~Los Angeles Radio People, SDRP

If you are working in San Diego radio or have worked in Bay Area radio from 1957 through the present time, please follow this format for listing. This Where Are They Now page is always in a constant state of changes. You are most welcome to update anyone.

Name, station call letters and dates at each station and what you are doing now. Send information and photo, if available, to db@thevine.net.

Allen, Chip: KDEO, 1960-1962. Chip worked weekends at KDEO. Unknown.
Allen, Dex: KCBQ, 1968-1969. Dex worked morning drive, left for KDAY in Los Angeles in 1969-70, then returned to KCBQ to work in sales. He founded Commonwealth Communications, which owned a number of radio stations. He is now retired and living in Rancho Bernardo.
Allen, Perry: KCBQ, 1979. Perry died on January 31, 2007, at age 75.
Allyn, Gary: KCBQ, 1965 and 1968-1971, pd; KDEO, 1973. Gary moved into voiceover work after his radio career. He lives near Fallbrook and periodically writes a radio blog under his name.
Ambrose, Mike: KDEO, 1960-65; KOGO 1966-73. Mike became tv weatherman ‘Captain’ Mike’ for the NBC affiliate, KGTV in 1973. He died on August 29, 2008 at age 69.
Anderson, Kris: XTRA, 1981. Unknown.
Anderson, Paul Oscar: KCBQ, 1968-70. POA inaugurated a Sunday night talk show ‘Talk Right In’ in addition to his newsman duties. He died of heart failure and cancer on June 2, 2009 in Knoxville, Tennessee at the age of 77.
Azbill. W.K.: KGB, 1922-27. W.K. was granted a license to operate as KFBC on July 14, 1922. The calls changed in 1928 to KGB to become the longest running radio station in San Diego.

