KHJ--Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

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Just finished watching 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'. I very much enjoyed the movie and the look back to 1969. In 1969 I was just starting to listen to radio (but up in the Bay Area, so KFRC and KYA). For those old enough and living in LA in 1969, how much of the movie rings true? A few things that I noticed that didn't feel right...

1. Time period was 1969, but the music played was all from prior years. If I recall from those days, you only got 'oldies' played on the weekends ('Million dollar weekend'). Surprised Tarantino didn't go with music from 1969.
2. The movie has a scene indicating a Sunday morning and in the background you hear 'KHJ, Robert W. Morgan'. I'm fairly certain Robert W. Morgan would not have worked a Sunday morning.
3. Tarantino exclusively goes with KHJ as the soundtrack of 1969. How true was this? KMET started in 1968. Wouldn't KMET have been the soundtrack for the hipper crowd?
4. Peaches Records--read it opened in LA in 1974 (Tower came in 1971). What was the big record store in 1969?

Interested in thoughts, comments from those who lived through the era.

 

[davideduardo]

Just finished watching 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'. I very much enjoyed the movie and the look back to 1969. In 1969 I was just starting to listen to radio (but up in the Bay Area, so KFRC and KYA). For those old enough and living in LA in 1969, how much of the movie rings true? A few things that I noticed that didn't feel right...

1. Time period was 1969, but the music played was all from prior years. If I recall from those days, you only got 'oldies' played on the weekends ('Million dollar weekend'). Surprised Tarantino didn't go with music from 1969.
2. The movie has a scene indicating a Sunday morning and in the background you hear 'KHJ, Robert W. Morgan'. I'm fairly certain Robert W. Morgan would not have worked a Sunday morning.
3. Tarantino exclusively goes with KHJ as the soundtrack of 1969. How true was this? KMET started in 1968. Wouldn't KMET have been the soundtrack for the hipper crowd?
4. Peaches Records--read it opened in LA in 1974 (Tower came in 1971). What was the big record store in 1969?

Interested in thoughts, comments from those who lived through the era.

Hopefully Michael and Lew and the other experts on the period will add their remarks.

In 1969, I believe KHJ had gold in the mix, not just weekends. Of course, if we look at the Top 40 for the supposed week of the events, we'd see lots of songs that would be barely remembered now, so some liberty is natural. It's not a documentary, as the plot is "alternative history".

I don't remember the Robert W. jingle in the movie; remember that KHJ considerably promoted talent both horizontally and vertically. They would have had morning show promos on Sunday.

In 1969 KMET Averaged about a 0.8 share. KHJ averaged 9.5 to 9.6. KMET was not particularly relevant, and would have been a distraction from the story. KRLA had almost a 6 average, so were any other station featured, it would be that one. But KRLA was not as dynamic and in-your-face and less interesting for the plot.

Wallichs Music City at Vine and Sunset was, until Tower arrived in 1970, where you got music and tickets and stuff. At least in the area where the movie took place. But Wallach's is not greatly remembered, but Peaches was known in much of the US. Dramatic license, again.

 

[TheBigA]

In 1969 KMET Averaged about a 0.8 share. KHJ averaged 9.5 to 9.6. KMET was not particularly relevant, and would have been a distraction from the story.

I agree. Progressive rock radio was in its infancy at the time, and KMET really didn't become legendary until a few years later. I'd say around 1973 or 74. When you look at the music in the movie soundtrack, it was pretty much all Top 40. What was Lou Adler listening to in 1969? Probably KHJ.

 

[michael hagerty]

Just finished watching 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'. I very much enjoyed the movie and the look back to 1969. In 1969 I was just starting to listen to radio (but up in the Bay Area, so KFRC and KYA). For those old enough and living in LA in 1969, how much of the movie rings true? A few things that I noticed that didn't feel right...

1. Time period was 1969, but the music played was all from prior years. If I recall from those days, you only got 'oldies' played on the weekends ('Million dollar weekend'). Surprised Tarantino didn't go with music from 1969.
2. The movie has a scene indicating a Sunday morning and in the background you hear 'KHJ, Robert W. Morgan'. I'm fairly certain Robert W. Morgan would not have worked a Sunday morning.
3. Tarantino exclusively goes with KHJ as the soundtrack of 1969. How true was this? KMET started in 1968. Wouldn't KMET have been the soundtrack for the hipper crowd?
4. Peaches Records--read it opened in LA in 1974 (Tower came in 1971). What was the big record store in 1969?

