Radio Waves Podcast #279

 Radio: December 18, 2020

One of the treats of the holidays is Sounds of the Season, which will once again be heard on Ken Borgers’ internet tribute to the original KNOB (now KLAX, 97.9 FM). You can find it — as usual — at www.JazzKnob.org. 

A separate, though very similar, version — also produced by Borgers —  will air concurrently on KSDS/San Diego (88.3 FM).

The program is a 36-hour program that starts at noon Christmas Eve and runs continuously through midnight on Christmas day. It features some excellent jazz instrumental and vocal interpretations of holiday music favorites; along with what many consider a highlight of the season: a reading of the classic “Twas the Night Before Christmas” by the late, great LA Jazz DJ Chuck Niles. This reading will be heard six times throughout the program: 12 noon and 6 p.m. December 24th; and at 12 midnight, 6 a.m., 12 noon, and 6 p.m. on December 25th.

Niles was on heard on a variety of jazz-formatted stations including KLON (now KKJZ, 88.1 FM), KBCA (now KKGO, 105.1 FM), KFOX  (now KFRN, 1280 AM), and of course KNOB.

JazzKnob.org harkens back to Sleepy Stein’s KNOB/Long Beach, which played mainstream jazz. Stein was the owner of the station in 1957 when he launched the jazz format with just 320 watts at its original frequency of 103.1 FM. One year later, he was able to increase power to 79,000 watts by moving to a new frequency, 97.9 FM.

Stein sold the station in 1966 and the new owners changed the format to MOR (Middle of the Road) music … think standards and lighter fare … then Beautiful Music and eventually soft rock. Today the station is known as La Raza, playing Regional Mexican music, which it has been playing since 1988.

Now at JazzKnob.org, you can tune in any time 24/7 and hear mainstream jazz from artists both past and present. As I write this the internet station is playing Bright Moments by The Ken Peplowski Quintet

There’s actually some interesting history about the old KNOB, which originally launched as the Long Beach-area’s first FM station in 1949 and broadcast programs daily from 3-9 p.m. The original studio was found at the transmitter site on Signal Hill, not far from the Long Beach airport. I am told that the building and tower still exist at that location, though I am not certain. 

The first high-power transmitter used by KNOB after the approval of the power increase/frequency switch came out of KNX-FM (now KCBS-FM, 93.1) which had recently updated its equipment.

After a time, the studios and offices were moved to Anaheim. Nowadays the station can be found with studios on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles; the transmitter is on Flint Peak near Glendale.

Nominations

The Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters, also known as the Hollywood Media Professionals, is embarking on a new project - a West Coast Radio Hall of Fame.

This is a case of a great idea that I never noticed we didn’t have. Considering the talent we have had both in front of and behind the microphone in the area, why the heck didn’t we have such a thing before? 

Anyway, while they didn’t ask me, I am going to ask you: if you could nominate someone for the Hall of Fame, who would it be and why? It doesn’t have to be someone famous, or someone recent, or even someone considered a “pioneer.” I’m open to any nominees … and I will forward the names to the group for them to use or ignore as they wish.

Speaking of the PPB/HMP

Popular DJ and all-around great guy “Shotgun” Tom Kelly resigned his position as President of the Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters, leaving about six months prior to his term ending date in July. Replacing Kelly in the interim until his own term begins is former record promoter Ron Alexenburg.

Kelly — who can currently be heard on SiriusXM’s “60s on 6” every afternoon — is among my all-time favorite radio personalities. I was able to pick up San Diego radio quite well from my home in San Pedro growing up, so I’ve listened to him on such stations as KCBQ (1070 AM) and others since I first got a transistor radio.

When he moved to KRTH (101.1 FM) in 1997, I was finally able to meet him in person, and we have been friends ever since. I wish him well with his extra free time.

Radio Waves Podcast #278

 Radio: December 11, 2020

Longtime radio listeners may remember listening to former San Bernardino top-40 powerhouse KMEN (now KKDD, 1290 AM). It was the stopping place for many staffers and personalities who eventually made the trip to Los Angeles, including Jim Mitchell, Jon Badeaux, T. Michael Jordan, Dave Sebastian, Ted Ziegenbusch, Frank Terry, Ron Jacobs and Bruce Chandler.

Among the popular personalities on KMEN during their early days of top-40 was “Huckleberry” Chuck Clemans, part of a staff that helped propel the station to unheard of ratings … at one point the station commanded a 70 share, meaning that seven out of ten people listening to the radio in the Inland Empire were tuned to KMEN.

Clemans passed away on Thanksgiving Day, November 26th at the age of 86.

KMEN was not his only station, but it was the one that gave him a sound footing and connection with Ron Jacobs, who would ultimately hire him twice - first at KMEN and later at KGB/San Diego (now KLSD, 1360 AM). And you are remembering right - Jacobs is indeed the programmer who helped launch KHJ’s top-40 format in 1965. But I digress.

According to former KIIS-FM (102.7) traffic reporter and pilot “Commander” Chuck Street, Clemans was a nationally ranked swimmer at his Arizona high school; this earned tom a full-ride scholarship to Stanford University where he was able to listen to San Francisco’s KFSO (560 AM), which featured Don Sherwood zany host of the station’s morning show. “Clemans was hugely influenced by Sherwood’s bright on-air personality and crazy stunts,” said Street, adding that “it did not take long for this young college student to become enamored with radio.”

So upon return to Arizona after graduation, he found himself on the air at a local radio station in Florence, then Phoenix. He quit after a heated argument with station management, so he headed for the bright lights of Los Angeles. Weeks passed, with nothing to show. According to Street, “Clemans was ready to give up and go home.” That’s when he met Jacobs, who happened to be in the same restaurant in Hollywood “frequented by record promotions people … and out of work disc jockeys.”an imaginary

Jacobs heard his work and hired him for KMEN mornings. The station went on the air with the new format in March of 1962; within six months the station was number one. “Last to first,” says Street. “And Clemans was a major contributor to that success.”

The show was upbeat and lively, with imaginary characters such as Solo the Robot and his 300-pound secretary, and an entire Indian tribe. He connected with kids with stunts various stunts in addition to playing “their” music.

After four years he moved to KCBQ/San Diego (1170 AM), but the rigid format left him wanting, so he left radio for almost seven years, returning to KMEN in 1974. Until Jacobs convinced him to move back to San Diego for KGB mornings and the relatively new progressing rock format the station played. “While at KGB,” says Street, “Clemans created a new imaginary character that eventually became the KGB (and later San Diego) Chicken.” Two years after that he left radio for good, preferring instead to sell cars at a San Diego dealership.

A memorial service is pending and may be held after COVID restrictions are lifted. Clemans is survived by children and grandchildren.

Disney Leaving Radio

The pandemic has claimed another radio victim: Disney, which was still distributing Radio Disney children’s programming as well as country music as heard on KRDC (1110 AM) announced last week that it is leaving radio totally. The formats, which mostly were heard on secondary HD channels and a few AM stations nationwide will sign off early next year, and the last remaining owned and operated station — KRDC — will be sold as well.

Perhaps this is my time to buy a station. Anyone have a few million dollars just itching to waste, er, help me buy a station?

Depending on what is involved, KRDC — better known as the original KRLA — will probably sell for somewhere between $6 million and $11 million.

Where Are the Oldies?

When Saul Levine dropped oldies in favor of classical on the former K-Surf KSUR (now KMZT, 1260 AM), he promised that oldies would remain online, via smart speakers and through the smartphone app. Bit a slight complication came up: holiday music.

With holiday music being played on Go Country KKGO (105.1 FM), country got shifted to the KKGO HD2 stream. That stream is the same feed as K-Surf uses, so the oldies are on hiatus for a short time … until December 26th, to be exact. On that day, Go Country will be country again, K-Surf LA Oldies will return to the HD2 stream as well as all the apps, and the planets will be aligned once again.

Asking Dave

Dave Beasing was the guest on the December 2 edition of Radio Waves, found at laradiowaves.com. In a segment called “Ask a Recovering Program Director,” Beasing explained why the station he once programmed — The Sound 100.3 — is gone, what made it successful, and why it shouldn’t have ever existed in the first place. It’s a fascinating listen to a knowledgeable radio insider; he’ll be a guest on the podcast hosted by me and Mike Stark the first week of every month.

Radio Waves Podcast #277

 In this episode we begin our new regular feature:  "Ask A Recovering Program Director" with Dave Beasing, former program director from LA's 100.3 "The Sound".  He'll be here monthly to answer questions about why your favorite radio station does what it does.  

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Remembering radio’s Jimmy Rabbitt, the DJ heard all over Southern California
The Rabbitt, one of the coolest-sounding DJs to ever grace the local airwaves, died over the weekend.

DJ Jimmy Rabbitt passed away on Saturday, Nov. 28, 2020. (Courtesy of KOCI)

If you grew up in Southern California in the late 1960s and ‘70s, you probably listened to Jimmy Rabbitt on at least one of the many stations he worked on.

Arriving from Dallas, Texas legendary KLIF, he landed at KCBQ/San Diego in 1968. In short order, he found himself in Los Angeles at such stations as the original KRLA (now KRDC, 1110 AM), KLAC (570 AM), KMET (now KTWV, 94.7 FM), KBBQ (later KROQ 1500 AM; no longer on the air); KROQ-AM; KGBS (now KTNQ, 1020 AM), and KROQ (106.7 FM). I am told he also worked at KFI (640 AM), but can’t find confirmation.

If you were paying close … really close … attention, you might even remember the few days he worked at KHJ (930 AM) in 1972. Why he took that job I’m not sure; the story goes that he originally left KCBQ because the station tightened up the playlist and format too much. KHJ at the time was even tighter, but I digress.

Born in 1941 under his given name of Dale Payne, The Rabbitt was one of the coolest sounding DJs to ever grace the local airwaves. The Los Angeles Times named him Rock DJ of the Year in 1969 when he was at KRLA; his style fit perfectly with the station’s laid-back style at the time as it did with the early progressive FM formats. But for whatever reason, he never seemed to stay around a station very long.

Radio historian Alan Oda told a funny Rabbitt story on his blog, ayodaradio.blogspot.com, writing “The thought of The Rabbitt at the strictly formatted KHJ seems odd but it did happen, albeit not for long. He quickly bristled at the rigid playlist, so he decided to play a record of his own liking.

