Bill Putnam, Jr Stops in to Relive Memories of His Father’s Time at WDAN Radio

 ABOVE: Bill Putnam, Jr poses in front of old WDAN banner in station newsroom.

Legendary audio engineer, producer, and studio designer Bill Putnam passed away back in 1989, at age 69; after a long, distinguished career.  But it was right around 1940, prior to his being drafted into the military, that his career actually began at WDAN Radio in Danville.

On Wednesday of this week (June 28th); Bill Putnam, Jr stopped into the WDAN studios to relive some memories of his father.  From the beginning, Bill Putnam was an innovator in the creation of sound.  He was a musician himself, as well as a songwriter.  But his number one thing was always audio and innovation.  And as Bill Putnam, Jr pointed out; one of his father’s best friends was legendary guitarist, innovator, and somebody who could tinker with sound just as well as Bill Putnam; Les Paul.  In fact, for years they argued about who actually created the first vocal overdub.  Bill Putnam, Jr recalled the first time he ever met Les Paul.

AUDIO: My parents said, “Okay, you’re going to meet one of Dad’s close friends.  He’s going to say a lot of words that you probably shouldn’t hear or you don’t know.  It turns out I knew all the words already.  But I was probably about ten.  Les Paul broadcast himself, he had a radio station, under the name Rhubarb Red.  So my dad put these big signs up at our house, “Welcome Rhubarb Red.”

And then, while sitting in the original WDAN conference room, the original part of the building; Putnam, Jr recalled what happened to his dad once, in that very same spot.

AUDIO: And so I heard about all these stories, about WDAN and his first job.  He told me, it was this room; he got snowed into this room,    he was here for a few days, all he had to eat was liverwurst.

And there were other food stories as well.

AUDIO: He said he’d take hot dogs, on a pole, and cook them inside the coils of the transmitter.

Then there was the time Bill Putnam wanted to be the one who got paid for repairing the light at the top of the radio tower.  So he began to climb.  But pretty soon the owner of the station was wondering why he couldn’t reach anybody.

AUDIO: He’s up there, and he sees the station owner driving up, looking at him.  And my dad’s like waving,   He gets down there, and it turns out the station’s owner had been trying to get hold of someone here; wasn’t getting his phone calls returned, so he drives out to see what was going on.  So my dad’s up in the tower, my dad thinks he’s going to get 25 bucks, and he got fired.

But despite that, according to Bill Putnam, Jr’s memory; his dad spent more time at WDAN, as well as at WDWS in Champaign, and eventually became chief engineer at one of those stations.

To hear Neuhoff Media’s entire interview with Bill Putnam, Jr, please click below: