~Los Angeles Radio People, archivesrecent

(September 13, 1999) The original owner of KEZY, Cliff Gill, passed away September 8 in Vista, according to LARP Johnny Gunn. Cliff is survived by his wife Katy and he was owner of KATY in Hemet/Temecula for the past 10 years. He named his radio station after his wife. Cliff was a station broker and coordinated the sale of KFI to Cox Broadcasting in 1973 for a then unheard of price of $14 million. Cliff owned KEZY in Anaheim from 1958 until 1964. "He built the station after tramping the hills of Orange County and finding a 5-tower site after ‘the world’ told him that another AM would never be built in greater L.A. [5 towers = magic pattern]," according to Johnny. He "built" another impossible station when he got a license for the village of Avalon on Catalina Island and used the Pacific Ocean as his "ground system" to cover Southern California with a clear shot from 26 miles across the sea in 1954 for owner John Poole. Cliff had many other ownership interests while in business with Willie Davis of KACE. Cliff was thought to be in his late 70s.

"Jim and the Wendi Show" kicked off this morning at Country KZLA. "We’re both a little nervous our first half hour, kinda stumbling a little bit," confessed Jim Duncan. "A little nervous?" blurted Wendi Westbrook. "I’m scared to death."

Jamie White’s father was involved in a terrible car crash last week. Jamie, mornings at "Star 98.7," went back to Southern Illinois to be with him during back surgery…TaylorDavis at KABC had the same subject for an hour on Saturday that Conway & Steckler at KLSX had on Friday night – "Has anyone had a personal experience with running back Jim Brown?" The KLSX pair was jam packed with callers who shared stories about their lives intersecting with Brown. The KABC pair got no calls and diverted the conversation to domestic violence.

If you are not a member of the Museum of Radio & TV you should be. Kelli Gates continues to put on excellent radio seminars and the problem is the tickets are available to members first. Wednesday night Stan Freberg will be doing a one-man show. Unfortunately it is sold out. In November the Credibility Gap gathers and there are a handful of tickets left. In mid-December it will be the Phil Hendrie Show. For more information about these seminars, contact Kelli at 310.786.1064….MG Kelly, for two decades between 1973 and 1992 heard on KHJ, KTNQ, KFI, KOST, KIIS and KODJ/KCBS, was heard over the weekend at KBIG. Hmmm. MG is pictured below in the LARP Photo Gallery. Is this market big enough for "Machine Gun" Kelly and "Shotgun Tom" Kelly.

The LARP Photo Gallery has resulted in a very positive response on two fronts. First, there is a willingness from you to share some of your personal photos. Second, they seem to provoke some curious memories. "Wow, what memories with that KMPC Capt. Max comic book," emailed Andy Park. "I still have one. I was on the air and heard Max's abridged ‘mayday’ and raced along with all the other KMPC cars to Dodger Stadium. One thing he never, ever wanted to do was die by fire. And he did. He was the happiest man I ever knew, with the possible exception of his partner, Gene's former flying buddy and ‘Chief’ of the KMPC airforce, Herb Green. They were great ‘Quiet Birdmen.’"

Craig Edwards, news bureau chief of Metro Networks emailed to say: "Despite rumors of his retirement in Oregon, Jim Meeker [ex-KRLA/KEZY] is now a real estate appraiser in Seattle!"

Jamie Dupree is one of the early casualties at KFI when AMFM, Inc. takes over October 1. I met Jamie at the KFI Stimuland event last month and I told him how much I enjoyed his reports from the Cox Washington DC bureau. He’d been doing them for 11 years. "Unfortunately, the deal will soon mean the end of my time on the air working with a great group of people in the KFI newsroom," emailed Jamie. "My job of Washington reporting continues, just in other markets, as the deal with AMFM gives Cox Radio news-talk stations in Jacksonville and Stamford, CT. They will likely be added to my DC responsibilities along with WSB-Atlanta, WDBO-Orlando, KRMG-Tulsa and WHIO-Dayton. Still it's a bit of a disappointment, since KFI was such a wacky and fun place to work for."

Judd Magilnick of Santa Monica emailed over the weekend a note about the college students creating our own version of perestroka as they ask for a discount in subscribing to LARADIO.COM. "Charge students $65/annum -- they have more years to benefit from the wisdom they will learn here," emailed Judd.

Ken and Rick Minyard were talking about intelligence and IQ’s the other day at KRLA. Ken opined that if you averaged all radio talk show hosts, you wouldn’t hit three figures. "Of course you and I help keep that average from falling dramatically," Rick chimed.

Former KCRW operations director Scott West emailed with some great news. "Well it's official - I have taken control of the overnight airwaves at KOLA in the Inland Empire!! I've been here since November of last year, doing weekends and fill-in's, and look forward to building a solid overnight audience! My wife Rose and I are moving to Palm Desert this month also." Congratulations Scott!

Larry Morgan runs the comedy division of Premiere Radio Networks. He left middays at KYSR to take on the big responsibilities, but "Star" keeps calling him back. "They needed some help through the summer with fill-in, between vacations and stuff," responded Larry. They've been trying to put me on the schedule weekly, but I'm traveling a lot so I'm having trouble being on consistently. Plus, it takes a big chunk out of my weekend. But I felt like trying to keep my hands in it just to feel like I'm keeping up. Besides...it helps when I'm out there pushing product on affiliates if I can say ‘....yeah, I'm still doing weekends on STAR.’" Larry gets to save up a weeks worth of good jokes for just one shift. "The weird thing is, I think more people have heard me on weekends lately than they did when I was on every day!"

The Man Show, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and KROQ’s Adam Carolla has been renewed by the Comedy Channel for another half year…Is there anyone as successful as Jimmy and yet remains such a nice guy? He continues to appear on the morning KROQ Kevin & Bean show from time to time. He is now featured in a national beer commercial and yesterday he debuted on the Fox NFL pre-game show. There were references to Jimmy the Greek and his prognostications. Jimmy Kimmel is the new generation of NFL game result predictors. He was irreverent in a casual den-like setting with a silly cheerleader on his tv punctuating each guess. Jimmy picked four games to win and two of them did. The other two, the Redskins and Bengals almost did. Very cool!

Lisa Bowman, part of one of the wildest promotions in Southern California history, was profiled last Wednesday. That night she was to appear at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. I asked the terrific singer how it went. "Well, I had a blast Wednesday night, although I feel like a truck ran over me the next day," emailed Lisa. "We had a very enthusiastic crowd, including Tommy Hawkins, of course. Also in the audience was Ray Evans, who is half of the song writing team of [Jay] Livingston and Evans. They've won three Academy Awards: Mona Lisa, Que Sera, Sera, and Buttons and Bows. They also wrote the Christmas song, Silver Bells, which has sold over 160 million copies. Anyway, I do one of their songs originally recorded by Betty Hutton, Stuff Like That There. This sweet man had the best time at the show! He was, of course, introduced to the crowd, and you could tell how delighted he was. Livingston and his wife are scheduled to be there next week." Lisa will be appearing every Wednesday for the remainder of the month at the Roosevelt. "I also have an unconfirmed report that songwriter Paul Williams [Rainy Days and Sundays, You and Me Against the World] will be there next Wednesday as well. If you would like to know more about her album, check out www.littlebitproductions.com

Preview of Coming Attractions: A new feature begins this morning. I asked Los Angeles Radio People what profession they would have pursued if they hadn't gotten into radio. The responses are very enlightening!...In the next couple of days we will meet LARP who have just discovered LARADIO.COM...On Thursday, a report on the Stan Freberg evening at the Museum of TV & Radio...I'll be attending RadioFest '99 put on by the Southern California Broadcasters Association and there should be great radio stories to report on Friday...Later in the week, a very timely feature on morning drive radio.

Veteran newsman Lee Marshall is coming to a radio station near you. Lee headlined his email, "Another Familiar Voice Goes to KFWB." Lee is excited about his new assignment: "After four years on the road with Turner Broadcasting, in which I averaged about 600-thousand miles a year, I decided that being away from home five days a week wasn't what I wanted to do. Over the past few months, my voiceover career has been going well, and the book I'm writing, which consists of various radio stories is getting a lot of positive attention. I haven't been away from the mic and cameras as I've done six feature shows for ESPN, and I've also been the guest on a number of radio news and talk programs. In fact, I was interviewed a couple of times for KFWB features and guested a few times with my old KABC colleague, Michael Jackson on KRLA. Well, I guess you could say that's when I developed ‘the itch’ to go back on the air. I spoke with Dave Cooke and Chris Quimby at KFWB and said I would be interested in doing some vacation relief, fill-in or weekend sports. I was pleased when they also expressed an interest in that idea. I trained at KFWB last week with old pal Joe Cala. I'll be with Joe again today and tomorrow night I'll make my KFWB debut. I'm pretty sure I'll get the call letters right, but I hope I don't refer to the news anchor as ‘The Hulkster.’"
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Levi Booker and P-Funk

KODJ/Oldies 93
Taken in 1991

(Back row, l to r): Machine Kelly, Rich Fields, Gary Moore, Paul Freeman
(Front row, l to r):Charlie Tuna, Linda Lambert, Dean Goss, The Real Don Steele, Janine Wolf and Big Jay Rose

(Thanks to Paul Freeman for sharing the photo with us. If you have a radio related photo, please send it by .jpg file or to: Los Angeles Radio People, PO Box 55518, Valencia, CA 91385. All photos will be returned.)