“He told James Brown of the Los Angeles Times he disliked the personalized jingle ‘JIMMY RABBITT – 93 KHJ!!’ so he brought in a mechanical toy bunny, playing the melody ‘Here Comes Peter Cottontail.’ Recalled Rabbitt, ‘Management called me in, shouting, ‘What have you done to my radio station??’

“[Program director] Bill Watson let Rabbitt know ‘We don’t want another [“Boss Jock”] Robert W. Morgan at night,’ but Rabbitt couldn’t be fired until Bill Drake returned from a Hawaii trip. With Drake’s approval secured, Rabbitt was officially shown the door after just three days.”

Ironically, the weekly Boss Thirty featuring his photo on the front cover and available at stores throughout the region was distributed after he was shown the door.

More recently, he was doing a show on KOCI (101.5 FM), which broadcasts out of Costa Mesa. Playing what was called an “I Don’t Know What’s Coming Next” mix of music, the show was popular enough for the station to occasionally run out of streaming connections for online listeners at KOCIRadio.Com.

In addition to his work on the radio, he worked for industry newspaper Radio Report as its Country editor and was a writer and frontman for the band Jimmy Rabbitt and Renegade, which performed in venues including Hollywood’s Palomino Club. You can still find his album in used record stores occasionally.

Rabbitt passed away over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Douglas Brown remembers Rabbitt fondly. “I worked with Rabbitt on the original KROQ AM/FM,” he told me. “He was the classic non-DJ DJ with excellent music taste.”

Living the Past

Proving it’s not just me … I happened upon Fantasy-Radio.Com, a website dedicated to bringing “legendary top-40 radio stations back to life.” Every hour the site plays music and recordings from a different city and different station, such as WCFL/Chicago, or Ten-Q, KHJ or even HitRadio 93, KKHR (now KCBS-FM, 93.1 FM).

I have not had a chance to listen much, so there may be much more than I have heard so far. It seems to be an online jukebox of music for a certain era and a chosen station’s jingles for that era; occasionally a DJ will announce some songs. The “playlist” promises original recordings, however, including personalities such as Dan Ingram, Rick Dees, “The Real” Don Steele, and Dave Donovan.

More Holiday Music

Go Country (105.1 FM) has moved to all holiday music effective last week. You can still hear country music on their HD stream, via an app, a smart speaker, or online at GoCountry105.com.

 

Radio Waves Podcast #276

 Radio: November 22, 2020

More changes are coming to LA Oldies K-Surf (1260 AM) … oldies will be going away to make room for, well, I guess another form of oldies: 24/7 classical. The change will happen December 1st at 6 a.m. Christmas music will air until then.

Station owner Saul Levine hopes that upgrades in the audio chain and more radios in the market capable of receiving the station’s HD signal will help build an audience for classical music on the AM band, something he tried to do about five years ago.

While I doubt that the analog AM audio will attract many listeners, it is worth noting that he does have a clean signal in areas that receive it. If you happen to be in an area where the signal is strong — not far from the transmitter site in the Valley, for example — and you happen to have an HD Radio tuner, is it even more worth noting that the HD stream from the station is superb… one of the best I have heard. It is the HD that may hook listeners, if they tune in and hear the difference.

To most observers, it may seem strange to drop an oldies format that has had a loyal audience for the past few years. I will say, however, that putting classical music on AM in the year 2020 is exactly the type of thinking that Levine is known for … certainly not the norm for the time. But in doing so he is showing a support and belief in AM radio that is sorely lacking at most stations.

While many companies have not updated equipment for years, Levine has installed a new transmitter. New processing equipment. New towers. And while other companies are gutting their engineering departments, Levine is hiring. “I never lost faith in AM,” he told me recently.

The pop oldies are not going away either: K-Surf LA Oldies will still be available on 105.1 FM’s  HD2 stream. Yes, you need an HD Radio to hear it, but the signal from Mount Wilson is strong throughout much of Los Angeles. Even better is listening on a smartphone app, perhaps the future of radio, and I will be reviewing several in an upcoming column. Once you listen on a good app, you won’t want to go back to regular radio again.

Passings

Two personalities who spent many years entertaining and informing us have passed on earlier this month: T. Michael Jordan and Mike Lundy.

Jordan’s local radio experience spans the dial from starting in 1967 at KMEN (now KKDD, 1290 AM) . In 1973, he was hired by Rick Carroll as one of the first DJs at the new FM top-40 rocker KKDJ (now KIIS-FM, 102.7); finally in 1976 he was heard playing the hits on Anaheim’s legendary KEZY (now KGBN, 1190 AM). 

If you want to hear a sample of Jordan on both KKDJ and KEZY (along with the absolutely cool “Voice of Change KKDJ top-of-the-hour ID) head over to YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/user/tomntmj.

According to Don Barrett’s LARadio.Com, “In the early 1980s he returned home to Chicago and decided to get out of radio. He eventually landed in Dallas, instituting software training programs for the Tandy Corporation. In 1985 he returned to the Southland for a few years, where he was the MIS Director at the Writers Guild of America. He had been living in Illinois when he died.” Jordan died of lung cancer on November 13 at the age of 77.

News was the focus of Mike Lundy’s long career. First at KFI (640 AM) in 1968, followed by KGBS (now KTNQ, 1020 AM) the same year, KDAY (now KBLA, 1580 AM) in 1972, KFWB (980 AM) in 1977, KGIL (now KSUR, 1260 AM) in 1979, back to KFI in 1982, and KGIL again in 1983, and KFWB again from 2000-2007.

That’s a lot of stations. But Lundy was also active as a station consultant and a program creator for Japanese radio stations. Quite a career; not bad for a 1968 graduate of UCLA holding a degree in Political Science.

Lundy died November 11th at the age of 79 after a long illness.

New Station

“We’ve got a lot to talk about” says the website KBLAtalk1580.com.

The teaser is related to Tavis Smiley’s purchase of KBLA from Multicultural Radio Broadcasting in order to launch a new “unapologetically progressive” talk format; KBLA has been airing a Spanish religious format.

No word on the launch date, but the sale price was just over $7 million. Once known as KDAY, the station has a proud history of playing music, and was the first full-time “hip hop” format in the United States, as I recall. Certainly the first in town. One of the great jocks of KDAY’s past is J. J. Johnson (Author of the great read Aircheck: Life in Music Radio), who is still active on Facebook.

Once an aide to former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, Smiley has been a radio and television commentator and talk show host for many years, though not without controversy for allegations of actions behind the microphone, so to speak. His first radio commentaries aired on the late, great KGFJ (now KYPA, 1230 AM) - one minute segments called The Smiley Report in the early 1990s.+

Radio Waves Podcast #275

 Radio: November 20, 2020

If you were anywhere in the world during the 1980s and ‘90s — but especially if you were here in Southern California — you know Rick Dees, among the most successful radio personalities to ever grace the local airwaves.

Dees came to town in 1979 to host the morning show on KHJ (930 AM), a station that had seen better days but was about to have one last bout with success under master programmer Chuck Martin. Martin hired Dees away from WHBQ/Memphis, the same station that Wink Martindale (KFWB, KMPC) called home a decade prior.

While KHJ’s top-40 format under Martin was a huge success, the suits that ran RKO Radio — owner of KHJ at the time — thought they knew better and decided to take the station country. Dees left soon after the switch and shortly after found himself at KIIS-FM (102.7).

KIIS-FM during the Dees era was extremely similar to KHJ: tightly programmed, highly promoted, and just plain fun. DJs were all superb, management was allowed to sink tons of money into events and contests, and the general manager Wally Clark knew how to appease the corporate bosses with a can-do attitude.

Dees, however, was the cornerstone of KIIS-FM. Contests began at 7:10 every morning during his show, his face was plastered on billboards and bustards everywhere, and he was the official spokesman for the station. And it worked flawlessly: soon KIIS-FM was setting records for ratings, records that still stand today.

Changing times and changing attitudes caused Dees to leave the station after 23 years back in 2004. He continued to (and to this day still does) host the Rick Dees Weekly Top-40, and even came back to mornings on Movin’ 93.9 in 2006, but it wasn’t the same.

But modern technology knows no bounds … recently I discovered that Dees is still working mornings, or any shift for that matter, through a syndicated service called Daily Dees. He voices the segments and allows a station to create a show — morning or otherwise — using any musical format they wish. The show is produced in his home studio, which as it turns out was way ahead of its time now that the Covid-19 pandemic has brought most radio shows into the homes of various hosts.

You still can’t hear it on any local station, but in a case of going (almost) full circle, the show can be heard on stations across the country … including WHBQ in Memphis. Only this time it’s WHBQ-FM instead of the legendary AM station where he once called home.

Want to hear it? Use your favorite smartphone app, smart speaker, or head over to WHBQMemphis.com; Dees’ show can be heard from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. Central time every weekday. That’s 3 - 8 a.m. here, so you better get top early.

Early FM Rock

While AM stations dominated the radio scene until the late 1970s, many money-losing FM stations allowed those long-hair hippy-types to take over programming and play what was known at first as free-form rock. Or more accurately free-form radio, as the music was not limited exclusively to rock.

One of the early progressive stations in Los Angeles was KPPC — an AM/FM simulcast that later became KROQ (106.7 FM); the AM was at 1240. The progressive format was launched by Tom Donahue in 1967, and it lasted until the early 1970s when it basically went broke, and the staff moved over to KMET (now KTWV, 94.7 FM).

I didn’t realize there were recordings of those early days, but there are. One fabulous find is from LetTheUniverseAnswer.Com, and can be accessed at tinyurl.com/RWNov20. Here you will find unedited segments — including commercials even — of KPPC from September, 1971 (not long before the station dropped the format) and KMET from June, 1975. Nice specimen of early progressive rock, before FM radio ruled the airwaves.

Live Sessions on Vinyl

KCSN (88.5 FM) — better known by its station frequency of 88.5 — has released a vinyl LP of music recorded in the station’s own studios. Called The Independent 88.5 Studio Sessions Volume One, you can get it by donating to the Fall pledge drive via the website: 885fm.org.

Artists include Sting, Vintage Trouble, and Jenny Lewis, among others.

