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Where Are
They Now? |
P
P-Funk: KKBT, 1993-99. P-Funk was part of the morning drive "House Party." He now works at PPi Technologies Global.
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PACHECO,
Manny: KRLA, 1980-81; KDAY,
1981-84; KNAC, 1982-85; KRLA,
1985-89; KKBT, 1989; KOCM,
1990-91; KIKF, 1991-92; KMGX,
1991-94; KGIL, 1993; KRLA,
1993-98; KBIG, 1999; KIKF, 1999;
Airwatch, 2003-06; KSPA, 2010-13;
KNX, 2017-21. Manny is active in the world of
karaoke. He broadcasts traffic at KNX. Born in 1957, Manuel is a native Angeleno and graduated from UCLA in 1980. A heart-pounding diagnosis during his junior year of college changed the entire direction of his life. Manny was studying political-science and was headed in the direction of being a lawyer. "I was in my late teens when I was diagnosed with cancer in my kidney. While I was in the hospital awaiting the results of tests, I wondered if my life was to be cut short was being a lawyer what I wanted to do?" At that moment he realized that he wanted to entertain. It turned out that he had an abnormally shaped kidney and there was no cancer. He changed his major, got involved with KLA, the campus radio station along with other classmates who work in radio, Amy Hiatt and Maggi Ross. Manny became the gm of the station. A few months before graduation, the pd of KRLA, Jack Roth, called Manny looking for, as Jack put it, "A young, Hispanic radio major who understands Oldies." Manny suggested three candidates including himself. "Mucho Morales got the job but Art Laboe liked my personality and hired me as promotion coordinator which eventually led to on-air work and two decades of great admiration for Art." For many years, Manny was the station's link to the Mexican American audience at Mexican fairs. Beginning in 1988, Manny co-hosted a KCOP/Channel 13 Saturday morning tv show, In Studio, for two years. Manny has appeared in many episodes of the soap opera Santa Barbara. |
Padden, J. Ray: KLAC; KIIS/KPRZ, 1981-82. J. Ray is a Japanese-based exporter.
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PAEN,
Alex: KMPC, 1975-80. Alex gained national attention
for his reports on the hostage crisis in Tehran. Born October 4, 1953, in Greenwich, Connecticut, Alex was raised in Massachusetts and he graduated from UCLA in 1973 with a degree in communications. In 1979 with only a few years of newscasting experience, Alex flew to Tehran, Iran to report on the American hostage crisis where he gained unprecedented access to interviews with the militants and received the first recorded message from an American hostage. He also delivered more than four million Christmas cards and supportive letters to the captive Americans. Alex is the World Affairs Correspondent for KCBS/Channel 2. Additionally, he produces and hosts two nationally syndicated tv shows, Animal Rescue and State Police. |
"Previously, I hosted and produced Emergency with Alex Paen for several years." Alex reported on international affairs for KTLA/Channel 5, KABC/Channel 7 and KCBS/Channel 2. Alex owned a radio station in Bullhead, Arizona.
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PAGE, Don: KLAC, 1962-63 and 1968-76; KGIL, 1974-75; KFI, 1974-75. Don distinguished himself as the radio critic and tv sports columnist for more than two decades (1956-73) at the Los Angeles Times.
At KLAC he hosted a 15-minute commentary
called "Saturday Sports Page" and was the creator and host of
"Inside Radio," a 2-hour Sunday show featuring industry guests. At
KGIL Don provided color commentary for the High School Game of the
Week.
He was born "a driver and
nine-iron from Dodger Stadium" and grew up in the On KFI he aired "Don Page's Notebook," which included stories of the human condition. His variegated career includes writing for Jack Webb, book editor for Steve Allen, co-author of Did You Whittinghill This Morning? and presiding as past board member of the Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters. He considers the quarter-century from 1950 to 1975 the Golden Age of Southern California Radio. "Radio was long on talent and short on time. Today radio is long on time and short on talent." He believes the "star factor" is missing in today's radio. "There are too many chairs and not enough talent." |
Don looks back at his experience in covering radio and sports for the Times as his greatest experience. "I'm lucky I got in very young and got out young. It had its marvelous moments." Don wrote a general interest column that is syndicated in the 11 Western states. Don was executive director for the Southern Caifornia Sports Broadcasters Association. He also wrote for the Tolucan Times. He died July 10, 1998. He was 64.
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PAGE, Donna:
KNX,
1998-2008; KFWB, 2009-12. Donna
worked for a number of stations in San Diego before joining
Shadow Traffic in Los Angeles, primarily working at KNX. She left KNX in early
fall of 2008.
In early 2016, Donna joined
Bloomberg/NBC Sports Radio. In 2021, she's retiring to San Diego. She also
was a jewelry designer. Donna became KNX's midday traffic anchor in June 1998. Prior to that she was an on-air personality on both KBZT/fm and KSON/fm in San Diego. Her extensive traffic reporting experience has been in San Diego at both Metro Networks and Airwatch Traffic, and in Los Angeles as traffic reporter for Shadow Broadcast Services from 1991 to 1994. Her other station experience includes KCLX/KKBH/fm, KFMB AM/FM, KYXY, and KCNN/KGB - all in San Diego. Donna was a Deans List student at San Diego City College with emphasis in radio/tv news and production as well as photojournalism. Finally, Donna has extensive voiceover and commercial credits. |
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(Tim Pohlman)
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PAGE, Patti:
KGIL, 1998. Born Clara Ann Fowler on November 8,
1927, Patti became known
as “The Singing Rage,” becoming one
of the most popular Pop singers with hits like the 1950’s
Tennessee Waltz (13 weeks at #1 on the
Billboard
chart),
How Much is That Doggie in the Window,
Old Cape Cod
and
Allegheny Moon.
By the 1970s, she had embraced Country music. She was one of the few
vocalists to have made the Country charts in five separate decades.
During the 1950s, Page regularly
appeared on a series of network television shows and programs,
including
The Dean Martin Show,
The Ed Sullivan Show,
and The Steve Allen Show. This eventually led to her
acquiring some television specials of her own during the 1950s.
Patti appeared with Burt Lancaster in the 1960 film Elmer
Gantry.
Until shortly before her death, Page
was a host of a weekly Sunday program on the
Music of Your Life
radio network, which aired on KGIL in the late 1990s.
In 1997, Patti was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame.
She will be posthumously honored with the Lifetime Achievement
Grammy Award in 2013. She died on January 1, 2013, at the Seacrest
Village Retirement Community in Encinitas, California. Patti was 85
years old. |
Pagliochini, Nicholas: KTLK, 2007-13. Nicholas is a traffic voice with Total Traffic and is heard at KFI and KTLK. He was a Golden Pylon (recognition for traffic reporters) winner in 2010 and 2012.
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PAIGE, Ashley:
"Lite 92.7fm,"
2000-02; KZLA, 2003-06; KKGO, 2009-12;
KWSV, 2015-23. Ashley was born in Connecticut but
moved to the Midwest (Kansas and Oklahoma) in elementary school. She
graduated from Oklahoma City University with two degrees, one in
advertising and the other in public relations. Her first professional step in radio was at KOMA/KRXO in Oklahoma City as the promotions manager, a position which eventually led her to become the afternoon sidekick. In 1994, she moved to Los Angeles and continued her on-air radio career, broadcasting mornings on Lite FM, KZLA and Go Country 105. Ashley was part of the morning team with Peter Tilden at KZLA until a format flip in late summer to 2006. In 2010, Ashley and her husband opened East Coast Pizza Company in Simi Valley. She now works mornings at KWSV, a non-commercial station at 99.1 in the Simi Valley. "The Ranch" is our flagship. We've been here since 2015 and in 2018 my morning show co-host, Brad Abrell, and I became nationally syndicated thru Envision Networks, which was acquired by Sun Broadcast Group. We're on nine stations across the country and growing everyday," emailed Ashley. |
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PAIGE,
Molly: KWNK; KABC; KIBB;
KRLA, 1999-2000; KCBS/fm, 2001-04;
KPFK, 2005-07; KABC, 2010-11. Molly was part of NBC News Radio, based in Washington, DC.
She now an editor at AllAccess.com Molly was born in New York, moved to Montana when she was three and to Las Vegas at ten. I thought maybe her moving was a result of a father in the service, but it was because of her mother. “My mom loved to get married, more than she liked to get divorced. Every time she married and divorced, it was in a different city. My dad was a doctor in the Air Force in Great Falls, Montana. After divorcing my dad, my mom married a cattle rancher. During their divorce, to mend her broken heart, she hooked up with ‘Cowboy Joe’ who had a rose tattoo on his chest and he wanted to be a gambler and live in Vegas. Mom didn’t have good taste in men. At 10, I said, ‘Mom, really, he’s got a rose on his chest.’” Molly was alone a lot in Vegas and lived for a year with a girlfriend who had seven siblings. Radio became kind of a friend. She entered lots of contests and won holiday turkeys and concert tickets. Before graduating from high school, Molly won a big prize – a Magic Bus Trip – to see the Who and the Clash in concert in LA. After graduation she thought maybe radio was a cool thing to do and landed at KWNK-Thousand Oaks, working with Randy Kerdoon. “The station was on top of Hot Dog on a Stick,” remembered Molly. Her next radio stop was KTYD in Santa Barbara. Molly’s radio ride has been interesting. (She spent a month in Jakarta, Indonesia, kicking off a new all-Jazz format but because her cat would have to be quarantined for a year, she declined a full-time offer). |
Paige,
Natalie: Natalie works for one of the traffic services and is heard on a
number of L.A. stations.
Painton, Scott: KMPC, 1984-87. The former
Transtar "Format 41" announcer is a recording
director for Bisk/Total Tape Publishing in Tampa.
Painton, Yvonne: KFI, 1983-84; KFWB,
1984-85; KHJ/KRTH, 1985-87. Yvonne is president/ceo of
MaxCommunications in Tampa.
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PAISLEY,
Jamie:
KUSC, 2011-13. Jamie is
host on KUSC from midnight-2 a.m. on Saturdays and also serves as
the station's music director. Jamie began his radio career while studying Classical Vocal Education at Ithaca College in Central New York. There, he hosted WICB's longest running program. As a performer, Jamie has sung on the mainstage of Chicago's House of Blues, across Ireland, on NBC and most recently, at the Harmony Sweepstakes national a cappella competition in San Francisco. In his spare time, Jamie can usually be found at the New Beverly or Aero Cinemas indulging his other love: film. |
Palant, Gary: KDAY, 1960-62. Gary died of melanoma in October
2002.
Palermi, Luciano: KTYM, 1993-2001. Luciano hosted Buona Domenica on KTYM.
Paley, John: KNX/fm, 1970-71; KWKW, 1971-97.
John is vp of Lotus Communications.
Palmer,
John: KIIS, 1972-73. John is an investment consultant in New York.
Pam, Leslie, Dr. and
Christie,
Ann: KMPC, 1994-96; KLSX, 1996-97. Ann and Leslie are in
practicing therapists in Los Angeles.
Panattoni, Greg: SEE Sonny West
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PAOLI, John: KFI.
John died October 19, 2008, at the age of 50. John was an alumni of the Class of 1976 at Marin Catholic. He was the Chief Engineer of KFI, Chief Engineer of AirWatch-Los Angeles and Chairman of the Local Emergency Communications Committee - Los Angeles County Emergency Alert System. He spearheaded the four-year project to reconstruct the KFI antenna that was knocked over after a private plane collided with it causing the death of the pilot and a passenger. John had recently received an award as one of Radio Ink's Engineers of the Year as well as being one of the top 35 most admired Engineers in radio. He was also involved in the implementation of the Amber Alert System in the Los Angeles area. His death has left the L.A. radio community stunned and saddened. Many colleagues have posted and sent their condolences with stories of how he brought knowledge, laughter and a deep respect to all who knew and worked with him. |
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PAPADAKIS, Petros:
KMPC, 2003-06;
KLAC, 2007-23. Petros has worked afternoons at all-Sports KLAC with
Matt "Money" Smith since 2007. Petros is a USC football veteran who captained the team in his senior year. His first radio experience came at KMPC 1540/The Ticket where he was named the Daily News 2006 Sports Host of the Year. After leaving KMPC, Petros was sought after by both local sports stations, KSPN and KLAC, as well as the Kevin & Bean morning show on KROQ. In addition to joining AM570 / KLAC, Papadakis is the lead college football analyst on FOX Sports Net (FSN) and was a regular on FSN's Best Damn Sports Show. He also hosted the hit Spike TV Show Pro’s vs Joes. When he joined KLAC, he said, "Working at AM570 will be the perfect fit. It's the right place at the right time with the right people. I look forward to teaming up with Money every afternoon and having the opportunity to interact with all the people of Southern California,” said Petros. “Right now the crazy thing is I haven't worked on the radio in three months so I've got so many things built up in my brain that my head is about to explode." Asked about his new afternoon partner, Money commented: “Of all the talented people I’ve had the privilege to work with, I say with great certainty Petros is right at the top. His passion, creative genius and unique perspective on not just sports, but all talking points is a refreshing change from what this city was accustomed.“ |
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PARDUE, Rita: KWNK, 1988-90; KCSN, 1993-98; KKLA, 1998-2004; KHTS, 2005; KRLA, 2006; KPCC, 2007-20. Rita was production manager/imaging voice at KPCC, and recently celebrated 30 years in broadcasting. She now works as a Jazz dj at 91.5, KUNV-Las Vegas. Born in Indiana, she grew up in St. Louis. “I started singing at 16 years old and toured across the country performing at major hotels and supper clubs,” said Rita. “I opened for name acts including Harry Blackstone Jr., George Burns and Pia Zadora. Also did some acting in film and television work, too. I sang with the original cast of Jubilee at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas in 1981. In 2018, Rita was crowned Ms. Senior California. Rita started her next career in radio and returned to college at the University of Las Vegas and worked at KORK-Las Vegas, where she was a news reporter. Simultaneously she was hosting a talk show, Paying Dues at KUNV- Las Vegas. “At that time my faith walk became very important in my life,” continued Rita. “I rededicated my life and moved to Los Angeles to pursue my dreams in children's radio.” |
She received a Master’s degree in radio & tv broadcasting from Cal State Los Angeles. “In 1998, I received the NBC 4 and YWCA's Incredible Women Making History Award signed by Mayor Richard Riordan for my contributions at the Los Angeles Children's Museum recording studio, The Nothing-To-Do-Funshop series, teaching numerous children's radio workshops at the museum and local schools, and my work at Radio Aahs, KPLS AM830.”
Since 2007, in addition to her production assignment at KPCC, she owns a freelance production company, Angel Wings Productions. “I also teach audio production thru Los Angeles Valley College Extension Program.”
Parisi, Brandi: KKGO/KMZT, 2006. Brandi worked for Mt. Wilson's KKGO/KMZT as a swinger.
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PARISI, Michelle:
KNAC, 1992-95. Mikki, as
she was known at KNAC, went on as Ally McSqueal at KNAC.com. She
produces and does on-air interviews for Hollywood Hamilton's syndicated
Weekend Top 30 countdown show. Michelle's now teaches Coreworks and TRX
part-time at Yogaworks Pasadena and Studio City. In 2020 she
won the Gracie Award for Producer/Entertainment (Radio - Nationally
Syndicated Commercial). The first time Michelle heard a tape of KNAC at her home in Madison, Wisconsin, she screamed: "Oh, my god! The station plays everything." From the airchecks that a girl friend continually supplied and seeing the KNAC posters on MTV's Headbanger's Ball, Michelle made it a goal to work at the "Pure Rock" station. Born in Madison, she worked briefly at “93QFM” in Milwaukee and then decided to make the move and as she put it, "I followed the music." In 1991 she got a job at R&R and a year later the staff at KNAC gave her the on-air name of Mikki and her dream of working at KNAC came true. When the station changed ownership, Michelle got a job as affiliate relations with Global Satellite. After Global, Michelle worked in radio promotions at Geffen Records and then landed a job doing research, interviews and writing for American Top 40. "Writing a script that I would get to watch Casey Kasem read was very cool!" Michelle said. "I would have never thought I'd have that job when I was in Madison board-opping AT 40. |
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(Jim Pratt, Tom Patterson w/Vin Scully, and Jeff Parke)
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PARK,
Andy: KMPC, 1963-68; KFWB, 1968-9.
Andy, born Junius Andrew “Andy” Park, Jr., died September 25, 2009,
of complications from prostate cancer. Andy worked at 710/KMPC and
KFWB for much of the ‘60s. He was 77. “I was covering a jumper for the Long Beach Independent when I got a call from KMPC news director Val Clenard asking for a report of what was going on,” Andy said when interviewed for Los Angeles Radio People. “I had no idea what to do. I was a newspaperman, not a radio reporter. So I described the scene for 45 minutes standing in a phone booth. I thought I was on live but I was actually on tape; I was afraid to stop talking.” That report resulted in a job offer from KMPC and Andy became the Orange County bureau chief covering news and reporting traffic every morning with Paul “Panther” Pierce and “Captain Max” Schumacher on the Dick Whittinghill show. When KFWB changed formats to all-News, Andy was there at midnight on March 10, 1968. “Boy did we have a ride.” Andy was the first newsman to interview Charles Manson after his arrest in Inyo County. “On a hunch I searched for police travel vouchers and then flew a plane to Independence and there he was, in jail.” News director Herb Humphries called LAPD and told them KFWB had the interview. “They asked us to hold it until the next morning so they could hold a press conference and arrest several others in the meantime. We held the story.” Andy was born and raised in Memphis, studied philosophy at St. Mary’s College in Minnesota, law in Tennessee and then joined the Navy during the Korean conflict. While doing public information work in Hutchinson, Kansas he started moonlighting with the local newspaper. He then went to the Wichita Beacon and then to California to the Long Beach newspaper. Andy left KFWB after a stint in Vietnam for Group W and went on to KNBC/Channel 4 and KABC/Channel 7 as a reporter. He then moved to San Francisco to become prime time anchor on KPIX/TV and then helped launch a Ten O’Clock News at KTVU in Oakland. |
When his radio/tv days were over,
Andy pursued a life-long passion for photography. “After years in news and
entertainment I reinvented myself as a wedding photographer,” said Park. “It
is the happiest job in the world. I never meet an unhappy person when I
report for work. I have also developed a model as an ‘Internet Only’ wedding
photographer that allows me to avoid sales calls, make paid trips all over
the world and still ply my trade.”
During his retirement years, Andy
enjoyed acting, playing various minor roles in the motion pictures
Ironclads, Foreign Student, The Vernon Johns Story,
Country Gold, and Love-Struck.
Parke, Jeffrey: KCAL/KOLA, 1987-2009. Jeffrey is the general manager of the two Inland Empire stations.
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PARKER, Don:
KCMG, 1998-2000. Don was brought in as operations
manager to the new “Mega 100” (KCMG) from KKFR-Phoenix. Prior to
Phoenix he worked at KTBZ-Houston, KBOS and KKDJ-Fresno and KEDG-Las
Vegas. In the summer of 2000, Don joined NextMedia as
vp/programming. Don is iHeartMedia regional vp of programming for San Francisco/Sacramento. In the summer of 2019, his duties were expanded to include general manager for iHEART’s Pride Radio. “Pride Radio has grown significantly over the years and has the ability to reach both a local and national targeted audience across multiple markets through its audio, digital, social and live event assets,” said Don. |
Parker, Gary: KGIL, 1966-69. Gary is an insurance broker in Omaha.
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PARKER, Mike:
KBBQ, 1967-69; KFI, 1969-77.
Mike, a long-time veteran of WBBM/TV-Chicago and a journalist who got his start in the
Southland, died November 4, 2018, at 75, of congestive heart
failure.
In 1967, Mike joined KBBQ as a newscaster and worked alongside Dick Spangler and Andy West. In 1969, he moved to KFI where he worked as a street reporter, anchor, then news director from 1973-77. “So much happened at KFI and I worked with so many great people, my head reels from the great memories. In the newsroom were such greats as Mark Coogan, Bob Kerr, Larry Chatterton, Bill Jenkins, Bill Browning, Eleanor Green and Vern Williams. I’m sure I’ve left somebody out but it was a fantastic news operation until Cox Broadcasting bought the place and started cutting costs. I also got to work alongside some legendary radio personalities as a newscaster. There were Lohman & Barkley, Dave Hull, Al “Jazzbeaux” Collins, Hilly Rose, even Dave Garroway and Robert W. Lewis. Now that was a FULL SERVICE radio station.” Mike was assigned to cover the potential collapse of the Van Norman Dam immediately after the 1971 San Fernando earthquake. Eighty thousand people were evacuated because of the potential for disaster. “I traveled up the road in a mobile unit for KFI,” recalled the tenacious reporter. “I had no idea where I would go had the dam collapsed.” In the late 1970s, Mike moved to tv at CBS station KNXT/Channel 2 as both a reporter and anchor. He said “working in L.A. in the ’70s was like covering news for the Sodom and Gomorrah bureau.” Mike covered numerous forest fires as well as the Hillside Strangler case. He moved in 1980 to work at the CBS station in Chicago, WBBM/tv. He became one of the station’s best known reporters over his three-and-a-half decades. |
Mike became internationally known for his reporting on in 1992 about David and Sharon Schoo, a couple who left their four- and nine-year-old children to fend for themselves back in their Illinois home while the parents took a nine-day Christmas vacation in Mexico. It was as if the movie Home Alone became realilty. “What had been my little story that we had done out there in the Fox River Valley suddenly became this international incident, with literally tens and dozens of reporters and camera crews and police and bystanders shouting and screaming at the couple as they walked by,” Mike recalled for the Chicago Sun Times. “Versatility was Mike’s calling card,” said WBBM/tv news anchor Jim Williams, a longtime colleague. “He was a great anchor and reporter. His writing had a touch of poetry, which he delivered in that beautiful baritone. And he was such a cherished presence in our newsroom – wise and wickedly funny.” “It’s been a fine, fun and exciting ride through the decades – but it’s time to get off the horse,” Parker told co-workers in announcing his retirement, according to Robert Feder in his Chicago blog. When interviewed for Los Angeles Radio People in 1995, Mike was asked if he missed L.A.” “Do I miss L.A. and L.A. radio? Oh, yes! Oh, yes!” |
Parker, Norm: KJOI, 1972-74. Norm was last
heard in Round Rock, Texas.
Parker, Ryan: KDAY, 1984. Unknown.