Kenny Morse (Mr. Traffic): I started out as an actor appearing in the Broadway companies of Grease and Jesus Christ Superstar. I put it on hold for my Mr. Traffic radio and tv career, and I'm returning to the L.A. stage in 2000 in an original musical called Second Wind.

Lee Cameron (Radio Disney): I was going to use teaching as a fallback, so maybe a teacher; I also had an interest in computer science, so I might have done that (if I had, I'd probably own some stations now!). I've also always been interested in television and almost went in that direction also, and may still!

Jeff McNeal: I would have still been in the performing arts. I would have either been an actor, a drummer or beach bum. In that order, I think. I had played the drums for about nine years prior to starting radio at the age of 18. I also had a drama coach that I was working with. But to be perfectly candid, I knew that I was going to be in radio when I was seven years old. That decision was firmed up when I was 13. There was no question that radio was where I would be starting my career. It isn't where I ended up -- but radio has prepared me extremely well for what I do now -- and for that I'll always be grateful.

Ken Levine: You mean besides the professions I DID pursue other than radio? If not writing, producing, directing or baseball, I would probably have gone into cartooning. Always wanted to become the next Al Hirschfeld.

Tracey Miller: Had radio not found me, I would have pursued a career in journalism. I've been fortunate over the years to have had several essays published, but I have always wanted to do a column. Sort of a female Dave Barry. After all, anyone who knows me understands that my view of the world is rather skewed. Which, by the way, is either endearing or really exasperating...depending on who you talk to.

Gary Franklin: Even though I have a pre-med degree in biology to become a physician like my father and uncle - I really wanted to be a photographer and/or cinematographer. I drifted into broadcasting, more or less by accident and, besides, it was an easy occupation, paying excellent money and status-perqs, for very little work and - as we see daily - without requiring much knowledge ... just a gift of gab.

Dr. Demento ( Barry Hansen): I would have stayed in the record business, where I was working when the Dr. Demento Show began, as an A&R man specializing in reissue compilations but also producing some new music. At some point I might have gotten back into college-level teaching, which was my goal when I was a student.

Steve Marshall: I was doing my best to become an actor when radio beckoned. I continued to do Equity waiver theatre for quite sometime after getting into radio, but after I became a program director (and a father), I really didn't have the time.

** Women Power
"What about Teresa Payerle who works evenings at KGIL? And with MOR djs past, are you forgetting Kathy Gori? The situation with her today, of course, is that she now prefers to do news at KPFK than music radio, but was she not a major MOR announcer in L.A. a few decades ago? One of the problems with the today part, of course, is the precedent of yesterday. The satellite services prefer veteran djs of the format, and since almost all the djs in this format decades ago were men, naturally almost all the veteran djs of the format today are also [those same] men. Women in radio seem to get more opportunities with the newer formats and/or the less the format cares whether the djs are ‘legends’ or not [thus perhaps the most announcer opportunities for women in AAA and modern AC and the least in adult standards and oldies]." Stefan Daystrom

** Stars in the Desert
"I love the Web site, I do mornings in Palm Springs and there is nothing greater than rounding the halls and running into a real Radio Legend and nice guy Al Lohman. I remember listening to the records and the radio show growing up, never knowing that I'd be getting into this crazy business. Not to long ago I spoke on the phone with another one of my favorites Dave Hull who is out here. He still has his style and finesse with phone calls, an innovator in working the phones. Russ O'Hara works in the next studio! Geoff Edwards is always at charity events, helping out. There is a Ton of Talent and great people out here in Palm Springs! Thanks for a great Web site!" Andy Taylor

** Wankus to the Big Easy
"I have been negotiating with a radio station in New Orleans for a new position as morning show host. They loved my tapes, flew me out to the Big Easy for a few meetings and made an offer to my agent. All of this was going on while I was touring with the Platters around the country. Notice how I said ‘was.’ Sinclair owned, WEZB, [‘B97.1’]- New Orleans now has a new morning show. ‘Wankus in the morning.’ We came to terms and signed a deal. I'm excited to work with my new boss, pd Rob Wagman, who really has a keen insight to what the station needs to do to win. Needless to say, they want me in the studio by Monday the 14th. This is a good thing and although I hated resigning from the Platters, this is my focus, my direction and what I believe I do best. Wish me luck!" Wayne "Wankus" Lewis

** Death of Richard Beebe
"Shocked to read your item about Richard Beebe's death. I worked with him on Lew Irwin's Earth News Radio show back in the mid-70s and early ’80s" -Jeff Hillery, pd KHOW/KTLK-Denver

(September 12, 1997) Riki Rachtman did get fired from KLSX. The search is on for a replacement.

** Party Until It’s 1999
"Why is KKBT announcing that they are ‘Hip-Hop and r&b For The New Millennium"? They must be really confident in their playlist. It is common knowledge that the new millennium will start on January 1, 2001 - which is 1000 years after the last millennium. This would make their current playlist ‘oldies’ or ‘old school’ in the new millennium. I am so sick of the media announcing that the new millennium will start 999 years after the last one. Do the math, people and celebrate the end of the 1900's this New Year's." - Jeff Blugrind, Aliso Viejo

** Game Show LARP’s
"As a radio junkie now working in St. Louis I have always been fascinated by the number of L.A. jocks that went on to careers hosting network or syndicated tv game shows during the game show heyday of the 60's. I know of Jim Lange, Wink Martindale and Bob Eubanks. I believe Geoff Edwards also would be on that list.

Can you explain the connection? Were these guys just good buddies of Chuck Barris’? Did they all work together in LA radio, i.e, was Bob Eubanks the morning man somewhere with Geoff Edwards the mid-morning guy, followed by Jim Lange, etc?

** Subscription Service Disappointment
"I am disappointed that you are now going to be charging a monthly service fee. I know gathering all this info is probably very time consuming, but it is an excellent Web site. For a longtime L.A. resident now living in Phoenix and now going to be moving to Nebraska, I will miss it. I guess I now will just get news from RadioDigest and Gary Lycan’s column. I know I sound cheap but with a new baby and starting my new business money is tight. Anyway I enjoyed reading it and will check out the free stuff every once in a while. Thanks for a great Web site!" - Jim Mc Aulay, Phoenix

** A Plea to Reconsider
"I am disappointed and dismayed to learn that LARADIO.COM is becoming a subscriber only site. I have read the articles faithfully for over a year now and it saddens me that you have decided that radio news is suited only for the ‘radio insiders’ and not the rest of us who are listeners and fans of radio. By taking the site private you will make the information out of reach of those of us who cannot justify paying the subscription cost because we simply aren't in the industry. I myself was once a radio broadcaster. I have a B.S. in broadcasting from an accredited college and have on air experience on NPR, CPR [the now defunct California Public Radio], and several local stations in Northern California. I am currently a desktop systems consultant in the L.A. area but am still interested in radio and hope that someday, I will be able to reenter the broadcasting field.

Your site kept me informed of what is happening on L.A. radio in a timely, truthful way unlike the opinionated articles that appear in the LA Times and some other local publications. There are no other sites like it. I implore you not to close down LARADIO.COM to the public. There are other ways to generate income. Please, please please, for all of us out here who care about radio but cannot justify paying for a closed Web site, please reconsider and keep access open [at least the current news section]. I don't want to delete this first bookmark on my favorites list." - Eugene Tamura, La Habra

** Reaction to the State of the Site Message
"After reading your column today [9/9], I would say that your radio bonafides are definitely in order. In fact, your early love of radio--and your career path--was similar to mine: the Clovers, Penguins, Richard Berry [who lived a little down 54th Street from me in what is now south-central]; spending two years in the mid-'60s in the Midwest, writing the commanding general's speeches while an Army enlisted man at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. The site looks great. Here's wishing you a GIANT subscriber list!" - Jerry Clark

** New Policy
"Both Melody and I are very happy that you decided to go legit! You have given so much to the local radio industry over the past years we just wanted to thank you. Don, the passion you devote to LARADIO.COM is reminiscent of what we used to hear on L.A. radio when it was magical. Too bad you're not running a station today -- it would be a 'lay down hand' success. Keep up the great work." - Pat "Paraquat" Kelly & Melody Rogers

** Sad about Site Changes
"Congratulations on your second anniversary. I'm glad for you that you can finally start making money on the site I'm sure you work hard on it every day. However, I am sad to say that after the fifteenth, I'll probably not be able to visit your site anymore. As much as your site has become part of my daily routine I literally wake up, turn on my monitor, check my email and fire up my browser to go to LARADIO.COM. Often, my eyes haven't even adjusted to being awake when I start reading your page! As a student, I can't justify spending money on what otherwise would be money for books, etc., especially because I'm not in the industry, nor do I plan to enter it. I think a solution to this would be to offer a type of tiered solution. Radio professionals -- those probably willing to pay for your service -- will do so. For the rest of us, if you posted them on a time-delayed basis, say the past week on Sundays, or something like that, those who need to know will read it daily. The rest of us will have to wait and see a page full of ads or whatever else you may want to do to increase revenue. Please consider this. I know and respect your need to make money. Who doesn't? But this proposal may allow some of us poor folk to gain some of your wonderful insight albeit on a time-delayed basis. Just my $.02. Good luck with the new site." - Darrel Ng, Berkeley

