William EngelhardtLee Askervold was my mentor at KING, when I worked there as a switchboard operator and tour guide in 1965. Lee had the overnight show, and after my shift on the switchboard, I’d hole up in a production room with a reel-to-reel Ampex, records, news and commercial copy, and be a DJ. Lee would critique my tapes, and helped me assemble my first audition tape, which got me a gig at KMO (Tacoma). After stints at KMO and KJNO (Juneau), I was hired by Lee in January 1967, to replace Bruce McMichael who was heading to KIRO Radio. At the time, KTAC’s business offices and newsroom were in the Winthrop Hotel. Jerry Geehan owned and managed the station, Fred Kaufman (formerly of KOMO) was the sales manager. The jocks did their shows from a ramshackle studio out at the transmitter site near the Puyallup River. Dave Allen (Darrel Sauve) was doing mornings, John Welsh afternoons. Lee Knudsen, a former KING FM announcer, did 6 p.m. -12m. Jack Allen (Thompson) came to KTAC from Idaho just before I left for KOL in June 1967. Dave and Jack and I worked together again in the ‘70s at KVI.” William Engelhardt retired in 2011 after 27 years as a public information officer for the Washington State House of Representatives.
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I worked with Daryl Allen Sauve (Dave Allen) at KTAC in 1967 (he was the afternoon jock, I was news director), and then again in the mid-1970s at KVI.
And yes, as noted above by Mr. Ellingson, a good guy.
True. After the radio comedies and dramas were trounced by television, after Arthur Godfrey and Art Linkletter had their time, the local radio personality became a new broadcasting phenomenon. They were comedy relief, a friend you could count on, a friendly voice in the night. I think those all-night talk and truckers programs have a place on radio. It seems like there should be more of them.
I met Dave Allen when he and I worked weekends at KMPS's birth. Since I didn't have a full-time job, I also filled in during the week. I never knew anything about Dave's previous experience until now. He was a good guy. As I recall, he was working on station promotions after I got the all-nighter.
I can't believe that was almost fifty years ago.
KTAC also set up a booth at the Tacoma Mall. This was located near the Bon Marche. I remember seeing Joe Fiala (News) but I don't recall who the disc jockey was.
It was Don Patrick in the booth with Joe Fiala. (It took me a couple hours to pull that out of my memory.) Don Patrick went from KTAC to KJR. He flubbed the call letters several times on that first night at KJR.
Very cool!