Radio Waves Podcast #274

 Radio: November 13, 2020

You knew it was coming … the artificial trees have been up at the large home centers for a month now; Costco has had their Christmas decorations out even longer. So it was just a matter of time before KOST (103.5 FM) and SiriusXM announced their holiday music programming.

You may have read it in this newspaper already: KOST made the annual switch a week ago, on Thursday, November 5th with the beginning of the Ellen K morning show. This gets the popular annual format well within the “December” ratings period as well as the “holiday” ratings period, encompassing a combined final eight weeks of the year. And KOST is not alone; stations across the US started making the switch last week as well.

As is also typical, SiriusXM is getting the holiday spirit, this year perhaps a bit earlier than usual for the company. Fully 16 channels dedicated to holiday music ranging from traditional Christmas carols to Hanukkah favorites and everything in between will eventually be on the air, most available already, and most running through at least December 25th. Then on December 29th, a special New Year’s Nation channel will help ring in the new year. See the schedule and channel lineup at SiriusXM.Com.

Speaking of SXM

A few weeks ago, reader Dave Roberts wrote about a new product developed to help the pesky dropouts caused by cell phone towers that affect the SiriusXM satellite (and terrestrial repeater) signal.

Some parts of town (and even out of town) are subject to signal losses that make listening to the satellite radio service difficult. Roberts told of a special filter designed to fix it, “but the subscriber has to pay $80 per radio to fix their problem. The $80 includes them paying an installer to hook up the filter.” He asked if he could be sent one for free and install it himself, “So far they have refused,” he said back in September.

Recently, he gave me an update: We ended up purchasing 2 filters at $80 each and installing them ourselves. No dropouts!

“The filter comes with a plastic GM adapter on one end that you need to remove (easy) if you don't have a GM car. Both ends are standard SiriusXM antenna connections. After a month in use: “Still working perfectly! That is why we were hooked on Sirius in the first place. Terrestrial here in California can get spotty with the hills, mountains and valleys,” Roberts concluded.

I know what he is talking about: the antenna connection used by GM (and I assume other automotive companies) has a special clip to connect the antenna; take off the plastic and the connector is just a regular Sirius, XM or SiriusXM antenna connector. I had to remove the clip when I changed out the factory stereo in my wife’s Enclave.

And it is easy. So why does SiriusXM charge $80 for a filter, making you pay for installation that can be done yourself? That’s highway robbery. Hopefully the company will change their ways on the issue, along with changing the tuner design in future editions making the filter unnecessary. In the meantime, if you are interested in the filter, you can get it here:

https://shop.siriusxm.com/wcs-filter-install-card.html

After you buy it, make sure you complain to customer service about the dropouts and threaten to drop the service so you can get a discounted rate on your subscription. Just sayin’.

iHeart Cuts

iHeart Media — the company no longer even pretends to care about radio — has launched its annual employee cutback program in an attempt to stave off another round of bankruptcy. So far I have not seen any positions cut locally, but they have been happening nationwide for the past two weeks.

Large radio groups like iHeart, Entercom, and Cumulus — accounting for roughly 15 stations in Los Angeles and a handful more in the Inland Empire — have been particularly hard-hit due to ad revenue declines started prior to but certainly accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic. But all radio stations are feeling the pinch. This latest round of cuts at iHeart leaves very little meat left on the bone, and could leave the company extremely vulnerable in the long run.

Helping Hand

KGGI (99.1 FM) — an iHeart station, by the way — is working with the Water of Life Community Church in Fontana to collect donations of clothing, shoes, accessories, blankets, and personal hygiene products to benefit homeless in the Inland Empire.

It’s called the Fifth Annual Cover the IE Collection Drive, with station personalities broadcasting live from the church as they and volunteers collect donated items. Of course all COVID-19 safety protocols will be followed.

The station is encouraging all Inland Empire residents to drop off clean, gently used or new coats, jackets, scarves, gloves, masks, beanies, socks, blankets and/or sleeping bags plus travel sized toiletries, from 9am - 6pm on Saturday the 21st and 10am – 3pm on Sunday the 22nd at the Water of Life Church, located at 7625 East Ave. in Fontana.

While the supply lasts, donors will receive a “Be Our Guest” card for Baker’s Twin Kitchen Restaurant.

Radio Waves Podcast #273

 Radio: November 6, 2020

The FCC gave final approval last week allowing AM radio stations to transition to an all-digital broadcasting system, a variation of the currently-approved hybrid mode HD Radio standard used by most FM stations and a few AM stations nationwide.

The hybrid system was always intended as transitory in nature … it allows all AM radios to receive the same analog signal AM broadcasters have sent out for the past 100 years. But sandwiched on both sides of the analog signal is a digital component that, when received by a special HD Radio tuner, allows for increased fidelity and lower noise.

But there are problems with that hybrid mode: it causes interference to other nearby stations. The digital signal — limited in power to help reduce that interference — doesn’t travel as far as the analog signal, causing problems with reception. And the digital portion in hybrid mode is limited somewhat in fidelity. For those reasons, many AM stations just turned off the digital portion of their broadcast signals.

The all-digital MA-3 mode of the HD Radio system differs from the hybrid mode by removing the analog component completely. This gives more space for the digital signal, allowing for greater fidelity (in computer terms, it allows a higher bit rate). It also allows for the signal as a while to be more centered on a station’s broadcast frequency, reducing interference. And it allows the signal to be sent full-strength, for much better reception including long-distance reception.

In other words, all-digital AM has the potential to send high-fidelity audio at a distance as good as or even greater than current analog AM. And like FM, there is a possibility for special features including a second channel as is done with HD on FM. But this all comes at a great cost: just like analog television after the switch to HDTV, no traditional AM radios would be able to pick up the signal.

That would be a problem for a station like KFI (640 AM) or KNX (1070 AM), where analog listening allows a huge audience already. But what about a station toward the bottom of the ratings? Or one in which the signal doesn’t clearly reach an entire city? The potential here is immense.

Fortunately, every HD Radio sold since the standard was set in 2002 can receive all-digital AM (and FM, for that matter). Many people own HD Radios via their car audio systems and may not even know it; home audio tuners are less common, but still available. That gives all-digital AM a bigger head start than FM broadcasters had in the 1950s. If I owned an AM station, I would run test hours at night to prove the technology, and market the heck out of the system. 

And run a format you can’t find elsewhere that will attract attention.

Locally, no station owner except one has committed to all-digital AM. Saul Levine is ready to do it when he feels that there are enough HD Radios around to make the change feasible. No date has been set, but it can be easily assumed that KSUR (1260 AM) will be the first to do it.

Confessions

You can still get your radio questions answered … just submit them to Ask a Recovering Program Director, in care of this column…. The former program director of The Sound (now KKLQ, 100.3 FM) Dave Beasing will be a periodic guest on the Radio Waves podcast I do with Mike Stark. 

Beasing should be joining us within the next few weeks and hopefully will make a monthly appearance at facebook.com/LARadioWaves.

Morning Mess

Have you had a chance to hear the Morning Mess on Amp Radio (97.1 FM)?  I’m curious what you think. Check out the show weekdays 6 - 10 a.m. if you have not already, and send your thoughts to me at the email address below.

Letterbag

“When I listen to all the mushy & boring traffic reporters on AM radio stations, I can't help but remember the ‘traffic man’ who really told it like it was … that being Bill Keane of KNX. Nobody could match his wit and humor dealing with some of the idiots on the freeways; he could always come up with choice words to match misguided accidents or whatever.  

“On top of that how many people in his position have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame? It would be nice to hear an occasional recorded piece to fit in with contemporary traffic reports to educate current freeway flyers.

“RIP Bill Keane 1927 to 2020.” — Phil Solomon, Fountain Valley

Radio Waves Podcast #272

 Radio: October 30, 2020

Changes are coming to LA Oldies K-Surf (1260 AM; 105.1HD2) … at least to the AM portion of the simulcast. Beginning Friday, November 13th at 8 p.m., the station will feature Music ’Til Dawn, classical music all night long until 6 a.m.

I am sure you’re already wondering: Classical? On AM? On a station that has been building a small but fiercely loyal audience playing primarily pop and rock from the 1960s and ‘70s?

Station owner Saul Levine explained the thought process to me in a series of emails we exchanged over the past few weeks. Essentially, it comes down to the fact that he loves classical music, he wants to help promote the availability of classical via K-Mozart on 105.1 HD4, and while the audience for oldies on 1260 is as mentioned fiercely loyal, it is still difficult to attract advertisers to the AM band.

So will classical music help that last problem? That’s tough to gauge, but it is certainly possible that a company may want to come in and underwrite an all-night program such as this. And it may indeed help spread the word of K-Mozart, even if it doesn’t permanently attract listeners to the AM band.

If you’re concerned that the great selection of oldies on LA Oldies is going away, it’s not really. You can still hear it on the HD simulcast at 105.1HD2, online, and via apps and smart speakers. And frankly, if you live outside of there San Fernando Valley where the 1260 signal is originated, you’re better off listening using one of those alternative methods anyway. I’ll do a roundup of great radio apps in a future column.

Levine says he is just thinking differently, much as he did in 1959 when he put one of LA’s first FM stations — now Go Country 105 — on the air. No one listened to FM radio back then. Levine must have been crazy to do it, right?

“Although Classical Music is not everyone’s cup of tea there are nearly one million people locally who love it,” he said as he explained that he hopes that having classical on 1260 will help people discover it along with the many other ways to tune in. The AM signal will be, in a sense, a marketing device.

“We have the handicap that not everyone has an HD FM radio but almost everyone has access to (internet) streaming and an app. This is an effort that has rewards. So to enhance the K-Mozart acceptance for a time, the station will be simulcast on 1260 AM every night from 8 p.m. until 6 a.m. the next day.

“We will call it Music Until Dawn … which was a concept that worked for American Airlines a long time ago when it bought time after midnight on AM Stations across the USA for Classical Music.

“K-Mozart has already created excitement with a locally produced Opera program and the wide appeal of On Broadway with Broadway show music everyone loves.”

