D

D, Gary: KDAY, 1986-90. Gary Lynn Dillard started as an intern at KDAY and worked his way up to dj. He passed away in 1994.
D, Johnnie: KBBT, 1995-99. During the daily cacophony that surrounds us as we drive throughout the Southland, no matter the radio station we listen to, we hear a constant hum of traffic reports, traffic jams and the occasional freeway closures. We hear about traffic accidents and Sigalerts and always think these wrecks involve strangers. On May 10, 1999, at 4 a.m. a drunk driver got on the 91 freeway going the wrong way and ran head-on into Johnnie (Nichols), KKBT’s Street Team Supervisor, and killed him. Stacy Cunningham, "the Beat’s" promotion field manager said, "Johnnie was the very best person you could ever meet…ever! He was the best worker all around. He had integrity. He was honest, optimistic and everyone loved being around him." Johnnie’s dream was to be an actor and he was juggling two jobs to pursue his dream. In addition to the KKBT job he worked at UPS during the all-night hours and still managed to pick up his daughter every afternoon after school. He grew up in Carson. "Johnnie and I started at the radio station on the same day in 1995. He was just the best," said Stacy. He was 31.
D, Kenny: KACE, 1979-80; KABC, 1995-96; KRLA, 1997-99. Kenny became the night jock for an Internet radio station, SoulRadioCoast2Coast.com that has since folded.

DAGGY, Kimberlea: KUSC, 2001-12. Kimberlea worked middays at Classical KUSC until late summer 2012. From the KUSC website: "Her love of Classical music shines throughout her eclectic weekday program weekday afternoons and Saturday afternoons following The Opera Show. She created the highly popular choral music program, Soul Music, which she hosts Sunday mornings from 6-9. Kimberlea also explores composers’ lives in-depth in quarterly specials, such as the celebrations of the 200th birthdays of Chopin and Schumann in 2010, and Liszt's bicentinnial in 2011. In addition to soothing souls throughout Southern California on the air, Kimberlea gives pre-performance talks and writes program notes for a variety of organizations in Classical KUSC’s listening area, including Los Angeles Opera, the Ojai Music Festival and the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. Along with her colleague Duff Murphy, Kimberlea hosted live broadcasts of Los Angeles Opera on Classical KUSC. She plays piano and frequently sings with the choir at the Parish of St. Matthew in Pacific Palisades, where her husband, Roger, is organist. Kimberlea and Roger have passed their love of music to their children, Max and Celia, who both sing, and Celia also plays violin.

DAHL, Steve: KPPC, 1972-73; KKDJ, 1973. Most Los Angeles disc jockeys achieve their greatest fame in L.A. Steve is almost an asterisk in the history of Southern California radio compared to his very successful run in Chicago radio. And it started at a baseball game. The catalyst for the death of Disco radio, Steve's "disco sucks" event attracted national attention when it was staged between a double header at the Chicago White Sox' Comiskey Park in July 1979. Dahl blew up an outfield filled with 20,000 disco LPs. The “disco inferno” turned into a fiasco when 7,000 fans rushed the field resulting in cancellation of the second game and White Sox owner Bill Veech's threat to ban Dahl from the park for life. His “disco demolition derby” started a very successful run in Chicago radio, mostly on WLUP where he teamed with Garry Meier. Steve was born in Pasadena in 1954 and commented on his brief stay in Los Angeles: "With so much creative radio around like 'Firesign Theatre' and the 'Credibility Gap,' I realized that radio could be more than time, temp, and playing the music." During the 1970s, Dahl also worked in Bakersfield, San Diego and Sacramento. In 1973 Rick Carroll was in Bakersfield remixing the KKDJ jingles at the Buck Owens Studios and heard Steve on KAFY.

One of the KKDJ djs (T. Michael Jordan) remembers, "Rick asked Steve to do weekends at KKDJ and did for a very short time. He froze and sounded like crap. Rick wanted to axe him, but we all got the ax first and Steve went off to do big and wonderful things." He went to Detroit and made headlines when he faked a suicide attempt, which prompted the arrival in the studio of several fire rescue units. In early 1981, Rick Carroll brought him to KROQ from WLUP-Chicago, and the Pasadena outlet was to be the flagship for a nationwide network. “I was fired from WLUP and never started on KROQ.” He also worked for WDAI (the call letters stand for Detroit Auto Industry) and in Milwaukee. The roly-poly morning jock/performer also worked at WLS-Chicago and has been a major force in the Windy City radio wars. In the mid-1980s he commanded as much as $20,000 per appearance for his satirical live concerts. He played a dj in Grandview USA, starring Jamie Lee Curtis.

In 1989, he was given the Father of the Year Award following an on-air vasectomy. Sometimes Steve's routines flirted with bad taste. In his nightclub act, he would sing an Elvis parody, Heart Attack Hotel, ending the number by collapsing on stage. He has worked for a number of Chicago stations and today works afternoons at WLS (AM). He was elected to the Radio Hall of Fame in 2013.

Dallas, Paul: KPFK, 1966-68; KABC. The former manager of KPFK and host of "Thinking Allowed," died in 1984. He was also an assistant program director under Bruce Marr at KABC in the late 70's & early 80's. He wrote a book about his experience as general manager at KPFK called Dallas in Wonderland. "He was truly one of the good guys in radio," said colleage Michael Benner.

(Kenny D, DJ Syphe and DLux, Frankie DiVita, and Mike Dowler)

DALE, Bobby: KFWB, 1961-63; KRLA, 1964-65; KGBS, 1970. Bobby died January 17, 2001, following a long bout with liver cancer. He was 69. Bobby was born Robert Dale Bastiansen on July 27, 1931, in Minneapolis. After a series of "weird jobs," he started in radio at age 25 in Glendive, Montana. From the very beginning, Bobby knew he had an uncanny knack to pick hit records and he loved music. Bobby went on to KOIL-Omaha, where he replaced Gary Owens and then to KDWB-Minneapolis. In 1961, the disc jockeys at KFWB went out on strike in sympathy for the newsmen. Management and Crowell-Collier sister station jocks were called. Bobby worked his 6-to-9 p.m. shift in Minneapolis, got on an airplane to Los Angeles and was on the air in B. Mitch Reed's shift the next night. (Reed flew to Minneapolis to replace Dale.) For a brief time Bobby worked at KFWB's sister station, KEWB, in the Bay Area and then returned to the Southland to work at KRLA. "That was the biggest I ever was in L.A. I played the Rolling Stones like the others were playing the Beatles, and I was huge," he said when interviewed for Los Angeles Radio People. He also worked at the legendary MOR station, KSFO-San Francisco, in the late 1960s and for four years beginning in 1971. During his years in San Francisco, he hung out with Tom Donahue in North Beach. In the early 1980s he worked at KKCY ("The City")-San Francisco. He gave up radio as a full-time profession in 1985. From time to time he would appear on the University of San Francisco campus station, KUSF.

In 1992 he lost his voice and an operation on his nodules was required. In preparation for the operation, it was discovered that he had diabetes, a heart problem and cirrhosis of the liver. "The doctor told me that if I had one more drink or one more cigarette, I would die." For much of the last half of the 1990s, he went on to work with youngsters at a pre-school in San Rafael. "He was singular," said Ben Fong-Torres, author of The Hits Just Keep On Coming.

"Bobby had a jazz soul; a love of music ranging from pop to blues, folk & jazz. He loved breaking away from Top 40 and into the freedom he found at KSFO on the all-night shift and at the FM stations KSAN and KOFY. But even at Top 40, he was always his own guy, totally improv and off-the-wall, doing WC Fields/Lord Buckley-inspired riffs, goofing with live spots, and being so unpredictable that Chuck Blore once called him the worst dj he'd ever heard, and then, months later, hearing him again, declaring him one of the best." Ben talked with Bobby two weeks ago. "All in all, I've had a pretty good ride," Bobby told Ben. When Ben asked how he was feeling, facing death and all, Bobby said, "I'm feeling fine, cracking jokes, you know. I don't know what else to do."

(Captain Dale Dye, and Jeff Dean) 

 

DALE, Sharon: KFOX, 1979-81; KMGG, 1981-83; KOST/KFI, 1983-2000; KABC, 2001-10. For many year Sharon hosted the "Hill & Dale Show" on LA Talk Radio. Born on February 21, 1951, in Lawrence, Kansas, she grew up in Brunswick, Maine. While attending the University of Maine in 1970, Sharon first fell in love with radio while visiting the campus station. She started her professional career in Bangor as a Top 40 dj, and is recognized as one of Maine’s first female broadcasters. In the Southland, she made her mark as a traffic reporter. Sharon was the news/public affairs director at KFOX and joined "Magic 106" as part of the morning team of London & Engelman. Sharon spent 17 and a half years at KOST, where she was part of the morning team with Mark & Kim. She also hosted weekend public affairs shows at KOST. Once Clear Channel bought the stations, Sharon became a casualty of consolidation and lost her job in the fall of 2000. Sharon went on to work at Metro/Shadow news and traffic. She has collected three Golden Mikes and spends her spare time helping her husband Bill at is percussion shop called “Noisy Toys” near LAX.

 

DALTON, Bill: KLAC, 1970-71. Bill was general manager at KLAC. He died in early November 2012, at the age of 80. Bill arrived in the Southland from another Metromedia outlet, WASH-Washington, DC. He was the designer for the switch to a Country format at KLAC. Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, he grew up in Lincoln and the DC area. He graduated from Duke University in 1957 with a B.A. in business administration and accounting. Bill started his career in the summer of 1957 working for Kluge Enterprises. He went on to WHK-Cleveland and WIP-Philadelphia in sales. In late 1965 he was named vp/gm of WEEZ-Philadelphia and two years later went to WASH. When he left KLAC in the summer of 1971, he returned to WASH until early 1977 when he moved to run another Metromedia station, WNEW-New York. In 1981, he and his wife Susan bought WXTR-Washington, DC and sold it in 1987. At the time of his death, he ran the Dalton Group, owners of WGRR-Cincinnati and WWMG/WEND-Charlotte. He was recognized as one of the key figures in the development of the FM band and the Adult Contemporary format. Diane Dalton Warren said of her father, “I have been tutored by many talented broadcasters but my passion, gifts and talents come from my father, Bill Dalton. I will forever be grateful that we shared the radio business which brought him joy, success and many, many incredible friendships. I will miss him but his legacy lives on in me and so many others.”

 

DALTON, Don: KFI/KOST, 1982-84. Don, the former general manager at KFI/KOST, suffered a brain aneurysm the same day that the station’s airborne traffic reporter Bruce Wayne's plane went down on June 4, 1986.

DALTON, Rich: KWST, 1976-81. St. Louis Radio Hall of Famer "Radio Rich" is so popular he has his own Facebook page encouraging him to return to radio. "I've found out that if you do what you love, what your heart tells you to, it will lead you to the right place." Born on February 7, 1950, when Dalton was a young boy, his family moved to the Riverview area of St. Louis County. "I attended St. Catherine of Alexandria Catholic Grade School. I was an altar boy and an Eagle Scout. In a way, it was just like the Cleavers on Leave it to Beaver - except my mom never wore pearls around the house," said Dalton. With Radio Rich, it seems to be about the music." In the late 1970s, when fm radio became an established money-maker, things began to change. "It became corporate, and we had playlists and formats," Dalton said. "And quite honestly, that crushed the spirit of FM rock radio. It almost killed it. "I still remember the day when I was told I couldn't play anything from 'Bitches Brew,' a great Miles Davis album. I knew at that point that old FM rock radio would never be the same." Dalton left St. Louis and KADI in 1976 to work at KWST (K-WEST). He returned to St. Louis in 1981 and worked for two years at KWK before joining KSHE in 1983. He stayed there for eight years, and then spent three years at KSD. Dalton went off the air in 1995 and did not return until 2002. "Around 1995, there was a huge change in the radio business that allowed chains to own stations, and there was this orgy of buying and selling stations. It became even more corporate," he said. For seven years, Dalton worked out of a home studio and made a living doing narration work. He also had an Internet radio show.

 

DALY, Carson: KROQ, 1996-97; KAMP, 2010-17. Carson hosts a late-night network tv show and in early 2010 started doing mornings at AMP Radio until the summer of 2017. He also hosts the enormously popular The Voice (over a decade hosting) and reports every morning on The Today Show. During his time with AMP, Carson appeard on the yearly listing of Best LARP of the year. In 2010, Carson reteamed with pd Kevin Weatherly, his boss at KROQ in the 1990s before Carson went on to a successful tv career. Carson has served as host of MTV’s Total Request Live, Last Call with Carson Daly, the annual New Year’s Eve Times Square broadcast on NBC, and the host of the surprise NBC blockbuster, The Voice. Carson joined evenings at KROQ in the summer of 1996 from afternoons at KOME-San Jose. He left “K-Roq” in the fall of 1997 for MTV Live, the precursor to TRL. Growing up the youngest of two children in Santa Monica, Carson loved music, but he had thoughts about becoming a professional golfer. In 2017, Carson won the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He also flirted with the idea of becoming a priest. In 1992, he received a partial golf scholarship to Loyola Marymount University and studied theology for a semester. His mother hosted a tv talk show in Palm Springs, and Carson landed a local morning internship at KCMJ. When he got to MTV, he told Teen People, “When I got on the air they were like, ‘We can clean you up a little bit. You take off the baggy pants, take off that stupid T-shirt, take the nose ring out, dye your hair from blue back to black. We can find an all-American boy in you.’ They asked me what designers I liked, and I didn’t even know any. I don’t shop. I’ve never bought a pair of pants, ever.” Carson has been parodied on Saturday Night Live. Jimmy Fallon, playing Carson, has introduced himself with the line, “I’m Carson Daly, and I’m average in every way.”

Daly, Larry: XERB, 1967. Unknown.
Damage DJ: KRRL, 2015-19. Abdul Mohammend, The REVOLT personality, joined Real 92.3 in the spring of 2015.
Dame, Dave: KIKF, 1989-90. Dave is the West Coast Regional Promotion Manager for BNA Records, a Country Music division of RCA. He lives in Orange County. 

DAMESHEK, Dave: KSPN, 2007-08. Dave started in afternoon drive at KSPN in late 2007, fresh from the Jimmy Kimmel/Adam Carolla stable of young comedians and talent. Dave was the head monologue writer for Jimmy Kimmel Live since the inception of the late-night ABC talk show in early 2003.  Dave grew up in Pittsburgh and has been a lifetime sports fan. “Now to get a chance to do it on ESPN, and this may sound hokey, but I’m over the moon about the idea of talking sports on ESPN Radio in Los Angeles,” he told me by phone. “And that’s what we are going to focus on. Nationally people perceive L.A. not to be the greatest sports town but as a matter of fact I think it is really underrated." Dameshek was not shy on addressing the issue of sports talk radio and why the format has failed to garner the kind of ratings that it does in other markets. “As far as I’m concerned, I’m not going to try and reinvent the wheel. I don’t have the hubris to say that we’re going to blaze a whole new trail, but I am going to do things more retro compared to what sports talk radio has largely become. It seems very serious to me more than anything. When I listen to sports radio it seems people take themselves very seriously in their opinions. This is not life or death unless you’re hanging out with Pac Man Jones at a strip club. The show should be fun and whimsical and that’s the way we will approach it.” In the summer of 2008, he left his on-air shift and began exclusive podcasts for ESPN. He is currently a football analyst and writer for NFL.com, appearing on NFL Fantasy Live and hosting the Dave Dameshek Football Podcast.

 

DAMIAN, Patrick: KJLH, 1976-78; KIIS, 1979; KDAY, 1981-82. Patrick Damian Evans was a singer and produced shows in Las Vegas. He passed away on November 26, 2013, while living retired in Rosarito, Mexico, according to his son, Matthew Evans. (Photo from his days at KIIS/fm) "Damian started his tenure in radio at KJLH just before Stevie Wonder bought the station. He then took an offer to become a pd in Denver and a station there called KDKO," according to his son. "However, soon after Los Angeles came calling again and he took an offer at 1580 KDAY, when it was located at 1717 Alvardo St. in Los Angeles. He gained in the charts before starting his own business in the emerging computer programming field as well as developing tools for what we now call, the Internet. In the 80s he was raising my brother, also named Damian, and myself. He worked in computer technology as well as playing in music shows throughout the country. His last spot was in Las Vegas where he headlined in the downtown area as "Patrick Damian and The Last Romantics" After that he moved to Rosarito Mexico as a Multimedia producer to help the tourism industry. However, he developed prostate cancer and he went untreated for too long before it was too late and he passed." "My father ived and died as a techy, and artist. He was an actor in the 70's in lower budget films such as Cruisin' High also known as Cat Murkill and the Silks. He was a pianist, drummer, and vocalist as well.  However, he was a private man who rarely expanded on his history with me. Life was always about moving forward with him and he rarely looked back or shared many stories. After he passed it has been hard to find out about him as records werent as tight as they are now. Seeing him on your site, even in a small pictureless blurb was very fulfilling."

 

DAMION: KLOS, 1971-80, pd; KMET, 1981-82; KLSX, 1986-94. The Hartford native has spent his entire career in AOR radio. He died March 26, 2023. He was 79. Before arriving in Los Angeles, Damion Bragdon was at WDAI-Chicago as the station evolved from “free-form” AOR to the “Rock 'n Stereo” format. He moved to Southern California to join KLOS in 1971 at the "home of rock 'n' roll radio." Damion partnered with Jim Ladd to produce the early "InnerView" shows. In a 1994 interview, he recalled his Southland radio highlights: "Being part of the California Jam in April 1973, and conducting four Led Zeppelin interviews and concerts. In the mid-'70s, KLOS was #1 and won Billboard magazine's Station of the Year." He was pd at KLOS in the late '70s and gave up those duties in 1980 to join KMET. Damion joined KLSX and was a part of the original "classic rock" team. When his contract came due in the summer of 1994, it was not renewed - a major surprise to Damion. He joined Unistar's Adult Rock & Roll network for the overnight shift. In 1995 he went to the Hawaiian Islands, and on his first day he met a radio station owner who made Damion pd of his AM&FM operation. He returned from Hawaii in 2003 and Jeff Gonzer hired him for swing shifts at Westwood One, later to become Dial-Global. He retired in late 2008 and lived in LaQuinta. For many years he produced a one-hour show called 'Rock and Roll Cowboy,' where he mixed Modern Country and Classic Rock that aired on weekends and on college radio stations.

Danehe, Dick: KFI, 1970-72. Richard Michael "Dick" Danehe was the USC football color commentator for NBC/TV including the 1955 USC-Ohio State Bowl game. Dick called the Trojan broadcasts for two seasons with Mike Walden. He was best known for announcing golf matches. Dick died June 20, 2018, at the age of 97.

Daniel: KHTZ, 1979-82; KABC, 1982-2007. Daniel Oshe was the engineer for the morning show at KABC. He has retired.
Daniels, Bill: KFWB, 1957-58. Unknown.
Daniels, Dan: KRLA, 1993. Unknown.
Daniels, David B.: KWIZ, 1976. SEE Dave Roberts.
Daniels, Jack: KGFJ, 1965. What’s in a radio name? At one time or another we probably all had one. Floyd Thackrey worked at KGFJ in 1965. He died February 1, 2009, of cancer, at the age of 69. We knew him at KGFJ as Jack Daniels. From the WAKY-Louisville tribute site, where Jack wrote, “I was hired [at WAKY-Louisville] by Jim Brand, who was program director and morning jock at the time. In fact it was Jim who gave me the name ‘Jack Daniels.’ He was driving me around town on my first night, giving me a quick tour of the city. As we drove along the freeway, we'’ pass a Jack Daniels whiskey billboard about every quarter of a mile it seemed. I remember him asking if I was a teetotaler. After telling him ‘no,’ he asked what I thought about using Jack Daniels as an air name. He reminded me that since the Kentucky bourbon was owned by Early Times, which was headquartered in Louisville, the name would be easily and quickly recognizable for ratings purposes. Done deal..."
Daniels, Jason: KMXN, 2002. Jason worked swing at "COOL 94.3fm" until an ownership change in late 2002.

DANIELS, Jim: KLSX, 1996-97; KOLA, 2005; KLOS, 2017-20 and 2023. Jim arrived at "Real Radio" to replace Susan Olsen and Ken Ober. He grew up in the Southland. "The only place I was going to be happy on the air was L.A.," he said shortly after his arrival at KLSX. "After 10 years of doing morning 'rim shot' radio in KHYT-Tucson, KYRK and KOMP-Las Vegas and KGGI-Riverside, I took off to cut my teeth in talk radio." He quit the morning show at KGGI to take the overnight shift on new Talk outlet WOWF-Detroit where he moved to evening host and then to mornings in less than six months. He arrived at KLSX from "B97 The Buzz”-New Orleans. " He left KLSX in the spring of 1997 for Houston. Jim returned to do overnights at FOX, which turned into middays with Jason Smith in 2002. Jim worked mornings at KOLA-Inland Empire until late 2005. He wemt to San Diego as program director at FREE/fm in San Diego. He left in early summer 2007 "after CBS screwed it up," Jim said. "We had Adam Carolla as our network morning show and they pulled the plug after 18 months." Since 2011, he has been program director, music director and on-air at KATY-Riverside-Temecula. "I worked for the Green Bay Packers great Willie Davis as market/promo director at X-103.9 (San Diego) before joining the NBC Sports Radio network in 2013. Jim joined KLOS as weekends/sports host in 2015. "I grew up listening to KLOS, so cool to say those call letters! Now I'm working with one of my radio role models Frazer Smith. What a ride!" JD was let go in June 2020, which is being blamed on COVID-19 and resultant economy collapse. He was rehired for weekends and fill-in in early 2021.