B Willy: KMJC, 1979. Unknown.
Babcock, Sam: First PD of KDEO 1959-1960 as a Top 40 format. He died on December 11, 1971 at age 42.
Baily, Chris: KCBQ 1971-1973 worked nights 9 to midnight.
Balsamo, Don: Don was the owner of KDEO from 1965-66. Unknown.
Banks, Dave: KDEO 1960. Unknown.
Barcroft, John: KGB. John was on air at 13K as J.B. Mitchell. John was chief engineer at KGB radio and the San Diego Clear Channel cluster for many years until his retirement in San Diego in 2009.
Barker, Jim: KCBQ 1973. Jim was the music director and left San Diego on to become a pd in other markets.
Bartell, Lee: KCBQ, 1955-1967. Lee, as a family partner in Bartell Media, brought the Top 40 format to San Diego at KCBQ in 1955. When the family sold the station in 1965, Lee stayed on as general manager. He left the station in 1967 as the family business divested radio holdings in favor of hotel development and ownership. He was a guiding hand behind his son Richard Bartell when they acquired KDEO in 1976 and changed the calls to KMJC. Lee died November 6, 1991, in La Jolla, at age 81.
Baxter, Buzz: KDEO, 1965-66 worked mostly the afternoon shifts. He left KDEO to establish Buzzy’s Recording Studio in Los Angeles.
Bayley, K.O.: KGB, 1966-67; KCBQ, 1971-72; KDEO, 1973. At KGB he worked afternoons as Bob Elliot. The name K.O. was derived from his early boxing career. He never learned to drive, but ironically, he was killed when a car struck him as a pedestrian.
Beebe, Alan: KMJC, 1978. Unknown.
Bennett, Buzz: KGB, 1969-71, pd; KCBQ, 1971, pd. Buzz used creativity and warfare to fine tune formats into ratings leaders wherever he worked.
Birrell, Harry: KCBQ, 1958-65. Harry worked as Jerry Walker at KCBQ. He worked afternoon and evening shifts and created the Casey B. Quack character. Harry was later a news anchor at KNX-Los Angeles for 30 years. He is now retired and living in Ventura.
Bishop, Bill: KCBQ 1963-65. Bill worked afternoons before moving on to voiceover work for Disney and various tv productions.
Bishop, Jerry: KCBQ 1979-1980; KPOP, 1992-2001. Jerry worked afternoons after hosting the morning program at KFMB each weekday morning. After a brief stint at an LA station, Jerry left radio to own and operate restaurants in San Diego, while being the voice of the Disney Channel. He also hosted the morning show at KFMB/TV from 1978 to 1990. Jerry lives in San Diego.
Boatman, Arthur: KPRI; KGB, 1976. Unknown.
Boss, Mike: XTRA, 1981. Mike did production work and handled afternoon drive.
Bowles, George: KGB, 1928. The general manager for whom the KGB call letters were created.
Bowman, Don: KDEO, 1960. Don worked the night shift doing a comedy routine featuring the character of Gruesome Goodbody. However, the local Goodbody Mortuary took exception to Don’s fictional character. Before long, le left for KEWB in Oakland, then moved on to the Country Western comedy circuit and charting hits. He was voted CMA Comedian of the Year in 1967. He was the host of American Country Countdown from 1973-1978. Don lives in Branson, MO and continued to produce comedy music.
Boyd, Barry: KCBQ, 1966-72. Barry worked afternoons from 1966 to 1968, then moved into the sales department through 1972. He died on January 12, 2001, in his native Alberta, Canada.
Boyd, Glen: XEAK, 1958-59. Glen worked the overnight shift in the early years of XEAK as a Top 40 format.
Boyer, Larry: KUDE, 1962-64; KDEO, 1964-65; KOGO; KPOP. Larry died in 2007.
Boyer, Chris: KGB. Chris was part of the morning team at KGB with Dave, Shelly & Chainsaw until early 2010.
Bradley, Susan: KDEO, 1976. Susan worked weekends during this album oriented format phase.
Brown, Willet: Willet was employed by Don Lee Broadcasting when it acquired KGB in 1931. Willet formed Brown Broadcasting Company in 1961 and acquired KGB. They retained ownership until 1997. He died on October 14, 1993, in Los Angeles.
Brown, B. Bailey: KCBQ 1968-69. B. Bailey worked overnights for about a year. He died in Texas on October 24, 2003 at age 57.
Browning, Chuck: KCBQ, 1971; KGB, 1971. Chuck worked the morning drive at KCBQ and was fired for playing a Beatles song that was not in the music rotation. He moved over to KGB for a few months in 1971. He died on March 3, 1988.
Bullet, Jesse: KGB 1969-72; KDEO, 1976. Jesse worked weekends, overnights, and nights as his career developed at KGB. Jesse was PD at album-oriented KDEO in 1976. He later served as general manger of several Commonwealth Communications stations. He is now retired and living in the Lake Tahoe area.
Butts, Mike: KCBQ, 1974. Mike works in Delaware radio.

Copper, Ken: KOGO, 1976; KCBQ AM/FM, 1986; KBZT, 1992; KPOP, 2000. Ken does voiceover work and, even though no longer on the radio, continues to talk to people he cannot see.