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PARKER, Star:
KMPC, 1996. Star is founder
and president of the Coalition on Urban Renewal and
Education, an educational center and research foundation in
Los Angeles. She is a syndicated columnist. The conservative commentator moved into the midday slot on Talk KMPC in March 1996 replacing Joe Crummey. In the early 1980s she was a welfare mother with two children. After receiving Christ, she removed herself from the welfare list and put herself through college and earned a B.S. degree in marketing from Woodbury University and launched an urban Christian magazine. The founder of the Coalition on Urban Issues (a social think tank that provides national dialogue on how social policies impact America’s inner cities and the poor) hosted a talk show on KSFO-San Francisco before taking on the KMPC assignment. She and her family moved to Orange County when their business was destroyed in the Los Angeles riots. By the summer of 1996 she had left KMPC. Star lectures at colleges and churches, conducts goal setting workshops in housing projects, and sponsors legislative briefings and empowerment conferences for inner city pastors. Major accomplishments include speaking at the 1996 Republican National Convention. |
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PARKER, Steve:
KMPC/KTZN, 1996-97;
KIIS/AM/KXTA, 1997-2000. Steve is the "Car Nut" and he does a regular talk
show on TalkRadioOne.com. He reviews the latest trends in the automotive
world. He joined “XTRA Sports 1150” for a weekend show in the spring of
1997. Steve shares some early influences: "When I was a student at Santa Ana High School in the early '70s (and Student Body President!), I took advantage of the famed 'groupie bounce syndrome' several times. I used to drive my dates (if I felt really lucky) in my '63 Bug to KEZY's bean field parking lot and knock on the back door. If Paul Freeman or Russ O'Hara were on the air, they'd let us in. And THEIR charm worked like a charm for me (usually)! Whether my girls went back to visit Russ or Paul separately I never knew, but who cared??? I was 17!!! Who imagined that years later I would work with BOTH these guys. My older brother was something of a rock star in the 70s and 80s, so the 'bounce' worked well there, too. He led the band for the old fiddle player, Papa John Creach, best known for being a member of Hot Tuna and Jefferson Starship. Most famous guy to come out of that group was several-time Grammy winner blues artist Kevin Moore (aka "K'eb Mo") who has made a HELL of a career for himself! My bro went on to have some nice success as a songwriter/producer, too. But, ETERNAL thanks to those two infamous LARPs!!! They'll NEVER know how grateful I am! Acquitted myself well on my own as time went on (of course I have to throw that in), but at 17-18 years of age, EVERY little bit helps! As a funny aside, my wife, when we first met, knew me from radio, though I was something of a bit of a minor local celebrity at KTLA/Channel 5 at the time and most people knew me from that venue. Shows you, you NEVER discount the power of radio!" |
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PARKER, Tim: KMPC, 2001-05. Tim left his pd post at all-Sports KMPC 1540/The Ticket at the end of 2005. He went on to be the operations manager at NBC Sports Radio in Philadelphia. He's now with Spectrum News 1. Timothy is exploring Southern California every week, not only covering stories for Spectrum, but taking the ride from Koreatown to Lynwood every Sunday for church. Before joining Spectrum News 1, Timothy graduated from Temple University and later served as a Sports Producer in Atlanta. Prior to that, he reported in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. While there, he covered the Philadelphia Eagles first Super Bowl championship. For much of his career, Timothy worked behind the scenes, producing content for ESPN and NBC Sports Philadelphia, where he earned an Emmy for his work. When not working, he’s often traveling, enjoying music, or spending time at L.A. Live. |
Parker, Todd: KKHR, 1983-86; KNX/fm, 1986; KPWR, 1986-93. Todd has moved to Las Vegas and is working in the mortgage industry. He's still doing voiceovers, primarily in the field of audio books.
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PARKER, Tom:
KOST, 2001. Tom
was director of communications for Oregon Partnership, based in Portland. He
passed away in early October 2015, of a liver disease. In recent years, LARadio had often become the repository for broken hearts. When Los Angeles Radio People lose their jobs, some come to find out about potential job opportunities, others come to complain about the state of radio. Regular readers of this column know that we have published numerous stories over the years giving encouragement, suggestions and a realignment of thinking to take God-given talents and turn them toward a new direction. Tom Parker, a giant in Portland radio, who worked at the legendary KFRC-San Francisco during its Top 40 heyday and even spent some time on KOST contributed an uplifting story. “You can’t keep fishing the same hole just because you’ve always fished there” Tom said philosophically. “If the fish are gone, stop going there – go someplace else.” Tom had an epiphany about his life and career and left the comfort zone of radio to concentrate on one of his strong assets during decades in radio – communicating. “Sometimes it’s hard to see what your options are when you’re in one of them. There were a shrinking number of jobs available in radio, so I looked at the givens,” said Parker. “I wanted to stay in Portland as my family is here. I knew my skills were far more than talking up an intro on a record. No matter the format during my radio career, I was communicating. And that’s a marketable ability.” |
Tom stepped back, looked at his communication abilities and considered who could use that skill. “Who do you know and who do they know?” asks Tom. “Not in terms of them giving you a job but how can you help them solve a problem? The same approach worked when we first started out in radio: ‘I can help that station be successful.’ Identify the target, find out what they need and then fill that need. I don’t care who you are, no one is going to hire you as a favor. They are looking for someone to help solve their problem. Figure out what the need is and help them. It is amazing how you will start noticing glaring examples of how your talents will help solve someone's problems better.”
“Unless you are just doing liner-card radio, you are communicating. You have
the ability to tell stories, to keep people’s attention and to create a call
to action. You also understand what bad communication is, know how to cut
through the clutter and you can certainly learn a lot of new proficiencies
based on the instincts that you’ve developed over the years.” Parker loves
radio but saw opportunities had diminished for him in the industry that was
so good to him for so many years. “One morning I got up and said, ‘That hole
is pretty much fished out for me.’ It takes a pretty honest moment to get to
that place.”
Tom started looking for opportunities to apply those
skills elsewhere. He saw an ad for communication director of a local
non-profit organization that exists to end substance abuse and suicide.
Their prevention hotlines handle nearly 40,000 calls a year. Seventy
individuals applied for the job. Tom’s radio communication skills helped him
land the job as spokesman for Oregon Partnership.
“A non-profit
that deals with substance abuse and suicide prevention are two topics that
resonate with me. In the radio business, not knowing someone who has been
affected by substance abuse would be amazing. It’s like Woodstock – if you
remember it, you weren’t there. Almost everyone you know has been touched by
substance abuse in some way and I saw an opportunity to get out this message
of hope that I really believe in.” Parker’s organization trains and
oversees over 100 volunteers on its crisis lines. “We’ve just started a
military help line that reaches out to veterans of Afghanistan, Iraq and all
other wars that are struggling with issues including PTSD and suicide. We
give them a safe, confidential place to get some assistance. I find that to
be more meaningful than talking up a current record. I’m not disrespecting
what radio is but it really is fulfilling to use the ability to tell a story
and relate to affect people in a positive way.”
Parker had some observations for those who find themselves kind of aimlessly
looking for employment without a strong direction. He said there are three
kinds of reality: 1. What you think it is 2. What you want it to
be 3. What it is “The sooner in life you get to #3 in everything you
are looking at,” Tom continued, “the better your life is going to be. Life
isn’t out to screw you. There are just different circumstances.”
Holding on to the radio dream may be futility for many who have house
payments to make and a family to raise. How do you take your assets and
create a new career flight? “Even when radio was a thriving industry there
were plenty of people who hung around grousing about the way they were or
were not treated. Frankly, since there are no guns held to anyone’s head,
there’s not a lot of room for complaining.
We chose it. Things
change. Just how long did that musician stand outside the radio station
waiting for them to give him his job back when the industry started playing
records? Turntable turners used to have a job. There used to be studio
engineers for many of us. Were the owners bad people? No, times had changed.
There are a number of tools now that make so many of these jobs not
necessary anymore. The fact they’ve eliminated a large number of air
positions is just that – a fact.” Parker thinks back to the early days of
his radio career. “You never got into this business thinking someone was
going to hand you a gold watch at retirement. The idea of staying with one
company for your whole career is quaint at best. In radio we always knew it
was a series of relatively short-term jobs. The difference is that the
people who went into banking, thinking they had secure jobs for the rest of
their lives, were surprised to find out they didn’t. In many ways radio is
no different than any other industry out there. The question becomes – what
is your second act, or third act, or fourth act?”
Parker had some
techniques for those who may be stuck in the job search. “The same
characteristics that allowed you to land jobs in radio apply outside of
radio – persistence, willingness to learn, and willingness to change. Many
people stop when they meet an obstacle. That makes it a little easier for
those who keep on trying. You can’t look at yourself as a victim. There will
be something else. Where are your strengths? Are you a good writer? Good
with people? Find those strengths and imagine different ways to apply them.
It can be a little scary, but the future always is.”
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PARKER,
Wes: KFI, 1969-72;
KABC, 1987. Born Maurice Wesley Parker on November 13, 1939, in
In 1965 and 1966 he teamed with Wills, Lefebvre, and Gilliam in the
only all-switch-hitting infield. His only 1968 error was
controversial, coming on an Astroturf bounce, after which the
He retired at 32 with a ML career-record .996 fielding average and
six straight Gold Gloves, "to enjoy the whole spectrum of life."
Parker came out of retirement in 1974 to play in
“At KFI, Wes and I worked nearly every night together on the air,”
remembered Dave Hull. “He would come in to the
station following his home game – and we’d do crazy stuff on the
air. The combination was quite popular with listeners.” |
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PARKS, Dave. KWVE, 1993-2007. Dave, a longtime host of the Saturday Morning Kids Show on KWVE (K-Wave 107.9/fm) where he was known as ‘K-Dave,” died in his sleep on April 18, 2009. He was 54. Parks had a stroke in 2007, as well as some later medical complications. “K-WAVE lost a longtime staff member last weekend who was one of those creative individuals who can never really be replaced,” said KWVE gm Richard McIntosh. “The Saturday Morning Kid's Show will never be the same. Dave, thank you for your dedication, whit and your ability to make people smile.” Dave began at K-Wave in 1993, when he worked the overnight shift. In 1995, Dave took on the hosting and production duties of the Saturday Morning Kids Show while at the same time continuing the overnight on-air shift. During Dave’s tenure, the Kids Show popularity soared. Dave’s passion for kids combined with his love for his work and ministry was clear. |
Dave created and was the official co-host of Woody the Bear. Dave additionally worked to take the Kids Show ‘on the road’ and created the Saturday Morning Kids Show - LIVE, a 2 hour live version of the on air show. SMKS LIVE featured a cast of 30+, including all of the show's character favorites and was hosted a few times to thousands of kids and their parents at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. The SMKS LIVE show also had a few 'stops' at local theme parks like Adventure City in Orange County.
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PARLOCHA,
Bob: KKJZ, 2007-15. Bob worked at all-Jazz, KKJZ. He passed
away unexpectedly March 15, 2015 of a heart attack at the age of 76.
Bob was a nationally-known jazz expert, on-air host, producer, and former programmer whose Dinner Jazz Show filled in the evenings with warmth for more than twenty years. He was an articulate spokesman for jazz and astute analyst of the music scene, as well as an in-demand master of ceremonies. A highly creative producer, he developed many interesting specialty shows such as the Black Masters series, Latin Jazz, On the Scene, and What’s New. His rich, elegant voice, far-reaching knowledge, and unique rapport with listeners made him a welcome presence any night of the week and gained him a loyal following as the overnight radio announcer on KJazz 88.1. Parlocha made an indelible contribution to jazz over his long and storied career. |
Parr, Russ: KLOS/KABC, 1978-85; KDAY,
1985-89. Russ hosts a national show on SupeRadio.
Parr, Shawn: KIKF,
1988-92; KZLA, 1992-98 and 1999-2006; XSUR/KKGO, 2007-13. Shawn worked
morning drive
at Go Country KKGO until November 2013. He worked at Cumulus'
syndicated NASH/fm until exiting in late 2019. He has been the voice of Dick Clark Productions for many
years. He has been the announcer for The American Music Awards,
Golden Globes, and Academy of Country Music Awards. In early
summer of 2020, he was syndicated by Key Network.
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PARRISH, Cathi:
KOST, 1992; KTWV, 1994-99;
KOST, 2000-07; KWVE, 2012-13. Cathi worked weekends at KOST. "I first got my feet wet in a variety of areas in the
radio broadcasting field in Chicago. I started off hosting public
affairs talk shows and got to meet my first celebrities while
interviewing authors of newly released books. After that I was on my
way up... that is, I got a job as a traffic reporter broadcasting
high atop the John Hancock Center on the 94th floor. The years ahead included radio stints at Chicago stations like WLAK (Beautiful Music), WMAQ (Country), WAGO (Top 40), WCKG (Classic Rock), and WIND (Talkradio). After relocating to Southern California, I got a taste of real Country when I began middays at 95.1 KFRG. Then in the years to follow, I worked at KOST, KTWV, and Contemporary Christian. It's a combination of all these jobs that helped to center me professionally. I love learning, and I love how our technology continues to advance. It leaves me wondering 'What's next?'" She works mornings at KWVE. |
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PARRISH, Gene: KUSC, 1984-2009. Gene was a longtime Classical music announcer at KUSC. He also wrote and produced syhnidcated programs on worldwide jazz and Amercian Choral music. Gene died January 2, 2009. He was 82. “His radio career began in 1973 at KQED-San
Francisco. He was a natural,” wrote KUSC pd Gail Eichenthal.
“Within a few years, he was the nationally syndicated host of the
San Francisco Opera broadcasts. He moved to LA and KUSC 25 years
ago, and as recently as a week before his death, he was in
production on a feature for ‘Arts Alive,’ KUSC’s Saturday morning
arts and music magazine.” Gene was a native Californian. He was born in November 1926, and grew up in Glassell Park, Temple City and Monrovia. Gene entered the Navy V-12 program at Occidental College in 1944, transferred to Navy V-6 at UCLA, and then overseas before his discharge in 1946. The radio bug struck him while studying speech and radio broadcasting under Dr. Charles Frederick Lindsley at Occidental. “On December 31, 1995, I left my day-job at KUSC to pursue a kind of laid back, free-lance career,” he said when interviewed for Los Angeles Radio People. |
Gail continued her tribute: “He had a most positive attitude through his difficult illness: In reference to his lousy prognosis, he told me philosophically, ‘I’ve had a good run.’ Gene was a great supporter of jazz musicians worldwide, through his longtime series, Worldwide Jazz. He also produced broadcast concerts from Finland’s Kuhmo Festival, from the Netherlands, and also hosted a nationally heard choral program, The First Art, for many years. Gene was a great broadcaster, and a kind and humble man. He was possibly the most easy-going on-air host I’ve ever encountered. His longtime friend, Grammy-winning record producer and conductor Peter Rutenberg, said when he learned of Gene’s death, ‘in all the hundreds of programs Gene and I worked on together on The First Art, there was not a moment’s tension. Not a pebble in the stream. Everything just flowed.’”
Parsons, Fred: KLAC, 1965-70. Last heard, Fred was living in West Virginia.
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PARSONS, Pete:
KFWB, 1984-98. Pete writes Riverside and San
Bernardino County news each weekday morning via email for MetroNetworks. “When I finally realized that I wasn’t meeting any old disc jockeys, I decided to get into the news business because there were lots of old newsmen.” Pete was a longtime anchor on all-News KFWB. Born in Upland, he was raised in the Bay Area. His father was a State Park Ranger based in the East Bay. After leaving the Army, Pete started as a dj at KMEN-Riverside in 1970. During the 1970s he worked for KHNY-Riverside twice, KHSJ-Hemet, KPSI-Palm Springs and a return to KMEN in 1980. “In 1984 I needed a change. I left the country and worked for ‘Hit Radio 100’ in Guam. When I came back later that year I started in production at KCKC-San Bernardino. The nd left on holiday and never returned so I became news boss for the next 11 years.” His wife, Connie, is a police officer for the city of Fontana. |
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PASCHALL, Benton:
KWIZ.
Ben
was 49% co-owner of KWIZ until 1965. Prior to that time he had been
executive vp and manager. Ben was born Lisle Benton Paschall in Olney, Texas
on September 28, 1913, and he grew up in Fresno. He studied music and
business administration at Fresno State where he originally wanted to be a
teacher. After sales jobs with Union Oil Co., and Bekins Van & Storage,
Ben joined the sales staff of KARM-Fresno. After managing a number of
stations, Ben bought Western Radio Sales rep firm. In the early 1950s Ben was the vp of the Western division of Gordon McLendon's Liberty Network. In the mid-1950s Ben, along with Howard Tullis and John Hearne bought KAFY-Bakersfield and KFXM-San Bernardino. A station swap in 1959 gave Ben 49% ownership of KWIZ in exchange for his piece of KAFY and KFXM. Ben died of complications from anemia and pneumonia on April 24, 2001. He was 87. |
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In a bizarre kind of prediction, just
three hours prior to his November 19 accident, Pastore spoke of the
dangers associated with his love for motorcycles. On that day,
Pastore was discussing an episode of
Through the Wormhole,
a tv show on the Science Channel hosted by Morgan Freeman. The
episode explored the possibility of life after death. |
“Look, you guys know I ride a motorcycle, right?” Pastore asked his audience
three hours before he collided with a car as he rode down the 210 freeway
near Los Angeles.
“So, at any moment, especially with the idiot people who cross the diamond
lane into my lane, all right, without any blinkers – not that I’m angry
about it – at any minute I could be spread all over the 210. But that’s
(just) my body part, and that key distinction undergirds the entire
Christian worldview.”
His Talk show was named 2011 Radio Program of the Year by the National
Religious Broadcasters (NRB). “The Frank Pastore Show was specifically
selected for impacting listeners in a compelling, relevant, informative,
personable, and entertaining way, while demonstrating an authentic Christian
faith,” according to the NRB.
For 2006 and 2007, NRB named Pastore as ‘Radio Talk Show of the Year.’
In announcing
the award, Salem Broadcasting, owners of KKLA said that “since January 2004,
this former professional baseball pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds with
graduate degrees in both theology and political science has been engaging
Los Angeles listeners ‘at the intersection of faith and reason’ with candid
talk that grapples with news and burning issues of the day.”
Pastore
was born in Alhambra, on August 21, 1957, and made his major league debut as
a pitcher with the Cincinnati Reds on April 4, 1979. In a losing effort
against the San Francisco Giants, Pastore pitched three scoreless innings
that day. He stayed with the Reds until 1985 and played one season for the
Minnesota Twins in 1986.
After baseball, Pastore studied business, philosophy, religion and politics at various universities and became a born-again Christian.
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(Dr. Leslie Pam and Ann Christie and Abel Perez y Perez)
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PAT,
Waco: KTYM; KFOX, KABC,
1957-95. Waco Pat, 35-year morning engineer at KABC from the
beginning of Talk Radio to his retirement in 1995, died November 15
of pneumonia, according to his younger brother Bernie Patryla. He
was 74. Waco Pat had been ill for the past two years. “When Pat
and his wife Lynn separated he went into a severe depression and
then had a couple of small strokes that affected his back and his
hip,” said his brother. “Pat had a hard time walking and a hard time
swallowing because of that stroke. He got pneumonia because the
liquids were going into his lungs instead of going into his stomach.
He was treated for that and then caught pneumonia again and he just
couldn’t win the battle the second time,” said Patryla. “I was very sad to read about the death of Waco Pat,” emailed Brian Green of Sacramento. “I had the pleasure of watching the master at work at KABC in the 80s when I was a call screener and producer for Michael Jackson. Pat was a kind soul. He had a sharp, irreverent sense of humor and was a terrific board op. He had this rolling shelf of sound effects and drop-ins on cart that were at his side every morning in the control room, and he used them liberally throughout the show. As Ken Minyard mentions, Waco Pat was as much a part of the Ken & Bob Company as Ciji Ware or Stu Nahan or the lady who tap-danced the news. |
Patrik, Sean: KNTF, 1990-91; KOCM, 1991. KFI, 1998-99. For time in the 90s, Sean was host of The Psychic Friends Radio Network. He currently works at WYRY-Winchester, New Hampshire.
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PATRICK,
Dan: KSPN, 1999-07; KLAC, 2007-23. Dan left ESPN Radio on August 17, 2007. He
launched a new syndicated show and it airs in morning drive at KLAC. In
2021, Dan was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame. A college student who wanted to get into sports Talk radio called KLAC’s Dan, asking for some advice on how to do that. Dan gave some great advice, starting out with getting an internship. “It is the most competitive job field you’ll find in the country,” said Dan. “You’ve got to be specialized. You’ve gotta be good at certain things.” Dan said that no one leaves the sports Talk radio industry so it becomes incumbent on the new candidate to figure out how to differentiate him or herself from what is currently being done. “You’ve got to work in a radio or tv station. And don’t expect to be paid. You’ve got to have these major connections because these professors haven’t told them what’s in the real world on the outside. It’s really disheartening because people come out of college and say they’ve got a communications degree. Well, that doesn’t mean anything.” Compensation in the sports Talk radio world should not be a consideration, according to the KLAC morning man. “Do not take a job because of money. Take a job with a network, a station, or a company that you respect but don’t limit yourself by saying you’ll only make a certain amount of money. Get in, if you like the place, you’ll hear of job openings.” |
Patrick, Paul: KPSA, 1971-72. Unknown.
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PATTERSON, Bill:
KFOX, 1963-74; KLAC, 1972. Bill is
retired and lives in West Texas. Bill was a dj on Country Western station KFOX. He also flew a Cessna 172 for KFOX and reported the Los Angeles traffic. |
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PATTERSON, Jack:
KHJ, 1974; KDAY, 1974-76
and 1981-91; KJLH, 1991-98. Jack worked for D.M.X. Boston was Jack's home before being transferred from RKO's WRKO to be program director of KHJ. In 1974, he was a Billboard magazine award winner. In 1978 while at KMJQ-Houston, Jack was voted Unique Format Program Director of the Year at the 11th Annual Billboard Radio Programming Forum. Jack went to the Midwest in the early 1980s and worked as pd of WBMX-Chicago. He returned to the Southland as pd of KDAY in 1981. In a 1989 LA Times article on black music radio, Jack said, "Playing too many white artists would ruin our black identity and damage our standing in the community." At KJLH he worked morning drive. |
Patterson, Langley: KAGB; KJLH, KKGO; KLON.
