Radio May 1, 2020
Rick Dees was the guest on “Magic” Matt Alan’s Outlaw Radio last weekend, telling stories of their past lives working together and apart, the COVID-19 lockdown, jokes and humor (of course), Dees’ famous hit Disco Duck, politics, magic and more.
Best line of the morning … outside of the fun stories and banter, of course … came from Dees himself when he cautioned, and I am paraphrasing: If you have something positive to say, write it down. If you have something bad to say, say it in person. Words to live by.
The two worked together at KIIS-FM (102.7) ; Dees in the morning had been there since the early days of the station’s meteoric rise to dominance that began in 1981; Alan came aboard in 1989 and worked afternoon drive twice, two years starting in 1989 and another stint two years later … the break in tenure described at the time as “philosophical differences” with management . Alan most recently has been doing morning drive on SiriusXM’s ‘70s on 7 in addition to hosting Outlaw Radio from his backyard smoking lounge. Hear the program at www.outlawradiolive.com.
Passings
Sad news of multiple passings recently.
Ian Whitcomb passed away on April 19 of natural causes. He was 78. Whitcomb had a hit record in 1965 called “You Turn Me On,” and was heard playing music on the old KIEV (now KRLA, 870 AM), KROQ (106.7 FM), KCRW (89.9 FM) and KPCC (89.3 FM). You can hear a sample of his KROQ show at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpOgRMjdedc.
Most recently, Jerry Bishop was the announcer for television’s Judge Judy, but I remember him on the radio at such stations as KLAC (570 AM), KFI (640 AM), KKDJ (now KIIS-FM), KIIS-AM/FM (I actually remember listening to the AM side of the simulcast of 1150 AM), and KGIL (now KSUR, 1260 AM). He died April 21st at the age of 84 after several weeks in the hospital due to heart complications and kidney failure.
Longtime producer, host and fundraiser at KCRW, Matt Holzman passed away April 12 after a battle with cancer at the age of 56. He had received a kidney transplant in 2006 which he documented on the air. I am told that Holzman left his mark in so many ways at the station that he will never be forgotten.
Bob Howard is most remembered at KFWB (980 AM) where he worked the all-night shift from 1981-2009. He was heard prior on the late-great KGFJ (now KYPA, 1230 AM) and KDAY (now KBLA, 1580 AM). Little information is known about his death; he was said to be 76 years old and one of the nicest guys ever to work in radio.
MailBag
Apparently you think that Old Time Radio and the CBS Radio Mystery Theater is a good idea to air during these COVID-19 lockdown days, if only to temporarily take your mind off of what is going on around you.
“I enjoy your column each week and have a suggested supplement to today’s idea of the week from reader Jimmy Noonan: I am obviously older than both of you and grew up listening in bed to The Shadow Knows and Green Hornet. They were great and should be added to your list. Thanks” — John Whitaker
“I think his suggestion is spot on. I have a client who has Old Radio programs on hold (over the phone) to listen to. I sometimes want to call just to be put on hold! Having the CBS Radio Mystery Theater or the CBS/KNX Drama Hour on radio during these crazy times would bring people back to happier times. I know I would listen… My favorite programs were with Lucille Ball-mysteries.” — Karin Buchak
“I wholeheartedly concur with Jimmy Noonan’s suggestion to bring back the Drama Hour! We were faithful listeners, and my now grown up kids have the “Old Time Radio” app and still listen, as do my wife and I. Bring it back!” — Dan Ryan
“Excellent idea! The Lone Ranger rides again! Hi O Silver, away!” — Randi Miller
“This is an 88 year old bred and born Montebello boy now living in Chino Hills … I just finished reading your article in the Orange County Register ; oh, I pray this is what we have been waiting for and that the populous is ready to go back to the old day’s of radio. I subscribe to SiriusXM for one reason and one reason only and that is for the old radio shows. I collect old table model radios just like the ones I grew up listening to.