** Marcia Clark on Trial at KRLA
"I am not a big fan of Marcia Clark in her appearances and substitute hosting duties on the Rivera Live show, but she sure has been refreshing in her candor while filling in for Michael Jackson on KRLA. Today [9/8] after making a glib comment to a caller on the legalization of drugs, she was chastised by the next caller who stated ‘What kind of example was she setting for the kids that listen to her show.’ Clark’s response was priceless. ‘Give me a break, kids listing to THIS station? I wish!’ If KRLA had a sense of humor, they would loop this exchange in their promos. - Mike Kruss - Anaheim

** All-Female News Hour
"Regarding the item on Kelly Lange and the all-female hour on KCBS/Channel 2 at four, I've been bombarding my old bosses John Severino and Roger Bell, now running the KCBS/TV shop, with messages on how bad I think this idea is. It's divisive and retrogressive. The next logical step would be an 11:30 p.m. 'cast, all male, from writers and producers, to air talent, featuring only news that's of interest to men. What would that be, anyway? Next, on Friday nights, an all-Jewish cast and crew. Sundays, all-Latino.

And it's so insulting to intelligent women, to think that news can and/or should have gynecological perimeters, because 4 p.m. happens to be a time where more women are supposedly watching. It is also insulting to male broadcast professionals, because it apparently assumes that male journalists cannot write, report and produce for women. News is news. News should be news. John Severino is a great broadcast mogul/manager, who treated me very well when I worked for him at KABC/Channel 7 and KABC, but this idea is culturally counterproductive. In other words it stinks. I say this as the father of two bright and successful women, who totally agree with me. So does my wife. I suppose a case can be made for Channel 2’s local and national sales, by guaranteeing an audience of people who buy leg-shaving razors, panty-liners and who can insure kickbacks to g.p.'s and internists, from hospitals and surgeons doing unnecessary hysterectomies." – Gary Franklin

** Wood On Fire
"What a joke!!!! You just got done complaining about the lack of radio coverage in the LA Times and other newspapers and now you want to charge your readers for what you said wasn't available in the newspapers. So much for you wanting to do the radio public a service. We can see now that you are in it for the money. I hope the bottom drops out of this for you. If you want money to help pay for the expenses, take on a few advertisers. I'm sure you wouldn't have any problems getting those. I wouldn't mind seeing their banners. I'm not about to pay $25 bucks for this. Guess we are back to where we were before. Quit bitching about the LA Times. You are becoming no better than they are. Disgusted Reader" – George Wood, Rialto

** Reaction to Music Changes at KLAC
"It looks like it’s all over for Big Band music on KLAC but let’s hope it’s not the end for people like Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Torme, Joe Williams and other greats who have been a big part of the playlist. Also missing are the album tracks from people like Diana Krall and Bobby Caldwell. KLAC is now your hit parade station with nothing but the hits of the 50s, 60s & 70s. The variety is great! I'm hearing songs that I have not heard since the first time I heard them. Take Good Care of Her by Adam Wade, Sugar Town by Nancy Sinatra, The Race is On by Jack Jones and Beatles music. I think it's the first time they have been a part of a middle of the road format. The station sounds like KMPC did in the early 80s. I like the format but please! Let there be room for those pop and jazz vocals from the 40s and 50s that didn't make the top 30. Whatever course KLAC takes I wish them success. It's one of the last live adult music stations in town and we need it. - David Swain
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Vivian Porter (KRTH)

(September 11, 1998) Wednesday afternoon Charlie Tuna was preparing for his Thursday morning show at Country KIKF when the fax machine in his office rang. The machine spit out papers displaying a grid of show prep ideas with phone numbers of guests like the UCLA coach. Longtime KRTH morning producer Mitch Lewis had inadvertently faxed the grid to the wrong Charlie. It should have been sent to new morning man, Charlie Van Dyke for his review. Charlie Tuna faxed back Mitch telling him thanks for the ideas, but his own prep work was much funnier…If longtime Los Angeles radio vet Roger Barkley hadn’t died this past Christmas holiday season, we would be celebrating his 62nd birthday today. In his autobiography, The Story Man’s First Writes, I thought it would be appropriate to quote from a note that his daughter wrote that appears in the book: "The Story Man lived his life with the values taught to him by his Mom and Dad in Odebolt, Iowa. Gentleness, kindness, sincerity, respect, hard work, integrity and humor: these are the qualities that were our Story Man’s character. Without needing to be told, Dad let us know he wanted his final resting place to be in Odebolt, his home, with his Mom and Dad, where he learned to be the incredible Story Man that he was. We will miss your stories." Signed, The Story Daughter.

Johnny Mellen (former KNOB, KGLA, KLFM and KEZY) wrote from Hawaii that ex-KDAY and KFWB broadcaster Colin Sharp died August 19, on Kauai. Colin worked at WIND-Chicago before coming to the Southland. He moved to Hawaii in 1965 and worked for many years at KUMU-Honolulu. Colin retired in 1989 and moved to Kauai. The obituary in the Honolulu Advertiser said, "He had many friends, but no surviving family members." He was 65…Did you know that the Jay Coleman who worked at Country KZLA in 1981 is KNBC/Channel 4 weatherman Fritz Coleman? He started out in Buffalo radio and came to the Southland to pursue his dream of being a stand-up comic. In 1983, an NBC station manager was in the audience during one of his stand-up performances and offered him a weekend weather gig at Channel 4 which led a couple of years later to a full-time assignment. Fritz, in his spare time, plays himself in It’s Me! Dad! at the Coronet Theatre. His one-man show, that ends soon, features his experience as a stand-up comic and reflections on his life.

Scott St. James, actor and sports guy at "Arrow 93," was thinking about Dr. Laura Schlessinger during the recent hub-hub following the Vanity Fair article. They worked at KMPC during the Talk days in the early 1980s. Scott remembers the day he sat in for Dr. Laura: "I assumed that Doctor Laura was dispensing advice using the ‘by the seat of her pants’ method. I decided to take some ‘advice’ calls, too. I had a lot of fun with it and so did the audience. The next day, Doctor Laura was back on the air and one of her callers mentioned what I had done and how much sense she thought I had made. In a voice dripping with sarcasm, Doctor Laura responded to this caller with, ‘Oh, he’s so cute!’ And to myself, I said, ‘Self, we have ourselves a Diva at this radio station!’ And no, we didn’t end up wrestling like wild weasels." Scott recently played a PI in an episode of Port Charles.

Is Chuck Madden gone from the morning drive show at KABC with Ken Minyard and Peter Tilden? Christopher of Pasadena emailed to say he heard Chuck twice the other morning on "XTRA Sports" between 4 and 5 doing updates for ESPN Radio Sports…The final touches on KABC pd Drew Hayes’ vision for the station will be in place within days. Station gm Bill Sommers is anxious and excited to launch the "new line-up" before the start of the new ratings period (begins September 24). I told Bill that this Web site gets more mail, 4 to 1, about KABC than any other subject. The radio fans are so passionate about their heritage station that they write with such opinionated views.

Last Sunday in his excellent weekly radio column in the OC Register, Gary Lycan asked if Talk radio has gone too far and crossed the boundaries of good taste. He sent a list of questions to the pd’s of KABC, KFI and KLSX asking for help in understanding if there are guidelines for the talk show hosts and how they are monitored. Only Jack Silver of KLSX responded by Gary’s press deadline. I’ve taken an early peek at Jack’s responses and you will find them VERY revealing and insightful. Don’t miss Gary’s column this Sunday… When KBIG announcers announce "K (pause) BIG" with the emphasis on an up inflection on "Big," does anyone else think of the Pig Vomit scene in Howard Stern’s movie when the pd is trying to instruct Howard to give an up inflection to the letter N when he says W (pause) N (pause) BC?…I have the new KYSR imaging line, "music by all white whiny women, all the time."

(September 10, 1999) Six years ago today at 3 p.m., KCBS kicked off its Classic Rock format with Old Time Rock and Roll by Bob Seger. Today at noon "Arrow 93" gm Dave Van Dyke celebrates with a lunch for the staff at Maple Drive. No word if the original staff will be invited: Gary Moore in the morning; Mary Price middays; in afternoon drive was Bob Guerra; working evenings was Dave White; Kevin Machado was late evenings and Verna McKay worked all-night. When I was researching my book, Los Angeles Radio People, I asked Gary if he liked working morning drive? "Who the hell enjoys waking up at 3:50 a.m. for ANYTHING, aside from sex?" Congratulations to Dave, and the current staff.