Dale, Don: KGB, 1968-71. Don worked primarily overnights. He left radio to become a technician with AT&T and San Diego Gas & Electric. He is now retired and living near San Diego.
Dandy, ‘Coffee’ Jim (Jim Washburne): KDEO 1959-60. Jim was on hand to inaugurate Top 40 radio at KDEO and left to become pd at KRLA in Los Angeles. Jim was killed in a car accident near Big Sur in 1966.
Danon, Keith: KGB. Keith worked as a roving dj at special events on behalf of the station.
Darin, Johnnie: KGB, 1967-1968. Johnnie worked the mid-day shift enroute to establishing a successful career in Los Angeles. John lives in Utah and does a voice-track financial show for KFWB.
Daugherty, Chuck: KDEO, 1963-64. Chuck worked the morning shift at KDEO and captured headlines multiple times with his pranks. He is now retired and living in Michigan.
Davis, Jerry: KPRI, KGB, and KFMB/TV. Jerry interned with each of these stations during college from 1960-1964. His internship at KGB led to being an on-air host for about six weeks on Sunday nights. He eventually became a CBS video technician working on many comedy programs.
Day, Scotty: KCBQ, 1958-70; KOGO, 1970-79. Scotty began doing production work at KCBQ and worked the morning shift for over a decade throughout the 1960s. With changes in generation at KCBQ, he joined former KCBQ colleagues at KOGO and remained until that station was sold. He invested in the stock market as a hobby and was deeply admired in the community and by his colleagues. Scotty died on October 4, 2002.
Delaney, Sue: XTRA, 1981. Unknown.
DeMott, John: KCBQ, 1968-70; KDEO, 1970-71; KGB, 1972; KFMB, 1973; KSON, 1974-76; KSDO, 1976-84; KOGO, 1984-85. John was news director during his time with KCBQ. John was the major sports voice in San Diego from 1973-85. He was the PA Announcer for the San Diego Padres and other teams who played at Qualcomm Stadium from 1970 though 1985. He was on the broadcast team for the Chargers from 1976-84 and Sockers 1978-1984. John is retired and living in Southern Florida.
Denis, Mark: KGB, 1966-68. Mark worked the morning drive and was pd at KGB while it enjoyed enormous ratings. He was a master at production. He had a practice of faithfully sending birthday cards to all of his friends each year. Mark concluded his career at KFI when he died of a heart attack on April 28, 2000, at the age of 59.
Denver, Joel: KCBQ, 1978. Joel was programming for Charter Broadcasting and assigned to KCBQ to refine the format to maintain ratings success. Joel is now President/Publisher of AllAccess.com, a respected daily blog about the radio industry. He lives in Malibu.
Devine, Thom: KCBQ, 1969. Thom worked overnights.
Diego, Sam: KCBQ, 1973. Sam worked as Steve Taylor on weekends before moving to KFRC in San Francisco as ‘Citizen’ Bill Carpenter.
Dixon, Mason: KCBQ, 1976-77. Mason worked afternoons. He is now at Q-105 in Tampa.
Donnelly, Bob: XEAK, 1957-61. Bob worked nights and was pd at ‘The Mighty 690.’ He died in the 1970s.
Dowe, Ken: KDEO, 1961. Ken worked the morning rive shift before moving on to KLIF in Dallas, TX. He is now the Chief Operating Officer of Service Broadcasting Corp. that owns KKDA-104 in Dallas.
Downey, Morton: KDEO, 1964. Morton worked afternoons and hosted the ‘Mad Lad Marauders’ that offered a commission as a Colonel with a secret code. He was better known for his syndicated tv talk show. He died of cancer on March 12, 2001.
Drake, Bill: The architect of the legendary "Boss Radio" format that was programmed at KGB from 1964-71. They began imaging the station around a Beach Boys theme, but refined it into Boss Radio that enjoyed enormous success for several years at stations throughout California. Bill died of cancer on November 29, 2008 at the age of 71.
Driscoll, Jon: KGB, 1979-80. Jon worked weekends at 13K.
Drury, Dick: KGB, 1962-64. Dick was pd of the station prior to the arrival of the Chenault-Drake consultancy. He later worked at several stations in Los Angeles prior to becoming director of programming for the Susquehanna Broadcasting network. He died after 1979.

Freshman, Howard: KKLQ (Q106), 1991. Howard went on to work at KSRF (MARS/fm) KKHJ and KRTH in Los Angeles and RTL 102.5 FM in Milan, Italy. Howard is currently marketing & promotions director for CBS Radio’s KNX and KFWB, Los Angeles.

