Little Beau at KAKC, Tulsa Beau at KHJ Beau at KRTH Beau and his new glasses

Beau Weaver, also known as Beauregard Rodriquez Weaver practiced his loose and regrettable behavior in public on top forty legends KHJ, KFRC, KCBQ, KILT, KAKC, and KNUS. He grew up in Tulsa, and got his start hanging around KAKC the summer Bill Drake became consultant. Beau weaseled his way into the station by bringing fresh KHJ airchecks of Morgan and Steele he obtained from a family friend in California. "At fourteen, I was calling the jocks up on the hitline, telling them about format mistakes they did not know they were making," says Weaver. "Eventually PD Lee Bayley hired me, mostly to shut me up." That paved the way for later stints on sister Drake stations, in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Michael Spears, who would later take Weaver to KFRC, brought him aboard the groundbreaking team at KNUS, Dallas, the FM station Gordon McLendon kept after selling his legendary KLIF. KNUS was an AOR/Top Forty hybrid that eventually knocked off KLIF, and was one of the first major market FM's to dominate in the Arbitron. It is the marriage of Drake discipline and McLendon showmanship which would be the hallmark of Beau's style. Beau also spent many years at KILT in Houston, was one of the seven "original astronauts" on the pioneering Transtar Satellite network (now Westwood One), and did a syndicated Oldies show for Global/ABC/Watermark called "Let the Good Times Roll." In the Nineties, Beau was briefly coaxed back on the air for periodic appearances on KRTH/101. Today, Beau lives in Los Angeles, where he is a prolific voiceover talent, heard daily on network program promos, trailers for feature films, national commercials and animated cartoons. Visit Beau at www.spokenword.com. Flash! (September 27, 2000) Beau is back on the air! The Repository thanks Beau Weaver for sharing!

[Descriptions by Beau Weaver]

TOP STREAM 32.1Kbps (16Khz) The Fateful Hours: KLIF Dallas Covers The Kennedy Assassination (43:46) . . . Preserve them well, for these were The Fateful Hours . . . [Description by Beau Weaver]

Gordon McLendon Gordon McLendon's KLIF invented radio news as we know it, and on November 22, 1963, his team swung into action in an extraordinary effort. In 1964, airchecks of the coverage were assembled and pressed into a long-playing vinyl album entitled: "The Fateful Hours" for sale to the public. But McLendon may have underestimated the black eye that the Assassination would give Dallas, in the court of public opinion for many years to come. Wise counsel convinced him it might be construed as in poor taste, so the project was eventually shelved. JFK in Dallas During my tenure as PD at KNUS, I stumbled across these LPs in a warehouse, and saved one. It is a treasure. Gordon himself does much of the reporting and commentary, along with KLIF News luminaries Gary Delaune and Joe Long. The Album is narrated by long-time McLendon national PD, Don Keyes.

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TOP STREAM 64Kbps (13Khz STEREO) Fantasy Park Demo, KNUS Dallas, 1975 (18:15) . . . The greatest rock concert that never was . . . [Description by Beau Weaver]

Rod Serling This is the syndication demo for Fantasy Park, a 48 hour radio special hosted by Rod Serling and produced by my staff at KNUS, Dallas. This is theatre of the mind 1970's style. It was our generation's version of what Gordon McLendon used to do as he broadcast imaginary re-creations of major league baseball games on the Liberty Network. The idea came when one of our jocks blended several 'live' albums cuts in a way that made listeners think a real concert was being held. Fantasy Park took that idea as far as it would go! GM Bart McLendon recruited his old teacher Rod Serling, who recorded the host segments, bumpers and custom promos and television spots. Serling himself wrote the only disclaimer which aired each hour: "Hello, This is Rod Serling and welcome back to Fantasy Park.....the crowds here today are unreal." And this one: "This is Fantasy Park...the Greatest Live Concert....never held." Broadcast in nearly 200 markets, the 48 hour opus had college students hitchhiking all over America hoping to get to "Fantasy Park." In New Orleans when the concert aired, the IRS came knocking on the doors of WNOE trying to attach the gate receipts to make sure the Feds got their cut! In 1975 I had the honor of accepting the Billboard Magazine Award for Best Syndicated Radio Special on behalf of the McLendon Company, but complete credit belongs to Fantasy Park Producer Steve Blackson and Host Fred Kennedy, who fleshed out the concept, wrote it, and produced it on primitive equipment. This was truely the triumph of imagination over technology! Additional credit should go to Mitch Craig, Jake Roberts and Don Bishop.

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TOP STREAM 20.7Kbps (10Khz) Beau Weaver, KHJ Los Angeles, 1976 (04:28) . . . low crowds on the beach . . . [Description by Beau Weaver]

PD Charlie Van Dyke brought me to KHJ for one of it's most highly rated periods in 1976. The airstaff included Charlie in morning drive, Mark Elliot, Bobby Ocean, Machine Gun Kelly, Dr. John (Leader), J.B. Stone, Dave Sebastian and me; I was the full-time part time jock---quite possibly the coolest radio gig ever! Donny Osmond and Beau Weaver at KHJ, 1976 Charlie's office was the bar at Nicodel's. Martoni's was the jock lounge. Paul Drew was national PD, but this was Van Dyke's KHJ, not Drew's, which is apparent by the fun we were having! This skimmer tape is the only (known) existing aircheck of me on KHJ. Here, I am doing Charlie's shift, and taking a few, er, "liberties" with the format!

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More to Come from the Beau Weaver Collection!

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