John Heim, KCCK’s Big Mo, often receives praise and positive feedback from listeners. These days more than usual, as homebound music fans turn to the radio for an entertainment fix. But he has never gotten a phone call quite the one he received on April 3.
John was in the midst of his “Beaker Street Hour” when the phone rang. Which wasn’t unusual, as the show is a popular part of his Friday Blues program. But imagine John’s shock when the caller identified himself as Clyde Clifford, the DJ who hosted that original Beaker Street show!
If you’re not familiar with Beaker Street, it is largely credited as the very first underground radio show on AM radio, airing on KAAY-AM in Little Rock, AR from 1966-1972. KAAY was a “clear channel” station, which meant its frequency was protected from interference and could be heard across huge swaths of the country, particularly at night.
The station’s coverage area extended into Montana and Wyoming in the U.S., and could even be heard in Cuba. And the underground rock it featured was a far cry from the normal Top 40 radio fare.
For teenagers like John Heim, growing up in rural Nebraska, the show was their first exposure to artists like Santana, Bob Dylan, Deep Purple, Joni Mitchell, and many more. Hearing that music was one of the things that caused John to become a musician (and later a music teacher) himself.
“The music (Clifford) brought to me at a formative age shaped my life forever,” John says. “He had so much to do with me being a musician and later a broadcaster.”
Many area musicians credit Clifford’s show for sparking their interest in learning music. Jim Dreier, one of the founders of Orquesta Alto Maiz, says that Beaker Street was where he first heard Carlos Santana, leading him on a lifelong path of studying and playing Latin music. Dreier, Ed English, Steve Grismore, the late John Shultz, Dan Bernstein, and Dan Hummel would come back to their roots and begin performing classic rock staples under the moniker “The Beaker Brothers” in 2008. The nostalgia and popularity of that band inspired John to begin doing his own Beaker Street tribute show on the radio.
It was Ed English who brought the KCCK show to Clyde’s attention. “Trish (Clyde’s wife) and I have been Facbook friends for a while,” Ed said. “I noticed she was online Friday night. I sent her a message, just to let her know John was on and she asked for the studio line number.”
John and Clyde talked for nearly an hour, and Clyde spun several stories from the KAAY heyday, including the origin of Clifford’s air name. “(The real) Clyde Clifford was the comptroller, who signed everyone’s checks,” John said.
Before signing off, Clifford told John that Big Mo was capturing the Beaker Street sound, but perhaps more importantly, his wife Trish gave The Beaker Hour her seal of approval.
“Big Mo, you are amazing in your ability to recreate the feel of Beaker Street,” she said in a post to the Beaker Street Facebook page. “We were both impressed and it was fun to get to relax and listen to Beaker Street together.”
Something the two never got to do when Clyde was the host.
Catch The Beaker Hour every Friday at 9pm during The Friday Blues on KCCK. We know Clyde Clifford will be!
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