John
Morton 1974
In the summer of 1971 I think it was, I remember standing just outside the
school with Mr. Fraser as he took pictures. One shot facing north, a second
south, a third east and the last west. I asked him why he was taking pictures
of some very unremarkable landscape and parking lot and he said it was to show
the FCC that the tower (it wasn't there yet) would not have anything too close
to it. I remember thinking how silly it was that we had to prove to the Federal
Government that we had the sense not to put a broadcast tower too close to
something it wasn't supposed to be.
Sometime later I heard that they were starting a radio club and there was
going to be a meeting later that day. I thought,"Maybe this time I'll
be able to learn morse code."
I went to the meeting only to find out that it wasn't short wave or even
CB radio but broadcast radio. I remember thinking,"I can do that." Just
like that I joined the club and my life was never quite the same.
WJJE FM were the call letters we started with. We broadcast allot of big band
music. Mr. Fraser loved his big band music. We had a state of the art studio.
A production room, an announcers room and of course the control room. Before
we could go on the air we needed to get our 3rd class license. Mr. Fraser taught
the class. Deiter, Andy, Pat I think and a bunch of other wannabe radio personalities
studied until we showed Mr. Frasier we were ready. He then piled us onto a
bus that took us to Chicago to take our test in an official Federal Building
where such tests were given. After the test we all piled into the bus, spent
- quietly contemplating our futures in radio on the trip back.
I am happy to say that I passed the test on the first go round. The license
said I could run a radio station. Sorta. What it really meant was that
I could take readings every hour (or was that every 1/2 hour?) and adjust
the
transmitter
by remotely tweaking the broadcast signal a little this way or that. All
10 watts of it. Mono. It didn't matter though because we were "ON THE AIR" and
loving it.
Oh, what a wonderful time! I was actually being encouraged to sit around,
read the news and weather out loud, listen to music - sometimes very loudly
- and
generally have a wonderful time playing with the equipment! Speaking of
loud music... I discovered early on that Mr. Fraser didn't like loud music.
Not
at all. I don't know how many times he would come flying out of his office
and yell loud enough to be heard through 2 soundproof double paned glass
panels and some loud Carpenters or Cat Stevens to, "Turn it down!" I
had a knack for having rules or policies begun after I'd done something.
I suspect
that this was one of my earliest.
Rule number 1 - If Mr. Fraser is in his office, do NOT crank the speakers.
You didn't question Mr. Fraser. You simply did what he said instantly. His
bad side was not a place you wanted to be.
In the summer of 1972 I just happened to be at the station which was now WJEF-FM.
We didn't keep the WJJE call letters for very long. Mr. Fraser's phone rang.
It was the program director at the number three radio station in the city WXUS-FM.
Apparently, everyone had just quit and only the program director and the owner
and the owner's wife were available to keep the thing going. The PD wanted
to know if there was anyone at WJEF who wanted a job starting as soon as they
could get out there. Mr. Fraser called to me and asked if I wanted the job.
I said sure but there was only one problem. I didn't have my drivers license
yet. Mr. Frazer told the PD that and he said that they would be happy to give
me rides to and from work.
Just like that. That is how it happened that I was the first of what I'm sure
are many, many people to go on and get a job in commercial radio. I managed
to get the part time slot at the station which meant I had Friday and Saturday
nights 6 to midnight. At some point I left WXUS to work with another Jeffersonian
becoming one of the two part timers working at WASK-FM. I learned quickly that
weekend radio in the Lafayette market meant allot of sports. Highschool hoops
and football and not just the Bronchos but every high school or college that
was within a 50 mile radius of Lafayette or Tippecanoe county. Some games were
live. Some were tape delayed. All of them had one thing in common. They had
me sitting in the control room waiting for those words that would call me to
action.
" We pause now for this message."
At that point I'd turn their pot down (do we still call them pots anymore
- the mike volume control devices), hit a button on the cart machine, maybe
2
or 3 on after the other each promoting mufflers, car repairs, pizza and
any number of small business trying to get someone's attention so they would
come to their place of business and spend a buck or two. :30.... :60...
another
:60 and then I'd key the mike and say," Now back to (the sports guys
name) and the (one side)/(the other side) (sport) game. At that point I'd
go back
to eating my Pringles or drinking my bottle of Coke or Pepsi or even better
- Mountain Dew. Couldn't read, you'd miss the cue. So you sat and waited.
Oh the exciting life of commercial radio.
It was while I was at WASK I discovered that you never want to put a mouse
trap into a heat vent, in the winter, in the production studio. Who would have
thought the mice were not killed instantly and could drag the trap and themselves
deeeeeeep into the recesses of the cement encased floor venting. Another rule
was created in my honor for that one too.
It was fun when the girls would call just because they'd heard me on the radio.
