Marty Shayne

1970	2006

It has been a long and wonderful trip getting to St. Augustine, FL. It all started in late 1961 with a trip to 15th & Cleveland and meeting Fred Frelantz, Jerry Joynes, Ron Sunshine, Jim Carroll, Jan Wilkins, Al Beckley, and Burt Levine.

After several more visits, I was asked to help with remotes, record hops, etc., which then led to doing traffic reports on both Fred's morning show and Ron's afternoon show. I engineered remotes and hops (using the Dr. Pepper sound system, which was a Bogan amp, Bogan turntable, and EV horn speakers on tripods). Kenney's on Williamson Road sponsored several of the outside hops. I remember one with Fred and Jack Shields at Toots Drive-In on Williamson Road. Fun was had by all !

In 1963, I was part of the team Al put together to remove the Raytheon console in the control room, and install the Gates Diplomat console and re-wire the rack in the control room. The air staff had to do their shows from the production room on the Western Electric 25-B, tube-type console - what a workhorse! I also did some voice work on commercials and other bits and promos.

I then did a short stint with WRIS doing afternoon drive. At that time, it was just Gary Cooper (former WROVer) and me, then I moved to midday's and Jim Clark (who became a WROVer) came into afternoon drive.

My next stop was WPXI "Home of the All Americans." What an experience that was! At least I got to meet Boom Boom Branegan - Bob Klingeman -(former WROVer, and Perry Woods (former WROVer). I started out on weekends when Pixie went on the air, then moved into Boomers afternoon drive slot after he was killed. (I was doing a shift at WCFV--Pixie's sister station in Clifton Forge--when Bob was killed). It was also at WPXI that I met my first wife who became a Pixie Girl.

The next move, or shove, was to South-East Asia as Door-Gunner Medic with the 119th Assault Helicopter Company, headquartered in Pleiku, South Vietnam.

Upon return to the States on Sunday May 17, 1969, my first stop on Monday, was to buy another car (my parents sold my Firebird while I was gone) and then I drove out of Woodson Pontiac straight to WROV. After a short visit with Fred, I headed home.

A few hours later, I received a phone call from Don Foutz and Fred, asking if I wanted the midnight until "when Fred got there" shift, and of course I said yes. Don said good, you start tonight. After being in Vietnam, jumping right back in the air-chair so soon, gave me a butt-pucker factor of ten, but I did it, and stayed until September, when I joined the staff of WELK in Charlottesville, VA, where I would later be joined by then Steve Shannon, who later went to WROV as Starr Stevens.

In 1980, I returned to my hometown of Knoxville, TN and did Mornings and was Chief Engineer at WNOX. I then Managed & was Chief Engineer at WRJZ for a couple years, where I met my second wife. I then purchased The Famous 1340 in Knoxville and returned it to its roots and original call letters of WKGN and to a Solid Gold Rock-N-Roll format, the music America Grew Up With.

Then the Big Switch - I sold WKGN and began the TV Production and Engineering part of my life by helping build a Shop-At-Home format TV station North of Knoxville, and into the satellite Uplink business in 1991. I built another TV station in the late 90's.

In 2000, I joined Mobile Satellite Connection, a satellite uplinking company, that has a fleet of trucks stationed all over the United States, that does all sporting events, from PGA Golf, Monday Night Football, NASCAR, The Super Bowl, and others. I was hired to build an EarthStation at the World Golf Village, home of PGA TOUR Production and the Golf Hall of Fame. I uplink the TOUR to the Networks and 143 countries world-wide.

But. . .it all started in a Quonset Hut in Roanoke Virginia - where some of the best and most memorable radio professionals have walked through the door. To all of them - Thanks for the Memories. You can take the guy out of radio, but you can never take radio out of the guy!