Moline Memories 1966: Adam Jones

Showing posts with label Adam Jones. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Adam Jones Remembers Dilly Bread and the Cubs

Greg Jackson (blogger) posed with his wife Christina and son Martin, with Homer Jackson standing - for a Melo Cream calendar.

Adam Jones and Bob Allen during WAKR days

Email Adam - adam@adamjones.info

Bob Allen retires

A few things have happened since my last entry. Bob Allen (my radio partner for 17 years) retired from WAKR after 31 years. We had a great time together at WQUA, WPTF, and for the 14 years here in Akron. I remember many times when we would get off the air and we would be exhausted from laughing and having a good show. I would say, "Bob, these are the good old days." And they were!

On Bob's last day, Ray Horner, the morning guy, turned his show into a four-hour tributary to Bob, starting with his first job in Kewanee, Illinois, right up to the pinochle of his career on the Adam and Bob Show (I just had an attack of Leo Gorcey.) Horner sat behind the board (no, it wasn't in the corner) as one person after another, both on the phone and in person, went on and on about what a great talent and swell person he is. I arrived near the end of the nine o'clock news, and Bob spotted me out in the hall. You could see his lips form the words, "Oh my God." He knew I was the only one who knew the truth! We spent the last hour of the show reminiscing about the people we had worked with and things we had done. Ray Horner was nice enough to bring up the fact that our ratings were remarkable, even by 1980's standards. In 1981 or '82 we were in the top 25 highest rated morning shows in the country, according to Radio and Records magazine. Dale Reeves called and was very funny as always. He was also very complimentary. Ray was about to dial 911 when I told him I was just blushing and not having some sort of event. I don't blush much. People who had worked with us said things like – There will never be another Adam and Bob Show, how great we were, and other nice stuff. It really made us feel great (Bob said things like, "Well, ain't that swell!")

At this point you might be wondering why, if Adam and Bob were so great on the air, did they take them off? Let me put it to you this way. At the time our show was broken up, WAKR was run by U. S. Radio. The owner of that company, whose name will go down in the annals of broadcasting as completely unfootnoteable, has been called a whole lot of things by a whole lot of people. "Bright" is not one of them! He went out of business a few years later. U. S. Radio would have been a perfect name if un-scrupulous was two words! I'll have more to say about the ignominious end of radio's "Silver Days" later.

Last month I heard from Greg Jackson. His father Homer was a friend of mine when Bob and I (and later, Dale) worked in Moline, Illinois. Homer was a swell guy, a real Cubs fan (win or lose), and the best donut maker in the history of the world, BC and AD. Forget about loose-meat sandwiches, the best thing about living in the Quad-Cities was Melo-Cream Donuts! Does anyone remember "Adam Jones Dilly Bread?" Homer did that for me. He even had bags printed with that on them. The bread was really good – yum! Not quite as good as the Jack Barlow Donut, but very few things are. They were covered in peanuts and if you ate them frozen they tasted like ice cream! Greg has a blog about Moline: http://molinememories.blogspot.com. It was nice to hear from him. (It must be spring; my taste buds are blooming.)

. . . I'm sorry I got all sidetracked. Now back to Louisville and the Speed Building where (when I could get in) I worked at WINN. I liked that station and I liked Louisville a lot. I worked at WINN from February through August of 1962. As was always the case with Gene Snyder, he let me do whatever I wanted on the air. The owner was Glen Harmon, a nice enough guy as I remember. The first time I met him he told me he had played minor league baseball (with the Tulsa Oilers, I think.) Some of the other guys I worked with then included Joe Fletcher, Jerry Thomas, Bob Lyons, and Dean Michaels who did news.

The way I remember it, Snyder had been hired to change WINN into a rocker, then Harmon had second thoughts so while Gene and Glen argued about it, "Adam in the Evening" had a great time. I really loved doing that show. The station had a nice collection of 1950's jazz (I was told that a former jock had made off with half their library and opened another station across the river.) Having just one name was cool, and having a beard was even cooler in those days. I started to dress the part, and took to wearing mandarin shirts (which gave me that "You-ain't-from-around-here-are-you" look.) For a few months I had great fun and even tried to do a few voices. I never realized how bad they were until a few years later when I met Dale Reeves and Larry Kenney.

Time out here so I can go vote.

I always vote. I do my homework and try hard to learn all I can about the issues. Even when my vote will be nullified by some big old bag of stupid from the Salada Crap Movement who gets his news from G. Gorden Liddy! Who, incidentally, starred in the 1970 White House production of Edison the (dim) Bulb.

