Radio Waves Podcast #341

 Radio Waves: May 27, 2022

More Favorite “IM” Stations

A while back I asked you what your favorite app stations (IM – Internet modulation?) and podcasts were; I thought today would be a good time to feature a few more.

• Daryl James spent 25 years doing FM rock radio in the Inland Empire, most recently at KCXX (now KHTI, 103.9 FM) in the Inland Empire, where he worked for an impressive 17 years. He nominated his own station, which I’d like to point out is not against the rules, of which there were none.

“When KCXX went to pop, I started streaming music on Dirty Radio; we have two stations available, and stream rock, metal, alternative, and classic rock,” James told me. The two stations are Dirty Radio and Dirty Radio Classics, both of which are quite good. Find them at https://dirtyradio.fm, or visit the Google or Apple App stores and download the apps.

If you want some background on the stations, see https://www.sbsun.com/2016/01/16/x1039-dj-starting-dirty-radio-online-station/.

• “I actually keep a relatively long list of stations that I like to stream covering quite a few formats. I will limit myself to just three that are among the best of the best.

“WWOZ New Orleans – While classified as a non-commercial jazz station, there is no doubt this station has a total NOLA vibe that’s often more like listening to a Mardi Gras parade than a jazz club. https://www.wwoz.org/

“KBear 101 (KCVI Blackfoot, Idaho) – Especially since you have written a lot recently about stations that might flip to active rock, I’ve thought for a long time that this station does the best job with the music mix. It is at https://kbear.fm/

“Music City Roadhouse – A non-commercial online station out of Nashville playing southern rock, blues, and honky tonk, at least during the daytime when I usually get to listen, the main guy running this station knows what he’s doing.  He’s on live like an OTA station, knows how to connect with his audience, and plays a good mix of music that sticks within what he has staked out as his format.  I only wish I had the time and money to make my own online station sound this lively.  It is available on at least seven different apps including TuneIn and Live365. https://musiccityroadhouse.com” — Kevin Sammons, Crestline

• “The best radio app is KEXP out of Seattle!” — Matt Hommman

Found on various apps as well as at https://www.kexp.org, KEXP is celebrating 50 years of service to Seattle, currently playing a variety of music focussing on rock, including electronic, soul, hip-hop, alternative, and more. Studios are located in the city’s Uptown Arts District. Somehow that seems fitting.

• My favorite radio station is Cool Blue out of Taupo, New Zealand. It plays blues, Americana, soul, jazz etc, etc. No ads, no DJ’s, no repeats or high rotation…just Music! It can be found online here https://www.coolbluetaupo.com/“ — Bruce M

• “These are a few of my favorites for weekend listening.

“KHUG-LP 97.5 FM, Santa.Clarita: 

“12N Sunday- The Down Home Show: There’s no other show like it in Southern California; it salutes  talented artists from Valencia and San Fernando. 

“3:00PM – Side A / Side B with Lou Paparozzi:  A tasty bag of themed music that is always interesting and informative.

“4:00PM – Backbeat Charlie Show: A thematic music show offering up musical treats.

“KJAA 1240AM, Miami/Globe Arizona, another great oldies station. Their motto is “None of the hits, All of the time … We don’t play the old same songs over and over… we play different old songs over and over.”

All of these stations can be accessed on TuneIn Radio” — Mark C

• “A few years ago, somehow, I came across WLVN out of Livingston, Montana on Audacy. What I really like about this station is that most of the music is tied into the years of WWII.  The lyrics are very entertaining, and commercials are played from that time such as with Frank Sinatra talking about war bonds and one I recently heard with Bob Hope. I enjoy waking up and seeing what is on each morning.”  — Peter A. Keon

All excellent selections … thank you for sending them, ands keep ion sending them in.

You may notice I have not given my favorites yet. That is coming soon, after a few more of yours. One thing that Internet Modulation stations (you heard the term here first) do is give you formats, as you can read hear, that you can’t get locally on AM or FM.

Radio Waves Podcast #340

 Radio: May 20, 2022

In a case of going back to the future, or perhaps simply going full circle, KROQ (106.7 FM) and owner Audacy have announced the return of Kevin Weatherly as programmer of the once-mighty station.

