Monday, September 7, 2009

Sad News

It is my unfortunate duty to report that WLCS alum "The Real" Bob Myers, aka "Bob Bishop"-- a name by which he was better known to contemporary Baton Rougeans from his work at Trafficwatch, WYNK and finally Country Legends 107.3 FM, passed away Saturday morning from a heart attack. I have been struggling the last 48 hours to find appropriate words of tribute to Bob, constantly convinced that when I have some, they just don't do him justice.

Suffice to say for now that he was my best friend at Baton Rouge High School and no small part of the reason I "got into" radio broadcasting at WBRH-FM, as well as a friend and colleague at WLCS and in life for years afterward. He was also a unique wit. I can't think of anything more appropriate to say on this news than that he will be greatly missed... and I thank him for being my friend.

-- Zeb

Thursday, September 3, 2009

New mail means more memories!

New memories coming into the WLCS.info tribute site! Thanks to Thomas Wood (former Airwaves engineer) for this one via email:

I was a WLCS transmitter engineer from July 1954 to September 1957. The pay was $60/week. I then quit to go to WXOK as chief engineer and I was able to go to LSU. I graduated as a BSEE in 1960. We had odd hours out there at the transmitter. Three of us rotated each week- 6 Am to 12 noon first week- 12 noon to 6 PM second week -6 Pm to 12 midnight the last week. Ed Van. was the boss and would fill in when one of us was out. I had started on July 7th 1954. We were suppose to be entitled to a two week vacation after one year. In Aug of 1955 I had made plans with my wife to go on a two week vacation. At the last minuet Ed said I only had one week because the "fiscal" year started in July 1 and I had started on July 7 so I had only one week. That nick-picking made me mad. I got him back. The next year at vacation time we were already short one man and I knew, but Ed didn't know, that the third guy was quitting the day I was going on vacation. Good old Ed had to do the whole two weeks running all three shifts all by himself..Served him right. One of the tower light had burned out and Ed said there would be "something extra" for me if I climbed the 250ft tower and changed the bulb. When there was no "extra" in my paycheck that week he said the "extra something " I got would be extra sore muscles. The management ran an employee contest. The employee that wrote the best ( most profitable) commercial would win a three day "paid" vacation to the Gulf Hills dude ranch in Gulf Port. There were two one week contests. I won both weeks with two different commercials but I only got one three day weekend trip and then I even had to make up to Ed for the one day of work that I missed on that weekend. The telephone company employees were on strike for awhile and they kept cutting the telephone wires to the transmitter. I had to become an instant DJ when that happened. I was terrible at that. I was some of the time the DJ after 11 PM to Midnight. After graduating from LSU I worked for Boeing on the Apollo Moon landing project for ten years. I managed a "Radio Shack" in BR several years and then owned and operated "Wood's Electronics" retail business here in Baton Rouge until 2000 and I am now retired. My wife, Hildamae, and I still live in the same house as when I worked at WLCS. We have been married 57 years now.