Interested in thoughts, comments from those who lived through the era.

Adradio:

1. From 1960 on, most Top 40 stations played at least one oldie an hour. On KHJ, it was two, and more in middays. It was not saved just for "Million Dollar Weekends". All the KHJ you hear in "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood" was from actual KHJ airchecks.

2. Morgan (and all the KHJ jocks) worked six days a week. Morgan worked Saturday, not Sunday, so Tarantino bent reality a bit there. At that hour on a Sunday morning, KHJ would have been in religious or public affairs programming.

3. The ratings for fall, 1969 (a couple months after the end of the film):

[FONT=&quot]Pulse November/December 1969 Total Audience Share[/FONT][FONT=&quot]

1. KHJ (Top 40) 12.8
2. KGFJ (R&B) 8.0
3. KRLA (Top 40) 7.3
4. KABC (Talk) 6.5
5. KFWB (News) 6.3
6. KPOL (Beautiful) 5.8
7. KMPC (MOR) 4.8
8. KBCA-FM (Jazz) 3.8
9. KALI (Spanish) 3.5
10. KNX (News) 3.3
11. KFOX (Country) 3.0
12. KFI (MOR) 2.8
12. KWKW (Spanish) 2.8
14. KMET-FM (AOR) 2.5
14. KWIZ (?) 2.5
16. KOST-FM (Beautiful) 2.3
17. KHJ-FM (AC) 2.0
18. KUTE-FM (?) 1.5
18. KWST-FM (Beautiful) 1.5
20. KGIL (MOR) 1.3
20. KLAC (MOR) 1.3

Yes, KMET had a "hip" audience in '69, but a very small hip audience. They wouldn't really take off until 1975 when Shadoe Stevens was PD, and the big boom for KMET wasn't until '78. It was actually KLOS that beat KHJ first---at night---in 1972.

While we're on the topic, though---and I haven't seen anybody mention this---in the scene where Cliff takes on the Manson Family for the last time, he tunes an FM reciever (a Marantz) and the song, Vanilla Fudge's "You Keep Me Hangin' On", is a song that was never on the KHJ playlist. Here's the moment he does that:

https://youtu.be/9gxGFGEiCAs?t=130

My guess is that's Tarantino's under-the-radar way of signifying this as the night that L.A. changed from sunshine and pop on KHJ to some very weird stuff with FM as the soundtrack.

4. You're right about Peaches (and Tower). Again, Tarantino making his own reality. Wallach's Music City at Sunset and Vine (there were locations in the suburbs, too) was probably the biggest name and biggest volume seller, but they sold their records at full retail. A "sale" was a buck off.

Better deals could be had in the record departments of Sears, Broadway and The May Company, all of which advertised on radio and stocked the best-selling albums. Singer Sewing Centers sold 45s (because Singer also sold portable record players in those days). There were also a ton of independent record stores around Los Angeles in the 60s.

My favorite was Crane's in Inglewood, run by a rackjobber (a guy who bought the records at wholesale from the labels and then sold them to record stores at a profit). Crane opened a couple of storefronts on side streets, sold the records out of the factory cartons, and kept his overhead low so he could make a profit with very little markup. Albums were $2.49. Singles were 53 cents. He wasn't the only one out there at the time---and as the whole "headshop" thing happened, he bolstered the profit from the records with posters, paraphernalia and (if I remember correctly) some stereo gear. By '74, though, with Wherehouse, Tower, Peaches, Licorice Pizza, Music Plus and others all deep discounting, a lot of the little guys (and eventually Wallach's) were all toast.[/FONT]

 

[TheBigA]

Tarantino making his own reality.

They call that "creative license." Tarantino was 6 years old in 1969. Yes he lived in Southern California at the time. Yes he spent a lot of money trying to make it authentic, recreating buildings and scenes from the period. But he's also telling a story, and using music and media to do that. We're seeing a lot of similar criticism aimed at Clint Eastwood for his movie "Jewel."

