Thursday, January 28, 2010

KOME Radio 95.3 Back On The Air In Meridian, Texas

Programming a play list of "classic hits," LKCM Radio
Group's KOME 95.3 FM returned to the air last week.

The 25,000-watt station is licensed for the Bosque County
listening area and operated by the Ft. Worth-based company
which boasts about a dozen stations in Texas and Oklahoma.

KOME gives up no news reports, commercial announcements,
traffic updates or talk radio shows.

It's just a solid stream of rock, oldies, soul and the
occasional country hit from yesteryear punctuated by the
occasional station identification delivered in the
mellifluous dee-jay pipes of an unidentified professional
announcer.

The station beams its line of sight signal from its Ft.
Worth Ranch Radio KFWR studios to the broadcasting tower
located high on a hill above downtown Meridian. The tower
is the property of Bosque County, which uses it as an outlet
for communicating with its emergency services vehicles,
police and fire departments and ambulances.

The cooperative agreement is in place due to a need for
Bosque County to have a commercial radio outlet in place so
that programming may be interrupted for emergency
announcements regarding weather disasters, fires, floods and
other deadly events, according to County Emergency Services
Manager Dewey Ratliff.

The station's non-stop programming had been interrupted due
to technical difficulties, according to a broadcast
engineering specialist who works at The Ranch Radio Group.

In an interesting aside, KOME was once the call letters of a
San Jose, California, "album oriented rock" station that
pioneered the genre in the Bay Area in the early seventies.

At the time, Chevy Chase, who first achieved fame as a
member of the repertory troupe starring on NBC's late night
comedy show, "Saturday Night Live" and in motion pictures,
worked at the station as a dee-jay. His trademark sign-off
remark was "Don't touch that dial, it's got KOME on it!" He
thereby gained some early notoriety if not a small measure
of fame when "Playboy" Magazine mentioned his expoits in
print.

13 comments:

  1. What a brilliant writer. The descriptive way you paint pictures using words draws the reader toward the story in a "Legendary" way. I just stumbled across this blog and will return to check future content. I'm hooked! Great job, Jim Parks. Can't wait to read more.....

    ReplyDelete
  2. Having worked at KOME-FM when the call letters were in San Jose, California (1968-1990-something), I can tell you that Chevy Chase never worked there. He recorded an I.D. for us, but he was not employed there. One of our ex-jocks has almost all the ID's recorded by a myriad of rock and pop-culture icons from the 70's and 80's.

    Ironically, I just found this blog this evening, and tomorrow I'm attending the memorial service of Dan Tapson, KOME's General Manager back in the days of Apple Computer's founding and the explosion of what became Silicon Valley.

    It was great place to work, and the "old" KOME and its infamous yellow decal are still vividly remembered throughout the SF Bay Area. (For a little history, visit: www.kome.us)

    Bear the letters proudly! And rock on!

    Best regards,

    --Ted Kopulos
    The Movie Guy
    KOME 1976-1983

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chevy Chase?? Thanks, Ted for ironing that out. Follow the fun on Facebook @ KOME 98.5 San Jose.
      --Jona (KOME 1974-1982)

      Delete
  3. Jim Parks is a deranged moron, and everyone in Bosque County knows it. If he puts it in writing, its either stolen, a fallacy, or just plain wrong. He needs to be locked away for a long, long time. If he's endorsing this radio station, you can bet I'll never tune it in.

    The only thing legendary about Jim Parks, by the way, is his massively delusional ego.

    Can you tell I don't like the man?

    ReplyDelete
  4. I can tell you're a gutless wimp. What's your real name, Mr. Anonymous? They call me The Legendary Jim Parks. Whatcha gonna do about it, fool?

    The Legendary

    ReplyDelete
  5. No, YOU call yourself the Legendary Jim Parks. Everyone who actually knows you calls you something quite different.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Now you chunkin' 'em in there, Anonymous! What's that first name? You kind of pitch like my sister Alice. Is that all you got?

    But, then, I guess you can be real brave when your last name is Anonymous, can't you? Old Alias Smith, Jones & Anonymous over there on the other side of the camp fire. Kind of reminds me of that famous law firm, Shyster, Flywheel, & Shyster, Attorneys at Law. They made a million for Groucho. How are you doing? Is your anonymous role a good hustle? Is it making you any shekels?

    If so, then, why are you riding on the bus till you Cadillac?

    I got it. I got one. Why don't you go draw a picture of Mohammed? With any luck, the El Feces falange of that well-known international terrorist group will locate you and bring you to justice. I simply can't be bothered, back-sliding Baptist that I am. Got bigger fish to fry and it's always trot line time down here on the bayou where I stays.

    The Legendary

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  7. We sure like your station in granbury! Bill and Ginny R.

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  8. I REMEMBER "I KOME WHILE I DRIVE " DECALS ,,IN FREMONT,CA. BACK IN 83-84 WHEN I WAS THERE,, WHERE IS THAT DECAL PIC. ? WICHITA FALLS NOW ,,,

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  9. KOME was the favorite station when I lived in CA in 80s-90s...

    Hope to hear tracks from 'MASQUE MusicArt' on KOME stations. An A+++ band from Boston.

    Cheers,

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  10. Hi, I am researching Billy Meier UFO Case. In 1979, IBM scientist Marcel Vogel was interviewed by KOME Radio show on Meier case. I would like to have that episode. Is there a place where i could download them, archives something... The following video starts with KOME radio show host. Thank you
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oum-rC-6GE&feature=related

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  11. Hello from KOME last late night Expressway Show in1986 .Leah Raim/now Lubin.

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  12. Interesting that the late Dennis Erectus's old stand is now safe in the Biblish hands of Texas hill country where we won't hear all those double entendres. KOME indeed. Such letters might do better in the nation's urethra, across the river from New Orleans where erotic humor perhaps once again can be appreciated.

    ReplyDelete