Galore, Melody, KCBQ, 1967-68. A receptionist at KCBQ who did personal appearances with air staff and wrote a column for GO Magazine.
Gardner, Ashley. KGB, 1982. Ashley worked weekends in the waning days that KGB was a music station.
Gardner, Bill: KCBQ, 1973. Bill worked morning drive at KCBQ. He is now heard on KOOL in Phoenix.
Geiger, Chuck: KSEA, 1972; KCBQ 1975-76. Chuck worked weekends and filled in. Chuck programmed a number of stations throughout the country. He now lives in Fresno and produces Full Throttle, a blog site about radio industry activities.
Gilbert, Johnny: KCBQ, 1967. Johnny worked afternoons at KCBQ for a brief time. He was killed in a helicopter crash in 1974.
Gillette, Rick: KGB, 1980-82. Rick worked nights at 13K and had the distinction of being the last dj on the air before the KGB format and calls were changed for all-News. He was most recently at KISS in Chicago and now lives in Los Angeles.
Gladden, Ernie: KGB 1972. Ernie worked nights at KGB.
Goddard, Steve: KCBQ 1977-80. Steve worked afternoons and nights. He built a record collection to include every Top 100 song sine 1955. With that collection, he created the syndicated Goddard’s Gold program where songs are played and he provides background information. Steve can be heard on KOOL/fm in Phoenix.
Good, David: KGB, 1982. David worked weekends and fill-in.
Goss, Dean: KCBQ, 1976-78; KGB, 1979-82. Dean worked nights at KCBQ and morning drive with newsman Jeff Prescott at 13K.
Guinn, Matt: KCBQ, 1972. Matt worked afternoons briefly in 1972.

Hall, Mel: KDEO, 1959-61. Mel arrived at KDEO as the station began a Top 40 format. He served as pd in 1961. After two years at WJJD-Chicago, he returned to San Diego and established Cinera Coporation that produced commercials and music. He also worked at XETV in production at this time. Mel continues to operate Cinera Corporation in San Diego.
Hall, Mort: KDEO, 1965. Mel extended his radio ownership beyond KLAC in Los Angeles when he became part-owner of KDEO in 1965. He was last known to be living on New York.
Handy, Bud: XEAK, 1957-61. Bud was the chief engineer at XEAK throughout the Top 40 period. He was also on the air during evenings in 1957.
Harmon, Bob and Jim: Brothers from Tulsa, OK who negotiated a deal to lease all air time on 5000 watt station XEAK in 1956. They changed the calls to XEAK and increased the watts to 50,000 in 1957 to kick-off the Top 40 format at this station.
Harold, Drew, KCBQ, 1972. Drew worked middays and nights during his four month employment at KCBQ. He now lives in Boise, ID where he does an afternoon talk show.
Harrison, Mal: KCBQ, 1969. Mal worked afternoons for two weeks and left without a word.
Hayes, Jack: KCBQ, 1965-67. Jack came and went during 1965-67 indicative of his relationship with station owner Lee Bartell. Jack constantly struggled for negotiated compensation based on ratings. Jack served as pd and music director in 1967. Jack continues to perform freelance voice talent for radio, tv and corporate clients. He lives in Nevada.
Hayes, Johnny: KGB, 1964-65. Johnny worked overnights then the afternoon shift when KGB adopted Boss Radio. Johnny was most recently on KRTH in Los Angeles from 1992 to 2002. He was twice recognized as ‘Oldies DJ of the Year.’ He lives in Hollywood, CA.
Heacock, Allen: KCBQ 1955-59. Allen was pd during the opening years of the Top 40 format in San Diego.
Hearne, John: KDEO, 1960-65. Partnered with Howard Tullis as owner of several stations in California, including KDEO.
Herman, Doug: KCBQ, 1972. Conceived the Last Contest at KCBQ which launched Doug and Jack McCoy into marketing promotions for a number of stations. Doug is still President of Promotional Broadcast Network in San Diego.
Hill, Jim: KCBQ, 1968. While injured as a member of the San Diego Chargers, Jim Hill filled some time as host of a talk show called ‘Keep the Faith.’ Jim is a sports broadcaster with KCBS/Channel 2 in Los Angeles.
Herring, Buck: KDEO. Buck briefly worked the morning drive when KDEO was launched with a Top 40 format.
Himmell. Larry: KDEO, 1976; KGB 1976-78; KGB/fm, 1978-84. Larry worked at stations that featured album-oriented rock formats. He also performed comedy routines at local night clubs. Larry began his tv career with KFMB. His biggest story was in 2007 as he did a report about a wildfire while his home was burning to the ground behind him. Larry continues to do news features for KFMB/TV.
Holiday, Johnny: KCBQ, 1959-65. Johnny Holiday, also known as Johnny Mitchell at KHJ and Sabastian Stone at KFRC worked nights during a very successful run at KCBQ. He died on November 11, 1987.
Holiday, Sie: KDEO, 1959-60. Sie worked overnights as the first female Top 40 air personality in San Diego. After working at KLAC in Los Angeles, she returned to her native Wichita Falls, TX and worked in local theater. She died of cancer on June 23, 2006, at the age of 75.
Howard, Don: KSDO, 1948-55; KCBQ 1955-63; KOGO 1963; KPOP 1983-91. Don reached a pinnacle of success that was reflected in the salaries he could command and his longevity in the San Diego market. Don concluded his career at KPOP. He died in 2000.
Huddelston, J. Paul: KSON, 1962; KCBQ, 1978 John did news reports for these San Diego stations when not working in other markets. Paul died in 1993 of complications of liver disease while working in the world of financial business in San Antonio. He was 62.
Hudson, Lord Tim: KCBQ 1965. Tim was hired to personify the British invasion at the local level. He left only a few months after his arrival for KFWB in Los Angeles. He now lives in Palm Springs and produces a syndicated radio show called ‘Theater of the Mind’, but his primary activity is his work as a visual artist.
Hurley, Don: KPLN, 2000-02. Don worked afternoon drive at The Planet.
Hunter, Jeff: XTRA, 1980. Jeff was pd at XTRA upon it’s brief return to the Top 40 format.

