October
14, 1975 was KQV's final night as a music station. George Hart and Billy
Soule were the last 2 personalities on the air as the station wrapped up
nearly 18 years as a Top 40 music station. From an original staff that
included Dave Scott (a holdover from the previous
format), Chuck Dougherty, Henry DaBecco, and Sam Holman
to that final night of music, KQV was the voice of Pittsburgh's youth.
KQV was scheduled to finish out the music format at midnight, with a brand
new All News format set to start the following morning, October 15, 1975.
KQV's
Billy Soule remembers the final night of KQV's music era.
"It
was odd that management allowed the both of us (George Hart and myself)
to team up in hosting the last hours of music on KQV. I remember looking
over at George during the playing of one of the songs and saying how strange
it was after all the years and all of the great announcers that it came
down to the two of us to "bring to an end such a legacy and to be a part
of the silencing this once great radio station."
You
would think that we would have been in control of what was going on, but
to tell the truth it was like moving from slow motion fast-forward and
back to slow motion again. We were caught up in a vortex and when it stopped
it left us dizzy and sort of dumb-founded. There was not a lot of words
between us as we gathered our belongings and walked toward the door. It
was the end of our time together; the end of our jobs; and the end of a
Pittsburgh dynasty. We embraced, patted each other on the back, said, "take
care of yourself - see ya around." As I walked off into the night, I remembered
turning, I saw George looking up at the KQV logo. He saw me, waved, turned
the corner and was gone.
I never
thought that night would still be as clear in my mind 32 years down the
road. With all my success in radio and television after KQV, those days
will be remembered as the Glory Days of my career. I miss them and the
characters (far too many to mention by name) who profoundly made an impression
upon me. They set my professional tone and steered my path all these many
years.
That
night was truly eerie. I remember George and what we said to one another,
but I can't remember the stuff in between. That night it was Hart and Soul
that put KQV to rest. Long live "KQV Audio 14." Over - and - Out!"
The executives
at Taft Broadcasting were monitoring the final broadcast from Cincinnati
and at approximately 10:30 pm pulled the plug and prematurely ended
the final music broadcast.
George
Hart
The end of KQV (part 1)
The end of KQV (part 2)
Billy
Soule
It
all ended with George Hart and Billy Soule playing Neil Diamond's 'Brother
Love's Traveling Salvation Show'. Over the final intro, George said
"I almost missed the button there I was so uptight, man there it is. Brother
Love's Salvation Show. Save me brother I think I need ya. (after
song) We're gonna leave man. This is KQV Pittsburgh,
with (uh) studio transmitter link (uh) WJV34 and WJV35. Bye Bye."
Bob
Harvey would wrap up the night with his late night show and in the morning,
KQV would sign on with the NBC NIS Network.
47
years later, KQV is still remembered as one of the best radio stations
in America in a golden er/a of radio that will probably never be seen or
heard again.