The format change for LARADIO.COM and on-line subscriptions for the Current News beginning September 15 prompted a wide variety of responses. Many of you were highly complimentary while a significant portion of the email was indignant that I was charging for what had been free. One accused me of single-handedly leading the charge in changing the face of the Internet having the audacity to ask for money. A number of broadcast students pleaded college poverty and asked for a student rate, as well as some geriatrics asking that I consider a senior rate. I believe that $2 a month hardly seems out of line or excessive but I certainly appreciate and accept the fact that many visitors to LARADIO.COM’s Current News will reject the fee because they feel $2 a month is too expensive, or just on principal. Tomorrow’s Email Saturday has a representative cross-section of reaction.

While radio gossipers are predicting the end of Karel & Andrew in afternoon drive at KFI; the team has been quietly focusing on bringing a different perspective to their talk show. Earlier this week the pair drove to Norco to talk with neighbors about the young girl who was tied up in her bedroom for years. A week before during the Willow fire, Andrew jumped in the KFI helicopter to report on the human element and ecological aspects to the fire from above. Karel has been very open with his overweight dilemma and allowing his listeners to track his weight loss progress. "I now weigh 241, started 9 weeks ago at 279.8, for a wholloping 38.8 pounds so far," emailed Karel. "My goal is to get to 205 or right around there." The pair certainly put energy into their afternoon drive show. I saw firsthand the overwhelming positive reaction to the pair when they appeared in person at KFI’s Stimuland event last month.

Wendi and Jim Duncan kick off their KZLA morning show on Monday morning at 5 a.m. Apparently there was no mystery why they didn’t appear as announced by the station last Monday. Bonneville executives were out of town at the NAB and everyone decided to push it back one week. The pair is scheduled for KTLA/Channel 5’s Morning News on Monday. In listening to the promos on KZLA, one would guess that the morning show will be music-intensive. "Starting now, the longest set of commercial free music on any morning show anywhere. 93.9, KZLA."…Speaking of music, have you noticed the music playlists at KLAC and KRTH the last week or so? KLAC has added newer titles while KRTH has added older titles…"Arrow 93" afternooner Bob Coburn is giving away tickets to an advance screening of American Beauty starring Annette Bening and Kevin Spacey

I was critical of the LA Times for their "unfriendly" coverage of radio beyond Spanish-speaking stations and NPR radio. (Yesterday’s three-page weekly radio column was devoted to Haz Montana, the program director at Spanish-speaking KSSE.) This comment caused a defensive reaction from one of the three radio reporters, Steve Hochman. His email prompted much email, which appeared last weekend in Email Saturday. Lee Margulies, radio editor of the Calendar section of the LA Times has issued an invitation to readers of LARADIO.COM: "I don't want to get into a debate with your readers over the merits of our radio coverage--they are certainly entitled to their opinions--but I do want to set the record clear on two points. (1) We strive for accuracy. If there is an error in a story, in the ratings, in our listings or in our station box, please let me know about it! I feel a lot worse about it than you do, I promise. Do not hesitate to call me or email me. (2) I welcome story ideas. Feel free to contact me and let me know what you'd like to be reading about in The Times. Thanks for sparking such a lively conversation." You can reach Lee Margulies at: Lee.Margulies@latimes.com

Kelly Lange is returning to the local tv scene on Monday as a special correspondent for KCBS’ new female-focused newscast at 4. The hour will be called "Women 2 Women News." The newscast will be feature-driven, focusing on news-you-can-use topics and human interest stories…Randy Thomas, formerly with KTWV and other L.A. radio stations will announce the 51^st Emmys Sunday from the Shrine. She was also the first female to announce at an Academy Awards in 1993.

Mike Nolan emailed about the death of Cliff Welsh, a longtime backup pilot/reporter for KMPC Airwatch, and most recently, for Bob Petty at KNBC/Channel 4. "Cliff was the former chief pilot for the L.A. General Services Department, flying a variety of helicopters," emailed KFI’s Mike Nolan. In addition, he was the backup pilot for KMPC, starting with Jim Hicklin, and continuing up through the end of Airwatch, backing up Pamela McInnes. When a listener killed Jim Hicklin in 1973, it was Cliff who flew the Airwatch helicopter that left the formation, creating the missing man. On Monday, a Bell 47 helicopter nearly identical to the one Cliff flew, did the same thing, only this time in memory of Cliff. Whether it was a crash on the freeway, or the beating of Reginald Denny, [yes, Cliff and Channel 4 also got those pictures], Cliff Welsh was always the same. Measured, in control, and professional. He was a pilot by trade, but a polished broadcaster by talent. His experience goes back to two tours in Vietnam, and he flew airplanes and helicopters with equal ease. He left a wife, and three children. I live in two worlds, that of Broadcasting and of Aviation, and Cliff Welsh was one of the nicest people I knew in either. He will be sorely missed by all whose lives he touched. Cliff was only 67 years old.

Nice salute to the one-year anniversary of Channel 103.1, KACD yesterday morning on KTLA’s Morning News show. Sam Rubin interviewed morning man Andy Chanley and afternooner Nicole Sandler…Funny man Jackie Mason appears live with Larry Marino this morning on KIEV’s "Morning Magazine."

Mark Miller works part-time at KLOS, in fact, he follows Jim Ladd’s show tonight. Mark wants to be an actor. "I spend a lot of weekdays going to auditions, doing voice work, background work and whatever comes along," Mark emailed. Earlier this year he had a fascinating assignment. "I did a photo shoot for Bijan in Beverly Hills. I was booked with a few other guys and we were all dressed as painters. They just put up a two story board in front of their boutique on Rodeo Drive using a composite from the shoot. So there I am 15 feet high in living color [I'm right in the middle holding a sandwich, sitting next to ‘Mr. Bijan.’ I'm also off to the side reading the sports section]. I saw it for the first time last Saturday and people actually recognized me while I was gawking at it...what a hoot!" said Mark. He also did a national commercial for Sony Playstation last year. "Radio is still my first love but this is certainly an area I want to explore. I have a commercial agent and I'm looking for a good theatrical agent," concluded Mark.

Didja know that Rick Dees’ grandfather was a renowned surgeon in Myrtle Beach who was one of the founders of the Mayo Clinic? "He pioneered some of the brain surgery in America," Rick told his morning audience at KIIS. Ellen K wanted to know what happened to the blood line when it got to Rick?…Tom Leykis’ syndicated show is in the midst of controversy at WGY-Albany that has nothing to do with Tom but he is the benefactor. A scheduling conflict with another host worked in his favor and instead of his show being tape delayed, he is now running live in Albany.

"Uncle Joe" Benson at "Arrow 93" broadcasts the name of a song and a secret word each morning. When the song is played back later in the day, the designated caller wins $1,000…John London is also giving away $1,000 a day when the song of the day is replayed at "Mega 100."

Warren Eckstein has joined Later Today as the pet and animal expert. Warren, who also hosts a pet show at KABC, will be on the NBC show at least twice a month…Ira Fistell was wondering last night on KRLA about the date 9/9/99 and the other marvelous properties of nine. "Who came up with cats having nine lives or you are dressed to the nines or the expression the whole nine yards?"

Jerry Lewine has left his post as "Y107’s" chief engineer. "I am now chief engineer of the Libermans’ L.A. area stations including the station that had a jingle indelibly impressed on my brain - 93KHJ – Los Angeles," emailed Jerry. "As you know it's now KKHJ, but if the NAB has its way the heritage stations will be able to get their old calls back."
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Richard Santiago

Ask me about Bill Meeks and I’ll tell you about a Legend… genius musician, artist, friend, father, the greatest salesman in the world, and one

With roots all the way back to Gordon McLendon, Bill was himself, a big part of modern radio history. Gordon relied on Bill for the jingles at all of his stations. Bill did all the Armed Forces jingles and commercials in the Kennedy days. Bill did a guitar course on an album with Ray Hurst, using a system of color-dots on your fingernails to match the music charts. Bill would show up at NAB conventions and show folks what Texas hospitality was all about in his hotel suites. Jingles would be playing in the main room and his sales managers would be signing up stations in the other half of the suite. And the wine would flow.

Bill ran PAMS of Dallas for many years; through the 60’s and 70’s, his musical ID singing jingle packages were the Cadillac of the industry. He was inspired by Les Paul and Mary Ford’s use of the Ampex tape recorder where they would replay a take while singing along with it to the second machine. He then developed an Ampex 10-track. (Not a misprint). At a time when 4 tracks were a big deal, he had custom heads constructed to get 10 tracks onto a tape. Bill often commented that this protected his work technically too because nobody else could play his masters.

Bill’s 7 voice blend stacked (doubled) twice gave a previously unattained rich vocal blend. His biggest trick was doing the instrumental in stereo and mixing the vocals dead center mono with a hot eq for maximum punch and intelligibility. Using some innovative methods at the time which have rarely been duplicated to this day except by John Wolfert, who carried on the tradition, Bill would separately mike the bass singer and mix him almost like an instrument. Names like Bill Simmons and Jim Clancy made those jingles take on a bottom end that made PAMS’ sound "bigger than a barn door", as Bill used to say. How big? Clancy used to fill in for Thurl Ravenscroft, the voice of Tony the Tiger on the Kellogg’s "Grrrrreat" commercials during a brief absence. The day I met Clancy, I didn’t quite understand his name and asked him to repeat it. "Clancy?" I asked. "That’s right, Clancy," he repeated, acting a little like he had a complex but not too irritated and after about a two beat pause, he added, "Well, if you’re from Texas with a name like Clancy, you damn well BETTER sing BASS."

