There are two groups of people who are already tired of Christmas music before most of us have even started our shopping: Anyone who works in retail, and…. DJs.

Personally, I’ve had a love/hate relationship with holiday music for years. As a young radio announcer, I would watch with a sinking feeling as the program director hauled a scarred cardboard box into the studio with the word “XMAS” scrawled on the side in faded block letters. This sight signaled four endless weeks of format-busting tedium, as even the most contemporary station’s playlist suddenly sprouted Perry Como, Bing Crosby and the Boston Pops. For a young DJ who prided himself on being on music’s cutting edge…. pure torture.

Had you asked me in those days, I would have told you the only Christmas song worth the vinyl on which it was pressed was Bruce Springsteen’s “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” As time passed, a few other tunes made my “tolerable” list: Bing Crosby and David Bowie’s “Little Drummer Boy,” Santa Baby” (Eartha Kitt’s original, not Madonna’s horrifying remake), and the Russian and Chinese Dances from the Nutcracker (although that may have been due more to Disney’s “Fantasia”).

But in 1984 a record arrived that changed how I, and millions of others, perceived Christmas music forever.

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With another Veterans Day, we note that several KCCK staffers are veterans of military service.

KCCK Morning Man, Talking Pictures co-host and Got-a-Minute’s Mark Yother was in the Air Force for three years. He was editor of the base newspaper at Ent Air Force Base in Colorado, then worked in radio and television with the American Forces Korea Network (AFKN) for a year.

News Director George Dorman spent two years in the Army, including a year in Korea –part of the time as a reporter/photographer for the 2nd Infantry Division newspaper.
He also worked weekends as a radio newscaster and occasional television sportscaster for the American Forces Korea Network (AFKN).

Big Band Memories co-host Cary J. Hahn served four years in the Navy, broadcasting on Armed Forces Radio aboard the USS Hancock aircraft carrier during Vietnam service and on the island of Kodiak, Alaska.

Our other BBM co-host, Murray Kent, was a news and sports announcer for American Forces Vietnam Network (AFVN) and an FM radio music host.

Gentle Jazz and Short List producer Bob Naujoks spent his entire two-year army tour at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., managing an enlisted men’s service club.

My friend Chad Canfield, host and producer of the excellent podcast,The Canman Show, recently asked fans of the show on Facebook to tell him about their most memorable concert experience. Read those postings here.

The annual Labor Day Jerry Lewis telethon reminded me of a story the late mega-KCCK personality Bill Bell told me. Before coming to Iowa, Bill had run a recording studio in Los Angeles and rubbed elbows with Hollywood stars.

He told a story of Jerry Lewis coming to his studio to record some public service announcements, I believe it was. It seems there was a bit of a personality clash. When Bill tried to get Jerry to re-read some of the copy, Jerry snapped, “I’ve never done more than two takes in my life.” Which led to this retort from Bill, “I know. I’ve seen your movies.”

With Fry Fest coming up Labor Day Weekend, I’m remembering how I learned first-hand what a caring person the Coach is, in addition to being an outstanding leader.

It was 1980, Coach Fry’s second year as Iowa’s coach. These were the days before there was one Hawkeye radio network. Instead, there were several stations that originated the game and fed their own small network. WHO had Jim Zabel, WMT Ron Gonder and KXIC (AM 800 in Iowa City) had Gene Clausen.

I was a sophomore at Iowa, working my first radio job, a part-timer at KXIC. One of my jobs was to help with the football broadcasts. This entailed running the board back at the station during the game and also producing a weeknight call-in show that featured Coach Fry answering questions posed by Gene and the sports directors of the other stations in our network, mainly stations in Southeast Iowa towns like Burlington and Muscatine.

Gene and Hayden were in the conference room, wearing headphones so they could hear the questions posed by the other sports directors. Everyone was connected by an open network loop. They could hear each other as well.

We taped the call-in show on Tuesday nights, which was the hardest practice of the week, the last time the team went full speed before tapering into the game. So, Hayden was usually tired after a long day and his conversations with Gene after the show ended were pretty free-wheeling. Listening in from the production studio was, shall we say, educational. But, that’s another story.

One Tuesday, there was an equipment glitch in the conference room, none of the microphones worked. So Hayden and Gene had to come into the tiny production studio with me.

To fully understand the story, you need to know just a little about radio studios are designed (Radio folks: Please feel free to skip to the next paragraph). In a radio studio, speakers are always automatically muted when the microphone is turned on, to eliminate feedback. This is why you always see DJs wearing headphones when they’re talking.

So, here’s the scene. Hayden and Gene are squeezed into two chairs in front of the control board, sharing the studio’s only microphone. I was perched on the edge of the counter. There was only one headphone jack, so my job was to keep the mic off so Hayden could hear the question, then turn it on so he could answer. And, that was how it went for nearly the full hour of the show:

Mic off: Hayden listens.
Mic on: Hayden answers.
Mic off: Hayden listens.
Mic on: Hayden answers.
Mic off: Hayden listens.

Then for some reason, I lost the rhythm, and turned the mic ON while the away SD was speaking, and clicked it off just in time for the three of us to hear:

“..at do you think about that Hayden?”

Oh, crap. I have just screwed up Hayden’s call-in show. My career is over.

Hayden signaled for me to turn the mic back on, and said “Y’all mind repeating the question? I guess I wasn’t paying attention.”

The guy repeated his question, obviously a little annoyed, but we managed to survive the show. Neither Gene nor Hayden mentioned my gaffe, and I wasn’t even fired. It obviously never occured to Hayden to blame technical problems, or the idiot kid who didn’t know how to do his job. He took it on himself. It was a little thing, but it was taking care of the little things that made him a great coach and a good person.

Hayden Fry went on to take the Hawkeyes to three Rose Bowls, become the dean of Big 10 coaches and this weekend will be celebrated by the entire state of Iowa at a festival in his honor.

But I will always remember the coach who took the blame for an error made by a green producer whose name he didn’t even know.

We’re excited to debut a new Sunday lineup on Sept. 6, that we think you’ll like. We’re expanding one show and bringing another back by popular request.

Our new Sunday night lineup begins with the smooth sound of Cafe Jazz at 6pm.

Then at 8, a show we have had dozens of requests to bring back: The Putamayo World Music Hour. This innovative show features pop music from all over the world.

If you’re an astute fan, you’ll know that up till now we have only been able to bring you a single hour of Echoes, which actually is two hours long. Well, now you’ll hear the full show. Hearts of Space remains in its 11pm spot.

We hope you’ll like this lineup. As always, we’re interested in what you think of KCCK’s programming. Contact us by email, studio@kcck.org or make a comment on this article.

Anne Kinney of Illusions Fine Portraiture has created some neat video montages from photos she took at KCCK’s Jazz Under the Stars concerts, including music from the groups she photographed. Click here to see the video or the Fred Woodard Trio.
Click here for the video of the Al Naylor Quartet.