If you enjoy this website, then
please send a donation to
The Herb Jepko Scholarship Fund at the University of Utah.
800 716-0377
(801 581-6825 in the SLC area)
or
CLICK HERE!   

nightynitecaps@gmail.com

1 May 2000, Salt Lake City, Utah (two years before I put the site up).

Herb was a pioneer in his field and I doubt that Larry King would be around today if it weren't for Herb and his efforts.

I hope there are still folks around who remember him. Since he has been off-the-air for nearly 21 years, there are few people left who were solid listeners. Most of the people I talk to have never heard of him.

Herb was the on-air personality, but it was really Patsy who kept the operation going.

15 April 2002, somewhere in Texas.

I was a Nitecap back in the late 60's, even appeared in one of The Wicks. I thought of the show and Herb a while back and searched the Internet without success. I ran across the copy of The Wick when I was going through my ham radio memorabilia not long ago. I ran across your hand-out at the ham radio get-together at NAB 2002 in Las Vegas and found your site. I've always loved radio and late nights. Thanks for your efforts.

22 May 2002, Baltimore, Maryland.

I'm glad to see somebody has put up a site paying tribute to Herb Jepko's Nitecap show. Boy did I ever enjoy the old show even though I never called in nor was a member. My wife was also a very big fan of Nitecap. She started listening in 1978 through WBAL. On the other hand, I lived out in California most of my life and used to tune it in on KSL at night, and when it was simulcast on KVOO/Tulsa, I could bounce back and forth just for the heck of it from 1160 to 1170 to hear the difference in audio. As I recall, Herb even did some of his shows from Tulsa.

I started listening back in 1968 but wish I had known about the show earlier. It was so innovative a show, especially for the time, and there were many nights I just could not stop listening to it. I wish I had called in but I was a bit too shy back then and didn't think I had anything to say, so I just listened to others.

What is so sad to me is how Mutual mucked the show up and tried to turn it into something else, something more "modern" but taking out the human element.

I wish there were a comparable show to what HJ did, because all of talk radio now is controversy, sensationalism, or bashing, nothing good-natured about it. I had my chance to get into talk radio as well. My talk shows were themed around LOCAL things of interest (some controversial) but I always tried to keep it as light as I could and to have a good time with the callers. Herb sure did it well and he did it right.

Herb Jepko should be in the Hall of Fame. With all he did for talk radio and overnight radio in general, I'm surprised he hasn't been inducted already.

Take care, and thanks for writing back. A pleasure to hear from you!

(There are several Halls of Fame for radio personalities. The National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame is the biggest, but only inducts living honorees. We are working to have Herb inducted into the Utah Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2003. However the best Radio Hall of Fame (in my opinion) is the one created by the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago. Please click on the photo, join for $15.00, and vote for Herb next time his name shows up on one of their ballots, hopefully in 2004. -- Joe.)

11 June 2002, Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Thank you for your web page. As a young boy I was always taken with radio, old radio shows and especially talk radio. My radio was my friend that entertained me (I was an only child) in the evenings. Of course, music was important to me but my nights were filled with The CBS Radio Mystery Theatre and Herb Jepko and the Nightcaps.

I'll never forget riding in my dad's 1966 Impala WB on I-44 in Tulsa and Herb said, "Hello, who is this?" And a lady said, "Grace McGuire from Baxter Springs, Kansas."

I have no clue why I remember that.

I remember thinking, man what a great job. You get to stay up all night and just talk to people on the phone and you're on the radio! Needless to say, my career started at 16 at NewsTalk 740 KRMG in Tulsa, a 50,000 watt station. I worked there in programming and sales for 17 years.

23 June 2002, Green Mountain Falls, Colorado.

Not having put Herb Jepko's name into a search engine for over a year, I was very pleasantly surprised when it discovered your website. Back in the late '70s, I listened to the Nitecap show on KTRH-740 in Houston, and enjoyed the laid-back, familial feel of the show. I even called the show once or twice but, being about 12 at the time, had an extreme case of on-air jitters. In spite of that, the Nitecap show became one of the catalysts for my continuing love of radio. I've also been searching for the jingles and other incidentals from his show.

If you ever get a CD of material from the Nitecap show, I'd love to have a copy.

My sincerest compliments on your website and recognition of a radio legend.

24 June 2002, no city indicated.

I went to Yahoo, and sure enough, information on the Nitecaps!

