THE ROCK OF CASPER!

In the 1960’s and 70’s, we as a country were changing and maturing.  The simplicity of the 50’s was way behind us. The 1960’s had given us space flight and moon walks;  we experienced the deaths of Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King and ended the decade with flower power and a hope for a new era.

 Enter the 70’s…..

The beginning of the seventies was also the beginning of tumultuous times, the Vietnam War was on-going but the demonstrations were getting stronger and louder. The era of President’s Johnson, Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford would prove that the 70’s would be interesting, to say the least. The Equal Rights Amendment, the Women’s Rights movement, Environmental Issues, Watergate, Anti-war, and Nixon’s Impeachment and resignation laid heavy on our minds.

Our music too, was changing rapidly, the break-up of the Beatles, the rise of heavy rock bands, disco and groups like ABBA and Donna Summer dominated sounds we listened to.  The radio business was entering uncharted times and so were the people who were listening to radio or their own personal devices. Enter the 8-track tapes of Jackson Browne, Elton John, Olivia Newton-John, and Marvin Gaye.  Disco music brought the Bee Gees, Michael Jackson or the sounds of the “Hustle.”  The rock  front brought bands like the Rolling Stones, Van Halen, Pink Floyd and Queen that dominated airwaves or, for the first time, our own personal music players.  Listeners now had more choices than AM or FM…they had their own “SONY Walkman.”

Modcom Was Growing….

The Modcom Staff of Pat Meenan and Larry Wakefield of the 1970’s were an interesting, talented group of men and women.

KATI & KAWY were growing by leaps and bounds and the two stations were many times in competition with each other, not only for advertising dollars and listeners, but staff as well.

The market share of FM band was growing and KAWY became KY-94 and was drawing newer, younger audiences.  KATI was still a Top-40 station but continued to try to maintain a Full-Service approach to programming.  A heavier News and Sports presence with a full-time News & Sports director was part of the ever growing staff.

Names Behind the Mic’s…

Some of the names behind KATI’s microphones in the 70’s were Larry Wakefield, Jock Blaney, Doc Mueller, Gene Wallace, Donna Foxx, Dave Beneke & Fred Leehmuis.  KATI had full-time news and sports folks like Pete Williams, Caroline Burridge, Steve Lobel, Bob Coleman and Chuck Harkins.  Literally, across the hall on the other side of the building at KAWY, now called “KY-94”, were Phil Strider, Robin Banks, JJ Fuller, Fred Moore, Phil Black and so many more.

THE SPIRIT OF MID-WYOMING!

The stations of Pat Meenan’s Mod-com Broadcasting were growing up & maturing and the studios of 1400 KATI Lane were indeed the “SPIRIT OF  MID-WYOMING!”