I hate to use the word “alternative” to describe KROQ, because that’s not what KROQ was all about during most of its successful life … at least not in the traditional sense of the word. When KROQ was the trend-setting station, breaking new bands and new music in the days of DJs Rodney Bingenheimer, Jedd the Fish Freddie Snakeskin, Richard Blade, Poorman, Swedish Egil, Ramondo, etc., the songs heard on KROQ tended to appear there first, and later on KIQQ (now KKLQ, 100.3 FM) — though KIQQ broke numerous songs and bands itself — followed by other stations such as KIIS-FM (102.7), KKHR (now “Jack KCBS-FM, 93.1), and even KRTH (101.1 FM), KMET (now The Wave KTWV, 94.7 FM) and KLOS (95.5 FM).

For full disclosure, it must be pointed out that KNAC (now KBUE, 105.5 FM), during the Rock ’n Ryhythm days, played much of the same music with similar attitude … the limited signal out of Long Beach being KNAC’s downfall.

The Plimsouls, The Bangles, Oingo Bingo, The Blasters, Berlin, Wall of Voodoo, The Go Gos, Billy Idol, REM, A Flock of Seagulls, Kajagoogoo, Wham!, Human League, Peter Gabriel, X, Stray Cats, INXS, The B52s, Adam Ant, Psychedelic Furs, Prince, Rick James … almost every ‘80s band that you hear on flashback weekends — or now Jack FM — appeared first on KROQ. KROQ was the place for the hippest kids to find new music, and it was the soundtrack for so many of the era.

Which is why I was listening to other stations … I was never a trendsetter. But I digress. Intermixed with the new music, be it new-wave, British pop, or hard rock, was some traditional flavoring from The Rolling Stones, Cheap Trick, or even Led Zeppelin.

DJs on KROQ were funny, relatable, irreverent, sarcastic, and importantly, your friends. They curated the music, and especially in the case of Bingenheimer and his Rodney on the Roq Sunday evening show, they visited clubs, recording studios, and any other place they could think of to find new bands and new music. 

Original programmer Rick Carroll didn’t design the KROQ to be a station to hear “alternative” music. He wanted it to be an alternative to other stations … a  station where you heard something first. By the time you heard it elsewhere, KROQ had already moved on. 

Something changed along the way. The music got more predictable. More formatted. More limited in scope, such that the few new songs and new sounds got lost in the constant repetition of songs from bands — many of which were talented — that tended to all sound exactly like each other. I blame modern corporate ownership, in which executives are so afraid of taking chances, they choke the life out of such formats.

As time went on, ratings dropped. Stature dropped. The once mighty trend-setter became a has-been, almost embarrassing to its history. So it wasn’t surprising two years ago when Weatherly left KROQ to join on-line service Spotify as head of North America Programming. He could once again be free to innovate.

What is surprising is his decision to return. Nothing has changed at KROQ. The station is still owned by one of the worst companies to own radio stations, one in which innovation is actively blocked. One observer quipped that it probably had to do with “giving him some huge title and backing up the Brinks truck.”

Let me be clear, I hope I am wrong. If Weatherly is given the freedom to do what he wants, and he isn’t too old to remember that not everyone wants to live in the past and on past glories, KROQ could be in for something big.

The “big title” is Senior Vice President of Programming. In that capacity, he will not only oversee the programming — including content, talent operations and even the branding at KROQ, he’ll also advise the Audacy alternative stations throughout the country. No word yet on if he will be given a budget to hire DJs for each station, or if he will be stuck with the current policy to have a handful of DJs to work with, all pretending to be local, but spinning the tunes for stations nationally and regionally. 

I am not alone in my analysis. As another observer explained to me, “There's no question that KROQ's best years were under Kevin Weatherly's brilliant leadership. But let's not forget that KROQ's decline began under his watch, too. That wasn't his fault, of course. The firing of Ralph Garman, followed by failing to keep Kevin & Bean in place wasn't Kevin's idea. These moves are symptoms of the core problem. KROQ's new ownership has a deserved reputation for being cheap, especially on talent. Upon his return, Kevin will still be working for Audacy, so he'll have one hand tied behind his back.”

My message to Audacy management, and CEO David Field in particular: Leave. Weatherly. Alone. Let him do his job. Give him the financial backing to do it — invest in your stations and talent for a change. Weatherly — who officially starts June 6 — is talented enough to get the job done … when he is allowed to do his job. 

My message to Weatherly: Keep an open mind to new music. Start exposing new bands. Bring KROQ back to greatness. Los Angeles long ago lost the image of being a place to find new music … you have the ability to single-handedly change that, and in doing so save not just KROQ. 

And perhaps most importantly: don’t listen to David Field. Hopefully he has that in his contract.

I’ve reached out to Weatherly and hope to have a full interview with him in the very near future. At press time, I was unable to connect.

