“The very first words I uttered on radio myself, I said, ‘This is K-S-A-N San Francisco,’ and it was in 1943,” says Laboe describing how he finagled a job at the station in part because the war had emptied the station of technicians and he had a first-class radiotelephone license.
“The radio stations were trying to be very formal in those days, they weren’t like they are now,” Laboe says of the mix of news and scripted dramas and comedies that dominated the airwaves at the time. But late at night, before KSAN-AM signed off at midnight, he had free reign to spin records by big bands and jazz singers, and eventually started asking listeners to call in if they wanted to hear a particular song.
“We started that — dedications — and they became much bigger,” he says. “More and more people wanted dedications. You’re carrying an emotional message because it’s actually your loved one’s voice.
www.tmz.com