At the other end of the musical scale, a talented lady he found named "Bright-Eyes Long-Knife" had the ability to match a trumpet note on C above high C. Bill would frequently stack her against a horn section with a "pa-pa-pa-pow" vocal. Another Meeks "Signature that Sells with Sound." (His PAMS logo.)

PAMS meant Promotion, Advertising, Music and Service. And service you got if you bought from PAMS. The industry leaders were his best clients. Who could forget the memorable logo he developed for WABC New York. "77-W-A-B-C" to the tune of "We’ll turn Manhattan/Into an aisle of joy?" The melody of the city was legitimately borrowed to the "tune" of around $25,000 annually just for the writer alone. And Rick Sklar was happy to pay it.

The best in the business "interned" as his sales managers: Jim West, Toby Arnold, and Jim Long all learned the ropes from Bill. John Wolfert of JAM Creative Services was Bill’s mixer and "main man."

I’ll NEVER forget the day at KIIS-FM when I was operations manager there and Bill came to L.A. to sell then-gm Ed Boyd on a $40,000 jingle package I wanted to produce with him. I pleaded with Bill to take me along to the lunch where he’d get the order. He arranged it on the condition I’d be a fly on the wall and not offer any suggestions. Half way through the meal I excused myself to go to the men’s room and motioned to Bill from the sidelines that I wanted to talk to him away from the table. "Bill," I said, "this lunch is great, but when are you gonna sell him the jingle package?" "I just did, son," he replied, "I just did." He was teaching me the art of the schmooze and building relationships, trust and ability to deliver to a client. It was the most valuable lesson I ever learned.

His innovative spirit was intuitive mixed with educated observation. He used to say to me, "Don, become a student of cycles." He showed me the Spanish musical styles and how he integrated them into his music at an early time: Salsa, Meringue, the singing style even of an unknown named Basha influenced his writing. He called my attention to these trends and how they would flourish. He was always right. He used to tell me that someday there would be a radio format that would be a nonstop dance beat that would take the country by storm if anybody would have the balls to format it. (Remember disco?). I used to tease him back and say, "Right, Bill, remember quad… and the next thing you’ll tell me is that big band will come back, too!" He lived to tease me right back.

When I was selling libraries at conventions, he’d say to me, "Never mind what the client’s first words are about the product; watch their feet while the music plays. If they say they hate it but their toes are tappin,’ it’s just the price you gotta work on."

I thought he was the most exciting and inspiring person I ever met for another reason. We could carry on 3 or 4 conversations simultaneously without missing a beat, skipping around whenever the other subject would need a feed in our brainstorming. It was like living a trilogy but faster paced. The only other people I’ve ever met who could do this with me were also brilliant composer/musicians. He thrived on the great satisfaction that came from delivering successfully under tremendous pressure from a deadline.

His son, Dennis Meeks told me yesterday on the way back from the funeral home that his dad was talking about me in his final moments about some of our joint music library projects. Dennis said, "Some people work to live… dad lived to work… he loved it."

Bill made a lot of people very happy, entertained us and made us laugh. He probably didn’t realize at the time how much he really taught me as well. His feel and sense of production are the basis of most of what I know about the radio business.

Capt. Max KMPC Comic Book
Used as KMPC promotional giveaway in the early 1960s

In the starburst: Follow the adventures of Capt. Max as he flies his KMPC helicopter into searing forest fires, over raging flood waters, through towering mountain passes...to aid the police, the fire department and the people of Los Angeles.

KFI's traffic reporter Mike Nolan remembers: "Captain Max was my idol as a youngster growing up in the valley. If you had John Wayne standing next to Capt. Max, it would have been a toss up for me as to the bigger celebrity. I met him by hanging on the fence at Burbank airport in the early 60's. One day, a then high school age guy by the name of Tom Roberts asked us if we wanted to come in and meet Max. Tom's job was to wipe down and put away the helicopter after Max came back. When Max landed, we were introduced, and he immediately asked us if we wanted to ride in the 'copter. Talk about ecstasy. He put my brother and myself in, and started it up, placing it into a hover on the ramp. I couldn't believe what was happening! Pure magic. He then set back down and our ride was over, but what a thrill. Not too long after, I got to go for a real ride on traffic watch. Not too long after that, he was killed in the mid air over the stadium area. One of my great regrets is that neither lived to know that I proudly followed in their footsteps, along with the late Bruce Wayne."

(Thanks to David Schwartz for the comic book and Mike Nolan for his reminiscing. If you have a radio related photo and would like to share it in the LARP Photo Gallery, you can send it by .jpg file or mail it to me at: Los Angeles Radio People, PO Box 55518, Valencia, CA 91385)

(September 10, 1998) Yesterday morning Rick Dees slammed syndicated self-proclaimed "King of All Media," Howard Stern. On his KIIS morning show, Rick was recounting the magic of Mark McGwire’s 62nd homerun and how the St. Louis authorities kept "goofballs" from attempting to run out on the field and run with McGwire. Rick contrasted the evening with Hank Aaron when he hit his 715th homerun and as Rick described him, "This idiot trapped in seventies garb with the big hair and the bad leather jacket who decided to jump on the field and run the bases with Hank Aaron. Every time I see that magical, wonderful moment in sports history, there’s that idiot again, that goofball. It’s not funny. It’s like somebody Howard Stern would send out on the field. It’s just not funny. It just reminded me of something Howard Stern would do. In St. Louis, luckily there were the people there who knew of the Howard Stern types who jump over the fence and try to mess up the moment for that wonderful guy and they tackled that son of a gun and I don’t know if he has a groin left." Rick was on fire.

Down the dial, KRTH morning man Charlie Van Dyke came out of Tom Jones’ It’s Not Unusual with the news that Tom’s audience is aging. Instead of throwing panties on the stage during his performance, the fans are throwing Depends…KABC has a new talk show host. Al Rantel wrote on the WFTL-Miami Alternative Web site: "As you probably know, I will be the new host on TalkRadio 790, KABC in Los Angeles starting in mid September." His Web message was filled with what is wrong with talk radio in South Florida. Al went on to say: "After 18 years on talk radio in South Florida, I said goodbye when the offer came – which I did not seek – at KABC in L.A. Better to go there than go down with the Titanic, or be forced to drive to Palm Beach should they have moved me to the next station they will program." Mixed word on which shift Al will take. KABC management is officially denying that he has even been hired. Remember the way the station handled the departure of former pd Dave Cooke last spring?

In the 1940s/50s/60s, the djs who played the music of the 1940s/50s/60s on the radio were men. In 1998, the djs who play the music of the 1940s/50s/60s at KGIL and KLAC are all men. Except for Teresa Payerle, what happened to the women? Not one woman qualifies to be a full-time announcer?…Brian Beirne has lined-up the Kingsmen and Capris for KRTH’s annual live show next month…A strange generational pairing on KIEV yesterday. Matt Drudge sat in with "TalkBack" veteran George Putnam…"Star 98.7" is giving tickets away to a Hootie & the Blowfish appearance…On Saturday, "Arrow 93" morning man "Uncle Joe" Benson will be part of Motor Trend magazine’s 50th Anniversary Celebration at the L.A. County Fair, including introducing REO Speedwagon on stage that evening…Long block of fill-ins at KLOS yesterday. Gary Moore was in for Garth Kemp (Garth has been doing the morning weather at KABC/Channel 7) followed by Kelly Cox who was working the Jim Ladd shift. Kelly talked about being a new mommy. Congratulations!

(September 10, 1997) "Real Radio," KLSX got real real two days ago. Evening talk show host Riki Rachtman "cold-cocked" midday host Doug Steckler. Paramedics were dispatched to the station. According to the L.A. Times, Rachtman was ragging on Steckler's age and Steckler was ragging on Rachtman's girlfriend, who works in the adult-film business. Hey, it worked for a moment or two for Morton Downey, Jr., and Geraldo Rivera. The station ran the "Best of" today. How would you like to be a fly on the wall at 3580 Wilshire Boulevard?

(September 9, 1999) Today marks the second anniversary of LARADIO.COM. New visitors join this site every day and I thought I would review the history of the site, how it came about, where it has been and where it is today. But first, it occurred to me that I know a lot more about you than you know about me. I would like to get on equal footing and share my experiences so that you may be able to understand the genesis for LARADIO.COM. At the end of the State of the Site Message, there will be a major announcement.

I grew up on the beach in Santa Monica – an only child who befriended my imaginary friends on the radio. I surfed in Malibu but the real treat was surfing on the radio. In looking for the defining moment when my love affair with radio began, it was the discovery of doo-wop songs by bird groups like the Crows and the Orioles. Before long the groups were named after cars.