 

DANIELS, Joe: KIIS, 1977-83; KHTZ, 1983-84; KRTH, 1984-91; KLAC, 1999-2001. Joe worked morning drive at KLAC, the Pop Standards station, until a format change to Talk in 2001. He worked out of Dial-Global. “If it wasn’t for the Beatles, I wouldn’t be in radio.” Born Joe Dazzo in Chicago, he first got interested in radio while listening to WLS-Chicago. His family moved to the Southland in the early 1960s and Joe was greatly influenced to follow radio as a career by listening to the journey of Beatlemania. “I would come home from school and be glued to the radio hearing about how Dave Hull had stowed away on the Beatles tour plane.” Joe graduated from Arcadia High School in 1969 and went to the Bill Wade Radio school. In 1974 he spent two years working as the producer for  Dick Haynes at KLAC. “My first on-air job was at KPIN-Casa Grande, Arizona, a station owned by Kevin Weatherly’s father.” Before arriving at KIIS, he worked at KKOK-Lompoc and KSOM-Ontario. While at KIIS he used the name Mark Christopher at KWOW-Pomona. In 1991 he joined WW1 and was heard on the Soft AC format.

 

DANIELS, Mike: KRLA, 1989-98; KODJ/KCBS, 1990-92; KRTH, 1992-2008; KLIT, 1999-2005. From 1994 to 2013, Mike worked at the Oldies format at Westwood One and has been with "K-Earth" for fifteen yearw. He left KRTH in February 2008 following a downsizing by parent company, CBS Radio. Born Mike Sirotzki in Chicago, he grew up in Southern California. Mike graduated from Canyon High School in Santa Clarita and got the radio bug listening to KHJ. Since the early 1990s, Mike has been very ubiquitous and versatile. For a decade he’s been with “K-Earth,” on air and as The Real Don Steele's producer (he also produced Don’s show at KCBS/fm. He was involved with the syndicated “Live From the 60s” starring The Real Don Steele for Premiere Radio Networks.

 Daniels, Roy: KLON, 1985-90. When he left KLON, Roy joined KJAZ-Alameda. He is now manager of a data center for MCI WorldCom in San Francisco. 

DANIELS, Sky: KMET, 1985-87; KCSN, 2011-18. Sky was the general manager at KCSN and worked afternoon drive. In 2016, he was named one of the top 25 “most influential” rock radio programmers in the United States by Billboard Magazine. Sky is a veteran label and radio executive who helped launch Triple-A bastion KCSN (88.5/fm) at Cal State Northridge in 2011. He helped build the station from the ground up, bringing in Tom Petty for a memorable benefit concert and hiring many local personalities. For the past few years Sky has been battling cancer, pancreatitis and a heart attack. When he left KCSN, he admitted many of his disagreements with the university were over budget and personnel cuts. “We were a David amidst Goliaths,” he said in a Variety story. Sky grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, and in addition to the "Mighty Met," KMET, he worked at KFOG in San Francisco and KISW in Seattle, then worked at Island Records, Fontana Distribution, Sony Music, Best Buy and Polygram Label Group.

 

DANIELS, Vince: KPLS 2001-03; KCAA, 2006-12. Vince hosted a talk show at Inland Empire's KCAA until the summer of 2012. He also worked on the air doing love song dedications on KQLH-Inland Empire from 1987-88 after his internship at KWIZ.  The Vince Daniel Show can be heard at ABC Smart Talk KMET (1490 AM) on Thursdays at 9 a.m. His website is: VinceDaniels.com.

Darcel: KGFJ, 1976-77; KKTT, 1977. Unknown.
Darden, Chris, KFI, 1998. Chris was one of the prosecutors in the OJ Simpson murder trial. He is currently of Counsel to THE FOXX FIRM, a private criminal defense and civil litigation firm in Culver City.

DARIN, Dave: KWIZ, 1968-70; KKGO/KGIL, 1999; KCRW, 2000-12; KCSN, 2012-13. Dave was director of Development at KCSN. Born David Kleinbart on October 24 in Chicago. Dave was one of two djs hired to convert KWIZ/fm from automated to its first live format in 1968. He moved to the AM in 1970. When Dave left the Southland he worked in the Bay Area at KAHI and KAFI-Auburn and KCRA-Sacramento as well as on-camera music scene reporter for KCRA/TV. In 1982 joined CBS Radio Networks (became Westwood One) as Western Director of affiliate sales and account executive. Dave received a bachelor’s in radio/tv/film from Cal State Northridge.

DARIN, John: KIIS; KRLA, 1968-71; KDAY, 1971; KROQ, 1972-73; KNAC, 1975; KGOE, 1975; KNX, 1976; KGIL, 1976-83; KJOI, 1978; KBLA, 1989-92; KGIL, 1993; KFWB, 1998-2008. John Darin, an L.A. radio veteran both in front of the mic as well as pd duties across the dial, died March 9, 2014, at the age of 74.  The veteran had just been diagnosed a month earlier with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Born John Christian Miller in Rapid City, South Dakota, he grew up in Ventura. When he was a youth John watched a broadcast, which led him to tell the dj, “when I grow up, I want to be a disc jockey.” In response, the dj said, “you can't do both!” John arrived at KRLA in December of 1968 from KGB-San Diego via earlier stops at KACY-Oxnard and KMEN-San Bernardino, serving as music director at the latter. At KRLA, he started as a production man. He would then become the character Filbert E. Yarborough (Bill Drake's name at KYA-San Francisco) on Dave Hull's morning drive show. Within a few months, Johnnie had his own show in late 1968 then a year later became program director. “It all happened very quickly,” recalled John. In 1972 he started a decade of programs for Armed Forces Radio. He also served as the original pd at the ambitious, albeit ultimately unsuccessful KROQ/AM. After “the Roq,” John went to San Francisco to be gm of KSOL and orchestrated a Disco format. In 1975, he returned to the Southland and spent a summer month at KNAC before becoming pd of KGOE in Thousand Oaks for six months. John’s father would give him prophetic advice about the “dj business,” telling him to prepare for a life after being a jock. John began to make a transition into the world of business reporting on Channel 22 while doing business reports on KNX and playing music on KGIL. In the mid-1980s, John was an anchor on KCOP/Channel 13, field reporter on KHJ/Channel 9 and did reports for cable news. John and Chuck Ashman produced audio, video and websites for clients on nine major airlines under the banner “Flight Talk Network.” He reported business news on American Airlines’ audio channel for years. John helped launch KBLA as a full-time Business station in 1989 when realtor Fred Sands bought the station. After leaving the day-to-day radio grind, John would eventually operate a full-service ad agency specializing in infomercials (many of which he hosted) and industrial video work. “There is life after radio if you are creative, ambitious...and DESPERATE,” John said when interviewed for Los Angeles Radio People.

Daris, Jim: KGIL, 1958-59; KBIG, 1963-70; KFWB, 1970-71. Jim is married to Kathy Lennon of the Lennon Sisters. They live in Branson, Missouri.

DARK, Danny: KLAC, 1963-66. Danny was a very successful voiceover announcer. He died June 13, 2004, of liver failure at the age of 65.  For decades, Danny was one of those big voices that was heard on some of the top blue-chip national spots including Chevrolet, Budweiser, Mazda, Camaro, NBC, AT&T, K-Mart, Texaco, Armorall, Whitman’s Chocolates and hundreds more. “Danny was the long-time king of the voiceover commercial announcer world,” said Chuck Blore. “He was my very best friend. Long live the King!” Born Danny Croskery in Oklahoma City, Danny was brought up in Tulsa. He started at KICK-Springfield, Missouri while working his way through Drury College. Before arriving in Southern California, Danny jocked at KAKC-Tulsa, WERE-Cleveland, WFUN-Miami, WTIX-New Orleans and WIL and KXOK-St. Louis. He hosted evenings at KLAC from 1963-66. At the end of our interview in 1997, Danny said: “I have had a wonderful career.”

Darling, Bob: KJOI, 1986-88. Bob is a partner in a group that owns seven radio stations in California.
Darrell, John: KSRF; KMNY. The former pd at KSRF is now a writer.

DARREN Dangerous: KNAC, 1989-95. Dangerous Darren Silva was born in San Luis Obispo. He went to Cuesta Junior College in SLO majoring in telecommunications. He started his radio career in his hometown on KSLY. "It was great playing Madonna and Michael Jackson songs over and over. Yeah, right! I was in hell, although it was a good experience." At KNAC he worked the all-night show. He left the Long Beach Alternative station with an owner and format switch to Spanish in early 1995. Darren moved to KEGL-Dallas and left in the summer of 1998. He went on to work for Radio Disney and in the fall of 2021, Darren joined Benztown as West Coast Director for commercial production.

 

DASH, Hal: KHJ, 1972-77. Hal was a newsman at 93/KHJ along side Robert W. Morgan, The Real Don Steele, Johnny Williams, Marv Howard and Lyle Kilgore. In 1977, Hal joined Cerrell Associates as a Public Relations rep. He's now the chairman and ceo of Cerrell, an agency that does government relations, PR, lobbying and media. Hal does tv and radio political commentary and radio spots for candidates. Currently, there are 22 people on staff.  Hal was born and raised in Springfield, MA, and graduated from UMass Amherst with an undergraduate degree and a masters degree in communications. He started his career in radio, and moved to California in 1972. Hal met Joe Cerrell when Hal was a radio host in California, and eventually went to work for him in 1977. Hal has been with the company ever since, and now owns it.  Cerrell Associates is a full service firm - besides lobbying, they handle communications and stakeholder outreach.

Davis, Ann: KACE, 1985. Ann McCollum, the former Mrs. Willie Davis, died of cancer in late 1997. 

DAVIS, Bill: KEZY, 1984. Bill worked morning drive at the Orange County station, KEZY. Bill went on to be operations manager and on-air at KROC-Rochester, Minnesota. He became an executive of a now-defunct nonprofit, according to NPR News. Bill has pleaded guilty to multiple federal fraud charges, including mail fraud, wire fraud, theft from a program receiving federal funds and conspiracy to commit such theft. Davis admitted that as the head of Community Action of Minneapolis, he used the organization's money to pay for personal expenses, including a trip to the Bahamas. He also admitted he directed the group to pay his son a consultant's fee for work he wasn't doing. His son, Jordan, is a Minneapolis police officer. In 2017, Bill was sentenced to four years in prison for stealing taxpayer money meant to aid low-income people and using it instead on a personal car, exotic trips and other perks while he ran Community Action of Minneapolis.

 

DAVIS, Cindy: KNOB, 1987; KOCM, 1988-89; KLIT, 1991-94; KLSX, 1995. Cindy currently works middays at KOLA-Riverside. She was born in Long Beach in December 1963. “You know, the Four Seasons, sorry about it, ha ha.” She grew up in Leona Valley with no tv reception. “Radio and music were a big part of my life and still are.” She graduated from Quartz Hill High School in 1982 and started her radio career at KOTE/KKZZ-Lancaster where she met her future husband and they married in 1989. “I worked in Lancaster for two and a half years, then went to Ventura in 1985 doing middays at ‘K-Star.’” While working at “K-Lite,” she moonlighted at KCAL for weekends.

Davis, Eric: KSPN, 2017. Eric, a 13-year NFL player, joined KSPN in afternoon drive with Marcellus Wiley and Kelvin Washington in the fall of 2017.  By the end of the year Eric was gone following inappropriate sexual behavior charges.
Davis, Gina: KGGI, KZLA; KPWR. Born Theresa, Gina was killed while base jumping when her parachute failed to open. She died in December 20, 1995.
Davis, Gordon: KFWB, 1968-72. Gordon left radio for a corporate job dealing with the Pacific Rim.

 

DAVIS, Guy: KHTZ, 1985; KBZT, 1986; KLSX, 1986; KBIG, 1986-95; KNJO/KLIT/KMLT, 1996-2003; KABC, 1998-2000.  Guy  was having a terribly difficult time when we posted a note from his wife in March of 2020. He was fighting advanced rectal cancer. On September 20, 2020 he killed himself in the driveway of his home in Auburn, according to his former radio partner Mark Taylor. He was 65. “He left me his last message on Thursday,” said Taylor. “I called back, but had to leave a message. His cancer was now stage 4 and he was in pain and told his wife he didn't see any way out. We had texted quite a bit and left messages, but I hadn't had a conversation with him in several weeks. His message to me Thursday was fairly upbeat, however he sounded extremely weak.” Guy grew up in the San Luis Obispo area and worked central California, including a station in Bakersfield, KCUB-Tucson, KISS-San Antonio, KBST-San Diego before arriving in Los Angeles. Guy was active in voiceover work and he developed a syndicated cigar talk show. He  was an auctioneer specializing in fund raising and charity auctions.  He later teamed with Mark Taylor in 1998 for the Taylor/Davis report at KABC. The team broke up in 2000. In May 2019, Guy was diagnosed with rectal cancer. His wife, Kris, shared his story in her plea for help.   “Medical bills and co-pays have been overwhelming. Unfortunately we signed up for short-term medical insurance while waiting for Medicare to kick in. We got a letter from our medical insurance stating that Guy’s cancer was preexisting and short-term insurance does not cover his cancer treatment. We are in debt $90,000. The colonoscopy and biopsy caused damage to the tumor which caused severe bleeding. He lost so much blood and was so weak he barely made it. He has had two blood transfusions. He just finished radiation, which did stop the bleeding and gave us hope. He went to Arizona to a natural health clinic to build up his immune and strength, which was all out of pocket cost. Next is hernia surgery than colostomy surgery and chemo.” Kris said it’s been overwhelming and stressful but they were “staying positive!” She concluded: “Guy has said he’s had a wonderful life and radio career. He’s very grateful for the amazing friendships he made along the way. We appreciate your consideration to help!”

Davis, Jay: KEZY, 1961-71; KNX, 1965-67; KGER, 1971-92. Jay retired to Las Vegas. 

DAVIS, Jeff: KNX/fm, 1988; KRTH, 1988-91; KYSR, 1992-95; KBIG, 1998. The long-time WLS-Chicago dj has an active voiceover career. He recounted an experience of being fired. “I've only been fired twice and each time I had a gig before my two weeks notice ran out. Being very unhappy at KNX/fm [just before KODJ and before ARROW 93.1] I accepted a job at K-EARTH. I was escorted out of the building by a CBS' guard! I thought it was very funny at the time - seems even funnier now. Besides, KODJ and KNX/fm have long been gone, along with the geniuses who ran the place, but I'm still here in L.A.”  Jeff continued: “I don't mean that to sound bitter because leaving there was the genesis for the great career I've had since. Prior to that time I had a great career at WLS in Chicago. I sort of think of KNX/fm as the small gap in my career. By the way, I know this sounds implausible, but I've never been out of work. When I was let go at KRTH for budgetary reasons, the late Pat Norman, gm at KRTH and a damned fine man, gave me a much bigger severance than is customary. I used that money to launch Jeff Davis Productions, Inc., which today does work for some of America's most recognized stations as well as stations in Canada and 26 stations in the UK. They say you've not really ‘arrived’ in radio until you've been fired. I think that's true.”

Davis, Jeff: KRTH, 1986-88; KPWR, 1988-89; KQLZ, 1991-93; KMPC, 1993-94; KCBS, 1993-94; KFWB, 1994; KNX, 1999-2003; KFRG, 2002-10. Jeff is news director at KFRG-San Bernardino.
Davis, Jim: KHJ, 1975-76; KMPC, 1979-81. Jim was vp/general manager of Vero Beach Broadcasters (WOSN/WGYL/WJKD/WTTB) until the end of 2016.

DAVIS, John: John, chief engineer for Saul Levine’s Mt. Wilson FM Broadcasters, died on October 9, 2017, as a result of complications of pneumonia coupled with a virulent lung infection. A nicer guy you will never meet. John was my first hire after I had been hired to run 100.3/fm in the early seventies. Investors had purchased KFOX/fm, which was housed in the “Tootsie Roll” building in Long Beach, even though the city of license was Los Angeles. Once the FCC approved the sale, we had to build studios from scratch and move the 100.3 antennae to achieve line-of-sight with a tower in Coldwater Canyon. John orchestrated that move and the building of our studios on the 11th floor at 6430 Sunset Blvd. Within a few months, we launched KIQQ (K-100/fm). Saul engaged the services of John in 1970 to handle the engineering of KKGO/fm, 105.1 and later to concentrate on the station’s transmitter site. John also acted as engineer for launching KRTR/fm-Honolulu and CH 26 UHF TV-Honolulu on the air for Levine’s Mount Wilson FM Broadcasters. “John and I pioneered FM and UHF TV in Hawaii,” said Saul. John continued his services for Saul Levine to the present time. John and his wife, Deanne, made Sierra Madre their home for 50 years. John was born in Los Angeles on June 16, 1933. His parents knew he would be some sort of engineer. They supported him in whatever he needed to do, including drilling holes in the walls to rewire certain areas to work the way he wanted them to. He attended USC where he received his Bachelor of Engineering degree in 1955 and his Masters in Engineering in 1959.

 

DAVIS, Ken: KPPC, 1974-75. Ken is a writer/producer for television. He's written a tasty book, In Bed With Broadcasting, published in 2018. "I am an LA (Pasadena) native but my radio days were mostly in Arizona except for a one year gig  reading the news on KPPC and a very brief stint as a freelance radio traffic reporter (which I wasn't very good at)." His Arizona stations in the 70s include KEOS-Flagstaff, KUPD-Phoenix (where Chuck Browning was my pd) and anchorman at KOAI/tv in Flagstaff. In the 1980s he was a reporter for KSBY/tv in San Luis Obispo and a fill-in anchorman/news producer at KCOP/tv and KNXT/tv, and a producer for the MacNeil-Leherer Newshour on PBS). "After 1985, I've produced news at KTLA, NBC, FOX as well as produced shows like Lifestyles of The Rich and Famous and Real TV.  Some of my fondest memories as a 13-year-old kid hanging out at the old KRLA studios at The Huntington-Sheraton in Pasadena.  It was great to later work with Casey Kasem, Charlie O'Donnell and Bob Eubanks after first watching them through the glass at KRLA."

Davis, Ken: KUTE, 1986; KOST, 1994. Ken works in a Los Angeles law firm and he's out of radio.

DAVIS, Krickett: KYSR, 1992-93; KMGX, 1993; KCBS, 1993-2000. Krickett left "Arrow 93" in January 2000. She is an active VO artist. Krick's autobiography suggests a budding writer: "Krickett Davis' circuitous radio career has taken her from the cornfields of Iowa (Council Bluffs) to the star-filled boulevards of Los Angeles. The journey began in 1982, playing heavy metal on the Iowa State University campus radio station KPGY (‘K-Piggy’ to the locals)." After a few jobs in Des Moines radio, she packed up an air-conditioned U-Haul and headed to Los Angeles. She worked peripheral markets such as Ventura and Lancaster before joining Metro Traffic and Shadow News. While at Shadow, Krickett worked weekends and fill-in on KYSR. Following that, she did weekends at KMGX. Krickett worked at "Arrow 93" for two years as a fill-in. During this time she did evenings on WW1's syndicated '70s Channel. For many years Krickett worked early evenings at "Arrow 93" and hosted a weekly Led Zeppelin show called "The Zepp-Zone." She has an active voiceover career and worked for the Warner Bros. TV network as a promo producer/director.

 

DAVIS, Larry: KBIG, 2008-09; KRTH, 2015-23. Larry is a voiceover artist doing spots and promos for Six Flags, VISA, My Network TV, ABC, Fox Sports, McDonalds, NHL, Gillette, NFL Network and many more. His website is: LarryDavisVoice.com. He also works weekends at K-EARTH. Larry has an uncanny similarity to Morgan Freeman. Some hear his coal-cellar baritone muttering ‘get busy living, or get busy dying’ in Shawshank Redemption. Or his rumination in The Bucket List that ‘you measure yourself by the people who measure themselves by you.’

 

DAVIS, Laura: KNAC, 1976; KLOS, 1976-80. Laura produces electronic press kits for the motion picture business. During her nine years in radio, Laura experienced four AOR-formatted stations during the seventies. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, she graduated from Cornell University. It was during her senior year that radio attracted her interest. "Cornell's student-run station, WVBR, was one of the best anywhere. It was advertiser-supported and treated like a real station. We probably had the lowest grade point average on campus from working regular shifts." After college she joined WCMF-Rochester, stopping briefly in Detroit at WABX, before heading to L.A. During her four years with KLOS she worked for four program directors. In 1980 she joined NBC's Source Network where she hosted "Screen Scenes." This experience led in 1983 to an opportunity to produce electronic press kits for Universal Pictures and to start a new career that now encompasses film production. "I loved radio for the music, concerts, parties and to think you could get paid for it all. At 28 I reached the point when I realized I had nothing left to say about Stairway to Heaven, and I got out."

DAVIS, Mac: KZLA, 1999-2000. Mac was a country music singer, songwriter, and actor, originally from Lubbock, Texas. For a few years he hosted a syndicated show that was heard on Country KZLA. Mac died September 29, 2020, at the age of 78, from complications from recent heart surgery. At his commercial peak in the mid-'70s, Mac was one of America's most popular entertainers, a countrypolitan-styled singer and actor who found considerable success in both fields. Born Scott Davis on January 21, 1942, in Buddy Holly's hometown of Lubbock, Texas, he began performing in local rock groups while still in his teens. After moving to Georgia, Davis first broke into the music business in 1962. After joining the Liberty label three years later, in 1967 he moved to Los Angeles to head the company's publishing arm, Metric Music Mac began composing his own songs, with Glen Campbell, Bobby Goldsboro Lou Rawls and Kenny Rogers among the artists recording his work. In 1968, Elvis recorded Davis' A Little Less Conversation, and soon after the King was requesting more of his work, which included In the Ghetto. Davis also arranged the music for Presley's first television special before signing his own recording contract in 1970. In that year, he released his first chart single, Whoever Finds This, I Love You. In 1972, Davis scored a number one pop hit with Baby, Don't Get Hooked on Me, which also reached the Country Top 20. In 1979, he also starred in the film North Dallas Forty with Nick Nolte. Davis' success continued in the early '80s. In 1980, he also starred in a TV movie, Cheaper to Keep Her. However, a co-starring role opposite Jackie Gleason and Karl Malden in 1983's disastrous The Sting II effectively ended Davis' career in Hollywood, and by 1985, he had recorded his last Top Ten hit, I Never Made Love (Till I Made Love With You). (from Davis' website bio)

 Davis, Mark: MetroTraffic, KNX, KLAC, KMGG/KPWR, KLON, KGIL/fm, 1983-86. In 2001, Mark (Friedman) went to Chicago to be a newswriter at WBBM.