Langley played be-bop. Swing. A little blues. He scoured old
record stores for vintage records. He was stabbed to death
and found in an alley behind a doctor's office about three
miles from his home. Langley was going to dental school
part-time to try to supplement his earnings and was a
lieutenant in the California National Guard on weekends.
Langley was murdered February 20, 1985. He was 35.
Patterson,
Tim: KEZY, 1988-89, KQLZ, 1989. Tim is working in vascular surgery in Laguna
Hills.
Patterson, Tom: KGIL/KGIL-fm/KMGX,
1978-90; KNX/KCBS-fm/KODJ, 1990-99.
Tom is currently the
Broadcast Supervisor for CBS Television
Network in Los Angeles.
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PATTIZ,
Norm: CEO of Courtside Entertainment and founder of Westwood One,
Norm was considered a founding father of modern radio syndication.
Norm died December 4, 2022, at the age of 79. Under his leadership Westwood One became America's largest provider of news, sports, entertainment, talk, and traffic to the broadcast industry. In the spring of 2013, Norm launched PodcastOne.com, a one-stop site that offers shows from hundreds of online broadcasters for listeners to browse and download. In the late 90s, Norm was instrumental in launching the Beverly Hills building that housed the Museum of TV and Radio. He orchestrated funding for many Radio-only events, including two successful "LARadio Day" events. The Museum at North Beverly Drive closed in 2020. He was married to popular KMET's ("The Mighty Met"), Mary Turner. He was appointed by President Clinton and re-appointed by President Bush to serve on the Broadcasting Board of Governors, overseeing all U.S. non-military broadcast services, including the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe. He was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2009 and that same year received the Giants of Broadcasting Award from the Library of American Broadcasting. |
Patton, Jim: KLOS, 1971-73. Jim died of a
heroin overdose in 1973.
Paul, Byron: SEE Byron
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PAUL,
Long: KNAC, 1986-94; KLOS,
1994-97.
Born Paul Long in
He
attended the |
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PAUL, Nick:
KLAC, 1958-59. Following almost two years as part of the revised Big 5 at
KLAC, Nick went into the oil business. “Don Federson brought my father out in 1958 from KRLD in Dallas to be one of the new Big Five at KLAC, with Bob Hopkins, Claude Stroud and Jack Slattery etc.,” emailed his son, Billy. “My father passed away in 2004, yet he was always proud of his work for Mort Hall at KLAC from August 1958 to 1960. He also was part of two fund raisers at the Hollywood Bowl, sponsored by KLAC, to donate money to the Thalians. Although, he would eventually leave radio and be tremendously successful in the oil business, first with Occidental Petroleum and then his own business, he still has people today that were his fans.” |
Nick was born in Chicago to Greek immigrant parents on April 23, 1919. After high school at John Marshall, Nick went to Northwestern University for one year before being drafted in 1940. He would spend the next 5 years of his life in the United States Army. “This is where his love for radio came in, as he hosted many programs just for the soldiers at McCord field,” Billy remembered about his father. Nick would come out of the service as an officer having graduated Officer's Candidate School. He then used his G.I. loan to go to Columbia College in Chicago. It was there he learned his craft.ould later meet his wife, June, at the Chase Hotel.
In early 1951, Nick was contacted by WOAI, the NBC affiliate in San Antonio. His desire to do television was strong enough that he would leave KWK and go to Texas. In 1951, he would have a music radio show. Towards the end of that year, Nick was then offered his own half-hour television show, which he called Your Show. Nick would be host, interviewer, pianist and occasional singer. He interviewed many well-known people on that show, San Antonio being a city that had first showings of new movies from the studios. Alfred Hitchcock, MGM head Dore Sherry, Eva Gabor, Gene Barry and Vic Damone were just some of the few celebrities that stopped by. This show would last until 1955. Management changes meant a shake-up at the station, Nick would soon be heard at KRLD in Dallas.
After a year and a half at the station, Nick received an offer to be national spokesman for Slenderella, a diet drink. Although he enjoyed the travel promoting the product, with a wife and young son at home it became a difficult proposition. So Nick returned to KRLD-Dallas in 1957. It was at this time he heard of an offer from family friend Bud Levinson (later a longtime Capitol Records employee) that KLAC was looking for new djs. Nick sent his tape from KRLD, and was selected from over 400 applicants reviewed by Don Fedderson to be one of the new djs at KLAC. He was busy right away.
Sight and Sound wanted him to do commercials for their store, Terry Gibbs had him announce his great band at the Sundown Club in Hollywood. “My dad was for a time the highest paid personality at the station over George Church III, Barry Kaye, Claude Stroud, and Karl McIntire, etc.”
“From '58 to 1960 my dad was on the air at KLAC,” said Billy. “After much turmoil at the station, with Don Fedderson quitting as consultant, as well as Arnold Marquis, Mort Hall, and the owner looking for cheap profits decided to make a wholesale change and just use automated radio. The results were a disaster. My dad was asked back by the station in 1962, after Mr. Hall had sold the station, but he declined.”
In 1960, Nick went to George B. Storer's KPOP and stayed there a year, along with Duke Norton and other personalities. The station was then sold. It was during this time that close friends were urging Nick to try his hand in the oil business. He would first be a land man for Occidental Petroleum working under Fleet White and then in Public Relations, which his son acknowledges was Nick’s real strength. Success followed and after ten years Nick headed up his own company to facilitate connecting rich businessmen whom wanted to drill for oil with the major oil companies to provide the equipment and know-how with profits split and Nick making profit as well as percentage points in the newly drilled wells. Nick would stay active as an advisor up until his passing on July 25, 2004. His son carries on the family name and show business tradition as a jazz drummer in Los Angeles.
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PAUL, Tibor, KPCC. Tibor died December 10, 2007, at the age of 81. Larry Mantle of KPCC rembered him: "The death of Tibor Paul reminds us of the public radio era when programming schedules looked like checkerboards. Weekly hosts would preside over specialty music or ethnic shows and sometimes, deeply connect with a loyal audience. In other cases, the programs were largely vanity efforts that drew few listeners. Tibor Paul is a prime example of the former. His programs, including The European Sunday Concert, boasted comparatively large audiences and significant listener and underwriter financial support for KPCC. There was clearly a craving for the waltzes, polkas, and marches that were the staples of Tibor’s program. Anecdotally, it was clear the interest extended well beyond the Southland’s German-American community." |
Paulie: KHTZ, 1979. Unknown.
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PAULOS, Cindy:
KROQ, 1978. Cindy is owner/operator of Bright Light
Productions in Maui. Cindy is a minister, writer, speaker, teacher, artist, composer, lyricist and videographer, travel agent as well as an award-winning radio and tv personality. She began her spiritual connection at the age of 12, which expanded into a profound experience of Light at age 15. Since then, she has received inspiration and guidance from her spiritual source through messages and song. She has produced a CD series of her original poems set to music, entitled Inspirational Messages By Cindy. Rev. Paulos received her ministerial credentials at the age of 17 from the University of Metaphysics in Los Angeles where she became the youngest instructor to ever teach there. Dr. Paulos has been teaching meditation and how to connect with God ever since. In 1978, when she received her Doctor of Divinity degree. Rev. Cindy owned her own music stores, Paulos Music, in Westwood at the age of 18. She worked as a dj at the world famous KROQ and then moved to Northern California and started KVRE Radio and worked as the pd and mornings for 8 years. In 1989 she moved to Maui and has worked at KAOI AM Radio doing her own talk show. Dr. Paulos now hosts the longest running talk show on Maui, interviewing celebrities, political leaders and spiritual teachers. She also is a dj on KAOI/fm. She hosted a local tv music show called “Local Licks” for 5 years, interviewing many local music stars. |
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PAULSON, Dave:
KREL, 1970-74; KEZY, 1972-74;
KWIZ, 1972-73; KQLH, 1974.
Since 1981, Dave has been involved in
radio projects in Northern California. Born in L.A., Dave grew up in West Los Angeles and graduated from Venice High School (home of the school scenes in Grease). "As a kid I fell in love with radio at a fairly young age. My father a few times took me to see Art Laboe broadcast from Scrivner's Drive Inn." Dave's love for radio was listening to the birth of KRLA, KPOP, KDAY, "Color Radio," "Boss Radio," and others including the early FM's. Dave had to leave the L.A. area to get his first crack at radio as an air personality in suburban Salt Lake City at KSVN. He missed California and came back home and got on at KREL (The Real Don Steele started there when it was KBUC) and worked as music director, in news, and afternoon drive, and got started in engineering. He was one of two engineers that gave birth to KREL's FM sister KQLH (now K-FROG). He also engineered in Orange County. He left the Southland in the mid 70's and worked in Country music radio. "In the early 1980's I came back to California this time to the North San Francisco Bay Area to join KVON/KVYN-Napa Valley as an air personality and chief engineer." In the North Bay he also worked KNBA and at 50KW KTRB in California's Big Valley. For two seasons (mid-90's) he was involved in NFL Sports doing the engineering side of the play-by-play Spanish broadcasts of the Super Bowl Champion SF 49ers. "This involved many flights from SFO on the Niner's charter flights all over the USA." During the week, Dave is a schoolteacher teaching "Today's Kids/Tomorrow's Adults.” |
Payerle, Teresa: KKGO, 1989-93; KUSC, 1993-94; KGIL, 1998-99. Teresa is a staff announcer for Deutsche Welle Television in Berlin, Germany.
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(Brian Perez, Shawn Parr, and Nino Perez)
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PAYNE, Bruce:
KGIL, 1969. Colonel Bruce Payne, the original skywatch pilot
for KGIL was
replaced by Frank Powers of U2 fame. Bruce is semi-retired and living near Sacramento in Folsom.
His daughter Robbin posted on a KGIL website: "Thank you for remembering my dad, Col.Bruce Payne.He continued to fly for many years after that. He mostly flew airplanes all over the world for delivery. He also did sky typing and cargo deliveries to Danag during the Vietnam war." Payne flew in a couple of movies, Swing Shift with Goldie Hawn and The Winds of War mini series. |
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PAYNE,
Charles: KFI, 2009. The financial analyst had a weekend show on KFI. In the
summer of 2017, he was suspended by 21st Century Fox over allegations of
sexual misconduct. Within months, Payne's suspension was lifted. Born November 15, 1960, he contributes to Fox Business Network and he is the host of Fox's Making Money with Charles Payne. At 17 years old, he enlisted in the Air Force and went on to serve as a security policeman stationed at Minot Air Force Base in Minot, North Dakota. Payne attended Minot State University and Central Texas College while in the service. In 2007, Payne released his first book titled Be Smart, Act Fast, Get Rich: Your Game Plan for Getting It Right in the Stock Market. In 2014, he became the host of Making Money with Charles Payne. |
Payne, Max: KROQ, 2001-02. Max is now working at a "Star" station in Texas.
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PAYNE,
Mike: KDAY; XPRS, 1972; KDAY, 1974. Mike died October 23, 2004, at the
age of 59. "Mike was the quintessential disc jockey," said colleague J.J. Johnson. "He was one of the greatest I ever heard and he lived the jock fantasy lifestyle. He knew everybody, it seemed, from the mayor to the high school principals, most of the black music acts of the era and Dr. Martin Luther King. Too few know about Mike." Payne (Cedric Michael Williams) entered radio in 1960 at the age of fourteen as a "Junior Jockey of the Week" on WJMO-AM in his hometown, Cleveland. The teen showed such promise that he was eventually hired as a part-time air personality under the name "Sir Cedric III." A few years later, he moved to daytime rival WABQ where he shed his earlier image and became Mike Payne aka "Michael The Lover." In the course of his long career he influenced numerous broadcasters including Leon Isaac Kennedy, J.J. Johnson, Lynn Tolliver, Bobby Rush and Eddie Edwards and worked stations in Cleveland, Houston (KYOK, KCOH), Detroit (WJLB), Pittsburgh (WAMO) and Los Angeles (XPRS, KDAY). He co-produced and co-hosted the tv show Outta Sight with Kennedy. Dancer Debbie Allen made her tv debut on the show. |
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PAYNE,
Ted: KABC, 1989-97. Ted handled the news in morning drive at KABC.
He won the 1994 Golden Mike Award for the best newscast in Southern
California. Ted was born in Blunt, South Dakota on June 2, 1932. “My wife and I met at Laramie High School in Laramie, Wyoming. Ted started his radio career at KDZA-Pueblo in 1951. He went on to KFLW and KCNO in Klamath Falls, Oregon. “In 1956 I went to work for Joseph Gamble who owned seven stations from Palm Springs to Sacramento. He was the one who talked Gavin into music programming for stations after his success on Lucky Lager Dance Time.” After 13 years with Gamble, Ted went to work as a talk show host for NBC in Pittsburgh and after five years joined KDKA. “From there I was news and financial host for 10 years at KSDO-San Diego.” In 1989, Ted joined KABC as morning newsman and financial reporter for Ken & Bob and then Ken & Barkley and finally for Minyard & Tilden. He and his wife are the parents of four successful sons. Ted retired in the spring of 1997 and lives in Jamul, outside of San Diego. “I had a great career in a super business.” |
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PEABODY, Dick: KFI, 1971-72. The former KFI afternoon talk show personality from 1971 and 1972 was the 6-foot-6 actor who portrayed the gentle giant farm boy, Littlejohn, on the 1960s tv series Combat. Dick, whose more than 120 television show credits included Gunsmoke, also appeared in six motion pictures, including Support Your Local Sheriff, starring James Garner. He died of prostate cancer on December 27, 1999. He was 74. |
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PEAKE,
John, KOST/KBIG, 2017-23. In February 2017, John was
appointed program director at AC KOST and Hot AC KBIG (MY/fm).
Before joining KOST and KBIG, John was svp/programming for iHeart’s
San Diego/Riverside cluster. He has also served as vp/programming in
Seattle. John was named 2018 Station Programmer of the Year at the
AllAccess Worldwide Radio Summit. Prior to joining iHeart, Peake programmed Dance “Energy 92.7” KNGY and Hot AC Alice 97.3 KLLC-San Francisco, NRJ in Paris, and KRBE-Houston. In the spring of 2021, John added svp of programming stripes. |
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PEARL, Bernie:
KPPC, 1968; KLON, 1980-90;
KCRW, 1990-92. Bernie has
been a leading figure in the annual Long Beach Blues
Festival. He hosted a weekly show on WPMD.org. and was the host of "Nothing
but Blues" and "The Blues Roll On" programs. The blues is life itself to Bernie Pearl. A guitarist with an upbeat, finger-poppin' picking style he learned at the elbows of bluesmasters Sam 'Lightnin' Hopkins, Mance Lipscomb, Mississippi Fred MacDowell, and others. Yet, Bernie Pearl is no hidebound traditionalist. As music critics and aficionados have said for years, he is a craftsman who packs his songs with melodic interpretations that are new and personal each time he picks up his vintage Martin or National. To hear him tell it, "I'm not a retro player. I'm playing real blues for right now." Bernie, who grew up in the Los Angeles community of Boyle Heights, took up the guitar in the 1950's. Later, at his brother's legendary blues showcase, the Ash Grove, he met, studied with, and often performed with greats like Hopkins, Lipscomb, and MacDowell as well as with Freddie King, Albert Collins, and Big Mama Thornton. Bernie played duets with John Lee Hooker at Gerde's Folk City in Greenwich Village. "They were my teachers," he says, "and it wasn't just music they were teaching. If you took Mance or Lightnin' out fishing you got philosophy, history, and lessons in life." Armed with the teachings of those and other blues icons, Bernie raises the roof with dazzling guitar solos - acoustic and electric - and with his own Bernie Pearl Blues Band, which has backed the likes of B.B. King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Willie Dixon, and Big Joe Turner. A life-long blues evangelist, Bernie began broadcasting Nothin' But the Blues on KPPC FM in 1968, making him L.A.'s first all-blues FM disc jockey. He went on to host the blues on KLON and KCRW helping found the Long Beach Blues Festival along the way. For music lovers tired of market-tested commercial radio and industry-buffed overnight phenoms, Pearl provides virtuosity, country wisdom, a warm voice, and the kind of fingerpicking and slide guitar work that still gets juke-joints jumping. "Making blues music draws from someplace deep," he says. "I'm lucky. It's what I do." (from Pearl's website) |
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PEARL, Bill:
KYMS, 1969; KWIZ/fm, 1969;
KLAC/KMET, 1971-73; KKDJ, 1971-72; KIIS, 1972;
KKDJ, 1973; KIQQ, 1973-74; KHJ, 1974-75;
KRLA, 1976-77; KIQQ, 1977; KMPC,
1981-82; KABC, 1982-84 and 1986-91. One of the most
enthusiastic evening jocks in contemporary radio, Bill was a home
boy. He died January 4, 2022, after battling cancer, at the age of
71. Raised in Hollywood, he went to Fairfax High School. "My father spoke six languages and I was a history major at UCLA. I wanted to teach American history, the period between the two world wars. When I walked into UCLA's radio station, KLA, my whole life changed." Bill is a magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa graduate of UCLA and also holds the degree of Juris Doctor from the UCLA School of Law. "It was a radio dream that paid for law school." Between KHJ and KMPC Bill became a lawyer. Bill joined KABC "TalkRadio" in 1982 and for the better part of a decade did air work for the market's then-top rated AM outlet. Bill hosted and produced his own newstalk programs and teamed as a commentator/debater with Bill Press (of CNN's Crossfire and their show was called "Dueling Bills") and in an intervening period with the ACLU's Ramona Ripston, for a Point-Counterpoint show. In 1976, he became a consultant with Tom Greenleigh to help rebuild Top 40 KRLA, and they created the "Hitman" concept that brought automation to life. The “Hitmen” looked for homemade signs of the KRLA call letters which were showing up in every Southland neighborhood. "We beat the assumed-unbeatable KHJ with a small budget semi-automated outlet." Bill celebrated the feat by doing a live show from KRLA's old Pasadena studios as "Jack Cheese." Bill is a published freelance writer, whose op-ed articles have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Times and countless dailies across the country. He was married to former KFWB Orange County Bureau chief, Sharon Katchen. They lived in Long Beach and had triplets. He published LBReport.com. |
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PEDROZA, Cecilia:
KFWB, 1972-84. Cecilia and her sister Inez (many
years a reporter for KABC/Channel 7) were the first successful
Hispanic sisters in the broadcast media. "We looked at our mission
as role models to encourage Latinos to join broadcasting. We spoke
in East L.A., at UCLA, USC and Hispanic community groups." Cecilia was born in Detroit and grew up in the Southland. Along with her sister, Cecilia authored an entertainment column on the motion picture industry that appeared in over 80 international publications. In the early 1970s she served as an apprentice with Regis Philbin on KHJ/Channel 9's Tempo Show and worked at KTLA/Channel 5. She was a high school drop out who benefited from the affirmative action programs in the '70s. "KFWB gave me an opportunity and for 12 years I served as general assignment reporter covering such major stories as the Hillside Strangler. When new management arrived at KFWB in 1984 the outside news reporters were let go. The news organization was gutted to become a rip 'n read organization. After the bloodletting I realized I was burned out. My life had belonged to the radio station." Encouraged by some to file a wrongful termination lawsuit, she said, "I never considered it. I didn't know my head from a hole in the ground when I started and I became a household name. It was just too bad that loyalty was not a factor in who was let go from the station." Cecilia joined the family travel business and with her brother, sister and mother (who was a featured columnist for the Hearst newspaper chain) they own the 30-year-old Pedroza Travel in the Fairfax district of Los Angeles. |
Pendergrass, Bernard: KABC, 1983-2007. Bernard was appointed apd at KABC in the summer of 2003. He left in the summer of 2008 following a Citadel downsizing.
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PENNACCHIO, George,
KABC, 1999-2001. George
is the entertainment editor at KABC/Channel 7. He was born in Chicago and
raised in both Chicago and Los Angeles areas. As a child, he could
recite the primetime network line-ups for every night of the week.
By age 6, George had no trouble watching endless amounts of
television and reading his mother's movie magazines. The editor of
both his high school and college newspapers, George had set his
sights on becoming a columnist. That all changed after an internship
at Chicago's NBC/TV station, WMAQ/TV. After graduating Magna Cum
Laude from Albion College in Albion, Michigan, George went to work
behind-the-scenes at WMAQ/TV. Three years later, he landed his first on-air job in Monterey. Prior to his arrival at KABC Channel 7, George spent eight years at the CBS affiliate in San Diego where he produced the 11 o’clock news, was the station's entertainment reporter and the recipient of three San Diego-area Emmy Awards. George is active in the charity group, The Thalians, which raises money for the maintenance of The Thalians Mental Health Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He and his wife also support Retired Racers, an organization devoted to saving greyhounds when their dog racing days are over. The Pennacchios have two greyhounds of their own, Bronco and Desilu. George's wife, Erin, is a designer who specializes in custom-made gowns for women. She also makes every vest George wears on tv. |
Pennell, Brenda: SEE Brenda Barnes
Pennington, Liz: KIKF, 1993-94; KEZY/KXMX,
1994-99; KOLA, 1999-2000; KFRG, 2000-06. Liz is working
weekends/fill-in/production at "K-FROG" as Julia Ribbitts.
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PEPPER, Choral:
KABC, 1972. The former
travel editor at KABC was one of Baja California’s biggest promoters from
the 1960s until her passing in 2002, according to author David Kier.
"Choral's books and magazine articles kept her readers motivated and inspired to go outdoors to make their own discoveries. Those that could not travel were kept fully entertained by her writings," wrote Kier. "My awareness of Choral Pepper came about from reading about her and seeing her in many photos in mystery novelist Erle Stanley Gardner’s 1967 adventure book, Off the Beaten Track in Baja." |
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PEREL, Larry:
KCRW, 2014-19; KFI, 2013-20.
Larry grew up in the San Fernando Valley in the heyday of
FM Rock Radio in the 70’s. “Jim Ladd, Mary
Turner and the crew at KMET were my constant companions and the
soundtrack that played when I ditched class for the beach, came home
from school or saw friends on the weekends,” said Perel. He loved the
‘Mighty Met’ format and the ‘romanticism’ of radio in general.
