bad Apple by the Osmonds. ;D

[kevin502]

Why do I have a sense that OKOLONA RICKY and JTOWN JERRY are the same person? And they have a connection to WASE?

[Jim]

HEY TRAVIS,

BASED SOLELY ON WHAT YOU HAVE HEARD FROM BOTH OF THESE STATIONS WHEN YOU HAVE BEEN IN LOUISVILLE HOW WOULD YOU RATE THEM? KIND OF SOUNDS LIKE YOU LEAN TOWARD WASE.

[Jim]

Kevin,
Checked out the two and don't think it is. Even though some of Kools slogans are used.

[alan]

it's not even close wrka all the way! i'd much rather have a chance at winning a car than a pair of tickets to see the vandells. call me crazy.

someone will probably say i work for rka.

[John]

My favorite DJ's are on WRKA. However also like Karen Allen on Kool.
Best Music: WRKA I''ve been a listener for over 20 years.

[C C]

Hope no one takes this the wrong way but steve cook is the best d---- jock on either station.
Too bad i read he's so happy with his job down there. hhmmmm?

[Mountain Man]

Not at all. It would be a very very close race between him, Les, Greg & Larry Miller. But I could agree if only for the element of excitement he brings to his delivery, even though he doesn't have what you would generally consider the best voice of the four. But after all he was on WAKY and WHAS so he should be good.

[Mike J Middletown]

I know what you mean. But since he is only on Saturday afternoons around 3 o'clock it would seem unfair to compare him to those who are on every day. I've listened to him over the past several weekends and he sounded really good.
For me it would be between him, Larry Miller and maybe Karen Allen.

I prefer WRKA's jingle package best. Some days for music it's ASE and some days RKA. They are both good stations. Not really WAKY or KLO, but good just the same.

[Travis]

Attn: Jim

I feel that my opinion would be rather biased in favor of WASE because I hung out with Steven Lee Cook during his weekends at WAKY, worked U of L's campus radio station with Mike Marvin, and knew Les Cook when he was doing news at WQHI (Hi95).

I do have a great deal of respect for WRKA. They were playing music from the '60s in the late '80s just before I made my move to Florida, and I was listening quite a bit. I can also hear the station via streaming audio and get news from home along with the oldies.

I only heard Les' show on WASE on the morning of the first WAKY-WKLO reunion. I had driven through the night to get from Florida to Louisville and had to sleep before the reunion began at 7 PM. I was back on the road home after midnight and was too caught up in listening to my customized CDs to think about checking any stations.

It's my understanding that streaming audio is a bit expensive, but if WASE ever goes with it I'll certainly do a comparison.

[kevin502]

When one of them is brave enough to play "Junk Food Junky" or "Starting All Over Again" or "Ain't no woman like the one I got" or "Little Willy" or "Friends are Electric", then I will say theya re a great oldies station.

[Travis]

Wow. You're not hearing "Ain't No Woman Like the One I Got" on either of those stations? Even the Clear Channel oldies station here in Sarasota, Florida, plays that one. It has one of the best intros for talking-up in my head as I listen.

Oops! Now my therapist will be calling. Gotta run.

[gofast]

I think station heads are keeping a tighter reign on DJs now. They don't have much input on what music is played during their shift and aren't encouraged (allowed) to inject as much of their personality. I'm afraid the likes of Bill Bailey and Coyote won't be seen again. And of course, shock jocks like Stern don't really advance the cause, they make the Mason Dixon show look like a mainstream Disney production.
As far as my feelings between RKA and ASE:
It is close race between on air talent. I give the nod to WASE though. While I agree that Mike Marvin comes across a little monotone at times, there is no one who knows music like him. Having met Mike, I can tell you that his recall of facts is savant level. Ask him about some obscure minor hit from 1964 and he will tell you who wrote it, who recorded it in how many takes, and whether it was in mono or stereo and how many tracks.
As far as music goes, WASE wins hands down! You can take one sheet of a legal pad and write down WRKAs entire song list, and then follow that same list over and over for the next month. I think both of them could loosen up their play lists a little though, even though hearing songs popular from my highschool days played on an oldie's station is sometimes a shock and an ugly reminder that I am not getting any younger.

[bruiser]

This not about WRKA or WASE, but talking about people who know about recordings, Eddie Stubbs of WSM is a genius when it comes to the history of country music. If you've ever heard his "Classic Country" show, you know he can not only tell you everyone who was on the session, but the people who were in the studio, and if any musicians were within 50 miles of the studio. WSM is a bit unusual because a lot of the oldtime country artists actually recorded in a WSM studio, and WSM still has those recordings, and only their staff has access to these, as far as I know. An example is the Hank Williams "Mother's Best" shows which Hank recorded at WSM. These shows have become available, but for many years WSM was the only place to find them, except for some bootlegs that came out.

[Chad]

Just to bump this up a bit. I talked with Michael Marvin several times and I remember once asking him why he didn't give the time very often if at all and he said the PD did not want the time told? Go figure that one out. Also I asked why The Osmonds and The Jackson Five never got any airplay, the answer was the PD did not like them. So to hell with the public, it is whatever the PD likes. Mind you this was about 6 years ago and I do not know who the PD was then. Anyway, it is interesting to see what people running these stations think. Personally I like MM and his knowledge of music as I am a charts and statistics nut. I also like that WASE has worked some 1970's Top 5 at 5 into their rotation. Now if we can just get a "Louisville" version of Top 5 at 5.

[bruiser]

How's this for a Louisville chart:

"Look Homeward Angel" - The Monarchs
"Nite Owl" - The Trendells
"We Belong Together" - The Epics
"It'll Be Easy" - The Sultans
"I Belong To Nobody" - Soul Inc.
"Just Words" - Cosmo and The Counts
"You, I" - The Rugbys
"Kind Of Man" - Elysian Field
"I'm The One" - The Chateaus

This would be just a start. I could easily add a couple dozen more.

[Travis]

I always liked The Rugby's "Stay With Me" which I believe was on the flipside of "You, I." Steve McNichol was a good singer and I last spoke with him during the late '80s when he and two of his brothers were playing nightclubs as The McNichol Brothers.

I can't recall the name of The Rugby's keyboard player, but he was a real character and I had met him during that time when he was playing nightclubs in a band called The Cheaters.

Man, that is all starting to seem like such a long time ago.

(insert WAKY Shout here for relevance)