Scratchy Grooves
About the site
This site is an ongoing project for John Andrew Chambless, the son of Bill Chambless. Dad devoted much of his life to sharing the music he loved. His long-running "Scratchy Grooves" show on the University of Delaware's WVUD-FM became a Sunday night tradition for loyal listeners and callers. While I don't pretend to have anything approaching dad's knowledge of the eras and the musicians, I will provide as many shows -- and as much information about them -- as possible on this site.
Above is the autographed photo of Ruth Etting that hung in the room where dad wrote every "Scratchy Grooves" script and recorded the music from 78s. In a way, she was present for every hour of the show's production, and I'm sure he's chatting with her now in some quiet corner of heaven.
'Scratchy Grooves' is aired, under Brian Lee Hart, on WVUD-FM (91.3). It's on Sundays from 7 to 8 p.m. EST, and is streamed at www.WVUD.org.
Get in touch!
This site is built and maintained by Bill's son, John Andrew Chambless, and draws upon the extensive legacy of his recordings. They are from cassette tapes, so there is usually a "break" in the show at the 45- or 30-minute mark, where the tape was flipped. Sorry if it clips your favorite song short! I've done my best to list some of the details about each program next to the show number. I'll be adding more shows to this page, so check back! You can always e-mail me at johnchambless@yahoo.com. I promise I'll answer every e-mail!
Brother, can you spare a dime?
While this site is free, it does cost me something to host -- not to mention requiring three hours of my time to post each show -- so if you enjoy "Scratchy Grooves" and want to help pay the bills, you can send funds to me via PayPal.com, payable to johnchambless@yahoo.com. Thank you for any help you can send my way.
Copyright John Chambless. All rights reserved.
The project continues! I'm going through stacks of about 900 tapes like these seen below. Upcoming shows to be posted here are titled: "1915," "Building a House," "Sun," "Ups and Downs" and many, many more.
Part of the
Hall of Fame!
Bill Chambless was among the first inductees into the WVUD Hall of Fame. That's me, John Chambless, second from right. My thanks to everyone at the station for making dad's life so rich. Here's the story, in part:
May 15, 2009 ---- Fresh from celebrating its 40th anniversary last fall, radio station WVUD-FM 91.3 -- the “voice of the University of Delaware” -- has chosen to honor key contributors to the station's history by establishing a WVUD Hall of Fame. Five members were honored in an inaugural induction ceremony held May 5 in the Perkins Student Center, which also is home to the station's studio and audio library. Introduced by Steve Kramarck, assistant director of student centers and station manager, and Scott Ohlmacher, student general manager, the inductees included:
-- Bill Chambless, host of the popular “Scratchy Grooves” program on WXDR and WVUD from 1984-2002;
-- Greer Firestone, the station's co-founder, who, when the original 10-watt WHEN went on the air on a cold night in October 1968, around 8 p.m., said, “WHEN is Now;”
-- Ron Krauss, a station member from 1974-77 who was instrumental in transforming WDRB to the on-air station WXDR in 1976;
-- Tom Mees, who developed his love of broadcasting as a part of WHEN from 1968-72 and went on to become one of the primary sports anchors during ESPN's formative years; and
-- Chuck Tarver, who served WXDR and WVUD from 1985-2008 as the professional station manager and ultimately as assistant director of UD Student Centers.
History through music
Mr. Chambless, who died in 2003, was the host of “Scratchy Grooves,” which initially was slated as a six-week temporary program featuring old recordings from his collection. Kramarck described him as a guy who “when you needed a promo at the drop of a hat, it was Bill Chambless.”
Kramarck said it is a testimony to Mr. Chambless' staying power that his radio voice continues to reach listeners who perhaps were not even born when “Scratchy Grooves” made its broadcasting debut in 1984.
Brian Lee, longtime station member and current host of “Scratchy Grooves,” said that Mr. Chambless was one of the most unique people that he has ever met, adding that “he was just a wonderful guy.”
Mr. Chambless' son, John, who is in the process of converting many of his father's old shows from cassette to CD format, has established a “Scratchy Grooves” Web site to make the programs available to fans old and new. The site notes that “from the first program in 1984 to the last one about 19 years later, he [Chambless] explored the music and sounds of yesteryear (1900 to 1940), scratches and all."
“Having my dad inducted in the WVUD Hall of Fame is very exciting,” Mr. Chambless said. “He was never happier than when he was at the station. It's been really nice to hear him on the air.”
