OK, stop with the begging and pleading, I will tell the "Satisfaction" story. I told this on the old site and it was voted best post of all time by a poster there. Right before they gave him a secret double life time ban. This is long but to shorten it is to cheat you out of a vicarious experience that could have been a part of American Graffiti.
The time is the early summer of 1965 on a warm June Friday evening, the place is KAJI AM in Little Rock, AR situated on a very busy street just west of downtown. This street splits right before the location of the station heading west and there is a business with a parking lot across the street. I am working part-time as fill-in DJ and am doing a 6-11 shift. I have just graduated high school, because my teachers all agreed they didn't want to see me for a 4th year, and this is the greatest year of my life of 17 years.
The British Invasion is two years old and the Rolling Stones have established themselves as one of the top dogs but something happened earlier in the week to momentarily separate them from the rest. Earlier that week, "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" dropped and is the most requested song ever on every station in town including the powerhouse KAAY. FM is not yet a real player.
KAJI's studio is at the front facing this busy street with a window overlooking it and it is common for listeners to write their requests and put them up for the DJ and Friday and Saturday nights are the busiest.
The station is owned by a lawyer in his 40's with a second wife in her mid 20's, a bona fide trophy hottie. On this evening, they're having a pool party and around 8pm, I answer the hot line, this is the line that only station personnel have, and it is Glenn's wife, Holly. Holly informs me that they're having a pool party and have the station on outside and they want to hear "Satisfaction". I said OK, I'll get it on and then she said "we want to hear it until I call you back and ask you to stop". I try to clarify and can tell she's feeling no pain nor is Glenn when he gets on the phone and directs me to do what Holly asks.
I've got two turntables and two copies of the 45 and so I start playing one and then immediately the other. By the 5th spin, there are people at the window with notes "what's going on"? All I do is smile and act as if this is normal. The hotline rings and it's my Program Director yelling "what the is going on"? I explain it to him and he calms down and I suggest he call Glenn and tell him to let me stop and go back to the log. He laughs and asks "were they drinking"? I said yes and there was quite a bit of background noise. I told him "sounds like a great party, I wish I was there because a crowd is starting to gather in front of the window. He asks me "what are they doing"? I respond "dancing". And I tell him I need a couple of more copies because I am going to wear these out.
The station had exterior speakers that were allowed to play after the other businesses had closed and at night we could get pretty loud. I was their party DJ only stuck on one song. And they were getting into it, they were writing requests for guess what song? Yep, "Satisfaction", so I am just forgetting the lit up phone lines and playing to the audience I can see. And it is growing at a fast clip which pleases me, but the cops are not too happy.
People are parking everywhere and they're crossing both streets and the horns are honking with either people listening or warning the teenagers in the street. They're dancing, singing along and when Charlie Watt's drum hit strikes, they're all clapping in unison. It's about 9:00 and I've been playing this nonstop, except when I can figure out to throw a break in and the cops knock on the back door.
These 6 cops come in, which is a little intimidating but I find out they're really more curious than anything. I explain to them what I am doing and the older cop asked for me to get the owner on the phone. This is the conversation I hear from my end "Mr H, we have a situation here with what your disc jockey is doing. There are approximately 300 kids here, all over the place and more arriving from every direction. They're crossing both streets and we are concerned for safety and what? (he looks at one of the cops that just came in) Mr. H, channel 7 has just arrived with a truck across the parking lot. This is getting out of hand." Wrong thing to tell any radio station owner. Free publicity.
There is a lot of back and forth and the cop said "OK if you can do that often, we won't interfere as long as no laws, including trespassing, are broken. He looks at me and said with resign "he wants to talk to you". I am expecting to hear "ok, go back to regular programming" instead he said "Great job here's two things I want you to do. Announce between every song that if they do not stay off the streets, you will have to stop playing the song and if channel 7 wants an interview, do not talk to them, have them call me".
Several of the cops are borderline laughing at what's happening because by now, there are kids everywhere, they estimated it topped in around 700 with all the ones on the side streets with their car doors open and they were getting complaints from residents. So the cops are out trying to run the kids off the side streets. But the cops are not too unhappy as some of the kids have brought food and are giving them burgers and fries. It was this impromptu party that could have never been planned as well as it went as no one got arrested or injured. People who know me still talk about that night 53 years ago.
At 10:30, the hot line rings, I have been playing "Satisfaction" for a solid 2.5 hours and you would think I was burned out on it by now but I was adrenalinized, and it's Holly and she's pretty much hammered but she thanks me for the best party she's ever had and Glenn gets on the phone and thanks me and tells me to stop. I asked him don't you want to know what's going on and he responded "don't have to, just saw the story on Channel 7". They had rushed the film back and used the story because they needed some fill in.
The next paycheck, I got a $100 bonus, quite a bit back then, and the Program Director told me they had more inquiries about advertising the next two weeks that in a whole year. I told him I wish I'd thought of the idea but it was "Hot Holly" as she was fondly known around the station.
Whenever I need a trip back to one of the most surreal moments in my life, I just listen to "Satisfaction" and I am transported back to the best summer of my life because I would meet my future wife in September and she like every other young person I knew, loved "Satisfaction". (Pun and double entendre intended).
Glenn tried to get some national wiggle out of it because the newspaper had been there and taken photos but their story was more about the dangerous situation some irresponsible disc jockey, not naming me, had created.
I would apologize for the length of this, and establish a dangerous precedent, but I did leave out some things but the story is intact and I enjoyed telling it to you more than you enjoyed reading it, I am sure. But for one night in his 70+ years, this man was a "star" at 17 and I owe that to the Rolling Stones for such a great song and "Hot Holly" for having a pool party....and a horny p whipped station owner.
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