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Radio Waves Podcast #339

 Radio Waves: May 13, 2022

Solving a Radio-Restaurant Mystery

One of my favorite non-radio ways to waste time, somewhat productively, is to watch videos of “LA In a Minute” on TikTok, in which Evan Lovett gives inside stories and information on attractions in and around Los Angeles. You can access his main page at https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTdgFpy8v/.

But a recent posting combined that with radio, when he told the story of Carney’s restaurant, one of my favorite chili burgers in town and a great place to go with my wife, Jean when we were dating and she lived in Hollywood. Carney’s Hollywood location is on the Sunset Strip.

Called “Five Facts about Carneys,” (https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTdgF7F2P/) Lovett mentioned — in fact one — that Carneys was launched by John Wolfe Senior, a “marketing genius” who was “the man responsible for KKDJ, adult contemporary radio station changing over to KIIS-FM, yes, that KIIS-FM, 102.7 and its top-40 format forever altering the landscape of Los Angeles radio, and he did all this while founding Carneys.”

That didn’t sound right… I have listened to and followed KIIS-FM for years, and prior to that KKDJ and 1150 KIIS … I had never heard of John Wolfe’s connection. Digging further with a search of his name and KIIS, I found an obituary of Wolfe’s on the LA Times site from April of 1999, when he passed away at the age of 72. In it, there is a statement that Wolfe “helped create and market Los Angeles’ KIIS radio (102.7 FM) in the 1960s.” It later mentioned that he left radio in 1973 to launch the restaurant.

This got me intrigued for a few reasons. First off, KIIS-FM didn’t exist in the 1960s; it launched the same year as Carney’s, in fact, when KIIS (1150 AM) and KKDJ were “married” on the air to form a two band simulcast, KIIS AM and FM.

Adding to the mystery is the fact that KIIS itself didn’t launch even on AM until 1970; prior to that it was KRKD, call letters it had held since 1932. So basically, there was no way that Wolfe could have been part of KIIS-FM, especially its move into top-40, something that didn’t happen until later 1981.

Searching more … nothing … outside of a few mentions that seem to all refer back to that one incorrect LA Times obituary. So what’s the true story? Related: does anyone outside of me care about it? Regardless, who would know the story?

Mike Wagner, who worked at KKDJ and later KIIS AM/FM, came through with some clues, stating “to my knowledge, Wolfe had NOTHING to do with the FM…strictly KiiS 1150 AM.” That matched my thinking: that Wolfe was at 1150 and might have helped launch KiiS … written with lower case “ii” in their marketing at the time; the iiS part of the call letters approximating the look of the frequency of 115, shorthand for 1150.

LARadio.com’s Don Barrett helped fill in some other details, using a memory from Chuck Blore, the legendary programmer who brought polished top-40 to Los Angeles via the launch of “Color Radio” KFWB in January of 1958. Interesting, though perhaps not surprisingly, Blore’s memory was also regarding Carneys. Answering the inquiry “When you have a special friend visit you, is there a favorite Southland restaurant you want to expose them to?” Blore wrote,

“Yes. Carney’s. Did you know that a radio sales guy started Carney’s? He was probably the best I ever knew. His name was John Wolfe. He was by far the Number One salesperson at KFWB when I was there and then went on to become the Number One sales person at KPOL. (Remember KPOL?) It was John who talked me into going back into radio and together we worked at KIIS/AM. Then one day he walked in and said, “I’m leaving radio.”

“’My God, John,’ said I, ‘what are you gonna do?’  ‘I’m gonna start a hot dog stand.’  ‘John! You’ve got two growing boys, and two wives to support. A hot dog stand?’  ‘Yeah,’ said John, ‘I thought about that, so I want you to do a commercial for me.’ And I did. And just today I saw a billboard for Carney’s using a line I wrote for John almost 30 years ago – ‘The best thing I ever tasted in my whole mouth.’ John died about seven years ago and today his two boys are engineering the Carney’s trains, one each. “

That memory was written in 2002; Blore himself passed away just last year — July 15, 2021 — at the age of 92.

And for the chili burger purists, Lovett does another TikTok on Original Tommy’s.

More on KHJ …

“Thank you, Richard, for reminding me how privileged & blessed I was/am to have participated in those glorious, fun-filled, nervous, energized, & ‘over-the-top’ busy days.  And the opportunity of working with some of the most talented radio people who ever ‘graced the airwaves’. 

