Sunday at KTOW

February 20, 2012

So Sunday came here at the Kat House, home of Highway Hooker Radio and KTOW FM.

Mello Yello and Radio Rebel came as predicted. I was nearly on cloud 9. The fact that I had a serious case of the Hershey squirts, I concealed I thought well.

Mello-Yello, is about as sweet as one could want. In all respects. Radio Rebel, I think is as hot as a Cayenne pepper, once comfortable with a situation. I’d try like to explore that a bit more, since Radio Rebel is at current time untied male corpuscle wize. While its somewhat taboo, to get involved with an employee, still, with things HollyWood, and media, working in close quarters for hours at a time can get one in a place, where a more than platonic casual relationship can bloom into a more of a he/she thing we see.

So why a radio station? Simple; there is a community that passes by every hour, of every day.

Those who are residents of this community are long haul over the road truckers. Casual residents include Bikers, and the support force, those of us who drive the tow truck.

With that in mind, mid 1973 I caught this tiny noise out of New Mexico of a OTR(Over the Road) radio show called JOC(Jock) Radio.

Found out upon further sniffing around that the show was produced out of Bountiful Utah.

When the main producer defaulted on some green owed to the revenuers, the U.S. Treasury department decided they needed that place. But the guts of the place, well they went home with me to Hazzard, aka Hagerman.

There have always been some sort of radio for OTR drivers. Arthur Godfrey in the late 1940’s did one, Charley Douglas did one from Nashville, then sold it to Dave Nemo who did it from Knoxville, called the Road Gang , then Bill Mack who signed on with Willie Nelson, and so it goes. But all of them did little if anything for us tow jockeys.

So in 1976 after some sweat, effort, and a lot of divine inspiration, KTOW FM 89.1 Hazzard/West-Point Idaho signed on the air. Although at 89.1 we were rather limited in signal strength. But at least the towing industry had a radio voice. We started assembling programming from many areas, but at the time, most of what news we related was reading off articles from Tow Times and American Towman. This was prior Hazzard. Still West-Point/Hagerman.

In 1981 after the General Lee, descended on Hagerman and transformed the town and me, KTOW was sidelined with KRBL or really , Rebel Radio AM 10/90 the AM dial spot of Boss Hogg’ radio station on the Dukes. KTOW stayed on FM. Always the local media’s thorn in its side, both stations were and are the most anti establishment radio station on the air.

In 1983 my Mom passed on. The members of the then newly formed Hazzard County Knytes, which became who we are today as the Knytes of Anarchy, had a complete, LDS, and Confederate funeral in then Hazzard.

In July 1983, only a few months after my mom’ death , and keeping myself busy to keep from grieving, I applied to the FCC for more grunt for KTOW. In the winter of 1983, KTOW went from a mere 50 watts, to 150,000 watts and got on at 105.7 FM which it remains today, although station studios are in Heyburn, here and will be split between Buhl and Heyburn.

In early summer of 1984 the powers that were decided that me living by myself in the big house near Hazzard would be better in Boise. So off to Eagle Idaho , I went. Doing that and some wrestling with a one line phone, long b4 the Internet, negotiations took place, and KTOW albeit being broadcast out of Hazzard via microwave link, came out of Eagle, and became Idaho’s at the time the only NBC Radio Network station. We brought to both areas , such shows as TalkNet, Dr.Ruth, The Robert W Morgan special of the week. Soundtrack of the 60’s.

In 1987 , after I went to Pocatello to Idaho State University, and all I got the prodding to go to the SEMA or Specialty Equipment Marketing Association show in Lost Wages Nevada.

On my way through the town of Saint George Utah, I stopped for fuel. Across the street, was a place called Dixie diesel service & Towing. The words Dixie diesel, had one hell of a sound to them.

This was just b4 BullyDog Systems in nearby Aberdeen, Idaho and performance light diesels.

Once I got back to the shop and all in BlackFoot, Idaho. Cooter’s was renamed, Dixie Diesel Shop. As time went on, Dixie Diesel Radio took on the overnight pot on KTOW, and through Dixie Diesel we established a regionwide radio network for all truckers.

In 1992 we as Dixie Diesel bought the remains, of the Interstate Radio Network, and that brings us all the way up to today.

Over the years we added AyreWolf (me) Radio for vintage warbird enthusiasts, HazzardAyre that blended both AyreWolf and Hazzard County Radio into one.

And now as we negotiate to finalize the buy of KBAR, and ultimately reignite KRBL, the once sleeping giant, of OTR radio, has awakened.

With the help of both, Mello-Yello, and Radio Rebel, its truly open road with the sky as the only limits.

Now if I an just get Radio Rebel and Mello-Yello to put on nylon hose and take off the boots we got it made.

By the highway, got to thinking;

Walt Disney, built his empire of which KBAR once we get it, will become an affiliate of. But Disney built that empire on the back of a three fingered mouse called Mickey. In our case the HazzardAyre empire was built, not on ye ole General Lee, but in the search of and finally acquiring of one pair of vinyl white GO Go Boots mums the word but as I say it best