 

[LKellerIII]

Adradio:

1. From 1960 on, most Top 40 stations played at least one oldie an hour. On KHJ, it was two, and more in middays. It was not saved just for "Million Dollar Weekends". All the KHJ you hear in "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood" was from actual KHJ airchecks.

2. Morgan (and all the KHJ jocks) worked six days a week. Morgan worked Saturday, not Sunday, so Tarantino bent reality a bit there. At that hour on a Sunday morning, KHJ would have been in religious or public affairs programming.

3. The ratings for fall, 1969 (a couple months after the end of the film):

[FONT=&quot]Pulse November/December 1969 Total Audience Share[/FONT][FONT=&quot]

1. KHJ (Top 40) 12.8
2. KGFJ (R&B) 8.0
3. KRLA (Top 40) 7.3
4. KABC (Talk) 6.5
5. KFWB (News) 6.3
6. KPOL (Beautiful) 5.8
7. KMPC (MOR) 4.8
8. KBCA-FM (Jazz) 3.8
9. KALI (Spanish) 3.5
10. KNX (News) 3.3
11. KFOX (Country) 3.0
12. KFI (MOR) 2.8
12. KWKW (Spanish) 2.8
14. KMET-FM (AOR) 2.5
14. KWIZ (?) 2.5
16. KOST-FM (Beautiful) 2.3
17. KHJ-FM (AC) 2.0
18. KUTE-FM (?) 1.5
18. KWST-FM (Beautiful) 1.5
20. KGIL (MOR) 1.3
20. KLAC (MOR) 1.3

Yes, KMET had a "hip" audience in '69, but a very small hip audience. They wouldn't really take off until 1975 when Shadoe Stevens was PD, and the big boom for KMET wasn't until '78. It was actually KLOS that beat KHJ first---at night---in 1972.

While we're on the topic, though---and I haven't seen anybody mention this---in the scene where Cliff takes on the Manson Family for the last time, he tunes an FM reciever (a Marantz) and the song, Vanilla Fudge's "You Keep Me Hangin' On", is a song that was never on the KHJ playlist. Here's the moment he does that:

https://youtu.be/9gxGFGEiCAs?t=130

My guess is that's Tarantino's under-the-radar way of signifying this as the night that L.A. changed from sunshine and pop on KHJ to some very weird stuff with FM as the soundtrack.

4. You're right about Peaches (and Tower). Again, Tarantino making his own reality. Wallach's Music City at Sunset and Vine (there were locations in the suburbs, too) was probably the biggest name and biggest volume seller, but they sold their records at full retail. A "sale" was a buck off.

Better deals could be had in the record departments of Sears, Broadway and The May Company, all of which advertised on radio and stocked the best-selling albums. Singer Sewing Centers sold 45s (because Singer also sold portable record players in those days). There were also a ton of independent record stores around Los Angeles in the 60s.

My favorite was Crane's in Inglewood, run by a rackjobber (a guy who bought the records at wholesale from the labels and then sold them to record stores at a profit). Crane opened a couple of storefronts on side streets, sold the records out of the factory cartons, and kept his overhead low so he could make a profit with very little markup. Albums were $2.49. Singles were 53 cents. He wasn't the only one out there at the time---and as the whole "headshop" thing happened, he bolstered the profit from the records with posters, paraphernalia and (if I remember correctly) some stereo gear. By '74, though, with Wherehouse, Tower, Peaches, Licorice Pizza, Music Plus and others all deep discounting, a lot of the little guys (and eventually Wallach's) were all toast.[/FONT]

Wow - KBCA was number 8! Loved that station....though a year or two later.

To add to Michael's very complete answer - KHJ definitely played oldies...uh..."goldens" - Monday through Friday, and the occasional "Double golden" - remember that jingle...uh...logo?. My memory is - the goldens were about every 4th song in drive, and often every other song in the less listened to day parts, such as 9:00 - 3:00 PM.

Michael is right - the weekday jocks all worked 6 days, though usually Saturday was the 6th day.

We had a discount appliance story in my LA suburb called the Hi-Fi Sound Mart - that sold LPs for only $3.95 - but then the Wherehouse opened a store in nearby Glendale about 1969. I could drive by then, so I'd commute to Glendale to by LPs - $2.95 at the Wherehouse.