I used to listen to the show when I was a kid! I was, and still am a night owl. After all those years, I'm 41 now, I still miss the program. Nothing like it on radio today. Is Mr. Jepko still alive and kickin? I could kick myself for not keeping those Wicks! My picture is in one of them!

Thanks for bringing back those memories on your website!

1 July 2002, Saint Louis, Missouri.

Every few months for the last couple of years, I would do an Internet search for "Herb Jepko" and usually came up with a lot of nothing. I can't tell you how happy I am I've found a site specifically dedicated to the Nitecaps! I was about 15 years old when I discovered the show, in 1975, on WHAS Louisville.

From my bedroom in St. Louis, I could sometimes pick up the show in its first hours on WBAL Baltimore, then follow it to WHAS, and then to KSL. Like a lot of kids, I went to bed listening to the radio.

I worked in radio for 21 years, including about a half dozen at KMOX St. Louis, and I count the Jepko show as one of the reasons I got into broadcasting.

Man, did clicking on the Nitecap Theme Song ever bring back memories!!!

I'm going to go search the site now. Congrats! I'm really happy someone built a Web shrine to the Nitecap Show.

I predict this site will be ICY HOT! :)

(ICY HOT "The dual action topical pain reliever that is ICY to dull the pain and HOT to relax it away" (TM) was one of the most often heard sponsors on the Nitecap network. Click on the photo for a link to the ICY HOT corporate site -- Joe.)

2 July 2002, no city indicated.

Thanks so much for creating this website.

I remember the Nitecap Show very well. It was, in a sense, a substitute family for me and it went off when I was going through a most difficult time in my life.

Some of the best memories were the Thanksgiving and Christmas morning shows. My first wife and I were up along with the gang at Herb and Patsy's home, and it felt as close to having a real family as I have ever experienced.

I was saddened to hear of Herb's passing, as I had always hoped against hope that the show would come back to us on the East Coast. I mourned the loss of the show almost as much as Herb. We spoke several times and he was very patient with me. I appreciate that more than he could ever know.

Thanks again for the site. I hope you're able to expand it as time passes. It's great hearing the Nitecap theme once more, something I thought was lost forever.

(There were three Nitecap theme songs! "The Ballad of Herb," "The Nitecap Lullaby," and the one used most often on the show, "The Nitecap Song." You can listen to all of them on our Audio Library page. Just click on the record cover (after reading the rest of The Last Nitestand!) -- Joe.)

10 July 2002, Fruitland, Idaho.

When I was a teen in the 70's I used to love listening to distant AM stations and stumbled onto the Nitecap show and Herb Jepko. I loved that show and he was such a friendly man that seemed to make everyone so happy. Keep up the good work, I'm sure there are lots of folks out there who like me have fond memories of this show.

11 September 2002, Baltimore, Maryland.

Sometime in 1970, I joined the Nitecaps, in Denver, Colorado. I was 21 years old at that time. Now I live in Baltimore, Maryland. The last meeting I went to was in 1975.

I remember those days very well. Herb Jepko was on Radio Station KSL in Salt Lake City, Utah. We can keep his memory alive. I remember The Wick Magazine. I had it recorded on reel-to-reel tape, because I am totally blind. I corresponded with people who had tape recorders.

I enjoyed those days.

I would love to hear from other Nitecaps!

My address is:

Kenneth Chrane
6839 Parsons Avenue
Baltimore, Maryland 21207-6423

(410) 486-1569

Hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely,

Kenneth Chrane
kenneth.chrane@verizon.net

14 October 2002, Odessa, Texas.

FINALLY a web site devoted to the true father of real interactive radio. Many a snowy night I fed cows late while the Nightcaps were on the air. I loved the organ music, the poetry, the non assumptive aspect of the host, the grandpas bragging about their grand kids, I just related to the realness and sincerity of the whole experience. My two favorite programs in radio . . . The Old Timers Hour on CFCN and The Nightcaps, on KSL.

I was honored to hear Herb one last time on the air, I believe in the summer of 1989, when I was driving south to begin my Ph.D. I heard him while driving through Klamath Falls and I believe he was on a Utah Station at that time. About 1985 I picked up a few copies of The Wick at a Salvation Army Store in Wenatchee, Washington. I have no idea what happen to those copies but I keep looking for them when I can. When the cd comes out I will be sure to get a copy. Oh I am so happy to find this site! Thank you.