“I landed a job as a producer and news anchor for the John & Jeff show and a short time later, connected with the head of HR at Clear Channel. That led to a job working as an assistant news editor at KFI,” said Larry. “It was a huge wake-up call and incredible education on the inner workings of a top notch news operation and gave me a solid foundation in the format,” continued Larry. “Several demos and the kind ear of KFI’s news director, Chris Little got me a gig working as an Airborne Traffic Reporter at Total Traffic Network.” Perel flew for a number of Southland stations broadcasting traffic conditions before landing the morning drive traffic anchor for KTIE in the Inland Empire. When Total Traffic merged with Metro Networks, Larry was grounded. Through the merged company, he picked the news anchor position at KRLA. “During this time, I continued to send demos and airchecks to KFI. I think Chris just got sick of seeing stuff from me in his in box and decided to hire me as a fill-in news anchor. I started working overnights at KFI in the fall of 2012 and began filling as a news anchor during Bill Handel and Tim Conway Jr.’s shows.” Larry is now a weekend anchor Sunday afternoons and fill-in. In the summer of 2019, Larry was named host of NPR's All Things Considered for KCRW in Santa Monica. For the previous four years he hosted the program for the station's central coast market out of their studios in Santa Barbara. As part of the gig, he continues to focus on local content including breaking news important to listeners in SoCal. |
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PERELLI,
Angela: KYSR, 1995-2001 and 2004-05. Angela had a great run
during the Star 98.7 days. She was there twice. She to join the
Randy Lane Company doing morning show consulting.
Angela was born and raised in San Francisco and she arrived in Southern California from eight years of programming chores at K101-San Francisco to be assistant pd and md. She attended UCLA. In 1996 she won the Gavin award for music director of the year. Today Angela is life coach. "I help radio people become better people," she said on her website. "Better in their job performance, both on and off the air, and when we go there – and I love to go there – better in life. Of course, I didn’t always know everything I know about radio. I just knew I loved it. And when I got my first job at a radio station – a three-month internship that lasted 18 months – I knew I had found my people." She continued: Yes, I went on to become an award-winning programmer for the iconic KIOI-San Francisco and then the groundbreaking KYSR (Star 98.7). And as program director of Star 98.7, I managed some of the biggest personalities in the country — Jamie White & Danny Bonaduce; Ryan Seacrest & Lisa Foxx; Frosty, Heidi & Frank as well as VH-1’s Dr. Jenn Berman, MTV’s Mark Goodman and Richard Blade. All very heady stuff. But what mattered most was that we were connecting with people. After a few more ladder-climbing years, I changed course to get back to the things I love most about this business. With Randy Lane, I now work with shows across the US and Canada, from market #2 to market #240, in all types of formats." |
Perez y Perez, Abel: KLAX, 2000. Abel works at "LaLey 97.9fm."
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PEREZ, Brian:
KYMS, 1992-1995; KKLA/KLTX/KIEV/KRLA, 1995-05; Premiere Radio Networks,
2001-2003; KWVE, 2004-20. Brian is the program director, operations director and morning host at KWVE-San Clemente. He was born in East LA, in September of 1969. "The radio bug bit on my 9th birthday, the day WKRP in Cincinnati debuted on television! Having been an avid tv watcher as a kid, that changed after I watched 'KRP; now, instead of rushing home from school to turn on the tv, I'd flip the radio on to hear Jack Armstrong and the KFI Gorilla, followed by Big Ron O'Brien and Mark Taylor (along with Tim and Ev Kelly in the midday during the summer or a day off from school.) "Fast forward about 13 years, still loving radio but not sure I had what it took. I was working at a bank in the daytime and a pizza place at night. I dozed off behind the wheel one afternoon due to my lack of sleep. No serious damage to persons or property, but I drove directly to the pizza place and quit, then called The Academy of Radio Broadcasting in Huntington Beach the next morning because it dawned on me that had something happened to me the previous afternoon, I would not have pursued my dream of radio! Three months after graduating from the ARB I landed at KYMS and have been employed at a SoCal radio station ever since. I still don't think I have what it takes sometimes, and don't even feel worthy to be classified as a LARP when I look at all the great names from the past and who are still in it today, but it's been a great 27-year run!" |
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PEREZ, Cristina: KABC, 2015. TV Judge Cristina started a midday Talk show at KABC in January 2015 and left in May of the same year. When it was announced in January that she was taking over the 9 a.m. to noon slot at KABC, it was exciting that a new voice was coming to Southland Radio. The excitement barely lasted a minute or two when it was discovered that she had no radio experience. No sidekick, no Inland Empire or San Diego experience. No nothing. How does this happen in the #1 radio market? From Cristina’s website over the weekend: "To my fans & listeners of ‘Judge Cristina Live’ on KABC: At this time in my life, for personal reasons I’ve decided to step away from this radio opportunity. Because truthfully, I’m a work-a-holic, with a thriving law practice and tv show, a pending tv project and a third book project as well as the establishment of an arbitration / mediation practice. And, most importantly, I am the mother of an 11 year old girl – and time will not wait as she grows up. I cannot miss another minute of that. Cumulus Media was so supportive of my decision and I’m eternally grateful to them, especially John Dickey."
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PEREZ,
Fernando: KLVE. Fernando has been a consistent presence on Spanish-speaking K-LOVE.
He was voted #7 Best Off-Air LARP of 2015. For fifteen years
he has been a media content and operations executive, serving Hispanic audiences
in the United States. Throughout his career he has been known to apply
creativity, strategic thinking, and leadership to grow market share. Fernando is a Harvard
Business School alumni having completed the Program for Leadership Development,
The Business of Entertainment, Media and Sports, Launching New Ventures, and
Creating Shared Value. Radio Ink Magazine
recognized him as one of the Best Program Directors in America in 2008 and 2013.
For three years (2008-10 and 2014), Fernando was named Program Director of the
Year by Monitor Latino.
He’s currently
responsible for lead content and brand management strategies for the Regional
Mexican and Amor West portfolio of brands, which includes KLVE and KSCA. K-Love 107.5 is one of the most recognized and iconic radio brands in
Southern California. |
Perez, Gil: KEZY, 1985-89; KFI/KOST, 1989-2001; KEZY, 1994-99. Gil is part of the production team at KFI/KOST. He teaches part-time in the Fullerton College radio program.
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PEREZ,
Maclovio: KNX, 1979-96. KCBS/Channel 2's weatherman
frequently reported the weather on sister radio station, KNX. He
worked for the tv station for over 17 years and survived 13 news
directors. During his time with Channel 2, Maclovio hosted a
children’s game show called, Kidquiz. It ran for eight
years over 250 episodes. “I am proud of it because, years later,
grownup up adults would come over and tell me how much they enjoyed
playing the game as a kid. The show was never syndicated because it
was a public affairs throwaway. But I know we did some good. The
best years of my life were between 1982 and 1987. Soon thereafter,
we watched as they built “the wheel” news set. It was the biggest
joke. It was a set that revolved like a lazy susan. The set lasted
THREE months. It destroyed the newscast - and our reputation - in
even less time. In a cost cutting measure, Maclovio was let go in
the fall of 1996. He had been active in the Latino community and a Daily Variety story reported he earned "close to $400,000." His replacement was reported to be earning about $300,000 less. Maclovio was born in McAllen, Texas and he earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Texas-Austin. He studied meteorology at Texas A&M. Maclovio was the chief weather guy at KENS/TV-San Antonio for four years in the late 1970s. Since 1997 he has been the weather anchor for KIII/TV-Corpus Christi. “I can honestly say I helped put a much larger distance between us and the competition.” Maclovio remembers some of the great people he worked with at Channel 2: Bill Stout, Ralph Story, Jonathon Rodgers, Steve Edwards and Van Gordon Sauter. He is now the weather forecaster for a Corpus Christi tv station. |
Perez, Nino: KCMG, 1999-2001; KMVN, 2008. Nino did weekends, Old Skool Friday Nights and fill-in shifts at Movin' 93.9/fm.
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PERKINS,
Elaine: KFWB, 2006-16; KNX, 2016-20. Elaine was a news anchor at all-News KFWB. She
is the winner of three Golden Mikes, four national Emmy nominations,
an RTNDA Award, as well as a Clarion Award from the Association of
Women in Communications. Elaine was born in New Jersey in 1950. As a kid she moved around a lot, mostly in the Midwest. Elaine graduated from Ohio State in 1973 with a degree in journalism. “I was told I should go into public relations because women didn’t really get offered broadcasting jobs, especially not in sports,” said Elaine. “I got interested in sports because my father was a sports fan. I think he was somewhat disappointed his one child was a girl. He never let on, if indeed he was disappointed, but he took me to all the sporting events that he would have taken his son to see.” Turns out Elaine loved sports. “When I decided to pursue it as a career as a broadcasting, my father was incredibly (and financially) supportive.” After graduation, Elaine was off to the Bay Area where she did some freelance writing for sports magazines. She came to the Southland to work for a small film production company, but when she was offered a tv job in Bakersfield, Elaine seized the opportunity. “That was in the 70s and I did EVERYTHING. I anchored sports, reported news, shot video, and edited. It was a great education. And after I got off my shift at the tv station, I drove to Buck Owens’ radio station and recorded sports commentaries for morning drive. It was a great learning experience.” She wanted more, so to accomplish that she needed to find bigger stations in bigger markets. She made a deal with her father to underwrite a trip across the country, where she would knock on doors of tv stations looking for a sports position. Elaine had contact names in Seattle and she started there. At the NBC affiliate, Elaine was offered a sports job at KING/tv. “It was one of the best stations in the country,” she remembered. “I was so excited and wanted to celebrate but didn’t know anyone in Seattle. So, I bought a six pack and a pizza and toasted with the clerk at the motel where I was staying.” “I stayed there six years, won a couple of Emmys, and made life-long friends.” |
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PERLICH, Martin:
KMET, 1972; KFAC, 1987-89; KKGO/KKJZ, 1989-91;
KUSC, 1996-97; KCSN, 2003-08. Martin was program/music
director at KCSN, the California State University, Northridge radio station,
until the spring of 2008. Born in 1937 in Cleveland, Martin's early work was in music. After studying with noted American composer Douglas Moore at Columbia University, he became at 24 the first intermission host of the internationally syndicated Cleveland Orchestra radio broadcasts. A pioneer in "experimental FM radio," Martin continued in the '60s and '70s with interviews for WMMS-Cleveland before arriving in the Southland. At "the Mighty Met" (KMET) he interviewed such luminaries of that turbulent period as Attica prisoners, Phil Ochs and Frank Zappa, with whom he had eight memorable encounters. He worked morning drive with newsman Leo Rosenberg. When contacted for Los Angeles Radio People, Martin said: "How did you ever find Leo Rosenberg's name? We worked together for a period of weeks, I think - his instant tune-out, week-long series on 'crib death' got him replaced by Ace Young, if memory serves." In 1975, he became co-producer of NBC/TV's The Midnight Special. Martin developed, produced and hosted many projects for PBS. He did a Sunday air shift at KFAC and hosted an interview show with top Classical artists. He had four production companies over the years. One of his three sons is actor Max Perlich, who appeared in Rush, Georgia and Beautiful Girls. In early 1996, Martin wrote, produced and directed interactive videos with Warner New Media. |
Perlich,
Miles: KKJZ, 2006-15. Miles hosted a weekend show at all-Jazz, KKJZ. He is
now producing podcasts and deejaying at events, parties and clubs.
Perrin,
Lloyd: KNX, 1972-76. Lloyd was one of L.A.'s "top mobile field reporters,"
according to LA Times radio columnist Don Page. He died
suddenly in the 1980s.
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PERRY,
Amber.
CBS Radio. Amber was voted the new SCBA Chairperson of the
General Sales Managers Council for Southern California Radio members in
2013.
“The General Sales Managers Council works closely with the SCBA
regarding sales training, revenue opportunities, and research and
advertiser recognition. We are excited to have Amber as the new
chairperson in this important advisory role,” said
Thom Callahan, president of
the SCBA. Perry is a 21-year sales and sales management veteran who said, “I am thrilled to be working more closely with the SCBA and with California business owners on the importance of a 360 degree marketing approach.” Much of her tenure in radio has been
with CBS. She began her career with the KLSX and
Howard Stern sales team before
becoming local sales manager at Arrow 93.1, where she helped see the
station through its format change to JACK/fm. She later moved to
management positions at KTWV and KRTH before taking on the gsm role at
KRTH.
Formed in 1994, the General Sales Managers Council is an active advisory
group consisting of SCBA member stations and their sales management
teams. |
Perry, Brandon: KXLU. Brandon was general manager at KXLU.
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PERRY,
David: KWST, 1975-76; KMET, 1976-82; KLOS,
1984; KHTZ, 1985; KMET, 1986-87;
KLSX, 1989-92. David became owner of several
stations in Santa Barbara and since has sold them. He did mornings
at KTYD-Santa Barbara until 2017. David became a giant at LARadio as a dj and programmer, spanning the years from the 1970s to the early 1990s. In 1993, David embarked on a journey hardly imaginable two decades earlier. David was born in New York and grew up in Seattle. His love for radio was born out of a passion for the music. "I just wanted to be near the music. That's what it was." In 1972 he joined John Detz at WABX-Detroit, one of the truly innovative stations on the launching pad of the "underground" radio movement. Two years later Detz, David and crosstown competitor from WRIF, Jim McKeon, left Detroit for sister Century station, KWST, 105.9 (now KPWR). "It was the day after Christmas in 1974; John, Jim and I got off the airplane in Los Angeles, saw sunshine and palm trees and I said, 'this is home.'" And it has been ever since. Somewhere along the way David read a story from the NAB that 35% of all radio jobs will disappear. He tucked that information away to prepare for the future. During the 1980s David programmed and jocked stations for Greater Media and Metromedia. He spent a moment or two at KSAN-San Francisco and KISW-Seattle. The first time he left KMET, newly hired consultant Lee Abrams fired him. "I skipped a card and played a song out of order." David was at KMET for the finale of "the Mighty Met" on February 6, 1987, when the classic "underground" dominant station of the '70s and early '80s abandoned AOR. |
Perry, Ed: KRLA, 1961; KDAY; KIEV, 1969-76; KIKF, 1990. Ed was working part-time at WW1's Soft AC format.
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(Matt Pinto, Nicholas Pagliochini, Liz Pennington and Brandi Parisi)
Perry, Jim: KNX, 1983. Unknown.
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PERRY, Les:
KCRW, 1967-69; KPPC, 1969; KDAY,
1970; KVFM, 1971-74; KIEV, 1972-81;
XPRS, 1973; KDAY, 1973; KROQ, 1973-74;
KRLA, 1975; KLVE, 1975; XPRS, 1978-81;
KRLA,
1983-84; KEZY, 1987-88; KWIZ, 1992-94;
KMAX, 1994-95; KLAC, 1999-2000;
KCSN,
2001-22. Les hosted a weekend show at KCSN, the California State
University, Northridge radio station, where he was operations manager until
the fall of 2022. Born in Los Angeles, Les grew up on the beach in Santa Monica and would sneak off campus to surf between classes at Samohi until he graduated in 1967. After school he was filing records at KFWB for Roger Christian, B.M.R. and Joe Yocam. He was influenced by the music and djs in the early rock era, especially Elliot Field, and in the quiet of his home "pretended" to be a jock of the 1950s. In a 1995 interview over lunch, Les enthused about radio and his decades in it: "To me, radio is a disease, it gets in the blood. You just can't get rid of it." At KPPC he played the Tom Donahue tapes that were being sent from San Francisco. During his almost decade at KIEV, he made the transitions from MOR to Country to Oldies. Simultaneously he recorded jock shows at Oldies-formatted XEMO and the "soul XPRS" in Rosarita Beach. During his off-air journeys he produced "Super Trax,” the Gary Owens syndicated show, for two years and specials for Wolfman Jack at Premiere Radio Networks. Les also served as a broadcast instructor at Los Angeles City College and Santa Monica City College. He has hosted "Surf Patrol Party" on a number of Southern California radio stations. He runs a series of surf band reunion shows featuring the Chantays, Surfaris and The Living Ones. (Photo: Perry with Bob Eubanks) |
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PERRY, Rachel: KLSX, 2006. Rachel was Adam Carolla's sidekick for the first three months of the KLSX Howard Stern replacement show. She left in April 2006. The Canadian host is seen on various reality tv shows and appeared on an episode of CSI: New York. She grew up in Brockville, a small town in Ontario, Canada and attended Toronto's York University. She began her television career as a VJ for the popular Canadian music channel, MUCHMUSIC, hosting various programs. Following her three-year stint with MUCHMUSIC, Perry provided interview segments with various hockey players for ESPN's Cool Shots, and later was hired by the Metro Channel in New York to work on its live music show, The Daily Beat. She next served as host of VH1's morning music show Jumpstart and VH1 News. Perry has also been a host for VH1's reality show Stripsearch, Top 20 Video Countdown, Maxim Hot 100, and contributed to various red carpet specials. Additionally, Perry hosts the syndicated radio show, Weekly Rewind, for VH1 and WESTWOOD ONE. Perry also has served as a New York correspondent for the daily entertainment news show EXTRA, and sideline host for NBC's Gravity Games and Pro Beach Volleyball Tour. Additionally, she can be seen in the independent movie Searching for Bobby D. |
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PERSON-LYNN, Isidra: KACE, 1986-95; KJLH, 2000-08. Isidra served as news/public affairs director at KACE (103.9/fm) and host of Sunday Morning Live. She is the Communications Specialist at Charles R. Drew University. |
Perun, Steve: KIIS, 1994-96. The former program director at KIIS runs a consulting business.
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PESCHIUTTA, Claudia:
KFWB,
2002-07; KNX, 2008-21; KPCC, 2021. Claudia
was a reporter for the all-News station,
KNX. In the fall of 2021, she moved to a management position at
KPCC. She got her start in journalism through print, according to a story in LosAngeleno.com. First at the Arcadia Weekly, then the L.A. Business Journal and the Glendale News-Press. Claudia earned a bachelor’s degree in English at UCLA without ever learning how to type. Thanks to a UCLA Extension class taught by an L.A. Times staffer, she not only learned how to type 50 words a minute, but she was also schooled in the fundamentals of journalism. “That extension class was great because they would do a mini news conference,” Peschiutta says. “The teacher would say, ‘OK, I’m the fire chief, here’s what happened.’ And he would take questions. Then, we would get like half an hour to write the story. And then he critiqued it, and it was perfect. As far as developing skills for radio, the Monterey Park native credits her time at UCLA for teaching her how to solve problems by herself. “The UCLA radio station was great,” she says. “It was just trial by fire. Go. Go. Go. Do it. You’d run into all these technical problems and you’d just have to MacGyver something, which was good preparation for real-world radio because so much of what we do is figuring it out. In radio, it’s just you and you’ve got so little time to prepare sometimes, you just have to find a way to make it work.” |
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PETERS, Arlen:
KNX, 1968-75. Arlen wrote and
directed for the CBS Radio Network and CBS Dimension shows. He wrote for the
Dimension Shows, Dear Abby, Betty White, Allen Ludden and
Ralph Story. Arlen died on May 24, 2021. Born in Los Angeles on March 13, 1950, he grew up in L.A. attending Audubon Jr. High, and Dorsey High “While at UCLA I put in for an usher per diem job at CBS and wound up getting a full time job in the mailroom at Columbia Square in early 1968.” Arlen moved up to doing FCC logs, and then was put into a production spot, which included a DGA position when he was 18. Within a year he was a WGA member writing a lot of the shows, including the Hollywood oriented programs. “I met Jerry Dunphy [wrote his IN HOLLYWOOD series] and he invited me to write and co-direct his tv series Jerry Dunphy Visits, which was my intro to tv work.” Arlen wrote many freelance newspaper and magazine pieces, along with a variety tv series for Bobby Goldsboro. Beginning in the late 1970s, he produced Electronic Press Kits for the movie studios. Ken Levine wrote about Arlen on his passing: "A nicer person you’ll never find. After being in lockdown for 60 weeks, one of the very first lunch appointments I made was with Arlen. He was a lovely guy. Always cheerful, always looking ahead with enthusiasm. For someone who hobnobbed with 'the stars,' he was incredibly down-to-earth. There was no pretense. No sense of entitlement. I think that’s why so many stars liked him and trusted him. In a town of phonies, someone genuine really stands out. And that was Arlen Peters." |
Peters, John: KKDJ, 1973-75; KEZY, 1976;
KUTE, 1979-82; KEZY, 1982-83. Last heard, John was working in
real estate.
Peters, Keith: KWVE, 1990-97; KKGO, 1994-99.
Keith did the Saturday shift at KKGO. His hobby is Lionel
trains.
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(P-Funk, Gil Perez, Todd Parker, and Miles Perlich)
Peterson,
Dale: KGBS, 1968. Dale is a former general manager at KGBS.
He has passed away.
Peterson, Gerry: KHJ,
1974-75. In late 2002, Gerry (Cagle) left Network Magazine Group after 10
years and is with Musicbiz.com.
Peterson, Gregg: KABC, 1966-68; KNX,
1978-82; KELT, 1999-2002. Gregg was the gm at "Lite
92.7" in Riverside.
Peterson, Jay: KWVE, 1999-2001. Jay is a school bus driver in San
Diego.
Petti, Ralph: KFI, 1972. The former general
manager at KFI is living in Oregon. He was general manager at KUGN. In the
mid-1970s, Ralph was the football voice for the Univeristy of Oregon.
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PEWTER,
Jim: KMET, 1970-73;
KRTH, 1973-75, pd;
KRLA, 1983-85, pd. A
native of In the Armed Forces in the 1960s, Jim became pd and all-night dj of the Munsan-Ni station of the Armed Forces Korea Network. Jim arrived in the Southland in 1959. "KFWB was the best sounding and most fun station that I had ever heard. The 'Seven Swingin' Gentlemen' will always be a memory in the soundtrack of my life," said Jim. He started as a singer and had a regional hit, then wrote songs for Gene Vincent, Jan and Dean, Dick Dale and Bobby Fuller.
In 1968 he formed Playground
Records. In the early '70s, KMET hired Jim on Sunday evenings to
play music of the '50s and '60s along with interviews with singers
from that era. Jim was a consultant for the live
Rock 'n
Roll Revival shows in |
During the 1970s he produced specials with Roger Christian and Dick Clark. They launched a syndicated special called The Beach Years, and other specials included The Legend of Buddy Holly and The Frankie Valli Story. Jim co-produced and co-hosted Dick Clark's 20 years of Rock 'n Roll which was syndicated on over 250 stations. He joined KRLA in August 1983 as pd. Jim stepped down as pd of KRLA in 1985 but continued with a weekend show. He produced his own roots albums which included Bo Diddley, John Lee Hooker and Little Walter. Jim continued on Armed Forces Radio with an oldies show he'd been doing since 1966. He acted as research consultant for Columbia Pictures’ La Bamba.