One morning I turned on the radio before going to school and it wasn’t just the music. I discovered the man who was playing the music, Earl McDaniel on KPOP (1020AM). Little did I know that Earl would become and has remained my mentor for over 40 years. Pulling up to Santa Monica High School each morning there was a cacophony of forbidden rock ‘n roll music coming from every car radio. Overnight the young people had abandoned KMPC’s Dick Whittinghill and adopted the "new" music playing on KPOP and KGFJ.

I met Earl at the Hollywood Palladium and he adopted me into the radio fraternity. I tagged along to a meeting with Elvis. I drove Bobby Rydell and Fabian from one of Earl’s dances to a secret location. I "handled" a hop in Palm Springs while Earl was doing one at the Rendezvous Ballroom. We even recorded and released a novelty song, The Astronaut by the Volkswagens. (We couldn’t make up our minds in 1957 if we should call ourselves the Volkswagens or the Beetles.)

I wanted to be a rock ‘n roll dj so Earl told me to go to college. He didn’t want to take the fun out of my radio dream, but he wanted me to prepare for management. So I did. When I graduated from college, Earl was pd at KEWB-San Francisco. He had an incredible staff that included Robert W. Morgan and The Real Don Steele. Somehow I naively thought he was going to give me a job on the air. What he did was to give me more direction. "Get a 1^st Class FCC license," Earl directed. Ok. Ok. Off to Ogden’s in Burbank and six weeks later I passed my examination. (Photo: Earl with his wife Ellie at home in Hawaii. Taken when he was president of Heftel Broadcasting)

"Hello. Earl? This is Don." I waited for the job offer and he still had more advice. He told me to load up my Karman Ghia with all my belongings and head in any direction and every time I saw a radio antenna, go knock on the door and ask if they needed a disc jockey. I wondered what kind of advice was this after spending years getting a college education and then a 1st Class License?

On March 10, 1965, I headed North: Oxnard, Ventura, Santa Barbara. "Sorry we’re looking for someone with experience," was the consistent rebuff. At 1 o’clock I pulled into the parking lot at KNEZ in Lompoc. Cal Cannon, former mayor of Glendale, was the owner and gm of KNEZ. "I want to be a rock ‘n roll dj," I said for the fourth time that day.

"I just fired the program director an hour ago and I have no one to go on the air at 3," said Cal. "The problem is I need someone with a 1^st Phone." (Photo: Dressed for success in KNEZ mobile unit.)

A big grin came across my face. That Earl McDaniel was right. I remember raising my arm like a schoolboy and muttering, "I have a First Phone." I was on the air that afternoon in afternoon drive and embarked on an incredible journey.

Within a few months I was the pd and a year later Rich "Brother" Robbin hired me to work mornings in St. Joseph, Missouri. Going from a 25,000-population market to 100,000 sounded like a leap. No disrespect to those of you who love Missouri, but it turned out to be a tough adjustment after growing up in the Southland. I went on to anchor the late news on the local CBS/TV station.

In 1967, an ad in Broadcasting caught my eye. Gordon McLendon, the Father of Top 40 radio, was looking for "The Magnificent Seven," seven young men to learn under his personal tutelage and then be dispatched to his seven FM stations.

Following a strange battery of tests and examinations, four months later I was winging my way to Dallas as one of the "Magnificent Seven." I was flying on blind faith. Homer Odom, one of Gordon’s lieutenants, greeted us one by one and when we totaled seven we climbed in a van and headed to Lake Cielo, Gordon’s 500-acre ranch, which was going to be home for the next month. There was a party going on. After dropping my bags in Chill Wills’ bunkhouse, I headed for the action. There was a best selling author, an astronaut, an honest-to-god movie star and a couple of Dallas Cowboys. How did I get here? Less than three years ago I was knocking on the door of a Lompoc radio station. But where was Gordon? I waited for him to appear like those who must have waited for Jay Gatsby to appear and then disappear in the flash of a second.

I spent five years with Gordon. I traveled with him to FCC hearings. I was Bill Stewart’s last hire for Gordon as pd at KABL-San Francisco. National pd, sales at XTRA/KOST and eventually general manager at WWWW (W4) in Detroit, all before I was 30. Earl McDaniel was right again.

After a short stint as gm at WDRQ-Detroit, I returned to the beach in Southern California to launch KIQQ ("Psst…K-100FM…Pass It On"). I was able to return the Rich "Brother" Robbin favor and I made him pd at K100. Once the station was sold to Drake-Chenault I joined the motion picture business, working as a marketing executive at Columbia Pictures, Universal Pictures and MGM/UA.

The parallels of the movie business and radio business are unique. You are selling an intangible. You can’t touch it, feel it or squeeze it. I was part of the marketing effort on Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Out of Africa, E.T., Rocky movies and James Bond films.(Left photo: Sydney Pollack arrives at premiere of Out of Africa; right photo: Rerelease premiere of The Glenn Miller story with Jimmy Stewart and June Alyson)

Five years ago management changed once again at MGM and I didn’t make the cut. I figured that God was finished with me there and had another plan. Rejection is God’s protection was advice I so often passed on to others and now I was going to have to see if it actually worked. I opted to start my own consulting business.

One day I was thinking back to those early formative days when radio was but a dream. I wondered what happened to the original seven swingin’ gentlemen at KFWB/Color Radio Channel 98. Ted Quillin was a teacher and motivational speaker living in Las Vegas. Gene Weed had gone on to tv producing and directing. Elliot Field had been mayor of Palm Springs and owned an ad agency. Bill Ballance was at KFMB in San Diego and he was still doing the Feminine Forum. I then tracked down the KRLA 11-10 Men. Friends were fascinated with my findings and encouraged me to write a book.

The structure was born. I called my first book a booktory. It wasn’t a book and it wasn’t a directory. It was…a booktory. Los Angeles Radio People was published in 1994 and it chronicled where the djs came from, where and when they were on the air and where they went when they went. It was a big enough hit to spawn a larger, more complete book that not only updated the djs, but also added news and sports people, talk show hosts, program directors and general managers. It ended up being 400 pages profiling over 3,000 personalities and boasted 500 photos.

I was really proud of Volume Two that was published in August 1997. There was an enormous amount of support from radio people. I knew the book was always a "work in progress," but I was not expecting a major jolt, especially so soon.

Within days of the book being published, The Real Don Steele died. How could that be? He was so young. He was voted the second most popular personality in the 40-year period between 1957 and 1997. Until a few months earlier, he was working his magic in afternoon drive at "K-Earth." My book seemed outdated before it hit the shelves. Within a few more months we lost Roger Barkley, "Emperor Bob" Hudson and Robert W. Morgan.

LARADIO.COM was born two years ago today to be an appendix to my book plus maybe sell a few copies on the Internet. Almost immediately, djs, and other radio people, past and present, gravitated to the site. I was euphoric when 100 visitors each day came to read the current news. Before long I passed 1,000 visitors a day and recently reached an amazing milestone – 15,000 visitors each day. Obviously the site is much more than "stuff" for radio people. Fans of radio have made the site a daily visit. My email count averages 300 a day.

What my site was a year ago is not what it is today. The column couldn’t be what it is without the help of Anita Garner who as editor has been an integral part of the morning process of publishing the daily column. I consider myself a photographer taking a snapshot of the radio landscape. Sometimes it is pretty, sometimes it is pretty stupid. A local gm learned of the site from a visit to an ad agency in New York where the buyers regularly check in to check on the pulse of Los Angeles radio. Another gm learned of a new format description of his station from my site and not from his pd. Recently an out-of-town buyer thanked me profusely for a market analysis that explained a station package to her that was up for consideration.

The perch from where I have listened to Los Angeles radio is unique. I’ve been here almost forever and I’ve heard the changes. I have an almost Old World dogma and desire for L.A. radio to be a better place. One former gm described my site as written by someone who would do therapy. I’m not sure what that means, but my stream-of-consciousness daily column provides a rich reservoir of information about L.A. radio. I love L.A. radio. LARADIO.COM has been, is and will be a tribute to those men and women who have entertained us over the years. I have invited those who are not in radio but love it like so many of us to come along for the ride. I have been told by many that LARADIO.COM is accessed before checking email, which I consider quite a compliment.

I would like to think I am a mirror of what we want L.A. radio to be, which gets more troublesome as the large corporations gobble up each other. We’ve somehow become complacent with a 2 share. Is anyone willing to take a chance without first hiring a research focus group, or better yet – is anyone able?

Another plateau was reached recently with accepting advertising. Some thought my credibility would be affected. Only you can be the judge of whether that happened or not. I waited a year and a half before accepting advertising in the hopes of ensuring the credibility of this Web site.

The expense of maintaining LARADIO.COM has moved the site to another new level. Beginning September 15, the headline page, Where Are They Now, Top 50 Personalities and LA Radio Goodies will be accessed freely as it was today. Access to the Current News daily column, Archives and Email Address pages will be by subscription only starting September 15. As a charter subscriber you can order a full year of LARADIO.COM for only $24.95 (which is the cost of a hard cover book or a lunch at the Palm or break it down to under a penny a day). If your radio station has five or more employees (gm, nsm, pd, promo, talent) who read the Current News at LARADIO.COM, you qualify for a yearly fee of $99.95.

