We continue to learn from the difficulties, struggles and faith of others
June 13, 2018
WHAT A YEAR!
June 13, 2018
In 1963 Ed Jackson. Fred Block, and Sam Lawson obtained a license for radio station KTIB after many years of being blocked by station KCIL in Houma It opened on Christmas Eve 1953.
Co-Owner Ferd Block knew me from the Assessor’s Office where I had started working earlier that year and he had sponsored my live show on KCIL in 1949 and he told me “Leroy, I have a new engineer Art Backman who put the station on the air hut is running it by himself He could use a little help, especially to fill five hours an Saturday afternoon. I know you knock off at men. so maybe you can help him
On KTTB’s one week anniversary January 31, 1953 I drove from the court house to the station located on the second story of tie Lafourche Comet building on Jackson Street.
I had been on radio on and off since 1948 on ECIL’s Thibodaux’s branch and WWEZ and WJBW in New Orleans, but only with a live band in the studio I knew nothing about the control room, but Mr Backman assumed I did and before I could say anything he said. “Mr Block told me you ware coming I going to lunch, so here is a stack of records (78 rpm) These three switches on the control board control the turn tables and mike, ‘tear off the latest A.P. news from the teletype and read five minutes wary hour’ and before I could say anything he was out the door.
Hold mackerel! What do I do now? After watching announcers in control room since 1949, 1 had a vague idea of few operation, so I picked out the few country music records and a few Cajun records in a dusty storage bin put Vin Bruce and as the record ended I choked the mike switch and darted to ad lib, “A great bag co-mon sa va to all my cousans and cosines, units and ancles (sic) in Cajun land This is Leroy Martin and you re listing to Cajun Coral Cajun and country music from KTlB 630 on your dial in Thibodaux, Louisiana.” (The dial number was later changed to 640 and when Hal Benson became manager he changed the name to “The Leroy Martin show) For the next 33 years I rambered and raved and played whatever record I chose and closed with ” Man alive, its nearly 5 and this is Leroy Martin saying So long and save your Confederate money boys, the South’s gonna rise again (A catch phrase borrowed from Andy Griffin
I just kept on 5 hours every Saturday afternoon nobody else in the studio and no one to tell me if I’m doing something right or wrong. One Saturday several weeks after Hal Benson became manager he called me to his office and handed me a beg full of cards and letters Post cards were a penny and letters cost a 3 cent stamp. They started coming in Tuesday and by Friday they filled this paper bag: I draft know what you do, you don’t follow disc jockey rules, mixing Cajun and Country music, reading requests, telling Cajun stones and reaching hack to the depression years by playing Jimmie Rodgers records and telling stories about the record you are playing I just have one thing to tell you. Keep doing whatever you are doing. I did just that for the next thirty and I had a blast.
Historically reality check: When I started my program Television was in its infancy, seen in show windows, bar rooms and wealthy people’s homes As TV became dominate shows like mine were no longer a novelty and the hundreds of cards and letters became dozens .and then single numbers, but because I loved it. I hung on until my election as Assessor or Lafourche Parish in 1984, where I had wocked since 1953 and I knew it was time to go. As I said my final good bye, there woe tears in my eyes and I acknowledged the last three letters I re caved Hardly anybody noticed BYE NOW
‘As I said my final good bye, there were tears in my eyes
In this week’s column Historical Columnist Leroy Martin tells us about his time working at local radio stations in the 1950 we’ve learned through this series that Mr Leroy has traly had an amazing life and he done just everything there is to do
