Dizzy Lizzy - KYOK

I am grateful to Michael for sending me this picture showing Novella Smith who used the name Dizzy Lizzy on KYOK. I'm not sure of the date; KATL flipped to KYOK in late 1954 and the name Dizzy Lizzy may have been used by more than one person over the years.

Other names used by KYOK jocks included Groovy George, Razzle Dazzle and Hotsy Totsy. I probably listened to Novella as a kid but not much. I listened to KYOK a lot in the late 1950s but because of their highly directional signal and my location, I could only pick them up at night and I'm pretty sure she was on during the day.

Novella also was a disc jockey on KPRC, 950, in the 60s, doing a jazz show in the evening.  Her resume details even more of her accomplishments.

From the Friends of Novella blog, a picture of 'Bugaloo' George Frazier on KYOK, ca. 1970, and a story on how Dizzy Lizzy and Skipper Lee Frazier broke Roy Head's 'Treat Her Right' on KYOK in 1965.

The Ratings are in

For the Fall of 1945

I thought maybe the big numbers for KTRH and KXYZ in the mornings reflected, respectively, Arthur Godfrey, who had just gone national in April of 1945, and Don McNeill's Breakfast Club, which had been national (although maybe not in Houston all the time) since 1933. However, when I looked at the radio listings in my files closest to this date, in the Spring of 1947, I found the Breakfast Club on KXYZ at 9 am but Arthur Godfrey was on KTRH at 2 pm (30 minutes, with House Party - Art Linkletter? - at 3pm).

I have no idea what was responsible for the big numbers on KPRC in the afternoon.

I'm grateful to Chris Huff of the DFW Radio Archives for sharing this graphic.

Ron Stone passes

Long time Houston TV anchor Ron Stone, who spent 30 years on Channels 2 and 11 as anchor, has passed at the age of 72 from cancer.

Here's an obituary from KPRC-TV. I have missed him on the news since he retired in 1992.

Goodnight, neighbor.