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Memories from KOOL - Phoenix
By Norm Seeley | October 15, 2007
Norm Seeley Len Ingebrigtsen Johnny Johnson
At KOOL AM Radio @ 1967
Can you believe, after more than 5 years at the top rock stations up in Denver, then Phoenix, I moved to an Easy Listening Music CBS radio station? That’s what I did.
What happened was Al McCoy who hired me at rocker KRUX, moved to KOOL to be the Play by Play Announcer for the baseball team that was starting up. KOOL carried the games. He was influencial in getting GM at KOOL to hire me there. Just two weeks after I made the move, the owners, Gene Autry and Tom Chancey brought in a new management team from KOY, Luckily I was one of only a few radio employees they kept. In fact I was a KOOL for over 10 years. That was a record for me.
Ingebrigtsen did the mornings, as he had for 18 years over at KOY. Big Deep voice and you could set your watch by what he said each morning. It was amazing. The radio General Manager, Bill Lester once asked me what the station should do as he was concern that Len might pass away. I being a “Smart A—”, responded, “Record his show everyday for a year, and if he does go, don’t announce it, just keep playing the tapes back.” “No one will ever know”. I don’t think he understood my humor.
Johnny was the Program Director. A really nice person, he and I always got along. He was also my Captain in the Highway Patrol Reserve, so we had common interests.
One night, I got a note from Lester. At first I used to get a note every night from Lester. This particular night he referred to a song I had played, didn’t know what it was, or when I played it, but he didn’t feel it was “right for the station”. I guess since the note was so vague, I came unglued. I did that a lot then. Now that I think about it, I still do it now. I read the note several times after I was on the air in the AM control room and decided that was it. Got Johnny Johnson on the phone and said “I have received a note from Lester, I quit.”.
Johnson lived about 20 minutes up I-17 from the Adams street studios of KOOL. In 10 minutes he burst through the front door of the building and came right to the AM Control room. It was glass enclosed, like a fish bowl. He bounded down the two steps and stood where I could see him to my left.
For the next 40 minutes we, proceeded to yell at each other, first he would say something, then it was my turn. Keep in mind, I’m on the air, running a music show. The brawl would stop while I announced a song or read a commercial. After 40 or so minutes, he looked at me and said lowering his voice, “You’re amazing”. I was taken back a little. He had stopped yelling at me. He went on, ” Not once have you missed a cue or failed to play a commercial or read what you had to during our fight. I could not have run a program and argued with you. You are amazing and truly a pro.”
He apologized for yelling, he then said, please stay, I will talk to Lester and you will not get any more notes from him. If he has a complaint, I will have him go through me. Lester never wrote another note directly to me, in fact I don’t think Johnny and I ever spoke about what I played but of course we did talk about other things.
We shook hands and he left the building. I was with KOOL for at least 10 more years, working mainly on the AM, 6 to midnight, then drive time 3 to 6 PM, then a couple years on the FM before I left. John was there the whole time. We became even closer friends during that time. Never had another shouting match, anywhere in the building.
Several years after I left KOOL, and had moved to Florida, my mother phoned one night, and said she had sad news…..She told me that my friend Johnny Johnson had passed away. I was stuned. Johnny was in his mid fifties. Still am when I think about it.
He was first my friend, second a great broadcaster and just an all around nice guy.
Topics: Broadcasting, Phoenix |