 

[TheBigA]

Yes, KMET had a "hip" audience in '69, but a very small hip audience. They wouldn't really take off until 1975

I think if you broaden the view to other cities, you'd see the same thing. The father of west coast prog rock was Tom Donohue in San Francisco. He programmed Metromedia's KSAN in 1968. He was building a small but dedicated and hip audience at that time, and Metromedia could see there was potential. So they expanded the concept to their other major market O&Os, such as KMET in LA and WNEW in NY. ABC Radio was doing the same thing with their Love format at WABC-FM in NYC and KLOS.

Keep in mind that in the 60s, all radios didn't have access to FM. Major radio manufacturers (such as RCA) didn't begin adding FM to portables until after 1966 (usually for a few dollars more), and FM wasn't standard in cars until the 70s. So even if you wanted to hear FM, receiving it wasn't easy in the 60s. In the 70s, the home stereo boom contributed to the growth of FM. People could buy FM converters for their car radios. So by the end of the 70s, FM listening was eclipsing AM.

 

[michael hagerty]

Michael is right - the weekday jocks all worked 6 days, though usually Saturday was the 6th day.

Llew: Minor quibble about KHJ's sixth day. It depended on the jock. There was a weekend/fill-in jock (in 1969, Bill Wade), who'd do a shift both Saturday and Sunday. Weekend shifts were four hours except for Saturday evening and overnights, which were six. Morgan and Steele were back to back on Saturday so they could both start their weekends as early as possible. So, for August of '69, it would have looked like this:

Saturday:
12:00 a.m.-6:00 a.m.: Johnny Williams
6:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.: Robert W. Morgan
10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.: The Real Don Steele
2:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m.: Bill Wade
6:00 p.m.-12:00 midnight: Humble Harve

Sunday:
12:00 midnight-6:00 a.m.: Scotty Brink
6:00 a.m.-9:00 a.m.: Religion
9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.: Sam Riddle
1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.: Charlie Tuna
5:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m.: Bill Wade
10:00 p.m.-12:00 midnight: Public Affairs

 

[LKellerIII]

Adradio:

1. From 1960 on, most Top 40 stations played at least one oldie an hour. On KHJ, it was two, and more in middays. It was not saved just for "Million Dollar Weekends". All the KHJ you hear in "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood" was from actual KHJ airchecks.

2. Morgan (and all the KHJ jocks) worked six days a week. Morgan worked Saturday, not Sunday, so Tarantino bent reality a bit there. At that hour on a Sunday morning, KHJ would have been in religious or public affairs programming.

3. The ratings for fall, 1969 (a couple months after the end of the film):

[FONT=&quot]Pulse November/December 1969 Total Audience Share[/FONT][FONT=&quot]

1. KHJ (Top 40) 12.8
2. KGFJ (R&B) 8.0
3. KRLA (Top 40) 7.3
4. KABC (Talk) 6.5
5. KFWB (News) 6.3
6. KPOL (Beautiful) 5.8
7. KMPC (MOR) 4.8
8. KBCA-FM (Jazz) 3.8
9. KALI (Spanish) 3.5
10. KNX (News) 3.3
11. KFOX (Country) 3.0
12. KFI (MOR) 2.8
12. KWKW (Spanish) 2.8
14. KMET-FM (AOR) 2.5
14. KWIZ (?) 2.5
16. KOST-FM (Beautiful) 2.3
17. KHJ-FM (AC) 2.0
18. KUTE-FM (?) 1.5
18. KWST-FM (Beautiful) 1.5
20. KGIL (MOR) 1.3
20. KLAC (MOR) 1.3

Yes, KMET had a "hip" audience in '69, but a very small hip audience. They wouldn't really take off until 1975 when Shadoe Stevens was PD, and the big boom for KMET wasn't until '78. It was actually KLOS that beat KHJ first---at night---in 1972.

While we're on the topic, though---and I haven't seen anybody mention this---in the scene where Cliff takes on the Manson Family for the last time, he tunes an FM reciever (a Marantz) and the song, Vanilla Fudge's "You Keep Me Hangin' On", is a song that was never on the KHJ playlist. Here's the moment he does that:

https://youtu.be/9gxGFGEiCAs?t=130

My guess is that's Tarantino's under-the-radar way of signifying this as the night that L.A. changed from sunshine and pop on KHJ to some very weird stuff with FM as the soundtrack.

