Monday, September 20, 2004
(Uncle) Len Ellis' celebrates four decades of broadcasting with Radio One Communications
From the Times (Hammond, IN)
When Len Ellis' first air shifts behind a radio microphone began in 1954, it was during the time when Walter Winchell's gossip broadcasts and Art Linkletter's "Kids Say the Darnest Things" program ruled the airwaves.
"The world at that time was only about AM radio, and television was just entering the picture," said 77-year-old Len, of Valparaiso, whose string of family-owned Northwest Indiana radio stations under the name of Radio One Communications celebrate a 40-year anniversary on Friday.
When Len first entered broadcasting, he worked at WJOB in Hammond both on air and as a concert promoter.
"In the early 1950s, in addition to my radio shows, I was also responsible for booking entertainment for the Hammond Civic Center," he said.
"In 1953, I booked a newcomer named Jerry Reed who was trying to get exposure on the concert scene and all it cost me was the $27.50 to pay for his bus ticket from Atlanta to Hammond."
In 1967, his launch of WAKE-FM 105.5-FM was heralded as the first full-time FM radio station in Chicagoland, and in 1974, the station call letters changed to WLJE in homage to the founder's own initials: Leonard J. Ellis.
Len was one of the original 15 people who started the Country Music Association which annually telecasts the prestigious CMA Awards. He's proud to hold CMA membership card No. 1. Started in 1957, today, there are more than 200,000 CMA voting members. In 1978, Len even sported a straw hat and bib overalls while appearing on the most popular country music show of the day "Hee Haw."
As for the future of radio, Len said he believes he knows what's next on radio dials.
"Country music will always be popular," Len said.
"But what defines country music and how it's marketed will continue to change. It used to be called hillbilly music, then country western and now it's just country. As those same sounds are refined and softened, you'll see yet another reinvention: heartland music. Stay tuned."
Read the article
The Times
When Len Ellis' first air shifts behind a radio microphone began in 1954, it was during the time when Walter Winchell's gossip broadcasts and Art Linkletter's "Kids Say the Darnest Things" program ruled the airwaves.
"The world at that time was only about AM radio, and television was just entering the picture," said 77-year-old Len, of Valparaiso, whose string of family-owned Northwest Indiana radio stations under the name of Radio One Communications celebrate a 40-year anniversary on Friday.
When Len first entered broadcasting, he worked at WJOB in Hammond both on air and as a concert promoter.
"In the early 1950s, in addition to my radio shows, I was also responsible for booking entertainment for the Hammond Civic Center," he said.
"In 1953, I booked a newcomer named Jerry Reed who was trying to get exposure on the concert scene and all it cost me was the $27.50 to pay for his bus ticket from Atlanta to Hammond."
In 1967, his launch of WAKE-FM 105.5-FM was heralded as the first full-time FM radio station in Chicagoland, and in 1974, the station call letters changed to WLJE in homage to the founder's own initials: Leonard J. Ellis.
Len was one of the original 15 people who started the Country Music Association which annually telecasts the prestigious CMA Awards. He's proud to hold CMA membership card No. 1. Started in 1957, today, there are more than 200,000 CMA voting members. In 1978, Len even sported a straw hat and bib overalls while appearing on the most popular country music show of the day "Hee Haw."
As for the future of radio, Len said he believes he knows what's next on radio dials.
"Country music will always be popular," Len said.
"But what defines country music and how it's marketed will continue to change. It used to be called hillbilly music, then country western and now it's just country. As those same sounds are refined and softened, you'll see yet another reinvention: heartland music. Stay tuned."
Read the article
The Times
# posted by Dave Sichak @ 2:23 PM 
