Phoenix and Tucson fans of Alternative/Modern Rock/Indie and live local music from the 70s-00s no doubt remember Jonathan L for everything from his independent journalist beginnings through his self-published pop culture and local live music scene magazine “Newsreal” and the founding of his local radio show “Virgin Vinyl” in Tucson to his pioneering Alternative Music format radio work in the Phoenix market.
His start in radio began on Tucson station KLPX in 1982 hosting his weekly Sunday night cutting edge underground music show “Virgin Vinyl”. In 1986 Jonathan moved up to the Valley and co-started the short-lived but fondly remembered 100.3 KEYX “The Key” with John Dixon a.k.a. “Johnny D”. Jonathan was both Music Director and Assistant Program Director at The Key as well as their weeknight on air personality. After The Key became broadcast history Jonathan brought his old show, Virgin Vinyl, back to Sunday nights on new host station 98 KUPD. Soon after, in 1989, Jonathan took over KUPD sister station KUKQ AM and implemented an all Alternative Music format, paving the way for future Alternative format stations like KEDJ “The Edge” and today's 93.3 “Alt AZ” that he was not affiliated with. Someone had to do it first, when it was an uphill battle to establish, and that someone was Jonathan L.
Between 1989 and 1992 Jonathan organized multiple KUKQ “Q-Fest” music festivals that featured countless artists including The Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Sisters of Mercy, The Sugarcubes, Soul Asylum, Camper Van Beethoven, Social Distortion and The Gin Blossoms while they were all either up and coming or in their prime.
Over the subsequent years Jonathan moved to KFMA in Wickenburg, back to KQ, to KDKB, and again back to the final, more hardcore Alternative formatted incarnation of KUKQ that I personally had a shift on. It was also home to the groundbreaking “Monday Morning Music Meeting Live” radio show. On Monday mornings KQ program and music directors Jonathan L and Larry Mac would hold their weekly meeting to review new music under consideration for addition to the rotation. Instead of holding this meeting privately like all others in the industry do, Jonathan and Larry broadcast their meeting live on the air every week and included not only all the KQ on air personalities and special guests, but most importantly the listening audience via calling in to directly participate in the meeting that decided what music got added to and played on the station. Everyone had a say on what that KUKQ played.
In 1995 the station owners changed the KQ format to sports. Jonathan temporarily moved on from radio and went to Los Angeles where he accepted an offer to become senior editor of the Album Network industry trade publication. During his ten years in Los Angeles he also hosted Album Network radio specials, ascended to Vice President at Album Network and eventually left that all behind to start and operate his own record promotion company.
In 2005 Jonathan returned to Phoenix and radio at KUPD to host a new Sunday night show he called “The Lopsided World of L”. In 2010 he left AZ for the final time after meeting the love of his life, Gaby, and moving to Berlin to be with her. From Berlin Jonathan rebooted “The Lopsided World of L”, broadcasting the show internationally from his home in Germany. Over the years the international version of LWoL was broadcast on terrestrial radio in several countries, including the U.S. on many radio stations and could be heard both here in the Valley on KWSS FM 93.9 and in Tucson on KFMA Rock 102.1 FM. Jonathan was nominated five times and twice won, in 2015 & 2017, Best International Radio Personality at the Annual World Wide Radio Summit in Los Angeles.
Recently Jonathan ended his show, stating he wanted to focus on writing his memoir full time . What he didn't reveal publicly is that he was battling cancer as well. We lost Jonathan L on September 9th, 2023. He lived an extraordinary life.
The following is from my Facebook page:
“Dick Clark said “Music is the soundtrack of our lives”. I've never known a single person who worked as hard as Jonathan L to make the soundtrack of the lives of his listeners, readers, fans and friends eclectic, fresh and ever-growing. His passion to find and share great new music also had the effect of changing the lives of the countless musical artists who were the source of all that music he dedicated himself to finding and sharing over the airwaves. He was a pioneer in Arizona radio and beyond, programming the music of Indie artists who deserved to be heard by the masses, BUT otherwise were overlooked because of how their obscure and different styles categorized them vs how the mainstream music industry works. It took the pure chutzpah of a street punk born in Flatbush, Brooklyn to defy convention and bring the sounds of these underground artists to our ears, whether through the radio stations he programmed like KEYX and KUKQ or his radios shows, Virgin Vinyl and The Lopsided World of L. His influence stretched well beyond Arizona and had an affect on the entire industry because if Jonathan L played it other radio programmers around the country took notice and followed suit. I haven't even touched on the huge music festivals he coordinated or his writing for industry trade publications. Jonathan, a former juvenile delinquent, not only changed his own life for the better but also positively impacted countless others. He transformed aspiring musical artists, turning many into household names, boosted the careers of DJs and radio professionals, and contributed to the inclusion of music into the soundtrack of your life.
To many of my friends reading this, his is a name you may not know, BUT there's music you eventually heard and records/CDs that ended up in your collections because Jonathan L dared to play it on the air first.”
Thanks for reading and remembering Jonathan L with me.
