Martindale on KHJ
Recent mentions of KHJ (930
AM) and the format change to religious talk brought in some amazing emails and
letters. radio and television personality Wink Martindale was among the senders,
and I share his story here. This is the first time I have ever heard of rock
music being played in KHJ prior to the well-known game-changing Boss Radio
format launched in April, 1965.
“The year
was 1959. KHJ's EARLIEST rock year!” Martindale began. “I was morning man at
RKO's WHBQ/Memphis during the fifties. The RKO stations, with WHBQ leading the
way, were preparing to make the programming switch from network radio
to this trendy new format termed ‘rock 'n roll.’”
KHJ -- until 1950 a part of
the Don Lee Broadcasting System until the chain was bought by what would later
become RKO Radio -- had for many years been the West Coast feed for the Mutual
Radio Network, Martindale explained. “Many of radio's most popular dramatic
shows had originated from its studios at the corner of Fountain
and Vine. Thus a move from drama to music was considered a pivotal event.
Rightly so.
“As a 21 year old kid from
Memphis I just happened to fall into the mix.” But it wouldn’t be easy,
especially for a chain that had no experience in the format. “The station had
its work cut out for it...big time!
It was rock and roll
radio’s infancy. “Just a year earlier KFWB (980 AM) had ushered in rock in Los
Angeles with Chuck Blore at the helm introducing ‘The Seven Swingin'
Gentlemen.’ Almost overnight ‘Color Radio Channel 98’ took the city by storm
with ratings never before imagined ... on AM no less.” Of course this was years
prior to the rise and dominance of FM music radio.
“To its credit RKO bigwigs
had recognized rock as the force it had become early on” Martindale
said. “They simply didn't know how to successfully implement it at KHJ. As one
who had played rock in Memphis I was brought in to be the ‘morning man.’ But
with several of its Mutual network voices still under contract they
foolishly elected to have these dulcet toned voices become rock jocks. It was
almost comical.”
Proving that management in
radio could be as bad then as it can be now, Martindale showed how RKO messed it
up: “The station's playlist would include ‘Venus’ by Frankie Avalon ... But
not ‘Stagger Lee’ by Lloyd Price. Their rationale? Far too 'loud!’” All the
while attempting to compete with KFWB. “Needless to say this ‘chicken rock’
format never got to first base.”
His tenure at KHJ was
short-lived. “Thankfully within a year I was offered the morning show at
Pasadena's KRLA (now KDIS, 1110 AM), which by now was in competition for KFWB's
vast audience. I felt I had been given a get-out-of-jail reprieve! In a note of
irony, by late '62 Gary Owens departed KFWB for afternoons at KMPC (now KSPN,
710 AM). Program Director by then, Jim Hawthorne offered me the slot. Finally
I felt the joy of hosting my dream job, the coveted morning show at KFWB.
“By 1966 I had left the
station to further my career in game shows, though I continued in radio
doing middays for 12 years at Gene Autry's KMPC.
As to KHJ itself
... “History shows the introduction of Boss Radio by programmer Ron Jacobs and
consultants Bill Drake and Gene Chenault made mince-meat of the powerhouse we
once knew as Color Radio, KFWB.”
So, as the late, great Paul
Harvey used to say, “now you know ... the rest ... of the story.”
Marketing 101
While I’m on the topic, I
cannot believe that Immaculate Heart Radio is totally blowing the marketing for
their new religious talk format on KHJ. Instead of using the legendary call
letters, they use the lame “AM 930” moniker with some generic words to “sell”
the format. Same thing with their on-air ID ... so devoid of the stations’ rich
history that could be used to help promote the format, even if it is a long way
removed from top-40.
If I were Immaculate Heart,
I’d take the history of the station and hype it. In years past, the call letters
were said to connote Kindness Happiness and Joy. The billboard and on-air IDs
should say something to the effect of:
“Kindness, Happiness and
Joy ... Immaculate Heart Catholic Radio on 93/KHJ Los Angeles.” The billboard
could mention “AM radio” or “on your AM dial” if management is worried about
potential listeners who never venture off of FM. But that’s an easy
addition.
The KHJ calls have a long
history in Los Angeles, dating back to 1922. I tune in periodically because of
that, and I’m not even Catholic. The owners should use that to their advantage.
Few stations have such a history; even fewer have the same call letters they had
at inception.
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