 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
As a young man, Tom Konard was captivated by the radio dial and all the channel powerhouses he could pick up at night. As his hobby of finding and listening grew, so did the map he tacked to the wall, pins showing the cities his radio dial discovered. A radio nut was born!
In 1970 Konard landed a job in the mailroom at WCFL, the chief rival of Chicago’s very popular WLS, and was often seen hanging around teen dances with some of the DJ “biggies” - Biondi and Barney Pip, for example. Konard began saving aircheck tapes. In radio “speak” an aircheck is simply a recording made off the air. Airchecks can be scoped or unscoped. “Unscoped” means the recording runs continuously, uncut, and without breaks.
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
This material grew as he began mailing blank tapes to engineers around the country asking them to run airchecks. That led to a service Konard offered called, “Around The Dial”. This was a feature based on Buddy Blake’s old, “Around The Country”, from Programmer’s Digest. Blake would use scoped airchecks from around the U.S. to sample what was happening in radio the previous month. Though unplanned, a career was emerging for Konard.
Each month, beginning in October of 1976, Konard put out a cassette (actually, for the first year they were on reels as well) with radio snippets introduced by a DJ and narrated by Michael Black, a DJ in San Antonio. Eventually, John Quincy in Charleston took over narration duties until “Around The Dial” ended in 1989.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Konard began adding other jocks from different markets and sold them to station programmers so that they could all eavesdrop on what each other was doing (a common practice at the time). He even sold DJ’s tapes of themselves from work they had done in earlier years. His collection of airchecks grew almost as fast as the business, now known as “The Aircheck Factory”.
The Aircheck Factory (www.theaircheckfactory.com) offers tapes of the young Don Imus, Barney Pip, The Real Don Steele, Alan Freed, Murray the K, Mad Daddy, “Big” Ron O’Brien and of course, Wolfman Jack to name a few. The 1 hour issues of “Around The Dial” are all still available as well as radio jingle packages from the ‘60’s, ‘70’s, and ‘80’s. Konard has even been preserving the original reel-to-reel tapes of valuable airchecks by duplicating them to digital mini-discs. You can also find Top 40 survey reproductions and photo’s of DJ’s in their heyday.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
In 1981, The Aircheck Factory moved from Chicago to Wild Rose, WI., a beautiful pine covered, rural area where Konard restored an old barn to house his work. It’s from here that orders are shipped all over the world, insuring that the voices of radio live on. Konard is proof that the past is everything it’s cracked up to be!
|
|
|
|
Tom Fritz's vivid recollections of the hot rodding and motorcycle cultures that were prevalent in Southern California during the 60's and 70's are a part of the power that established him as a nationally recognized contemporary artist of the genre. Whether it’s
the Hot Rods, the Motorcycles, or the Classics ... You’ll find
yourself smelling the gasoline and the burning rubber when you look at Tom’s wonderful
renditions of those great days of rodding and racing ... these are some of the finest posters
and original artwork pieces we’ve seen ..... Take a look !
|
|
|
|
|
Come and Check Out
JC Taylor Insurance Whether you're new to us or an old friend,
we invite you to see why we're the world's largest insurer of
specialty automobiles. We know this industry. We know these cars.
And best of all, we know you. We know this isn't just a car to you.
It's your time machine, your memory scrapbook, it's your hobby,
your passion, your refuge, your joy... And nobody cares for your car
like your friends at JC Taylor. With us
You will have accesss to over 40 years of Experience
Insuring Antique and Classic Automobiles.
You will have excellence in Customer Service.
life interests.
You will have access to a company (JC Taylor)
that takes pride in making
it easy for customers to transact business.
AND Unequaled Claim Service You will have access to
fast, fair and overall quality claims service- unparalled
in our industry
|
|
|