DAVIS, Michael: KNAC, 1989-90. Michael is operations director/afternoons at KRKC-Monterey. In the summer of 2020, he celebrated 30 years with the station. Michael once got some challenging news, which he turned into a gig that lasted for a quarter of a century. In fact, longevity is his middle name, working four radio gigs that cover 37 years. “I've been very fortunate,” said Michael, who spent time at KNAC-Long Beach in the late 1980s as Jack the Ripper. “I owe it all to my parents, grandparents and my family.” Michael grew up in Minnesota water skiing on the Mississippi River and playing basketball. “We lost the Minnesota State Championship game in double OT in my senior year at Winona Cotter High 1981.” Brown College in Minneapolis was where he went to school and Rocker KAWY-Casper, Wyoming was his first radio job. He was music director and morning drive. In 1984, he joined KFMG-Albuquerque. “It was a ratings monster, consistently in the Top 3 overall out of 40+ stations in the market,” remembered Davis. “I was working evenings and I was music director. It was big time fun with Rock stars coming to our studio, endless concerts and numerous record company junkets out of town.” In early 1989, KNAC was Hard Rock station. “KNAC had a talented staff. On the air and on the Sunset Strip we had a great time. A year later Michael was diagnosed with Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD). “My appreciation to Johns Hopkins and the University of Minnesota for their research into this difficult disease.” Michael left KNAC for a three-station group in South Monterey Country and North San Luis Obispo County. “On air fun is the key,” said Michael.

 

DAVIS, Nawana: KMET, 1975; KPFK, 1973-76. Born January 27, 1944 in Detroit, Nawana was always interested in the Arts, especially music and acting. She studied at the Vanguard Theatre of Performing Arts for 2 years. After completion, Nawana headed to New York City where she did some plays at The American Place Theatre. "I started collecting music in those days. It was the great 78's along with working@ the Village Vanguard as coat checker being in company of all the greats," she said. Nawana also worked as a waitress at a place called MAX'S where she met Andy Warhol. He brought her to California in 1968 to do a film loved Cali and she stayed. While still collecting music, Nawana started experimenting with old blues music and bluegrass playing Albert King back to back with Bill Monroe, and Memphis Minnie back to back with Lorretta Lynn. "It sounded great - poor people's music from different sides of the track. I decided to see if I could share this on the airwaves and contacted KPFK and pitched the show to Ruth Hershman. She give me a shot and the show took off. The response was overwhelming. The show ran from 1973 -76 along with KMET. It was some of the best times of my life." Nawana is now retired and loves yoga. She is teaching her senior friends and still sharing the music with her friends.

Davis, Pat: KNX. Pat was a well-known broadcast journalist who covered nearly every major story in Northern California since the 1960s. At 6-foot-4, Mr. Davis was an imposing figure in the Sacramento press corps, partly because of his physical size but also because of his tenacity in going after stories. He was described as an aggressive, physically imposing reporter with a skeptical demeanor and a biting sense of humor, often covering stories hundreds of miles apart in a single day. In three decades of stringing for various stations, he covered earthquakes, floods, elections, scandals, and tales of triumph and tragedy. He was a familiar voice on KFBK-Sacramento, his home radio station, as well as KNX, KGO-San Francisco and CBS radio in New York City. Friends and relatives say he was a classic old-school reporter. Born in Milwaukee, Pat worked his way up in the industry. He started as a radio reporter in Fresno, then anchored at a television station in Bakersfield. He also worked as a free-lance reporter for the Los Angeles Times in the 1960s and early 1970s. Pat would regularly take 20-mile bike rides out into the country. On the day of his death, he was returning from one of those rides when he suffered a heart attack and died at the Kaiser Permanente hospital in Roseville. The aggressive newsman who filed news reports from Sacramento died October 1, 1999. Pat was 58.

Davis, Philip: KOCM; KWIZ, 1965-88. Philip, the former owner of KOCM and KWIZ, died December 5, 1996, at the age of 60.  

DAVIS, Willie: KACE. The former all-pro defensive end with the Green Bay Packers owned KACE. Willie died April 15, 2020. He was 85. He also owned three stations in Wisconsin and three in California. Willie grew up in Texarkana and played college football for Eddie Robinson at Grambling. He earned a degree from the business school at the University of Chicago and bought a Schlitz Distributorship in South Central Los Angeles. On the football field he won six NFL championships, two Super Bowls and numerous awards and trophies. He bought KAGB in late 1976 and turned it into KACE and he wanted the radio station to support Inglewood and the community. Mr. Davis played 10 years for the Packers, joining the team in 1960 and becoming a stalwart defensive performer at left end. He was one of the leading disciples of Lombardi, an intense taskmaster and perfectionist who is considered one of football’s greatest coaches. “Perfection is not attainable,” Lombardi said, in one of many maxims attributed to him. “But if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.”

 

DAVISON, John: KABC/KDIS/KLOS/KSPN, 2001-07; KABC/KLOS, 2007-09. John was appointed gm at the four ABC/Disney stations on July 16, 2001. “We need to bring back the heartbeat of KABC,” said John shortly after his arrival. “It’s still there, but it needs some resuscitation. We need for the station to reach out and touch L.A. like it once did. Given the complexities of the market, it may be unrealistic that it would regain its former status, but on the other hand, it is such a legendary station with so many roots in the market and great call letters. I’m just proud to be there. Hopefully we can get it on track with good programming moves. We’re going to try and get the heartbeat back as best we can by becoming what we were once and what we should become again – the premier place where people come to talk. We’re not sensational. We’re not hate mongers. If somebody else wants to do that, then that’s their niche, but not ours. If a mistake was made, it was an attempt to take us in that direction,” claimed John. John was working at KGO-San Francisco when the gm, Mickey Luckoff, asked if John would be interested in the vacant job at the ABC sister stations, as interim-gm Bill Sommers was retiring for a final time. Mickey put John together with Mitch Dolan, president of ABC O&O radio group. “I looked at it as a great opportunity for me, not only to live in L.A., which I’ve always enjoyed, but to get back to running stations, which I’ve done most of the way along the line,” said John. “The whole thing took about a month.”

He left in February 2009 following ownership change and he now lives in New York where he is a licensed real estate agent buying, selling and renting properties for Bellmarc Realty in New York City. "I now have three grandchildren, two boys in London and a girl in New York City. Life is good." 

Dawson, Ted: KLOS, 1985. Ted joined KBZK and KXLF-Bozeman, Montana, as sports director in January 2011.

DAY, Deano: KLAC, 1969-71 and 1980-82 and 1984-85. Deano, morning man at KLAC three times during the Country years, died April 10, 2009, due to complications of heart surgery at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. Deano had just turned 70 years old days before his death. Born Ordean Moen, Deano was a station owner in Fargo while still in his 20s. He replaced the legendary Ken Dowe and Granny Emma in the morning drive slot at the legendary KLIF-Dallas in 1967. He left Big D for his first visit to Country KLAC in 1969. Deano’s major success came in the Midwest where he did mornings on a number of Country stations in Chicago and Detroit. In 1975, Deano won Billboard magazine’s Country Personality of the Year Award while working at WDEE-Detroit. He also worked at WCAR-Detroit. It seems Deano never met a radio station he wouldn’t work for in Detroit ... or Chicago. He returned to Detroit at WCXI in 1982, after 18 months at KLAC. In October 1984, Deano won the 18th Annual CMA DJ of the Year Award, and the ceremony was broadcast live on CBS/TV. Deano was nominated for CMA 1983 DJ of the Year. His fan club, unheard of in the 1980s, numbered over 5,000. He had enormous turnouts to his personal appearances. Deano left Los Angeles for the last time with Metromedia’s sale of KLAC to Capital Cities Communications. He bought WACY-Flint. Deano went on to broker mornings on WHND-Detroit, programming a mix of Country and Oldies. Deano talked about his WHND show: “We do a remote every day. One day we broadcast from a restaurant called Heaven. The next day we were in a tavern called Oar House, so the next day we went to Hell...Michigan. It’s amazing, I’m still playing Country music and I look just like Kenny Rogers.” At the time he said he made more money brokering his show than he ever did working for a radio station.

Day, Gene: KGFJ, 1974. Unknown.

Day, Howard: KLFM/KNOB, 1960-61; KAPP, 1962-63; KKOP, 1965; KNAC, 1966; KFOX, 1966; KKOP, 1968-74 and 1976-78. Howard works as an engineering tech for Optical Coating Laboratory of Santa Rosa.
Day, Jerry: KIEV, 1972. Unknown. 

DAY, Steve: KOCM/KSRF, 1985-89; KXEZ, 1989-91; KLIT, 1991-93; KMGX, 1994. Steve retired once but the pull of radio took him back to WHLC-Highlands, North Carolina where he now does mornings and is operations director for husband/wife owners who just celebrated 27 years of local ownership. Born in Washington, DC and raised in Rockville, Maryland, Steve discovered his passion for radio while in his second year at Ashland College in Ohio. From a chance encounter with a programming executive from a station 30 miles from campus, Steve began his daily commute to WGLX-Galion, Ohio. He dropped out of college and during the 1970s worked at WSIR-Winterhaven, Florida, WDAE-Tampa, WDAT-Daytona and WKZL and WTOP-Winston-Salem. While in Winston-Salem he began broadcasting play-by-play sports and reporting sports for a local tv station. "We were doing okay but my wife wanted us to be more secure so I got out of radio and joined her father’s insurance business in Rochester." The insurance job and the marriage ended, so Steve returned to radio in Rochester at WBBF and WWWG. "In 1979 I got the West Coast urge and packed up for San Diego." Steve worked weekends on KFMB-San Diego and broadcast sports on KGTV/tv. In the early 1980s, Steve joined the sports department at KTTV/tv Channel 11. In 1983 he partnered with Betty White for the tv game show Just Men. In 1993 Steve was the announcer for ABC’s Caesars Challenge starring Ahmad Rashad. In 1994 he was part of Sony's Game Show Network and hosted several shows. "In 1999, Mark Elliott hired me from LA/Westwood One to work in Ventura and Santa Barbara. Steve went to KMGQ (Smooth Jazz), followed by three years at News Radio 1250 Santa Barbara as pd and afternoon drive. “We built a tv studio and simulcast our Talk Show with local sister TV station KEYT-3.” When the owner died, Steve's nomadic journey took him to Washington, DC, and in 2006 in the Western Carolina Mountains at WHLC. "I love North Carolina. This is a wondrous spot if you love the mountains, lakes, and fishing."

Dayglo: KNAC, 1983-84. David Daegling is in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Florida.  

DAYTON, Bob: KBLA, 1966-67; KRLA, 1967-70; KDAY, 1971; KRLA, 1972-73. Bob was one of the 11-10 Men at KRLA twice. Born in New York in 1934, Bob got his start on Long Island radio at WPAC-Patchogue. He worked in Dallas on McLendon's KLIF in the late 1950s and was known as "The Milkman." He was also on KBOX-Dallas. His radio journey eventually returned him to New York. In the early 1960s he jocked as Robin Scott in St. Louis. At WABC-New York he allegedly was fired on-air in 1965 when he dedicated the 20th Anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima with the playing of Happy Birthday to the Japanese. He left WABC to start at KBLA. He joined KRLA in early summer of 1967 as vacation relief the day after KBLA folded. In 1972 he was on WPIX-New York and later that year went to KRLA, which was Contemporary/Oldies and MOR. The station was experimenting with teams in every time slot. Bob partnered with Reb Foster during the short-lived format. He departed KRLA and went to WCBS/fm-New York in 1974 and on Long Island's WGBB along with WGLI, WKJY and WHLI in the late 1970s. In 1982, Bob became part of ABC's Superadio. He wrote for Lohman and Barkley during their foray into television. He was living near Patchogue, where he originally started out, when he died of cancer April 28, 1995, at the age of 62. Paul Cassidy reported at the time of his death that he was told Bob had a stroke some time during the 1980s. For many years he closed his show with "I...gotta go now! Good-bye, world."

 

DEACON, Squeakin': KXLA, 1947-60; KGER, 1949-58; KFOX, 1960-. Squeaking Deacon, born Carl Lee Moore in Paragould, Arkansas, was a hard-core Country jock in the 50s and 60s at KXLA (pre-KRLA) and KFOX. He was on the staff of early Country stations with some of the biggest names in Country radio – Cliffie Stone, Biff Collie, and Hugh Cherry. His father was called "Skinny" Moore and was a baseball pitcher for New Orleans. Two months before Carl was born, his father was killed in a railroad train wreck. By the time Carl was six he had become fascinated with the drums. He was completely self-taught; he got his inspiration watching the theatre drummers who performed impressive gyrations with their sticks while never missing a beat of the music. It wasn't long before young Carl Moore was considered one of the flashiest young drummers around. He formed his own band while in high school in Jonesboro and impressed the audiences with his mastery of the drum sticks.   After graduating from high school, he enrolled in the University of Arkansas, but show business had gotten into his blood. He took his small band on the road, playing throughout the South. Often in tobacco warehouses, which made good, inexpensive dance halls in the smaller towns.  Acting as his own announcer and master of ceremonies, he invariably opened his broadcast with the greeting, "Howdy, folks, this is the Deacon speakin'." A testimony to the Deacon's lasting and memorable popularity as a performer was published in the February 16, 1977 issue of the Memphis Press-Scimitar. Columnist Clark Porteus recounted the glory clays of Memphis' venerable Orpheum Theatre, observing that the greatest money-maker who ever played there was Carl "Deacon" Moore. Porteus waxed sentimental over the Deacon's version of A Shanty In Old Shanty Town.

The Deacon had to break up the band in 1942 because of World War II. Travel restrictions put a dent in any kind of touring. He was also just over the age of military service, so he and his wife Marge decided to settle down in Cincinnati to try out other opportunities. He began a morning program on WLW. Margie recalled for Mr. Bennett, "...that the Deacon would appear for the daily show, deliver a brief monologue, act as master of ceremonies to introduce an act or two, and come home." One of the regulars on that show was a young singer by the name of Doris Day, who would go on to her own fame, too.

In 1947, he and Margie moved to Los Angeles. He heard that a radio station in Pasadena was auditioning for a disc jockey opening. He went and applied, that is he and 300 others.  A set of radio logs showed that Carl was indeed a hit in Los Angeles. He was doing two shows a week over two different stations. He did a show at lunch time on KGER and then later at night, an hour's show over KXLA. 

But Carl's talents won out over the field for the job at KXLA, now KRLA. He was a natural as a master-of-ceremonies after his many years as a band leader and radio work elsewhere. He also seemed to be a natural as a country and western disc jockey, with an easy style, Arkansas accent and 'homespun humor' helped entrench him in the role.  

During his dj days, the name "Deacon" acquired a new twist as Mr. Bennett related in his article. "Some of the youngsters, including his own grandchildren, began calling him the "Squeakin' Deacon." The adjective became a permanent adjunct and Carl adopted the new sobriquet for his radio image. The greeting became 'This is the Squeakin' Deacon speakin,' used continuously in his climb to the top ranks of country-western disc jockeys He was one of the pioneer djs to achieve success on the west coast."  

In the 1960's, the Squeakin' Deacon had taken his talents to radio station KFOX out of Long Beach. He would do a remote hookup on his daily program and would host many of the great country music stars on his show over the years, such as Cliffie Stone, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Merle Travis and Barbara Mandrell were among the many guests.  

The old Deacon became a familiar figure at high-profile country-western events, often in the role of master of ceremonies. He was also one of the early performers on television, with a daily show on KNBC/Channel 4 in the early 1950s. A 1950 edition of a Billboard Magazine annual poll had him chosen as the "Favorite Folk Disc Jockey."

During that time, Deacon owed his success to the popularity of his KXLA "Home Hour for Western Folks," a prime-time hourly broadcast five days each week sponsored by Seaboard Finance Company. The Deacon ranked sixth in the national popularity poll, several positions higher than Tennessee Ernie Ford. In fact, only three djs from the west coast ranked in the top 20. Then, he had two programs, five days a week.  

Squeakin' Deacon was a bit of a country philosopher with a bit of a humorous touch. An article we found in an old Cowboy Songs magazine had a few examples of that.

Speaking of success, he mentioned there is no end to success. He said the toughest part of a career is to just hold on to the success you attained. Success wasn't on merit alone - you need breaks too. He was quoted as saying "...many a rose has blossomed and never been smelt."

And what did the Squeakin' Deacon attribute his success? He said, "The good Lord had been good to me. Without faithful friends, fans and admirers, YOU might as well go back to Arkansas. You don't eat without'em, that's for sure. ... There's good in everybody if you only look far enough." Carl continued to maintain his popularity in the country-western field until his retirement in 1969. But he never changed his format, which was essentially the same as that which made him a successful big band leader. Carl "Deacon" Moore continued to be the quintessential image of an Arkansas preacher, and his fans loved him in the role. In his article, he notes that Margie recalls the mountain of gifts that would flood their home in observation of birthdays, anniversaries, and important events in their lives. She said that she and Carl remembered those country-western fans as the most generous and loyal they had ever known.

In 1983, the Deacon was diagnosed with prostate cancer and gradually lost ground to the disease. The Squeakin’ Deacon died February 12, 1985. The complete story of his life can be found at: http://www.hillbilly-music.com/dj/story/index.php?id=1640 

DEACON, Tom: KUSC, 1989-92. Tom is retired and he is living in the "splendours of the Ontario countryside." In 1992, the Classical music station was embroiled in a lawsuit that centered around the marriage of station president Wallace A. Smith and on-air morning personality Bonnie Grice. According to the LA Times, the former KUSC programming vpice president charged in his suit against USC and Grice that he was fired by Smith without warning, a day after they argued over the quality of Grice's on-air performance. Deacon alleges that he was fired without "good or sufficient cause" and that Grice "interfered with the business and contractual relationship" he had with Smith. USC, which owns the KUSC license, filed a legal response denying Deacon's charges and citing "economic factors requiring a reduction in force" as the reason for his dismissal.

Dean, Jeff: KEZY, 1977-79; KLSX, 1985-86; KGGI, 1987-93. Jeff is doing afternoons at 95.7 The Beat (KZBR) in San Francisco along with an Oldies Show syndicated by the Waitt Radio Network.
Dean, Joseph: KTWV, 1994-99. Joseph worked weekends at "the Wave." 

DeANGELIS, Barbara: KFOX; KABC; KFI, early 1990s. Barbara is a relationship expert, author, and motivational speaker. In the 1990s she was one of a handful (David Viscott, Laura Schlessinger, Toni Grant) of radio therapists on LA Talk Radio. Based in Santa Barbara, Dr. DeAngelis has been dedicated to helping people throughout the world with her inspirational messages about how to create a life of true freedom, mastery and awakening. She appears in various media outlets and is a motivational speaker. Dr. De Angelis is the author of sixteen best-selling books which have sold over ten million copies and been published throughout the world in twenty-five languages. She has had an four #1 New York Times bestsellers, including Real Moments, Are You The One For Me?, Secrets About Men Every Woman Should Know, and Chicken Soup for the Couples Soul.

Dearborn, Bob: KFI, 1984-85; KTWV, 1989. Unknown.
DeBaun, Jim: KLON, 1975-79. Jim is an industrial security specialist for the Boeing Company in Anaheim. He's also a rock bass guitar player.

DeCastro, Jim: KFAC, 1989; KKBT, 1989-90. Jim owns a restaurant in Chicago. He stepped down as president/gm at WGN-Chicago in 2019.
DeCoy, Bob: KGFJ, 1950s; KTYM, 1960s. Bob was the writer, producer and narrator of KGFJ's award-winning, "This Is Progress." The program was the only daily radio documentary dedicated to the contributions of black culture and growth. Bob graduated from Yale University in 1951 receiving an M.F.A. degree. He died at age 54 in L.A. in 1975. 

DEDES, Spero: KLAC, 2005-11. Spero was the play-by-play announcer for the LA Lakers. In the summer of 2011, he left for a broadcasting post with the New York Knicks. He left the Knicks after the 2013-14 season. He is currently employed by CBS Sports, calling the NFL, NBA, and college basketball. The axiom about never replacing a legend may have been the burden placed on Laker play-by-play guy Paul Sunderland when he joined the Laker booth following the death of Chick Hearn. He joined former Lakers player Mychal Thompson who served as color analyst on radio broadcasts, which were carried on XTRA Sports 570. "This is one of the great jobs in all of sports and at a tremendous franchise," said Spero at the time of his hiring. Spero was most recently the host of NBA TV's Hardwood Classics, and the NBA ‘Insiders’ - a nightly, live, 60-minute interview program dealing with everything NBA. For the past two seasons, Dedes has handled NBA TV's First Round Playoff play-by-play duties as well. He also served as the voice of the YES Network's collegiate sports coverage (football and basketball), and served as a fill in as YES' play-by-play announcer on Nets' telecasts behind Ian Eagle and as a studio host for the Yankees' and Nets' pre and postgame shows. Dedes, 26, began his broadcasting career at WFAN-New York, where he handled 20/20 updates and served as the Jets' beat reporter. Also in 2001, Dedes was the radio voice of the Arena Football League's New Jersey Gladiators. (Alan Oda contributed to this story)

Dee, Cynthia: KSWD, 2008-15. Cynthia worked swing at 100.3/fm The Sound. 