For three years beginning in 1988, Jim
hosted a morning radio show for FM Yokohama in
Peyton, Ray: KRLA, 1980-83; KKLA,
1994-95; KCAA, 2003-07.
In the early fall of 2007, Ray was convicted of five counts of sexual
assault with a minor. He was sentenced to 66 years to life. His case is in
the appeal process.
Pflug: Joanne: KMET, 1967. Joanne is the
former star of M*A*S*H.
Phelps, Brian: SEE Mark & Brian
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PHILBIN, Regis:
KABC, 1972. Best-known for his four decades in tv
(game show hosting and talk shows), Regis had a stint in radio at
KABC in 1972. He died July 25, 2020, at the age of 88. Born August 25, 1933, he was named after Regis High, a Catholic boy's school and his father's alma mater. A native of New York City, Regis graduated from the University of Notre Dame, where he earned a sociology degree in 1953. He later served in the Navy. Between 1970 and 1990, Regis hosted nearly a dozen talk and game shows and went through a series of co-hosts before clicking with Kathie Lee. He hosted the primetime blockbuster, Who Wants to Be A Millionaire. Regis has written two best-selling memoirs – I’m Only One Man! and Who Wants To Be Me? He launched a new line of shirts and ties by Phillips-Van Heusen, inspired by his look at on Who Wants to Be A Millionaire. Regis starred in the tv show Live! With Regis and Kelly. He left the show in 2011. |
Phil the Thrill: KKBT, 1994-97. Phil
Hernandez was part of the scene at "the Beat."
Phillips, Doc: KMET, 1985.
In
the late 1980s, Doc moved to Austin. He's the morning man for Smooth
Jazz 92.1/106.3, KQJZ/fm.
Phillips, Irving: KDAY, 1958-62.
Irving replaced Frank Crane as vice president and general
manager of KDAY in May 1958. Phillips had previously been general manager
at KYA in San Francisco. .
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PHILLIPS, John:
KBCA, 1978; KKJZ, 2006. John worked all-nights at the
KKJZ the all-Jazz station and he left in
the fall of 2006. In 2005, he was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of
Fame. John, a native of Nashville, is known for his style and taste in music. While serving in the United States Navy in Norfolk, he attended Tidewater Broadcasting School. After graduating, he landed his first radio job with WNOR 1230AM. After being transferred to Memphis, in 1984, he was employed by radio stations WKDJ Power 680AM and KRNB Magic 101FM. In October 1988, John arrived in San Diego where a year later, he founded Golden Voice Productions, a mobile DJ service. Since retiring from the Navy in February 1998 after 26 years, he went on to earn his Communications Degree in Radio and Television from San Diego City College. That same year, he started an 8-year stint at KSDS-San Diego. John keeps himself busy by teaching at different high schools throughout the San Diego Unified School District with the Junior Achievement Program. He was also honored by Junior Achievement as the Consultant of the Year for 2001. |
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PHILLIPS, John: KABC, 2007-23. John is the perfect employee. Give him any job in the radio station – any task – and he accepts it with gusto, excitement and relish. He’s virtually held down every time slot at KABC with a wide range of co-hosts. For a time he was the “Sports Princess” when Doug McIntyre hosted morning drive or even the pre-game show for the NFL Game of the Week a number of years ago. John’s a talk radio junkie who grew up in Southern California listening to KFI. He was teaching media at Sultana High School in Hesperia (in the Mojave Desert 15 miles north of San Bernardino), the same high school he attended, while going to graduate school at Claremont College. “I had applied to KABC mid-way through grad school to be a producer,” John said over Marie Callender’s Perfect Pie Trio yesterday. “The station passed on me and that was the last I heard from them.” And then without any warning, a year later, KABC apd Bernard Pendergrass called asking John to come back for another interview. “I go in and they hire me to be the producer for the Al Rantel Show. For four months I’m producing Al’s show, teaching school, and doing research for grad school. It was like 16 hour days for four months,” remembered John. “It was pure hell driving 75 miles each way five days a week and sometimes they asked me to come in on the weekends. I was in pure survival mode.” After a year with Rantel, management moved John to morning drive to produce Doug McIntyre’s show. As John was preparing for his first talk show assignment, he had so many positive influences. “Dan Avey and I would talk shop. Here’s a guy who had seen it all, with great stories to tell about his experiences. I learned more about the business of radio from Dan. He was in charge of Metro, big news anchor at KFWB, sports anchor, and he was part of a talk show with Ken Minyard and had really seen it all. It would be tough to find someone in the industry who has done as much as him. And he did it all in L.A. That was invaluable.” (Phillips is a frequent guest on the Sean Hannity Show) As a young broadcaster, John’s timing was perfect to learn it all and hone his craft. It was before the syndicated programming arrived at KABC and it was pre-infomercials on the weekends. “There were a lot of live bodies there, so I was at KABC at a very good time. I was able to train and work on the weekends. I don’t think you can do that now.” CNN hired John as a Contributor.On joining CNN, Phillips said: "I couldn't be more thrilled to be joining Jeff [Zucker] and the legendary CNN family. As part of the most trusted name in news, I'll continue to deliver honest, informed analysis - beholden to no specific campaign or party - and I'll blow through the candidates' scripted talking points, calling balls and strikes the whole way through. Not everyone in the CNN audience is going to agree with me, but that's okay... I'm a Republican from a deeply blue state with a wide variety of friends - so I'm used to it." Phillips will also continue to write political columns for the Orange County Register. |
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PHILLIPS, Marshall:
KMET; KLOS, 1972; KWST,
1978-80; KLSX, 1987. Marshall is at KZZO-Sacramento. In
2019, after serving for 14 years as the newsman for Armstrong &
Getty, Marshall announced his retirement. Marshall's long and successful broadcast career began in Los Angeles, where he worked for some of the most iconic radio stations on the West Coast, including: KMET, KLOS, KWST, KLSX. He also graced the airwaves in San Francisco (KSAN, KFOG, KKCY and KNBR) as well as in San Jose, Tucson, Portland, Seattle and Sacramento. Speculation about his future includes devoting his life to fitness, and his life-long goal of completing 10 pushups. |
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PHILLIPS, Mike: KRTH, 1990-2001. Mike retired from his pd slot at "K-Earth" in the fall of 2001. He passed away October 16, 2006, of pancreatic cancer, at the age of 64. Mike was a legendary personality and programming executive. He had much success as a program director for a number of stations in San Francisco plus K-EARTH in the Southland. Mike was one of the original 610 men at KFRC-San Francisco in 1966. “Mike had a great and wonderful career,” said “Big” Tom Parker. “He invented the format that eventually became Soft AC with KOIT. A very successful guy with many different formats. What he did with K-EARTH was nothing short of incredible. They were 14th when he took over and kept them in the Top 5 the whole time he was there.” "I thought Mike Phillips’ KRTH was one of the best radio stations I’d ever heard,” emailed consultant Bill Tanner. Mike started his broadcast career at KISN-Portland in 1960, then went to KJR-Seattle for three years beginning in 1962. His first pd'ship was KNBR-San Francisco in the mid-1960s. Mike did mornings at KFRC-San Francisco from 1966 to 1972 and then went to RKO sister station WXLO-New York. After a half decade as pd and air talent at KGW-Portland, Mike was in San Francisco during most of the 1980s. He worked at KYUU and was vp of programming for the NBC/FM division before moving on to K101, KFRC and KOIT.After a two-year stint at the Research Group in Seattle in 1987, Mike became vp of programming for WTMX-Chicago. His successful strategy at KRTH was to drop hundreds of songs from the play list, tighten up the format with consultant Bill Drake's help, and hire former "Boss" jocks Robert W. Morgan and The Real Don Steele. |
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PHILLIPS,
Sam: KLSX, 1999-2001 and 2004-09. Sam co-hosted the The Single Life Show
on KLSX, The FM Talk Station until a format flip to AMP RADIO on 2.20.09.
She is now a centerpiece on FMTalkLA.com. When she was interviewed in AllAccess.com. She was asked why radio? “You've done [and still do] a lot of tv, modeling, Penthouse, and acting, which are all visual. So, what drew you to a non-visual medium?” Sam: “Are you kidding? A job I don't have to bathe to do? And I don't have to put on make-up, or do my hair, or be concerned one iota about what I look like? You're talking my dream job! I have made my living off what I looked like for 30 plus years and there is no greater pleasure knowing people see the value of what I have to say and judge me on my smarts and how quick and funny I can be instead of how I look with my clothes off on film, at the ripe old age of 44. I cannot tell you how freeing and liberating and rewarding that is being stripped to your bare voice, way more than being stripped to your bare body, trust me.” |
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PHYLLIPZ,
Tazy: KCXX/KUCI, 1999-2001. Tazy created the Ska
Parade with Albino Brown. The show's goal was to promote
up-and-coming ska artists, as well as other types of new bands. Tazy was born in Philadelphia and he grew up in the Bay Area (specifically, Santa Rosa). "When I went to U.C. Irvine for college. On my second day at UCI, I came upon the college radio station, KUCI," Tazy recalled. "I am sitting in the lobby when a person comes out and asks, 'Do you mind reading copy?' Apparently the station’s news person flaked out that day. "I’m like 'okay.' So he puts the microphone with the copy in front of me. Literally that’s how I got into radio." Tazy always loved radio. His father bought cassette tapes of the old time radio shows (e.g.: The Jack Benny Show, Jack Armstrong, and Suspense, and played the shows for Tazy and his brother. "When I was a teenager, I quickly fell in love with listening to early Modern Rock radio in the Bay Area (e.g.: The Quake; and then KITS "Live 105"). |
Pichardo, Diego: KACD, 1996-97. Diego is an account services rep for Cox Communications in San Diego.
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PICKENS, Hal:
KFWB, 1965; KBLA, 1966-67;
KDAY, 1968-69.
Although his made-for-radio voice had
never uttered the thought outright, Hal always knew in his heart
that he was born to be an entertainer, according to his obit in the
Tulsa World. The nuns at school corrabated his belief. His
career aptitude test results had confirmed as much.
It wasn't until Pickens, as an Oklahoma
State University engineering student, filled in one night for an
absent disc jockey at the campus radio station that his future
course was set. Pickens felt right at home in front of a mike. And
with his natural charm and quick wit, he was soon on his way to
radio stardom. By the mid-1960s, the rising radio personality would find himself spinning the latest pop hits for millions of listeners, including work in the San Francisco Bay area, Los Angeles and New York City, winning wide acclaim in the process. For his work at Los Angeles's KFWB radio station in 1965, Pickens was named Billboard magazine's Air Personality of the Year. He would spend nearly 30 years in the industry. Pickens eventually moved back to Oklahoma and made his home in Tulsa, where he worked in local radio until retiring in the 1980s. Harold L. "Hal" Pickens Jr., worked for both Tulsa's KAKC and KWEN, died July 19, 2010 after a lengthy illness. He was 73. "He loved connecting with people," Barbara Pickens said of her husband. "And the spontaneity of radio really appealed to him." She first heard his voice over the airwaves when he was working in New York. "It wasn't real deep but it was perfect. He had a sexy voice and he knew how to use it," Barbara Pickens said with a laugh. Pickens, who also wrote music and built his own recording studio, would go on to produce and write songs for Jimmy Holiday, the r&b singer and songwriter. In 1964, he booked and emceed The Beatles' San Diego show during their famous first trip to the U.S. "He said The Beatles were just perfect gentlemen," his wife said. "He did the Rolling Stones not long after that. He said they were thugs." While emceeing a New Year's Eve show in Santa Clara, in 1971, Pickens was running up some stairs when they collapsed. He broke an ankle and shattered both knees. But he finished the show before seeking medical attention, his wife said. From face-to-face interviews with famous stars to skydiving and driving race cars for radio promotional stunts, Pickens loved every aspect of the business. She said: "Even in his last days, he was talking about how much he missed doing radio." |
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PICKETT, Bobby "Boris",
KRLA, 1964.
Bobby was one of those one-hit
wonders who was a good friend to LA Radio
People.
He died April 27, 2007, at the age of
69. Bobby’s career revolved around reviving Monster Mash around Halloween every year. The man behind the famous lyrics – “He did the monster mash. ... It was a graveyard smash” – is no more. Monster Mash hit the Billboard chart three times: when it debuted in 1962, reaching No. 1 the week before Halloween; again in August 1970, and for a third time in May 1973. "Bobby was a pal to many L.A. deejays in the past and was on KRLA with Emperor Bob Hudson for a short time," remembered Nancy Plum, at the time of his passing. |
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PIECH, Patti:
KCBS,
1998-2005; KFI, 2006-07. Patti worked the all-night shift
at “Arrow 93” and she was a newswoman at KFI. At KWIZ, she was Pat
Tyler. Patti also held music positions at "Pirate Radio" (KQLZ) and
'K-Lite." Patti was born on April 29 in Tooele, Utah, but was raised in Long Beach. “I went into radio because I liked music so much and wanted to travel.” Patti has played every kind of music and worked all over the country, including the windy city of Chicago. “Yes, my name is Polish and is pronounced ‘Pee-echhhhh’ [don't try this at home kids] and was Americanized to be pronounced ‘peach’ when my grandparents arrived in the U.S.” Since the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, Patti is trying to reinvent herself. "A friend from the past had drawn me back into radio last year, and I was about to launch an Internet station when Covid-19 forced a reevaluation for financing. I'm pondering giving it a go in 2021 on my own or going small scale with a podcast." Patti's been working on a book of radio and music stories on Wattpad. "I have an idea for sci fi book that has been rattling around in my head for years. When I have a weird thought to share, I usually do that on the Instagram for my dog Spikepiech," emailed Patti. |
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PIERCE,
Brad: Beginning in 1987, Brad spent many years at Westwood One's Oldies Channel.
In 2012, he was inducted into the Rhode Island Radio Hall of Fame.
Pierce began his broadcasting career in 1969 as host of his own
afternoon show on WARV-Warwick, Rhode Island while a junior at
Cranston High School West. Upon graduation in 1971, he morphed into
Shadow Morgan at WJAR. His work at Westwood One put him on over 100 stations across the county. |
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Pierce, David: KPPC, 1963-71. For many years David has been sales manager at Fox 15/TV in Lafayette.
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PIERCE, Paul "Panther":
KMPC,
1960-80; KRLA, 1980. Paul was the aerospace editor for KMPC
and a colorful traffic reporter for 20 years. He was famous
for his "odes" to the sunrise each morning as he
was driving from the "beach" and it was usually his
first traffic report. He won four individual Golden Mike
awards. Paul grew up in Detroit and was one of the original scriptwriters for "The Lone Ranger" series. Paul died March 11, 1998, at the age of 87. Former KMPC and KFWB newsman, Andy Park emailed to reminisce about Paul "Panther" Pierce: "A Gentleman...and a Gentle Man. His was a voice that painted pictures. From the ‘ether’ of morning drve-time radio in the 1960’s and the 1970’s in Los Angeles, hundreds of thousands of commuters paused in their stressful journey each morning as Paul 'Panther' Pierce described what he saw on his way from his Malibu home to the freeways he was assigned to "patrol." As a morning KMPC traffic reporter, Pierce did a job of his own choosing. He didn’t need the work; he just loved the sunrise. He kept the likes of Dick Whittinghill and Herb Green and ‘Captain’ Max Schumacher, and yes, Andy Park, speechless...in a business that is built on words. The Panther on the prowl at sunrise was a man with his hands on the wheel, his eyes toward the sky and his words ad-libbed from the heart. And his listeners knew it. He was the ‘Monet from Malibu,’ the Leading Man in the Theater of the Mind..he was just a one-of-a-kind in a world full of cookie-cutter ‘voices.’ When the ‘Panther’ painted his word pictures, poetry melded with vision. The rush to battle in the world of commerce seemed, somehow, just a little more bearable. He was a private man. Few knew his immense joy in his beloved Mary. When she sang in the choir of their Episcopal Church, Paul believed she was the star and he, just a stand-in. If you never heard Paul ‘Panther’ Pierce describe the Southern California sunrise, I’m sorry. It’s too late now. You can’t read it. You can’t hear a tape of it, out of context. You had to be there. You had to experience it. You had to feel it and be enveloped by the rush and warmth of the emotion a truly sensitive and gentle human being can produce. Those millions of us who heard him...will never forget it. Take a ‘direct’ route, Paul. Do not pass ‘Go.’ Do not wander. Do not stray. Your KMPC Day Cruiser Two is on a straight course home. So long. It was good to know you." |
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PIERRE, "Lucky": KHJ, 1961-63; KGFJ, 1968-74; KUTE, 1974-84; KACD, 1996-98. When Rick Thomas heard that Lucky Pierre died, he said it was like someone punched him in the gut. He died August 12, 2019. Born Pierre Gonneau, Lucky was born in Chatellerault, France. He came to the United States to attend Ithaca College of Theatre Arts when he was 17 years old. His first love was acting. “Even though I got started in radio, I always had it in the back of my mind that I would end up acting,” he said when interviewed for Los Angeles Radio People. Lucky spent seven years in Buffalo radio beginning in 1954 on WWOL, WHLD, WEBR and WBNY. Beginning in 1955, he hosted a weekly show for two years on the Mutual Radio Network from WOR-New York. During his first visit to Los Angeles and two years at KHJ, Lucky hosted an afternoon children’s program on KHJ/Channel 9. He drew cartoons and even gave the youngsters French lessons. “We didn’t do very well because we were up against Soupy Sales on KABC/Channel 7, Tom Hatten and Popeye on KTLA/Channel 5 and Sheriff John on KTTV/Channel 11. But while hosting movies on the weekends, I had the thrill of a lifetime when I interviewed Maurice Chevalier who was appearing at the Greek Theatre. He was 80 years old and I was the only one who got to interview him. I must have run that interview 20 times,” he laughed. |
| Lucky got his nickname from some college kids at Ithaca
after seeing him in a production of the play
New Faces
of 1952. Robert Clary sang about Lucky Pierre – the man
of the hour, the man of the year – and Ithaca College’s
Pierre became “Lucky” and it stuck.
In 1963, he went to WFEC-Harrisburg for five years, returning to the Southland as music director of KGFJ in 1968. At KUTE he started as md, then by the time he left was pd during “the Quiet Storm” format. The station exploded in the late 1970s when KUTE was the only Disco station in the market. Lucky left radio in 1984 and concentrated on acting full-time and appeared on Cheers, The Golden Girls and the 200th episode of Married…With Children. He said of his Married appearance: “More people saw me than anything I’ve done in the past decade. Amazing!” Lucky was big with the Hispanic community from his Disco days at KUTE. Many weekends he appeared at local dance nightclubs and hosted special party nights. He also hosted a Sunday evening show on “Groove Radio” (KACD). Lucky was 85 years old. |
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PIERSAL, Jim: KABC, 1965. KABC was in the second season of experimenting with "SportsTalk" and the author of Fear Strikes Out and a major league baseball player co-hosted the program during the off-season in 1965. He died June 3, 2017, after a months-long illness. He was 87. Piersall spent eight of his 17 major league seasons with the Red Sox (1950, '52-58). The two-time Gold Glove Award winner appeared in 931 games for Boston, primarily as a center fielder alongside fellow Red Sox Hall of Famers Jackie Jensen and Ted Williams. He was named an All-Star in 1954 and 1956.Elected to the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2010, Piersall still holds the club record for most hits in a nine-inning game, as he went 6-for-6 in the first game of a doubleheader against the St. Louis Browns on June 10, 1953. Following his time with the Red Sox, Piersall played for the Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators, New York Mets, and Los Angeles/California Angels. His lifetime career batting average was .272. He was regarded as one of the best defensive players of his era, even ahead of several Hall of Famers including Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays. Piersall suffered a nervous breakdown in 1952 and courageously battled mental health illness throughout his career. His autobiography, Fear Strikes Out, was published in 1955 and made into a movie in 1957, advancing awareness of mental health issues. Piersall's on-field antics when he first broke into the majors with the Red Sox full-time in 1952 cracked up fans and provided fodder for newspaper columnists. In one game against the St. Louis Browns, he made pig noises and mocked the odd throwing motion of aging Hall of Fame pitcher Satchel Paige. But Piersall also had furious arguments with umpires, broke down sobbing one day when told he wouldn't play and got into a fistfight with the New York Yankees' Billy Martin at Fenway Park, followed minutes later by a scuffle with a teammate. "Almost everybody except the umpires and the Red Sox thought I was a riot," Piersall said in the 1955 autobiography, later made into a movie starring Anthony Perkins and Karl Malden. "My wife knew I was sick, yet she was helpless to stop my mad rush towards a mental collapse. The Red Sox couldn't figure out how to handle me. I was a problem child." He played 56 games in the majors before being admitted to a mental hospital with what was later diagnosed as bipolar disorder. He wrote in his book that he had almost no memory of the season or his time in the hospital. He returned to the majors in 1953 "sound and healthy" thanks to "shock treatments, faith, a wonderful wife, a fine doctor and loyal friends." He went public to shatter society's stereotypes of the mentally ill. "I want the world to know that people like me who have returned from the half-world of mental oblivion are not forever contaminated," he wrote. Piersall distanced himself from the 1957 movie, claiming it was largely fictional and portrayed his father too negatively. Although he never descended to the depths of mental illness of that first season, he embraced the notoriety it brought him and remained a loose cannon known for his crowd-pleasing stunts and mercurial temper. Born on November 14, 1929 in Waterbury, Connecticut, Piersall grew up a Red Sox fan. He signed with the Red Sox at age 18. |
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(Ray Peyton, Mary Price, and Rodney Peete)
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PIETRO,
Don: KOST 1977. Born Don Pietromonaco, he was known
at Johnny Rabbit during his best days at KXOK-St. Louis and
KRIZ-Phoenix. He grew up in L.A. and appeared as Little Beaver on
radio's Red Ryder. His acting career included An Affair
to Remember. In the film, he delivered a telegram to Cary
Grant. For over two decades, Don coached a voiceover workshop. He also worked at KAFY-Bakersfield. He died of emphysema in April 1997 at the age of 61. |
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PIGG, Tony:
KPPC, 1972. Out of Sacramento, for many years, Tony was the announcer on Live With Regis & Kelly
and then to Kelly and Michael. Anyone who grew up listening to WPLJ-New York back in the ‘70s will undoubtedly recognize him (or recognize his voice, anyway). If you need a refresher, check out this recording of one of his airchecks from back in the day. After becoming the announcer for Live, Tony continued enjoying his status as a household name. Ryan Seacrest took over Tony’s announcing duties, explaining that Tony had been under the weather. |
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PILAT,
Julie: KYSR, 2010-13. Julie was program director at
KYSR (98-7) and apd/md at KIIS for many years. In the summer of
2013, she joined Jimmy Iovine's music subscription service, the
BEATS, now owned by Apple Music. Julie has an extensive radio career that spans over a couple of decades. A Seattle native, she worked at KUBE while also programming college radio station KGRG in the height of the Seattle rock era. Later in Arizona, Pilat worked at a rock and a rhythm station at the same time (KKFR & KEDJ). From 1998 through 2002 she returned to Seattle as the apd/md/midday air talent at KUBE, before making the move to Los Angeles and KIIS/fm in November of 2002. |
Pina,
Jaime: XETRA, 2006. Jaime was with XETRA.