“Yes, I am an old radio show nut!” — Charlie Field
“I just read your column (as I do every week in the L.A. Daily News Sundays) that Jimmy Noonan of Anaheim has suggested resurrecting the Drama Hour with an array of classic radio shows. I just wanted to let you know that we already have Hollywood 360 on KRLA every Saturday and Sunday at midnight for 4 hours on Saturday and 2 hours on Sunday. You name the program, they air it. From Bob Hope, to Henry Aldrich that they aired last night. “What’s good about Hollywood 360 is sign up and they will send you the entire show to your computer and you can listen to it any time you choose for a week. It comes to my computer automatically and it is FREE!! Just enter HOLLYWOOD 360 RADIO.COM into the browser and it’s there. I see they also air on WGN in Chicago” — Carmelina Montante
Tuesday, April 28, 2020
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
Radio Waves Podcast #245
Radio: April 24, 2020
Can radio survive the downturn in ad revenues brought on by COVID-19? Of course it can. Radio itself will survive no matter what. It is free, easily received on an instrument in more homes and cars than any other, and when it successfully serves the local community, cannot be duplicated.
The better question is, can radio in its current form survive the downturn in revenues brought on by COVID-19? I’d say no. And InsideMusicRadio’s Jerry Del Colliano agrees.
The problem is that the promised efficiencies of large companies owning many radio stations never offset the massive debt that these companies took on in the name of becoming large. Note the goal was not to become better, just large. They wanted to dominate. To control the market. It was a “sure thing” gamble … that they lost. Instead, they undermined their own successful business model that relied on serving the local audience with top-notch programming.
Indeed, when the “stuff” hit the fan, they responded by cutting talent. Many formerly top-rated DJs and successful programmers are now successfully working for the advertisers they used to promote: selling real estate, selling cars, or retired.
The companies then undercut their own advertising rates in an attempt to attract more advertisers, cheapening their own worth. This required more ads to make up the shortfall, cheapening that worth even more.
Del Colliano says in his April 20 column that “the coronavirus and ensuing economic recession has ripped into the fundamentals of the radio industry,” that radio advertising may be down as much as 65% for the second quarter of this year, and that the drop “is expected to continue through 2020.” Maybe 2021. “There will be some casualties,” he says bluntly.
Which ones? He says that Entercom (which owns KRTH 101.1 FM, KROQ 106.7 FM, The Wave 94.7 and KNX 1070 AM, among others) and Cumulus (KABC 790 AM) are especially vulnerable. He expects iHeart to make it, though in a vastly different form as he predicts that SiriusXM owner Liberty Media is waiting for the right time to pounce and will take it over. If that is done, though, I expect massive changes to the iHeart, including the sale of stations.
Is that bad? Temporarily yes, but as stations are sold off to independent owners and small groups, I predict once more that true local radio will return, and that will bring the medium back to the glory it once had.
Hey, I can dream, right?
Good Day
Longtime listeners to KABC may remember listening to Paul Harvey’s newscasts and commentaries that aired daily. His segments that gave “the rest … of the story” often included fascinating historical stories that ended with a twist … and were required listening for many.
He retired from radio in 2008 and passed away in 2009, but many recordings of Harvey still exist. WGN/Chicago will begin daily airing of “The Rest of the Story” on April 27th for a limited time to gauge interest; if the trial works, the station will continue and explore the possibility of syndicating the segments around the country.
I hope it works - I would love to hear them again. I am not sure which station would carry it, but I could see them back on KABC, KFI (640 AM) or KNX.
Speaking of KNX
Reader Jimmy Noonan of Anaheim has the idea of the week.
“I relish your radio-related ramblings and suspect you may like my proposal.
“Wouldn’t this be the perfect time for a resurrection of the CBS/KNX Drama Hour? It ran for decades at 9:00 p.m. with an amazing array of classic radio shows: Night Beat, Sgt. Preston of the Yukon, the Lone Ranger, the Third Man, Jack Benny, Bob Hope etc.