Larson, Mark: KFMB/AM, 1976-94; KPRZ/KCBQ 1994-2004; KOGO 2004-07; BCA 2007-2008; KCBQ/KPRZ, 2009-10. Mark works morning drive at KCBQ and afternoons at KCBQ sister station, KPRZ/Salem Communications. He is a frequent guest host on SRN networks' Hugh Hewitt and Dennis Prager shows.

McKay (Avey), John: KFMB / KFMB/fm, 1979-83; KMJC, 1978-79; KBZT, 1978. John works at NBC News as an AVID editor for Nightly News and The Today Show.

Ocean, Bobby: KGB; KCBQ, 1968-79. Bobby lives in a comic strip just north of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Prescott, Jeff: KSDO, 1972; KSEA, 1973-74; KFMB, 1975; KGB, 1975-90; 91X, 1990-93; KFMB, 1996-98; KOGO, 1998-2005. Jeff is retired in San Diego and doing occasional voiceover work.

Wayne, Ted: 91X-XTRA, 1980-81; KGB, 1981-82; KIFM, 1982-84. Ted Wayne (real name Ted Ziegenbusch) did morning drive on 91X and helped program the station's "Block Party Weekend". Ted also became the first official program director for sister station "The Mighty 690" XTRA when they changed back to a Top 40 format in the early 1980's. Ted wore the additional hats of both music director and promotions director, reviving the popular $50,000 Treasure Hunt. During Ted's tenure the station claimed the #1 cume in San Diego and with their booming signal, surpassed even their closest rivals in the L.A. market ratings. Ted left XTRA for middays on KGB and later morning drive and apd duties at KIFM. After leaving the San Diego market for KOST, Ted was retained by KIFM and later KYXY as their programming consultant. Ted currently works weekends and fill-in on KOST 103.5 in Los Angeles.