My first real 'love' I met because she called the station and I started chatting
with her. One caller however, claimed to be a witch and another called saying
he had the 'stuff' for the midnight to 6 guy and he wanted to come out to the
station to leave it for him. He was afraid he was being followed. He was very
insistent and even though I kept saying no, he said he was coming out.
WXUS was at that time located in the middle of a cow pasture in a converted
'enemy planes spotters shack' surrounded on 3 sides by a cow deterring electrified
fence. They must have done a good job during the war because the shack was
still standing (government made) and not a single enemy plane was ever recorded
over Tippecanoe county during the WW2 and the part of the cold war that followed.
It was dark. It was desolate. I was scared. I started to play album sides so
I could keep an eye out for Mr. Stuff. This was when album rock stations played
whole album sides. I was playing side one of Neil Young's 'After the Gold Rush'
them so I could look out the window and watch the driveway.
After what seemed to be an eternity, I saw a car stop at the end of the drive.
It turned onto the gravel driveway leading to the station, it's headlights
causing the dust to glow and illuminate the car and emphasize the darkness
as it began to come up to the station. I had an empty pop bottle ready to defend
myself against this drugged out hippie drug dealer. The car stopped outside
and there was a knock at the door.
"
Who is it", I asked certain it was going to be either a crazy drugged
out freak or the beginning of me being involved in some equally uncomfortable
and sticky situation.
The voice on the other side responded ever so matter of factly,
" Pizza!"
I put down my empty tall Pepsi bottle and unlocked the door relieved to see
only the pizza man delivering the pizza I'd order an hour before but had forgotten
about.
I guess it was in my senior year I got a job for the radio station in Frankfort
about 40 minutes south of Lafayette off I-65. It was there I honed my broadcasting
skills and had a wonderful time doing it. I could feel a minute - I didn't
need a stop watch. I could sense :30 seconds. I loved going into the production
studio and creating something out of nothing that would help someone sell something.
I worked with seasoned newspeople who taught me how to catch network feeds
right on time and without missing a beat. I learned to backtime music so that
it would end right as the news or sports started. It was an exciting fast moving
world changing every 3 and a half minutes as it rolled along and along and
along. I still have carts that I can't play but if I could they would be most
of the Watergate hearings that we being broadcast live at that time. For some
reason I thought it would be important to make my own personal copy.
All the while I was still going to school working at the radio station where
Mr. Fraser controlled the world. I learned to appreciate big band music - sort
of. WJJE/WJEF is where I started my radio career. As much as I loved it, I
decided it wasn't going to be feasible to be the 'starving gypsy DJ' after
working off and on in various markets in the Midwest. Trying to DJ or News
Reporter while raising a growing family was not easy. I couldn't buy baby formula
with demo LP's, tickets to concerts or canary yellow news copy off the UPI
teletype machine. Eventually I decided to enroll at IUPUI in Indianapolis switching
my Major from Mass Communications/Journalism to computer technology. I got
in and got out quickly (I had managed to amass alot of credits that no longer
applied) and began my new career in IT in 1983 and I never looked back.
There is something about creating a sweet piece of computer logic that is very
much like creating a good tight :30 or :60 second spot. Both have a good degree
of that 'Aha!' that comes from creating something from nothing. The college
degree allowed me to get started as a programmer in Indianapolis for a time,
then Columbus and eventually Terre Haute working for Columbia House (free records
and LP's, regular hours). Just another arm of the entertainment industry I
guess. A theme had developed. I moved to Terre Haute in 1987 and have been
here since. I live in Terre Haute. Married and divorced and remarried now to
a wonderful woman - Debbie. She has a 12 year old son who has Ausberger's Syndrome
- which means he is very bright but not very social. I have 2 children from
my first marriage - Matthew 24 and Erin soon to be 22. As a quick footnote,
Erin had the good fortune of getting out of Terre Haute and moving to Lafayette
where she graduated from Lafayette Jeff and is now attending classes at Purdue.
I came up for the graduation but didn't have nearly enough time to do any looking
around.
I somewhat envy, admire and respect those who have been able to make their
living working in radio or television. I worked with Pat Moore for a short
time and it's wonderful that he is still doing the radio thing in Indy. For
me though, it's been a long, long time since I had to move to another city
because the station was changing formats or owners and I can't say that I miss
that part of working in radio.
I honestly don't know why I'm sharing all of this with you. I was only
going to say "HI from and old alumni." And let it go at that.
Obviously it became more than that. I hope it is as much fun to be there
now as I had
there back in the early 70's when I was helping Mr. Fraser develop his
policies and rules by creating the need for them and breaking them for
the first time.
He really was a great teacher and mentor. I can still hear him...
"
Cats mew (me yoo), cows moo and you read the news 'ne yoose'." and
"
It's DOUBLE U not dubya." and of course
" Morton! TURN DOWN THAT MUSIC!"