This station had a great, eclectic format of mellow, easy listening "progressive" pop music. Does anyone have or know of copies of the original playlists KEZX used in the 1980's? There are some songs, especially instrumentals, that I would like to track down but can't recall the titles or the artists.
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Seattle FM station KEZX 98.9 in the 1980's
- Thread starter controlvoice
- Start date
Sorry, I can't help you on your specific question, but I do have some history with this station. I was in high school in the mid to late 70's and applied for work here, right there in lower Wallingford. Those folks were very polite and generous, but didn't offer me a job. I certainly was not ready, but they were extremely nice. I remember it to be an interesting station even as a high school student who usually listened to KJR and KING. A nice entrance into Seattle radio at the time, will never forget it.
You can still find copies of The KEZX Album Project on vinyl from eBay, but the values are starting to go up because there are fewer copies available now than there were 20 years ago.
They were a pioneering example of the Adult Album Alternative format. But they did play an unusually high number of instrumentals, mainly by local artists as they were "supposed" to be an Easy Listening station (by the then owner's dictate.) But since he didn't live in the area and this was LONG before online listening and long distance was still very expensive, they got away with it. For nearly a decade.
They played everything from Bob Dylan to Heart and gravitated towards even more eclectic and upbeat material until a surprise visit from said owner put the kibosh on that. And it was back to Easy Listening...
They were a pioneering example of the Adult Album Alternative format. But they did play an unusually high number of instrumentals, mainly by local artists as they were "supposed" to be an Easy Listening station (by the then owner's dictate.) But since he didn't live in the area and this was LONG before online listening and long distance was still very expensive, they got away with it. For nearly a decade.
They played everything from Bob Dylan to Heart and gravitated towards even more eclectic and upbeat material until a surprise visit from said owner put the kibosh on that. And it was back to Easy Listening...
I had the same experience with the staff there, but a little earlier in time. When the station was located in the Edgewater Hotel and was known as KBBX (Oceans of Beautiful Music (ding ding)), the announcer (a "Burt Light") gave me all of the unused wire copy he had laying around. I took that back home and used it to make the audition tape that got me my first job in Yakima.
I probably stopped in about 6 or 8 times, back when I was 17 or so. They were always very tolerant of me as an unannounced visitor. Matter of fact, the door to the studio was usually open, though probably due to the lack of air conditioning than anything else.
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Controlvoice, on another thread I have posted a link to several hours of airchecks from KEZX from 1988. Do you have airchecks of the station as well?
Wow, what a connection. My experience at KEZX, while friendly, actually toughened me up as I applied for other Seattle stations, eventually coming on board at KING-AM in late '79, and then into KIXI-FM in '82, and KPLZ/KVI in '85. I will always credit stations, either successful or not as teaching moments. So KEZX was one of my "teaching" moments, and I hope those who were around back then appreciate what they did.
Agreed. I wonder if anyone here recalls 96.5, when it operated as KLSN from a very small studio at the University Village Shopping Center. It's also interesting to recall that station's roots as it's progressed over the years. They had what they said was one of the first stereo STLs... a pair of modified Motorola base station transmitters. Don't know if that was true, but they were pretty proud of it. It could have been they couldn't afford a commercial system and were thrilled an engineer could cobble something up for them. Seemed to work pretty well.
I remember that studio location well! It was on 23rd NE in a strip mall location just East of the Village. There wasn't much to it. They had some Ampex large reel machines doing playback that were in racks facing the front of the building. As a kid, I used to ride my bike to the U Village and stop by to look in the window. About a year later, I rode my bike up to the Communications Building on the UW campus, and got a full-blown tour of KUOW. I remember the old transcription turntables and a huge performance studio designed for an actual orchestra.
Looking at a 1977 Broadcasting Yearbook, I see KEZX is owned by Roy Park, who also owned Beautiful Music/Easy Listening stations in many large markets, eventually owning WPAT-AM-FM in NYC ("A service of Park Communications"). The Easy format was so popular back then for FM stations. Unlike Progressive Rock or other FM formats, which needed a full staff of DJs, 24/7, Easy Listening was automated.
