This week's episode of the show features an interview with KFI's Mo Kelly.
Radio: April 30
It
was all supposed to happen May 5, 1965.
One
of LA’s oldest radio stations — dating back to 1922 — KHJ (930 AM) had a long
history of great programming. But the decade prior to 1965 was not kind.
It had gotten so bad that most employees inside the building at 5515 Melrose in
Hollywood didn’t think the new team would last any longer than the previous few
programming teams. Especially when it was about to enter the tough top-40
competition dominated until then by KFWB (980 AM) and the original KRLA (now
KRDC, 1110 AM).
Primary
figures included station manager Ken DeVaney, programmer Ron Jacobs, and
consultants Bill Drake and Gene Chenault; Jacobs Drake and Chenault had battled
it out at previous stations in smaller cities, honing their craft. New DJs
included morning man Robert W. Morgan and afternoon legend “The Real” Don
Steele, who I am told once captured a full 40% of the afternoon listening
audience.
But
about a week before the planned launch, new morning man Robert W. Morgan
happened to tune into KFWB and heard things he should not have been hearing …
like the term “Boss Radio,” a slogan invented by and for KHJ, along with other
stolen KHJ ideas. It seems one of the newsmen thought he was going to be fired
from KHJ and went to KFWB with the inside information in order to land a job
there.
There
is much more to the story, which you can find by searching “KHJ Sneak Preview”
on socalradiowaves.com, as well as
numerous other places. The short version: the staff decided to launch a week
early with a “sneak preview” on what is my best guess, April 27, 1965. The rest
is radio history.
For
its brief life as a top-40 station, KHJ was huge. It started big in 1965 —
copied at stations from coast to coast — and ended big — the last true top-40
programmer, Chuck Martin, brought back much of the station’s glory, and
ratings, right before RKO made a horrendous decision to take the station
Country in November, 1980. Between those times, some the world’s best DJs
worked behind the microphone, and some of the best programming ever produced
came from the little 5000-watt transmitter at Fairfax and Venice Boulevards.
Last
week I asked for your memories of the station. In no particular order, here are
a few:
“
If 56 years ago was 1965 I would be a sophomore in high school and listening to
KRLA. KHJ came on STRONG with the line: KHJ PLAYS MORE MUSIC.
And I think they did. At least fewer commercials than we were accustomed
to. And of course…’Tina Delgado is alive, ALIVE’. Loved the Real
Don Steele, he was my favorite. — Mark Edwards, Huntington Beach
“I
have many fond memories of 93/KHJ Boss Radio … They were my go-to radio
station to hear all the latest hits. They had the best music mix — on one
radio station you could hear music from artists like Dean Martin and the
Rolling Stones played back-to-back; the wide variety of popular music they
featured was the greatest. My sister’s favorite personality was the Real
Don Steele, mine was Sam Riddle. I especially enjoyed tuning in every
Wednesday from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. to hear him do the Boss 30 countdown,
years before Casey Kasem started doing American Top 40. My sister was
once the correct caller to win the Tiny Tim album they were giving away on the
Real Don Steele's show!” — Russell Cinque, Jr., Glendale
“TINA
DELGADO IS ALIVE! ALIVE!” — Pete Whelan
“Drafted
in 1967 and spent almost all of 1968 in Vietnam. I can't tell you how surprised
I was to hear the Real Don Steele while stationed there. After spending a
little over a month in the Chu Lai hospital I returned to my company where the
first sergeant must have felt sorry for me and put me in charge of the enlisted
mens club an old tent set up so when beer did arrive I was to find some ice,
put the beer in what ever we had, pack them with ice and wait for the guys to
return from the days assignments. Not a steady gig but kept me out of the field
on occasion. “Anyway
getting back to the subject. Someone brought in a reel to reel player which I
hooked up to the generator for the lights, this player came with a few reels. I
had everything ready and the men started coming in, I turned on the player and
to my surprise I hear 93/KHJ and the Real Don Steele from the station I
listened to back home! It did wonders for our morale and would listen to it
every chance we had … even those who weren't from L.A. enjoyed it. It even had
the commercials, weather and time reports. Nothing like a bit of home to bring
smiles to a soldiers face.” — Henry (Teeberry) Barkman (almost everyone had a
nickname in Nam)
“I
was only 12 when Boss radio started and was listening to KMEN & KFXM in
‘Berdo.’ KHJ didn't come in very well in San Bernardino. I would have to say
Don Steele was my favorite Boss Jock.” — Gary Chenault
“Memories
of KHJ radio for me: CHARLIE TUNA!! DJs don’t get any better than him!