“Not only is it great entertainment for the entire family to enjoy together, but it also allows you to create your own visuals to accompany the spoken word – theater of the mind! “Please use your immense influence to make it happen. And, no, not on the internet. We need it on AM or FM radio so it can be a community-wide event experienced by all simultaneously.”
I think it is an amazing idea. Perfect for our time — who wouldn’t be better off taking a break from COVID-19 news with a show from the great Jack Benny? To help convince KNX owner Entercom to run these, it would be cheap … and bring new listeners back to radio. In addition to Noonan’s idea, I’d like a return of the CBS Radio Mystery Theater, the amazing radios drama series that caused a young me to love radio drama.
Let’s do it.
Can radio survive the downturn in ad revenues brought on by COVID-19? Of course it can. Radio itself will survive no matter what. It is free, easily received on an instrument in more homes and cars than any other, and when it successfully serves the local community, cannot be duplicated.
The better question is, can radio in its current form survive the downturn in revenues brought on by COVID-19? I’d say no. And InsideMusicRadio’s Jerry Del Colliano agrees.
The problem is that the promised efficiencies of large companies owning many radio stations never offset the massive debt that these companies took on in the name of becoming large. Note the goal was not to become better, just large. They wanted to dominate. To control the market. It was a “sure thing” gamble … that they lost. Instead, they undermined their own successful business model that relied on serving the local audience with top-notch programming.
Indeed, when the “stuff” hit the fan, they responded by cutting talent. Many formerly top-rated DJs and successful programmers are now successfully working for the advertisers they used to promote: selling real estate, selling cars, or retired.
The companies then undercut their own advertising rates in an attempt to attract more advertisers, cheapening their own worth. This required more ads to make up the shortfall, cheapening that worth even more.
Del Colliano says in his April 20 column that “the coronavirus and ensuing economic recession has ripped into the fundamentals of the radio industry,” that radio advertising may be down as much as 65% for the second quarter of this year, and that the drop “is expected to continue through 2020.” Maybe 2021. “There will be some casualties,” he says bluntly.
Which ones? He says that Entercom (which owns KRTH 101.1 FM, KROQ 106.7 FM, The Wave 94.7 and KNX 1070 AM, among others) and Cumulus (KABC 790 AM) are especially vulnerable. He expects iHeart to make it, though in a vastly different form as he predicts that SiriusXM owner Liberty Media is waiting for the right time to pounce and will take it over. If that is done, though, I expect massive changes to the iHeart, including the sale of stations.
Is that bad? Temporarily yes, but as stations are sold off to independent owners and small groups, I predict once more that true local radio will return, and that will bring the medium back to the glory it once had.
Hey, I can dream, right?
Good Day
Longtime listeners to KABC may remember listening to Paul Harvey’s newscasts and commentaries that aired daily. His segments that gave “the rest … of the story” often included fascinating historical stories that ended with a twist … and were required listening for many.
He retired from radio in 2008 and passed away in 2009, but many recordings of Harvey still exist. WGN/Chicago will begin daily airing of “The Rest of the Story” on April 27th for a limited time to gauge interest; if the trial works, the station will continue and explore the possibility of syndicating the segments around the country.
I hope it works - I would love to hear them again. I am not sure which station would carry it, but I could see them back on KABC, KFI (640 AM) or KNX.
Speaking of KNX
Reader Jimmy Noonan of Anaheim has the idea of the week.
“I relish your radio-related ramblings and suspect you may like my proposal.
“Wouldn’t this be the perfect time for a resurrection of the CBS/KNX Drama Hour? It ran for decades at 9:00 p.m. with an amazing array of classic radio shows: Night Beat, Sgt. Preston of the Yukon, the Lone Ranger, the Third Man, Jack Benny, Bob Hope etc.
“Not only is it great entertainment for the entire family to enjoy together, but it also allows you to create your own visuals to accompany the spoken word – theater of the mind! “Please use your immense influence to make it happen. And, no, not on the internet. We need it on AM or FM radio so it can be a community-wide event experienced by all simultaneously.”