4. You're right about Peaches (and Tower). Again, Tarantino making his own reality. Wallach's Music City at Sunset and Vine (there were locations in the suburbs, too) was probably the biggest name and biggest volume seller, but they sold their records at full retail. A "sale" was a buck off.

Better deals could be had in the record departments of Sears, Broadway and The May Company, all of which advertised on radio and stocked the best-selling albums. Singer Sewing Centers sold 45s (because Singer also sold portable record players in those days). There were also a ton of independent record stores around Los Angeles in the 60s.

My favorite was Crane's in Inglewood, run by a rackjobber (a guy who bought the records at wholesale from the labels and then sold them to record stores at a profit). Crane opened a couple of storefronts on side streets, sold the records out of the factory cartons, and kept his overhead low so he could make a profit with very little markup. Albums were $2.49. Singles were 53 cents. He wasn't the only one out there at the time---and as the whole "headshop" thing happened, he bolstered the profit from the records with posters, paraphernalia and (if I remember correctly) some stereo gear. By '74, though, with Wherehouse, Tower, Peaches, Licorice Pizza, Music Plus and others all deep discounting, a lot of the little guys (and eventually Wallach's) were all toast.[/FONT]

Movies always twist history a bit to fit the story...and convenience. As a person who grew up knowing cars - brands and years - "historical" films are often a challenge for me. My favorite was a film set in World War II that had the characters driving around in a 1955 Chevy army staff car.

To add to Michael's answer - he is right - the KHJ weekday jocks did work a 6 day schedule, but usually Saturday, not Sunday. KHJ definitely played oldies...uh..."goldens" on the weekdays - in my memory - about every 4th song was a golden during drive times, and as many as every other song on other day parts, like 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM. There were even the occasional "double goldens" - remember that jingle...uh...logo?

In my LA suburb, there was a discount appliance store - the "Hi-Fi Sound Mart" - that sold LPs in a rack between the washers and dryers - for $3.95. But then the Wherehouse opened in nearby Glendale about '69 or '70, where they cost only $2.95.

 

[michael hagerty]

Movies always twist history a bit to fit the story...and convenience. As a person who grew up knowing cars - brands and years - "historical" films are often a challenge for me. My favorite was a film set in World War II that had the characters driving around in a 1955 Chevy army staff car.

To add to Michael's answer - he is right - the KHJ weekday jocks did work a 6 day schedule, but usually Saturday, not Sunday. KHJ definitely played oldies...uh..."goldens" on the weekdays - in my memory - about every 4th song was a golden during drive times, and as many as every other song on other day parts, like 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM. There were even the occasional "double goldens" - remember that jingle...uh...logo?

In my LA suburb, there was a discount appliance store - the "Hi-Fi Sound Mart" - that sold LPs in a rack between the washers and dryers - for $3.95. But then the Wherehouse opened in nearby Glendale about '69 or '70, where they cost only $2.95.

Llew: Looks like you duplicated a post. See my earlier response---some KHJ jocks worked Saturday, some worked Sunday.

 

[LKellerIII]

I think if you broaden the view to other cities, you'd see the same thing. The father of west coast prog rock was Tom Donohue in San Francisco. He programmed Metromedia's KSAN in 1968. He was building a small but dedicated and hip audience at that time, and Metromedia could see there was potential. So they expanded the concept to their other major market O&Os, such as KMET in LA and WNEW in NY. ABC Radio was doing the same thing with their Love format at WABC-FM in NYC and KLOS.

Keep in mind that in the 60s, all radios didn't have access to FM. Major radio manufacturers (such as RCA) didn't begin adding FM to portables until after 1966 (usually for a few dollars more), and FM wasn't standard in cars until the 70s. So even if you wanted to hear FM, receiving it wasn't easy in the 60s. In the 70s, the home stereo boom contributed to the growth of FM. People could buy FM converters for their car radios. So by the end of the 70s, FM listening was eclipsing AM.