Sounds crazy, right? Except that it isn’t necessarily. The audience for oldies tends to drop at night … indeed the audience for radio itself drops quite a bit. Yet classical is something that might bring people back. And as an AM fanatic, anything that might bring in a few new listeners (until I can assemble my network of stations) is worth a shot.

Crazy or not, I appreciate the fact that Levine is still giving AM — and commercial classical — a fighting chance. Go Country brings in the real money; Levine programs the other formats more as a public service. He could have sold 1260 years ago, but he didn’t, and his oldies format is superb. His enthusiasm for classical music is also much appreciated, so if he wants to try it on AM, I think it’s fine. And if you do happen to live in the Valley and own an HD Radio, 1260 AM is one of the best-sounding signals I have ever heard. 

Reader Mail

“I loved the CBS Radio Mystery Theater every night at 9:00PM and again at 1:00AM.  What happened to it, and at what station can it be heard?” — Gayle

One of my absolutely favorite radio programs growing up. And I was a top-40 radio guy … I just had to tune in to KNX (1070 AM) every night to hear it. These were highly-respected first-run dramas that were produced by CBS Radio in the 1970s and ‘80s.

They are not available on any station anywhere, to my knowledge at least. But you’re in luck … as I wrote almost a year ago in this very spot, just head over to www.cbsrmt.com, and you’ll find a short history of the show, actor biographies and a list of the RMT episodes in which they appeared, information on the show’s writers, a complete episode guide and much more.

Oh, yes … and every episode of the CBS Radio Mystery Theater ever produced. Pleasant dreams, hmmmmmm?

Radio Waves Podcast #271

Remembering Dave Hull, the KRLA radio legend so popular he had his own flavor of ice cream

Born in Alhambra, Dave Hull got his start in Roswell, New Mexico before returning to LA, where he had a secret source for Fab Four singles.

If you grew up in Los Angeles during the 1960s or even the 1970s, you are most likely familiar with Dave Hull — The Hullabalooer — heard on various stations throughout the city but best remembered on the original KRLA (now KRDC, 1110 AM) not once but four times!

Hull was a thorn in the side of KHJ programmer Ron Jacobs; he was the one KRLA DJ that Jacobs couldn’t beat … his wacky, friendly, fun style of radio was just too popular and he remained one of KRLA’s most highly rated and beloved DJs throughout his original tenure of 1963-1969. Sadly, Hull passed away on October 15th at the age of 86.

The news spread fast on Facebook once it was announced. His daughter, Lisa, made the announcement official on her page when she wrote:

“On behalf of my mom and my brothers, it is with great sadness that I announce that our father, Dave Hull, passed away on October 15, 2020 at the age of 86.

“Our dad was larger than life and he had the stories to tell to anyone who would listen. We know that he is entertaining everyone in heaven. He was lucky to be cared for and loved by my mom for 56 years of marriage and she protected him until his last day.”

Born in Alhambra, Hull began his career on Armed Forces Radio, a job he picked up by walking past the service’s radio studio in North Africa and asking how one gets on the air. “You’re on tonight at 7” was the reply … and a career was born.

The script he was given to read was in German. Hull spoke no German, so he decided to fake it … making words up as he went along. His accidental comedy routine ended up being popular among listeners including high-ranking generals in the audience. After his first show, he was hired permanently.

In 1955, he started his civilian radio career at KGFL/Roswell, New Mexico. In 1957 he went to WONE/Dayton, Ohio, followed by WQTE/Monroe-Detroit and WTVN/Columbus and WFLA/Tampa-St. Petersburg. Finally, in 1963, he arrived at KRLA to become one of the 11-10 Men.

A great storyteller, Hull was perfect for KRLA, which was battling KFWB (980 AM) in the Los Angeles ratings. His quick wit and high intelligence made for a must-listen show, and along with other talented DJs and a close tie with a little-known band called The Beatles he helped propel KRLA to the top. For a short while at least.

KHJ’s Boss Radio format came on in 1965 and quickly knocked both KRLA and KFWB down a few notches, but Hull’s show was the one that maintained its popularity throughout his tenure at the station. Hull even had a secret source for Beatles records inside Capitol Records, allowing KRLA to play Beatles singles before anyone else. Until KHJ sued, at least.

So popular was Hull that he had his own song written and performed by fans, along with a flavor of ice cream at Baskin-Robbins. The flavor was called Scuzzy, based upon a word used by Hull often on the air, as well as the name Hull gave to the band that performed his song “Dave Hull, The Hullabalooer.”

The song was popular enough to reach the top-10 at the local Wallach’s Music City. Scuzzy ice cream — a mixture of flavors — is said to have sold extremely well. The Scuzzies band — South Bay kids Susie Cappetta and her brothers and cousins — performed in Southern California and Las Vegas into the 1990s after being picked up by the Everly Brothers road manager for a record contract.

Hull says in his book, however, that the ice cream tasted awful.

Throughout his career, Hull could be heard locally on KFI (640 AM), KGBS (now KTNQ, 1020 AM), KIQQ (now KKLQ, 100.3 FM); KMPC (now KSPN, 710 AM); KHJ (930 AM); KRTH (101.1 FM); and KIKF (now KEBN, 94.3 FM). His last on-air job was about 15 years at KWXY in Palm Springs, where he retired

His book, “Hullabaloo! The Life and (Mis) adventures of LA Radio Legend Dave Hull” tells the story of his radio life in a fun — though detailed (read: long) — book released in 2013. Mike Stark and I did a career-spanning interview that runs a quick two-hours, which you can hear at https://tinyurl.com/rw0825.

David Schwartz worked with Hull at KRLA’s later tenures. He had this to say:

“The passing of Dave reminds me of the radio personalities who not only entertained us but of a time when they left a positive feeling … not like the negativity that so many broadcasters leave us with today. For those of us who listened to Dave growing up (and in my case later working with him), it was a very special time. I was very lucky to know him.”

Hull is survived by his wife of 56 years, Jeanette, five children: Mark, Mike, Clark, Lisa and Brian, and many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, cousins, nieces and nephews. Private family services with military honors are pending. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Dave Hull’s name.

Radio Waves Podcast #270

 Radio: October 18

I have to admit, it was easier reporting on radio ratings back in the old days, when the full Arbitron “books” were released every three months. There were “Arbitrends” that came out for stations monthly, but that information was — supposedly at least — released only to subscribing stations.

Once the company changed methodology to PPM — Portable People Meter — in which stations were “heard” by a device that automatically registered listening rather than relying on someone’s recall and dedication to writing what they heard down in a book — Arbitron, now Nielsen, was able to speed the process and release full “books” every four weeks. Stations have access to information at least weekly. 

But theoretically the ratings are more accurate. I will do a story in the future on why they probably are not, for for now we’ll run with the story. The problem is, if I reported ratings every release, there would be little time or space for the real stories … like bashing corporate radio or  ad nauseam  … perhaps I can find a middle ground where the top-20 is listed monthly but the full report still comes out quarterly.

Anyway, at the beginning of the Covid-19 shutdown, listening habits were thrown into a tizzy.  As time has progressed, we’ve gotten a little back to normal and the ratings have followed suit. Some changes appear to be holding, but that may be that listeners had a chance to discover new favorites. 

So in the semi-normal ratings that were released by Nielsen for September, we had some of the usual suspects on top or toward the top, though the order has changed somewhat: KRTH (101.1 FM) was number one by a wide margin — almost a full point —  over second-place The Wave KTWV (94.7 FM), 6.5 to 5.6. If I am reading the chart right, this is KRTH’s fifth straight month at the top … I guess those ‘80s hits have been a hit.

The Wave had been hovering in the top-10 for a long time, but it appears to be a beneficiary of new listening habits, and the current rating of 5.6, 0.2 higher than in August, is it’s highest rating ever … even higher than when the station was rocker KMET.

Rounding out the top-five were My FM KBIG (104.3 FM) at 4.8, former leader KOST (103.5 FM) at 4.6, and KFI (640 AM) at 4.0.

KLOS (95.5 FM) has also benefited over the past seven months, and was right behind KFI in 6th place with a 3.6 share, barely beating out Jack-FM (KCBS-FM, 93.1)’s 3.5. Since the shutdown started, though, KLOS has beaten Jack four of five months, and tied another. Prior to Covid, Jack always beat KLOS. I will look into this for a future column.

A few stations surprised me. KKLQ (100.3 FM) — the former Sound — has apparently inspired new listeners, earning a solid 2.4 share of the audience … almost to the level the station had as The Sound. And while KROQ (106.7 FM) may be “world famous,” it is Alt 98.7 (KYSR, 98.7 FM) that dominates the alternative rock format, coming in with a 2.3 compared with KROQ’s 1.6.

Amp Radio (KAMP, 97.1 FM), which once was within striking distance of top-40 leader KIIS-FM, is no longer even close. KIIS was 8th at 3.3; Amp was tied with talker KRLA (870 AM) at 26th with a 1.5. What happened there? And can it last? My hunch: Amp is the next format in town to change to something else.

KABC (790 AM) is staying above board with a 1.3 share; Go Country continues to prove that Emmis was wrong when that company said the format would never work in Los Angeles by earning a 2.3; KROQ’s HD-2 stream of “Roq of the ‘80s” showed up at 0.1; and AM oldies station maintained a 0.3. Not bad for a station that doesn’t cover the entire city well, and has no promotion. A big thanks to owner Saul Levine for providing the station even though he could have sold it years ago and made a lot more money.

The full story: Each rating is an estimate of listeners aged 6 and over tuned to a station between the hours of 6 a.m. and 12 midnight. Ratings are provided by Nielsen.

