RIP Tennessee Midnight Ramblr

#1

volinbham

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#1
haven't found a news story but did see a post on FB - assuming it's true; RIP to an original out of Johnson City

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL1B94dlDTs[/youtube]
 
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#7
#7
Saturday night DJ out of Johnson City

I think that the original was ripped off. It reminds me of the ass clowns in Oklahoma that stole Leroy Mercer from John Bean. "Roy D. Mercer"... they claim it's a coincidence. Yeah right.

I'm not sure who the original (real) Tennessee Midnight Rambler is from the mid 1970s. His name might be Mike James. Most of the YouTube stuff isn't the original. I'm not sure who died and if he was the original TMR. I'm pretty sure that the guy in the clown make-up isn't the real TMR. WQUT might have the trademark on Tennessee Midnight Rambler and created a fake replacement version.
 
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#8
#8
https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/24519997/


http://m.topix.com/forum/city/johnson-city-tn/TQNJ4R8PE5N7953C1/midnight-rambler-web-site


https://m.facebook.com/WQUT1015/

Best I can tell, Mike James was the original TMR. I think that WQUT might have owned the character though. James quit after a couple of years as the persona conflicted with his religious beliefs. Then he might have brought it back several years later, but Citadel or Cumulus fired him. I had heard from a Knoxville radio guy that there were multiple TN Midnight Ramblers at WQUT. So the guy in the clown face paint might or might not be Mike James... it sounds different from the original. But that could be because he was just older. The face paint guy sounds like a cross between a TV preacher and a wrassler.
 
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#9
#9
The Real Midnight rambler was on from mid 70s thru early 80s. That youtube video up there is mine and that's from original recording from 1981 I do believe. When they brought him back as a ressurection show in the late 90s early 2000 I had my doubts it was him. I know this thread is old but I did remember when he died. I actually talked to one of his kids that lives in GA. Yes his name was mike james..and yes I'm 60 years old and I probably know as much about the real Rambler as anyone. That goes as far as driving to wqut and trying to get in the building when he was on LOL
 
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#10
#10
The Real Midnight rambler was on from mid 70s thru early 80s. That youtube video up there is mine and that's from original recording from 1981 I do believe. When they brought him back as a ressurection show in the late 90s early 2000 I had my doubts it was him. I know this thread is old but I did remember when he died. I actually talked to one of his kids that lives in GA. Yes his name was mike james..and yes I'm 60 years old and I probably know as much about the real Rambler as anyone. That goes as far as driving to wqut and trying to get in the building when he was on LOL

thanks for sharing - it was hard to get reception in Knoxville but loved the show.
 
#11
#11
I know, weird bump...

It was Mike James. In the mid to late 70s, my buds and I used to listen to the show every Saturday. It was rock-n-roll and what you wished radio was like all the time. He'd play stuff that NEVER got airplay. He'd play whole sides of albums. We'd sit up half the night partying with the show.. I remember going to the radio station a couple of times during the show and seeing the dude, in character, on top of the building... šŸ¤£

Good times, long gone....
 
#12
#12
I know, weird bump...

It was Mike James. In the mid to late 70s, my buds and I used to listen to the show every Saturday. It was rock-n-roll and what you wished radio was like all the time. He'd play stuff that NEVER got airplay. He'd play whole sides of albums. We'd sit up half the night partying with the show.. I remember going to the radio station a couple of times during the show and seeing the dude, in character, on top of the building... šŸ¤£

Good times, long gone....

I taped a show and I'd give anything to have that tape back. His reading of commercials was great too.

To the "never got airplay" comment I agree. The tape I'm referring to had Buckle Down from the Red Hot Chili Peppers first album. Also had Delivering the Goods from Judas Priest



 
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#13
#13
I taped a show and I'd give anything to have that tape back. His reading of commercials was great too.

To the "never got airplay" comment I agree. The tape I'm referring to had Buckle Down from the Red Hot Chili Peppers first album. Also had Delivering the Goods from Judas Priest




He played a lot of early Judas... Rock a Rolla, Sad Wings, Sin After Sin, Stained Class. You NEVER heard that stuff on the radio. I used to have tapes of the show, they're long gone now...
 

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