DEES, Rick: KHJ, 1979-80; KIIS, 1981-2004; KMVN, 2006-09; KHHT, 2011-12. Rick was an iconic morning man who bridged the milennium, voted one of the Top 10 LARadio personalities of the 20th century and carried over into the 2000s and still is strong with a synicated show. In 2015, the Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters honored Rick with the Art Gilmore Career Achievement Award. The broadcast industry turned out in record numbers. It was a reunion for Commander Chuck Street, who did traffic reports with Rick during his tenure with KIIS. On the dais with Rick was his longtime boss at KIIS, (also his longtime business partner), former general manager Wally Clark, KNBC/Channel 4's weatherman Fritz Coleman, tv entertainment reporter David Sheehan, and Scott St. James, decades-long colleague of Rick’s. Scott was the sports anchor at Channel 9 for over a decade. Dees is a People's Choice Award recipient, a Grammy-nominated performing artist, and Broadcast Hall of Fame inductee. He wrote two songs that appear in the film Saturday Night Fever, plus he performed the title song for the film Meatballs. Dees is also co-founder of the E. W. Scripps television network, and the Fine Living Network. Rick was born in Jacksonville, FL and reared in Greensboro, NC, where he began his radio career while still in high school. He has a bachelor’s degree in motion pictures, tv and radio from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After working at several Southern radio stations, Dees landed at WMPS AM in Memphis and it was there that he wrote and recorded Disco Duck, the award-winning hit that sold more than six million copies during the disco craze of the late 1970s. That success brought him to LA’s iconic 93KHJ as the morning show host, but when KHJ switched format to Country music, he started his 23-year career on KIIS/fm in 1981. Throughout his long career, Dees has garnered many accolades, including the prestigious Marconi Award, induction into both the National Radio Hall of Fame, and the National Association of Broadcasters Hall Of Fame. He is an inductee in the North Carolina Music Hall Of Fame, the Tennessee Radio Hall Of Fame, has received the Billboard Radio Personality Of The Year award for 10 consecutive years and has been awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In television, Rick hosted his own late-night show on the ABC television network in the early 1990s, Into the Night Starring Rick Dees, which ran for one season. He has guest-starred on Roseanne, Married...with Children, Cheers, Diagnosis: Murder and many other hit shows. Rick has been married to the former Julie McWhirter since 1977 and they have a son, Kevin.

 

DeFRANCESCO, Gerry: KIIS, 1982-86, pd and 1991-92, vp/gm. A native of Philadelphia, Gerry received a communications degree with honors from Temple University in 1977. Beginning in April 1982, Gerry arrived from Gannett's KSD-St. Louis with Wally Clark. Gerry guided KIIS' initial good fortune until 1986. During his stay with Gannett Broadcasting, he was vp/programming in 1984 while retaining pd at KIIS. In 1986 he moved to Gannett's WDAE/WUSA-Tampa as vp/gm. He left Gannett briefly to return home to Philadelphia as vp of WYXR.

Gerry returned to KIIS in August 1991 to be president/station manager, a position he held through 1992. He made one of the rare moves from programming to general management. In 1992 he started serving as president of the Gannett Radio Division. Gerry is now a media management consultant based in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. He's married to Carolyn and has two children, Katie and Gerry. He’s  president of DeFrancesco Media.   

DeLaCRUZ, Nautica: KPWR, 1998-2000; KKBT, 2000-06; KDAY, 2006-07; KJLH 2007-23. Nautica has a weekly show at the Stevie Wonder station, KJLH. "While I was in college at San Jose State University, I had a Hip Hop and r&b show on a college radio station 103.3FM KSCU and an internship at a Spanish radio station called 1430AM K-BUENA. Working at KSCU was dope because I got to play the kind of Hip Hop music I loved listening to growing up in New York. Working at K-BUENA was another story because it was a Spanish music format, different from the Salsa I grew up on. So, it was tough not only because of that but because in addition to working on the air, I had to work in promotions, marketing, and programming. Back then, I was like, 'Man! This is a lot of work!' But now, I can look back and be grateful for all I learned because it prepared me for a career in radio that has lasted over 23 years and has taken me from the Bay to LA, where I landed my 1st major market job at the illustrious Power 106. After a few years there, I went across the street to the late 100.3FM The Beat, where I did mornings with Hip Hop greats Ed Lover & Dr. Dre and then with comedian/tv host Steve Harvey. And now, I work for Stevie Wonder at 102.3 KJLH! I’ve been blessed to have worked with legends throughout my career." (from VoyageLA story)

 Delaney, John: KJLH, 1984-85; KMET, 1985-87; KEZY, 1987-90. John has been doing voiceover work and he's working on a comedy act.

DeLaROSA, Abby: KRRL, 2018-19. The LA native has always had a passion for music. After high school she graduated from a broadcasting school where she began her journey in radio. "I ‘m a Los Angeles native that had always had a passion for music. After high school, I went on to attend a broadcasting school where there, I was able to hone in on my skills as a future radio talent. Immediately upon graduating, my journey in radio began. I was blessed with a street team gig at a Latin station that happened to be on the same floor level as Power 106. I was able to snag an audition for one of the open street team positions they were looking to fill, and after a year of silence, I finally received that fate-filled phone call and secured a position on the street team of my dreams! Years past, and through the incredible mentorship of Dj Carisma, and hosting her mix shows and podcasts (before the hype of mix shows and podcasts began) I found myself learning and working with of some of radios elite and getting the opportunity to interview all of hip hops greatest artists and moguls all while building a reputation of being in the “know” by interviewing new and emerging talent before they hit the mainstream on my artist series “The Rose Delivery.” Abby hosts a weekend Hip Hop program on SiriusXM.

 

DELILAH: KBIG, 1998; KMLT, 2003; KBIG, 2007; KJLL, 2010; KFSH, 2012-19. Delilah has an enormously successful syndicated radio show. The evening show has been carried by a half-dozen stations in the past 20 years. She has written three books.  Last year, Delilah Rene was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame. I met Delilah around 2007 when KBIG picked up the show. She is remarkably upbeat about her life. On her weeknight show, she takes calls from listeners in her home studio, providing encouragement, support, and receiving musical dedication requests, offering a song that best matches the caller’s situation. It is tough to ignore her sincerity once you learn the road she has traveled. Married for the fourth time, she doesn’t skirt the issue when giving marital advice. She has adopted 10 children and integrated them into her household with three children of her own. A drinking problem led her to a 12-Step recovery program. Delilah has already endured the loss of a child. Her son Sammy, adopted from a West Africa refugee camp, died in 2013 of sickle-cell anemia. The Rene family is now mourning the loss of another child. This week, her 18-year-old son Zachariah committed suicide. Delilah told her listeners that Zack “took his life” after being “treated, counseled and embraced fiercely by family and friends, while battling depression for some time now.” Delilah says “my heart is broken beyond repair…but I have to believe he is at peace with the Lord and that God will get us through.” Zack was diagnosed as autistic. Our prayers are with the versatile broadcaster.

 

Del Valle, Carlos: KFWB, 2003-04; KXTA, 2004. The former KNBC/Channel 4 sports anchor joined all-News KFWB in late 2003. By the summer of 2004, Carlos teamed with Ray Crockett at XTRA Sports for an evening show called, "Crockett and Carlos' Neighborhood."  

DeMARAIS, Adam J.: KHJ, 1964-65; KRLA, 1964-65; KBLA, 1966; KRLA, 1968-69; KEZY, 1970-81, nd; KRLA, 1988-91. Adam is one of the powerful, booming voices who reported the news in Southern California. Born in Montreal he studied to be an actor and toured with a company out of New York while still a teen. "I decided to pursue Hollywood and the world would pave my way with palm branches and gold, not the myrrh and pyrite it turned out to be." Adam arrived in Southern California by bus in 1948 and stayed briefly in the old Bunker Hill section of Los Angeles. "I took the Angels Flight daily to catch a street car to go out on cattle call auditions." To make ends meet he worked on the loading docks of Coca-Cola while pursuing theater arts and communications courses at L.A. City College. When the draft board caught up with him, he had a choice of returning to Canada or going in the service. "Since I had married an American woman and we were with child, I figured that I'd spend the rest of my life in the States so I went to Korea." He was promoted to combat platoon sergeant and received a Purple Heart for serious wounds suffered in action.

Adam returned to the Southland, "but I had lost the directions to the yellow brick road and bought a beer/wine bar, graduated from the Don Martin radio school (The Real Don Steele was a classmate) and worked at the Bel-Air Hotel for four years. My first dj job was at KACY-Oxnard in 1960." During the 1960s he worked at KFXM-San Bernardino seven times, KDEO and KSON-San Diego, as well as KORK-Las Vegas, and KGU-Honolulu. In the Islands, he had a recurring role on Hawaii 5-O.

In the 1980s he worked as an announcer at KTTV/Channel 11. In 1991 he suffered a stroke that left him partially paralyzed. "Six months later, I was back to normal. It was amazing." Some highlights from decades in the Southland include being personally involved with police and a gunmen during a bank hostage situation, covering five U.S. presidents, Academy Awards and flying in the Blue Angels plane. During the 1990s Adam worked as a bartender at Ghost Town at Knott's Berry Farm.

He died December 11, 1998 from complications of cancer. Adam was 69.

DEMENTO, Dr.: KPPC, 1970-71; KMET, 1972-87; KLSX, 1987-93; KSCA, 1994-97; KLSX, 1998. His show has been the most successful AOR syndicated show of weird, off-beat, often homemade music. Perhaps best known as the man who launched "Weird Al" Yankovic's career, the Doctor has also resurrected awareness of Spike Jones, Tom Lehrer, Stan Freberg and other classic comedy musicians. Born Barret "Barry" Hansen in Minneapolis in 1941, the Doctor-to-be began haunting thrift shops for old records while in junior high, eventually accumulating nearly half a million platters of all speeds, sizes and shapes. He began his radio career at 10-watt KRRC/fm on the campus of Reed College in Portland. After graduating from Reed with a degree in classical music theory, he headed for UCLA where he wrote a master's thesis on the evolution of black music from blues to rock & roll. After a stint as road manager for the rock-blues band Canned Heat, he became a staff producer for Specialty Records, where he compiled numerous LP reissues of vintage blues, gospel and rock recordings.

Meanwhile he was invited to share some of his vintage treasures with the audience of alternative-programmed KPPC in 1970. He was playing Transfusion by Nervous Norvus when the gm's secretary commented "You've got to be demented to play that on the radio!" Rechristened Dr. Demento, Hansen was hired for a weekly rare-oldies show which soon mutated into a bonanza of "mad music and crazy comedy." The Doctor moved to KMET in 1972, and has been nationally syndicated since 1974. In 1975 Warner Bros. released Dr. Demento's Delights, the first of nearly two dozen Dr Demento compilation albums. Most of them are on Rhino, including his 20th, 25th and 30th Anniversary Collections and The Very Best Of Dr. Demento (2001) which includes his all-time most requested songs: Fish Heads, Dead Puppies and They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa! He has also worked on many other Rhino compilations; his notes for "The Remains Of Tom Lehrer" received a Grammy nomination. Away from the microphone, Hansen has always been a serious student of many types of music. Recently, his non-demented side was revealed to the world with the publication of his first full-length book, Rhino's Cruise Through The Blues from Backbeat Books. After a fourteen-year stint with Westwood One, the Doctor's show is now distributed under his own Talonian Productions banner.

DEMETRIOU, Pete: KLAC, 1978-84; KFWB, 1985-2009; KNX/KFWB, 2009-23. Pete is a field reporter for all-News KNX.For most of his career, Pete has been where every newsperson wants to be - right in the middle of the action. In 1991 he was KFWB’s correspondent for Operation Desert Storm - from Washington to Riyadh, the Arabian Sea to Kuwait City. On April 29, 1992, he was near Florence and Normandy, flash point of the LA Riots; in November 1993 the Malibu fires; January 17, 1994 in the Cahuenga Pass, on the air seconds after the Northridge Quake hit; and June 1994, live coverage of the end of the OJ Simpson Bronco Chase. 1999 saw him on the scene of the North Valley Jewish Community Center Shootings; in 2000 covered the Millennium Celebrations, the Lakers Riot at Staples Center, Street Protests at the Democratic National Convention and more than 900 live reports following the 37 day Presidential Election Deadlock kept him busy. Born in Los Angeles, a UCLA graduate with a B.A. in political science, Pete actually got into journalism by being one of the interview subjects of a KNXT/Channel 2 documentary on life at Van Nuys Junior High, which won several awards. "I was lucky enough to attend a speech by then KNBC anchor Tom Brokaw in 1973, and in 1974, my uncle Frank Yokas, a master carpenter and stage designer at KNBC arranged a meeting for me with Jess Marlow. Jess gave me an hour of his time and wisdom on how to become a journalist. He stressed that a broad life experience is the best source of information you can develop. I progressively worked at KLA/83 [UCLA], KPFK, KPCC. A summer stint at KGIL brought skills learned from Dick Spangler, Howard Culver and Bob Scott, while KLAC's Dean Sander, Dave Godwin, Charles Arlington, John North, Art Blaske and Phil Jenrich helped me polish both my field and anchoring ability. Stringer work for AP Network News and ABC Direction Networks followed. Then the jump to KFWB. The Bottom Line: measure yourself against your colleagues in the field and never stop learning from them."

Demory, Sean: KEZY, 1988-89. Sean left the Southland for "Power 99," then "99X" in Atlanta for nearly 11 years. He left in early 2000 to pursue some Internet opportunities in San Francisco.

DeMURO, Rich: KFI, 2023. Rich will be taking over for Leo Laporte on broadcast stations, including KFI AM 640, across the nation. Demuro's show "Rich on Tech' will debut on January 7, 2023. It will be a three-hour weekend program from DeMuro who is known for his popular "Rich on Tech" segment on KTLA/Channel 5 Los Angeles and for a weekly podcast with the same name. Rich is known for discussing important consumer tech news, trends, tips, and reviews weekly. In the past, DeMuro guest hosted for Laporte on numerous occasions. Laporte, the host of The Tech Guy weekly radio show, announced on November 19, 2022 his retirement. On the 20th, DeMuro shared across his official social media that he would be taking over for Laporte. In one such post, Demuro acknowledged Laporte's notable career alongside the announcement of his new role by writing "Thank you Leo for your guidance over the years and enjoy your weekends!" Originally from New Jersey, DeMuro now lives in Los Angeles and has been a tv reporter for over 15 years. He is a recipient of a Los Angeles Area Emmy Award for his coverage of social issues related to technology.

Denholm, Dave: KXTA, 1998-2000; KSPN, 2001-09. Dave did sports updates at KSPN until early 2009. He's now doing traffic reports for various LA radio stations and hosting a weekly soccer show at KSPN.

DENIS, Mark: KFI, 1969; KEZY, 1969-83; KHJ, 1983-86; KRLA, 1986; KFI/KOST/KACE, 1986-2000. The 40-year veteran of Southern California radio died April 28, 2000. Mark had heart surgery on January 18 and had returned to work at KFI mid-March. On April 27, Mark went to the hospital complaining of a "burning sensation." Doctors could not find anything wrong and his arteries were fine. Doctors sent him home thinking he may have had a touch of pneumonia. It is believed that he died in his sleep and when paramedics arrived at his Anaheim Hills home the following morning and transported him to a local hospital, it is believed that he had already passed away. The cause of death is unknown. Mark was 59. He was born in Glendale on February 8, 1941, and grew up in Compton. During his time at Compton JC, he announced the half-time activities at the football games. The show-business bug, however, bit him much earlier. Mark built a performing stage in his garage and put on variety shows. His first on-air experience was KFIL (later KYMS), and he pronounced the call letters "KFI LFM". Interviewed in 1995 between traffic reports, he commented, "Isn't it ironic that I end up at KFI?" He got started in Hemet in the early 1960s and went to KFXM-San Bernardino in 1962 before spending "some time in the Air Force." After the service, he went to KMEN-San Bernardino to do overnights and production, which in 1966 led to KGB-San Diego where he spent three years and ended up pd. He made his transition from dj work to traffic during his time on KHJ, when it was called "Car Radio" and traffic reports were dispensed every 10 minutes.

Mark was universally one of the most well-liked radio people in Southern California and made over 300 calls a year wishing his peers "Happy Birthday!" KFI pd David Hall utilized Mark as the "image voice" for the 50,000 watt giant and as the midday traffic reporter. He had been a regular guest lecturer and had taught a course in telecommunications at USC. Mark was the voice of the monorail at Disneyland for half a decade. His key to success? "Be versatile! After all, at KEZY I survived five program directors and I was one of them." On September 1, 1996, Mark celebrated 35 years in broadcasting, making it one of the longest current running careers in Southern California radio. During his decade-plus with KFI/KOST, he broadcast more than 70,000 traffic reports. 

DENKMANN, Libby: KFI, 2015-16; KPCC, 2021. Libby, from Seattle, worked as a news anchor at KFI. She left in late spring of 2016. She joined KPCC as a senior politics reporter. "In Southern California, the political system is changing in front of us, from how we vote to who is running for office. I cut through the jargon and provide a 'road map' for navigating our democratic process. My coverage aims to help you understand important elections, untangle policies that impact your life, and find ways to get your voice heard."

 

DENES, Dave Chachi: KBIG, 2000-09. "Chachi" was made program director of KBIG in early 2004. He left KBIG (now MY/fm) in early 2009 following a company downsizing and is now an executive/owner of Benztown, which is a leading international radio imaging, production library, programming, podcasting, jingles, and voiceover services company with over 2,900 affiliations on six different continents. Benztown was named to the exclusive Inc. 5000 for five consecutive years as one of America’s Fastest-Growing Privately Held Companies, and one of the fastest-growing companies in the U.S. Media sector. Benztown Radio Networks produces, markets, and distributes high-quality programming and services to radio stations, including: The Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 Countdown, The Daily Dees Show, The Todd-N-Tyler Radio Empire, Hot Mix, Sunday Night Slow Jams with R Dub!, Vipology, Audio Architecture, Incentive Sales Rewards, Top 10 Now and Then, Tough Love With Siri, Ask Alexa and Flashback. Chachi began his radio career in 1996 at Star 100.7/KFMB in San Diego, earning acclaim as the producer and on-air sidekick for Michael Steele (1996-1998) and later as the producer for Jagger and Kristi (1998-2000). After graduating from the University of San Diego with a degree in communications, Denes spent a year as Rick Dees’ assistant producer at KIIS/fm. In 2001, Denes joined L.A.’s KBIG and KOST as operations manager. During his 5 years at KBIG, he grew the station from 17th-rated to 5th-rated among English language stations Adults 25-54. While raising KBIG/MYfm’s ratings, Chachi was involved in raising money from first Los Angeles Radiothon for Children’s Miracle Network and the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. Denes currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Library of American Broadcasting.

 

DERDIVANIS, Kent: KMPC, 1983-86. Kent worked at KMPC, calling UCLA football and basketball. He replaced legendary Fred Hessler who called Bruin games for decades. His career began as a play-by-play announcer for the University of Arizona Wildcats football and basketball games. In 1981, Derdivanis became the voice of the Milwaukee Brewers. He left the Brewers in 1984 to become the NESN's  first play-by-play announcer for Boston Red Sox games. He lasted one season at NESN before being replaced by Ned Martin. After being unable to find work in Boston, Derdivanis returned to Arizona, where he called Wildcats football and basketball and Phoenix Firebirds baseball. Derdivanis left the Wildcats to become a radio broadcaster for the Pittsburgh Pirates, he was returned to Arizona. Since returning to Arizona he has called games for the Arizona Rattlers, Arizona Cardinals, and Northern Arizona University.

 

DeROO, Doug: KIQQ, 1977. Except for a brief stay at KIQQ, Doug's career has been primarily in Bakersfield working at KGFM, KERN, and KAFY. In 2016, he was profiled by the Califorian in Bakersfield. He was working at Spanish Radio Group's 96.5 Max FM. "Playing the music we all grew up with," the veteran DJ almost croons. He remembers spinning vinyl records long before computers were introduced into the studio. "Everyone decided they could plug a computer in and save a ton of money on payroll," DeRoo said. And the changes keep coming. More stations are going with syndicated programming, especially for that all-important morning show. Voice tracking," pre-recording a four-hour show in less than an hour, is becoming more common as well. "You have a guy in Florida recording there and sending it here," DeRoo said. "It sounds like it's local." Taking on the voice of a gruff radio boss, DeRoo grins, "It's silly to have people sitting around waiting for a song to end." Does local content suffer as a result? "The radio needs to surprise people," DeRoo said. "We can tell listeners there's a wreck on the freeway up ahead. And we can make 'em laugh. "The human element is still important," he said. "If the industry is hurting, we did it to ourselves."

 

DeSAEGHER, Steve: KPZE/KORG/KEZY, 1987-99; KFWB, 1997-99; KMPC, 2001-03; KLAC, 2011. Steve was an anchor for KMPC/1540/The Ticket. He went on to be an update guy at all-Sports, KLAC. Steve co-hosted "Sportsnight" at KPZE and broadcast sports at KFWB. He was part of the Mighty Ducks broadcasts for three years. “After the stations were sold, I moved to L.A. and married a lovely woman I’d first met at KORG. He became an editor for a tv closed-captioning company in the Valley, working on shows like Everybody Loves Raymond and Jeopardy. "I also caption a lot of Saturday morning animated fare,” said Steve.

 

De SANTIS, Frank: KMET, 1977-79; KWST, 1979-83; KNX/fm, 1983; KLOS, 1983-88.  Frank was an air personality at Sirius Satellite Radio's The Vault and Classic Vinyl formats from 2002-08. He went on to svp/business development for Dial Global Radio Networks. In 2011, he founded AdLarge Media. Born in Los Angeles, Frank grew up in La Habra. “It was at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo where I stumbled into radio. I noticed that the campus radio station programmed classical music with students who seemed classically clueless, so I volunteered figuring I could do as well or at least no worse." After college he worked at KZOZ-San Luis Obispo and in 1977 started at KMET where he did fill-in and weekends. In December of 1979 Frank moved to KWST where he did overnights and production. "After a short cup of coffee at KNX/fm in 1983," as he described it, Frank began his half-decade stint at KLOS where he did overnights, fill-ins, news and the weekend talk show. While at KLOS Frank also began a different phase of his radio experience working at Westwood One where he dove into the world of national radio, handling affiliate relations, production, voiceover and interviewing assignments. In December of 1988, the newly married De Santis moved to New York and began his association with national radio syndicator MediaAmerica. He also does voiceover work. “I have performed in four plays off and off-off Broadway, and still occasionally nurse old wounds accumulated from seven years of playing rugby." Frank, his wife Margo, and their two children live in New Rochelle, New York and "are one happy bunch."

DeSantis, Gia: KROQ, 1993. The former Capitol Records promotion person and Channel 56 vj is music director at Nevada Public Radio (NV89)-Reno. 
DeSilva, Walt: KPPC, 1965-66; KFWB. Walt passed away of lung cancer in August of 1987.

