WHATEVER HAPPENED TO "TALL TOM" CAMPBELL?
Bang
me to wondering what happened to the "Tall Tom" Campbell who was a
jock on KYA during the late '60s and early '70s. Back then I thought
he was really cool since he was one of the very few with a phone in
his car. I remember all those obnoxious spots he'd do from Matthew's
TV & Appliance ("Top o' the Hill in Daly City!!").
Campbell lived in Foster City then and had a listed phone number--so
my buddies and I would call just as a goof. But pretty often his
phone would be answered by teen-sounding girls. I wondered if Tom
might be getting a little jail-bait attention...
Anyway, it'd be interesting to know his whereabouts now--if he's still
in radio, that is.
BV
George Grapman
I heard him doing fast talking ads in LA a few years ago.
--
To reply via e-mail please delete 1 c from paccbell
Buck
Tom had to make a few agreements with some local DA's to minimize the damage
(to him)! It seems that he knew a lot more about Matthew's drill than just a
guy reading copy.
I think he did some non-related local ads after that, but his credibility
was showing.
Now, he apparently has to live in La La Land. (Maybe that's part of his
plea?)
It all reminds me of the Glenn Hartzheim caper.
Buck
"George Grapman" <sfge...@paccbell.net> wrote in message
news:Fpnod.24720$6q2....@newssvr14.news.prodigy.com...
George Grapman
seemed odd since the store was not crowded.
Turned out that you could not enter the store until a sales rep could
attach himself to you. Even though I kept saying I was just looking he
kept following me until I left (took about 30 seconds).
Mark Howell
Campbell is still doing commercials in SoCal. I heard him a couple of
months ago in Los Angeles, although I've forgotten who the client was.
I remember when he first did the car phone schtick in Dayton, OH at
WONE in the late 60's. It was very effective there.
Mark Howell
Patty Winter
My name is real; no need to set it off with quotation marks.
I don't recall whether Tom's name is real.
>me to wondering what happened to the "Tall Tom" Campbell who was a
>jock on KYA during the late '60s and early '70s.
In case you aren't aware, that's the same Tom Campbell I was referring
to at KNEW.
Patty
al
This might have been mentioned already but Campbell is in the San Diego
area doing commercials mainly for a major southern CA. consumer
electronics store. I believe he also maintains a top position with this
consumer electronics store because afew years back he spoke at hearings
regarding the DTV roll out in the U.S. and consumers accepting DTV and
if I recall correctly represented this store chain.
al
John Higdon
pat...@wintertime.com (Patty Winter) wrote:
And at KLOK. He was a kick. I worked at KLOK for years and years.
(That's how I personally know some of the names in this business.) But
every time we would pass in the hallway, Tom would say, "Hi there. I'm
Tom Campbell." I never thought of myself as being THAT forgetable, but
he never seemed to recognize me from one day to the next.
Years later when I was at KOME, I had an interesting encounter with his
"people". All the south bay broadcasters had set up a promotion with
Courtesy Chevrolet. Each station made arrangments to carry Tom Campbell
live for several days from the dealership for custom commercials to be
delivered by Tom, personalized for that particular station.
It so happens that Courtesy Chevrolet (at least back then) was a stone's
throw from the telephone central office. A trick I used to do in the
days of wired remotes was to order the lowest grade of circuit (an
"unequalized" line) if the site was close enough to the CO. The reason
being that on unloaded pairs (present on the short run) without the
equalizers, you essentially got a fairly flat line up to 12K or better.
So...since the CO was also the one that served the radio station (which
had permanent 15K loops to that office), I was able to get "hi-fi"
without paying for it.
Unfortunately, it was more of a battle than I thought it would be. Tom's
handlers, who were reviewing every aspect of the broadcast preparations,
spotted my order for unequalized lines and "upgraded" it to 5K
equalized. "Mr. Campbell never speaks over unequalized lines", I was
told in no uncertain terms. My explanation of what I was really doing
went right over the heads of these thugs, so I had to go to my contact
at Pacific Bell and have them cancel the upgrade on the sly.
Tom's people didn't get wind of my order modifications until after the
promotion, at which time they went ballistic. I asked, "Did you actually
listen to the broadcast?" No, they didn't have time to do such things.