In September of '69, I started college at UCLA, lived in a dorm, and my roommates were into the prog rock stations in a big way, so I got into it, too. B. Mitchell Reed was already at KMET, but the station was only rock for part of the day...I want to say afternoon and evening, but don't recall for sure. The other day parts were still the old format - "beautiful" music. But KPPC 106.7 was going strong 24 hours with their original crew - the Obscene Steven Clean (Segal), Les Carter, and all. KABC-FM was still running the "Love" format, before flipping to local programming with KLOS.

Nobody's car had an FM radio, though, so most of us listened to KDAY 1580 in the car, which shortly thereafter (mid 1970, maybe) flipped from Top 40 to album rock. I recall that Sam Riddle did afternoons.

 

[adradio]

Great replies. Based on those 1969 ratings, Tarantino got it right, KHJ ruled the airwaves in LA. Easy to see how the DJs were celebrities with ratings like that.

Wallichs Music City (which I've read about), felt similar to Sherman and Clay in the Bay Area. More of an instruments and sheet music place that also had records. The first 45 I purchased (Beatles' Come Together/Something) in November '69, was at Macy's (San Francisco) which I recall carried albums and 45's (but only the current Top 40). I think I paid about $1.00 for it (pretty expensive). I recall it was almost impossible to find singles from a few years back in those days as stores only stocked the current Top 40. It would be like trying to find an old magazine at a store. But I do also remember places like Woolworths having a small bin of old (cut out) 45's selling 3 for $1.00 around that time, but it was random stuff.

 

[michael hagerty]

In September of '69, I started college at UCLA, lived in a dorm, and my roommates were into the prog rock stations in a big way, so I got into it, too. B. Mitchell Reed was already at KMET, but the station was only rock for part of the day...I want to say afternoon and evening, but don't recall for sure. The other day parts were still the old format - "beautiful" music. But KPPC 106.7 was going strong 24 hours with their original crew - the Obscene Steven Clean (Segal), Les Carter, and all. KABC-FM was still running the "Love" format, before flipping to local programming with KLOS.

Nobody's car had an FM radio, though, so most of us listened to KDAY 1580 in the car, which shortly thereafter (mid 1970, maybe) flipped from Top 40 to album rock. I recall that Sam Riddle did afternoons.

Llew:

I'm sorry, but I have to nitpick.

KMET went all in when it went album rock in June of 1968---"Metro Music West" was dead and gone. What it didn't do was go all live---BMR was the only live jock, Donahue was recorded and the rest of the day was automated, but not beautiful. BMR would do extended sets of jazz (Bill Evans was a favorite of his), but they did not run a split format.

KDAY went to an album-leaning approach in '71. Sam went over there after leaving KHJ in '70. Art Astor, former sales manager at KHJ, had become GM at KDAY, so Sam had an in.

 

[michael hagerty]

Great replies. Based on those 1969 ratings, Tarantino got it right, KHJ ruled the airwaves in LA. Easy to see how the DJs were celebrities with ratings like that.

Wallichs Music City (which I've read about), felt similar to Sherman and Clay in the Bay Area. More of an instruments and sheet music place that also had records. The first 45 I purchased (Beatles' Come Together/Something) in November '69, was at Macy's (San Francisco) which I recall carried albums and 45's (but only the current Top 40). I think I paid about $1.00 for it (pretty expensive). I recall it was almost impossible to find singles from a few years back in those days as stores only stocked the current Top 40. It would be like trying to find an old magazine at a store. But I do also remember places like Woolworths having a small bin of old (cut out) 45's selling 3 for $1.00 around that time, but it was random stuff.

Adradio:

Sherman Clay was in Los Angeles, as well. Wallach's was much more committed to records than Sherman Clay. Music City was pretty much a 50/50 split between instruments and records---HUGE sections of both.

Wallach's really only had two things going for it---listening booths and the fact that, if it was in print, Wallach's would have a copy. You'd pay full list, but they'd have it. Nobody did that---until Tower. But Tower would have FIVE copies of everything and you'd pay $3.29 instead of $4.98.

 

[michael hagerty]

Llew:

I'm sorry, but I have to nitpick.

KMET went all in when it went album rock in June of 1968---"Metro Music West" was dead and gone. What it didn't do was go all live---BMR was the only live jock, Donahue was recorded and the rest of the day was automated, but not beautiful. BMR would do extended sets of jazz (Bill Evans was a favorite of his), but they did not run a split format.

