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staff photo by Bill Snow JrPort Arthur**«hVLee Gower, operations manager at radio station KOLEw w ^ w w w ^ w w ^ ^ ^ w w ^ ^ - W W w - - ^ V ^ ^ ^ ^ W W - w » W W • * ■ ^ HBGower aids memoriesBy DARRAGH DOIRONPort Arthur News Staff Writer____In the mood for Glenn Miller? Crazy for Connie Francis? Craving croons from Sinatra?Radio station KOLE bills itself as the “Musical Memory” station playing classics from the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s, but folks who grew up in those eras aren’t the only listeners, said Lee Gower, operations manager.Folks of all ages tune in for a trip down memory lane, even if they’re too young to have been down the road before, Go,wer, who is 54, said. The announcer said he can prove it by counting the young voices every time he gives away a pizza to the10th caller.Gower is live from 6 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. weekdays from the tiny transmitting station behind the Southern Kitchen restaurant on Memorial Boulevard. If you look fast, you can see the tower from the street.Gower knows just where to step in his cramped domain to avoid the floor holes hidden by scraps of matted shag carpet. Sure it’s dusty, but it’s home to him, even if sales reprentatives from the main Beaumont office avoid the place, he said.Now about 6,000 recordings linestation wails. Beatles albums which have stood the test' of time and critics are stacked up next to artists such as Patsy Cline.“Our notation system isn’t the best in the world yet,” Gower said, but the collage just seems to form a raspberry to those meanies who said rock ’n’ roll was just noise.“I’m a hillbilly at heart,” Gower said, but the Mountain View, Ark. native, added that years in the radio business have taught him to appreciate all types of music.Big band numbers, humorous tunes which lifted spirits during World War II and ’50s love songs of innocence all bring back emotions for many of his listeners, he said. He relishes calls from listeners who say, “Lee, you just made my day when you played that,” he said.“I don’t know why it is but when you have those memories, it’s all good,” he said.He caters to listeners with his reference book of the top 10 songs for the past 50 years. Callers can often hear the number one song of the week they were born. He also tries to send out a special tune a day for a particular dedicated listener.“He’s a Doris Day fanatic,” hesaid of one of his regulars.Gower said he's always amused after studying top 10 lists of current charts. Hits of today are often remakes of songs younger generations checked the radio for.“I’ve been through a lot of music two or three times,” Gower said.Gower, who has worked at many stations, said radio has been good to him though it hasn’t made for a huge bank account. Money isn’t always the object when your life’s work is involved.“When you love something so much, you stay with it regardless,” he said.But during his career at KOLE he has helped money pass through other hands. Listeners calling Gower during the last half hour of his live shift get the familiar greeting, “Hello, you’re on Swap Shop.”The station’s trademark program allows callers to broadast information about what they’d like to buy or sell. Gower prompts women to tell a little bit more about their husband’s old suit they’ve cleaned out of the closet or about the gold patches on free calico kittens. He’s helped find homes for goats, furniture and of course, old records.
Newspaper Details
Port Arthur News
Port Arthur, Texas, US
Tue, Dec 11, 1990
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Sammi B.
NA 24 Aug 2022
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