- Adam Jones
5-16-2010

Adam Jones (nee Ocepek), at WQUA Moline, was a frequent visitor at Melo Cream. I looked forward to his show.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Mary Gail Laverenz Is the Most Popular Post So Far

Mary Gail Laverenz - Senior Photo.

I ran Google Analytics and found that the M-O-L-I-N-E! post on Mary Gail Laverenz was the most read so far. Note the new display of flags from the places where people are reading this blog.

The Line O Type article about Mary Gail is here.

Adam Jones on WQUA was the second most popular.

Mary Gail is a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Moline.

Adam is making ceramics with his talented wife. Now they specialize in communion ware. I googled their business and found them being recommended on various liturgical sites.

I hope to post about Dave Coopman's broadcasting books very soon.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Who Is Adam Ocepek and Why Is He Writing Me?
He Has Feats of Clay

Adam and Debra Ocepek are known for their ceramic communion ware.

Adam Jones is fondly remembered for his broadcasting at WQUA.

I was reading a long, friendly email from Adam Ocepek today, wondering, "How do I know this person and when did I publish his photo?" I realized quickly enough that Adam Jones was using his legal name - Ocepek.

Adam and my father used to go with a group to see Cubs games. He quoted my father as hoping to live long enough to see the Cubs win the World Series. I guess my father wanted to live forever.

He and his wife Debra, married 35 years now, have their own pottery business, and they make only communion ware:

http://www.communionware.com/

Write him at this link.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Adam Jones from WQUA Radio Wants to Hear From You

Adam Jones brought creativity to Moline radio.

I remember Adam Jones coming to WQUA radio. The station was a few doors away from the Melo-Cream Donut Shop, 13th Street and 5th Avenue, where I slaved away my youth. My father set up a photo wall, where all the personalities of WQUA were featured.

I remember exactly two announcers. Jack Barlow was one, because all the women were in love with him.

Adam Jones was the other, because everyone talked about him. His radio show was so shockingly different that we could hardly believe our good fortune. I often worked late or early hours, so I heard him often, and he came into the shop regularly. WQUA gave Melo-Cream a few free ads and my father gave them doughnuts and coffee. We saw the announcers, secretaries, and the manager on a daily basis.

G. LaVerne Flambo was the manager of the station. One day it was snowing, so he told the Shell gas station owner to shovel a path from his Caddy, so he would not get his shoes damp. The owner said, "Shovel your own #$%&* path." To be fair, Flambo is remembered as a real pioneer in the area. I will post more about him later.

I recall that Jones was eventually left the station - see below. Adam retired from radio after 40 years and Bob Allen, his radio partner for 17 years, retired from WAKR just a few weeks ago.

Adam married a girl who graduated from Moline High, someone who played in the Glass Menagerie play at school. Later he married Debra. He and Debra have been wed for 35 years. They run a pottery business, which makes only communion ware:

http://communionware.com

Adam Jones has his own website and wants people to write to him.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Adam Jones from WQUA Radio Wants to Hear From You":

Melo-Cream was like "studio C" for WQUA. Past employees still talk about the place, and it's usually one of the first things they mention when talking about Moline and the station. If I remember correctly, weren't there pictures of all the WQUA talent, on the wall behind the counter?

Adam was indeed a unique personality for the station. Very entertaining for the early morning listeners -- and there were a lot of them. But I must correct something, Greg. Adam was never fired. He tired of working overnights and was moved to an 8:00pm to Midnight shift for awhile. Then he and Bob Allen (known as Gordon Vann when he was at KSTT) were paired together in mid-days. It worked quite well and the Adam and Bob Show got hired away. They eventually wound up in Akron, OH.

He did indeed marry a gal who was in the Glass Menagerie at MHS, but they later divorced. He later married another gal from Moline and they're still very happily married and run Ocepek Pottery near Akron.

Dave

[GJ - I corrected the post. Thanks, Dave.]

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GREG WHITAKER commented on your web page

I still remember the Adam Jones All Night Fist Fight as he called it I'll forever recall awaking in the early morning in summer 1968 to Adam Jones announcing the assassination of Bobby Kennedy. He

Adam Jones from WQUA Radio Wants to Hear From You

Moline Memories 1966

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Top Moline Memories Posts

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Adam Jones Remembers Dilly Bread and the Cubs

Bob Allen retires

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Mary Gail Laverenz Is the Most Popular Post So Far

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Who Is Adam Ocepek and Why Is He Writing Me? He Has Feats of Clay

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Adam Jones from WQUA Radio Wants to Hear From You

Who Is Adam Ocepek and Why Is He Writing Me?
He Has Feats of Clay