DeSOTO, Dave: KMPC, 1965-82. Dave died June 27, 2001 of aortic valve disease. He was 71. The veteran newsman served as Orange Country bureau chief for KMPC and was also part of the Robert W. Morgan morning drive team. He was active in community theatre. During the mid-1970s he was in the Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse’s production of You Can’t Take It With You. In late 1980 Dave suffered a heart attack that affected his speech. From his hospital bed he began reading magazines aloud. In the beginning it was only a sentence at a time without stumbling or slurring. Within a month he was back to work at KMPC. Dave retired in 1987.

Detz, John: KWST, 1975. John owns radio stations in Northern California. 

DeVANEY, Ken: KHJ, 1965-67. Ken was an integral part of the launch of 93/KHJ. He passed away on January 30, 2013, in Fresno. He was 80. Ken was born in 1932 in Albany, California and grew up in the San Joaquin Valley. He graduated from Selma High School in 1949. Ken graduated from Fresno State College in 1954 and was a proud member of the ROTC. In early 1954, he married Carolyn Lowe to whom he was dedicated for many years of his life. He enjoyed a career in radio broadcasting spanning many years. While working in broadcasting in San Francisco, Ken graduated from Hastings College of Law in 1961. Throughout his legal career, Ken's professionalism and passion for law made him an accomplished and well-regarded attorney in the Fresno community.  Ken loved being with his family and taking trips along the back roads of California and beyond. Although he was behind-the-scenes at KHJ as the general manager, he had a wonderful voice as well. Ken narrated the 1965 KHJ Sales Presentation, an overview of the nascent Boss Radio format intended for prospective advertisers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yx_3bchUD4

 

DEVEREUX, Nicole: KMET, 1984-85; KJOI, 1986-89; KTWV, 1987-2003; KSWD, 2008-13. Nicole worked weekends at 100.3/fm The Sound. She is now at Los Angeles Valley College. Nicole grew up in Colorado. "I really began my dj'ing when I was 7 years old. My mom and dad would sit by and listen as I would work our hi-fi, changing selections as fast as I could. Knowing they enjoyed my 'show' was exhilarating." After studying at the KIIS Broadcasting Workshop she worked in the early 1980s in Colorado at KLMO-Longmont, KLIR and KPKE-Denver. Nicole joined KMET as a production assistant and then to "K-Joy" where she was an announcer and morning show engineer for Roger Barkley. She loved working at the WAVE."I love the music I got to play. That makes it the best job in the world. I loved it!"

DeVille, Diana: KNAC, 1998-2003. The Monroe, Louisiana native worked morning drive at KNAC.com. In the summer of 2018, Diana joined Strategic International Ministries’ country KWSV, Simi Valley, “99.1 The Ranch” to host the midday program.   

DeVOE, Mario: KCMG, 1998-99. Mario worked afternoons during his year at “Mega 100.” Born April 10, 1969 in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He started his radio career at WAEB-Allentown while attending East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania. He graduated in 1991 with a B.S. in media communications and went on to work at KKFR-Phoenix, WJMH-Greensboro and KPTY-Phoenix. During college Mario was active in the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity, the biggest African American community service fraternity in America. Last heard, he was working at KXJM-Portland. who has been Operations Manager for the Greenville, SC cluster, moves into the BCL role for the company's Rhythmic Top 40, Hip Hop and R&B stations.

DeVoid, Phil: KNAC, 1984-85. Phil Harvey's name on KNAC was given to him by record producer Robert Margouleff, which was inspired by Oingo Boingo song Fill the Void.
DeWeese, Eric: KUSC, 2005-14. Eric took over gm duties at the Classical station in the Fall of 2005. He has now retired from KUSC.
DeWitt, Paul: KLSX, 1995. Unknown

DeWITT, Rand: KMXN, 2001-02. Rand is vice president and creative director at Advoke Media.  Rand was born into broadcasting, both of his parents having radio and television careers in New England. Rand has held nearly every media job imaginable, including music director, production director, account executive, programming director, and even morning show host. Rand enjoys golfing and following the New England Patriots.

 

DEXTER, Jerry: KMPC, 1959-63; KLAC, 1963-64. "I was lucky to work at one of the last, great American radio stations, KMPC," Jerry said when interviewed for Los Angeles Radio People. On June 21, 2013, Jerry’s voice was silenced. He suffered a fall in his home which resulted in head injuries and he died a few days later. Jerry was 78.  Born in San Francisco, by age 15 Jerry was already appearing on local tv shows. At age 20, he opened his own publicity office. As famed San Francisco Chronicle jazz columnist, Ralph J. Gleason noted: "Dexter is the nation's youngest night club press agent, yet not old enough to be in a bar." In San Francisco, he was befriended by KSFO morning giant, Don Sherwood. In 1957, Jerry took a job with the CBS/TV affiliate in Las Vegas. At KENO-Las Vegas an on-air stunt to save the doomed fictional character Tom Dooley (Jerry claimed Dooley was being held in a Las Vegas jail) attracted not only local coverage but a full-page story in Newsweek. Don Sherwood urged Golden West Broadcasting to hire Jerry for the morning drive slot at KVI-Seattle. Within months, KMPC programming vp Robert Forward moved Jerry from Seattle to KMPC becoming, at 24, the youngest on-air talent ever hired at the station. Movie Mirror Magazine named him one of "America's great radio performers" and the LA Times' Don Page named Jerry as host of "The Best Popular Music Show of 1963." Jerry appeared in Gomer Pyle, Dragnet, McHale's Navy and a host of other tv shows. His voiceover work on cartoons included Josie and the Pussycats, Aquaman and Gulliver. In 1968 he hosted his daily variety/interview show on KABC/Channel 7 called Good Day L.A. with Jerry Dexter.

Jerry was featured in one of 1969's biggest films, Robert Redford's Downhill Racer. He wrote and produced a tv special, Words & Music by Bobby Troup. For a year he was encased in a black bag as KTTV/Channel 11's morning movie host. The gimmick attracted much national attention. Jerry was the announcer on Alex Trebec's first American show, NBC's Wizard of Odds. For the past 20 years he’s syndicated and distributed tv shows around the world including The Wolfman Jack Show, Johnny Cash Ridin' The Rails and the Willie Nelson Special. "If it hadn’t been for Don Sherwood, I have no idea where I would be. I was so lucky to have been at KMPC in the last days of that legendary radio station. I will always remember that time in my life as being the most fun!"

DHILLON, Dave: KKBT/KRBV, 2006–08. Dave is a production, imaging, music producer, consultant.    Dave moved his company Take Note Productions Inc. from Vancouver, BC to San Diego in 1987 to help launch and brand KKLQ (Q106, 1987-97). KQLZ (Pirate Radio, 1989). KOGO-San Diego He worked for KKBT/The Beat as it transitioned into KRBV/V100 and has done various voiceover work.

Di, Lady: KNAC, 1986-87. Unknown. 

DIAZ, Gabby: KIIS, 2021-23. In the fall of 2021 Gabby joined KIIS as midday host. She works the same midday shift at KYLD ("Wild 94.9) in San Francisco. Diaz has been at KYLD since 2015 after stints at KGGI-Riverside and KHTS-San Diego. She is no longer heard on KIIS, but continues in San Francisco. Diaz is a Southern California native and has made her way up and down the West Coast during the ten-year span of her radio career. Born and raised in the San Gabriel Valley, Diaz credits her parents with her lifelong passion for music. She recently moved back to the Los Angeles after living in the Bay Area for the last six years. “To be able to be on the legendary KIIS FM is a dream come true. I’ve listened to KIIS since I was a kid, and having the chance to host daily live shows in two amazing cities at these two remarkable iHeartRadio brands seems unreal. I could not be more humbled or excited," said Gabby.

DIAMOND, Dave: KHJ, 1965; KBLA, 1965-67; KFWB, 1967-68; KRLA, 1971-72; KIIS/AM, 1972-75; KFI, 1976-82. Dave, one of the original KHJ “Boss Jocks,” died May 5, 2014, in Spearfish, South Dakota, following a bout with pneumonia. He was 77. In 2011, Dave wrote on his website: “I had a stroke that hit me like a swinging baseball bat. But I am slowly fighting my way back. It’s been a long rough road. Don’t know what the future holds. Doctors tell me I have a fading heart, but they have told me that before.” The Howard, South Dakota native was born Sid Davison. He attended Louisiana State University and graduated with BS degrees in journalism and history from the University of Southern Mississippi. He began his radio career working on the campus radio station, WMSU, at Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. He also received an MA in English from Northwest Missouri State University, and he earned a masters in fiction writing from the professional writing program at the University of Southern California, where he graduated magna cum laude. Dave served in the U.S. Army with the 147th field Artillery, South Dakota National Guard during the Korean War. He was transferred to the U.S. Reserve and was honorably discharged in 1962. He had early radio experience with Don Burden on Omaha's KOIL, where he began using the name Dave Diamond.. He was pd of WKGN-Knoxville and WIL-St. Louis and he had a radio and tv show in Denver before reaching Los Angeles. Dave became one of KHJ's original "Boss Jocks" when the new format was launched in April 1965, but he lasted only a couple of months. "I thought I knew a lot about radio until I met Bill Drake. Boss Radio was a great experience for me," explained Dave, following his firing. "I didn't fit in. I wasn't focused. I had too many things going on. Dave went to KBLA where he launched the “Diamond Mine” and started playing long LP cuts of progressive rock songs interspersed with psychedelic commentary. Besides KHJ and KBLA, Dave worked at Top 40 KFWB, KRLA, KIIS AM and KFI.

According to the book Can't Get Out of Here Alive, Dave is credited as the founder of The Doors.

In 1966, he was signed to emcee the Miss America Go-Go Contest. He also worked the Crescendo Night Club on the Sunset Strip and Hollywood's The Action. In 1967, Dave starred in an ABC/TV pilot called Helpmate. Dave published Incense & Peppermint by the Strawberry Alarm Clock which reached #1 in 1967.

In 1968, he appeared in an episode of ABC/TV's Outsiders. Then he went to San Francisco's KFRC, where he worked from 1968 into the '70s. In 1971, besides his work on KRLA, he hosted a daily tv show called Headshop on KBSC/Channel 52 .

He produced Acapulco Gold by the Rainy Daze.  

In 1972, Dave was the pd of KCBS/fm-San Francisco and briefly did middays at KTLK-Denver. He returned to the Southland a year later and went to KIIS morning drive, moving to evenings in 1974 and staying at the station until 1975. In 1976 he signed on at KFI for music and talk shows.

Dave moved back to South Dakota and taught communications at Black Hills State University, while managing KBHU/fm in Spearfish. In recent years he retired from teaching to write. In early 2014, the local Spearfish newspaper reported: “Dave Diamond, professor emeritus in journalism, was awarded the annual South Dakota State Poetry Prize. Diamond's poems will be featured in an upcoming chapbook published by the South Dakota State Poetry Society. More than 20 of Mr. Diamond's poems will be featured in the chapbook." He had also been writing a series of western novels.

DIAMOND, Jim: KYMS, 1969. Jim spent much of career working in Bakersfield radio. He wrote a book about his experiences. From a promo blurb: "Long-time legendary disc-jockey Jim Diamond takes us through a half-century of his life and times; through his childhood in Southern California; discovering Top 40 AM legends like KFWB, KRLA, and KHJ in Los Angeles. We learn of his passionate love of the business and being on the air...through his earliest experiences as a bootleg radio dj at the age of 15! Jim also tells of his musical knowledge of Rock N' Rolls formative years, when he made radio broadcasting and being a dj his life-long career. We read about his eventual move to the Bakersfield area, where he has spent the last 33 years.paying his "dues" several times over! Jim tells the story as it really happened. And he paints a picture of the business that is both fascinating and horrifying! Through his experiences we learn about both sides of being a radio d.j. We manage to see the underbelly of the radio business as well as many fun and memorable times, too. There are the radio "groupies"; the meeting of many great celebrities from the world of radio, television, and movies. It's ALL here! "The Diamond Mine" is a wonderful book, well-told by it's author. It's a definite "must read" for anyone interested in the radio business in any way. Jim Diamond, a Canadian immigrant to The United States at the age of 8 months.whose real name is Gerald (Gerry) Whitehead, is a real survivor in the ever-changing, hurly-burly world of radio broadcasting. Once you pick up this book, you'll never want to put it down!

DiCola, Felix. Unknown

DIEGO, Rick: KHTZ, 1985; KBZT/KLSX/KRLA, 1986-93; KBIG, 1993-2000. Rick hosted the syndicated show, Night Flight. A native of San Antonio, Rick started his radio career in 1974 at KTSA while attending San Antonio College majoring in radio/tv/film. He was working at KFMS-Las Vegas as pd and morning man before joining KHTZ. At KRLA Rick worked the all-night shift and in 1991 moved to assistant pd. For many years at KBIG he hosted a popular disco show on Saturday nights as well as working afternoon drive. He left KBIG in the spring of 2000.

Digby: KWST, 1978-80. Unknown.
Dillman, Jim: KATJ, 1992-2007 Jim is doing mornings on Country KATJ in Victorville. Jim spent 10 years on the air in Kansas City before moving to the Ventura/Oxnard market for 12 years and then over to the high desert. Jim has also been a tv weathercaster for most of those years in addition to the radio shows.
Dillon, Lisa: KEZY, 1982-84. Unknown.

DILLS, Elmer: KABC, 1977-96; KMPC/KTZN, 1996-97; KIEV, 1997-2000; KRLA, 2000-05. Elmer, a veteran restaurant critic for decades at KABC Channel/7 and KABC Radio died September 15, 2008, at the age of 82. He had been suffering from a variety of ailments. Born in 1926, Elmer provided Southland listeners with tips on where to go for a romantic evening, a birthday celebration or a wedding anniversary. He started broadcasting after more than 20 years with the State Department, where his primary function there was to wine and dine dignitaries in the Middle East, Africa and Europe, while helping move agents in and out of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. His notoriety forced him to make restaurant reservations under an assumed name to avoid preferential treatment. He took early retirement as a case office worker for the FBI. After years at KABC, Elmer took a table at sister station KMPC, later KTZN in the fall of 1996. Elmer then left the station in the summer of 1997 for KIEV. His motto was “eat like a prince, yet pay like a pauper.”

Dills, Peter: KIEV, 1999-2000; KCBS, 2000; KABC, 2010-14; KLAA, 2014-19; KRLA, 2018-19; KKGO, 2019-20; KKLA, 2020. Peter hosts a weekend hospitality information show.
Dinero, Al: KPPC, 1968. Unknown.

DINKEL, Tony: KFI, 1983- 2012. Tony died, January 12, 2023, according to a Facebook post by John & Ken. He was 67, "Tony, not only a terrific guy, but a talented engineer and there wasn’t anything he couldn’t do. Just ask, and he made it happen," wrote John Kobylt. “He made our on-air performance better. Without him, some of our most memorable shows would never have happenedd. He could wire us up and getting us broadcasting from anywhere. The Laguna fire aftermath, Gary Condit, Scott Peterson and many other on-location shows." In 2012, after 29 years, Tony left KFI. For the bulk of my 18-year career at KFI, he was the 'go to' guy for remotes," wrote producer Michelle Kube. "I cannot tell you how many Bill Handel remotes over the years started with me arriving on site at 3 a.m. and seeing Tony's smiling face saying 'we're good to go.' He was also the guy who, when there was a problem, or we gave him an impossible broadcast spot, could get a remote set up in a matter of a few minutes, and it always sounded perfect. More than once, he worked all night getting us the perfect set up, then he’d take an hour power nap and be on hand the rest of the day in case something happened," wrote Michelle in 2012.

 

DiPRIMA, Dominique: KKBT, 1994-2003; KJLH, 2005-21; KBLA, 2021-23. Dominique was public affairs director at "the Beat" and was one of Steve Harvey's Angels in morning drive until exiting the station on June 17, 2003. She was part of the morning show at KJLH. In 2021, Dominique joined Tavis Smiley's Progressive KBLA for morning drive. Her mom was born in New York City but grew up the quintessential California Kid. Her mother is Beat poet/icon Diane DiPrima, her dad, poet Amiri Baraka, is considered the father of Black Arts Movement. Dominique hosted Home Turf for 8 seasons garnering 5 Emmy Awards, a SAG/AFTRA American Scene Award, 10 Parents Choice Awards and many more. During that time she continued her activism, full time college and work in theater, acting in more than 30 plays. She graduated cum laude from San Francisco State University with a BA in Theater Arts. When Home Turf wrapped Dominique headed for Los Angeles. Dominique is deeply involved in her community, emceeing, speaking and participating at countless non-profit events, and fundraisers. She was the Director of the acclaimed Summer of Success violence prevention program in Baldwin Village in 2003 and 2004. Domique treasures the time she was chosen by a coalition of Bay Area activists to introduce Nelson Mandela upon his release from prison. Dominique is currently host of the daily early morning talk show The Front Page at KJLH. She was named "Woman of the Year" by Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson, in 2017.

DiVita, Frankie: KNAC, 1987-89; KCXX, 2003; KCAL, 2006-14; KFSH, 2008-11; KLOS, 2015-19. Frankie worked fill-ins and weekend at KLOS until late 2019. She now co-hosts a podcast, The Spirit of Radio Podcast with Ken Anthony. She is also providing imaging services.
Ditty, Bill: KFWB, 1959-63; KRLA, 1963-65; KFWB, 1965-75. Bill is retired and living in Ukiah.
Dix, Mike: KFWB, 1964. Unknown.

DIXON, Dianne: KABC, 1994. Dianne is a very successful tv and film screenwriter. As a television writer Dianne was the winner of the Humanitas Prize for Excellence in Screenwriting and double Emmy nominee. She is a former Visiting Professor of Creative Writing at Pitzer College in Claremont, a nominee for the Mary Routt Chair of Writing at Scripps College, and has taught screenwriting at the Dodge College of Film & Media at Chapman University in Orange. The Language of Secrets is Dianne’s first novel—The Book of Someday is her second.

Dixon, Glen: KDAY, 1974. Unknown.

DIXON, Mason: KHJ, 1977. Mason has been a long-time top personality at WRBQ, Tampa “Q105.” He left in the fall of 2022, following company downsizing. Mason "Lee Roy Pee Wee Bodine Moonpie, et al" Dixon (Jimmy Crawford) was the operations manager and very popular afternoon drive guy for Tampa Bay’s Q105 WRBQ from 1978 through the 1980’s. But after the station took a beating from upstart The Power Pig WFLZ, the Memphis native (who had worked earlier in his career for hometown station WHBQ, KHJ, and KCBQ- San Diego) left and hooked up a gig in Birmingham. Although it proved to be a brief stay, Mason did hang in there long enough to transform WKXX/fm into the “Power Cow,” a goofy satire on his former competition back in Tampa. With the situation there not living up to his expectations, he returned to Tampa (he always loved the area) in 1990 and began a successful morning show at Mix 96 WMTX. In 1996, he left for 100.7 Kiss FM WAKS, followed by Oldies U92 WYUU, and then back to Q105 to host mornings.  In 1993, Mason won four Billboard awards for his work at WMTX-Tampa/St. Petersburg. In the spring of 1995, Mason saved several men who were capsized in Tampa bay while piloting his cruiser, The Radio Waves. He was upped to station manager of WMTX in the spring of 1995. Mason is now at WYUU-Tampa. (from RadioYears.com)

 

DIXON, Tom: KHJ, 1939-43; KFAC, 1946-87; KUSC, 1987-89; KKGO, 1989-98. Tom was part of the Classical music scene in Southern California for 50 years. His family moved to L.A. in 1922, and Tom never left. He died March 13, 2010, at the age of 94. In 1939 he landed a job at KHJ when it was part of the Mutual Network. Tom worked as a transcription file clerk and as a member of the sound department and, after a year as an apprentice, he was promoted to the "announce" staff. He announced newscasts, dramas, dance band remotes, live broadcasts and game shows. He also emceed audience shows and filled in for Jack Bailey on Queen for a Day while Jack was on vacation. He left KHJ and for three years was a free-lance performer. He heard that KFAC wanted an announcer with a Classic Music background. He intended to stay six weeks, but, as Tom said over lunch during the holidays in 1994, "I was like the man who came to dinner and stayed 41 years."   After two years with KUSC, he joined KKGO when it was a Classical station. The highlight of his five years at KKGO was the opportunity to host the "Evening Concert" series, which was sponsored for decades by the Southern California Gas Company.

Tom retired in May 1998 at the age of 82. He told the LA Times, "I feel like I've been beached." After two years with KUSC, he joined KKGO when it was a Classical station. The highlight of his five years at KKGO was the opportunity to host the "Evening Concert" series, which was sponsored for decades by the Southern California Gas Company. For many years his car had a bumper sticker "WAMOZRT," which stood for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and advertised his addiction. "You have no idea how many people ask, 'What's a WAMOZRT?' And half the time, when I tell them it stands for Mozart...they ask, 'What's a Mozart?'" 

DJ Syphe & DLux: KPWR, 2005-11. The Power pair work afternoon drive at the Hip-Hop station until the late spring of 2011. Eric Dux worked evenings at Power 106 until late Spring of 2016, when he moved to weekends.

DOBBS, Lou: KGIL, 2008. The CNN host's syndicated radio show debuted on KGIL in March 2008 and stayed until late 2008. Lou hosted a show on the Fox Business Network nightly until early 2021 when he left the cable network. Born on September 24, 1945 in Childress County, Texas, Lou was part of the launch of the CNN network.

Doc on the Roq: SEE Boyd R. Britton
Doeblin, Peter: KIQQ, 1987; KHTS, 2006-07. Peter worked for the Soft AC format at Dial-Global until late December 2007.

DOGGETT, Jerry: KMPC, 1958; KFI, 1959-72; KABC, 1972-87. Jerry was one of the original Dodger announcers along with Vin Scully who followed the team from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. He retired in 1987 after 32 broadcast seasons with the Dodgers. In 1996 he was elected to the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame. He died of natural causes on July 7, 1997, at the age of 80. Born in Moberly, Missouri, Doggett began in radio in 1938 at KFRO in Longview, Texas. In 1941, he moved to WRR in Dallas. Doggett spent 15 years doing did play-by-play for Southwest Conference football games, SMU football and basketball, Liberty Broadcasting’s Game Of The Week and the Dallas Rebels minor-league baseball team before joining Vin Scully, Connie Desmond and Al Helfer in the Brooklyn Dodgers’ WMGM broadcast booth in 1956. Scully and Doggett followed the Dodgers to Los Angeles in 1958. Dodgers baseball was heard on KMPC in 1958-59 and KFI from 1960 to 1973, before moving to KABC. Doggett retired after the 1987 season. He was a charter member of the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Association and was elected to their Hall of Fame in 1996. Dodgers baseball has also been heard on KXTA and KFWB and is now heard on KLAC.