1. KRTH (6.5) 2. KTWV The Wave (5.6) 3. KBIG My FM (4.8) 4. KOST (4.6) 5. KFI (4.0) 6. KLOS (3.6) 7. KCBS-FM Jack (3.5) 8. KIIS-FM, KLAX (3.3) 10. KLVE (3.2)

11. KNX (3.0) 12. KSCA (2.7) 13. KRCD (2.5) 14. KKLQ (2.4) 15. KKGO, KLYY, KRRL Real, KYSY Alt 98.7 (2.3) 19. KPCC (2.1) 20. KUSC, KXOL (2.0)

22. KPWR Power 106 (1.9) 23. KBUE, KCRW (1.7) 25. KROQ (1.6) 26. KAMP, KRLA (1.5) 28. KABC, KDAY, KJLH (1.3)

31. KLAC (1.2), 32. KLLI, KWIZ (1.1) 34. KFSH, KKJZ (0.9) 36. KFWB (0.8) 37. KDLD, KEIB, KKLA (0.7) 40. KSPN, KTNQ (0.5)

42. KCSN, KYLA (0.4) 44. KHJ, KSUR (0.3) 46. KIRN, KPFK (0.2) 48. KROQ HD2, KWKW (0.1)

Radio Waves Podcast #269

Radio: October 11, 2020

Longtime KGB/San Diego personality Jim McInnes is back on the air on KPRI/Pala (93.1 FM), a low-powered community radio service of the Pala Band of Mission Indians in Northern San Diego County. You can hear the station via smartphone radio apps or through the station website, RezRadio.FM; McInnes can be found Saturdays from 8-10 p.m. Over the air you'll need to be closer to the station.

It’s kind of an odd almost full-circle trip for McInnes, as his first radio job in (at the time) the “City in Motion” was at the original KPRI (106.5 FM), San Diego’s version of KMET (now KTWV, 94.7 FM). KPRI was the original “freeform” station in the area, beginning in 1968.

But here’s where it gets interesting. Perhaps due to the fuzzy memories brought on by various substances used on those same stations, I cannot get an accurate account of the exact timing.

Some sources place McInnes at the beginning of the original KPRI, with him credited as helping to get the format launched in the as-mentioned year of 1968. McInnes himself said in an interview that his first San Diego gig was indeed KPRI … but in 1973. The problem with that date, is that it conflicts with another story that had him start at the station in 1972 … which may still be wrong because of still another story placing him as the second DJ hired by consultant Ron Jacobs for KGB when the former AM top-40 station became “recycled” into an album rock station in April of 1972.

And no one seems to remember that it was indeed the AM (now KLSD, 1360 AM) that went album-rock first, later adding the FM simulcast at 101.5 FM that ran until sometime in 1975 when it split and the AM became a pseudo top-40 station again and KGB-FM played on.

Whew.

Anyway, what is known is that McInnes spent a million years at KGB-FM, give or take a few. He was partly responsible for producing at least a few (most?) of the Homegrown albums in the early days of the format, in which the station released vinyl records of music from local bands. McInnes himself was in a local band, The Shenanigans.

At the new Rez Radio KPRI, he’ll be hosting a show sandwiched between recordings of legendary DJ Wolfman Jack and Dead Air (Grateful Dead music). It’s called the Vinyl Resting Place, and features deep album tracks and local artists that are probably not heard anywhere else on the air or off. The show will build on McInnes’ own personal album collection.

Rez Radio 91.3, KPRI (Kupa Pala Rez Indians) is owned and operated by The Pala Band of Mission Indians and broadcasts in the San Luis Rey River Valley at 91.3 FM.  Live streaming can be done worldwide on iHeartRadio, TuneIn.com, Radio Garden and at at website, where you’ll also find the station program schedule. Ask your smart speaker to “play KPRI”.  And if you want to hear something in a totally different way, you can call toll-free and hear the station on the listen line: 712-775-5748.

Going, going, gone …

It may seem like deja vu, but something tells me this time it’s for real and permanent: Don Barrett announced October 5 that he has shut down his LARadio.Com site. For good.

Unlike past times, this time the site itself is actually gone; even archives have been pulled. 

Barrett launched the site originally as a way to help market his book, LA Radio People, released in 1994 with a revised second edition following a year later. The site ended up being a must-stop for radio fans like me, and it has been a sort of water-cooler hangout to hear the latest news and rumors. 

“My goal from day one with my books and later website was to pay tribute to the men and women who have entertained us in LARadio for the past half century, Barrett wrote in his goodbye statement on the site. “The underlying theme was to paint an accurate, positive picture of on-air radio people who sit in empty rooms broadcasting to thousands of people, weaving tales that kept the listener engaged and enthralled – the ultimate storytellers.

“I wanted to pay tribute to those who had gone before us and blazed the trail. Many of our profiles filled in so many missing pieces about the stories of our favorites we only thought we knew from behind the microphone. If you read a story and said, “I didn’t know that,” or “that’s fascinating,” then I accomplished my task. And when Los Angeles Radio People died, I never wanted that LARP, no matter how big or small, to leave in obscurity. It was important to make sure he or she didn’t leave as an unknown, but rather as a part of this rare fraternity of Los Angeles Radio People. 

“I never wanted radio to be thought of only as ‘the way it used to be.’ I never wanted to live in the past. Oh, yes, I wanted everyone to be aware of the past, but never to live there. My intention was always to lift the medium up and be proud. When management or personalities stumbled, I was quick to point that out – not in a pejorative way but rather, how can we do radio better.”

His positive focus is what set him apart from most, and he’s gotten me to change my style over the years as well. Thanks for a few great runs, Don, Enjoy your retirement.

Radio Waves Podcast #268

Radio: October 4, 2020

    Internet-based KNXFM93.Com — available online at the site and on your smart speaker as well as through apps such as TuneIn, MyTunerRadio, and StreamS — has announced big event: another Classic Mellow Sound Music Special. This time it’s the words and music of John Denver, just as it was presented on KNX-FM (now KCBS-FM, 93.1) in 1973.

    The two hour special will run on Saturday, October 10th at 5 p.m.

    Hosted by Tom McKay, the program eludes positiveness. Denver was a tremendously positive about his career and his life, and he presented that in his music. The interview gave him a chance to “talk about things I don’t always get to talk about,” and speak of the joy that he has in his life. 1973 was just as his career was getting its high point; in 1974 he would become one of the best-selling artists in the country.

    His music spanned an era in which positiveness was needed by the country, coming off of  the Vietnam War and heading into Watergate. An avid pilot with a love of flying, Denver’s life was cut short on October 12, 1997, when at the age of 53, he crashed his experimental light plane into the Monterey Bay near Pacific Grove, California. Investigation into the accident indicated that Denver was unable (or did not notice the need) to switch to an auxiliary fuel tank as he was running low on fuel. The accident led to new standards on plane design and pilot training.

    In addition to his music, Denver starred in several movies and television specials; perhaps the best-known movie is 1977’s Oh, God!, in which he played supermarket manager Jerry Landers, chosen by God (George Burns) to spread His message to a skeptical public.

    Denver was also active politically, especially in later years, focusing on environmental issues, hunger, and humanitarian work.

    Stern to Spotify?

    InsideMusicMedia.Com’s Jerry Del Colliano says he is calling this one early: Howard Stern is moving to Spotify.
    Well, he’s not saying it’s definite. But apparently negotiations are taking place as his contract renewal talks at SiriusXM continue. Will it happen? In my opinion, the word is doubtful. But Del Colliano is not often wrong, so it makes for an intriguing story. Stay tuned on this one.

    More Letters

    “Delayed response to your Sept 13 column – sometime around the mid-late 60’s in L.A. was KBLA, I think 1580 or thereabouts; its playlist/format was a half-step closer to FM - it was to KRLA what KRLA was to KHJ. Didn’t seem to last more than a few years.” — Gary Peck

    You are soooo close: Super 15 KBLA was a hipper alternative to KHJ, but was found at 1500 AM. There isn’t much history of the station, but it definitely has its place in local radio history.

    Ken Levine once described KBLA’s signal as being “worse than a baby monitor.” Coming out of Burbank and high up on the AM dial, the station had trouble reaching all of Los Angeles due to limited power and a directional antenna system designed to protect the signals of stations in other parts of the country at night.

    But did it try. With a roster that included Harry Newman, Roger Christian, Harvey Miller, Dave Diamond, Vic Gee (Jim Carson), and William F. Williams, from 1965-1967 it played more “hip” songs that traditional AM stations of the time, including a few album cuts. Dave Diamond, previously of KHJ (930 AM) did an evening show second to none, The Diamond Mine. My friend (and true radio guy) Jeff Leonard once gave me a tour of the area in Burbank where the station was once found — now just outside of a mall — showing where he would go to try to meet the DJs.

    PastDaily.Com has a great set of recording of Diamond’s last show on KBLA, June 16, 1967, just as the station was going to change to country at midnight. Hear it at tinyurl.com/RWoct1

    “A while back, you put out a listing of local AM & FM radio stations in your column when you were using email as rwagoner@icloud.com

 
I would like to get an updated listing if you can provide me with one or tell where I can get such a listing.” — Mary Smith

    That’s been on my “to-do” list for, um, ever. Almost, anyway. I’m going to push it to the front of the list and hopefully have something soon!

Radio Waves Podcast #267

 Radio: September 27, 2020

    Last week I told of the changes coming to Entercom, owner of 234 radio stations nationwide and locally of KNX (1070 AM), KROQ (106.7 FM), KRTH (101.1 FM), KTWV (94.7 FM), Amp Radio (97.1 FM), and Jack (93.1 FM). Beginning with their country and alternative formats, the company plans to move all stations and formats to national and regional programming, with few stations having more than one local show, if that. A bit ironic considering that Entercom’s webpage brags of local being at the core of everything they do. But I digress.

    It appears the same types of changes at Entercom will be coming to iHeart, owner of over 850 stations nationwide and eight in locally: KFI (640 AM), KEIB (1150 AM), KIIS-FM (102.7), KOST (103.5 FM), KBIG (106.7 FM), Real (92.3 FM),  Alt (98.7 FM) and KLAC (570 AM).

    Note that in both cases the companies actually own more than that listed: iHeart owns seven stations in the Inland Empire, while Entercom owns one (KFRG, 95.1 FM) … which means I misspoke last week when I stated that the country format consolidation would not affect any local stations.

    In the case of iHeart, as reported by Jerry Del Colliano of InsideMusicMedia.Com, the focus will be similar, though not identical. Many heart stations are already doing this, but the focus will be solely mornings and afternoons. The time period from 9 or 10 a.m. until 2 or 3 p.m. will be an afterthought, as will any shift after 7 p.m. That’s when listening is at its lowest point, and the suits that run radio think it has nothing to do with lack of content. So out it goes.

    iHeart apparently also plans to emulate Entercom as far as nationalizing or regionalizing programming, so expect a lot more syndication of shows based out of town and music programming out of town or even out of state. Essentially, local radio is dead among the large companies.

