Radio: January 8, 2021
Oh, my … I don’t think I’ve ever received so many emails so quickly after a column ran than last week’s call for Radio Hall of Fame nominations! I will try to respond to all of them so that you know I received your suggestions, but if I miss you, be assured that I am compiling the suggestions and reasons in a list that will be presented to the Hollywood Media Professionals/Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters’ nominating committee. That is the group that is working on setting up the West Coast Radio Hall of Fame.
Speaking of that, it is “West Coast,” not just Los Angeles or even Southern California. Nor just the major cities. And it is an idea whose time is long overdue.
Here are a few more of your nominations:
“Since you asked … the mid to late ‘60s DJs at KHJ (along with Dave Hull at KRLA) should be inducted as a group. Humble Harv, the Real Don Steele, Charlie Tuna et al., were part of a remarkable cultural moment in Southern California pop music that may not be duplicated and still resonates over a half- century later.” — Mark Kemp
“Cannot imagine that Dick Whittinghill was not at the head of the list. Just the mention of his name recalls his Story Records, Costume of the Day and of course, the Romance of Helen Trump ( "Down the hill and up your street”). Thinking of him makes me smile; he did some pretty racy things in his time, and was severely reprimanded by ‘Mahogany Hall' per his reports.” — Sue Olholler
“Jim Hawthorne — an early example of the drive time crazy DJ. (What TIME is it?) (I once knew a man with a wooden leg named Sam. Oh, yeah?, what was his other leg’s name?). He was really funny and the one I’ve always used to measure drive time DJ’s. I think those that followed did too.
“Hunter Hancock and the Harlem Matinee. Ol’ HH played black music in the early 50’s and it was the first time us white kids had ever heard anything like that! (What the heck is THAT? Wow, I guess some of this is pretty good!)
“And, of course, the eternal Art Laboe. What can one say about Art Laboe? Going to Scrivner’s was a long way for a burger and a malt but I’m sure glad I got to go a few times.” — Duffy Walton
Others also mentioned Art Laboe, along with such stars as Roger Carroll, sportscasters Chick Hearn and Vin Scully, Paul Compton, “Sweet” Dick Whittington, Bob Hudson, Bob Crane, and some suggestions from stations as far away as Fresno.
“We cannot overlook Lohman and Barkley, of KFI morning drive time fame, says Steve Cate. “You mentioned you can still hear Bruce Wayne in your head. Likewise, I can hear Lohman and Barkley's banter in my head, including impressions of Dominic Longo of Giant Longo Toyota in El Monte. You mentioned Rick Dees … Well, we can't forget his friend, Liz "rug burns" Fulton.”
“In my mind no hall would be complete without Brother John, Brian Beirne, Tom Murphy, and Shadoe Stevens, writes Joe Daniels (from KIIS, KHTZ, KRTH, and KLAC fame) “In fact there should be an award named after Brother John (similar to the Walter Payton award in the NFL. He was a great talent, but maybe the best person I ever was around in radio … or life … period.”
Legendary talk hosts Ken Minyard, Bob Arthur, and Michael Jackson were mentioned by a few, as was B. Mitchel Reed, who was instrumental in launching free-form rock radio on the FM band both in Southern California and in the Bay Area.
As I said before, this is not an easy selection process. There are SO many deserving people both in front of the microphones and behind that it is a daunting task just putting together a list. Perhaps the initial inductees will be a “class” rather than a few, and that we will learn even more about their histories than just names and stations. I am certain that we will.
In that vein, I will be presenting biographies right here, when I can, of the nominees so that they aren’t just names passing in the ether… And keep those suggestions coming!
Radio Disney Returns
The country programming on KRDC (1110 AM) has stopped, and the former pop music of Radio Disney has returned to the station. It’s a limited time appearance, however, only until the station is sold to a new owner. The change happened December 31st.
LA Oldies has returned to the digital airwaves, as long as you have an HD radio (and you may in your car without knowing it). If you do, tune into KKGO (105.1 FM) HD2. Or listen on line, via a smartphone app, or through what I consider the future of radio in the home, a smart speaker.
Speaking of Smart
My brother-in-law Chris just dumped his clock radio in favor of a Google “smart display.” With it, he gets a clock, a more than decent speaker, and the ability to tune in to any online playlist or internet station he wants just by saying “Hey, Google, play …”
Pretty slick, if you asked me. And another way that you can listen at home. Stations, especially AM stations, should embrace this evolution and make sure that they stay relevant to listeners and keep their online streams up, running, and clean … and the programming compelling. Local radio, especially, can have an exceptionally promising future if owners want it.