 

DOLE, Cindy: KNX, 1997-98; KFWB, 1998-2014. The challenge in broadcasting today is to prepare for when the gig ends. There is so much uncertainty about radio as the two largest radio groups emerge from bankruptcy. For almost two decades, Cindy was a familiar news anchor voice at KFWB and KNX. And then the gig ended. But she had a plan B. Cindy has a green thumb and an eye for design. She has taken all her home improvement and design expertise to be a home stager and two years ago started a new company, www.StorybookStyling.com. Her website is gorgeous and, on the side, she teaches Strategic Multimedia content to USC Annenberg PR Students. She has figured out the next journey in her life. Cindy is a fourth generation Angeleno (her ancestors were here before there was tar in the La Brea Tar Pits) and graduated from USC with honors in 1982, having majored in broadcast journalism and communication. While she was at KNX, she won two Golden Mikes. For the six years preceding KNX, Cindy was anchor/reporter at WWMT/TV in Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo, spending the last three years as the station’s prime 6 & 11 p.m. co-anchor. She has also been a reporter and anchor at KRDG/TV, Jefferson City/Columbia, Missouri and KYEL/TV Yuma. Cindy began her broadcasting career as an anchor and reporter at KDES-Palm Springs. She hosted the “Home Wizards Show” (Garden, Home, and Life Improvement Radio) on various stations and even hosted the Rose Parade for KFWB.

Dolan, Joe: KHJ, 1964-65. Unknown. 

DOLL, Jonathan: KRTH, 1986-91. Jonathan is a standup comic, comedy writer and radio personality. He’s sold hundreds of jokes to Jay Leno for over 10 years.  He’s done standup in clubs across the country. He’s been on a number of national commercials. Besides comedy writing and performing, he’s a radio guy.  Besides morning drive at K-EARTH, Jonathan has worked in Houston and Indianapolis. Jonathan worked at Dial-Global in Valencia. The former Star Search winner won the 1984 Billboard magazine Personality of the Year Award while working at WZPL-Indianapolis and in 1979 while at KMGK-Des Moines. In the 1970s Jonathan was at WIVY-Jacksonville, “G-100”-Mobile and “96KX”-Pittsburgh. In 1981 he won the Drake/Chenault Top 5 Talent Search Award. Born and raised in New York City he's always been around comedy. He worked mornings at Westwood One Radio Network's Hot Country format for many years before joining mornings at KKRW-Houston in the summer of 1995.

Domas, Pete: KRTH, 1979-88. Pete works as a paralegal at UCLA.

DOMINO: KIIS, 1993-96. Born Tony Lini, in 1990 Domino worked nights at WPLJ-New York. The party jock joined KIIS for frantic evenings in the late summer of 1993 after a similar post at KHKS-Dallas. He hosted a nightly feature, "Desperate And Dateless." In the summer of 1996, he went to KHKS-Dallas and later WFLZ-Tampa. Since 2010, he has been with Sunny in Orlando. "Almost four decades in Radio and still going. It never gets old, I just do," Domino wrote on his Facebook page.

 

DONAHUE, Raechel: KMET, 1975-76; KPOL, 1977; KWST, 1978-83; KROQ, 1984-86; KIIS, 1984-87; KLOS, 1986; KSRF, 1988; KMPC/fm / KEDG, 1988-91; KOCM/KSRF, 1991; KCSN, 1996-2002. Raechel owns Big Stagecoach Productions and she has produced three documentaries for PBS. She did weekends for Dial-Global (Classic Rock) on about 80 stations and writes travel tips for USAToday.com.

DONAHUE, Tom: KPPC, 1967-68; KMET, 1968. Tom's legacy is identified with Progressive or "free-form radio." Tom's contribution to radio comes from Jim Ladd's book, Radio Waves: "Tom Donahue was our generation's first town crier. He gathered the villagers together and introduced them to the music of a new breed of wandering minstrels. It was here, in the electronic town square, that we first heard the music and danced to its message. He was the first to strike the tribal drum, and his departure would mark a dangerous turning pint in tribal history." In 2021, Tom was posthumously inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame. He was born Thomas Coman in South Bend, Indiana. His radio career started in 1949 at WTIP-West Virginia, followed by WIBG-Philadelphia and WINX-Maryland. Les Crane was his pd at WIBG and they went to KYA-San Francisco in the early 60s and both made major impacts. Donahue formed Autumn Records with Bobby Mitchell (Bobby Tripp in LA) and they had hits with Bobby Freeman and Beau Brummels. Tom and Bobby produced concerts at the Cow Palace and Candlestick Park. Together, they produced the last public appearance of The Beatles on August 29, 1966 at Candlestick. As the culture in San Francisco changed, so did Tom. He lambasted Top 40 music in a 1967 Rolling Stone article, AM Radio Is Dead and Its Rotting Corpse Is Stinking Up the Airwaves. With his Raechel, Donahue brought the album-oriented "free-form" format to KPPC and KMET. Raechel was a major personality in the growth of FM radio. In 1972, Tom became gm at KSAN-San Francisco. He died April 28, 1975, at the age of 46.

Donaldson, Lorri: KABC, 1967-70. Lorri and Kelly Lange became the first female helicopter traffic and weather reporters. Unknown. 

DONEGAN, Mike: KLAC, 1986-87. The broadcast journalist and humorist most recently co-hosted a show on Sirius Satellite Radio and is the stadium announcer for the Tennessee Titans. He was at KLAC during the Country music days. For many years prior, Donegan was a mainstay on radio shows at Nashville stations WMAK, WKDF and WGFX, including "Big Dave and the Dook", "Ian Case and The Duke", "Carl P. Mayfield & The P. Team" and "The Wake-Up Zone." He was formerly the news director at WSM AM/WSM FM and a feature reporter for WSMV/tv. Donegan was born in Nashville. His parents were retail bakery owners. He attended Hillsboro High School in Nashville, graduated with a B.A. in social science from George Peabody College at Vanderbilt University, a Master of Professional Studies in Training and Development from the University of Memphis and a J.D. from the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law where he was a recipient of the Harold C. Streibich Intellectual Property Law Award.

Donnelly, Bob: XTRA, 1959-61. Bob was pd at "The Mighty 690." After XTRA, Bob became pd at KXRX-San Jose in the 1960's. He concluded his career being the evening anchor at all-News KCBS-San Francisco in the 1970s. He died in the mid-1970s.   

DONOHO, Todd: KLOS, 1988-2001 and 2002-03; KSPN, 2002-03; KABC/KLOS, 2011-15; KSWD, 2015-16. Todd lives in Columbia, Missouri and he hosts the post-game show for Missouri Tiger basketball on the statewide Tiger Radio Network. He provided sports reports for Cumulus' KABC and KLOS until early 2015 when he followed Mark Thompson to 100.3/The Sound. He's now retired. In 2005, LARadio asked for memories surrounding the John Kennedy assassiatio. Todd responded: "I was 8 years old living in the jungle of Liberia, Africa. My father had a construction job there. We didn't find out about the JFK assassination until his funeral, which we were able to pick up on shortwave radio. Believe it or not, there were parts of the world that were not connected to mass media and news events of the magnitude of the JFK assassination. Liberia was one of them. We also knew nothing of Oswald being shot, nor the Cuban missile crisis a year earlier. Life is good here in Columbia, Missouri. Hope all is well in the radio world in Los Angeles."

 

DONOVAN, Bo: KDAY, 1970-71; KLAC, 1971-72; KBBQ, 1972-73. Bo passed away April 24, 2012, after a brief illness, at the age of 67. Most recently he had been the manager of Fallbrook Community Airpark. Donovan was also the manager of Ramona Airport. "Bo was always quick to laugh, and he brought out the best in everyone around him. He totally enjoyed his job as airport manager, and he had a passion, an enthusiasm, that made everybody around him energized and feel good," said County Airports director Pete Drinkwater. "He was larger than life, and we're going to have many fond memories about him and all the wonderful things he did for County Airports." Bo began a broadcast career in 1964 at KXO-El Centro (his hometown). He went on to KBLU-Yuma and KDES-Palm Springs as morning personality and pd. In 1968 Bo joined KROY-Sacramento when Billboard named it Contemporary Station of the Year. From Sacramento he moved to KMEN-San Bernardino.

When he left the Southland in 1973, he was appointed director of programming for all nine SRO stations. Three years later he joined Tuesday Productions and spent eight years there. “We became the largest producer of musical IDs and promotional campaigns for radio and tv,” he said when interviewed for Los Angeles Radio People.

In 1984 he formed his own company, Silvertree Productions, where he won numerous awards. Active in the San Diego community, Bo served as live announcer for the PGA Buick Invitational golf tournament for over a decade. Bo married his high school sweetheart.  

"His life was not just about being an airport manager," Drinkwater said. "He's done a whole lot of things. His world was a very broad world of interesting experiences."

Don Elliot remembered that Bo was a licensed embalmer. “His last job in that field was embalming Marilyn Monroe,” emailed Don.

Donovan, Dave: KKHR, 1983-85. SEE Joe Cipriano
Donovan, Michael: KCBS, 1996-99. Michael lives in Vancouver.

DONOVAN, Sheri: KROQ, 1995-96; KLYY, 1996-99; KCBS/fm, 2003-05; KSWD, 2009-13. Sheri worked swing at "Arrow 93" until the station flipped to JACK/fm. She co-hosted mornings at 100.3/The Sound. Sheri was the first personality hired by "Modern Rock Y-107." She left “Y107” in early 1999. She was born in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada and grew up in Farmington, Michigan. Prior to joining KROQ for weekends, Sheri worked in Michigan radio. She started in 1983 at WTCM-Traverse City as a news person and midday jock. Two years later she was in Flint first working at WWCK and then WKSG-Detroit. In 1988 Sheri joined WLLZ-Detroit and spent over six years working every shift but mornings and overnights. She hosted an Aerosmith concert in Brussels and Guns 'n Roses event in Paris for WW1. Since 2016, she has been a realtor at Pinnacle Estate Properties, Inc. in Westlake Village.

 

DOOLEY, "Brother Tom": KHJ, 1974. Tom owned Master Media in Hurst, Texas. He died November 9, 2010, of brain cancer.He was 63. Tom had quite the reputation before he arrived at KHJ/Boss Radio in 1974. And he didn’t disappoint during his brief time here. He accused President Richard Nixon of being the one behind John Kennedy's assassination and was fired on the air in 1974. By 1990, it was time to turn his life around or die. Tom eventually went into Christian radio in Texas where he developed quite the reputation as a Christian broadcaster. (Photo of Tom Dooley from 2006 Guitars of Praise, courtesy of Ft. Worth Press-Telegram) Tom worked at WQAM-Miami, WSAI-Cincinnati and KRUX-Phoenix in the early 1970s. As a musician he played guitar, drums, and piano and performed with the Mar-Keys, Bill Black's Combo and Ace Cannon. In 1983, he worked at KLIF-Dallas.    Tom was inspired to start his syndicated show The Journey in part because of his love of books. "He and my mom would be in bed and read to each other," daughter Kristin Spradlin told the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram. “He'd say, 'Oh, you've got to listen to this,' and he'd read her a passage. Eventually, he got the kernel of an idea that this would make a great radio show." Dooley had been through his own long journey, in his radio career and in his personal life. He grew up in a rough and unstable family. Even after he became a Christian in 1978, Spradlin said, he struggled to live a Christian life until a turnaround came a decade later. He was a popular inspirational speaker and the voice of the Billy Graham ministries for 20 years.

Doolittle, Don: KABC, 60s. When Don left KABC, he moved to Hawaii.
Dorman, Jeff: KWVE, 2002-06. Jeff was general manager of KWVE.

DORNAN, Robert: KLAC, 1966; KABC, 1971: KIEV, 2000; KPLS, 2001-02. Robert's syndicated talk show aired on Orange County's KPLS. Now in his late 80s, the former talk show host was a U.S. Congressman from Garden Grove. He served nine terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from the 46th Congressional District. Born in New York City on April 3, 1933, he graduated from Loyola High School in 1950. He attended Loyola University until 1953 when at age 19 he volunteered for service in the United States Air Force. Bob produced and hosted radio and television public affairs programs from 1965 to 1976 and was awarded Emmys. In addition to his radio work in Los Angeles, he spent 1970 hosting a talk show on KGO-San Francisco. Active in domestic civil rights during the 1960s, he marched with Martin Luther King and registered black voters in the South. He originated the POW/MIA bracelet worn by more than 12 million Americans during the Vietnam War.

Dorsey, Ed: KFWB, 1985-97. The former KFWB director of news and operations is retired and living in the San Fernando Valley. 

DORTON, Joe: KBIG/KBRT, 1973-79. Dorton started in broadcasting as an account exec at Bonnevile's KSL-Salt Lake City in 1966, later serving as President/GM of WCLR-Chicago. In 1975 he was named Chief Executive Officer of Bonnevile's California division, and became President of Torbet when Bonneville acquired the rep firm in 1978. In 1980, Joe was appointed president of the Gannett Radio Division. The former general manager at KBIG passed away October 18, 2002. Joe was 61. He loved and was passionate about golf. He was extremely generous and touched so many lives by giving his time and talents to those surrounding him. He will be sorely missed by countless people, but is finally at peace after several years of illness.

DOUG the SLUG:  SEE Sluggo

DOUGLAS, Brian: KYSR, 1997-2001; KZLA, 2001-06; KNX, 2016-23. Brian, KNX's reporter/anchor/airborne reporter, was born in Camden, New Jersey in 1967. "I grew up in the burbs of Philadelphia and listened to 98 WCAU/fm and fell in love with the idea of radio so much so, I built my own low power FM transmitter and broadcast so most of my friends could hear it," said Brian. "I was also our high school's morning dj for my last two years." Brian graduated from Temple University with a degree in Communications specializing in journalism and speech. He finished up his last two semesters in London, England and ended up working for CNN as a news writer and producer. On return to the States they wanted me to re-locate to Atlanta, which I turned down. "I traveled Europe and Africa for a while instead." When he returned home to New Jersey, Brian decided he would give radio a try and moved to Florida to do it. "My first gig was at I-100 (WNFI) in Daytona Beach. After that my career took me to Orlando, St Louis, Milwaukee, Chicago (103.5 The Blaze), New York (Z-100), Trenton/Philly (97.5 WPST), Phoenix (Power 92 KKFR) and finally to LA. I also worked as an editor at the now long gone Network 40 magazine." Brian arrived at “Star 98.7” (KYSR) from KKFR-Phoenix. In addition to his radio work, he has appeared in Beverly Hills 90210 and Star Trek IX. In the fall of 2001 he joined nights at Country KZLA until a format flip in late summer of 2006. Brian went on to Westwood One and left the company in the summer of 2015 following a downsizing. After Westwood One he was hired as an airborne reporter (TTWN) for KNX 1070 and within a year was moved into full-time.

 

DOUGLAS, Chet: KBLA, 1965; KFWB, 1968-80. Chet's long battle with cancer ended December 4, 2000. Chet anchored morning drive news at KFWB for over a decade in the 70s. Chet's daughter Janet said he died peacefully at the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Scottsdale, Arizona. "Dad got the word several weeks ago that his bone marrow had stopped producing red blood cells and that his time would be short," emailed Janet. Chet was very active up 'til he went into the hospital a few days before his death. He spent Thanksgiving with his daughter and family in Southern California then flew to Colorado for a couple of days with his son, Erik. He returned from Colorado the week before his death, spent time driving around and doing Christmas shopping for his wife Yvonne and hid the gifts with neighbors. A few days later his condition worsened enough that he was hospitalized. The day before his death, the medications that had been helping sustain his life were discontinued, according to friend and former colleague Rich Buhler. All of Chet's family was able to arrive and be with him and they were surrounding his bed holding hands when his heart stopped beating. Chet was featured or co-starred in several major motion pictures for Columbia and Paramount Pictures. In January of 1981 Chet joined ABC in New York, where he anchored morning drive news for the Entertainment Network until late 1992. He then retired to Scottsdale.

DOUGLAS, Gary: KACD, 1995-96. Gary produced the Tom Leykis Internet show.  Gary was born Gary Douglas Zabransky and he was raised in New Jersey. He was influenced by the final years of “free form” radio as heard on WNEW/fm-New York. “I considered the jocks my friends - Scott Muni, Vin Scelsa, Pete Fornatel. I knew at around 13 that I wanted to do what these guys were doing. The day John Lennon was murdered in NYC in 1980 was the most intimate and inspirational day of radio I've ever heard. I was 15. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Howard Stern's days at WNBC rocked my whole concept of radio." Gary earned a B.A. in communications at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey where he did a blues show at WSOU, one of the few college radio stations heard in NYC. While still in school, he worked at WSUS-Franklin, New Jersey. "It was a CHR where I was told my middle name would be my air name by a pd who wouldn't let you sit during a six hour shift. [There was NO chair in the studio.] My highlight was stopping down to do 'Lost Pet Reports' every hour between Madonna and Whitney Houston cuts." From 1988-92, Gary worked at WXPS-Westchester, New York and WNEW/AM-New York. "My few years at WNEW/AM are still my favorites. I did a lot of overnights after the departure of the legendary Al 'Jazzbeaux' Collins. I was just out of college. Eventually, WNEW was sold to Bloomberg and I kept money rolling in with a production shift at talker WOR. I moved to L.A. in '94. That year I worked part-time in production at Westwood One, as a program coordinator at KABC, and as morning announcer at KCRW. I finally landed the gig at 'CD 103.1' in '95. It was Smooth Jazz at the time and I went to the interview wanting that gig in the worst way. When I got there I was told they were going Hot AC in two weeks. A gig's a gig. I started as a weekender, moved to middays, then to afternoons, then to the beach with the rest of the air staff when it changed to Groove."  DOUGLAS, Lee: KFRG, 2003 - 17. Lee was program director of Country K-FROG in the Inland Empire. He died August 11, 2022, at the age of 74  Douglas joined KFRG in 2003 after stops in Salt Lake City, Chicago and San Francisco, and successfully ran the place until his 2017 retirement.

DOUGLAS, Wade: KBBQ, 1968; KRLA, 1971-72. After leaving the Southland, Wade spent many years as a reporter/anchor on San Diego radio and tv stations. Many of those years were at KOGO and KOGO/TV When asked to reflect on his time in L.A., Wade said: “My memories include working with the late Andy West at KBBQ and my good friend Paul Oscar Anderson at KRLA.” He went on to run an independent production facility. In November of 2020, Wade was hospitalized, taken off dialysis, and sent home. When his condition was posted on Facebook, Neil Ross commented: "Wade was/is a great news guy and a good friend. Worked with him at KCBQ 1969-70 and known him ever since. Here's hoping for a gentle transition surrounded by those he loves."

Douglass, Dave: KLAC, 1981-84; KMNY, 1987; KFWB, 1985-98. Dave is a news writer at KCOP/Channel 13.
Douridas, Chris: KCRW, 1990-98 and 2000-23. Chris works A & R at DreamWorks Records. Chris returned to KCRW in the fall of 2000.

DOVER, Benjamin: KFI, 2001-03. Benjamin passed away January 1, 2016, in Fort Worth from pneumonia. He was 57 years old. Born Lance Blumen in 1958 in Waco, Benjamin was a respected author, columnist, radio host, and broadcast professional known for his work to "level the playing field for the little guy" and his no-nonsense "been there, done that" advice on how to recover from life's challenges. Lance, a self-described "deal junkie," reinvented himself as author and publisher following a near-fatal motorcycle accident in 1989, which required more than a dozen surgeries. “While I was recuperating, I reinvented myself. I got into talk radio as a result of being a ‘professional’ guest’ promoting my first book on how to stop debt collector harassment called, Stop It.” Ironically, his first time on KFI was in the spring of 1992 as a guest on Tom Leykis’ afternoon drive show. Later that year he started doing weekends at KLIF-Dallas, and eventually moved into a daytime slot. “I got caught in the blow-out/shake-up that turned the entire KLIF airstaff over in a half year. The radio sparked many tv appearances and spawned my common-sense newspaper column in The Dallas Morning News.

Dower, Dona: KNX, 1983-90 and 1993-98; KZLA, 1999-2001. Dona worked for one of the traffic services.
Dowler, Mike: KHTS, 2006-20. Mike often fills in at the Santa Clarita station. He also produces and hosts 'Conversations with Mike,' a podcast heard at conversationspod.wixsite.com/conversations.
Dowling, John: KJOI, 1989; KXEZ, 1990. Unknown.

DOWNES, Steve: KWST, 1978-81; KEZY, 1981-82; KLOS, 1982-91; KLSX, 1994. Steve was doing mornings at Bonneville's WDRV-Chicago until February 2015. He plans to retire after 44 year radio career. Steve grew up in Columbus, Ohio and graduated with a B.A. from the University of Dayton. He began his radio career in Ohio in 1969 at one of the Midwest's first progressive rock stations. In 1974, he became pd of WYDD-Pittsburgh. He was operations director of KWST in 1979. He spent the better part of a decade at KLOS. In the mid-1980s for a half-decade, Steve was the voice for many of the top syndicated rock shows produced by the Westwood Radio Network including "The Superstar Concert Series," "The Rock Chronicles" and "Rock and Roll Never Forgets." In 1986, he was flown to Japan to do a series of radio shows for “FM Yokohama,” which was a new radio station. "In 1991 I was seeking a change in lifestyle and a desire to return to radio management and accepted a position of pd and afternoon drive at WRXK (“96K”)-Ft. Meyers. No sooner had I unpacked my bags on tranquil Sanibel Island that I was asked to transfer to WYNF-Tampa as pd." He was lured back to the Southland in late 1993 to host "Rockline." He joined afternoon drive at KLSX (Classic Rock) in the spring of 1994 and left before the year was out. Steve started morning drive at KTYD-Santa Barbara in early 1995 and left in the fall of 1997 for WLUP-Chicago. In 2001, Steve segued to WDRV (“The Drive”)-Chicago.