Pinckney, John: KLON, 1981-85. John is a
loan officer in Victorville and works morning drive at a
local station.
Pinedo, Ruth: KLOS, 1973-85. The former md
at KLOS is now living in
Washington, DC.
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PINES,
Sam: KSPN, 2022-23. Sam is a partner and vp of sales
for Good Karma Brands. When the company purchased KSPN, Sam was
appointed market manager. Sam came from Cleveland where he ran the ESPN affiliate. Interviewed in Crain's Cleveland Business magazine, Sam said: “To us, and to ESPN, it was a no-brainer — we wanted to be in Cleveland." Since then, the station and business have taken off. Not only is it one of the top sports radio stations in town, but it does more events than there are days in the year. From remotes at car dealerships to events at live games, Pines and his partners and staff will have held 435 events by the end of this year, assuming they don’t schedule a few more. Pines says he’s living the dream. Friends thought he was nuts when he left a good job at the accounting firm Arthur Andersen, for which he’d gotten a degree in accounting and became a CPA, to go with a risky startup. “I always tell people, I left to be with the more stable company,” Pines jokes. Pines’ is well known around the office for his sense of humor and dry wit, says his partner and fellow vice president Keith Williams. “He’s one of the best listeners you’ll ever encounter, he’s level headed and he really cares. And he’s solution oriented.” The two met in college, were roommates for a bit after school and then went into business together in Madison, Wisconsin. |
 |
PINFIELD,
Matt: KLOS, 2021-23. In early 2021 started a new weekend show on KLOS called
New and Approved. Pinfield is an American music personality, tv
host and radio dj, best known as a video deejay on MTV and VH1. Pinfield
also worked as Vice President of A&R and Artist Development for Columbia
Records. In the spring of 2022, Matt was recognized as "International Rock
Icon of the Year" at the Global Rock Summit 2022. Born on May 28, 1961, Matt started in the early 1980s, working as both a radio and club DJ in the New Jersey Alternative rock scene. In 2020, Matt revealed to Rolling Stone magazine a lifelong challenge dealing with drug and alcohol addictions. He wrote: "The coronavirus quarantine has had a crippling effect on the community and routines they have cultivated, from the shutdown of in-person 12-step programs to the inability to secure medications to the overall mental strain of isolation." Matt also talked about being hit by a car in late 2018 - a near-fatal accident that left him unable to walk for months. |
 |
PING, Brian: KNX, 2011-23. Brian joined the KNX staff as a news anchor in April 2011 after three years at KDWN-Las Vegas. Before that, he was the morning anchor for WROK-Rockford, Illinois and news director for KRMS-Osage Beach, Missouri. He has also worked for KTRS in his original hometown of St. Louis and has written for the St. Louis Business Journal. Brian became a fan of news radio at an early age, listening to his beloved Cardinals as a child on summer evenings, and the news broadcasts that would follow. His love of current affairs and history would carry him to a degree in Political Science from the University of Missouri. He has also received professional training at St. Louis’s renowned Broadcast Center. |
Brian has family roots in Southern California. His grandfather worked as a recruiter for the Howard Hughes Corporation and raised his family in Torrance. Brian’s grandmother still lives in a house near La Jolla’s Windansea Beach that’s been in the family since the early 20th century. The Midwestern kid fell in love with the ocean and the California lifestyle during his visits growing up, and dreamed of some day living there.
Brian spent a year working as a deckhand on board the Yorktown Clipper, a small cruise ship that sailed Alaska, Baja California, Costa Rica, the Panama Canal and the Caribbean. He maintains a boundless love of travel and exploring new places.
An avid runner who has competed in several half-marathons, Brian can usually be found running along the streets near his home in Culver City. He also enjoys hiking, swimming, boating, softball, biking to the beach, and enjoying all of the culture, cuisine and other attractions that Los Angeles has to offer.
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PINSKY, Dr. Drew:
KROQ,
1984-2016; KGIL, 2007-08; KABC, 2015-19. Dr. Drew hosted "Loveline" with
Psycho Mike Catherwood at KROQ. In early 2015, the pair hosted a midday show
at KABC until 2017. Dr. Drew went on to host the midday show with Lauren
Sivan until early 2019, when Leeann Tweeden joined him. In a severe downsizing, KABC dropped most all local live programming in late 2019. |
Pinto, Matt: KFOX,
1983-84; KTLK, 2005-07. Matt was the play-by-play voice of the NBA LA
Clippers. He is now the radio voice for the Oklahoma City Thunder, the
flagship station for the Thunder Radio Network.
Piolin, KSCA,
2003-13. SEE
Eddie ‘Piolin’ Sotelo
Piombino, Rich: KMET,
1983-86; Westwood One, 1986-87. Rich is CIO of RBPInc., which is a concert
promotion and event production company. He's based in Atlanta.
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PIOTROWSKI, Casey:
KORG, 1979;
KWRM,
1980-81; KFOX, 1981;
KWIZ, 1981-88. Casey is a Beatles expert and hosts The
Beatles Show at WPMD.org. Casey has taught at Fullerton College and Cerritos College. He has appeared on and written for network television, worked on a number of films, has appeared in national and international commercials, has written and directed a pilot for cable TV, has voiced award winning national commercials, been nominated by Billboard for Air Personality of the Year in two different categories, hosts his own national radio series, and has written five books. Casey has a lifetime's worth of work on the stage and in front of the camera and the microphone and many years as an instructor as well. |
 |
PLASCHKE,
Bill: KFWB, 2015-16. Bill has written for the
LA Times since 1987 and
has been the Associated Press National Sports Columnist of the Year five
times. He is a regular panelist on ESPN's
Around the Horn talk show
and has written five books. Plaschke also has had roles on the HBO series
Luck as well as in the movie
Ali.
He started doing morning drive at The Beast, KFWB, in October 2015. The show ended in mid-February 2016 due to the sale of KFWB. In the sumer of 2020, Bill tested positive for Covid-19. |
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PLATT,
Jane: KMET, 1977-78; KABC, 1978-79;
KLOS, 1979-80; KRLA, 1981-85, West Coast
Correspondent for ABC Radio Network (with some reporting for the ABC-TV
Network NewsOne affiliate feed), 1986-94. Jane is currently News Chief for
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, and does podcasts.
Born in Flushing, New York, Jane grew up in New Jersey and Los Angeles. She graduated from California State University Northridge. When Jane left her news directorship at KRLA, she was a network correspondent for ABC radio news and the tv network’s NewsOne. She spent nearly 9 years as West Coast correspondent, covering the Rodney King trials, riots, fires, floods, and the Academy Awards. Jane is the winner of numerous awards, including the highly coveted AP Mark Twain Trophy for Best Newswriting and the Greater L.A. Press Club Award for Best Entertainment Reporting. |
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PLUM, Nancy:
KYMS, 1973-74; KGBS/KTNQ,
1976-79; KHTZ, 1979; KMPC, 1979-80;
KFAC, 1984; KFI, 1984-88; KLAC, 1988-91;
KRTH, 1991-92; KYSR, 1992-93;
KFWB, 1993; KRLA, 1994; KLSX, 1997;
KFWB,
2000-04. Nancy is semi-retired and lives in Lexington, Kentucky. She does
fill-in news and traffic for the Cumulus stations in Lexington. In the
spring of 2019 she published her memoirs, Do Not Air. Nancy was born Nancy Hurst in New York City and grew up in Miami and San Francisco. Her radio career started in the Windy City at an all-female air personality station, WSDM, in the late 1960s. After her Southland start in Santa Ana, she moved to KAFY-Bakersfield for the evening shift and was the first female jock on the legendary Rock station. When she returned to the Southland in 1976, she worked the overnight shift at "the new Ten-Q." In 1980 she became a promotion executive at Universal Pictures. Nancy was one of the recognizable female voices in Southern California radio long before female djs became acceptable. She was a three-decade pioneer and survivor of the Los Angeles radio wars. "When I started out I'd do anything just to get my foot in the door. At KYMS in Santa Ana, I typed the traffic logs everyday and then got one Sunday morning shift. I even had to clean the bathrooms and the gm made the staff help paint the place. It was a terrible job. When I worked at KDAY I was made to glue scrap paper together for scratch pads. I swear I've had some terrible jobs in radio. So finally in 1974 I got a real job at KAFY-Bakersfield where all I had to do was come in at night and be a disc jockey. I learned how to be a jock at that station. The pd taught me how to be a top 40 jock. He spent hours on the phone with me during my shift making sure I knew how to dump a tune and talk over the bridge up to the vocal etc. I don't think I would've gotten to L.A. if it wasn't for his help." |
Plunkett, Jim: KFI, 1991-94. Jim lives in Atherton in the Bay Area and owns a beer distributorship in Stockton. The former Raider QB is involved in some broadcasting in the Bay area.
Poetess:
KKBT, 1994-2006. Felicia Morris, AKA the Poetess worked at "the Beat." She
went on to be a producer and co-host on 'The Foxxhole,' Jamie Foxx's network on
Sirius/AM.
Pohlman,
Tim: KTWV, 1992-2003. Tim is running the CBS cluster of radio stations in
Chicago. Prior to his appointment in early 2016, for six years he ran the
CBS cluster in Phoenix.
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POLAK, Frank:
KMPC, 1978-80; KLAC,
1980-2009. Frank was a long-time producer of Lakers
Basketball. In the summer of 1999 he was appointed Executive
Sports Producer, overseeing the Lakers and Anaheim Angels
baseball. He died in February 6, 2016 of an apparent heart attack. He was
62. Frank was with the Lakers broadcast operation longer than anyone else at KLAC. In 1980, he left KMPC’s Sports Wire (remember the infamous Webster 8-3000 number for scores?) to produce the Laker broadcasts. “I wasn’t planning on staying very long,” remembered Frank, as we talked on the phone in 2006. “I was going to build up some money and get out of town – and that was 27 years ago.” As the producer he was in the control booth directing everything connected with the broadcast – the announcers, commercials, and timing. He was the traffic cop who directed all elements of the radio broadcast. “My first night was the Lakers first game in Dallas,” remembered Frank, “and it was the same night the old KHJ went Country. After the game, we went into a production room at the old Metromedia Square building that had an AM tuner and listened to the format change at nine o’clock. KHJ segued out of Rock and went into Country. The last song was Mac Davis, Rock And Roll [I Gave You The Best Years Of My Life]. I think the first song might have been Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys by Willie and Waylon.” (Frank was an avid fisherman) |
When Frank started as Lakers producer in the 1980-81 season, the pre- and post-game shows were televised with Chick Hearn and Keith Erickson. They would sit there with a simple two-shot or they did a stand-up. After the game they did a two-shot from the broadcast table and that was it. But by Frank’s second season, KLAC started Laker Line on Sunday nights only. “When there was no game, Chick would come in and do six to seven o’clock. Even with our Country format and our auto race coverage, we got just as many calls when he came in and did the show in studio as when we did the game.” Having Laker Line once a week was a small step for KLAC, since the call-in show affected the station’s revenue. At the time, the station would get two and three Arbitron shares, still one of the top stations in the market. But by the start of the 1982 season, the decision was made to broadcast Laker Line before every home game. It was a big success. “There’s always trepidation when radio stations make programming changes that affect revenue. Will it work? Will people respond? They did.
The Lakers were doing very well as they were defending champions,” remembered Frank. When Frank started at KLAC, the Country station was going through a number of transitions. Bill Ward, the popular general manager, had been promoted to president of Metromedia. The veteran morning man, Dick Haynes (at the Reins), had fallen ill. Replacing Ward as general manager was Don Kelly, who came in from WIP-Philadelphia. “Dick Haynes died the Thanksgiving weekend of the year I got there. Kelly had to deal with a funeral and for someone he really didn’t even know,” remembered Polak. “Haynes had been off the air for several months.”
“In 1983, Kelly retired and they brought in a guy who worked at about 25 radio stations and has worked at about 30 more since – Al Brady Law. Before Kelly left he fired Don Langford as pd and brought in Charlie Cook, who had been running KHJ. Charlie lasted about a year and a half and then Phil Hall came in as pd and a sales guy, Chris Beck, from Denver where they all had been working.”
Frank has high praise for Laker broadcasting icon, Chick Hearn. “He was the ultimate pro, even to the end. Chick was the easiest guy to work with because there was never an issue about anything he did in terms of his job. If I asked him to come in and cut commercials and I said I needed you at eleven o’clock, I would come in at 10:30 and he would already be in the lobby going over copy and getting ready. To his last days, he was still the hardest working guy on the crew. Given his condition, that’s saying something. This guy never mailed in a show and there were a couple of times when we thought he wasn’t going to make it. One time in San Antonio, I’m guessing he had food poisoning. Susan Stratton (producer/director of KCAL 9 Laker broadcasts) saw him sitting in the stands by the press table before a game and he didn’t look good. She thought he might be having a heart attack. Turned out it was something he ate. He disappeared for an hour and a half. They couldn’t find him and she was worried he was passed out somewhere. A half hour before the show, he comes out wearing a $500 suit with the pocket square, picks up the mic like nothing happened.” Chick had laryngitis a couple of times and had to abandon his play call at half time. “He never mailed it in," said Frank. "He put his butt on the line every night. I’ve worked with temperamental people who will double cross you, as quickly as looking at you. He never once said he was going to do something and then failed to do it. If he said we’re going to record the pre-game show at four, you better be in studio with tape going because he was sitting there ready to go. I love a guy like that because you can always count on him – that to me is a pro. He was always ready. He made my job really easy.”
Chick favored radio. “He always had a soft spot for radio – more so than
television, which rankled the tv people more than a little,” said Frank.
Stu Lantz was Chick’s broadcast partner for 15 seasons. Did
Stu ever want to be top banana? “Stu is very comfortable doing what he does.
I never, ever, got the feeling that he wanted to take over the #1 chair. A
couple of times when Stu filled in for Chick, I think he realized this isn’t
something you learn overnight.” After Chick died, Paul Sunderland
and Joel Myers came in for a season of radio broadcasting.
Frank had high marks for the current play-by-play Lakers announcer, Spero
Dedes. “He is a rare talent. Every once in a while colorman Mychal Thompson
gets tied up in a conversation during the game and starts doing play-by-play
and if it isn’t just one guy shooting a jump shot, Mychal kinda gets his
feet tangled up. And Spero jumps in and you hear how smooth and easy it is
for a guy who does that full-time. Spero is not only an extremely capable
broadcaster and very, very talented, but he’s polite, professional, and he’s
just enjoying being here and I sure hope we don’t lose him.” When you think
of the 30-year broadcast history between the Lakers and KLAC, you can’t do
it without thinking of Chick Hearn. The two are so intertwined even though
Chick died in 2002 at the age of 85. “Even when you know it’s coming, it
still hurts,” said Frank. “It hit me like a ton of bricks because I worked
every game with him for 22 seasons - I mean every minute of every game. We
never so much as had a cup of coffee together. We never went anywhere. We
never did anything. We never sat down to have lunch, but we just did every
game.”
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POLAND, David: KABC, 1999-2001. David left KABC in early 2001. He is creator, co-publisher, and editor-in-chief of Movie City News, a leading film news aggregation and original content site. As a critic and industry analyst, he has been writing in depth about film for over a decade, currently on The Hot Blog, which evolved out of a decade-long run of his daily column, The Hot Button. Poland also produces and presents over 150 episodes of DP/30 each year. The 30-minute interview program, which runs exclusively on the web, features actors, directors, writers, and other filmmaking talent. |
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POLAND, Kay:
KYMS, 1988-92; KEZY, 1996-97;
KWVE, 1999-2004. Kay was program/music director at KWVE.
"I spent many years at KWVE, eventually becoming operations
manager," said Kay. "After about 10 years, I really felt the Lord
telling me that my time there was drawing to a close and soon, they
offered me the opportunity to move to north Idaho (where my family
lives) to start a radio station for Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. It
didn’t take a lot of arm twisting. (Okay, there wasn’t any twisting
at all.) She used the name Kay Lane prior to KWVE. Kay spent four years at KYMS and worked as evening air talent, nd, director of community and church relations. After a brief stint in Colorado radio, Kay returned to Orange County as a weekend jock on KEZY. Born May 4, 1966, in La Mirada. She grew up in Brea and earned an Associate's degree in music from Fullerton College and a bachelor's in communication in radio/tv/film from Cal State Fullerton. "I was first lured into taking radio classes by Jim Bain at Fullerton College. I had to pass by the radio station on my way to the music department. Jim would say, 'Hey Kay, you're going to be in radio.' My response was 'Nah, Jim, I'm going to be on Broadway!' I never made it to Broadway. I took a few classes and I was hooked on radio." |
How the heck did he choose the news as a career path? “I selected a radio news career, after I decided getting a pre-law, political science degree didn’t make me a political scientist. A public speaking professor at then-Glendale College urged me to find a job where I would use my voice, which she apparently liked. I considered law school, but couldn’t imagine attending 4-to-6-more years of classes, and working full time at something, to pay the bills, after graduating from Cal State-Los Angeles. Being a curious guy, I figured, getting paid to ask people questions, on almost any topic, seemed almost like getting a grad school education, with a salary attached. Too good to pass up!”
Bill began his radio career in non-commercial
radio in Los Angeles while doing his graduate work at USC. He was an unpaid
intern covering the Patty Hearst kidnapping for KPFK.
Bill graduated in 1972 from Cal State Los
Angeles with a B.A. in political science and completed his M.A. in
journalism in 1974 at USC. He joined KFWB News 980 to become afternoon news
anchor after working at CBS sister station KNX for several years, as their
afternoon business reporter.
Born and raised in Glendale, he said it was a
real kick to come back to the L.A. area, after touring America for 25 years
in the radio business to see how much things had changed.
“Growing up, it was black & white tv
newscasts on CBS, with Douglas Edwards, Eric Severeid, and those new kids
Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, Bruce Morton, Roger Mudd, Dallas Townsend, et
al.,” said Polish when asked about his early influences in the radio/tv
business. “In Los Angeles radio at the time, oddly didn’t develop any radio
news idols. But (I) loved Lohman & Barkley, Dick Whittinghill,
Sweet Dick Whittington, B.Mitchel Reed, and‘Emperor’
Bob Hudson.
“A friend on the Glendale Board of Education
introduced me to the publisher of the Glendale News Press, so I could
talk with him about a news career. I also met Jess Marlow of KNBC through
the same friend and wrote LA Times columnist Jack Smith for advice,”
Polish remembered.
“Sleep when its dark, wake up when its light,
stand up and walk around when I feel like it, not just during the 5-minute
CBS Radio Hourly Newscast,” said Polish when asked about his retirement
plans. “I will eat dinner with friends in the evening, go to a movie,
concert, stage play, Hollywood Bowl performance, Greek Theatre events, the
Getty Museum(s), Disney Hall, Geffen, Griffith Observatory, etc.”
A friend told Bill that he no longer has to
cram all his chores into Saturday and Sunday, since now everyday will feel
like Saturday. "Not many friends took me up on my offer to buy them drinks
and dinner after midnight. I’m going to take car trips, get back into bike
riding and photography. I want to get back to Hawaii, and all the islands.
No real ‘Bucket List.’ Just breathe it all in, from all directions.”
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Polk, David: KRKD, 1965; XPRS, 1973.
Unknown.
Pollack, Frank: KDAY, 1958; KRLA, 1959-60. Frank
worked at KDAY and KRLA in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He
died from complications of Alzheimer's disease on October 24,
1999. Frank worked in Phoenix in the early '50s, having
started his radio career in Ohio, and he worked for KXIV
until leaving for KDAY. He went on to be one of the original
"11-10 Men" at KRLA when the station went rock and
roll. Frank returned to Phoenix in 1960 to work for KUPD and
stayed there for three years. He then returned to KXIV where
he stayed until 1984 when owner Ira Lavin sold the station. A
one-time member of Woody Herman's band, Frank was an avid
golfer and a collector of big band records. He owned
"hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands" of 78s,
according to longtime friend and former boss Lavin. "He
had a marvelous voice. He loved big band music. Frank was a
good golfer. Used to lie about his handicap - a lovable old
scoundrel." He was 80.
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POMERANCE, Brad:
KPCC,
1998-2007. Brad
served as the entertainment correspondent at KPCC for almost a
decade and went on to co-host Day Break OC on KDOC/tv until the fall of 2008.
