The Record Tulsa Flood of 1984
by Bryce Martin

Several years ago, a handful of radio stations had the reputation of being able to "break" a record. A musical 45-rpm vinyl variety. One of those stations, as I understood, was KVOO-AM in Tulsa, Okla. With so many records coming out each week, it was difficult if not impossible to get your record played, especially if it was on a small, unknown label. These radio stations could send your record out on the airwaves like ripples on a brook, reaching a wide and huge audience.

I was fairly sure that wasn't going to happen. Still, why not play the odds.

I mailed two of the 45s -- the label yellow with plain, red letters -- to KVOO right before the Memorial Day holiday. For no particular reason except that was when I had my first chance to send it out to some selected radio stations for potential airplay. It might be a good time, I reasoned. The regular disc jockeys are probably going to be off for the holiday and some new guy is going to be excited when he opens the mail and sees the title "Stormclouds Over Tulsa." The fact that the word "Tulsa" was in the title might invite a spin.

Or, my 45 might catch the eye of the station's big guy, Billy Parker, a name I had known for years and one of the nation's top country music disc jockeys. When I thought of KVOO and Tulsa I automatically thought of Billy Parker. Maybe he would not be able to resist the novelty of the title. I had been getting some minor airplay at tiny KCHJ-AM in Delano, Calif., right outside of Bakersfield, but a rotation on the turntable at the giant, clear-channel KVOO would be big-big.

It didn't go as thought out. Three days later, about the time the station might have received the 45, a flash flood hit Tulsa like no other flash flood ever had before. Incredibly, 14 people lost their lives in the roaring waters and, as one would imagine, the city was torn apart in all ways and manner. In some areas of Tulsa, 15 inches of rain fell within hours. Yes, 15 inches.

As inconsequential as it might be, I've always wondered about the fate of those two records, and I've always hoped that no one misunderstood and thought it somehow a cruel joke.

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