Downing, Al: KABC, 1983-87. Al is in industrial real estate.

DOWNS, LeRoy: KLON/KKJZ, 1998-2004; KKJZ, 2008-18; KCRW, 2019-23. LeRoy hosted a Saturday night show at K-JAZZ and then switched to a nightly jazz program. He returned to KKJZ to do a two-hour afternoon show of progressive music. He had a weekly show at KRML-Carmel. He has been an icon in the jazz industry for the past ten years. "Programming creative jazz music was like a dream! The spirit, the mood, and all of the great sounds in jazz are the only universal elements needed for great jazz programming. It cannot be pre-planned. The spontaneity of selecting the music kept the ideas fresh, hip and sounding absolutely wonderful!" LeRoy, a native of Los Angeles, loves jazz but, was not raised on the music. “It was a constant search for something new and different. When I heard the young players doing the standards I thought, this is it! Little did I know that it would be a great journey back in time to discover the masters and find a home in my heart for great classic jazz music." LeRoy attended Fairfax High School in West Hollywood. Directly across the street from his high school was a used record shop called Aaron's Records. This is where he discovered that he could take about $20 and buy about 20 albums, for those of you who know about vinyl! LeRoy has also been busy hosting many jazz festivals and performances including more that 20 years with the Monterey Jazz Festival, the Central Avenue Jazz Festival, the Angel City Jazz Festival, The Playboy Jazz Cruise, The Jazz Cruise, Winter Jazz Fest in New York, the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz performances and you can find him weekly at his own Just Jazz Series. LeRoy developed an entertaining jazz pilot television program called “Hangin' with the Jazzcats.”

Doyle, Enos: KMET, 1973-75. Unknown.

DRAKE, Bill: KHJ, 1965-70; KIQQ, 1973-74. The architect of the legendary "Boss Radio" format in the spring of 1965, Drake consulted stations included KFRC-San Francisco, CKLW-Detroit, WHBQ-Memphis, WRKO-Boston and WOR/fm-New York. He died November 29, 2008, of lung cancer at the age of 71. In 2021, Bill was posthumously inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame. Philip Taylor Yarbrough grew up in Donalsonville, Georgia, and began working at a local radio station as a teenager. While attending South Georgia Teachers College in Statesboro, he worked the 9 p.m.-to-midnight shift at WWNS, where his sign-off theme was Hugo Winterhalter’s version of “Canadian Sunset.” “If you were a freshman girl and were off campus somewhere and heard that, you knew you were in deep trouble unless you could get back to the college before the song was over,” said Ramona Palmer, whom he married in 1959 after taking a job at WAKE radio in Atlanta and changing his name to rhyme with the station’s call letters. The couple divorced in 1966. Two later marriages also ended in divorce. In 1962 he was hired by Gene Chenault, the owner of KYNO in Fresno, who also had innovative ideas about packaging radio. Together they created Drake-Chenault Enterprises, rescued KGB in San Diego, their first client, then struck gold with KHJ. “We cleaned up AM radio,” Mr. Drake told The Los Angeles Times in 1990. "Bill Drake had been working as pd of KYA-San Francisco and ran into the now-often-experienced 'philosophical differences,'  wrote Charlie Van Dyke. "He decided that he should quit KYA and find a station to program that would give him more room. Gene Chenault offered him the opportunity to program a station in Stockton and KYNO-Fresno. Drake said, 'Chenault gave me complete creative freedom, two salaries and a brand new Cadillac. Not bad!'

"Drake pulled off a quick 'worst to first' featuring a classic radio battle with KMAK, which was being programmed by Ron Jacobs. It is reported that the battle featured all the dirty tactics possible...going through the other station's trash, secretly recording conversations and more. When the battle ended, Drake and KYNO were strong winners. KYNO had more audience than the other 17 stations combined. Excited by the success, Chenault talked with a friend of his, Willet Brown, who owned another ratings disaster, KGB-San Diego. Chenault wanted to buy the station. Brown decided that he wanted to keep it and made a deal for Drake to come to KGB and work his Fresno magic at the San Diego property. Again, it was a quick win. KGB went from last to first in 63 days. Meanwhile, Brown was talking to a friend of his, Tom O'Neil, who was head of RKO. The conversation was about this whiz kid from Fresno who turned Gene's station around, then rolled into San Diego and did it again. O'Neil was well aware of the poor position of most of the RKO stations at that time. So, the decision was made to see if Drake could pull it off again. KHJ was given over to the team of Bill Drake and Gene Chenault. Chenault dealt with the ownership and Drake made the programming plans. Drake began running practice shows in a KHJ production room, getting ready for the debut of 'Boss Radio.'

During this period, a newsman at KHJ was fired and, in reaction, took much of the material and tapes in his possession to then market champ KFWB. KFWB attempted to beat KHJ to the debut of the new format. Drake and KHJ responded by popping the format immediately and ran promos on KHJ inviting listeners to sample KFWB and KRLA and then come back to '93/KHJ' to hear the real 'Boss Radio.'

Another factor was that all the stations, while performing poorly when Drake came on board, had good signals. The necessity for a strong signal was a position also held by Top 40-pioneer Gordon McLendon who said, 'it doesn't matter how good you are if the people can't hear you.'

Anyone who worked a Drake station knows that it wasn't just the spot load and jingles that made the Drake sound unique. Drake has been described by Bill Watson, a long-time programming associate, as having the kind of 'listener ear' that programmers often don't have. Watson said that he once went into a gas station, and the attendant made a comment about his station that went right to the point. 'Why didn't I think of what that gas station guy said,' Watson commented. 'That's the kind of feedback Drake would give all the time.'

Drake also set up the station in a way that put air people directly under the pd, who was essentially the only one who could deal with the air staff. The pd's, in turn, were coached on style and morale techniques, and a real attitude developed that grew into pride. It was kind of the Marine Corps of Radio. Programmers were in constant contact with the air staff via the famous 'Batphone.' Drake pd's all had car phones long before they became so popular. And Drake and his team were available to the pd's 24-hours-a-day to talk through any sudden change in the market. So it was in Los Angeles that the nation really first noticed a new air product that received life primarily through the friendship of three radio executives who shared their frustrations with each other and decided to give it a try."

In December 1973, he took over KIQQ and brought along Robert W. Morgan and The Real Don Steele to wage battle against their alma mater. In his definitive book on the history of radio and pop music, Music in the Air, Philip Eberly described the "Drake formula" this way: "He declared dead air a felony. He decreed more rapid-fire talk by disc jockeys. He dropped the traditional 40-song play list down 10 to 30 (that is, 'Boss 30'). He reduced the allowable 18 commercials per hour (the FCC quota) to an ironclad 12." During the first half of the early 1990s, Drake played a pivotal role in the success of "K-Earth 101."
Drake, Bill: KDAY, 1974. Unknown.

DRAPER, Ken: KFWB, 1975-78. Ken owned Ken Draper Creative Communications in Southern California. He died in August 2022, at the age of 89. After programming successful radio stations for Westinghouse Broadcasting in the 1960s, Draper moved to Chicago to program WCFL, which is still one of the most-talked-about and revered Top 40 radio stations in the Midwest. While there, Draper assembled a stellar line-up, which included Jim Runyon, Dick Williamson, Joel Sebastian, Jim Stagg, Barney Pip and Ron Britain. He also brought Larry Lujack to Chicago, as well as Dick Orkin, who created the legendary "Chickenman." Draper and the legendary Chuck Blore also worked on those classic WCFL jingles. In the '70s, after WCFL, Draper and Blore launched Los Angeles-based syndication/consulting firm Programming db that consulted WPIX, WCAR, KFWB and others. Draper also created the first "voice-tracked" 24-hour automated formats, including Olde Golde, Big Country, Rock Unlimited and others, which aired on hundreds of stations across the U.S.   Draper and his longtime colleague Jim Hampton teamed up in the '80s to produce syndicated shows for ABC, CBS and RKO Networks, plus thousands of radio stations around the world, and in the late '90’s, Draper helped to write the charter and launched the first of 99 Neighborhood Councils mandated by the City of Los Angeles as a grassroots way to connect LA's diverse communities to City Hall.  In 2003, Draper launched CityWatchLA.com, an online resource featuring original content regarding political news and views about Los Angeles and SoCal with the mission of promoting civic engagement, exposing corruption and educating the public. He also created a network of over 60 writers providing original articles, opinions, etc. (Part of his obit was courtesy of The RAMP and Jim Hampton)

 

DRE, Doctor: KKBT, 1999-2000. Doctor Dre started in morning drive at "The Beat" on August 30, 1999 and left July 14, 2000. He and Ed Lover went on to work morning drive at "Power 105"-New York. Andre Brown has always been a tastemaker. Better known as Doctor Dré — the Long Island original, not the West Coast producer and gangster rapper — he has been sharing his musical tastes since the 1980s as a dj for the Beastie Boys, a member of the hip-hop group Original Concept and a co-host of Yo! MTV Raps. He and his co-host, Ed Lover, even beat Ice Cube to the barbershop movie genre when they starred in Who’s the Man? in 1993. Being at the forefront of hip-hop then often meant working in the studio all day and prowling the clubs for talent at night. Never a small man, he ate what he could — and often — on the run. “I had that lifestyle of being out all the time,” Mr. Brown, 52, said. “You had to be, doing what we were doing. You had to be on the pulse. There was no TMZ or Kim Kardashian. This was the raw beginning. We had to be everywhere.”

Ten years ago, that lifestyle caught up with him. He developed Type 2 diabetes and has faced a series of health challenges: losing a toe, injuring his ankles and, three years ago, going blind. Now he is planning to have weight-loss surgery — a move recently endorsed by many in the medical community for helping to reduce the symptoms of Type 2 diabetes.

“My stubbornness put me where I’m at. Now my energy is going to change that,” Mr. Brown said. “We got young people, grown people, old, all having this. We can prevent this. We can cure this. I have an idea how to do it.” (Excerpted from NY Times article in June 2016)

DRESCHER, Howard: XTRA/KCAA, 2004-07; KLAA, 2007-18. After KCAA, Howard moved to Orange County's KLAA as production director. He is the creator of Distracted Drivers Busted.com (www.Distracteddb.com) a weekly podcast show talking about the dangers of texting and driving. A retired US Marine retiring in 1999, Howard landed a job in radio in the LA market, where he went from part-time to assistant program director. In 2002 that radio station was sold. Howard went to San Bernardino as a talk show host for 3 years. XTRA Sports 690/1150 in LA was next on the list. In October of 2010, Howard was involved in a major motorcycle accident that nearly took his life. It left him wondering why he is alive. While recovering and healing, after some time of praying, Howard created the tv show Distracted Drivers Busted. team with producer/manager Orgena Rose. Working on the project together they both feel very strongly about this subject.

Drew, Bill: KWIZ. Bill has an active voiceover career in the Southland.

DREW, Paul: KHJ, 1973. Paul, a consultant to the RKO chain for many years and program director at 93/KHJ in 1973, died on May 16, 2013, at the age of 78. He achieved much success with CKLW-Detroit and KFRC-San Francisco. In the 1950s, Paul worked at WDET-Detroit, WHLS-Port Huron and WGST-Atlanta. During the '60s Paul worked in Atlanta at WAKE and WQXI, and WIBG-Philadelphia.   Paul grew up in Detroit. His first radio gig was at WCAR–Detroit while attending Wayne State University in 1953. He moved to Atlanta in 1957 to work at WGST. In the early 1960s, Bill Drake and his wife moved into Paul’s apartment complex in Atlanta. In a 1977 interview with Radio and Records, Drew described how he left his job at WGST to work at WAKE: "So Bill and I, one morning, just the two of us in my apartment over probably the best cup of coffee I think either one of us have ever had, something in the water and something in the coffee that day, and we talked about it, and then I went to work at WAKE. The list was 40 records plus each jock had a pick hit. We didn't get to pick our own pick hit, which was picked for us."

Soon after, owner Bartell sold WAKE. Bill Drake moved to sister station KYA in San Francisco. Drew remained at WAKE, but in 1963, he moved to WQXI-Atlanta where he eventually became program director. Drake's deal with RKO encouraged Drew to return to his hometown of Detroit as pd at CKLW in July 1967.   

Drew was later the Vice-President of Programming for RKO Radio. “Drew was very proud of the fact that RKO only had 2 VPs of programming - Paul Drew and Bill Drake,” remembered Charlie Van Dyke.

Gerry Cagle summed up Paul: “Perhaps Paul's greatest legacy lies in the success of those he hired - Jerry Clifton, Les Garland, Dave Sholin, Guy Zapolean, Bob Hamilton, Rick Bisceglia, Don Kelly, Harry Nelson, Rick Dees, Dave Martin, Gary Berkowitz, Walt "Baby" Love, Jerry Del Colliano, Bobby Ocean, and Charlie Van Dyke - a virtual Who's Who in the industry.”

DRISCOLL, John: KIQQ, 1975; KTNQ/KGBS, 1976-78; KFI, 1978; KZLA, 1987-89. John has an active voiceover career and owns "The New Voiceover America" company. He recently voiced a character role for Marvel vs Capcom. He's also the v/o of a new national radio show from Heritage Foundation, Ishtook Live. Born John Moore in San Francisco, John grew up in Santa Monica and started as a dj at Santa Monica City College station KCRW. Prior to starting in the Southland, John was pd of WMYQ-Miami (using the name Bob Shannon), WCFL-Chicago, and Ram Research in San Diego. He has also used the on-air name John Moore. He programmed and jocked at "the new Ten-Q" when the station debuted on December 26, 1976. He arrived from doing evenings at WCFL. He did morning drive and programming as John M. Driscoll, perhaps because of Robert W. Morgan. When he took over the new assignment at "Ten-Q," he said, "The major problem with Rock radio is that the stations don't create any magic on the air." His comments about programming in Los Angeles: "Peer group pressure affects people in Los Angeles faster than any other market. Fads, the Hollywood film scene, and the record industry here are catalysts."

During his stint at KZLA, John said he achieved "the highest ratings for the morning show in the station's history, moving it from 18th to 9th."When John left Los Angeles, he went to Denver to program KYGO and KPPL. Through the 1980s, until he returned to Southern California in 1987, John programmed KMJC (“Magic 91”)-San Diego, WZUU and WLZZ-Milwaukee, KSAN-San Francisco, Malrite Communications group (where he was national pd), KRXY (“Y108”)-Denver and KDKB-Phoenix.

In 1989 he started John Driscoll , " Voiceover America."Inc. His voiceover work has been heard on all networks. He has been the exclusive promo voice of tv and radio stations all over North America, Mexico, Japan and the United Kingdom. In 1992 and 1993, John worked afternoon drive on KSON-San Diego then back to L.A. for NBC 2000 & FOX Area 21 promo-work.

DRISCOLL, Mark: KLOS; KIIS; KIQQ. Mark operated a successful voiceover and packaging, creative content and imaging/programming company for many years. The veteran of a number major market stations died August 22, 2022, at the age of 72. Mark was elected and nominated by peers and a research panel, to the Radio & Records magazine 25th Anniversary, in which they assembled the Top 25 Individuals (living) that influenced radio in the past 25 years. He won numerous awards including DJ of the Year, Program Director of the Year and Group PD of the Year. During Scott Shannon's "Pirate Radio," Mark was the voice of KQLZ. His 30+-year radio career included: three New York stations, WOR/fm, WNBC and WHTZ (“Z-100”); WRKO-Boston; WIBG-Philadelphia; WRC-Washington, DC; WHB-Kansas City; KSTP-Minneapolis; KUPD-Phoenix; KSLQ-St. Louis; and, “13Q”-Pittsburgh. From RAMP: “In the early to mid 1990s, I decided to go out on my own, advising, consulting and, a major influence on that decision, was a successful voiceover career that had been growing for years.” In late 1996 Mark narrowly escaped death. He was golfing in Santa Barbara when he pulled his golf cart to the edge of a cliff in order to snap a shot of the ocean view. The ground gave way and Mark and the golf cart plunged 120 feet down the rocky cliff. A four-foot ledge kept him from falling another 100 feet into the Pacific Ocean." An Oklahoma native, Mark started his broadcast career as a teen, getting his start in Texas with Gordon McLendon, nearly 50 years ago. . He suffered a bad fall about a month ago, and experienced related health issues ever since, according to several sources.

Driscoll, Terry: KIKF, 1984-88; KOOJ, 1993-94; KWRP/KTMK, 2000-02; KSPA, 2005. The former gm at Riverside's KWRP/KTMK is senior AE with the Orange County JILL/fm office. 

DRUDGE, Matt: KABC, 1999-2001; KFI, 2001-07. Matt captured the zeitgeist of the Internet in the embryonic days. Every day 20 million people will log into the Drudge Report for up-to-th-minute headlines and stories. The Internet journalist joined KFI for a Sunday evening show in February 2001 and left in the fall of 2007. He continues publishing the Drudge Report. Sandy Welles wrote in the Radio Guide: "The former Internet's biggest celebrity has become a regular Wednesday guest on the George Putnam talk show. ‘It's his home away from home,’ says Putnam. ‘He drops by the studio and then he's back to New York. I've dubbed him the successor to Walter Winchell.’ Not surprising, if you've seen Drudge wearing a fedora on his Fox News cable tv program. ‘Winchell was my mentor back in 1939,’ recalls Putnam. ‘I like to think of myself as [Matt's] surrogate father.’"

 

DRUMMOND, Mark: KGFJ, 1988-89; KACE, 1989-2000; KFI/KOST, 2000-01. Mark was production manager and assistant pd at KACE until the station was sold and changed to Spanish in early 2000. He joined the production staff at KFI/KOST until 2006 whenhe left the Clear Channel cluster to join KRBV (V100) as production director. "We had a nice run and made good headway for about 16 months before Radio One pulled the plug in 2008," said Mark. The station was sold to Bonneville. " The next three years I spent producing and releasing original music projects (they're on iTunes & Amazon), playing guitar on lots of casual gigs, doing the occasional freelance voiceover and production project, and taking IT classes. I'm certified as an A+ computer tech, and continue to study for additional certifications," Mark continued. "The Academy of Radio Broadcasting in Huntington Beach contracted me to give a regular lecture on digital multitrack production last April. I've also been doing contract studio technician and IT work on call for the school. Great people to work with there, and being around the aspiring broadcasters who are training there rekindled my own enthusiasm for the radio biz." "In June of 2011, I was hired as a production contractor at Playlist 92.7, doing commercial production, helping out on imaging when needed, and various special production projects. working with Rick Shaw, Matthew Rodriguez, and the rest of the staff there has been the most enjoyable experience of my career ... a professional environment with a sense of camaraderie that makes it a pleasure to go into work every single day."

 

DRURY, Dick: KLOS, 1971. Dick Drury arrived in Southern California from WIL-St. Louis in 1962. His career began at age 15 in 1950 at WSRS-Cleveland, and moved into the dual role of dj/pdr at KISN-Portland then at KQV-Pittsburg in January 1960. He also did the morning drive shift as served as pd of KGB beginning in 1962. He continued to have successes at KLOS, KRQK-Lompoc, and promo work at KHJ during the 1970s. By 1979 he was director of programming for the Susquehanna Broadcasting network, then moved into station ownership. He died sometime after 1979.

 

(Joseph Dean, DJ Damage, and Peter Dills)

Drury, Treesa: KABC, 1970s. Treesa is in charge of consumer affairs for AARP and is based in Orlando.

DRYSDALE, Don: KMPC, 1973-81; KABC, 1987-93. The Hall of Fame former Dodger became a broadcaster for the Angels and Rams in 1973. By 1980 Don wanted to do the Angels AND work for ABC. KMPC didn't want to share him. In 1981 he left for Chicago to broadcast the White Sox games and was able to freelance with the ABC network. In 1987 he replaced Jerry Doggett on the Dodger broadcasts. Don was with the Dodgers from 1956 to 1969. His pitching record was 209-166 and he had a 2.95 earned run average. Don appeared in five World Series, won the Cy Young Award in 1962 and played on the All-Star team 10 times. On June 17, 1968, Don pitched an unprecedented six consecutive shutouts and a total of 58.

On July 3, 1993, Don was on a road trip in Montreal. He failed to show up for the baseball broadcast. After a check at the hotel, it was discovered that Don had died of a heart attack. His surviving wife is broadcaster Ann Meyers who was the first four-time All-American basketball player - male or female - while at UCLA. In 1987, she was the first woman inducted into the UCLA Sports Hall of Fame. In 1979, she was the first - and still only - woman to sign a free-agent contract with an NBA team. 

DUB!, R: KHHT, 2007-09. R Dub! has been in the radio game since the age of 15. His over 25 years in the business include successful stops in Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Diego, both on the air and in the programming chair. His 2009 syndication book Coast to Coast helped pave the way for many up-and-coming syndicated talents, while his 2011 radio documentary “A.M. Mayhem” has received numerous awards. Today, he's the Director of Programming for Z90 and Magic 92.5 in San Diego and his Slow Jams empire includes four different radio shows heard on over 200 stations in 17 countries. He appeared on Shark Tank (l)

 

DUDLEY, Bill: KTWV, 2001-19. Bill worked weekends at "the WAVE." He has worked virtually all shifts at the WAVE, including the signature Sunday Brunch. Before arriving in the Southland, he owned several record stores in Portland from 1980 until 1999, when he sold them to become part of the WAVE. “When my hours got cut at CBS Radio 3 years ago, I decided to re-open the store.” Dudley's Records Vintage Vinyl sells thousands of records, CDs, cassettes, posters, T-shirts, and other music related merchandise. Bill grew up in Palo Alto. He was sent to a military boarding school, known as the Palo Alto Military Academy. “The kids attending, (ages 6-14), were required to wear a complete military uniform every day. This included starched shirts with tie and dress jacket. We had to spit-shine our leather shoes and stand in military formation prior to every meal. My father passed away when I was nine, and my mother thought that I needed a good education and proper discipline. I was completely lost at this school during the first of my five years there. My only friend became the radio. Top 40 Radio. KEWB and KYA in the Bay Area, to be specific. The songs and deejays of that era. including Bobby Dale, Tom Donahue, Tommy Saunders, Emperor Gene Nelson, and Russ "The Moose" Syracuse navigated me through some very lonely times."