The USC graduate with a bachelor's degree in International Relations and a law degree from George Washington University Law School, Brad currently serves as the host of Air Land & Sea, broadcasting weekly on the national cable network JLTV. As host of this global travel series, Brad has traveled to Barbados, the Czech Republic, Germany, Israel, Jamaica, Poland, Spain, Switzerland and Taiwan. He also serves as the host of JLTV’s weekly news magazine, The J Report with Brad Pomerance. Brad is also hosting Uncovered in the Archives, a historically driven television show that Brad developed for PBS-affiliate KVCR in Southern California. This program, which premiered in November 2018. He recently concluded a long run as host of Charter Local Edition, which was broadcast daily on the California Channel. In this capacity, Brad interviewed elected officials at all levels of government. Previously, Brad hosted HLN’s Local Edition in Los Angeles and reported for LA City View Channel 35’s news magazine LA This Week. Brad has been nominated for three Los Angeles-area Emmys. |
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POND, Bob:
KGBS, 1968; KPPC, 1972-73; KPOL,
1973-75; KABC, 1984. Bob became a
real estate broker selling in Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley. Born in 1937, Bob arrived in the Southland after functioning as pd of KRDS-Phoenix. He worked at KPPC (started as a relief jock) as Bobby McGee and Bob McGee and KPOL. “I started as a rock jock in 1957, while going to Arizona State at KPHO-Phoenix [now KFYI], KRIZ, Bartell's KRUX, and KUPD under pd Frank Pollack [former jock at KDAY]. "Upon getting a marketing degree in 1963, I headed for Tinsel Town to get into advertising and ended up on morning drive at KPRO in Riverside, under pd Ralph Lawler [former basketball play-by-play on tv]. In nearby San Bernardino, Bill Watson was programming KMEN until he went to program KHJ with Bill Drake in 1964. In October 1968, I returned to Phoenix as om at KRDS, a 250 watter at 1190, against Buck Owen's 50,000 watt KTUF AM & FM. We went from #32 to #5 and were #1 Country with a faux-Drake format. I returned to L.A. in 1972 and again worked with Ron Erwin at KPPC as a jock, under Bernie Alan [KCET/TV], until they changed to KROQ. I then worked at Capital City's KPOL AM/FM until 1976. The fm became Country KZLA and the AM eventually went foreign language. After twenty years of being a radio bum, I got a real estate license and have been selling houses in the San Fernando Valley ever since. That was a career move I have often regretted. I was a vacation-relief engineer at KRTH in 1981 and KABC in 1984 and still try to keep abreast of my first love - radio.” |
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PONTE,
Lowell: KUSC, 1968-70. A native of Redlands, Lowell is the author of
numerous books, a Pentagon think-tank consultant, correspondent,
commentator, and now host of Radio Right.
The Ph.D. is a former think tank futurist and one of the world's most widely quoted experts on global climate change. Lowell was hailed as "the world's most widely read investigative science reporter" when he worked at Reader's Digest Magazine. He is now a contributing editor and columnist for NewsMax Magazine and NewsMax.com. Lowell lectures widely and has been a guest on the Today Show, David Letterman, and Good Morning America. |
Poole, Gary: KQLZ, 1992-93; KLOS, 1995. Gary works at IDJMG and manages a band called "Among Thieves."
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POOLE, John
H.: KBIG. John, founder of radio stations KBIG-AM
and FM, LA television Channel 22, and Mount Palomar Winery in
Temecula, died December 25, 2003, after a short illness. He was 86.
Poole, whose life spanned careers from tuna fisherman, merchant seaman, and shipboard radio operator to radio and television station founder and winery owner, was considered a groundbreaking innovator. KBIG-AM, which Poole located on Catalina Island in 1952, beamed an unfettered signal to Southern California radio listeners, including live broadcasts from the S.S. Catalina, the “Great White Steamer.” Born in Detroit in 1917, the son of Col. John Hudson Poole and Caroline Boeing, sister of Boeing Aircraft founder William Boeing, Poole began his commercial broadcasting career at the age of 16 when he ran live radio broadcasts of evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson. Following certification as a radio engineer at the RCA Institute in Chicago, Poole became a radio operator, navigator, and fisherman on San Diego and San Pedro based tuna clippers, fishing of the Central American and South American coasts. Later, he was a Merchant Marine radio operator and navigator in the Caribbean and Atlantic, while under threat from German U-boats. During World War II, Poole was commissioned as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Corps Signal Corps and then assigned to the Royal Air Force in Great Britain where he helped develop early military radar use. He served as a company commander for tracking approaching German bomber flights of up to 900 planes during the Blitz, and developed counter-measures to German radar jamming methods. He believed that countless lives were saved by their efforts. It was in England that Poole met Olivia de Reya, whom he married in 1943 in the remains of a bombed chapel in London. She became the first WWII European war bride to return to the U.S. with her G.I. husband. |
Following the war, John
Poole purchased 250-watt radio station KSMA in Santa Maria, followed
by KALI in Pasadena, which he changed to a Spanish Language format.
In 1952, he moved on to found KBIG, known as “The Catalina Island
Station.” KBIG was earmarked by innovative programming and boosted
by magnified signal strength, which Poole knew would be achieved by
broadcasting the station’s directional signal across ocean water.
That created full-strength radio coverage from Santa Barbara to San
Diego and beyond. The station became very popular presenting an
Island theme and scheduling music, news, and commercials on a
different sequence from his competitors.
“We knew if you
changed stations during a commercial, you would always find music on
K-BIG,” Poole claimed. Ever the pioneer, Poole made early entry
into the fm radio field with KBIQ, an fm station at 104.3m and UHF
television transmission. KBIG was allegedly purchased from the
Don Martin Broadcasting School for $5,000. By 1969, when Poole ended his broadcasting
career with the sale of KBIG to Bonneville Broadcasting, he had a
major role in founding 9 radio stations and 4 television stations.
Following the sale of his broadcast media interests, Poole began one
of the early vineyards in Temecula.
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POORMAN:
KROQ, 1982-93; KIIS, 1995; KPWR, 1995;
KACD, 1996-97; KIIS, 2001-04;
KMPC
(1540/The Ticket), 2005; KCAA, 2010-12 and 2015; KLAA, 2016;
KUCI, 2019-23. Jim Trenton, aka the Poorman, hosted Poorman's
Bikini Beach TV. He hosted an afternoon show on KCAA in the Inland
Empire until 2015. He now hosts a daily show at KOCI-Redondo Beach. "I got my start in radio doing restaurant reviews for KROQ," said Poorman. He had written a couple of books called The Poor Man’s Restaurant Guide to Dining, while he was going to law school. After giving a copy to then program director, Rick Carroll, Poorman ended up doing Surf Reports and zany promotional stunts on this Alternative station. In 1983, Swedish Egil and Poorman started the Loveline show in 1983. "Because of our past love problems, we considered ourselves the foremost authorities on love advice. Aside from the time I spilled a thirty-two ounce Coke into the console at KROQ, the Loveline shows are among the strangest times I’ve had on the air. Our all-time strangest call was from a guy who admitted that he and other party guests had sex with the family dog." |
Pope, Jeff: KGGI, 2000-13. Jeff worked morning drive at KGGI-Riverside until the summer of 2013. In late 2013, he joined mornings at KEZR-San Jose "Mix 106.5." In early 2018, became the morning show dj for Hot 103.9 and 101.3 The Mix in the Inland Empire.
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POPEJOY, Jack:
KGOE,
1972; KIIS, 1972-75;
KPOL/KZLA, 1976-79;
KLOS, 1979-80;
KFWB, 1986-2009;
KNX/KFWB, 2009-11. Longtime
KNX/KFWB news anchor, reporter and journalist died
February 5, 2011. He was
63. Jack was
part of a
three-person
anchor team at
KNX along with Dick
Helton and Vicky
Moore since
February 2009.
He continued to
work on-air
until late
January.
Previously, from
1986 – 2009 he
worked at sister
station KFWB,
where he served
as the morning
news anchor
since 2000. Born in Austin in 1947, Jack grew up in the Delaware Valley, living in New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania. He graduated from Amherst College with a B.S. in astronomy. He worked as gm of the campus station as well as other area stations. After college and Army basic training to become a reservist at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri, he worked at WMEX-Boston. He next spent a year as a news guy at WPEN-Philadelphia. Jack moved to Southern California to be production manager for Joey Reynolds & Associates, a jingle company. |
At KIIS, Jack was hired as weekend dj and weekday newscaster. He was the first national pd for the “KIIS Concept Syndication” (under Chuck Blore) before Popejoy was named KIIS pd at age 24. In 1976 he started as newscaster for KPOL AM&FM before being named pd of the fm station in 1977. He changed call letters to KZLA, a soft album rocker, before the station was sold to Malrite Communications and changed formats to Country. Popejoy also did work on tv. In the early 1980s he was nd and anchor for a San Francisco tv station. In 1983 Jack joined KCOP / Channel 13 as a reporter and fill-in anchor. Among Popejoy’s passions were astronomy and earthquake studies. During the California earthquakes, he was the go-to guy for KFWB and later KNX. Jack was a long-time consultant to the Southern California Earthquake Center. Additionally, he was an emergency management associate for the City of Los Angeles.
Since 1989, Popejoy had the distinction of being an Honorary Chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department. He covered the space program and a variety of science topics on radio and tv throughout his career. Jack also was knowledgeable about the financial world. He’d periodically fill in for Jim Newman on both KFWB and KTLA/Channel 5 providing updates from the Pacific Stock Exchange in Downtown Los Angeles. A multiple-award winner for broadcast excellence, locally Popejoy was recognized in 1998 as Journalist of the Year by the Society of Professional Journalists. He won 27 Golden Mikes from the Radio Television News Association of Southern California, including a best newscast award just last month for Best News Broadcast. He won eight Press Club Awards.
Porras, Tony: KLAX, 2000-01. Tony worked evenings at Spanish KLAX.
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PORTER,
Ross: KABC, 1976-97;
KXTA,
1998-2003; KFWB, 2003-04. Ross was a longtime part
of the award-winning L.A. Dodger broadcast team.
Born November 29, 1938, he grew up in Shawnee, Oklahoma, dreaming of being a play-by-play announcer, and he started doing it when he was 14. Ross graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1960 and eventually won a coveted spot as a Dodger broadcaster in 1976 alongside Vin Scully. Ross joined KNBC/Channel 4 in the fall of 1966, broadcasting sports for 10 years and winning an Emmy. For the first 7 seasons in 1970s, Ross called NFL games for NBC/TV. He broadcast the 1977 and 1978 World Series on CBS Radio. Ross was the host of KXTA’s "DodgerTalk" pre- and post-game shows, for which he earned the Tom Harmon Award for Radio Sports Anchors in 1992. Ross was honored as Talk Show Host of the Year by the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Association in 1991, 1992, 1993 (the first three years the awards were given, and again in 1998). He hold the major league record for the longest consecutive play-by-play by one announcer when he called the action by himself in a 22-inning game between the Dodgers and Expos on August 23, 1989. The game lasted 6 hours and 14 minutes. For the broadcast, Ross was honored with a Special Achievement Award by the SCSBA. He is the only broadcaster to have called the action for a World Series champion (1981 and 1988 Dodgers) and an NCAA basketball champion (1990 UNLV). In 2001, Ross was honored for his 25 seasons with the team. He is the father of two sets of twins. Ross left the Dodger broadcast booth after 28 seasons in the fall of 2004. He never commented on his firing until October 2015 in an LA Times interview. |
"To this day, it is a mystery to me who made the decision not to renew my contract. Jamie McCourt? Frank McCourt? Lon Rosen? No one in the Dodger organization ever talked to me face to face or on the telephone about the dismissal. The word was passed to my agent. We inquired of the Dodgers whether I could make a statement to be included in the news release announcing my departure, a few words thanking Vin Scully, Peter O'Malley and Fred Claire, the three men responsible for my getting the job, and also the fans. The response was negative. The man who broadcast over 5,000 Dodger games would not be allowed to make any farewell quotes."
Porter, Scott: KSRF, 1991. Scott's now program director back at the first station that ever let him grace their microphones, WBPZ-Lock Haven, Pennsylvania.
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PORTER,
Vivian: KRTH, 1974-77; KHJ, 1978-85;
KRTH, 1985-2008. The former Community
Services/Public Affairs Director at CBS/LA Radio left the cluster in the fall of 2008.
Vivian died July 7, 2022. Vivian was born in Los Angeles and went to John C. Freeman High School and Cal State Los Angeles. After working for a State Assemblyman she joined KRTH as a sales assistant. Within a few months her interest in public service led to a job in the public affairs department. She talked about her job: "The basic 'core' issues in our community really haven't changed significantly. However, the changes that do occur in the nature or aspects of the issues we seek to address in programming, require an ongoing assessment which provides the basis for the job I do." The joy in her job was finding problems and creating programs that addressed those problems. "It is particularly gratifying when listeners respond to the programming. It's very rewarding." She attributes her long-running involvement as director of public affairs to "hard work and loving what you do." In the face of deregulation, many stations abandoned their public affairs department. Her numerous community service commendations and awards include AP's Certificate of Merit and Excellence in Best Editorial and Documentary categories. She's won The Black Women of Achievement Award as well as commendations from the NAACP, United Way, Martin Luther King Foundation and Black Achiever in Industry. Vivian enjoys classical music and loves to cook Chinese, Caribbean and California style cuisine. |
Porterfield, Russ: KFOX, 1940s-76. Unknown.
Poska, Al: KFI, 1958. Unknown.
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POSTON, Ken: KLON, 1987-99. In the summer of 2015, Ken took over as general manager at Jazz 88.3 KSDS in San Diego. He got his start in his native Kansas City, attending the nearby University of Kansas to study music. He became interested in the history of jazz and began working in the university's jazz research library. After graduation, Ken became involved with the Kansas City Jazz Commission to preserve the city's jazz heritage. He started a local jazz magazine and began teaching jazz history at area universities. In addition to his decade of work at KLON, he also taught jazz history at UCLA and Long Beach State University. Ken is also the director of the Sarasota Jazz Festival. |
In 1987 he relocated to Los Angeles and joined KLON (now KKJZ) as the Director of Concert Productions. During his eleven years at KLON, he produced well over 100 concerts and festivals. In addition to his concert production activities, Ken was also an on-air personality hosting the popular 'Portraits in Jazz' program which became a Saturday morning mainstay on the Los Angeles radio dial. In addition to 'Portraits in Jazz', he also hosted a program for EuroJazz radio which was broadcast throughout Europe. He has also written and produced many programs for national broadcast in the United States.
Poston is also recognized as a jazz historian and an authority on the history of jazz on the west coast. Over the years Poston has amassed a huge collection of Jazz recordings and related memorabilia.
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POTTER,
Peter:
KLAC,
1945-50;
KFWB,
1951;
KLAC,
1951;
KMPC;
KVFM,
1972. Creator of the
Platter Parade
and
Juke Box Jury
radio and tv shows, Peter was born William Moore in
Peter broke into radio accidentally.
He had come to
On May 15, 1950, he did his first tv
show, the local
Peter Potter Platter Party.
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In the
early 1960s, during the explosion of rock music, Peter commented on the
state of music in a
Billboard
interview: "I've been a disc jockey since 1937, and I've taken pride in
being able to play the best in music. Top 40 programming is an inadequate
service to the public. Top 40 limits the audience to kids and they don't buy
the sponsor's product." He won Best Entertainment Emmys in 1953 and 1955. In
the early 1970s, he was heard on KVFM. He was married to singer Beryl Davis.
Peter died of a heart attack on April 17, 1983, at the age of 78. In poor
health, he had been living in
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POTTS,
Tony: KFI, 2004. The entertainment reporter from Access Hollywood
joined KFI weekends in early 2004 and left at the end of the year. He went
on to host the Hollywood entertainment show for 13-seasons from April 1999
to February 2011, before launching his own ideation company in the content,
startup and investment space. Anthony "Tony" Ray Potts was born on January 23, 1968. He graduated from Humboldt State University with a B.A. in Journalism/Editorial Writing and a Minor in Radio/Television. In the 90s, Potts hosted Good Day New York. Tony was in the season two finale of CSI: Miami, playing a helicopter pilot. He played himself on several episodes of the FX series Dirt, which starred Courteney Cox. |
Powell, Mike: KBCA, 1968. Unknown.
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POWELL, Russ:
KNX, 1961-80.
For part of his stay at KNX, he was business and financial editor.
As the morning anchor at KNX, Russ’s ratings were among the
station’s all-time highest. In 1981, Russ joined KNCO(AM)- Grass Valley, California, as news director He has retired and owns a radio station in Grass Valley. |
Power, Will: KSRF, 1992. Unknown.
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POWERS,
Craig: KFXM, 1976-75; KUTE, 1976-77;
KIIS, 1977-82; KFXM, 1982-85;
KKHR,
1983-85; KEZY, 1985-91; KIKF, 1991-95 and 1999-2000;
KMXN, 2000-02. Craig was
the vp of operations of Cameron Broadcasting, a six-station group in
Arizona, Nevada, and California until the spring of 2020 when he joined
Curb/Word Entertainment as vp of media. For much of the 2000s, Craig worked at
CBS/Las Vegas. On KIIS, Craig was known as L.A.'s youngest dj. He was the host of the "Craig Powers Breakfast Club" at KEZY and was made pd in 1988. "I hold the world record for remote broadcasting in the Orange County market. He's done over 1,500 remotes and live broadcasts and over 500 personal appearances." Name the Orange County concert and chances are he was the emcee. In 1993, Craig was the P.A. announcer for the Anaheim Bullfrogs/Arrowhead Pond. In 1994 he was nominated by Billboard magazine for pd of the year. Craig worked afternoon drive and was pd at Country-formatted KIKF until spring of 1995 when he left to be director of Western regional promotions for MCG/Curb Records, a country label. He was the pd of COOL 94.3fm until early 2002. Born February 11, 1981 in Upland, Craig grew up in Mission Viejo. In 1999, he went to Saddleback College where he met his mentor John Hart at KSBR. He later transferred to the Broadcasting School at Fullerton College. "My love for radio goes back to elementary school. I always preferred to listen to the radio than watch tv," said Craig when interviewed for Los Angeles Radio People. "It was something about the way the jocks presented themselves on air that I love to hear. While in school, KIKF was the OC Country station. It was at KIK/fm that I met Taz and Carrie Dunne and I got to be an intern. That's how it all started for me." |
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POWERS,
Francis Gary:
KGIL,
1973. The Southern California Big Red Skywatch pilot was shot down
over
When he grew weary of test piloting,
around 1970, Frank moved with his wife and two children to
He died in a helicopter crash in the
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POWERS,
Mike: KSWD, 2008-11. Mike joined Bonneville's 100.3/fm The Sound in
late spring of 2008 and left in the late spring of 2011. He also worked at KFOG, KUSF and KNBR in San Francisco. While at KFOG he was also a reporter and producer at sister sports talk KNBR. |
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PRADO,
Stella: KOST, 1991-2012. The 21-year veteran at KOST,
Stella was promoted to program director in the early fall of 2003.
She left Clear Channel following a downsizing in December 2012. In
early 20166, she joined BMLG (Big Machine Label Group) and in
the fall of 2021 was promoted to senior vp of West Coast Promotion. When KOST was honored for their 25 years of quality programming at the Los Angeles Women in Music gala event at the Hollywood Renaissance Hotel in addition to the prestigious Award of Excellence, the heritage AC station received proclamations from both the City of Burbank and the County of Los Angeles. That evening, Stella said, "We are honored to be recognized by L.A. Women in Music, the City of Burbank and the County of Los Angeles. This is a special year for KOST 103.5 as we celebrate our 25th anniversary and we couldn't be more thrilled to receive these accolades from our communities." The Brazilian-born program director has virtually done every job in the programming department at KOST. She started as an intern in 1990 working for Karen Sharp on the popular night-time “Lovesongs on the KOST” dedication show. She became a full-time assistant producer, then eventually moved to morning drive to produce the Mark & Kim Show. Stella became a program coordinator, then assistant pd before being selected as the KOST program director in 2003. People who work with her love her. |
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PRAGER, Dennis: KABC, 1983-2000; KIEV/KRLA, 2000-2023. Dennis's show is billed as “talk about social issues from an ethical perspective.” For 10 years he hosted "Religion on the Line," a popular Sunday evening show on KABC that featured a Jewish rabbi, Protestant minister and Catholic priest.
He did undergraduate work in
political-science at
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In late 1984 an early evening slot opened up on KABC when Hilly Rose retired. Since 1985 Dennis has been the sole writer and publisher of Ultimate Issues, a journal with more than 20,000 readers worldwide which focuses on life's greatest political, social, philosophical and religious questions and events. The conservative talk show host on KABC started a half-hour talk show in September of 1994 on KTTV/Channel 11. He co-authored The Nine Questions People Ask About Judaism which is the most widely used introduction to Judaism in the world. Dennis authored Why The Jews? The Reason For Anti-Semitism. Since 1994 he had been working middays on KABC's "TalkRadio."
Dennis
moved over
to
Pratt, Jim: KROQ, 1997; KYSR, 1997-2004. Jim was imaging director at "Star 98.7." Since 2000, the Michigan State graduate has been owner of 11 db Entertainment.
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PRELL, Jon:
KIKF, 1988-90. Jon
left Country KIKF to be the
pd and morning talent at WKDQ-Evansville, Indiana until his retirement in
2015. He hosted the Jon and Leslie morning show When Jon was growing up in Southern California, he dreamed of becoming either a disc jockey or a police officer. He left Evansville as both. He was actually a police officer in California before he got into the radio business in 1984. Prell came to the Evansville market a decade later. Prell has severed as the ring announcer for every Guns ?n' Hoses event and is an advisory member of the 911 Gives Hope board. He and his family are moving to Savannah, Georgia, a city he fell in love with while visiting the coastal town. He told the Courier & Press he's looking forwarded to relaxing during retirement. "For the first time, I'm going to be a stay-at-home dad for a while. I'm really looking forward to that. I think my boys have been kind of (cheated) out of that for a long time," he said. "I'm going to get them up every morning, get them off to school and just live a much quieter life." |
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PRESCOTT, Bill: KMET, 1981. Bill is thought to be Mr. Portland. He's been at a number of Portland stations but claims KGON home. He hosted afternoons, then mornings, on KGON in 1988-90 before spending 8 years at crosstown Rock KUFO. Then he was off the air for over a decade. When he retured to radio, he told AllAccess: "When I skipped school at Tigard High, KGON was there. When I saw my first rock concert at Memorial Coliseum, KGON was there. When I returned home to Portland from California, KGON was there. And now when I’m ready to return to radio, KGON is there.” Bill is now general manager at Lost Coast Communications, which includes four radio brands and an online local news-focused website. Bill works directly with local business to bring in the dollars while opening up the airwaves to community leaders shows the importance of over-the-air audio — especially in locales where tv may not be the top source for such content. |
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PRESCOTT, Pat: KTWV, 2001-22. Pat hosted the morning show at KTWV, "The WAVE until late 2022. She started at the WAVE as Dave Koz's co-host April 15, 2001. Over the years she has been teamed with Brian McKnight and Kim Amidon. She continues to voicetrack Newark, New Jersey's Public Radio “Jazz 88” WBGO. Pat answers the
Proust Questionnaire: What is
your idea of perfect happiness? Sleeping every night without an
alarm clock and not waking up until my eyes just won’t stay closed any
longer |
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Presher, Dave: KMEN/KGGI, 1994-95; KPWR, 1996-97; KTWV, 1997. Dave left his post as gm at KRBV-Dallas in the fall of 2001 and now runs the Riviera Broadcast Group in Las Vegas.