Radio: January 1, 2021
Happy new year!
We just concluded a tough year for the radio industry, but I want to start the new year on a positive note. As such, let’s take a look at some of the suggestions you made for the West Coast Radio Hall of Fame.
In case you’re late to the party, no worries … this is an ongoing project and your suggestions are always welcome. This all started when I received a letter from a friend asking who I would suggest for the Hall of Fame, and while I have some ideas, I wanted to hear from you. Here’s are some of the early returns:
“I look forward to your column in the OC Register every week. As a teenager growing up in the 60s, radio was a huge part of our lives and your column brings back a lot of good memories.
Two nominees for the WC Radio Hall of Fame come to mind immediately. Number one you mentioned last Friday would be Chuck Niles, who I believe even has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was a walking encyclopedia of jazz history. Number two would have to be the Hullaballooer, Dave Hull. I was sorry to read about his passing as he was one of my favorites.” — Pete Whelan
“I have three nominations for the West Coast Radio Hall of Fame:
1. Jimmy Rabbitt, KMET, 70’s pioneer who mixed Southern Rock, (Allman Bros., Marshall Tucker, etc.) with outlaw country, (Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, etc.) on a hard rock channel, and convinced a lot of us hard rock fans to give country music a listen.
2. Tom Leykis, KFI, early 2000s, his drive-time talk show made AM radio cool again and launched KFI into prominence.
3. Phil Hendrie, KFI, his show followed Tom Leykis, and Hendrie was the funniest guy ever on radio. He too helped launch KFI.” — Steve Keller
“I have 3 nominees.
“First..Jim Ladd. He was a staple on KLOS before he was blindsided and let go. Tom Petty wrote ‘The Last DJ’ for him. Played what we wanted to hear and had great insight.
“Second is Mimi Chen. I got hooked when she played Peace Love and Sunday Mornings on The Sound from 8 to 11 on Sunday mornings. Now she’s on 88.5…great show on Sunday from 1 to 3 with Peace Love and Sundays..never miss it.
“Lastly, Nic Harcourt on 88.5 weekday mornings. His taste is impeccable and I look forward to his eclectic show” — KT Simone..Long Beach
“Thank you for the opportunity to tell you who deserves to be in the West Coast Radio Hall of Fame. Growing up in the ’60s, I’m lucky to have had so many radio legends throughout my life, from Charlie Tuna on KHJ, KKDJ, etc., to Emperor Bob Hudson on KGBS to Machine Gun Kelly (the DJ!), Tom Clay, Dave Hull, Bruce Chandler and Tony St. (Hollywood) James. So many voices have been the soundtrack of our lives and I can’t imagine the history of broadcasting without them.” — Julie T Byers
“Having seen your most recent article, I have a nominee for the West Coast Radio Hall of Fame who is outside SoCal and one many might not think about…Bob Keller. Bob was the long-time mid-day DJ at the original KZAP in Sacramento who has now been at KSEG up there for ages as well. Aside from his always friendly style, he should get in just for inventing the waitress for his noontime Cafe Rock segment, Betty Vericose! Thanks!” — Kevin Sammons
All great suggestions and I will send them as well as any others you suggest to the Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters/Hollywood Media Professionals who are the sponsors and creators of the West Coast Radio Hall of Fame.
Here are a few of my thoughts:
There are so many personalities that I could mention … and for multitudes of reasons. The Real Don Steele has to be there, as does Robert W. Morgan, Rick Dees, Ron O’Brian, Bobby Ocean, Sie Holiday (for being perhaps being the first female DJ in Los Angeles popular radio). Charlie Tuna!
Saul Levine definitely, for all he has done for radio since putting what is now Go Country on the air in the 1950s.The people who launched KNX-FM. Ron Jacobs, Bill Drake, Gene Chenault and Betty Breneman, all of whom were instrumental in launching Boss Radio on KHJ. Casey Kasem, who made American Top-40 weekly staple of listening.
