I was originally hired as the program director of WFAA AM in Dallas but lusted after their FM frequency - 97.9. I had been PD at album rock WWWW in Detroit, working with General Manager John Dew, who moved to Dallas and brought me on board to be PD here. John finally convinced the board of directors that we should change the format of automated beautiful music WFAA-FM to a new album rock format.

I hired 3 guys who had worked for me in Detroit --- Ken Rundel, Mark Addy, and Gary Shaw. On a talent hunt in central Texas we discovered Mike Taylor, who was working at KRMH in Austin. We also welcomed Mark Christopher and Jon Dillon, who were working at other stations in Dallas.

After a lot of brain storming, I finally came up with the name for the station. At the time all stations were K-This or K-that. I decided to give us a totally different identity --- The ZOO. The name captured a unique identity, sort of a wild place to be.

We filed for the name change with the Federal Communications Commission, so our competitors knew what our call letters would be. But prior to our first day on the air, we sent them a note about our call letter change and attached a kazoo. They all thought that the station would be named KAZOO, and the industry buzz was all about the new KAZOO. It was a great scam. We had fun with that.

The original lineup was Ken Rundel in Morning drive, Mike Taylor middays, Mark Addy doing afternoon drive, Gary Shaw evening, Mark Christopher late night and Jon Dillon overnight. The staff was killer. I gave them a lot of freedom to put together great sets of music from our library, and encouraged them to relate to our audience. We added a lot of great live music events and unique promotions and the station exploded. After one year our main competitor KAFM gave up and went top 40, and it was clear sailing after that. The station was hugely successful and made radio history.

Naturally I have some special memories of the station. When you have so many great creative people it makes it much easier to build a great station. And judging by the number of testimonial websites and strong listener memories 35 years later, we did something right.

It’d be impossible to create a station like that in today’s environment. I have such affection and respect for John Dew, who gave me the freedom to create The ZOO.

Reading Addy’s memory of providing security at the ZOO Armadillo Festival (Blood Sweat & Tears, Freddie King, Rusty Weir, Blue Oyster Cult) I recall that we asked for listener volunteers to build the tall speaker scaffolding and we gave them Blatz beer to drink while they worked. That would make today’s lawyers have a shit fit.

Lots of great memories flash by... Those January Sound concerts (and our Frampton “Do You Feel” exclusive) and the discrete quadrophonic show with LA Express from January Sound when we paired with KERA-FM running the rear 2 channels, The Urban Survival Fair, The ZOO Goodwill Concert (raising 110 tons of clothes for Goodwill Industries), The Morning ZOO (name copied by stations everywhere), Buddy Magazine, Poor Peoples Concerts, The ZOO Elephant roar, ZOO Van Stickers, Live from The Electric Ballroom, great music sets, The Zookeeper concert line, The fucking Wackenhut parking lot guards, Zonker oldies, and that tiny little studio, and so much more. And real talented human beings on the air.

I remember refusing to run military commercials, and Bill Harrison being pissed at me for turning down a big Dairy Queen spot buy cuz the jingle sucked. And I remember some fabulous local spot production. Wow.

I remember a visit with Dave Van Dyke, who was PD of Q102 who told me that when they did research and asked listeners about their promotions, listeners always thought the ZOO did them, cause people felt that anything cool had to be coming from The ZOO.

Anyway, 35 years sure goes fast. Looking back, I was a crazed animal back then, a whirling dervish of energy, and every day I couldn’t wait to get to the station. When I was at home I’d write ideas and notes wherever I was in the house, and in the morning I’d make the rounds and collect them all for the day’s work. At one point I was writing so many notes while driving that I thought it was a safety hazard, so I got a grease pencil and started writing on the windshield so I could keep my eyes on the road. Whew!

It was a great time in my life. And I fucking loved my job. I could come up with an idea in the morning and set it into action right away. I didn’t have to wait for research to come in or for approval from consultants or the board of directors. I was free to create, and it was thrilling for me. Thanks to you guys for helping me achieve my dreams & making me look good. I think we had fun and I know we touched some lives.

I was the creator of the format and served as Zoologist/Program Director/Operations Director until 1978 when I left the ZOO to concentrate on consulting and voicework.

With appreciation & fond memories,
Ira 'Eye' Lipson