    Which brings up some interesting thoughts regarding radio…

    • The large companies are dead. There is no way they can compete other than through being cheap, and being cheap can only get you so far. Local content has always been the key for radio, and no one will care about national programming when it’s loaded with the requisite 15-20 minutes of commercials per hour typical on Entercom and iHeart stations. I expect both to be gone, or at least totally irrelevant within four years.

    • This opens up opportunities for smaller companies to swoop in and steal listeners. A station that super-serves its local community is vastly preferable to local advertisers, who want an active listening audience. The death of Entercom and iHeart can be a tremendous opportunity for everyone else — ironically, including money-losing Cumulus — to jump in and take up the slack. I want Bonneville back in Los Angeles … it many happen as station prices continue to drop.

    • Internet radio suddenly got more competitive. Part of Entercom’s and iHeart’s plan is to make use of virtual radio stations, in which the few DJs actually working do their work from their homes. Well, I can do that too. And I can start allowing local businesses to advertise on my net station. And I can “geo fence” the station to keep my “signal” local if I need to keep streaming and licensing costs down. And I don’t have to pay for an over-priced CEO to drag me down. Don’t believe me? Tune into KNXFM93.com … a recreation of the original Mellow Sound station and a better light-rock format than you’ll find on the air anyway. And you can even  hear it via your smart speaker.

    In other words, radio is not dead. Large corporate radio is, though. It’s all in how we all handle it. I think — after a tough time — the industry will rebound with fresh ideas and truly good programming. And if it does not, the net-casters will  take up the slack.

    Ask Dave, the Recovering Former PD

    Have a question about radio that you’d like answered by a true insider? I have just the solution. Former programmer of The Sound (now KKLQ, 100.3 FM) Dave Beasing — who not only programmed, but also consulted stations across the country — has agreed to do a segment called “Ask the Recovering Former Program Director on the LA Radio Waves podcast I do with almost-retired radio guy Mike Stark. You can hear it at facebook.com/LARadioWaves.

    Want to know why stations all play commercials at the same time? Why it’s always around the quarter hour past and before each hour? The future of radio and how podcasts can take up the slack? Something else? Send a note to me with the subject line “Ask Dave” to rwagoner@socalradiowaves.com or mike@laradiowaves.com.

    Dropouts

    The signal dropouts that continue to plague reception of SiriusXM in various areas due to interference from cell towers appears to have a possible solution. The problem is, SiriusXM thus far won’t let you install it yourself. This in spite of the fact that I can self-install every other component of any SiriusXM tuner, receiver, or radio. This is unfortunate, as a bandpass filer would be worth trying, but not at the $80 cost artificially inflated due to a professional installation requirement. Come on SiriusXM … time to step up.

Radio Waves Podcast #266

 Radio: September 20, 2020

    It’s a tough job programming to a mass audience. Case in point: K-Surf (1260 AM, 105.1 HD2), also known as LA Oldies. The station started playing the early days of Rock and Roll, focussing primarily on the years of 1955-1970.  And listeners were happy.

    Then the station added more songs from the 1970s. In general, most listeners remained happy, though a few grumbled about all the new songs being added. But new listeners found the station and overall it worked well.

    Later songs from the 1980s started showing up. And the rebellion began. Listeners tended to stay,  but the grumbling got louder, and in general for good reason … KRTH (101.1 FM), KOLA (99.9 FM), and Jack (93.1 FM) were already playing ‘80s hits. Did K-Surf really need to do so as well?

    Tough call. On one hand, it makes sense. Add in the best ‘80s tunes while keeping the expanded playlist back to the ‘50s, and you generally keep people tuned in. It would work for someone like me, who tires of one era. But in my experience, most people who love songs from the ‘50s and ‘60s at best tolerate the music from the 1970s, and detest the ‘80s.
 
    Station owner Saul Levine recognized that it was a problem, and announced last week that K-Surf would be going back a bit more to its roots and is removing ‘80s hits from the playlist. A look at the playlist — you can see everything played on the station for the past three days or so at laoldies.com — proves this to be true.

    It’s not all the way back … in fact, I see very few songs form the 1950s at all. But lots from the 1960s and ‘70s, and a good variety at that. From Sam Cooke to War; Vogues to Reo Speedwagon. In general, K-Surf is a station you can just leave on all day and occasionally hear an unexpected treat. With few to no commercials.

    Downward Ho!

    Only Entercom CEO David Field could think we’d fall for his scheme. He is trying to hype a supposed improved listener experience for local markets by taking away local markets.

    In other words, Field is giving up on radio, and he is trying to milk what he can out iff his stations before he kills off the company completely. And he has the gall to call it an “improved listener experience.” Perhaps he is right, after listeners leave his stations for alternatives.

    Here’s the plan: National formats, national and regional talent. Centralized programming. Absolutely nothing local. Think SiriusXM with 15 minuets of commercials per hour instead of being commercial-free. Makes sense, right? Only to David Field.

    Two formats per month are expected to be converted to national delivery, according to InsideMusicMedia.Com's Jerry Del Colliano who has been reporting on this for weeks. Del Colliano said last week that country and alternative will be the first to go, and this was confirmed Monday by an internal email sent out to Entercom employees and released by AllAccess.Com.

    In the email, it was announced that, among other things, Mike Kaplan, programmer of KROQ (106.7 FM) here in Los Angeles, has been named as the national Alternative format program director, and will be called the “format captain.”

    It won’t be totally national, at least for now. But talent will be either regional or national, and it is expected that no more than one local personality will remain at any one station. For now, anyway. My hunch is this will devolve into 100 percent national delivery very soon.

    Kevin Kenney from New York’s Alt 92.3 will do a national show to be heard on all 15 Entercom Alternative stations at night; KROQ’s own Stryker and Klein will be heard in San Francisco, Dallas, and Kansas City; Cane and Corey from New York will also be heard in Baltimore, Buffalo, Miami and Orlando … the list goes on and on.

    There are no Entercom country stations in Los Angeles, but the plan is identical, including the idea that national and regional talent will be used in all shifts except perhaps one per station.

    Expect two formats per month to switch to this scheme, including all-news as well as talk stations. The plan is to have national satellite delivery of programming complete for all stations by the end of the year.

    In other words, stick a fork in it: Entercom is dead.

    Now where are all those corporate radio apologists who said the mega-model has helped radio? Oh, they must be all those guys in the unemployment line. You should have listened instead of supporting, my friends. You supported the devil. He wants his payment now.

    Hopefully my prediction will hold that ultimately Entercom et al will totally fail and good, local radio can grow out of the ashes of corporate greed and incompetence.

    Passings

    Former radio therapist Marilyn Kagan, head locally on KFI (640 AM) and the late, great KMPC (now KSPN, 710 AM) before leaving for television, has died. The news was broken on Don Barrett’s LARadio.Com by former KFI host Casey Bartholomew.

    “You don’t meet many truly kind, wonderful people in this business, but Marilyn was one of them,” Bartholomew said. Apparently she had been diagnosed with some form of cancer just a few weeks ago. Her exact age is unknown, but she is thought to have been about 68 years old.

    Robin Banks, who was heard locally on KNX-FM, KODJ and Arrow 93 (all now Jack-FM) and was also battling cancer, passed away earlier this month. He was at the then-CBS-owned station under various formats from 1989-1997, and was in his early 70s. This news was also broken on LARadio.Com, which was careful to clarify that this is a different Robin Banks than the female Banks who can currently be heard doing traffic reports on various stations.

Radio Waves Podcast #265

Radio: September 13
    I received a lot of interesting responses arrived recently related to the last few columns; it is obvious that radio means as much to you as it does to me. Here is a sample.

    “I saw your article in The Sun recently. I didn't grow up around here but spent most of my time in the Mid West and the South, traveling between Kansas City MO and Nashville TN.

    “There was a station in Little Rock Arkansas, KAAY.  They were a typical top 40 station, but around 10:00 or 11:00 at night the Clyde Clifford show would come on. Clyde would play something a harder than top 40. He rarely talked during the show, but just played music.  The show would go on for 3-4 hours, followed by an hour long radio serial called Chandu the Magician.  The station could be picked up in Kansas City and in Nashville at night. I would stay awake until 1:00 to 2:00 in the morning just to listen.”

    “Thanks for letting me share.” — Jay Still

    Thank YOU for sharing. I love the memories.

    “Love your column! To add to the subject of early AM radio and DXing, I began as a listener in the late ‘40s when we would listen to the radio in my Dad’s 1940’s Chrysler.  We had only one station in Yuma at that time.

    “Later, as a teen, we would wait until after sundown to tune into KOMA/Oklahoma City (1400 AM) or the “Mighty 690” in Tijuana for our daily dosage of rock n roll. Eventually, we got our own station, KBLU and had access to local DJs.

    “By the way, the radio in my dad’s car had a buzz like a hornet coming from it. I later understood that this was an object called a vibrator which changed DC current from the battery to a form of AC. This was needed to power the vacuum tubes within the radio!

     “Currently when I DX, I frequent KSL/Salt Lake City (1160 AM), KKOB/Albuquerque (770 AM), and KKOH/Reno (780 AM). Keep up the good work!” — Nick Yagar, Anaheim

    Those vibrators are interesting. It doesn’t quite generate AC, but it creates pulses in the DC, allowing a transformer to, as you stated, increase the voltage required for the tubes which was then smoothed out again with a rectifier. Back then they were mechanical and not the most reliable part made … today there are electronic versions that can be used in vintage radios. Much quieter, too!

    “I meant to email you last week, but I got busy. One top 40 radio station you may not be familiar with was KFXM (590 AM, now KTIE), which covered what we now call the Inland Empire. It was (is) based in San Bernardino. I graduated from Hemet High School in 1971 and it was the station that many of us listened to. The school cafeteria even played it at lunch time! They even printed up weekly handbills which they distributed to record stores, including ours here in Hemet … one side listed the top 40 singles for the week. The back had a listing of the DJ’s and their shifts. KFXM had a professional DJ staff equal to any Los Angeles station.

    “Thanks for bringing back those memories!” — Mike Christie

    My wife, Jean grew up in Redlands; she has memories of listening to both KFXM and KMEN (now KKDD, 1290 AM). Both stations helped launch many careers in broadcasting. And you can learn more at http://kfxm-kmen-radio.blogspot.com.