14 October 2002, no city indicated.

thank you so much for this site.

i went to american university in washington, dc in the later 70's and i guess it was on an am station/mutual broadcasting station, i used to hear herb jepko. i loved listening. my friends thought i was crazy of course. i loved to play them the theme song. i just left the theme song on my friend in nyc's answering machine. it was the funniest thing. once again, many thanks for this site. i love it. herb looks like a nice man in the pic. how do i get the cd with the old spots, preferably when i was listening in 76 and 77. thanks again.

16 October 2002, Trempealeau, Wisconsin.

Hi,

Was I ever delighted to come across your website! During our college years from 1963-67 my roommate and I would be up, and often listen to Herb on the Nitecap Show! I have looked on search engines before, but did not find you until now! So great you are doing this!

I recall once my roommate went in the bedroom and called the Show . . . I stayed by the radio in the study room, and it wasn't long before the roommate was 'on the air.' We thought that was pretty 'cool.'

Will you be making available, on the website (on line), any voice clips of Herb? It would be so fun!

Well, I will keep checking the site now and then for updates and reading more. Thanks again for doing this. (As you can guess, we are now in our mid to late 50's, agewise, and appreciate this nostalgia! The roommate now lives near Washington DC, and I am still in the midwest. He too will be delighted with your site!)

I will work to carry through on your requests . . . to vote for Herb, spread the word, oh . . . and at this time I should be able to make a modest donation to the scholarship fund, yes.

20 October 2002, Weslaco, Texas.

Thank you for providing a link to yesteryear for me -- the Nitecap Network was truly a blessing for me during a time I was hospitalized in 1965. KSL was one of the few stations I could receive while inside my hospital room and the marvelous voice of Herb Jepko and so many Nitecaps helped me while away some mighty dreary hours. I always hated to see the sunrise because that meant I could longer receive long distance stations (I was in Dallas Texas ).

I appreciate your kind reply, I suppose its a trait of all those who were the Nitecaps to be so warm and outgoing. Isn't it a shame that the network folded? It seems to me what we all could use is the daily interaction of decent and caring folks. I am not sure at what stage you began to listen or even your age. Corresponding with you is almost like finding lost family even though we have never met.

I am an old grandpa of six now and have long since left the hospital where I was confined all those months when I was but a lad of seventeen. How I would like to close my eyes once again and hear Herb's voice boom in on good old KSL. I remembered the show and Herb just recently due to a burglary at my home. I had one of those marvelous Ben Hibben knives that Herb used to sell on the show. Too bad the bad guys made off with it but it did prompt me to think of the good old days and I started a web-search which, of course, is how I found your site. Off and on I had wondered what became of all the folks but like most of us, I was always too busy to do anything but try the KSL AM station but never had any luck.

As far as a donation to the scholarship fund -- it is very much my intention to donate to that but I will do so at the end of the year. I am semi-retired due to poor health and need to watch each and every shekel. I am funding my own life w/o government assistance so I am sure you will understand. I have an aged mother who is currently residing in a nursing home ( is in a coma, so not much I can do) and I almost always have cash flow problems during the course of the year.

I would like to rekindle the Nitecaps but I really don't know how it could be done without a central figure such as Herb and his show. I try to think of names of those folks from so long ago but am afraid they are lost somewhere in an old guys burned-out memory banks. There used to be postal messages exchanged among Nitecaps, but I guess that is a thing of the past. We might give it a try and see what happens. I would welcome interaction with you or folks like you who are genuine and sincere in such endeavors.

Anyway, kind sir, I am in your debt for initiating your website which has, at least, given me insight into what became of a wonderful and decent group of folks.

(Ben Hibben knives were made by Gill Hibben. Click on the photo for a link to his website. If you would like your email or landmail address or your phone number or photo included with your message, let me know and I'll add it. Are other folks here are looking for pen pals? -- Joe.)

28 October, 2002, Birmingham, Alabama.

My parents often worked two jobs to put food on the table, and as a young boy growing up in Tennessee, I often found myself the last one in the house awake. I would lay in my bed listening to late-night AM radio. One by one, the local stations would sign off, leaving only a handful of stations in large cities.

One of my favorites was KSL. The callers sounded like my parent's friends, or my neighbors, and after a few weeks of listening to the show, I could even recognize some of their voices. Even though most of the callers were elderly, and often spoke of the routine things, Herb had a way of making each one of them feel important.