I think it is an amazing idea. Perfect for our time — who wouldn’t be better off taking a break from COVID-19 news with a show from the great Jack Benny? To help convince KNX owner Entercom to run these, it would be cheap … and bring new listeners back to radio. In addition to Noonan’s idea, I’d like a return of the CBS Radio Mystery Theater, the amazing radios drama series that caused a young me to love radio drama.
Let’s do it.
Wednesday, April 15, 2020
Radio Waves Podcast #244
Adult album alternative Independent 88.5 FM is making changes to The Nic Harcourt Show, which is heard weekday mornings on the station from 6 to 11 a.m. Effective immediately, 88.5 personality Jet will join Harcourt on the newly-named Nic Harcourt Morning Show with Jet.
Jet — who has previously been heard on the air nights and weekends — will offer a “supporting voice” to Harcourt; Harcourt has been Jet’s mentor during her four years at the station.
“I feel lucky to be able to do what I love every day and continue to grow within the current climate of the entertainment industry. I’m looking forward to where this takes 88.5 FM,” said Jet in a message.
”I think we all consider ourselves fortunate to truly be a part of our community at this time,” Harcourt said in a message.
The move comes at an interesting time in local morning radio, with the recent losses of Frosty Stilwell (who was furloughed) and Lisa May (who retired last year) from the “Frosty Heidi and Frank” show on KLOS (95.5 FM), and KROQ (106.7 FM) lost Gene “Bean” Baxter to retirement and then letting go Kevin Ryder and the rest of the morning crew, replacing by former afternoon drive-time’s Stryker and Klein.
No doubt 88.5 management hopes to pick up on disgruntled listeners from those two, along with anyone else who is tiring of predictable and often pre-recorded radio.
88.5 General Manager Patrick Osburn said in a statement, “Harcourt is regarded as the ‘ultimate tastemaker’ in music, with many artists — including Adele, Coldplay, Death Cab for Cutie, KT Tunstall, Interpol, Lana Del Rey, The Record Company and Florence + The Machine — crediting him with putting them on the map and helping them achieve success.
“Jet,” he concluded, “is active in the local and national music scene, while still handling promotions and social media for the station.”
The focus of the show? Music, information, and fun.
“We’re living in challenging times, and it’s more important than ever to spin great music and deliver information the audience can use and, yes, have some fun! “ Harcourt commented. “Adding Jet to the mix brings a fabulous new perspective for both myself and the audience.”
Held Back
It’s too early to truly evaluate their morning show fairly, but KROQ’s Stryker and Klein have been together for a long time doing afternoons. Afternoons are a different animal than mornings with different pressures. It takes a while to find a groove sometimes.
That being said, I can’t help but feel that something is going wrong with the morning show. The ones I’ve heard sound far too rehearsed, lacking the fun, open banter the team had when they were the station’s afternoon stars.
Of course, part of it could be the distance broadcasting I assume the station is using; it is doubtful that the two are in the same room and are broadcasting from independent home studios due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
But I have to say that to me they also sound coached and lacking the kind of spontaneity I’ve come to enjoy about their show. Is this part of them becoming the new morning show hosts? I hope not.
Stryker and Klein are talented and funny. They already have a tough time due to resentment on how station management handled the firing of the old show, so if someone is trying to hamstring them I worry they are being set up for failure.
Survival
COVID-19 is the big issue of the day across most of the world, but one thing you can do to make things better is play more Al Green. At least that’s what I heard a former local general manager said to make the station more successful.
Perhaps he was right.
Play K-Mozart
With smart speakers, the cool thing is you can say “Play Go Country 105,” and your speaker does. Say “Play Alt 98.7,” and it does. But say “Play K-Mozart” and it doesn’t. Why is that?
Turns out to be a technical issue that is being worked on as we speak. The voice tags work when those tags are registered with one of the radio streaming services recognized by Siri, Hey Google and Alexa, such as Tune In or the awful iHeartRadio. In the creation of K-Mozart, that was not set up. Hopefully, it will be fixed soon.