“And it didn’t stop there – the entire team on & off air, administrative, engineering, clerical-support, sales, etc. all contributed their best efforts to make ’93/KHJ/Boss Radio’ the incredible and never duplicated success that it became. Being part of that is one of the great joys of my life! Thank you for bringing those memories forefront for me today.” — Betty Breneman 

As mentioned in the story last week, Breneman was the music director of KHJ at the launch of Boss Radio in 1965, and was definitely one of the reasons for its success. 

And KFI …

Barry Mishkind has an excellent online article giving a wonderful history of KFI as they celebrate 100 years on the air. Read it at https://www.thebdr.net/earle-c-anthony-drives-kfi-to-fame. An excellent read!

Radio Waves Podcast #338

Radio Waves: May 6, 2022

KHJ and KFI turn 100

Two local radio stations celebrated birthdays in April, though you’d never know from listening. To my knowledge, neither mentioned a thing about it on the air, which is quite surprising as both are now centurions.

April 13, 1922 was the first broadcast day of KHJ (930 AM), a station launched by the Los Angeles Times newspaper. From 6:45 to 7:45, the station’s “dedicatory” program included the playing of The Star Spangled Banner, remarks from Times-Mirror General Manager Harry Chandler, soprano solos, “Ten Minutes of Fun,” news, a baritone solo, and “Bedtime Stories.”

While only 50 watts and broadcasting from the Times building at First and Broadway in downtown Los Angeles, the station was heard as far away as Montana … a testament to what can happen when the atmosphere and airwaves are uncrowded and unfilled with electrical interference. 

KHJ increased power to 500 watts by 1924, in 1930 it increased to 5000 watts, the most it ever used and the power it still uses today. Early programming was noncommercial and intended more to help sell subscriptions to the newspaper; that ended when Cadillac dealer Don Lee bought the station in 1927

It was April 16, 1922 when KFI (640 AM) went on the air. According to radio historian Jim Hilliker, the first broadcast was an Easter Sunday service and music from 11 a.m. to 12 noon using a 50-watt transmitter on the roof of the Packard Motor Car building on Hope Street; station owner Earle C. Anthony owned the station and was not only a Packard dealer at the time, he was also the distributor for Packard throughout the entire state of California..

By 1927, KFI was already up to 5000 watts of broadcasting power, and by 1931 it became the first 50,000 watt clear channel (no other station on the same frequency) radio station in the Western United States, making it then and now one of the most powerful radio stations in the country.

KFI and KHJ shared the same frequency (750 AM) — as did many stations in the early days of broadcasting — until January of 1923, at which time KFI moved to its present home of 640 as part of the expansion of the broadcast band. KHJ moved a few times, eventually settling in at 930 in March of 1941.

While many think the call letters stand for something, such as Kindness, Happiness and Joy for KHJ; Farm Information for the FI in KFI, the letters were actually just random assignments; it wasn’t until later that station owners could request particular calls. 

What I never knew until recently was the fact that early broadcasts from the stations didn’t necessarily mention the call letters at all. Indeed, advertisements and stories in the Times for KHJ’s first broadcast mention only “The Times radio station” or “The Times Radiophone.” Most stations were named by or for the owners rather than any call letter combination.

It is a shame that neither station is covering its own birthday. Regardless, let me wish them both a happy birthday, and many more.

Boss Radio

April is a big month for KHJ in another way: it was in late April of 1965 that Boss Radio made its debut … the most imitated format ever.

The new high-energy fast-paced format — an evolution of top-40 programming from the brains of consultants Bill Drake and Gene Chanault, programmer Ron Jacobs, station manager Ken DeVaney, music director Betty Brenneman, and a relatively unknown but soon-to-be all-star cast of air personalities including Robert W. Morgan and “The Real” Don Steele — was supposed to debut on May 5th, but word got out and then competitor KFWB (980 AM) tried to steal some of the ideas, so the decision was made to make the switch early.

So, on April 27, 1965, KHJ launched a “sneak preview” of the new format, utilizing music bought at Wallach’s Music City utilizing the KRLA (1110 AM) hit list! The switch was made at 3 p.m. when Steele opened the microphone for the first time as a Boss Jock.

A surprising number of air checks exist from that era, though I have yet to find one of the Steele debut on the first day. Perhaps you have one … please send it my way. In the meantime, get over to MixCloud.com and YouTube.com and just search for “KHJ Sneak Preview.”

If you want to get a feel for the events leading up to the launch, you owe it to yourself to get a digital copy of KHJ Inside Boss Radioby Ron Jacobs (available at Amazon.Com), or head over to https://socalradiowaves.com/wp/20170505-2/ for a little taste.

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