KDAY went to an album-leaning approach in '71. Sam went over there after leaving KHJ in '70. Art Astor, former sales manager at KHJ, had become GM at KDAY, so Sam had an in.

And now I have to correct myself. KMET began with four hours (8-midnight) when it launched in June of 1968, then rapidly expanded. It was at 20 hours a day by July. As late as October, it was simulcasting KLAC for an hour of news between 6 and 7 a.m. and kept MOR music in the mornings between 7:00 and 10:00 a.m. as late as October of 1968. (source: Billboard magazines from the era at americanradiohistory.com)

There was a strike in the late spring of 1969, and Metromedia corporate managers took over the programming and on-air roles for a few weeks. I'm wondering if that's when you sampled. After the strike, L.David Moorehead replaced Tom Donahue as PD.

 

[Marv]

As a 16-year 10th grader at Dorsey High School in LA in 1968, I can vouch that KHJ had 'gold' in their library, since I was stunned when I heard Humble Harve play 'Jumpin' Jack Flash' as an oldie (I believe the jingle was 'boss golden') barely a month after it fell out of their Boss 30 Countdown survey, sometime either just before or during the World Series (Cardinals/Tigers), which would have meant September or October.

I also remember buying CCR's 'Green River' album at a Singer Sewing machine store in the Leimert Park area of LA the following year, for which I paid $2.69.

 

[ChannelFlipper]

And now I have to correct myself. KMET began with four hours (8-midnight) when it launched in June of 1968, then rapidly expanded. It was at 20 hours a day by July. As late as October, it was simulcasting KLAC for an hour of news between 6 and 7 a.m. and kept MOR music in the mornings between 7:00 and 10:00 a.m. as late as October of 1968. (source: Billboard magazines from the era at americanradiohistory.com)

There was a strike in the late spring of 1969, and Metromedia corporate managers took over the programming and on-air roles for a few weeks. I'm wondering if that's when you sampled. After the strike, L.David Moorehead replaced Tom Donahue as PD.

I am too young, but my dad says that KMET was commercial free for at least a month when it launched. Anyone have any info on that?

 

[davideduardo]

I am too young, but my dad says that KMET was commercial free for at least a month when it launched. Anyone have any info on that?

I don't know specifically about KMET, but in that era stations often ran several months with no ads as nobody bought time on a new station.

My first station ran no ads for 6 months, until a ratings survey was done. After that, it sold out in 30 days.

 

[b-turner]

I can attest to no commercials for a good while when a station flipped formats back then. In Dallas/Fort Worth, KFWD 102.1 switched from beautiful music to top 40 and I suspect it was a good 6 months before the first commercial aired. Even some flips when there was a combo, the FM might not run a commercial for a month or so, or at best have perhaps a spot an hour at most. This was back in the last half of the 1960s thru at least about 1974 or 1975. Somewhere around 1977 KFJZ FM appeared as a Top 40 going commercial free (and announcing commercial free hour number xxx and then commercial free day number ??). As I recal they had a big contest for when the first commercial played.

In Kansas City about 1968, KXTR, an FM that seemingly aired only 'certain hours' ( i was a kid but I think evenings and then maybe 12 to 18 hours a day weekends) went 24/7 with Classical Noon to Midnight, Jazz overnights and Beautiful Music until noon. I knew a couple of the jocks. They knew I had a part 15 and let us grab all the AP ticker news stories from the trash can for that little part 15. I recall they got their first big advertiser about month 3 and within a year they were bragging they have about 20 commercials a day. They weren't cheap: open rate $25 in 1969!

 

[michael hagerty]

I am too young, but my dad says that KMET was commercial free for at least a month when it launched. Anyone have any info on that?

It might have been close to that. No way to prove for sure. KMET launched the freeform concept on June 2, 1968, airing from 8:00 p.m. until 2:00 a.m. I'd be surprised, though, because Donahue went out and hustled advertising on KMPX and KSAN from the get-go, to prove the format had economic legs. And Metromedia rapidly expanded the format, to the point that by July 1, it was 20 hours of KMET's broadcast day.

The earliest aircheck that I'm aware of is June 27, 1968. It begins with a commercial.