I would have listened, but their signal wasnt strong enough to reach my primitive 80s panasonic boombox,,, even WOKI had some static, not enough to render unlistenable though,,, I lived in Dandridge, right on Douglas lake, do you guys know where that is.. not really in the knoxville metro.
Dandridge actually is in the Knoxville metro (it's about 30 miles away and is in Jefferson County, which borders Knox. Co.). However, due to the lay of the land, I'm sure a lot of signals might have been hard to pull in.
As far as 'TNZ goes, oh yeah, I LOVED that station and it remains one of my all time favorite CHR's. They were on the air from '86 till '88, while I was a senior in high school and a freshman in college and I listened constantly. I didn't like WOKI's rock lean (during Brother Clay's days at I 100), and I loved 'TNZ because they played dance stuff that no one else in the area would touch. Their playlist was much more mainstream and rhythmic and more in line with what you would hear in larger cities. They began as "95-3 TNZ" for the first year or so, then morphed into "Power 95" during their last year. I lived as far away as you did except in the other direction (in Sweetwater, TN), but I would set up a good home antenna to pull 'TNZ in, and then I would also listen in my car on my drive to U.T. everyday. And speaking of those Burger King bumperstickers, yeah I had one on the back of my car the whole time they were on. (It was a triangle shaped window sticker with a checkered red and yellow back ground with 95-3 TNZ in big letters across it.) I think I may even still have an old one somewhere.
The station was great though, because even though they were basically bankrupt the whole time with very little money, they had great personalities that went out of their way to interact with the listeners and do crazy stuff on the air. My favorite 'TNZ jock was the late Jeff Freeman who passed away a couple of years ago in a tragic murder incident in Nashville. He was hands down one of he best and most entertaining CHR jocks to ever work in Knoxville. He did a show on 'TNZ with Mike Keith (now the play by play voice of the Tennessee Titans network), and they were awesome. Mike was still a student at U.T. at that time. Also, you had other great jocks like Rick James (aka "Powerman"), Tom "Tomcat" Miller (now with Citadel/WIVK Knoxville), and also Kim Hansard (now mornings at crosstown Star 102.1), and a host of others (Chris Mack, John Wilkerson, Greg Moyers, Sabrina). Also, they carried great syndicated shows like American Dance Traxx with Jeff Wyatt and John Lander's Hit Music USA.
They were truly a fun station and I almost cried the day the station went dark. Also, as far as ratings goes, they actually did start to make a dent into WOKI's numbers. Ironically, their last book in '88, had Power 95 near a 5 share with WOKI down into the 6 or 7 range. But, sadly, the money had ran out and the station had been operating in bankruptcy for awhile, so it was too little too late.
Anyway, they were certainly a big part of my life back in my high school and college days, and they still remain my all time favorite Knoxville CHR/Top 40. (oh, speaking of the old 'TNZ crew, does anyone know what ever happened to GM and personality Rick James ("Powerman")? Is he still alive? I know he was older at the time. I always wondered where he went after he left Knoxville. I know Rebs Inc. had the stations in Knoxville and Nashville and he was part owner of both, but I wonder where he ended up after the company went under).
