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Radio by the Bay
- Thread starter Bay Radiohead
- Start date
And BIG news: Chris Sharpe is pulling the KFRC Mobile Studio (affectionately known as the Sturgeon) out of storage and it WILL be at Radio Day by the Bay this Saturday.
I haven't seen it in 43 years. I'll be there!
I haven't seen it in 43 years. I'll be there!
A terrific day at Radio Day by the Bay! The first person I met was @Bay Radiohead himself!
It's been eight years since the last time I attended and entered the museum, which has undergone a tremendous renovation inside and out.
It's been eight years since the last time I attended and entered the museum, which has undergone a tremendous renovation inside and out.
And an amazing array of exhibits and radios for sale:
MCing the presentations, drawings, auction, live radio play and music performances were Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame members Hoyt Smith (KIOI, KDFC) and Sylvia Chacon (KSFO/KYA/KFRC/KIOI/KISQ)...
...and Ben Fong-Torres (Rolling Stone magazine, KSAN, KFRC) and Celeste Perry (KFRC, KYA, KKSF, KBLX).
...and Ben Fong-Torres (Rolling Stone magazine, KSAN, KFRC) and Celeste Perry (KFRC, KYA, KKSF, KBLX).
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Wish I could have been there. I have back surgery on Tuesday and did not want to risk traveling. Instead, I donated a nifty new book and magazine scanner to the museum, and they started using it on Wednesday.
In 1980, KFRC Chief Engineer Phil Lerza bought a used 1975 GMC Motorhome and built a mobile studio. The disc jockeys nicknamed it "The Sturgeon".
It broadcast live all over Northern California and Nevada until RKO shipped it down to KHJ and KRTH in the fall of 1983.
They couldn't make the kind of use KFRC did out of it, so within three years, it was back in the Bay Area, with a then-new KFRC logo:
And it was soon repainted with the Magic 61 logo (1986-93) and again for the oldies incarnation of KFRC (99.7/610).
It broadcast live all over Northern California and Nevada until RKO shipped it down to KHJ and KRTH in the fall of 1983.
They couldn't make the kind of use KFRC did out of it, so within three years, it was back in the Bay Area, with a then-new KFRC logo:
And it was soon repainted with the Magic 61 logo (1986-93) and again for the oldies incarnation of KFRC (99.7/610).
It was registered to KFRC-AM, so when Family Life Radio bought the station in 2005, The Sturgeon came with it. FLR had no use for it, and donated it to the NPR station in Santa Cruz, which used it for a few years to cover the Monterey Jazz Festival, but eventually parked near the back of their lot.
In 2014, former KFRC employee Bill Shakespeare bought the Sturgeon back and set to work restoring it to its original glory.
Once it was finished he sold it to Chris Sharpe, who worked at KFRC as an intern in his teens. And today, Chris brought the Sturgeon to Radio Day by the Bay:
In 2014, former KFRC employee Bill Shakespeare bought the Sturgeon back and set to work restoring it to its original glory.
Once it was finished he sold it to Chris Sharpe, who worked at KFRC as an intern in his teens. And today, Chris brought the Sturgeon to Radio Day by the Bay:
All of Dr. Don Rose's sound effect carts are there, along with a few 80s hits, all on the original cartridges:
As are the original cart decks---stereo single-plays for the music because KFRC was AM stereo---and stereo triple-plays for spots, jingles and promos.
They told me to stand at the board and put on the Koss Pro-4AAs for a photo.
The last person I saw standing there was Jackson Armstrong in 1982...from outside. I am not worthy. But I am also not passing up a chance like this so...
And in my brain, the words "KFRC, San Francisco with the best music in stereo. The only radio station that's moving while you're listening. Ten O'Clock and I'm Mike Hagerty." (as I flawlessly hit the post to the Raspberries' "Go All The Way").
There was actually a computer running an unscoped Rick Shaw aircheck, but a guy can dream, right?
Also, I came home with a gift I bought myself. Longtime (now retired) KCBS Morning News anchor Stan Bunger has written a book---Mornings With Madden---the story of the 20 years that the legendary NFL coach John Madden had a regular spot on Stan's newscast at 8:15 a.m. Stan autographed it for me today and it will join my copy of Ben Fong-Torres' And The Hits Just Keep On Comin' (autographed in 1998 by Ben, Dr. Don Rose and Dave Sholin) on the media shelf of my bookcase when I've finished reading it.
Here's the events calendar:
Events - California Historical Radio Society
Upcoming Events Past Events
californiahistoricalradio.com
The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. every Wednesday and Saturday.
Did the Koss headphones still work or were they just for show?
They work. Pro4AAs are indestructible. You’ll get a short in the cord every four or five years and the fluid-filled cushions will leak at about the same interval, but Koss still repairs them.
And the Pro4AAs are incredibly cheap!
I paid $50 for my first set of Pro4AAs at Pacific Stereo in San Luis Obispo in the spring of 1974. That's $337.41 adjusted.
Today, you can get them for $79.99.
Although I will say I'd gladly pay 20 bucks more for a pair of Sony MDR 7506s (my cans of choice for 25 years now).
Those Pro4AAs weigh a ton.
Those replaced my Koss several years ago, and I've never had a problem with them.
My first pair lasted 20 years. When I got the gig at Capital Public Radio, I treated myself to a new pair.