KTNT radio has the Blues

March 8, 1970 – Victor Stredicke (Seattle Times) –Blues lovers may want to tune in to KTNT AM Tacoma at 10:30 P.M.Saturdays to check George Warner’s hour program, Bluesmakers. His persistence and determination should be rewarded.
Warner, 26, has inched his way into the TNT conglomerate by beginning as a switchboard operator, then a bookkeeper. He now works in the TV film room. Meanwhile he began a campaign to get some honest-to-goodness blues on Puget Sound radio.
He won his hour in November, and has been building it into the area’s most authentic special-interest music show.
Warner has interviewed Sun House, Lightnin’ Hopkins and John Lee Hooker on his show.
“I am hoping to put a good show together this Saturday,” Warner said, “but frankly I am even more excited about the March 21 show. I have a commitment from friends of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee that they will be available.”
Warner has traveled from coffee shop to concert Hall to land his interviews.

Ready for baseball

An exhibition game from Tempe Arizona opens the KVI broadcast schedule for Seattle Pilots baseball games this week. KVI will offer all home and away games played by the Pilots in the season and most exhibition games. Jimmy Dudley and Bill Schonely continue as broadcast voices for KVI and the Golden West Broadcasting network.

KTNT Tacoma has confirmed that it will broadcast all Tacoma Cubs baseball games beginning April 10, when the team travels to Hawaii for the season opener. Don Hill will be play-by-play announcer for the games, also simulcast on KTNT FM.

Rambling about radio

Once middle-of-the-road, then Western, then progressive rock, KPEG in Spokane, has settled on an up-tempo middle-of-the-road musical format again. KPEG, a sister-station to KFKF Bellevue, has applied for Federal Communications Commission permission to buy KTWD FM Spokane presumably to offer stereo simulcasts.

Blaine’s KARI 550 must be putting somebody on. In the 1970 broadcasting Yearbook the station is listed as supplying each week: five hours of German programs, one hour of Italian, one hour of Estonian and one hour of Croatian. (Sounds more like KRAB than it does any borderline country music station)

Paul Cutchlow, weekend announcer at KOL has left the station. His next most likely assignment: a role in the Seattle company of “Hair. ” He has auditioned, at any event.

Bellingham’s KOQT will return to the air April 1st under control of Bellingham Broadcasting Incorporated, Bob Waters, president. The staff for the “rock-Western” station will include Chuck Kirk of Bellingham, Randy George and Bob Jacobs of Seattle. KOQT is a daytime station, to broadcast on 1550 kc.

Engineering tests have been conducted on KMO’s new transmitter and tower, and assuming all things are in order the Tacoma station should now be beaming a better 5000 W signal. James Baine, general manager, said a “listenable signal” for the country-music station should be picked up in Seattle and Everett.

Bob Piatt, former KIRO night-time announcer, has moved to KBIQ… Chris Hill returned to KOL for weekend air work… Lan Roberts has decided six days a week are too many; he takes Saturdays off nowadays at KOL… Tom Connors has given up the job of program director at KTAC but remains on the air afternoons…Fans of Gary Taylor had better organize; the program director at KJR is thinking of giving up his Saturday-only air shift… Don Burns, former KOL midnight disc jockey, has returned to the air–but at KJR weekends, filling up other time with relief work and production work… Tom Read, former owner of KTWR Tacoma (if you can remember that far back) and then owner of KUDY Spokane, is now working at KGA Spokane under a different air name.

Victor Stredicke

Former radio columnist for the Seattle Times (1964-1989).
— View other articles by Victor Stredicke