Thinking Positively
Janeane Bernstein’s show, Get the Funk Out, is a local show designed to inspire and uplift. Bernstein herself says that the show “is filled with positivity through these challenging times.” It is heard over the air on UC Irvine’s KUCI (88.9 FM), you can hear it Mondays from 9 – 10 a.m., or via recorded podcasts after the show airs live. More information at kuci.org.
Richard Wagoner is a San Pedro freelance columnist. Email rwagoner@socalradiowaves.com
Jet — who has previously been heard on the air nights and weekends — will offer a “supporting voice” to Harcourt; Harcourt has been Jet’s mentor during her four years at the station.
“I feel lucky to be able to do what I love every day and continue to grow within the current climate of the entertainment industry. I’m looking forward to where this takes 88.5 FM,” said Jet in a message.
”I think we all consider ourselves fortunate to truly be a part of our community at this time,” Harcourt said in a message.
The move comes at an interesting time in local morning radio, with the recent losses of Frosty Stilwell (who was furloughed) and Lisa May (who retired last year) from the “Frosty Heidi and Frank” show on KLOS (95.5 FM), and KROQ (106.7 FM) lost Gene “Bean” Baxter to retirement and then letting go Kevin Ryder and the rest of the morning crew, replacing by former afternoon drive-time’s Stryker and Klein.
No doubt 88.5 management hopes to pick up on disgruntled listeners from those two, along with anyone else who is tiring of predictable and often pre-recorded radio.
88.5 General Manager Patrick Osburn said in a statement, “Harcourt is regarded as the ‘ultimate tastemaker’ in music, with many artists — including Adele, Coldplay, Death Cab for Cutie, KT Tunstall, Interpol, Lana Del Rey, The Record Company and Florence + The Machine — crediting him with putting them on the map and helping them achieve success.
“Jet,” he concluded, “is active in the local and national music scene, while still handling promotions and social media for the station.”
The focus of the show? Music, information, and fun.
“We’re living in challenging times, and it’s more important than ever to spin great music and deliver information the audience can use and, yes, have some fun! “ Harcourt commented. “Adding Jet to the mix brings a fabulous new perspective for both myself and the audience.”
Held Back
It’s too early to truly evaluate their morning show fairly, but KROQ’s Stryker and Klein have been together for a long time doing afternoons. Afternoons are a different animal than mornings with different pressures. It takes a while to find a groove sometimes.
That being said, I can’t help but feel that something is going wrong with the morning show. The ones I’ve heard sound far too rehearsed, lacking the fun, open banter the team had when they were the station’s afternoon stars.
Of course, part of it could be the distance broadcasting I assume the station is using; it is doubtful that the two are in the same room and are broadcasting from independent home studios due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
But I have to say that to me they also sound coached and lacking the kind of spontaneity I’ve come to enjoy about their show. Is this part of them becoming the new morning show hosts? I hope not.
Stryker and Klein are talented and funny. They already have a tough time due to resentment on how station management handled the firing of the old show, so if someone is trying to hamstring them I worry they are being set up for failure.
Survival
COVID-19 is the big issue of the day across most of the world, but one thing you can do to make things better is play more Al Green. At least that’s what I heard a former local general manager said to make the station more successful.
Perhaps he was right.
Play K-Mozart
With smart speakers, the cool thing is you can say “Play Go Country 105,” and your speaker does. Say “Play Alt 98.7,” and it does. But say “Play K-Mozart” and it doesn’t. Why is that?
Turns out to be a technical issue that is being worked on as we speak. The voice tags work when those tags are registered with one of the radio streaming services recognized by Siri, Hey Google and Alexa, such as Tune In or the awful iHeartRadio. In the creation of K-Mozart, that was not set up. Hopefully, it will be fixed soon.
