By JENNIFER MOONSONG
Glasgow News 1
“Steve Newberry, Scott Jackson and myself were all on the air the first day. We went on at 12 noon Sept. 2, 1988. It was the Friday before Labor Day weekend,” reminisced Dale Thornhill of Commonwealth Broadcasting, known during the early days of WHHT as DJ “Bobby Rambo”. The station started as Hottest Hits FM 106.7.
“We played the Top 40 hits, regardless of genre,” Thornhill said.
Scott Jackson, center, poses for a picture in the original WHHT Hottest Hits jacket.
Also pictured, Craig Davis and Dale Thornhill, also known as “Bobby Rambo”.
Courtesy of Dale Thornhill
Scott Jackson, left, and Dale “Bobby Rambo” Thornhill, right, in the late 1980s at WHHT.
Courtesy of Scott Jackson
When WHHT hit the airwaves, the studio was located on Happy Valley Road, next to Pizza Villa and Baskin Robbins.
“The hottest hits format was legendary in Kentucky. We had a request and dedication party on Sunday nights,” Thornhill said.
“It was the original social media. It is how everybody communicated with their boyfriends and girlfriends without SnapChat. People from all over listened and called in,” he said.
WHHT started as a 3,000 watt station, with the tower located on Knob Hill in Cave City. Most listeners were from Barren and Hart counties, but some were also from Warren and Edmonson counties.
The ribbon cutting for WHHT on Happy Valley Road, as recorded in the Sept. 8, 1988 edition of the Glasgow Daily Times.
Courtesy of Scott Jackson
The original WHHT logo.
Courtesy of Scott Jackson
Thornhill started working with what was then known as Newberry Broadcasting as a part-time employee in1984.
“In the beginning it was Steve, me, Vickie and Scott Jackson,” he said.
Aug.15, 1988 was his first day of full-time employment, and it was then that “Bobby Rambo” and “Scott Jackson” became household names as radio personalities.
“I was on the air the first day at 3 o’clock. I did afternoons, 3 to 7 and was most known for the 5 o’clock block party. Fridays at 5 was the kickoff to the weekend. Scott Jackson, he was part of the Caffeine Club for morning listeners,” Thornhill said.
“For me the best part was the excitement of launching a brand new station with state of the art equipment, a new format that was so upbeat and an incredible air staff,” Jackson said if his time with WHHT, and it came naturally for him, since he wanted to be in radio since childhood.
“I use to have a small tape recorder. I would pick up a product from around the house and record a commercial on the spot. I went to college to be a CPA ,but after my first accounting class I knew I would never be happy doing that. I saw a TV commercial for the Columbia School of Broadcasting and knew that was for me. I enrolled and loved it. I sent an air check to WOVO-FM in Glasgow in 1974. They said I had the job. I left my home in Northern Kentucky, and headed to Glasgow,” Jackson said.
WHHT was known as Hottest Hits for about 3 years. Commonwealth Broadcasting was formed in 1996, and in the early 2000s moved to the downtown location where it is headquartered today. WHHT eventually transitioned to a country format.
WHHT back in the day.
Courtesy of Scott Jackson
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