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PRESS,
Bill: KABC, 1990; KFI, 1991-96; KRLA, 2009-11;
KTLK, 2011-13. Bill is a syndicated radio host and regular
contributor to the Huffington Post. Since
September 2005, Press has been hosting a daily liberal talk radio
program, heard on satellite radio, streamed live from the show's
website, and available from the show's YouTube channel. Bill worked with Bill Pearl in afternoon drive at KABC and their show was called "The Duelling Bills." He left KABC in 1990 when he announced his candidacy for state insurance commissioner. As chairman of the state Democratic Party (1993-96), he raised more than $5,000 in pledges on just two KFI shows for the Fred Goldman family after the verdicts in the O.J. Simpson case. Bill left KFI in February 1996 to join former vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro as alternating co-host for the left on CNN's Crossfire. He left the show in 2002. |
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PRICE, Gary:
KHJ/fm, 1970-72; KROQ, 1972-73;
KDAY, 1973-83; KNAC, 1984-95.
The former general manager for a number of LA stations died
May
5, 2020, at the age of 86. Jim Maddox,
who worked for Price at KDAY, said that he was a great boss.
“He trusted you and left you alone but was always there to
support you and give you needed counsel."
Gary started as a jock, moved into sales then spent the bulk of his radio career running stations in his native California. Born and raised in Monrovia, he earned an FCC 1st Class License after a stint in the Korean War. In 1958, he started as the morning man at KPER-Gilroy. While at KFXM-San Bernardino doing evenings in the early 1960s, he tried his hand at sales. Crosstown KMEN hired Gary as sales manager while allowing him to work a weekend shift. His first gm assignment came in 1970 at KLYD-Bakersfield, followed a year later with a sales assignment at KHJ/fm which quickly turned into gm responsibilities. When KDAY adopted an Urban format in early 1974, there was a prophecy of doom, but the format was a success. Gary talked about the format switch: "The only people who bought the idea were the audience. We tried something new - no screaming disc jockeys, no street jive." Did he ever regret the switch from announcing to management? “Sometimes I think it wouldn’t have been so tough if I had stayed a jock.” Before retiring, Gary worked as a sales consultant for Fred Sands. (Photo: Gary with his wife Donna) |
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PRICE,
Gene: KDAY, 1966-67;
KLAC,
1970-71; KFOX, 1971-72;
KIQQ, 1973-74, pd;
KIIS, 1974;
KLAC, 1975-84;
KIKF, 1985-90;
KLAC, 1990-93. Born in He came to the Southland from KEWB-San Francisco and joined KIQQ as until Drake/Chenault bought the station. In 1980, he quietly replaced morning wake-up legend "Dick Haynes at the Reins" and stayed until 1981. In fact, he was greatly influenced by Haynes, and some of his own cornpone humor was only a record away.
Gene won the 1981 Billboard
magazine Award for Personality of the Year
given out at the Country Radio Seminar in |
Gene
left KLAC at the end of 1993, when the award-winning station changed formats
to satellite-fed Unistar's AM Only.
Gene was an expert at voice impersonations. He provided Jim
Healy with tracks featuring the voices of Howard Cossell, Jimmy
Carter and other celebrities. Gene has always loved sales. While in
Price,
Jeremy: KXMN, 2001-02. He now works under his given name, Jeremy Pritchard.
Price,
John: KRLA, 1968-73; KIEV, 1980-85. John is a freelance engineer with
Citadel Broadcasting, Sirius Satellite Radio and the Museum of TV & Radio.
Price, Mary: KWIZ, 1978-81; KGGI, 1982-84;
KZLA, 1984-89; KRTH, 1992; KCBS, 1992-2005; KMZT, 2005-06; KFSH, 2011-16;
KSWD, 2016-17. Mary was part of the Fish Family Friendly morning show, as
Mary Hughes and did fill-in at 100.3/The Sound. She
left in mid-November when Entercom sold the station to Educatonal Media
Foundation and the station flipped to Christian K-LOVE.
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PRICE, Ron:
KXMX, 1999. Since 2017, the former program
director at KXMX has similar chores for Oldies KOOL in Phoenix. Ron is now
head of programming for KMVA-Dewey/Humboldt, Arizona and
KZON-Phoenix “Mix 96.9.” Ron was born in Virginia and grew up as a Navy kid and spent much of his time in Detroit where he attended Oakland University. “I got to Detroit in the middle of January in 1985 and we were snowed in. To escape the terrible snow, I listened to the radio and liked it for all it was.” He spent 7 years at WHYT-Detroit before moving to WVIC-Lansing. Following a short stop at WWST-Knoxville, he landed at KHTS-San Diego. In 2015, Ron was operations director for Cume Media Properties in Mesa, Arizona and two years later was an executive producer/talent recruiter for VoiceAmerica. |
Price, Tony: KGFJ, 1972. Unknown.
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PRINCI, Carl:
KWKW, 1952-53; KFAC, 1953-87;
KKGO, 1990-92. Born in 1922, Carl worked as a
classical music announcer for four decades and for much of that time
was pd. Each afternoon at three on KFAC, Carl hosted "World of
Opera," a show he inherited three decades ago. He worked right up
until his death on May 1, 1992 from complications of cancer. Carl was a legend at KFAC and loved by everyone. When he was 14 he appeared in a theater production that required him to run across the stage in a loin cloth. Once he heard the applause, he was hooked. He graduated from Boston University and started radio at a Salem, Massachusetts station. In 1953 he auditioned for Classical KFAC where he was told there were no openings. The next day one of the announcers dropped dead and he got the job. He had over 40 bit parts in tv and movie productions. |
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PRINGLE, Oogie:
KWIZ, 1985-87.
Oogie worked at WNBC-New York in the mid-1980s and Chicago before doing
morning drive at KWIZ. He committed suicide in 1987. "Oogie had once worked here in Erie starting in 1967, at WJET, apparently after working for the CIA and at a small station in Manassas, VA," according to eriedj on a radio discussion site. "After evenings at WJET, Oogie became mornings and program director at WRIE in Erie. From there, his career skyrocked to nights at 66 WNBC, followed by stops in Milwaukee, Cleveland, Rochester, NY, Minneapolis and, finally, Anaheim. As a 12-13 year old, I always enjoyed hearing Oogie's creativity and humor as I got ready for school. Sad how things transpired in 1987 with Oogie taking his own life." |
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PRITCHARD, Jeremy:
KMXN, 2001-02. Jeremy worked weekends at the
Orange County COOL station. He went by the name Jeremy Price. Since 2003, he's been with Lincoln Financial Media in San Diego in various capacities, most recently assistant engineer/IT for fm properties: KBZT, KIFM, and KSON. In the fall of 2018, he was promoted from apd and music director to program director for Entercom’s alternative KBZT “ALT 94.9.” In the spring of 2022, Jeremy became Alternative regional brand manager at KNRK-Portland. |
Pritchard, Ted: KNAC, 1986-90; KLOS. In the fall of 2018, Ted wrote a "metal memoir," Head Bangin' Radio, which detailed Ted's long and winding radio road, from Charlotte to Orlando to Tampa, and finally, to Los Angeles, where he did mornings on KNAC.
Proctor, Mel: KXTA/KTLK, 2003-05. The former sports broadcaster with the Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, San Diego Padres and LA Clippers, he became the tv play-by-play voice of the Washington Nationals for many years. He has written three books. Proctor operates a media training business for athletes and broadcasters.
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PROCTOR,
Phil: KROQ. Phil was first heard on the Firesign Theatre at KROQ. He is
active in a voiceover career. Phil spent eight seasons as Howard DeVille, the father of Phil & Lil on Nickleodeon’s Rugrat. Where do we start? Phil Proctor has received international recognition as an actor/singer/writer/composer/director/producer. As a member of The Firesign Theatre, they were chosen as one of the "Fifty Greatest Acts of All Time" by Entertainment Magazine. On screen, he's appeared with Orson Welles, Jack Nicholson, Tony Curtis and Jerry Lewis and on tv he has guest starred on Over The Top, Dave's World, Nightcourt, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and General Hospital, to name just a few. But wait -- there's more: His voice can be heard as the drunken French Monkey in Dr. Doolittle, Snowball the cat in Walt Disney's Hercules, in A Bug's Life, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Toy Story, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Rescuers Down Under, and in Prince of Egypt. Proctor, born on July 28, 1940) was a boy soprano in a children's choir and studied acting at Yale. There, he met his future partner Bergman in the Yale Dramatic Association, where he starred in the two musical comedies written by Bergman and Pendleton. |
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PROPES, Steve:
KLON, 1981-92. Steve is a radio archivist and
record collector. Born in Berkeley July 21, 1942, he grew up in Long Beach and graduated from Cal State Long Beach in 1965. He remembers when his love affair with music began: "When I heard two competing versions of Stranded in the Jungle on the radio, I was fascinated." He hosted an r&b Sunday morning show at KLON between 1981 and the last day of 1989. Between 1991 and 1992 he hosted "All Night Long," a jazz-r&b show on KLON. Steve wrote the first several books about rock & roll record collecting in the 1970s, including the influential Those Oldies But Goodies. In the early 1990s, he co-wrote Merry Christmas Baby with Dave Marsh and What Was The First Rock & Roll Record? with Jim Dawson. His latest book is the exhaustively researched L.A. Vocal Groups written with Galen Gart - a study of the most important rhythm and blues/doo-wop vocal groups out of the L.A. area between 1945 and 1965. Steve does consulting work in the history of rock & roll, record evaluation for the biggest company in the rare record business, Good Rockin' Tonight and he was heard on RockitRadio.net, until the Internet company closed down in the fall of 2020. |
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PUGSLEY,
Robert: KPFK, 1979-86 and 1990-93. Since 1978, Robert has been a professor
of law at Southwestern University School of Law. He has provided legal
commentary on criminal law issues during numerous high profile
trials through a vast array of media outlets. Over the past decade,
his opinion has been sought by CNN, Voice of America Radio, and
national network and local television news, as well as numerous
radio news programs nationwide. He has also appeared on
international television and radio programs airing in Canada,
England, Scandinavia, and other parts of Europe, and has been quoted
often by the Associated Press, ABA Journal, Washington Post,New York
Times, USA Today, Christian Science Monitor, Los Angeles Times,
and Chicago Tribune, among many other major publications. Professor Pugsley's career as a legal educator began at New York University where he was a Robert Marshall Fellow in Civil Liberties. There he served as acting deputy director of the Criminal Law Education and Research Center and as a lecturer for the Advanced Criminal Law and Policy Seminar. In 1978, Professor Pugsley moved to the West Coast to join the faculty at Southwestern where he teaches a range of criminal law courses and served for several years as the director of Southwestern's Summer Law Program in Vancouver, British Columbia. He was also founding faculty advisor to the law school's Public Interest Law Committee and its fundraising activities, a position he held for over a decade. |
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PULLMAN,
Jason: KYSR, 2003-05. Jason worked afternoons at "Star 98.7" until early
fall of 2005. He went on to work mornings at the Country Bull at 94.9/fm in Atlanta.
Jason left the Bull in early 2019 and went to mornings at US99-Chicago.
He left US99 in the summer of 2020 during the industry downsizing due to the
coronavius pandemic. He is now hosting middays at "New Country 101.5" WKHX in Atlanta and also, by remote, hosting afternoons at "99.5 The Wolf" KPLX in Fort Worth. His father was a general sales manager at WLTA-FM in Atlanta. |
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PULSIPHER,
Mike:
KNX. Longtime KCBS-San
Francisco and CBS news
anchor enjoyed a 40 year
career in radio news. He
worked at KFBK in
Sacramento before
joining CBS as an anchor
and reporter at KNX.
Mike worked at KCBS
twice, starting as the
afternoon news anchor in
the 80s, with a tour of
duty in New York as an
anchor for the CBS Radio
network news in
between. Mike died
January 8, 2010, at the age of 61. Mike loved radio news, truly enjoyed sharing information with listeners, and was extremely proud of his career with CBS and KCBS. |
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PURCELL, Bob:
KFI/KECA, 1942-45; KFWB,
1956-62. While waiting for the curtain to rise on the
Civic Light Opera presentation of Man of La Mancha
starring Bob Purcell as Cervantes/Quixote, you would be
aghast reading in the program about the career of the star.
He was known in Southern California as the general manager
during the launch of historic "Color Radio" on
January 2, 1958. A month after the launch Bob wrote pd Chuck
Blore, the djs and newsmen: "Our total broadcast week is
composed of 585,000 seconds. Each one of those seconds must
be full, alive, bright, and alert. None should pass by
un-noticed, each single second shall carry a full complement
of colorful programming. In every five minute period you are
each responsible for as many as 300 seconds, each one of them
is a definite part of the KFWB sound, never let them go by
emptily or dully. P.S. Have you tightened up lately."
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When he arrived in the Southland in 1942 he acted in several films, notably Forever Amber and The Bride Wore Boots. In the mid-1960s Bob and his wife Jane moved to Yucca Valley where he made use of his real estate brokers license. For the next 14 years he participated in theater companies all over Southern California.
In 1982 he retired to Laguna Hills. Bob was terminally ill for the last two years before his death on August 5, 1987. He was 75. A columnist who knew Bob well wrote: "Purcell was the inherently lazy type of hard worker, ambitious but not ridiculously so. He had humor and a sense of proportion, he was free from swank, inspired confidence and loyalty." His wife remembered, "Bob had an unquenchable curiosity; everything he pursued was a challenge. His hobbies or avocations included Japanese Sumi painting, lectures on Chinese calligraphy, classical guitar, flute, recorder, amateur radio [he ran 5,000 phone patches during the Vietnam crisis for our servicemen] and even piano tuning."
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PUTNAM, George:
KFI; KIEV, 1975-2000; KRLA, 2001;
KPLS,
2001-03; KSPA, 2004-05; KCAA, 2005-08. George, a familiar face and voice on tv
and radio news and talk radio for over a half
century, died September 12, 2008. He was 94 and despite his failing
health, he managed to participate in his noon time
show heard on CRN Digital Radio, sometimes from his
hospital bed right up until his death.
George was born in Breckenridge, Minnesota on July 14, 1914. In college he was freshman class president, champion orator, ran on the track squad and played basketball and football. In 1934 George started his broadcasting career at WDGY-Minneapolis and then KSTP-Minneapolis/St. Paul. From there he went to NBC in New York where he did 14 programs a week, concentrating on news and special events. He shared the role of commentator for Fox Movietone News with Lowell Thomas. During World War II as a Marine first lieutenant he won two citations. After the war he was seen and heard on the Mutual Broadcasting System, BBC and the Du Mont Television Network. Walter Winchell once said: "George Putnam's voice is the greatest in radio and television." George moved to Los Angeles in 1951 and soon ruled the Los Angeles airwaves as the city's top newscaster and perhaps its most omnipresent tv personality. His program George Putnam and the News appeared on every local independent broadcast tv station. In those days of early, low-tech tv news there were often flubs and once, Putnam breathlessly introduced "unedited" footage of a brush fire, which proved a mistake, since the footage included a firefighter relieving himself at the edge of the blaze. |
George eventually became the country's highest-paid newscaster. He starred with Mort Sahl in a nationally syndicated tv show entitled Both Sides Now. Virtually inventing the image of the local tv anchorman, he was a bombastic figure, flamboyant in his stylishly tailored suits who looked straight into the camera as if speaking directly to viewers. He dated starlets, drove a sports car, owned a yacht and rubbed elbows with actors, Mayor Sam Yorty, Gov. Ronald Reagan and President Nixon. He once cajoled Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir into giving him her recipe for chicken soup and got 200,000 requests for it through on-air promotion. He has been the recipient of over 300 awards and citations including a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His "Talk Back" show was a two-decade institution on KIEV. George lived on his ranch in Chino, where over the years he raised more than 400 thoroughbreds.
During the summer of 1996 George appeared in the blockbuster film, Independence Day. His signature line was: "And that's the up-to-the-minute news - Up to the minute, that's all the news! - See you then!"
Putney, Sam: KJLH, 1984-88; KACE, 1988-92. Sam is working morning drive at KKDA-Dallas.
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PYE,
JR.,
Brad: KGFJ, 1955-73; KJLH, 1973-75;
KACE, 1975-77; KGFJ, 1977-79;
KDAY,
1979-90. Brad was a trailblazing
sports writer and broadcaster. He died July 5, 2020, at the age
of 89. Pye attained many “firsts” during his long career. His achievements include being the first recognized African American sportswriter in Southern California, the first Black administrator for Al Davis, the Commissioner of the AFL and the first African American public relations and scout for the Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers, and the California (now Los Angeles) Angels. He also served nearly 30 years as the sports editor for the Los Angeles Sentinel. Brad broke down numerous color barriers at the newspaper, in radio and as an active participant in sports. His style was unique. "Two of my greatest idols in the radio field were the late Walter Winchell and Jim Healy, two of my dearest friends. Winchell used to use my typewriter at Angel games at Dodger Stadium and Healy made me more famous on his program than I was on my own show,” said Brad. He was an all-star member of the 1949 undefeated East Los Angeles College football team and was student director of public relations. He was considered the "Dean of Black Sportscasters." The Sentinel had an exchange deal with KGFJ and Brad alternated with the late Chester L. Washington, Jr. on a five-minute news/sports show. |
| Brad hustled a sponsor for a weekly 15-minute show each Sunday. He secured Julius L. Hibler & Company, the city’s only black stock broker firm at the time for sponsorship. In 1956 he began a 17-year association with KGFJ hosting “Sportsville L.A.” He coined such phrases as “Overheard at Tommy Tucker’s Play Room from the Lips of a Los Angeles Dodgers Star” and “Pretty Little Green Ones.” During his pioneer stint with the Sentinel, Brad was credited with leading the campaign to make the late Emmett Ashford the first African American umpire in the history of major league baseball. He is given credit for integrating the L.A. Coliseum press box and other local press boxes. Brad served as assistant Chief Deputy for County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn. One of his last appointments was serving as the ADA Coordinator for the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. (Add if interested) Dennis Freeman, publisher of News4usonline.com once interviewed Brad. “Long before there was a Jim Hill, a Fast Eddie (Alexander), a Bryant Gumbel…long before they came on board, there was a Brad Pye,” he said. Who will ever forget, “Switch Reels,” and “And that's All of My Time...Thanks for Your Time...This is Brad Pye, Jr. Reporting...Have A Ball.” |
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PYLE, Ed: XTRA; KFWB, 1969-71 and 1974-84; KNX, 1985-2006. After 47 years as a broadcast journalist, Ed retired from his KNX news director position in early 2006 and now lives in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Under Ed’s
leadership, the KNX news staff amassed scores of awards for
broadcast and journalism excellence. Pyle, who has spent the past 20
years at KNX and 13 more at sister station KFWB, received numerous
awards from the Radio-Television News Association of Southern
California, the Associated Press and the Los Angeles Press Club. In
2004, the Los Angeles chapter of the Society of Professional
Journalists named Pyle Radio Journalist of the Year. “Ed Pyle has quietly been one of the best journalists in Los Angeles history,” said KABC’s Dan Avey at the time of Ed's retirement. “In 1984, when a guy hit the accelerator and intentionally mowed down a bunch of people on the sidewalks in Westwood Village the night before the Olympics, Ed was the first newsman on the scene. KFWB [Ed was assistant nd] had a near exclusive on the ‘is it terrorism?’ story because most of the city's news people were drinking free booze with the Olympic organizers at a downtown hotel.” |
“Ed Pyle is the last of a
breed of high principled, journalistically caring and hard charging news
directors,” wrote KNX reporter/anchor Bob Sirkin. “He's
also a damn good guy with a unique, quick wit. Without question, Ed is one
of the finest news editors I've ever had the privilege of working for. His
news sense and judgment is second to none!
Even when Ed sent you out on a grade-B
must-cover story; you knew his heart was still in the right place. In
today's world of broadcast journalism, you don't replace an Ed Pyle. You
only hope for the best.”
Born in 1939, in Paramus, New Jersey, Ed was raised
in Plant City, Florida. He was raised in central Florida, where he attended
the University of South Florida in Tampa. His broadcasting career began when
he was with the US Army, during which we received the Army Commendation
Medal for his work as a tv news anchor. Before getting to the Southland, Ed
worked for a variety of radio stations in Tampa/St. Petersburg as a dj and
newsman. He came to California to work for XTRA News 690, the world’s first
all-News station.
Ed plans to spend time traveling and with his hobby of photography.
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(Sam Putney, Mel Proctor, Natalie Page, and Luciano Palermi)
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PYNE, Joe:
KABC, 1960-64; KLAC, 1964-69. "No one conducts the straight,
hard-hitting interview as well as Joe Pyne, the master
showman of the talk realm," according to the LA
Times in 1967. Born in Chester, Pennsylvania, he joined
the U.S. Marine Corps upon graduation from high school. In
World War II he won three battle stars and lost his left leg.
Joe started his radio career at WCAM-Camden while studying at a Philadelphia dramatic school. He worked in Canada, Delaware and Arizona. By the time he arrived in the Southland it was estimated that he commanded $2,000 a week for four broadcast days. He could be heard telling a caller he disagreed with to "go gargle with razor blades." In the mid-1960s someone took a shot at him while he was working in the KABC showcase studio, which faced La Cienega. The studio window was quickly covered with stucco, never to appear again. At the peak of his career, in 1966, he had a syndicated tv talk show on Metromedia stations and a syndicated radio show on 254 stations. A heavy smoker, he once said that although he realized cigarettes might cause cancer, he would "rather take a chance than be a fat neurotic." When he learned he had cancer, he stopped smoking. When he learned that his cancer was terminal, he began to smoke again. For a few months he began broadcasting from his home until he quit radio and tv in 1969 due to illness. Joe died of cancer on March 23, 1970, at the age of 44. |
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