I told them to take a walk off a short pier, and refused their calls
after that. But I recall that my station had the best sounding spots
from Tom of any involved in the promotion.
Of course, I'm sure Tom would have understood. :-)
--
John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS
+1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407
David Kaye
> Campbell lived in Foster City then and had a listed phone number--so
> my buddies and I would call just as a goof. But pretty often his
> phone would be answered by teen-sounding girls. I wondered if Tom
> might be getting a little jail-bait attention...
One of my favorite stories is that when he'd have to fly to LA on
business (he did ads for Cal Stereo in LA at the time he was doing the
Matthews ads here), since he lived alone and didn't want to pay
parking fees, he'd give away as a station prize the use of his
Corvette while he was in LA.
> Anyway, it'd be interesting to know his whereabouts now--if he's still
> in radio, that is.
I think someone here said he was still doing spots in LA for an
appliance store or something similar.
It's funny that for all his smooth delivery and style, and his work
not only at KYA but also KLOK and KNEW, he never attained the kind of
status of Russ Syracuse, or even Beau Weaver. Aside from teenage
girls it seemed that he just didn't register with most people.
David Kaye
> Campbell lived in Foster City then and had a listed phone number--so
> my buddies and I would call just as a goof. But pretty often his
> phone would be answered by teen-sounding girls. I wondered if Tom
> might be getting a little jail-bait attention...
One of my favorite stories is that when he'd have to fly to LA on
business (he did ads for Cal Stereo in LA at the time he was doing the
Matthews ads here), since he lived alone and didn't want to pay
parking fees, he'd give away as a station prize the use of his
Corvette while he was in LA.
> Anyway, it'd be interesting to know his whereabouts now--if he's still
> in radio, that is.
I think someone here said he was still doing spots in LA for an
David Kaye
> Campbell lived in Foster City then and had a listed phone number--so
> my buddies and I would call just as a goof. But pretty often his
> phone would be answered by teen-sounding girls. I wondered if Tom
> might be getting a little jail-bait attention...
One of my favorite stories is that when he'd have to fly to LA on
business (he did ads for Cal Stereo in LA at the time he was doing the
Matthews ads here), since he lived alone and didn't want to pay
parking fees, he'd give away as a station prize the use of his
Corvette while he was in LA.
> Anyway, it'd be interesting to know his whereabouts now--if he's still
> in radio, that is.
I think someone here said he was still doing spots in LA for an
IMTS listener
day I heard Tom Campbell phone his wife (I believed it was his wife), and
then next phone his girlfriend. Back then, the mobile phone users gave the
number called verbally to the operator. I had written it down. I called
the wife and told her about the girlfriend.
It seemed like the right thing to do, when I was 10 years old....
I had misgivings about it, once I was a bit older.
I have wondered what happened. At the time, she sounded like she didn't
believe me.
"Bang" <Bang_V...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:137f73b6.04112...@posting.google.com...
John Higdon
"IMTS listener" <noS...@fake.biz> wrote:
> Around 1966 I used to listen to the Mobile Phone highband VHF channels. One
> day I heard Tom Campbell phone his wife (I believed it was his wife), and
> then next phone his girlfriend. Back then, the mobile phone users gave the
> number called verbally to the operator. I had written it down. I called
> the wife and told her about the girlfriend.
Actually, Tom Campbell had an IMTS phone on 150MHz. IMTS stands for
"improved Mobile Telephone System" The "improved" part was the fact that
it was dial operated.
> I have wondered what happened. At the time, she sounded like she didn't
> believe me.
Hell, I don't believe you.
Bang
"Tall Tom" Campbell on KYA in August of 1969 (14:24 in length). Also
includes a newscast from the wonderfully-nasal Larry Brownell. Some
great spots, too--including one for a Blind Faith concert, with
tickets selling for $3 to $6. Geez...
http://www.reelradio.com/rook/cetckya69.html
BV
IMTS listener
"John Higdon" <fraud-and...@verislimesucks.com> wrote in message
news:fraud-and-spam-trap-...@equine.announcetech.com...
> In article <Qtvod.21187$zx1....@newssvr13.news.prodigy.com>,
> "IMTS listener" <noS...@fake.biz> wrote:
>
> > Around 1966 I used to listen to the Mobile Phone highband VHF channels.
