T. J. Lewis
Announcer Approximately 1957-58. T.J. Lewis was one of the early “KATI CAVE MEN,” given the name as the original studios were located in a windowless basement room of the “Midwest Building.” They announced that they were Cave Men as they felt they were working in a dank, wet cave. Shirley Meenan picks up the story below.
WRITTEN BY SHIRLEY MEENAN IN 2009: T.J. LEWIS
Another early d. j. was T. J. Lewis, the first really big-city Top 40 pro. He was always grousing about the basement station, which was a bit of a dank cave, and one night it flooded after a lot of rain. T. J. created an imaginary mouse that floated in with the flood, called it “Hinnegar Ellegar” and it was his companion from then on; the way he talked to and about it made it seem alive and people of all ages developed a real affection for it. T. J. decided to make his life more interesting with some competition, so (unbeknownst to us) taped a lot of KATI’s hit music and gave to a d.j.at KVOC then drummed up a little rivalry.