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.