Monday, August 28, 2006

K/MEN and Jimmy Webb

The K/MEN hot air balloon that inspired Jimmy Webb to write Up Up and Away Otto's Organization. An article from the K/MEN entertainer late 1966. It states the group was supposed to release an album. Does anyone know if that actually happened?
Front page of the K/Mentertainer from 1967.

More Jimmy Webb to come.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great to see photos of the balloon. I got a (tethered) ride in it when it was at a KMEN event somewhere near Inland Center.

John from Fontana (back then)

Anonymous said...

William F WIlliams was at KCBQ in Spring 1967 for just a short time. He did afternoon drive, when King Jack Hayes left. Anyone know the sotry behind his ultra-brief tenure?

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I know the story behind WFW's ultra-brief stay at the "Q", as he called it. He was hired by Lee Bartell as PD to turn the station around, and to do morning drive. Williams insisted that he be given control of the music, something that no prior PD had ever had. The play list had been tightly controlled by a woman there (can't recall her name) who had worked for Lee for years. Lee agreed, and gave the music over to Williams (the woman retired). He created an entirely new Top 40 format and radically changed the conservative play list. Shortly after Williams took over morning drive, the home office in Minneapolis removed Lee as GM and brought in an idiot as GM, Stan Torgerson. At the end of the week, a Friday afternoon, Stan called a staff meeting, and sitting behind his desk holding a football declared himself "coach", and Williams his "quarterback". After spewing out a number of trite football analogies and metaphors he dismissed the jocks and staff and asked Williams to stay. He then told Williams that he wanted, on his desk Monday morning, the play list and a "justification" for every record on it. Williams then cleaned out his office, walked down to the parking lot, got in his 1967 Mustang GTA and drove home to Highland, California. He never gave notice or had any further contact with the "coach".

William F. Williams

P.S. I learned later that he accused me of stealing the K/MEN hot air balloon. I never really understood that and, frankly, my give-a-shitter was broke.