Some stations had a live announcer on at all times to do weather and headlines. A few stations actually had the announcers list the songs and artists played, although not many. But since the station was automated, the shifts could be six or even eight hours long. Outside the larger markets, many Easy stations only had announcers on duty during morning drive, or maybe one for AM, one for PM. Just play the music and sell the spots. No contests, no drama, just a few deep-voiced mature announcers. Often the station was an afterthought from the AM sister station, which did have the high profile DJs and larger budgets.
In Seattle, in addition to KEZX, there was 100.7 KSEA (Bonneville, co-owned with KIRO), 910 & 95.7 KIXI, 94.1 KUET (co-owned with KMPS) and 103.9 KBRD (co-owned with KTAC, Tacoma). Notice they all have call letters to reflect their character... EZ, K-Sea, Kixi, Kute and K-Bird. Six Easy station in one market.
Some stations had a live announcer on at all times to do weather and headlines. A few stations actually had the announcers list the songs and artists played, although not many. But since the station was automated, the shifts could be six or even eight hours long. Outside the larger markets, many Easy stations only had announcers on duty during morning drive, or maybe one for AM, one for PM. Just play the music and sell the spots. No contests, no drama, just a few deep-voiced mature announcers. Often the station was an afterthought from the AM sister station, which did have the high profile DJs and larger budgets.
In Seattle, in addition to KEZX, there was 100.7 KSEA (Bonneville, co-owned with KIRO), 910 & 95.7 KIXI, 94.1 KUET (co-owned with KMPS) and 103.9 KBRD (co-owned with KTAC, Tacoma). Notice they all have call letters to reflect their character... EZ, K-Sea, Kixi, Kute and K-Bird. Six Easy station in one market.
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A couple of others, if you care to go back far enough. Prior to KEZX, KBBX was fairly similar. It was mainly instrumental, because it was said the majority of their income came from the sale of their music on subcarrier (minus the commercials). The station was live... a Gates Stereo Yard, a couple of Gates transcription tables, a few cart machines and a half-rack of remote control, monitor and SCA control gear. The SCA would drop off as soon as the announcer keyed open his mic. It would return as soon as all cart machines had cued or when the announcer hit a bypass button. Pretty simple setup there.
Another EZ-listener was KBIQ (pre KCMS). It's slogan was "In the Air, Over the Jet City"... solemnly intoned over the slowed-down sound of an approaching airliner over Frank Chacksfield's "Ebb Tide"... a bit of a contrast to KBBX's "Oceans of Beautiful Music (ding ding), voiced over Percy Faith's "A Summer Place", sometimes also using ferry horns and lots of sea gulls.
KBIQ also had 240,000 watts at one time, later reduced to 115,000 watts before the FM signal left the campus to Cougar Mountain
I guess I was lucky. I was in the hospital for a couple of months in 1985 and had the pleasure to become acquainted with KEZX. While I did not memorize their play list, they played a lot of songs I liked and remember. Some of them were: These Dreams by Heart; Marlene on the Wall by Suzanne Vega; a lot of songs by Uncle Bonsai; songs by Michael Tomlinson; songs by Tom Rush. On Sundays they broadcast a two hour space music program called The Well. Too bad they discontinued their format. I hope this was of some help to you.
These Dreams is commonly heard nowadays on adult hits and soft AC stations. I really like Michael Tomlinson - a great voice and some wonderful NAC/smooth vocal hits (like "Live Again" and "Sunlight"). One of the first songs I heard from Suzanne Vega actually wasn't "Tom's Diner" - it was her 1992 title track to 99.9F! Great song.
And her "Luka" was a radio and MTV hit in the '80s but is practically forgotten today. Guess it didn't do well in audience testing when oldies/classic hits stations started to open their playlists to '80s music. Yes, the topic is uncomfortable, but the tune is great.
For those who miss KEZX can listen to my station. I've replicated the Original KNX FM 93 Los Angeles. The Mellow Sound is back online with original announcers, jingles, and The Odyssey File done by Christopher Ames. Check it out at knxfm93.com
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