Thinking Positively
Janeane Bernstein’s show, Get the Funk Out, is a local show designed to inspire and uplift. Bernstein herself says that the show “is filled with positivity through these challenging times.” It is heard over the air on UC Irvine’s KUCI (88.9 FM), you can hear it Mondays from 9 – 10 a.m., or via recorded podcasts after the show airs live. More information at kuci.org.
Richard Wagoner is a San Pedro freelance columnist. Email rwagoner@socalradiowaves.com
Wednesday, April 8, 2020
Radio Waves Podcast #243
Craig Reynolds of Pasadena writes, “Enjoy your weekly articles. Might be interesting to do a paragraph on Leon Kaplan, KABC (790 AM) Sunday mornings 8-10 a.m. He takes calls on all kinds of motorized products, and celebrated his 40th anniversary in January. He was let go with all the other local talent but brought back to work for nothing.”
Good idea. Kaplan has been at KABC as long as I can remember. And he keeps hanging on in spite of changes at the station through the years. Back in 2014, Kaplan was going to leave the station on his own terms because management wanted to shrink the show down to one hour to make room for Los Angeles Kings-related programming, but an agreement was reached for him to stay, and stay for his full shift.
December 2019 brought the announcement that all paid weekend hosts would be shown the door in order for the station to make up for years of neglect by cutting unnecessary costs … and owner Cumulus believes that on-air talent is such. But Kaplan decided he could make a go of it by being his own syndicator. I don’t have the exact details, but my understanding is that he now offers the show to the station for free in exchange for the ability to sell a certain number of advertisements.
Probably a better deal for Kaplan: If he owns the show, he can take it anywhere if needed, and since it still works for KABC, the station earns some points for keeping a long-running show on the air.
I am sure he doesn’t remember me, but the time I met Kaplan, he was a genuinely nice guy. His program is the longest-running continuous show on KABC, and Kaplan’s down-home style makes his show entertaining and fun to listen to.
Nooooooooooo!
Tom Burfield writes, “something you wrote Friday scares me. You encouraged FM DJs to ‘bond with listeners’ and talk about the coronavirus.Please don’t!
“Until recently, I listened to KFI (640 AM) and KABC almost exclusively. Since they switched to wall-to-wall coronavirus coverage, I’ve been spending most of my listening time with the FM music stations. AM news and talk stations, TV stations, newspapers and websites continuously drone on and on about COVID-19. The LAST thing we need is for FM music stations to do the same. FM radio is about the only place we can go for a well-needed respite from coronavirus talk. Please don’t encourage them to change that!”
Sorry about that! But that wasn’t my intention. I was thinking of ways to bond by talking with people (off air as well as on) regarding how they are surviving … fun ways to deal with being stuck at home … how to avoid others on walks … humor … basically ways to avoid exactly what you are talking about.The idea being that we need to be reassured we can all get through this, and while we are basically stuck at home, we can at least try to have some fun.
Birthday wishes
The “Real” Don Steele would have been 84 on April 1; the popular DJ, movie and television star passed away in 1997.
Stories of Steele are legendary, even aside from his tremendous professionalism on and off the air. Apparently while at KTNQ (1020 AM), known at the time as Ten-Q, he would play the studio monitors so loudly that other tenants in the building complained, forcing engineering to move the studio and install sound-proofing.
Steele often recorded himself on the air in order to listen back later and critique himself in order to improve; fortunately many of the tapes still exist and can be heard on various Aircheck sites including airchexx.com and reelradio.com. Even YouTube.
When I met him on a boat to Catalina Island sponsored by his home station at the time, the original KRLA (1110 AM), I found him to be extremely cordial, charming, and far more subdued than I expected. He was very reflective on his career, and made a longtime fan very happy that he was willing to speak with me.
