MORE FROM PHIL POTTER:
During the time that I worked for A.I.R. (Drake-Chenault syndication) at KYNO-FM I got to hear Humble Harve cut voice-overs at the Barton studio, since the A.I.R. dubbing equipment and KYNO-FM's automation were in the same space. I was working the evening he came to work in the booth. I was too intimidated to attempt to go into the control room while he was there, but rather stood in the hallway outside the door and enjoyed the talent.
Another time that I will never forget is the time that I got even with Dirk Robinson (who pulled morning drive (6-10) at KYNO-AM) who had gotten in the habit of rolling in after six o'clock. In the beginning, he would get in as I rolled my last record but as time went on, he got later and later. When it got to the point that I had to roll his first record and his personal station ID (the one Bill Drake cut... "And now, ladies and gentlemen, Dirk Robinson!") AND the rest of his first set... I got a bit steamed! He was the "talent" and I was the lowly "Sunday night segue engineer" who should be grateful to be allowed to roll his first set for him. Of course, it meant that I had already pulled his carts, too! Enough was enough, so I got him back one morning...
During the last hour of my shift, I put a back production studio on the air and ran the last couple of records and carts from there. Meanwhile, I set the main control room in "audition" and spun a 45 in audition in the locked groove, so that when Dirk would arrive he'd think he had found the station playing a silent groove over and over. While the station was actually still on the air from the production room, I hid my self in the newsroom (which shared a huge window with the main studio) so that I could see him but he couldn't see me! I will never forget the look of horror on his face as he thought that I'd left my last record spinning to run out without him! As he dove to the board to pot down the silent record and get an ID cart on the air, I opened the door to the studio (which allowed him to hear the music from the back production studio) and yelled "Gotcha," while at the same time, reached over and brought the board to "air" so that he would fully understand that the station was still on the air as it should be ... and that I had REALLY gotten him good! To his credit, he was never that late again.
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