Our thanks to Paul Allen, who has recorded more classic Atlanta Top 40 radio than anyone else we know. We are very grateful to Paul for sharing his recordings with the Repository.

Graphic courtesy of Sam Hale Paul Allen has contributed much higher-fidelity recordings, and we've been pleased to feature them over the years. We're also delighted to present this aircheck (in two parts) from August 31, 1963. This one presented some technical challenges. There were both high and low-frequency distortion issues, and some content lost to editing was unfortunate. It took a bit of tinkering to feel reasonable about a restoration. But, after all, it WAS 1963 . . . And this is GREAT stuff.

TOP STREAM 32Kbps (10KHz) Pat Hughes, WQXI Atlanta, August 31, 1963 (restored) (53:14) This Exhibit 'SCOPED (20:59) . . . Don't you become a sastistic . . . Pat Aloysius Hughes (courtesy of Sam Hale) [Description by Uncle Ricky] This is most of the 5PM hour of the Pat Aloysius Hughes show on Atlanta's WQXI from Labor Day Weekend, Saturday August 31, 1963. Pat passed away in 1969. Quixie Quick As A Wink news headlines presented by one-name newsman Brannigan was edited to only the intro and closing, but Brannigan returns at the end of the hour for a complete newscast. Your Number's Up is the current contest, with a wide variety of ways to win. And, for less than $200, the Muntz folks will bring a new 23-inch color TV to your home, take away your old TV, and give you a free portable transistor radio! Presumably, the radio was such a draw for kids that it's necessary to remind listeners that the offer is for "Adults, ONLY, please..."

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TOP STREAM 32Kbps (10KHz) Sam Hale, WQXI Atlanta, August 31, 1963 (restored) (18:00) This Exhibit 'SCOPED (05:30) . . . Watch it go and grow! . . . Sam Hale [Description by Uncle Ricky] Sam Hale blasts into the 6PM hour of this Labor Day Weekend Saturday night on Atlanta's Tiger with lots of up-tempo energy and music! We imagine Sam with a thermos of coffee, and maybe a little sandwich or snack to keep him fortified until midnight. In addition to Sam's smooth and hip rap, note the tight, uncluttered presentation. We wish there was more. Back in those days, Ronnie Milsap and Mac Davis thought they might be rock 'n' rollers, appearing at the Misty Waters Labor Day Back-To-School Spectacular. We are also treated to a sports editorial from Bill Dickey. Only a few months before the tragic loss of John F. Kennedy, this era in U.S. pop culture was the most ebullient of the 60's. Sam Hale passed away in August, 2015. He was 78.

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