    “I really enjoy reading your articles in the Star news....Listened to KRLA and KHJ religiously as a teenager. I remember Dick Biondi coming to our school for a football rally! Dave Hull was a kick; Bob Eubanks, Casey Kasem, and of course Emperor Bob Hudson all made and impression in my life as teenager growing up in the sixties

    “And the crew at KHJ did the same...the Real Don Steele and  Robert W. Morgan to name a few. But I wanted to add one more name to your top 40 stations….KOMA/Oklahoma City. My girlfriend went to OU; I went to the University of Arizona … and I could tune in KOMA at night time and listen to it. I always thought my girlfriend would be listening to it at the same time, and it made me feel closer to her. That girlfriend became my wife in 1973.

    "Keep up the good work.” — Tim Sheedy

    What a great memory! Radio was my companion growing up … and it’s why I write this column today. Thank you for sharing.

    “On Aug 23rd, 2020 I picked up radio signals on a San Diego AM radio station late at night. I could not believe what station I was getting that far away. Though it would fade in and out I was able to hear that it was in San Diego CA.
 
    “As a young teenager in Alaska in the 1960’s we could occasionally get radio stations on the car radio late at night from California. Most likely the stations were more powerful and there was hardly any interference. There were no FM stations here at the time. Would you have an explanation for me how I was able to access a station so far away on my little portable battery radio?  — Jane Sparks. Wasilla, AK

    You may be the most-distant reader I have ever had, Jane! To answer your question, AM signals actually bounce off the atmosphere at night (technically, they do during the day but the energy from the sun absorbs/blocks them during daylight hours). So essentially, the signal hits the sky, bounces back to earth, bounces back up to the sky … (I may have that slightly wrong). It’s called “skip” and it allows and AM station to travel quite far under the right conditions.

    I was told that the EARLY AM stations could be heard across the country even at their low power, due to so little interference and so few stations; the farthest I ever got was WCCO/Minneapolis from my home in Southern California in the 1970s and ‘80s. Used to get WLS out of Chicago,  but another station is on the frequency now.

Radio Waves Podcast #264

KNX 1070 AM, one of the oldest broadcasting stations in the United States dating back to 1922, is about to celebrate 100 years on the air. If those numbers don’t add up, you’re right. But it’s a technicality that I am letting slide. Here’s the full story as it has been told to me:

On September 10, 1920, Fred Christian started broadcasting his amateur radio station, 6ADZ. A former shipboard radio operator, Christian was manager of the Electric Lighting Supply Company in downtown Los Angeles. Broadcasting primarily to customers who had constructed radios they assembled from parts bought at the store, his first transmitter put out five-watts and used the 1500 kHz (AM) frequency.

Now, five watts doesn’t sound like much, and it isn’t. But in the early days of broadcasting, there wasn’t nearly as much man-made interference in the air as there is today, and five watts would actually travel pretty far. Especially with no other stations on the same frequency … or almost any frequency, for that matter. There were truly only a handful of stations in the entire country at the time.

In early December of 1921, the Department of Commerce, which was placed in charge of regulating radio broadcasting, formally adopted rules that placed all stations on just two frequencies — 619 kHz (to be used for market and weather reports) and 833 kHz (for entertainment). Christian’s station was thus issued an official license to broadcast on 833, using the call letters KGC and the hours of 2 – 2:30 and 7:30 – 8 p.m. KGC shared 833 with six other stations, all off which also had specific hours with which two broadcast.

Here’s where it gets interesting. In May of 1922, the Supply Company was issued a second license to broadcast on 833, with the assigned call-letters KNX and a broadcast time of 9 – 10 a.m. For whatever reason — probably related to allowed broadcast time — the Supply Company decided to broadcast exclusively on KNX, and gave up the KGC broadcasts. KGC got deleted from the Department of Commerce station list; the Department then decided that, since they were under common ownership, KNX and KGC were really the same station,. KNX thus “assumed” KGC’s identity and used December 8, 1921 as the date it was first licensed to broadcast. That means the experimental broadcasts — by default — became part of KNX history as well.

And that history is valid, I believe. I don’t know, but I am assuming that the Supply Company originally wanted more broadcast time and a new set of calls was needed under the 1921 regulations to do so. That means KNX was really just an extension of KGC anyway … if anyone can confirm or deny this (radio historian Jim Hilliker, I’m looking at you), please let me know.So as KNX begins the plan to celebrate 100 years on the air, what can we expect? The station is mum, but I expect on-air tributes, and if they were found, early recordings of KNX itself. I doubt there are many of the very early days that still exist (if they ever did) but what an exciting thing if they are around.

KNX’s Bill Nesbitt has been sharing posts on social media over the past months looking for such historical audio; he announced on Facebook that there will be “a lot of historical audio, jingles, and memories” on September 10th, and my bet is that this will continue through the month. As it should: it’s not often that your station turns 100 years old.

Other upcoming centennial birthdays include KHJ 930 AM, and KFI 640 AM, among others.

Speaking of the Past.

Dave Beasing, formerly of The Sound (now KKLQ, 100.3 FM) and now head of Sound That Brands, sent me a link to 1940sradiowlvn.com.

What is it? A recreation of a radio station from the 1940s.

“It all started with the purchase of my first antique radio, a 1935 GE Tombstone,” says the anonymous creator on the website. “This has been a 2-year journey and finally, WLVN Radio was established in 2020, in Livingston, MT with one simple mission in mind: to bring you back in time to the 1940s.

“I have always enjoyed listening to 40s music on my time period radios, but it never had that real feel to it. So over 2 years’ time I collected over 20,000 files of music and radio shows from the ’40s and created this radio station.”

The music is basically a jukebox, at least during the time I have listened. Production quality is superb, though it seems oddly…too good. But there are old time radio shows that “air” at the same time — or close — as they did when they were on the radio during the ‘40s.

Jack Benny — my favorite comedian of all time — is there, along with Charlie McCarthy and Edgar Burgin, Burns and Allen, Fred Allen, Glenn Miller, Fiber McGee and Molly, The Shadow, The Mercury Theater on the Air, Captain Midnight, President Roosevelt, and many more.

Good find, Dave. Thanks!

Radio Waves Podcast #263

 Country stars Luke Bryan and John Langston are coming to a radio near you

Luke Bryan and John Langston will be hosting the 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. midday shift on Go Country (105.1 FM). Bryan and Langston will be heard weekdays starting Monday and running through Sept. 25.

Expect a lot of stories … both are known for storytelling in their music and my hunch is they will be entertaining as DJs spinning their favorite country tunes.

Go Country station manager Michael Levine says, “We couldn’t be more excited … They have such a loyal following in Southern California, and I know listeners will be thrilled to hear them on the station each day!”

More Sports

There’s a brand-new station in town. Well, almost in town. And almost brand new.

Flamethrower station XEPRS (1090 AM) — the onetime home of Wolfman Jack — was sports-formatted The Mighty 1090 when it abruptly went off the air over a year ago in April of 2019.

Bill Hagen of Out the Window Advertising put together a business plan to get the format back on the air. Now known as The Mightier 1090, there are no studios … everything is done from home studios and “the cloud,” but listeners won’t be able to tell due to the magic of modern technology. Besides, due to Covid-19, most stations are doing essentially the same thing.
Related Articles

On the air weekdays as of August 17 is The Morning After with Ariel Epstein and Jared Smith (6 a.m. – 9 a.m.); Rich Eisen (9 a.m. – noon); Coast to Coast with Scott Ferrall (1 p.m. – 3 p.m.); Scott Kaplan and Crew (3p.m. – 7 p.m.); On the Bench with Scott Ferrall (7 p.m. – 9 p.m.); Into the Night with Tony Bruno and Harry Mays (9 p.m. – midnight); SportsRage Late Night with Gabe Morency (midnight – 2 a.m.); Bagels and Bad Beats with Scott Wetzel (2 a.m. – 4 a.m.) and The Early Line with Kevin Walsh and Dane Martinez (4 a.m. – 6 a.m.).

Weekends include Mike Blewett, George Kurtz, Joe Lisi, Kevin Walsh, Dane Martinez, Elissa Walker Campbell, Jake Asman, John Michaels and many more.

I am impressed that they have programming 24-hours per day without repeats, but come on … Scott Ferrall twice a day? That’s just torture.

Top-40 Responses

No, I’m not going to count them down. But I am impressed that you so quickly sent your additions to my list of “the best” top-40 stations of all time … keeping in mind there is absolutely no way to create such a list.

And I am also aware that there are numerous other stations that can be recognized as well, both current and in the past, from different formats. That will happen in later editions of this very column.

A sampling so far:

Russ from Glendale: “Richard, here in no particular order, is my list of favorite Top 40 radio stations: KFWB, KHJ. KRLA, KKDJ, KGBS, KTNQ, KMGG, KROQ (when it was an AM station), KIQQ, KEZY KFMB” By the way, KGBS is in a league of its own for various reasons, I want too highlight the one-time daytime station in the near future.

Rick Shafarman of Santa Clarita: “To me, as a kid growing up in the NYC suburbs, the gold standard was always WABC in NYC. Dan Ingram, Cousin Brucie, Chuck Leonard, these guys were the greatest. I’d walk around with a little transistor radio listening. I distinctly remember as a 9-year-old, one wintry Sunday night, watching the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, going to bed listening to WABC, and waking up the next morning listening to WABeatleC. They really embraced the Beatles. It was from listening to WABC that I yearned to be a DJ.”

Mike Weyhrich: “I wanted to add a favorite to your list. It is a station that is often overlooked in the powerhouses you noted. It is the “Mighty 1290 KOIL” in Omaha, Nebraska. If you look at its history it was the launching point of so many top 40 names like the real Don Steele, Robert W. Morgan, Gary Owens, Fred Winston at WLS and more.

“By the time I made it out to Orange Country in the late 70’s, the great LA top 40 stations were fading. I got attached to KFI because of Lohman and Barkley. It was only a couple more years and mostly all the AM top 40 world was gone.”