I'd only be able to stay awake for a couple of hours of the show, but I always drifted off with the radio on. The world didn't seem such a dark and scary place with people like Herb Jepko in it.

When Herb was replaced by Larry King, while I was still a teenager, I continued to listen to late night radio . . . but not as much. Sometimes King would tell one of his stories about baseball, and I'd be entertained for awhile, but his callers seemed to always be upset about something.

These days, I wonder what kind of place the world seems with late night radio populated mainly with talk of aliens, demons, and ghosts. What will become of the boys and girls out there who are too lonely or too scared to sleep?

Perhaps that's just the way of the world, but I suspect not. As a member of the media, I'm not quick to blame them for society's ills, the media act as a kind of mirror for us reflecting both good and bad.

Herb Jepko always reflected not only the good, but the very best in us, hiding the flaws for the harsh light of morning. I fear we'll never see another like him. Nighty night, Herb, wherever you are.

". . . and now a call on our Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi line. Hello?"

Les Rayburn
High Noon Film
100 Centerview Drive, Suite 111
Birmingham, AL 35216
205 824-8930

http://www.highnoonfilm.com

les@highnoonfilm.com

4 November 2002, Green Mountain Falls, Colorado.

A slightly belated but very sincere "thank you" for that Jepko CD. Listening to it gave me that same warm, fuzzy feeling I got listening to Herb and the Nitecaps so many years ago. It reminded me of why, as a child, I struggled to stay up past midnight to catch an hour or so of Herb; every listener and caller was part of the family, relating to Herb and each other their own life experiences. Everyone had a chance to tell their story.

It's sad that we lack an overnight radio show like Herb's. Too many huge corporations wanting too much money, I guess. Perhaps it's also the habit of advertisers to cater to younger, more affluent people.

Thanks again, and kudos on The Last Nitestand. Looks like many folks out there in computer-land have the same warm memories of Herb as I.

10 November 2002, Harrisonburg, Virginia.

This is GREAT! I have always wondered what ever happened to Herb and his pleasantly addictive "Nitecaps" show. I listened on WBAL in Baltimore in the seventies. I would listen to the Orioles baseball game, then the "Harley Show" (a jazz broadcast) followed by Herb and Company. I was in High School at the time and would spend the day listening to Top 40 on the radio and Hard Rock on my record player. There is something a bit incongruous about blasting Led Zeppelin all day and then listening to Herb at night but that was what Nitecaps was all about.

The "suits" had it wrong. There WAS a market for young urban listeners. Some of the letters here on "The Last Nitestand" come from folks in my generation - and I'm 45. I admit I started listening to Herb because I was too lazy to get up and change the radio station, but it didn't take long before I was hooked. After spending the typical teenage day (school, extracurriculars, part-time job) I was quite "wired." WBAL had the timing right - Baseball to Jazz to Jepko. What a great way to relax! I seldom failed to be lulled to sleep by the comforting voices of Herb and his callers, and even if I couldn't drift off, there was an on-air family to listen to. As a "rocker" I laughed at the "cheesy" title tune, but you can bet I loved listening to it again on your website. Now I can't stop whistling it!!

What a great memory!

30 November 2002, Spokane, Washington

I started listening to Nitecaps in June of 1968 in Malden, Washington, a small town south of Spokane. Both my mother and I called Nitecaps a lot and my mother used to play the piano. She passed away in 1984 but my father still lives in Malden and will turn 90 December 21st 2002. This certainly brings back a lot of memories!

I was very good friends with Glenn and Betty Shadduck of Lynnwood, WA. They used to spend the summers running the Owen Pioneer Museum at Chattaroy, WA which was started by Betty's parents. In the '70s the Lilac City Nitestand in Spokane used to visit the museum every summer.

I still have a lot of tapes of the show and the record that has the theme songs and quite a few of The Wick magazines.

I first met Herb and Pat at a rally held at the Davenport Hotel in Spokane in November of 1968 and then I attended the 1972 convention at the Salt Palace. I really enjoyed meeting all the nice people from all over the country.

I would love to hear from anyone from the good old Nitecap days!

Carl Sperr
PO Box 10674
Spokane, WA 99209

carlsperr@yahoo.com

Join THE LAST NITESTAND today.

If you would like your name, address, email, photo, or phone number
added to your message above, just let me know.

Joseph G. Buchman, PhD
175 Paradise Road
Park City, UT 84098

nightynitecaps@gmail.com