One
> > day I heard Tom Campbell phone his wife (I believed it was his wife),
and
> > then next phone his girlfriend. Back then, the mobile phone users gave
the
> > number called verbally to the operator. I had written it down. I
called
> > the wife and told her about the girlfriend.
>
> Actually, Tom Campbell had an IMTS phone on 150MHz. IMTS stands for
> "improved Mobile Telephone System" The "improved" part was the fact that
> it was dial operated.
I didn't realize IMTS referred to the system used on the General Telephone
channel. I often listened to the steady tone waiting for calls. I had an
old tube type variable receiver tuned around 152 mhz. The call I described
must have been on one of the Pacific Telephone channels. As I recall, they
had designations like YK or JS or something.
> > I have wondered what happened. At the time, she sounded like she didn't
> > believe me.
>
> Hell, I don't believe you.
LOL I remember the sound of the wife' voice on the phone. She sounded old
to me. I remember the name Tom Campbell and I knew he was in radio. Given
info in this thread, I'm guessing I had heard him do radio spots on the
mobile phone. Errors in my story would come from the almost 40 years, since
then. Also, 10 year olds sometime see the world in their own way. However,
it did happen. I'm wondering if someone who knows him might read this
newsgroup. We may get confirmation....
>
> --
> John Higdon | Email Address Valid | SF: +1 415 428-COWS
> +1 408 264 4115 | Anytown, USA | FAX: +1 408 264 4407
The most interesting call I heard (not Tom Campbell) was a guy calling a
woman to tell her that a venereal disease had been passed at their sex orgy.
They called it a "warm." As I recall he used the phrase "at the warm." He
was telling each participant, so they could go get checked out by a doctor.
George Grapman
cumbersome multi-band radio on the seat. Aside from the usual
broadcasting it served to other purposes. At that time there was a lot
of publicity about a program that allowed police officers to moonlight
as drivers. Whenever a passenger started acting odd I would turn on the
police band. One time within seconds after I did this two passengers
mumbled something about forgetting something ,asked me to pull over and
paid me.
When I had airport fare late at night I would turn to the aviation
frequency and listed. If control was clearing a United flight for
landing I knew which terminal to go to.
I recall at least two times hearing phone call from men telling a
female that they would be late because of business followed by a
definately non-business call.
David Kaye
> I recall at least two times hearing phone call from men telling a
> female that they would be late because of business followed by a
> definately non-business call.
Men are men after all. I sometimes used to go to the Jubitz truck
stop east of Portland. Listening to the CB channels was like tuning
in to a bad reality TV show. Nearly every channel is occupied by
hookers and truckers. More than once I've heard men refer to only
being able to have a quickie while their wives were in the gift shop.
(Many male truckers now travel with their wives as the pay has gotten
so bad that two drivers are necessary to make the runs profitable.)
David Kaye
> Around 1966 I used to listen to the Mobile Phone highband VHF channels. One
> day I heard Tom Campbell phone his wife (I believed it was his wife), and
> then next phone his girlfriend. Back then, the mobile phone users gave the
> number called verbally to the operator. I had written it down. I called
> the wife and told her about the girlfriend.
Not to be picky, but I don't think there's a statute of limitations on
divulging the contents of non-broadcast conversations. Thus, I
believe you're breaking the law since you're not speaking in
generalities.
IMTS listener
I didn't think of that.
"David Kaye" <sfdavi...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:6b49c602.04112...@posting.google.com...
> "IMTS listener" <noS...@fake.biz> wrote:
>
> > Around 1966 I used to listen to the Mobile Phone highband VHF channels.
KimmiKat40
>Date: 22-Nov-04 11:31 Pacific Standard Time
>Message-id: <6b49c602.04112...@posting.google.com>
I remember the spots for Cal Stereo... "Come to Cal Stereo now!
K
bambi
place) until Tweeter bought them a few years back. He's currently doing
spots for Ken Cranes (a home theatre place) out of LA.
He used to have phone numbers that ended in 0000, like 213 46X-0000 and
415 XXX-0000 (I can't remember exactly, except that he had a "Hollywood"
number. I think that he may have had a XXX-1111 number as well if my
memory serves me right.
He became famous in SoCal with the barrage of "Cal Stereo" spots (Out Q
= "Call Stereo, NOW!"). I did some Kragen or some car parts store remots
with him in the 80's, he was a complete professional.