1962 - KPUG Disc Jockey Draws National Attention to Bellingham, WA
Michael T Forney 1962
On a fall night in 1962, KPUG disc jockey Michael T. Forney made the national news by playing, over and over again, the newly released single “Telstar.”
Forney, the regular evening deejay at 1000 watt A.M. radio station KPUG in Bellingham, was in his early 20’s, and a student at Western Washington State College.
Make no mistake about it, in small town America, the memorable events of that night were the stuff of local legend. Even now, 54 years after the Forney/Telstar incident, a number of old-time Bellingham residents indelibly remember that night. That’s not surprising, back in 1962 Bellingham was a quiet, small town.
There were four radio stations in the county, one of which was a daytimer only and another was an F.M. This was the era prior to F.M. stations having significant listenership. KPUG was one of the two most popular stations.
1962 KPUG Top 70 Survey
Here’s how events unfolded: After Forney’s air-shift began, he chose to play exclusively Telstar. The repetitiveness of that night’s playlist (can you say Telstar?) was broken up only by deejay talk, advertising spots and news. Early on, it was clear that something strange was taking place. Intrigued listeners called their friends, word spread fast that the announcer was repeating, over and over again, the same song. Radios were turned-on and people were glued to KPUG to see what was going to happen next.
At least indirectly, that night’s events in Bellingham were related to the recent launch of the first experimental American communications satellite, Telstar 1. Across the ocean in Europe, the news of the success of the Telstar satellite inspired record producer and songwriter Joe Meek.
His far-out and “spacey” instrumental production, performed by the Tornados, would become the second ever British release to reach #1 on music charts in the U.S.A. Meanwhile, back here at home, people were optimistic about life. John F. Kennedy was the new and young President. The American public was excited about the future. This was the dawning of the space age!
I have always wanted to know more about the circumstances that led to this unusual event at KPUG. What motivated Forney? Was he really putting his job on the line when he chose to break format? When I worked at KPUG in 1974, longtime listeners would ask the same sorts of questions. There was speculation that Forney blindsided station management, suggestions by some people that the powers that be had no clue their disc jockey would hijack the station for a few hours. There were other rumors that Forney’s actions that night lead to his, eventually, being fired by longtime station general manager Jim Tincker.
Jim Tincker
In light of the number of unanswered questions, fading human memories, and few conclusive answers, it is difficult to guess Forney’s motivation. In an effort to gain insight, I contacted Dick Stark, KPUG’s leading historian. As to Dick’s credentials, at the top of this page there is a grainy B/W photo of Mike Forney. Well, the accompanying photo of Dick Stark looks exactly the same and that’s because it was clipped from the same article, in the same old publication, where I obtained Forney’s picture.
Dick Stark 1962
In his 43 years at KPUG, Dick worked in sales, in management and ownership, production, and he has been a prominent sportscaster of statewide renown. Dick was at KPUG back in 1962, he was a friend of Mike Forney and, for many years, a professional colleague of general manager Jim Tincker. At my request, Dick Stark provided his recollections of that night.
Steve,
I believe that Mike Forney originated the idea and Jim Tincker bestowed management approval. The intent was to build excitement around Mike's evening show. They certainly got their wish.
I remember that night well. With little explanation, the staff had been instructed to plan to vacate the building by 6 pm. I know that, shortly after that time, all of the windows were covered over, from the inside, with butcher paper. The popular notion was that Mike played Telstar because he liked it so much. But, as I recall, at one point, he said that he was not fond of the record and he wanted to play it to death.
The listeners were involved in the happenings of that night. Early on, Mike stated that the show could not continue, or at least he could not play only Telstar, without listener approval. In response, typical of live local radio of the era, an avalanche of telephone calls came in at the station.
Periodically or hourly at least, Mike asked the audience to vote on whether or not he should keep playing Telstar. In theory, so management could not get through to shut everything down, he asked only his supporters to call in. That way, any call received was counted as a “yes” vote for continuing on with Telstar. Usually, and ostensibly to eliminate the potential for management interference, Mike wouldn’t put the phone to his ear: He would answer it by lifting the handset and then immediately hanging it up. To further shield against any meddling by station management, he asked listeners to drive out Sunset Drive and to park outside the station. Soon the KPUG parking lot was full of cars.
The listeners were involved in the happenings of that night. Early on, Mike stated that the show could not continue, or at least he could not play only Telstar, without listener approval. In response, typical of live local radio of the era, an avalanche of telephone calls came in at the station.
Periodically or hourly at least, Mike asked the audience to vote on whether or not he should keep playing Telstar. In theory, so management could not get through to shut everything down, he asked only his supporters to call in. That way, any call received was counted as a “yes” vote for continuing on with Telstar. Usually, and ostensibly to eliminate the potential for management interference, Mike wouldn’t put the phone to his ear: He would answer it by lifting the handset and then immediately hanging it up. To further shield against any meddling by station management, he asked listeners to drive out Sunset Drive and to park outside the station. Soon the KPUG parking lot was full of cars.
Longtime KPUG studio and Transmitter site, 2340 E. Sunset Drive
At one point, a telegram came in from the Blaine Air Force Base: “All of our service men support the deejay’s decision to keep on playing Telstar.” Personally, I found Forney’s show particularly amusing that night. Even after the repetitive nature of the evening’s playlist was well-established, he kept coming up with tongue in cheek introductions like “Here’s a new hit” or "Here's one you might have heard before called Telstar.”
On occasion, I still run into old timers who recall this very memorable Bellingham night. Personally, any time I hear Telstar as an oldie, I am transported back to that November night in 1962.
P.S. Mike was not fired by KPUG. And the Forney/Telstar incident was carried, across the nation, as a feature news story.
Dick Stark
Dick Stark, present day
Author comments regarding the accompanying historical aircheck: About 1977, I was at KBFW radio in Bellingham. The station program director came in with a friend – the man was introduced to me as a Los Angeles based board engineer for KHJ’s Real Don Steele. While holed up in the production room, the two radio guys were listening to tapes that belonged to the engineer.
At one point, I heard the distinctive sound of Telstar and a jock identifying himself as Mike Forney. I realized that this was a rare find for a collector, maybe the only tape of its kind. After obtaining permission to do so, I copied the tape and it was kept in a drawer in my office until the mid-1990’s. At that time I gave it to Dick Stark.
Many years later, I regretted having given away my only copy of the tape. Upon my request, Dick promptly supplied a replacement copy. The original reel to reel recording was muddy and nearly spoiled by hiss and white noise. That tape has since been cleaned up and then scoped to make it shorter in length. I think you will agree that it sounds good for a 54 year old local aircheck.
Michael T Forney - KPUG November 15, 1962 Aircheck
Final notes: Periodically, I have been asked questions about Michael T. Forney’s career and activities post KPUG. Did he stay in broadcasting, is he still around? Dick Stark told me that, by the 1970’s, Mike had left broadcasting and he was an executive at AT&T. Dick says that Forney was involved in an international telecommunications project shortly after President Nixon normalized relations with China. Since that time, I am unable to provide additional information. Other Forney contemporaries, at least those I have been able to talk to, have not been in contact with Mike. So if Michael Forney, or any of his family, comes across or discovers this article, please contact either me, KPUG historian Dick Stark, or leave pertinent updates and comments about Mike at the comments section of this blog post.
Mike Forney (milking cow) with Dick Stark and Dick Stark, spinning the platters at a March of Dimes charity remote broadcast, downtown Bellingham, 1962