Additional Sources:
Public contributers, Jonathan L, Jonathan L - Wikipedia, 09/29/2023
Jim Nintzel, Jonathan L., who shaped Tucson music scene with radio & writing, dead at 76, Tucson Sentinel, Sep 15, 2023, Jonathan L., who shaped Tucson music scene with radio & writing, dead at 76 | Obituary
His start in radio began on Tucson station KLPX in 1982 hosting his weekly Sunday night cutting edge underground music show “Virgin Vinyl”. In 1986 Jonathan moved up to the Valley and co-started the short-lived but fondly remembered 100.3 KEYX “The Key” with John Dixon a.k.a. “Johnny D”. Jonathan was both Music Director and Assistant Program Director at The Key as well as their weeknight on air personality. After The Key became broadcast history Jonathan brought his old show, Virgin Vinyl, back to Sunday nights on new host station 98 KUPD. Soon after, in 1989, Jonathan took over KUPD sister station KUKQ AM and implemented an all Alternative Music format, paving the way for future Alternative format stations like KEDJ “The Edge” and today's 93.3 “Alt AZ” that he was not affiliated with. Someone had to do it first, when it was an uphill battle to establish, and that someone was Jonathan L.
Between 1989 and 1992 Jonathan organized multiple KUKQ “Q-Fest” music festivals that featured countless artists including The Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Sisters of Mercy, The Sugarcubes, Soul Asylum, Camper Van Beethoven, Social Distortion and The Gin Blossoms while they were all either up and coming or in their prime.
Over the subsequent years Jonathan moved to KFMA in Wickenburg, back to KQ, to KDKB, and again back to the final, more hardcore Alternative formatted incarnation of KUKQ that I personally had a shift on. It was also home to the groundbreaking “Monday Morning Music Meeting Live” radio show. On Monday mornings KQ program and music directors Jonathan L and Larry Mac would hold their weekly meeting to review new music under consideration for addition to the rotation. Instead of holding this meeting privately like all others in the industry do, Jonathan and Larry broadcast their meeting live on the air every week and included not only all the KQ on air personalities and special guests, but most importantly the listening audience via calling in to directly participate in the meeting that decided what music got added to and played on the station. Everyone had a say on what that KUKQ played.
In 1995 the station owners changed the KQ format to sports. Jonathan temporarily moved on from radio and went to Los Angeles where he accepted an offer to become senior editor of the Album Network industry trade publication. During his ten years in Los Angeles he also hosted Album Network radio specials, ascended to Vice President at Album Network and eventually left that all behind to start and operate his own record promotion company.
In 2005 Jonathan returned to Phoenix and radio at KUPD to host a new Sunday night show he called “The Lopsided World of L”. In 2010 he left AZ for the final time after meeting the love of his life, Gaby, and moving to Berlin to be with her. From Berlin Jonathan rebooted “The Lopsided World of L”, broadcasting the show internationally from his home in Germany. Over the years the international version of LWoL was broadcast on terrestrial radio in several countries, including the U.S. on many radio stations and could be heard both here in the Valley on KWSS FM 93.9 and in Tucson on KFMA Rock 102.1 FM. Jonathan was nominated five times and twice won, in 2015 & 2017, Best International Radio Personality at the Annual World Wide Radio Summit in Los Angeles.
Recently Jonathan ended his show, stating he wanted to focus on writing his memoir full time . What he didn't reveal publicly is that he was battling cancer as well. We lost Jonathan L on September 9th, 2023. He lived an extraordinary life.
The following is from my Facebook page:
“Dick Clark said “Music is the soundtrack of our lives”. I've never known a single person who worked as hard as Jonathan L to make the soundtrack of the lives of his listeners, readers, fans and friends eclectic, fresh and ever-growing. His passion to find and share great new music also had the effect of changing the lives of the countless musical artists who were the source of all that music he dedicated himself to finding and sharing over the airwaves. He was a pioneer in Arizona radio and beyond, programming the music of Indie artists who deserved to be heard by the masses, BUT otherwise were overlooked because of how their obscure and different styles categorized them vs how the mainstream music industry works. It took the pure chutzpah of a street punk born in Flatbush, Brooklyn to defy convention and bring the sounds of these underground artists to our ears, whether through the radio stations he programmed like KEYX and KUKQ or his radios shows, Virgin Vinyl and The Lopsided World of L. His influence stretched well beyond Arizona and had an affect on the entire industry because if Jonathan L played it other radio programmers around the country took notice and followed suit. I haven't even touched on the huge music festivals he coordinated or his writing for industry trade publications. Jonathan, a former juvenile delinquent, not only changed his own life for the better but also positively impacted countless others. He transformed aspiring musical artists, turning many into household names, boosted the careers of DJs and radio professionals, and contributed to the inclusion of music into the soundtrack of your life.
To many of my friends reading this, his is a name you may not know, BUT there's music you eventually heard and records/CDs that ended up in your collections because Jonathan L dared to play it on the air first.”
Thanks for reading and remembering Jonathan L with me.
Additional Sources:
Public contributers, Jonathan L, Jonathan L - Wikipedia, 09/29/2023
Jim Nintzel, Jonathan L., who shaped Tucson music scene with radio & writing, dead at 76, Tucson Sentinel, Sep 15, 2023, Jonathan L., who shaped Tucson music scene with radio & writing, dead at 76 | Obituary