. When you sign-up, you will receive the Best of LARADIO.COM – 1998 ($9.95 value) absolutely free as a thanks for supporting the Web site.

LARADIO.COM will continue to evolve with new features and new perspectives as we trudge the road into the new millenium.

Don Barrett
Publisher
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Austin Keyes (KLOS) and Mark Austin Thomas (KFI)

(September 9, 1998) R&R produced another great special edition last week, dissecting the rebirth of CHR radio. CHR editor Tony Novia did an A+ job. A few years ago, the trade publication seemed like it had lost its focus. No longer! For the past couple of years the newspaper has been stronger than ever…In last Sunday’s Parade magazine, Walter Scott’s Personality Parade section had a reader ask how many original cast members from Gone With the Wind are still alive. I teased yesterday that one of the surviving cast members happens to be a Los Angeles Radio People. Raul Moreno emailed: "Fred Crane!!!!! KFAC now KKGO. He always had plenty of 8x10's of his scene to sign for fans!!!" Fred was a classical music announcer for four decades in Southern California. In GWTW he was one of the Tarleton boys and Fred’s line is the opening line in the first scene of the film.

LARADIO.COM has just celebrated a one-year anniversary. The first month of operation there were 679 visitors. Last month, we had 136,798. I have been told that it is a daily "must-read" for many executives and fans of Los Angeles radio. A visitor to the Web site last weekend was reading the responses to tv’s most memorable moments and wondered who some of the people were who responded. I told the new friend that my book, Los Angeles Radio People, Volume 2 should be used as a directory resource. There are over 3,000 names and 500 photos of Los Angeles Radio People between 1957 and 1997. If you aren’t sure of a name being mentioned in the daily column, the book makes for an excellent reference.

(September 8, 1999) The year was 1983. SportsTalk at KABC had gone through various format variations and hosts. One thing the show never had was a woman co-host. The station embarked on a national campaign to find a woman who could work with Tommy Hawkins and Bud Furillo. The pay was $25,000 and all the perks of attending sporting events.

"We were doing very well in the ratings," remembered Tommy. "We were getting fives and sixes in drive time and thought we could attract even higher ratings if we could attract women."

During the early 1980s tucked away at Occidental College, UCLA and Glendale Junior College was Lisa Bowman. She didn’t win the promotion/contest but she had been preparing for the contest for much of her life. Lisa wrote sports stories for the campus station and she was a sports columnist for the Foothill Leader. "I wanted to get into radio and sports," Lisa told me recently.

Meanwhile, men were incensed that the KABC contest was open only to women. Bowing to pressure, and probably the advice of lawyers, the contest was thrown open to all. The ten finalists were separated by gender, according to Lisa, even though Tommy remembers all the finalists as women. "There were six women and four men," said Lisa.

Lisa was born in Antioch where her father was a manager at US Steel. They moved to Lafayette in the East Bay and by the time Lisa was three, she was performing on a stage built in the family woodshed. At nine she appeared in the Bolshoi Ballet. "It was during the Cold War and the traveling troupe of performers needed 20 local girls. I remember auditioning in San Francisco, being selected and performing at the old Fox Theatre," said Lisa.

The first phase of the KABC contest was to make a tape of original sports commentary. From the two thousand who applied, it was narrowed to 30. "I was the chief interviewer," said Tommy. "I asked each to deliver a three-minute commentary and then they were asked to interview a sports star."

"I was one of the semi-finalists," said Lisa, "and each hour during SportsTalk the station aired our commentary. I was in the last group and so nervous." When the station narrowed the finalists to 10, Lisa was there.

The top ten were brought to the station to perform an off-air audition before a number of sports reporters that included Jon Hall, Allan Malamud, Bob Keisser and Stu Nahan. "The judges couldn’t see us," remarked Lisa. "We first had to read commercial copy cold. Then we drew a sports topic out of a hat and extemporaneously talked about that topic. The final phase was to interview a mystery guest. I was really nervous when Tommy brought in Elgin Baylor. At first I didn't recognize him. I was so embarrassed," said Lisa. "But I pulled it off."

On the day a winner was to be announced, pd Sherwin called Lisa and one of the other finalists, Merrie Rich. "The three of us were on the line together. Wally said the judges were unclear who should win, but that it was between the two of us."

Merrie got the job. "As runner-up I won a trip to Puerto Rico, which I gave to my parents."

Merrie, a New Yorker, was best known as a singer of the National Anthem before New York Knicks and Rangers games. She worked for her father’s public relations firm in New York. Her move from New York was not paid for and she felt isolated once the publicity blitz died down.

The story takes a bizarre twist at this point. A month after going on the air, Merrie was fired. (She now lives in England.) "Merrie was a real strong type of a lady," said George Green recently who was gm at the time. "She wasn’t real cooperative and not friendly. She eventually said the wrong thing to the wrong person once too many times and I fired her." Tommy remembered Merrie as "tough. She would never have been enlisted in the diplomatic corps. I don’t think she ever bit her tongue to anyone."

"George called and asked me to come in to the station to talk about the new vacancy," said Lisa. "I brought in my six-month old son, Steven, who is now 17 and six foot four. I told George that my son came first and he would determine how many hours I could devote to the talk show. George must have liked my candidness and I was off to Dodger stadium as the new co-host for SportsTalk. No one ever trained me. I just went on the air. They put a log in front of me and I didn’t even know how to read it."

"Lisa had a wonderful personality," enthused George. "In the beginning she faked it as far as knowing sports, but I just liked her. She was terrific on the air. A real spark. She was a great asset when appearing at client functions. She even sang at Dodger Stadium." Tommy knew that Lisa had been around sports because her husband worked sports at KTLA/Channel 5 while Tommy was on KNBC/Channel 4.

Lisa stayed with KABC for three years and once into the 1990s, she needed an "attitude adjustment," as she described it, and the family moved to Flagstaff. "We wanted to get away from the crime and earthquakes."

Lisa’s husband is now a tv director with many Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman episodes to his credit and currently he is directing episodes of The Pretender and Martial Law. His work is in L.A. and so the family eventually returned to the Southland.

And Lisa has returned to singing, which has always been part of her life – everything from local country clubs to touring with Sammy Cahn to Florence Henderson’s understudy in the Sound of Music. Tonight she opens at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and will perform every Wednesday night through September. As it turns out Tommy wrote the liner notes to her CD called Bittersweets. You can say hello to Lisa and/or purchase a CD of her music at www.littlebitproductions.com. Tommy will be in the front row tonight cheering on his former radio colleague.

"Even though I found doing radio and being a full time mom untenable, I'm very happy with my choices and am absolutely in a state of bliss being back on stage and totally autonomous in my musical career. Gee, if only one could actually make a living doing this..." concluded Lisa.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Joe Cipriano

Rick Carroll

Photo taken in front of the KEZY Studios at 1190 E. Ball Road, Anaheim, around 1976.

Rick created the "Rock of the 80s" format at KROQ. In Radio & Records special edition of "Twenty Years of Excellence," Rick was cited as a "pioneer." He died on July 10, 1989, of complications of pneumonia at the age of 42. When he died KROQ personality Richard Blade gave this on-air testimonial: "I've lost a friend. In fact, everyone lost a friend who loves music. You might not have known his name, but you surely felt his influence."

(Thanks to T. Michael Jordan for providing this photo from his personal collection. If you would like to share a radio related photo, send it by .jpg file to db@ecom.net or mail to: Los Angeles Radio People, PO Box 55518, Valencia, CA 91385)

(September 8, 1998) Did you check the results of the latest Los Angeles Radio People survey about tv viewing habits? Mark Thompson of KLOS Mark & Brian fame had a killer response to his most memorable moment in television. Mark said: "When the Beatles stepped on the moon." It jumped off the page…Wish Joe Cipriano a Happy Birthday today. During the 1980s Joe worked at KHTZ, KKHR and KIIS. He has gone on to an enormously successful voiceover and acting career. He's a regular visitor to LARADIO.COM during his busy day. He has a very slick Web site http://www.joecipriano.com that you should check out. Joe co-hosts "World Chart Show" that is heard on over 300 stations around the world.

Karla Sifuentes has been at KRLA since 1996 when she joined the promotions department. Within months she was working morning drive with Little Ricci and then Huggie Boy. One morning last week at 11:20 she played Mary Wells’ My Guy. Once the vocal started you could still hear Karla. She was talking about her first visit to a new gym the day before and how sore she was. Accepting the fact that Huggie Boy talks over vocals all the time, there didn’t seem to be anything unusual about it until she mentioned some very personal things. It was clear she forgot to turn off her microphone when a colleague walked into the booth. For two minutes the listeners regaled in her experiences during her workout with Mary Wells singing away. Somebody must have said something because a few songs later she owned up to the mistake…Mike Thompson, new pd of KXTA ("XTRA Sports 1150"), is getting high marks from his co-workers. Many like the fact he is a talk radio guy first and sports guy second…Speaking of sports. Jacor is enlarging its commitment to sports radio with the purchase of two stations in Lancaster. The AM will carry "XTRA Sports" and will join Santa Barbara and Thousand Oaks to broaden the sports voice…Gary Lycan’s weekly radio column in the OC Register this past Sunday asked the pertinent question: "How far can one go in talk radio?" Gary’s commentary posed a series of questions to his readers: "Do stations have written guidelines for talk show hosts? If not, should they?" What do you think? Has talk radio gone too far?