Duff, Willis: KLAC, 1963-68. After KLAC, Willis went to manage WHDH-Boston, followed by gm at KSAN-San Francisco from 1969-71. In 1972, Willis joined KSDO-San Diego and then spent the rest of the 70s as a radio consultant. In the mid-1970s he teamed with Sebastian Stone and operated a research firm called Entertainment Response Analysts in San Francisco. Willis was one of the first to use galvanized skin tests to gauge reaction to new records. For the next two decades, Willis became a tv consultant and then retired to write science fiction novels. Scooter Duff's bio can be expressed alphabetically.   KFYN, USAFA, KSET, WAKY, KDSX, WPRO, KLAC, KMET, WHDH, KSAN, KSDO (23 Years), ERA, AR&D, ASIE, MAI, (33 Years) A sci-fi reader since childhood, Duff’s mind was warped by the radio series Dimension X (x,x,x), So sci-fi and radio evolved into media consulting, explaining several aspects of Scooter's approach. In 2014, published A Reluctant God; this year MIZ Time Tripping with Amazing Females. Book of short stories GUT 4.0 now available on Amazon. Audiobook of MIZ is on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpD8nP07G4OPsTKzG1U1D-vtAEyuiUZ7w). Novel TYL (or maybe Peacemaker) in writing stage, Scooter trying a new, non-linear way of writing. Novel What Would Supe Do? in writing stage. He lives with his psychologist wife Dorothy, three Airedale Terriers, three cats and a herd of birds on twenty acres in the Land of Enchantment.  Predictable. [Duff's "one man media empire:" seniorjunior.blogspot.com areluctantgod.blogspot.com "Spider and Olde Scooter" YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/user/scooterdu miztimetripping.blogspot.com

DUFFY, Pat: KABC, 1973-91; KRTH, 1991-2003; KFWB/KNX, 2003-07; KJLL, 2010-12. Pat spent 18 years as general sales manager of KABC before arriving at “K-Earth.” He started his career in the mailroom at KNX and KNXT/Channel 2 and steadily moved up to sales. Pat left his post as vp/market manager of Infinity news stations/LA following a consolidation of management positions. He joined JILL/fm-Thousand Oaks in the late summer of 2010 as station manager. Station became 'Playlist 92.7." Pat left in late 2012, following the sale of the Amaturo stations to a Christian-based group.

 

DUFFY, Warren: KMET, 1970-71; KDAY, 1973-74; KKLA, 1994-2004. Warren was prominent on the Los Angeles airwaves as both an original voice of progressive rock and as a longtime host on Christian talk radio. He died June 13, 2018, of brain cancer, at the age of 80. He began his career as a singer on the radio before he started in a weekly television show at age 10. After graduating from high school at the age of 15, Warren started his long and varied career in broadcasting, including Washington D.C. where “I literally ruled the roost.” Warren helped launch the legendary progressive rocker KMET. “The station was a melting pot for some pretty talented people. To give us some validity with ad agencies when we were but a fledgling operation unable to afford 24-hour-a-day jocks, we were one of the first 'automated' music stations in the country,” recalled Warren. “We hired B. Mitchel Reed to host our afternoon drive-time show, so the agencies would recognize us.” After time at KDAY, Warren left radio to become the national album promotion director for 20th Century Fox records. Within a year, he was promotion director for the Beach Boys, putting together the group’s worldwide tour celebrating their 15th anniversary. Warren soon found himself with a serious drug problem. He started his recovery in the late 1970s, leading to his religious conversion and renewing his faith through Robert Schuller Ministries.   In the early 1980s, Warren joined the staff of the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, where he served as executive administrative assistant to Dr. Schuller. Warren later moved to Kauai, Hawaii to serve as a church pastor. “I feel that everything I have gone through, from being a child prodigy to overcoming drug addiction to pastoring a church, has contributed to my ability to relate to people on a ‘heart’ level,” said Warren. After stepping down from the pastorate, Warren created his own marketing and consultancy agency. One of his clients was Salem Communications, which at that time owned 30 Christian radio stations nationally. It led to his afternoon drive program “Duffy and Company – Live from L.A.” on Salem-owned KKLA. Warren declared his program was a home for the “Not-so-Silent Majority.” He left KKLA on January 4, 2004, the tenth anniversary of his talk show.

DUGGAN, Tom: KBLA, 1965; KLAC, 1965-69. The colorful talk show host was involved in an automobile accident on Sunday, May 25, 1969 and was treated at Santa Monica Emergency Hospital and then released. He entered Cedars of Lebanon hospital on Wednesday, May 28, because of injuries from the automobile accident and died on Thursday, May 29, 1969. Tom was a very original talk show host who worked afternoon drive during the Joe Pyne talk radio days on KLAC. He also hosted tv shows on KTTV/Channel 11 and KCOP/Channel 13. “He had one blue eye and one green eye,” remembered Janice Jacobson, a fan of Tom’s. “He co-hosted with his then-wife, a drop dead gorgeous Indian woman. He took call-in questions from the viewers, which his wife would write down and read to him and he would then toss off some one-liner answer. The set was bare except for a table and their chairs. Mark C. Bloome was a sponsor and there was a girl named Sandra who was called the Boom-Boom Girl. She would pose in front of her pin fur 1956 Thunderbird and passionately whisper the commercials.” He appeared in Born Reckless from Warner Brothers in 1958.

 

DUKE, Lynn: KHJ/KRTH, 1977-2019. Lynn was the chief engineer for the CBS/LA cluster. He is one of the most popular and best liked radio engineers in Los Angeles. He frequently has been voted one of the Top 10 Best Off-Air LARP in the annual polling. Born in Pendleton, Oregon, he grew up in Oregon and Northern California. While going to college in Klamath Falls, Oregon, in the late 1960s, Lynn got involved with radio. By 1972, he joined KFRC-San Francisco as a staff engineer. Five years later he was sent to K-EARTH and 93/KHJ as engineering supervisor. On June 2, he was named Chief Engineer for CBS Radio/LA, overseeing the technical operations of KROQ, AMP Radio, JACK/fm, The WAVE, KNX and K-EARTH 101. “I’m one of the luckiest people I know,” emailed Lynn. “I love my job and have been doing it quite a while. I have been fortunate enough to work with some of the best talent in the business both on and off the air. I manage engineering for one of the finest groups of radio stations anywhere and have a very strong and talented staff of engineers to help get it done.”

 

DUNAWAY, Mike: KHJ, 1976-77; KIIS. Since 1993, Mike has worked as Ray Dunaway at WTIC-Hartford for almost three decades. He co-hosted the morning "1080 News Talk" until his retirement on Christmas eve 2021. Mike was in Dallas and Kansas City before arriving in Southern California. He returned to KCMO-Kansas City and in the mid-1990s he joined WTIC-Hartford for mornings. A native of Shawnee Mission, Kansas, Ray was active at WRTC while a student at Trinity College in Hartford. He was hired as WPOP's weekend man, then assumed the evening shift for five months. He resumed college at Baker University near Kansas City, doing afternoon drive at one of the local stations until graduating in June 1972. He did post-graduate work at Oklahoma State University while keeping a hand in radio. His radio career took him to several major markets including Detroit's WWWW; WFAA-Dallas; KHJ; KUDL and KMBZ in Kansas City; and KVRO Stillwater, Oklahoma.

 

DUNCAN, Jim: KFOX, 1974-76; KLAC, 1976-78; KHJ, 1978-79; KLAC, 1979-2001; KZLA, 1988-2001; KLAC, 2003-05; XETRA, 2005-06. Jim worked in production at iHeartMedia/Los Angeles for many years. Born on a naval base on Mare Island in Northern California on October 7, 1948, his Navy father gave him a transistor radio from Japan. It was love at first hearing. His first job was on the campus radio station at San Diego State. At one time, Jim worked for four San Diego radio stations at the same time under the names Jim Chandler, Jim Morgan and Jim Duncan. At KSON-San Diego, Jim moved into morning drive at the age of 19, and he later became pd. Bob Wilson hired Jim to be the Country editor in the early days of R&R, a position he held for a decade. Being on the air became a hobby as Jim started hosting and producing many of the Westwood One shows, including "Live From Gilley's" and "The New Faces of Country." He worked weekends and images at WW1's Hot Country format. Besides radio, Duncan owns his own successful production company. In 1994 he produced the "Radio Across America" video to open NAB's Programming Convention in Los Angeles. He is active with the CMA, serving as a vp. His early influences were the "Boss Jocks" and production masters Terry Moss and Bobby Ocean.

Duncan, John: KLOS, 1997-98; KLYY, 1998-99. John owned eSolutions in Santa Clarita. He sold his business and moved to Florida.

(John Duncan, Mike Donnegan, Eric DeWeese, Ann Duran, and Diane Deville  

DUNCAN, Lee: KDAY, 1968-69; KRLA, 1969-70. Lee lives in Seattle and he is retired. Lee grew up in Ventura and Ojai. He started his radio career in 1958 in his hometown at KUDU. That led to KAFY-Bakersfield, where he became pd. During his stay in Bakersfield, he hired a young man by the name of Bob Weiner as his all-night personality. Since the Mayor of Bakersfield was named Weiner, Bob used the name Wilson. After a stint in the armed forces, Lee joined Gene Chenault's operation at KYNO-Fresno and "lived with the Indians." He got to Jerry Clifton's KDES-Palm Springs the day of the "hippie uprising." In 1978 Lee's former all-night man in Bakersfield, Bob Wilson, was the pd of KDAY and brought Lee to Southern California. He left a year later and worked nine to midnight at KRLA, replacing Jimmy Rabbit. When Rabbit came back, Duncan moved into afternoon drive. When he left Southern California, Lee followed his love for skiing and became part owner of stations in Mammoth, Sun Valley and Colorado Springs. He then spent 10 years in Aspen at KSPN, where he also started the local newspaper, the Daily News. After Aspen, Lee went to KOMO-Seattle from 1985 until 1992. In 1994, Lee said, "I live in the foothills of the Cascades, work part-time at KRWM-Seattle and trade in the commodities market."

 

DUNGEE, Ron: KGFJ, 1971; KACE, 1979-87; KGFJ, 1995-97. After more than 30 years in the broadcast and print media, Ron retired to enjoy his life living in Los Angeles. He died November 4, 2013, after suffering for almost a year from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He was 75. In 1970, Dungee started his broadcast career in Las Vegas as a disc jockey and news director at r&b station KVOV, before moving to Top 40 station KLUC as a dj. He also worked as a broadcast instructor at UNLV, a sportscaster at KLAS/TV (CBS) and a news anchor at KORK/TV (NBC) in Las Vegas.   A veteran of K-EARTH, KDAY, KKTT, KJLH, KFWB, KUTE and KACE, much of his 30-year broadcast/journalism career yo-yoed between radio news, traffic and his 13 years as managing editor and sports editor of the Los Angeles Sentinel. Born in Chicago, Ron grew up in Washington, DC and graduated from Howard University. A former member of the Air Force, his first job in LA was at KGFJ in 1971, where he was news and sports director. This assignment was followed by a number of Urban and News stations. Dungee joined the Sentinel in 1990 as a proof reader and was promoted to managing editor and sports editor until he left in 2002 to work as press secretary for Congresswoman Maxine Waters. He worked for Rep. Waters until his retirement.

 

DUNKIN, Greg: KYSR, 1993-94, pd. Greg left his pd post at Fresh/fm in Washington, DC in the fall of 2010. He's now a radio consultant.  Born in 1961 in San Diego, Greg was in the third grade when he left with his family to live in Kansas. Greg started his radio career at the age of 12 at KUDL-Kansas City. "There was a pilot program for sixth graders to development career education. The only booklet left when I got to the counselor was on broadcasting." At KUDL Greg did everything, including phones, being a side-kick, and production for syndicated shows. He went to William Jewell Baptist College in Liberty, Missouri and produced an irreverent show. "I would call the president of the college at 6 in the morning. They didn't know what to make of me." After college he was assistant pd and md at KLSI-Kansas City, WNSR-New York and pd of WMMX-Baltimore. Greg was the first pd at KYSR. "The 'Star' moniker was cute, catchy and bright and it works because it's Hollywood and Los Angeles." Greg looked back fondly of his two years with "Star 98.7": "I just loved being in L.A." He left in October 1994, when his contract expired, for om at WENS/WNAP-Indianapolis.

 

DUNLAP, Doug: KNX; KABC; KMPC; KRTH; KLAC; KZLA. Doug has been a traffic reporter for virtually every major radio station in Southern California for decades. In 2007, the LA Dodgers created a transportation center to help ease the congestion in the Dodgers parking lots and Doug was one of the anchors getting fans in and out of Chavez Ravine. Dunlap is also a pianist. He can be heard around Southern California accompanying singers who perform the "Great American Songbook" at various restaurants and clubs. Today, Doug is retired but still very busy. Everyone of us has a gift, the challenge is the discover that gift and share it with others.  He is devoting his time to playing the piano in assisted living homes. “As much as they get out of it, for me it’s life changing,” said Doug. “Their eyes light up and it makes my day!” "I was living in Palm Springs in 1963. My dad was selling radio time for KDES. A month or two before Kennedy was assassinated, he visited Palm Springs. The airport back then was very small. Just a small fence surrounded the area where the planes pulled up to stop. My dad took me to the airport when he came in. I was about 10 years old and Air Force One was the biggest jet I had ever seen!Very impressive with United States of America across the side. President Kennedy walked down the steps and came over to the gate to shake hands with people. My dad lifted me in the air, over the crowd, and when he got to where I was, he stopped, looked up at me, smiled and shook my hand.  I was overwhelmed to say the least.   Two months later my parents picked me up at school at lunchtime and told me what had happened. I was completely devastated. I didn't understand politics or care. But two months earlier he had looked at me and shaken my hand. I felt like I had lost someone I knew. I spent the next 3 days just staring at the television set. It is a memory that stands out as if it was last week."

 

DUNNE, Carrie: KIKF, 1989-2000; KMXN, 2000-01. Carrie is a full-time mom to her twins. Carrie held the midday spot for over 9 years at 94.3 fm, including the format flip from Country to AC. Carrie has been the asst. pd/md, and host of the weekly Country countdown show for KIKF. She has served on the board of directors for the Academy of Country Music. Carrie attended McGarvin Junior High and LaQuinta High School in Westminster. She earned a degree in communications/mass media from UCLA. Carrie has a theater background. She began performing in local theaters at age 9 and traveled in a Children's repertory company in Northern California. She is married with a young son, and twins (boy/girl). Carrie has published two teenage romance novels. She closed her show with the line, "I'm Carrie...and I'm done."

Duran, Ann: KBIG, 1999. Ann worked afternoons at KBIG for five weeks. From 2009-11, she hosted the weekly syndicated radio show, The Weekly Pop 20 with Ann Duran.
Duran, Gina: KIBB, 1996-97. Gina D worked middays at KGGI-Riverside and moved to Laguna where she was in the mortgage business. She is a stay-at-home mom and out of radio.

DURAN, Jeff: KLSX, 2000-04. Born on February 13, 1984, Jeff has been a radio personality, comedian, actor, writer, entertainer and former child actor. He can be heard on KKZQ in the Antelope Valley and KOCP-Ventura. At KLSX he hosted "Metalblitz." Jeff's mother was the first to nurture his creative aspirations and began taking him on auditions by the time he was 12. He was signed by the Savage Agency, which resulted in bit parts on television and in film. He began his career as a child actor appearing in one episode of Tough Cookies, a short-lived sitcom that starred Robby Benson. Jeff's role as "kid auto thief" was omitted from the theatrical release of No Man's Land, a 1987 film starring Charlie Sheen and then unknown Brad Pitt who played a "waiter." Jeff also appeared in Twilight Zone and two episodes of The Wonder Years. Jeff began his radio career in 1994 at KCLB 93.7 in Palm Springs.

Duran, Jesse: KLSX, 2000-01; KCXX, 2001-03 and 2004-08; KKZQ, 2005-11; KOLA, 2013-18. Jesse works morning drive at KOLA-Inland Empire.
Duran, Sergio: KMJR, 2000-01. Sergio worked afternoons at Spanish KMJR.

DURDEN, Earl: KDAY. Earl was the lead investor in the purchase of KDAY (93.5/fm), died April 23, 2011. He lived in Panama City, Florida and died following a battle with cancer. He was 73. “I was saddened to learn of Earl's death Saturday night,” emailed Don McCoy of KDAY and chairman of the board at Magic Broadcasting. “Earl had a kind heart and did so much in his life to help others. He came to my rescue several times. I shall never forget when my wife had surgery at M.D Anderson in Houston several years ago, Earl sent his plane to bring her home. When a friend of ours was looking for a cure, Earl again sent his plane every week filled with folks who might be a match to be tested at the hospital. If you ever found yourself in need, Earl was there to help. Nobody gave more to our community than Earl Durden. We will miss Earl dearly.”  Durden was a former chairman of the Florida Transportation Commission. He owned Magic Broadcasting Company, in addition to KDAY he had radio stations in Panama City and Dothan. He was former owner of several local banks, along with owning 11 short line railroads.

Durkin, Jason: KNOB, 1966-69; KOCM, 1969-80; KWVE, 1980. Jason lives in Orange County and he works with his interior designing wife. 

DURLING, Lin: KODJ, 1990; KABC, 1990. Lin was part of the "Breakfast Bunch" with Charlie Tuna and Dean Goss at KODJ and he broadcast traffic on the KABC "Ken & Bob Company" morning drive show. Lin went on to do morning traffic anchor  duties at KGO-San Francisco. "I love driving and seeing the beauty of the West and taking weekend adventures. When I drive, I'm always looking for details that will help me in my reports. My objective is to get in the car with the listener, to know what he or she is experiencing, to talk to that driver. I visualize someone who's very busy and has a lot of things to accomplish and I'm there to help with this part of the day." After leaving San Diego State University, with his role models in mind, Lin launched his radio career in San Diego in the early '70s as a disk jockey and newscaster. He first came to work for KGO in 1980, later spending five years in L.A. working at KABC and KFWB News. When KGO asked him to come back, he eagerly returned to the Bay Area. Reporting from the air, he had the unpleasant task of covering a mid-air collision from one of the two planes involved. "No one was hurt in either plane. I continued to fly, but the next months were hard. I was ready for a career change." He switched to a more down-to-earth beat. Lin is the managing member at Artisan Wine Tours. The San Diego State University graduate has been a public relations consultant at Pet Food Express and a marketing consultant at Aris Helicopters.

 

DUROCHER, Leo: KABC, 1964. Leo hosted the "SportsTalk" show on KABC for nine months before being asked to become manager of the Chicago Cubs. Born July 27, 1905, in West Springfield, Massachusetts, the volatile infielder played for the famed early '30s "Gashouse Gang" St. Louis baseball Cardinals. Leo was temporarily banned from baseball in 1947 by Commissioner A.B. "Happy" Chandler for allegedly consorting with gamblers. On the brighter side, the "Lip," who once said he'd walk over his grandmother to win a game, was married to actress Laraine Day. He played for the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants, and had a lifetime batting average of .241. When his baseball playing days were over Leo managed the Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros and was a coach for the L.A. Dodgers. While managing the New York Giants in 1951, Leo led the team to both National League and world championships. He died October 7, 1991, of natural causes. Leo was 86.

Dvorak, George: KFI, 1960s; KPPC, 1965-66; KFWB, 1970-77; KGRB, 1977. George was part of the start of Armed Forces Radio Services. He has passed away.

DWYER, Danny: KZLA, 1992-96. Danny is doing middays at 98.7 The Bull-Portland. He is KUPL's longest term employee after hitting his 20+ years with the station. During his tenure, he's worked in every daypart and held many posts from promotions director and traffic reporter to midday host and music director. In early 2022, the Academy of Country Music nominated Danny for Personality of the Year. Senior VP/Market Manager Lisa Decker commented, "The energy and dedication Danny brings on and off the air to our Bull Nation listeners, musicians, artists, labels, advertisers and community partners are an incredible asset to our station. His leadership with station events and promotions including our St. Jude Radiothon and Countryfest concert are irreplaceable." In the summer of 2020, Danny sustained 11 broken ribs, a broken collarbone, a punctured lung, a busted-up nasal cavity, and a serious eye injury that required 11 stitches. He took a fall while working on his porch/patio. Danny fell about nine feet to the ground.

Dye, Captain Dale: KFI, 2003-13. Dale works periodically at KFI. He's a military consultant on war projects. His most recent was HBO's The Pacific. 

DYK Bob. KAPP. When KAPP (93.5/fm) in Redondo Beach was launched in the early ‘60s, “Bob” Peder Dyk was part of the original crew. “I'll remember Bob for his professionalism, great wit and humor and how he constantly kept us in tears of laughter when working alongside him,” emailed Bill Lorin, former KNXer. “I can't tell you how many times shoppers at the old South Bay Center [now the Galleria at South Bay] stood there on the sidewalk outside the studio window, wondering what was so funny as we laughed hysterically with Bob between records. One time, I recall, Bob was laughing so hard about a news item that had just cleared the UPI machine that he couldn't put the needle down to cue up a record on the turntable. But when it came time to do the hourly local newscasts, Bob was at his best…network quality then, as he was later through the rest of his broadcast career.” Bob began his network career in broadcasting as a CBS News editorial assistant during the 1960 Democratic National Convention. He later worked as a local reporter-writer-producer at KTLA and KABC/Channel 7, then moved to London where he freelanced for CBS Radio News. After joining ABC News, his assignments widened to include the 1979 seizure of the U.S. Embassy and American hostages in Tehran. Bob returned to the U.S. in 1984. After a brief stint with KGO/TV-San Francisco and KRBK/TV-Sacramento in his home state of California, he moved to Maine and worked as an anchor and later reporter with a local tv station until his retirement in 2004. He died of cancer on March 22, 2008, at the age of 71.

Dzima, "J.D." John: KNOB, 1977-81; KORJ, 1978-80; KIKF, 1980-85. John was the first md and second pd at KIK/fm. Since 1986 he has owned a printing firm in Orange County.

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