Ken Levine worked with him and considers Steele not only a friend, but his idol. “For thirty years The Real Don Steele ruled the Los Angeles airwaves, most notably on 93/KHJ ‘Boss Radio’ in the ’60s and ’70s. Outrageous, electrifying, thrilling — that was Real on … and OFF the air., Levine writes. “I had the pleasure of working with him at two radio stations, K100 (now KKLQ, 100.3 FM) and TenQ in LA in the ’70s. He also fell off my couch stinking drunk one night and my wife still invited him to dinner again.”
Wife-approval means a lot. You can read Levine’s full tribute on the April 1 edition of his blog at kenlevine.blogspot.com.
Good idea. Kaplan has been at KABC as long as I can remember. And he keeps hanging on in spite of changes at the station through the years. Back in 2014, Kaplan was going to leave the station on his own terms because management wanted to shrink the show down to one hour to make room for Los Angeles Kings-related programming, but an agreement was reached for him to stay, and stay for his full shift.
December 2019 brought the announcement that all paid weekend hosts would be shown the door in order for the station to make up for years of neglect by cutting unnecessary costs … and owner Cumulus believes that on-air talent is such. But Kaplan decided he could make a go of it by being his own syndicator. I don’t have the exact details, but my understanding is that he now offers the show to the station for free in exchange for the ability to sell a certain number of advertisements.
Probably a better deal for Kaplan: If he owns the show, he can take it anywhere if needed, and since it still works for KABC, the station earns some points for keeping a long-running show on the air.
I am sure he doesn’t remember me, but the time I met Kaplan, he was a genuinely nice guy. His program is the longest-running continuous show on KABC, and Kaplan’s down-home style makes his show entertaining and fun to listen to.
Nooooooooooo!
Tom Burfield writes, “something you wrote Friday scares me. You encouraged FM DJs to ‘bond with listeners’ and talk about the coronavirus.Please don’t!
“Until recently, I listened to KFI (640 AM) and KABC almost exclusively. Since they switched to wall-to-wall coronavirus coverage, I’ve been spending most of my listening time with the FM music stations. AM news and talk stations, TV stations, newspapers and websites continuously drone on and on about COVID-19. The LAST thing we need is for FM music stations to do the same. FM radio is about the only place we can go for a well-needed respite from coronavirus talk. Please don’t encourage them to change that!”
Sorry about that! But that wasn’t my intention. I was thinking of ways to bond by talking with people (off air as well as on) regarding how they are surviving … fun ways to deal with being stuck at home … how to avoid others on walks … humor … basically ways to avoid exactly what you are talking about.The idea being that we need to be reassured we can all get through this, and while we are basically stuck at home, we can at least try to have some fun.
Birthday wishes
The “Real” Don Steele would have been 84 on April 1; the popular DJ, movie and television star passed away in 1997.
Stories of Steele are legendary, even aside from his tremendous professionalism on and off the air. Apparently while at KTNQ (1020 AM), known at the time as Ten-Q, he would play the studio monitors so loudly that other tenants in the building complained, forcing engineering to move the studio and install sound-proofing.
Steele often recorded himself on the air in order to listen back later and critique himself in order to improve; fortunately many of the tapes still exist and can be heard on various Aircheck sites including airchexx.com and reelradio.com. Even YouTube.
When I met him on a boat to Catalina Island sponsored by his home station at the time, the original KRLA (1110 AM), I found him to be extremely cordial, charming, and far more subdued than I expected. He was very reflective on his career, and made a longtime fan very happy that he was willing to speak with me.
Ken Levine worked with him and considers Steele not only a friend, but his idol. “For thirty years The Real Don Steele ruled the Los Angeles airwaves, most notably on 93/KHJ ‘Boss Radio’ in the ’60s and ’70s. Outrageous, electrifying, thrilling — that was Real on … and OFF the air., Levine writes. “I had the pleasure of working with him at two radio stations, K100 (now KKLQ, 100.3 FM) and TenQ in LA in the ’70s. He also fell off my couch stinking drunk one night and my wife still invited him to dinner again.”
Wife-approval means a lot. You can read Levine’s full tribute on the April 1 edition of his blog at kenlevine.blogspot.com.
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