And I was lucky enough to get to meet him at an event, and hang out and be on
the radio with him, a few years before his passing … the contests they had!
… you could call in and request your favorite song; they always played
it, and sometimes even mentioned your name! … When they played the songs they
would sometimes tell something about it or about the group that sang it.” —
Michele Cruz, Cypress
“
I was 9-10 years old when I got my first transistor radio. I would love riding
my skateboard on the sidewalks in Newport Beach holding on to the radio, the
ONLY station I listened to was Boss Radio. It was a continuous loop of the same
hit songs, every hour. The DJ's made the difference, my favorites were Robert W
Morgan, Real Don Steele and Charlie Tuna.” — John Keys, La Mirada
“My
dad work for Phillip Yarbrough, (aka Bill Drake) and Gene Chenault for many
years. We always had DJ's calling the house, with their deep voices, and
Dad loved giving advice. Martoni's was a second home for mom and dad.” — Kelly
Torres Hill
(Martoni’s
was a local restaurant where many of the local deejays and other stars would be
found)
“It's
hard to pick a favorite but KHJ was always at the top. Top 40 formats can
go to blazes, I want Dick Dale, The Stones, The Astronauts, and Tina Delgato!
Of course older people always yearn for those memories of their youth, but
there is always my turntable and large collection of vinyl! — Chris Coon,
Arcadia
“With
my cream-colored Realtone transistor radio, growing up in L.A., I listened to
all the Boss jocks on my radio home – KHJ, almost incessantly! And I have
been listening to airchecks recently. The benefit of hindsight makes me
appreciate these guys even more than ever, for their intense energy - something
you don’t get in today’s radio.
“Ridiculed
by other jocks as merely “time and temperature jocks,” the Boss jocks
successfully “threaded the needle” with short, tight, and witty talk-ups to
songs. To some degree, they had to check their egos at the door - being
willing to get out of the way and let us enjoy the music, compared to those
other jocks who would ‘pontificate’ about some song or artist.
“KHJ: ever in our hearts.” — Gina Tedesco
“93/KHJ
Boss Radio’s ‘Sneak Preview' just happened to debut right on my 15th birthday,
April 27th in 1965. It could not have been a better gift to me and all of Boss
Angeles! I was immediately impressed with how ‘tight’ it was, from the jingles
and the fast pace. It kept sounding better as the years passed.
“Of
course, the Real Don Steele caught everyone’s ear right from the start, he was
one of a kind, but it wasn’t until November of 1967 that I truly found my
favorite Boss Jock. When Charlie Tuna joined the Big 93 from WMEX in Boston, he
brought another slant and creativity to the format that no one else had done.
Humble Harve’s arrival in February of 1967 was spectacular. Although, I was
already familiar with his sound from Burbank’s 1500/KBLA, he blended in
superbly to the Drake format.
“The
contests, created by Jacobs, were on a whole different level than anything I
had ever heard on KRLA and KFWB. Between those, and mind blowing concerts, I
quickly became addicted to it. KHJ, all in all, gave me a feeling that I was
always missing something amazing when I wasn’t listening to the station. Their
through the roof ratings were well deserved.
“Thank
goodness for the airchecks because we can still listen to those fun days any
time we want! KHJ still RULES!” — Jeffrey Leonard, Woodland Hills
“Charlie
Tuna, Real Don Steele and Robert W on KHJ … Charlie getting us through our
earthquake terrors after the Sylmar quake by talking about lost cat ads and
showing up to every local event and opening made me want to go into radio.” —
Julie T. Byers, Arcadia
“KHJ
was one of the two AM stations to listen to on a hand-held 9 volt transistor
radio in junior high school days (the other was KRLA) … the time they were
giving away a car each day. (Wonder how the economics on that worked
out.) Must have had some effect on me, because I majored in Radio-TV in
college. My best memory of KHJ was a visit to the station to meet Charlie Tuna
-- truly one of the nice guys of radio. He showed me around, and I also got to
see Bill Wade wrap up his shift -- dancing around the studio to some record.
Wade was not built for dancing …” — Tim, Corona
Wow
… thank you for the memories!