Mucho Morales, 28-year radio veteran who has worked mornings at KRLA, afternoons at KRTH and KHJ, joins the Southern California trimulcast (92.7FM) in afternoon drive beginning this afternoon…The 4th annual Leimert Park Jazz Festival takes place this Saturday afternoon. KLON’s James Janisse emcees. He graduated from UCLA in 1977 with a degree in draftsman engineering. While working in the aerospace industry and in construction, someone commented that he had a "radio voice." James went to a radio school and followed his love for jazz music to KLON where he has been since 1992…Heftel AM programming veep, David Gleason, is putting together an English language history of the 1020AM frequency. Check their site at www.1020am.com. David said, "I'm looking for KTNQ memorabilia, pix, charts, etc. I'd love to get such material by email, particularly digitized pix and charts. Also looking way back for any data on KPOP and KGBS. Particularly, I'm interested in getting information on KGBS's early experiments with talk, such as the Bill Ballance show [for which I have already found an early sales presentation]." You can email him at david@davidgleason.com…It seemed strange to hear former KROQ personality Carson Daly on KIIS promoting the MTV Music Video Awards…In the Parade magazine supplement to most Sunday newspapers, a page 2 question asked if any of the original cast members of Gone With the Wind were still alive. There are. Did you know that one of them is a Los Angeles radio veteran? Do you know who it is?

Lots of Los Angeles Radio People at the Jerry Lewis telethon this weekend giving of their time...One of the morning features on KPWR’s Big Boy’s Neighbor is "Guess What’s Under My Stomach?" This morning the clues were: (1) Over 1,000 went down on me, (2) I wasn’t maiden for long, (3) and, A big hard thing ripped me open." The winner guessed the Titanic...Speaking of "Power 106," the station launched Jose, the Brown Hornet (one horny guy) into the busy skies above the freeway in a Bell Jet Ranger 1 piloted by Captain George. Jose complained that they were "going too fast and were too high" and he told Big Boy that he had no idea where they were...Harry Shearer saluted Richard Beebe, who passed away last month, on his Le Show at KCRW with a very warm tribute. Harry ran some highlights from "The Credibility Gap."

(September 7, 1999) Longtime KZLA veteran Jim Duncan was supposed to team with swinger Wendi this morning to do battle in the busy and competitive morning drive slot. Not only were they not on this morning for their debut, there was not one mention of the team by Scott James. Last week the station made reference to the new morning team teaming with Kenny Rogers to give $10,000 in sports equipment to a local organization, school or charity. The promotion is tied into Kenny’s song The Greatest, the story of a boy and his love for baseball. What happened to Jim and Wendi this morning? More shall be revealed.

The board of trustees at Pasadena City College voted to begin negotiating a joint broadcast management of KPCC with Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) and the new partnership, which is to be called Southern California Public Radio (SCPR). The deal beat out two other competing offers and ended more than a year of questions about the future of the campus station. The agreement calls for a year of negotiations determining the programming content of KPCC, addressing such issues as student involvement at the station and the retention of the broadcast license, valued at as much as $2 million. Hector Mercado, editor of Courier Trends, has a front page story you can read at:
http://www.pcc-courieronline.com/news/090399/KPCC.html

"Mega 100’s" John London called 411 to see if the operator had ever heard of John London and the House Party. She had and she got tickets to join the crew at Knott’s Berry Farm…Mary Price saw her first Styx concert last week at the new Sun Theatre in Anaheim and raved to her "Arrow 93" audience about the group and the new venue…School is back in session for many youngsters. Larry Marino at KIEV’s "Morning Magazine" has Dr. Butterworth on this morning who says it is okay to pay your kids to get good grades…Karen Beck still carries Gary Owens’ business card from KMPC days. It reads: Director of Nepotism…Michael Reagan celebrates his 8^th anniversary hosting a nationally syndicated talk show to over 200 stations…Over the Labor Day weekend, KZLA’s Tonya was giving away VIP tickets to the Randy Travis concert at the LA County Fair while KRTH was giving away tickets to an advanced screening of For the Love of the Game starring Kevin Costner.

KNX’s Rory Markas will return to the Southland this week. He’s has been in Orlando at the Universal Studios taping TNN’s Roller Jam. Rory is the host and play-by-play announcer. Show airs Friday nights and repeats late Saturday afternoon…Didja watch the Arizona – TCU football game Sunday? One of the Fox Sports Net announcers was David Norrie, former UCLA and NY Jets quarterback. David has broadcast UCLA sports games at KMPC and XTRA…If you worked at KBIG between 1983 and 1997, you’ll remember Steve Oshin. He started as a salesman and by 1995 had been promoted to general manager. With the sale of the station in a Bonneville swap for Chancellor’s KZLA, Steve left. In the spring of 1998, Steve was named gm of KBSG-Seattle. He has now been promoted to head the cluster of Entercom stations in the Northwest…Enemy of the State is now out on video. If you look real hard you’ll see KCRW’s Warren Olney

KROQ’s Kevin & Bean picked up a Marconi Award at last week’s NAB in Orlando for major market personality of the year…Doran, who hosts Digital Village computer show on KPFK, grew up in Burbank, went to school in Burbank and lives in Burbank. Doran enjoyed the KBBQ photo in the LARP Photo Gallery last week. "It was a nice bit of nostalgia," emailed Doran. "I'm not sure if you know, but that building [and frequency] later became the home of KROQ, which was then both AM and FM before they moved to Pasadena."

Westwood One’s Zack Taylor kicks off the short week with a Tuesday funnie: "Disney is looking to sell the worst team in baseball. But not before making 'Angels in the Doghouse.'"

KMPC Night at Anaheim Stadium.
The year was 1974.

(l to r) Ron B. Fineman, Dick Whittinghill, Gene Autry, Mike Botula and John Felz.

(Thanks to KNX's Ron Fineman for sending us this photo from his personal collection. If you would like to share a radio related photo, send it by .jpg file to db@ecom.net or mail to: Los Angeles Radio People, PO Box 55518, Valencia, CA 91385)

Don Barrett’s www.laradio.com, excerpted weekly here, is celebrating its second anniversary as a Web site on Thursday. How does Barrett, a marketing specialist in the movie business who worked on Rocky, Back to the Future, and the James Bond films, find time to listen to so much radio daily? We sat down with him for a conversation.

Q: How often do you listen to the radio and how many radios do you have?
A: The only time I listen to live radio is when I’m in the car. I have four radios. I tape 12 hours of various stations a day and listen back to the tapes between 4 and 5:30 a.m., using fast forward to select what will appear in the daily column. Additionally, I receive email from station correspondents about behind-the-scenes activities. At least once a week, I try to profile a current or past Los Angeles radio person. About 6:30 a.m. I send my column to the brilliant Anita Garner (formerly afternoon drive at KBIG and now author). My goal is to post the column by 7 each morning.

Q: When did it start and what’s been the growth rate?
A: I started September 9, 1997, and by the end of the first month I was averaging about 15 readers a day. Two years later there are over 15,000 readers daily. I average 200-300 emails a day, 70 percent from Southern California, 25 percent out of Los Angeles and 5 percent international.

Q: What drives you to do this every day?
A: I never lost the passion for radio that I had as a youngster. During my 10 years in the business I was blessed with a wide variety of experiences, working in markets all over the country (San Francisco, Dallas, Detroit and Los Angeles) and virtually every job from jock and program director to general manager. I left radio in 1974 with the sale of KIQQ-FM. My recent return to radio, writing three books on L.A. radio and hosting laradio.com, is a return to my original passion. I would like to think of myself as a radio photographer taking snapshots of the Southern California radio landscape. The site is not only for the radio people themselves, but also for fans of radio.

Q: What’s ahead for the Web site?
A: There will be a complete revamping of the look of the site this month.

Q: Do you worry you will miss something on the radio?
A: I’m not fun to be with when I’m near a radio. I button push incessantly, fearing I might miss the lead story for tomorrow’s column. When I get radio’ed out, I put on CDs from my obscure doo-wop collection.

Q: What’s ahead for radio?
A: I’ve always resisted looking into a crystal ball to guess the future of radio. I believe there is a mystical ether that emanates from the radio. The winning radio stations have a focus – an ether – and know precisely where they are going. I guess what shocks me the most about L.A. radio is that so many stations settle for mediocrity.

All "Current" News prior to a week ago, appears on the Archives pages

Send mail to db@ecom.net with questions or comments about this Web site. Copyright © 1999 ~los angeles radio people Last modified: September 14, 1999

Send mail to db@ecom.net with questions or comments about this Web site.
Copyright © 1999 ~los angeles radio people
Last modified: September 14, 1999