Steve Portias: “KFXM, which was an AM mainstay from the late 1950s through the ’70s bringing bands like Dick Dale, Beach Boys, Elvis and others’ concerts were broadcasted live on their station. Then the most important one was KMEN, out of San Bernardino from the 1960’s though 2015 … bringing the Rolling Stones for their very first American performance which was at the Swing Auditorium, San Bernardino, as well as other bands like Sonny & Cher, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Janice Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Dylan, Donavon, Canned Heat, and dozens more. All these concerts were broadcast live.“They also featured Hall of Fame DJ’s like Chuck Clements, Bill Watson, William F Williams who  were all inducted into the Crusin’ Hall of Fame around 2004; These stations had promotional contest and give-aways of new Corvettes and other muscle cars…cash prizes, concert tickets, parties, and more.”More letters … next week. In the meantime, stay tuned to this very newspaper.

Radio Waves Podcast #262

Radio August 23, 2020

    I didn’t see it until earlier this month, but in August of 2017, Radio Ink (radioink.com) ran a story on the “greatest top-40 radio stations of all time.” You can read it yourself at tinyurl.com/rw0823.

    It’s an interesting read, though in my opinion it is an impossible list to create. Even the two “programming experts” — Lee Abrams and Randy Michaels — didn’t agree. I myself have some ideas, but I am in no way qualified to find the “greatest” simply because I have not heard them all.

    Nor can I use my formative years as the basis for the list, as early top-40 stations (before my time) that set the standard were working from a different starting place yet still influenced the industry as much or more than the later stations generally credited with being the most influential. KHJ, for example.

    What makes the list viable, though, is the idea of what would put a station onto the list itself. Abrams details what he looks for: 15 elements including such aspects as on-air production, music, personalities, swagger/vibe, audience respect, the ability to influence record sales, and more. His choice for the top station? KHJ. Michaels top-pick? KIIS (alluding to both the AM and FM versions). The station chosen by readers of the piece? CKLW/Windsor-Detroit.

    Again, my perspective is somewhat limited. I was born in 1963 so early stations were often gone by the time I started listening to the radio. And I am limited to Southern California, as I have lived here all my life, plus recordings I hear via sites like ReelRadio.Com and YouTube. But if I were to come up with a list, I would use basically the same criteria as Abrams, with a focus on the on-air presentation, the stations vibe, and the excitement generated by all elements of programming, from the personalities, to the contests, to the breaking of new music.

    In no particular order, then, are stations that I would place on such a list, and the reasons why.

    • KRLA/Los Angeles. They knocked KFWB out of the top-spot and brought the Beatles to Los Angeles. They also launched the careers of many television stars, as well as Casey Kasem who went on to count down American Top-40.

    • KHJ/Los Angeles. No list can be complete without KHJ, arguably the most imitated station ever. In its prime, it was flawless. Exciting promotions, great DJs, excellent news coverage, special events and concerts for listeners, and engineers who could get the best sound and distance one could get from a little 5000 watt transmitter.

    • KFRC/San Francisco. When KHJ was at its prime, it was flawless. So was KFRC, and KFRC was at its prime more often than was KHJ, which suffered from a revolving door of programmers in the 1970s and a resulting inconsistent sound. KFRC, on the other hand, maintained its sound throughout its history and actually held ion to the format — and top-ratings — about five years longer than did KHJ. On the other hand, KHJ got screwed by owner RKO when the decisions as made to go country … had Chuck Martin continued as programmer in the 1980s, it might be a different story.

    • WCFL/Chicago. Purists will say that competitor WLS was the winner, and indeed it did often beat WCFL in the ratings. But to my ears, WCFL — owned by the Chicago Federation of Labor — was more exciting. But that’s why this is in no particular order.

    • WLS/Chicago. Realistically, you cannot include WCFL without also including WLS. Many of the personalities worked at both stations, and WLS had a flamethrower signal that in the 1980s make it to Southern California — cleanly — at night. The competition between the two stations was intense and made both of them better.

    •KCBQ/San Diego. One of my earliest listens. The same elements as with the local Drake/Boss station KGB, but even more polished and even more creative.
 
    •KFMB-FM/San Diego. Better known as B-100, this is the station that knocked KCBQ out off the top-spot, and was the first top-rated FM top-40 station, not only in San Diego, b ut nationwide.

    • KIIS-FM/Los Angeles. Not the early days … when former KKDJ became the FM simulcast of KIIS (AM), it was OK. But the killer KIIS-FM came during the early 1980s when the experts said top-40 was dead. That “dead” format (using the WLS jingles, by the way) went on to dominate the city just as KHJ had done 17 years prior. And to give credit where credit is due, the format is still running today (though the current version would be an honorable mention due to lack of anything setting it apart from the crowd).

    KEZY/Anaheim. The big-sounding station from the small town in Orange County. It was highly respected for its presentation, and many DJS from KEZY could write their own tickets after working there. One of the most exciting small stations anywhere.

    KTNQ/Los Angeles. Just when KHJ was going through one of its bad eras, Ten-Q came out hard and (other than the payola-based lame songs they added to the playlist) for a short time just dominated the city. Exciting, vibrant … kind of like KCBQ when it dethroned KGB.

    KGB/San Diego. But not for the era everyone thinks. The early days were great, admittedly, but when KGB became really exciting was in the later stages as 13-K … going top-40 just when so many other stations were leaving the format in the mid-late 1970s. Ot was a time when it went from being a has-been to a truly competitive station with great personalities, eclipsing AOR-formatted KGB-FM for a time.
 
    Honorable mentions: KKDJ/Los Angeles, for being a great top-40 FM only to be prevented from making inroads due to AM’s continued dominance at the time (and being squeezed by K-100); KIQQ/Los Angeles post K-100, when it was breaking new music even faster than KROQ; XETRA/Tijuana as The Mighty 690 making AM music relevant just a little longer; KFI/Los Angeles during the John Rook Hitparade era; KRIZ/Phoenix which went off the air while still number one in town when the owners just wanted to sell.

    What are your favorites? Let me know and I’ll get them on to the “list.”

    Short Takes

    Music will return to weekends on the former MusicRadio WABC/New York. “Cousin Brucie” Bruce Morrow has left SiriusXM’s 60s on 6 and will return to the station where he spun records in the 1960s, every Saturday from 6-9 p.m. Eastern, beginning September 5th.
 
    The Hollywood Bowl may be closed down due to the Covid scare, but KCRW (89.9 FM) is presenting recorded performances from the Bowl every Sunday from 6:30 - 8 p.m. through October 11.

    A variety of artists will be featured; go to kcrw.com for full details.

Radio Waves EXTRA: Ken Levine

 A "career spanning" interview with Ken Levine (aka on the radio as Beaver Cleaver)

Ken's blog:  http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/

Ken's podcast: https://hollywoodandlevine.libsyn.com/

Radio Waves Podcast #261

This radio website has the hit song chart information you used to get at record stores

If you grew up in the 1960s and ‘70s, one of the things you would pick up at your local Music City, Sears, Penny’s, Wards, Licorice Pizza, Wherehouse or Music Plus when you went to buy your favorite 45 RPM records was the local radio station music surveys.

In the early days, the lists were more akin to station newsletters. The KRLA Beat, for example, had station, artist and music news presented in a newspaper style. The later surveys such as the KHJ Boss 30 lists included a list of the top hits of the week — “hitbounds” (that were often not) — a little blurb on one of the DJs and perhaps some info on the latest contest.

Essentially they were cheap promotions for a station, and they were a great way to keep up on the latest hits during an era when so much music was available, an “oldie” was anything more than a few months old … today music even a few years old is considered “new.”

Reader Marilyn Kirkpatrick of Covina remembers. “I’ve never seen you mention this in one of your columns, but, for those people who might have listened to local L.A.  stations in the past, there is a web site — oldiesloon.com — that has weekly lists of charted songs for the following stations: KRLA (1959-1966), KFWB (1958-1967), KHJ (1965-1975) and KFI (1979-1980). These are the weekly lists that used to be available in record stores. Although I realize that these are mere lists, they are a really nice reminder of the music that a lot of us grew up with. They have also been invaluable as resources for class reunions, such as the top songs for the week when we graduated from high school.”

Absolutely. And it’s an interesting way to find songs you haven’t heard for years, as many of the top songs of a station were not necessarily popular nationwide, or for whatever reason just are not played today.

In addition to oldies loon, I found another site that has the actual scans of the surveys from KHJ in addition to a ton of station information focussing on the early years Boss Radio, 1965 through 1973. You can see what they have to offer at https://93khj.blogspot.com.

Mess around

Entercom is making a mess of mornings … with a new morning show on Amp Radio (KAMP, 97.1 FM). As you read about in Kelli Skye Fadroski’s piece on the Morning Mess crew, the new show with Joey Boy, Aneesh Ratan, Jeana Shepard, and Karla Hernandez started August 3rd and runs weekday mornings from 5-10 a.m.

In a press release, Entercom Regional President Jeff Federman said that “Joey Boy and The Morning Mess are a true reflection of Southern California. They are diverse, dynamic, socially responsible and completely transparent.”

They are not, however, in Southern California. The Morning Mash is a morning show out of sister station KALV-FM/Phoenix, with a bit of local content added in order so it seems like it’s a local show.

It’s not.

As reported extensively over the past few months by InsideMusicMedia.Com‘s Jerry Del Colliano, Entercom is in the process of reducing its talent payroll by position cuts, salary cuts, and plan to syndicate talent around the country rather than having local programs. “The plan would give the company a chance to syndicate what they consider their top-rated (and paid) talent so they can fire largely morning hosts in other markets,” he wrote on July 22nd, and it appears Del Colliano is right on the money.

In my opinion, a major, full-power station in Los Angeles using a syndicated morning program is an embarrassment; there is absolutely no excuse for the cuts Entercom CEO David Field is making, which seems designed to run the company — and all of its stations —  into the ground.

At least, host Joey Boy was grew up in Los Angeles, while Ratan and Shepard were raised in the Valley. Hernandez is a native of Napa. And honestly, I have nothing against the show itself nor any of the hosts; they are seemingly great people. I’ll do a full review of the show in a few weeks, once I give them a fair shake and let them get used to doing a show for here even if it isn’t done here.

My only complaint has to do with the idea itself: Radio is local and should have local shows. Phoenix is not local, sorry.