If memory serves right, I believe Danny Martinez was one of the first Hispanic DJs on KHJ. And Beau Weaver should be among the first as well. And what about the women? In addition to Holiday and Breneman, Sam Bellamy has to be there for taking KMET to the top. What about Shana, who was one of the first female top-40 DJs on AM legends KFRC/San Francisco and KHJ right here, before sliding over to that “other” band? Rita Wilde! Can’t forget Rita, who has been a DJ and programmer at stations as varied as KEZY/Anaheim, KMET, KLOS and The Sound.
He’d never accept it, but Dave Beasing from The Sound, who programmed and consulted at stations across the country, would be a great choice. Chuck Martin, former KHJ DJ, music director and programmer who could dominate the competition today, still, if given a station. Some of the DJs and even station owners on the late-great KGFJ and various incarnations of 1580/KDAY, also come to mind … especially JJ Johnson.
Speaking of JJs … JJ Jackson is an immediate name as well.
And this just skims the surface. News reporters. Traffic reporters who were as much a part of the show as the DJ (I can still hear KFI’s Bruce Wayne in my head). I know I have left out quite a few … this topic will have to be continued multiple times. Now that you’ve seen a few names — what are you thinking?
Radio: December 25, 2020
Radio isn’t necessarily the most trendsetting entertainment medium around, though in many ways it should be. Certainly the online streaming services and satellite radio have their place, but compared with good, local radio, they can’t compete. The problem is, at times at least, local radio is unavailable … and the major companies that control the majority of stations in town and across the country are moving away from a local focus in an ill-fated attempt to cut costs and survive.
But that doesn’t mean radio is dead. Far from it. It is still the easiest entertainment source around, definitely the least expensive (free), and when done right, offers extremely compelling content.
And radio doesn’t have to mean radio sent over the airwaves, either. In fact, using smart speakers, online streaming, or smartphone apps, you can listen not only to your local stations, but distant stations and off-air stations available on the net such as the wonderful recreation of KNX-FM available at knxfm93.com.
I’ve spoken about smart speakers in the past - they are an excellent way to get radio into your home and — due to the superb sound quality — may indeed be the true savior of AM radio. Today, though, I want to go into detail on how to get your smart phone connected to your car, and how to tune stations using an app.
Hopefully I can do so without being too technical …
The main thing you need to do first is ascertain that you can indeed connect your phone to your car audio system. Most new cars are easy: they include at a minimum an auxiliary input; many offer a connection that allows Apple Car Play and Android Auto which seamlessly bridges the phone with the car system. Still others offer something in between - control without full integration.
So if your car offers any of those, you’re set. If not, you might consider upgrading the system, or adding an interface that allows such a connection. I’ve done both and prefer the full upgrade, but there are good interfaces available that can convert most systems as far back as the late 1990s. If worse comes to worse, you can always use one of those cassette adapters.
Now - if you thought that sounded complicated, the apps will be even more so. There are many available, some required to hear certain stations (iHeart and Entercom in particular want you to use their apps, so they often restrict availability of stations on competing apps). One I find particularly easy to use is called myTunerRadio, which you can get via the app stores and at mytuner-radio.com
What makes it so good? It’s easy. Very easy. One you get it set up, it acts exactly like the preset stations on a radio, and it tunes into the stations fast. The app can tune into stations from all over the world, you can find stations by searching by country, state, city, or genre, and it has support for Apple Watch, Apple TV, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and Google Home.
For stations that are not listed in the search function of the app, if you pay for the “pro” version — about $10 — you can do a web search. Basically, if the stations has an easily accessible station link on their web page, you can find it via the search and the app will set it as a favorite.
Once set up, it’s like turning your phone into a super-tuner. Large, easy to see and press buttons are on the screen, and a special car mode simplifies use even more. It doesn’t work just for radio stations either, you can also hear your favorite podcast or even find out what the most popular songs currently being played on the radio.
The limitation is, of course, iHeart and Entercom. Many of their stations aren’t in the search, though if you can find the web stream directly you can add them. I handle it by not adding them … if the companies are short-sighted enough to limit access and force me to use their absolutely awful apps — iHeartRadio and Radio.Com — I don’t need them.
This is not the only good app, but it is one I really like. Another I will discuss in the near future is StreamS HiFi Radio, designed by amazing radio engineer Greg Ogonowski. It’s perhaps not as easy to use but has other nice features and is the best sounding app you can find — capable of playing surround-sound audio. Do you have a favorite? Let me know and I will check it out. In the meantime, happy streaming!
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