Chatter

By Scott Woodside

August 13, 2005 08:43 AM | Link to this

The Gasp is going? Wow, how time flys!

29 years ago, WZGC Radio (Z-93/Dave-FM) had just gone on the air as the first live top 40 FM radio station in Atlanta.

6 Flags was one of our biggest advertisers and we had an excellent rapport with then general manager Spurgen Richardson and his director of marketing Randy Hunter.

We, meaning myself, Scott Woodside and my partner Barry Chase, talked our friends into letting us broadcast our morning show live on the day of the Gasp Debut!

They agreed and 29 years ago the logistics pretty much sucked.

Chase and Woodside also decided that we would need some celebrity guests to help out with the live broadcast so we invited a bunch of the Atlanta Flames hockey players, and Ted Turner.

Yes, Ted, actually agreed to come on out and be our guest at the butt crack of dawn.

The only way we could broadcast our show live 29 years ago was to use aligator clips. We unscrewed the emergency phone at the great gasp, attached aligator clips to the receiver, and broadcast our entire four hour show over the phone lines.

There were no wireless mics back then so we had to come up with 300 feet of mic cable so we could broadcast from the top of the ride.

Of course, management thought it was really funny to hit the emergency switch on the new ride, to make it trip and drop about 20 feet then stop. So they’d be jerking the ride up and down during the entire broadcast.

I remember interviewing Ted Turner on the ride while we were both at the very top. I scared him when I told him the seatbelt was broken and not attached. That was definately a “Gotcha” moment with Mr. Mogul.

During a commercial break Ted asked me if I knew what Six Flags paid for the Great Gasp. When I told him they paid one million dollars for the ride, he said: “Holy expletive, I could by a radio station for that amount of money.” He couldn’t believe something like an amusement park ride could cost so much. When we came back from the commercial break, the joksters on the ground decided to trip the release mechanism on our parachute, and that’s when Ted said that he’d had enough and wanted to be back on solid earth.

I still remember the view of Atlanta at 6am in the morning sitting at the top of the great gasp and thinking. “We’re making history.” The first amusement ride to ever cost one million dollars, and a live brodcast that was very different in it’s day from the norm.

I wish I could be there this weekend just to sit in that chair one more time and remember when the Great Gasp was the main attraction at Six Flags over Georgia!

By Joy Buchanan

August 13, 2005 10:26 AM | Link to this

I remember my second ride on the Gasp. (My first ride was with my Dad and I loved it!) I was around 10 years old. I rode with my Uncle Chuck, who had never been on the Gasp, or ridden very many rides before. I remember laughing during the entire ride because he cussed going all the way up and coming all the way down!

By Scott Woodside

August 13, 2005 11:50 AM | Link to this

Hey, I forgot to mention the person who did all of the work and made us look good on the air while at six flags. Lynn Brockman! She was always the greatest to work with and would always love our ideas which not only included a live broadcast at the debut of the Great Gasp, but also the inauguration brodcast of the Scream Machine as well. Marketing professionals don’t get much better than Lynn Brockman! She’s awesome. I’m 56 now and failed to mention her. Should I blame my mistake on age? Hell Yes!

By tiffany Evans

August 13, 2005 02:02 PM | Link to this

I remember one time i got stuck on the ride it was struck by lighting. It did not take long to get down it was a exciting experience.

By danny m. ryals

August 13, 2005 02:15 PM | Link to this

Sirs; I have a special connection to the gasp parachute ride at Sixflags. The company that I was working for in 1994-95 built the gasps replacement seat that are now on the ride. The old ones had about 10 or more coats of paint on them and were in need of replacement. The company was in Newnan, Ga. ,and was called Peachtree Fab. It is no longer in business. The blueprints came to us written in German and the dimensions in metric. The new seats were made from high quality stainless tubing and after fabrication the whole seat structure was annodized for durability. I worked on this project for about three weeks to complete the task. It was very a interesting job to do . Please e-mail me back as I would like to have one of the seats.

By Lynn

August 13, 2005 02:50 PM | Link to this

The one and only time I rode The Great Gasp was with a guy who was crazy about me. He has since passed away. The Great Gasp always reminded me of him, and it makes me sad to see it close. Those two will always be tied together in my memory. Long Live Colin and The Great Gasp!

By brad

August 13, 2005 05:57 PM | Link to this

The great gasp will be missed. From someone who worked at the park and had to talk about the ride (as well as all other rides in the park). I was a Train “corn-ductor” on the railroad for many years. I would have to say over to the left you will see those funny looking “umberllas” we call “parachutes” 225 feet up in the air and don’t forget to yell “jeronomo” one the way down. So long to all the trips to the top, I know I have had my share of kisses up there. Also I would love to find a picture of when we had bugs bunny on the top waving for a comerical or pictures of the Great Gasp made into a big christmas tree whe the park had holiday in the park. I do lookk forward to riding the new coaster next year. Also bye bye to the looping starship too.

By mike wilkie

August 15, 2005 02:39 PM | Link to this

The Great Gasp was always a favorite simply for the view of Atlanta and of the park. I’ve been up there with high school girlfriends, the young lady I eventually married, and this year with four children we adopted from Russia. We didn’t have to tell them to, they just gasped when we reached the top and hung there for a moment taking it in. Goodbye, old friend, and thanks!

By Arlene Webster

August 15, 2005 04:35 PM | Link to this

About 20 years ago while my young niece was visiting me from California, I took her to 6 Flags and she wanted to go on the Gasp (I didn’t know it’s name at the time.) I didn’t know what to expect as we slowly rose to the top, and when it dropped, it scared me so badly I thought the child next to me had slipped from under the bar. I was actually afraid to look, and more afraid to have to tell my brother how his child had been lost on an amusement ride. When I did summon up the courage to look, this little child was looking at me, grinning, and wanting to go up again. No way!

By JAMES C. WEATHERLY

August 16, 2005 09:39 PM | Link to this

IT MUST HAVE BEEN 20 YEARS AGO THAT I WAS AT SIX FLAGS.MY WIFE CONNIE AND I DECIDED TO RIDE THE GREAT GASP.WE WATCHED SEVERAL PEOPLE RIDE AND DETERMINED THAT WE WOULD BE AT THE TOP FOR 3-4SECONDS.WHEN WEGOT TO THE TOP WE WERE STUCK FOR ABOUT 1 MINUTE. I WAS SCARED THAT I WOULD HAVE TO CLIMB A LADDER TO GET OFF. I STARTED SCREAMING AND MY WIFE WAS AFRAID THAT I WOULD FALL OUT OF THE CHAIR. THE RIDE DOWN WAS JERKY, BUT WE MADE IT DOWN. WHEN WE GOT DOWN, MY WIFE ASKED THE OPERATOR WHAT HAPPENED AND SHE SAID THAT THE COMPUTER MALFUNCTIONED. THE OPERATER ASKED IF WE WANTED TO RIDE AGAIN. WE WERE BOTH TOO SCARED TO RIDE AGAIN. THAT WAS OUR FIRST AND LAST RIDE ON THE GREAT GASP.