KISS FM a "legend (?) returns to "Billtown"

Last time I talked a bit about the period of time leading up to my election as Mayor of Canton, Pa. The Honorable Kelly Watts, Mayor, seems like an oxymoron doesn't it, well more on that after I talk about my time at KISS FM in Williamsport.

I spent a lot of time on the road during my days of owning Watts Multi Services and that of course meant a lot of listening to the radio. To this day I am not sure when I discovered KISS Fm (WKSB FM) but I liked the oldies format and as well they had some good people on the air, many I had known since my Williamsport Radio days. Their lineup included Gary Chrisman, who I knew from his days at Twin W (WWPA) and his regular gig at Bourbon Street Night Club, Lou Kolb, who I had worked with briefly at WLYC, Tom Benson (The PD) who I didn't know personally, but by name as he was Program Director at WHLM in Bloomsburg, George McKay who I had worked with at WLYC-WILQ, and Maggie Mae (Jennifer Lunt) the daughter of one of my classmates at Montoursville High School. Part timers on the air included Jackie Robinson and Tom Turner who I worked with at WMPT. Most of you know that KISS FM was the old WRAK FM a station that I long feared coming of age when I was at WMPT. 53,000 watts of power from the top of 1,800' Bald Eagle Mountain, in the 60's and 70's I can remember the late Ev Rubendahl telling me they had listeners in Canada. Even with the saturation of radio signals KISS FM still covered a very large part of Pennsylvania in the 90's. The Sister station was of course WRAK. Many of that staff that I knew from my earlier "Billtown" radio days including Frank Barber, Ken Sawyer, who was WRAK's PD, and Skip Smith Chief Engineer. So going to KISS FM like coming home again.

Anyway, when we moved to Canton in 1992, I decided it might be fun to work at KISS FM, it was the sound I had always wanted to do, tight board oldies format. I can truthfully say that at that time KISS was one of the best stations in any size market that I had ever heard! No wonder the line up of veteran radio people was first rate. I took the opportunity to call Tom Benson one day and he of course remembered my name from my WMPT days, and the fact he had hired Vicki Metz at Bloomsburg, Vicki had worked for me in Canton. Well anyway, Tom wanted to hear an air check at that point all I had was my morning drive air check from WIQT where I was playing country. I took it an a resume to Tom he listened and told me that Sunday Morning was available as he was going to do some schedule switching He asked if I would be interested, I of course said YES! My training was to amount to coming in with him on a Saturday afternoon and getting the feel of the board and format.

KISS FM's studios were still in the same building that had been WRAK's home since 1957 and the days of Steinmen Broadcasting ownership, the actual on air studio had at one time been the home of J. Wright Macky's Lowery Organ going way back to the days of live local music. The on air and production equipment was first rate and Skip Smith was a great engineer, he had studied under the late Glenn Sherman long time WRAK engineer. The Control room had an ARAKRIS slide pot console,(first time I had ever used one on the air), Dennon Pro CD players, with the cassete insert so you didn't handle the CD, and Broadcast Electronics cart machines, all in plentiful numbers!

I remember hitting the air at 2:00 pm and by 2:30 I had had several calls asking if in fact I was the same Kelly Watts that had worked at WMPT. I was flattered that people remembered as it had been 14 years since I had worked in the Williamsport Market. That continued even after I started working Sunday Mornings with people calling and saying "I turned on my radio and heard that voice and knew it "HAD TO BE YOU!" That, to a radio person, is very flattering to be remembered for all those years, and it showed me the impact that WMPT had on the community in the 50's, 60's and 70's. Around the station I got to be known, and kidded a lot, being called the Legendary Kelly Watts. My reply to that was always the same, "Hell, Elvis is a legend and he's dead."

All in all I worked for KISS FM for 4 years, till 1996, and for the most part I did Sunday Mornings. Some time around 1995 Tom Benson was promoted to Group Program Director and was re assigned to their new purchase in Albany, N.Y. the legendary powerhouse WGY. A couple of things influenced my decision to leave KISS FM the least not being Tom's replacement Reginald James Pettiford, air name, "J. B.". In all my years in radio I have NEVER met a person who was so totally un-qualified to be a Program Director. We went at each other tooth and nail, with him leaving memos about such trivial things as my playing a "B" format song instead of and "A". I remember asking him "who the hell he was programing for?" The last time I spoke with him it was over a particularly scathing letter telling me I had "better focus," what ever that meant. Anyway my final comment to him was, "Jim I was programming in this town when you were still _ _ _ ing in your diapers." The next Sunday I came prepared with my resignation letter and that was it. KISS FM was, until J.B.'s arrival a good place to work, and I really enjoyed the people. Toward the end of my tenure at KISS FM I was always afraid I would say "102 point 7 KISS MY _ SS! KISS FM, when I worked there, was owned by Dame Media a pretty good company who owned stations in State College, Altoona, and Harrisburg. After I left they were sucked into the Clear Channel Communications Company "vortex" and lost their unique and great sound.