Which Beautiful/Easy Listening Orchestras Were Better or Worse Than Others and Why

[K.M. Richards]

From the airchecks I've heard, Dr. Don Rose was easier to take. His was still very much a foreground personality, but there was a silliness that lightened things up.

Dr. Don was one of a kind. I never heard any morning personality getting away at laughing at his own jokes, instead being more beloved as a result of doing so.

I am not an aircheck collector, but I have more airchecks of him than anyone else (including my own library of skimmer cassettes from my days at Y97).

 

[Huff]

Mr. McLendon in a 1975 interview:

 

[michael hagerty]

From the airchecks I've heard, Dr. Don Rose was easier to take. His was still very much a foreground personality, but there was a silliness that lightened things up. Everything about that KTNQ aircheck made me feel like I was under attack: the rapid-fire delivery, the slash-and-burn audio processing, and Don Steele coming across like the loudest drunk in the bar.

Just a note that the comparison was the PDs of KFRC and KHJ doing essentially the same thing and KFRC succeeding where KHJ failed.

While Dr. Don was, as K.M. notes, one of a kind, Charlie Tuna wasn't oppressive, either...warm, personable and punch-line style humor:

Tuna wound up on KTNQ after having enough of John Sebastian making him into a liner-card reader which Les Garland did not do with DDR.

And your characterization of TenQ----well, Tuna didn't change his act once he got there (but by then they'd announced they were going to change formats---which wound up being a sale)----but, yeah...

Look, any top of the hour ID that includes gunfire...

 

[K.M. Richards]

And your characterization of TenQ----well, Tuna didn't change his act once he got there (but by then they'd announced they were going to change formats---which wound up being a sale)----but, yeah...

And he did survive the move to FM and subsequent ownership change, under new PD Bobby Rich.

 

[davideduardo]

I just ran across a Kansas City Times article from July 1980 about changes that former Top 40 KBEQ had been undergoing, including a sharp reduction of "disc jockey chatter". KBEQ was another "Super Q" follower, explictly modeled on St. Louis' KSLQ. The author, Steve Nicely, quoted the new program director, Randy Lane:

KSLQ was part of a trio, loosely modeled after their KCBQ. WMYQ in Miami, WDRQ in Detroit and the St. Louis one you mention.

 

[michael hagerty]

And he did survive the move to FM and subsequent ownership change, under new PD Bobby Rich.

....and outlived everyone after that. He was on that frequency for seven years, moving to KRLA in the fall of '86 when KHTZ (by then KBZT) became KLSX.

 

[Mark Roberts]

Just a note that the comparison was the PDs of KFRC and KHJ doing essentially the same thing and KFRC succeeding where KHJ failed.

While Dr. Don was, as K.M. notes, one of a kind, Charlie Tuna wasn't oppressive, either...warm, personable and punch-line style humor:

Dry sense of humor, if a fast talker. Probably would've worked for me as a listener. But guys like that stand out for me because they're so rare.

To be blunt about it, I can think of only two DJs I worked with who had that level of talent. One still needed to be put on a leash from time to time; the other left radio for a music career.

Look, any top of the hour ID that includes gunfire...

The cacophony alone would have sent me over to easy listening, and I don't make a statement like that lightly.

Once again, what were they thinking? It all sounded out of control.

 

[michael hagerty]

Dry sense of humor, if a fast talker. Probably would've worked for me as a listener. But guys like that stand out for me because they're so rare.

To be blunt about it, I can think of only two DJs I worked with who had that level of talent. One still needed to be put on a leash from time to time; the other left radio for a music career.

Tuna was all about discipline and control. His polar opposite was Robert W. Morgan, who could be disciplined, but when a wild hair hit...

The cacophony alone would have sent me over to easy listening, and I don't make a statement like that lightly.

Once again, what were they thinking? It all sounded out of control.

As I said before, it was a San Diego sound (based on KCBQ from 1971-75) with the Real Don Steele, a million bucks worth of Storer's money and what I imagine was a Mt. Everest of cocaine.

Here's KCBQ in 1973---again with Rich Brother Robbin:

All that's missing is the gunfire ID.

It worked in San Diego.

But what I can't believe Jimi Fox (the original PD) and Storer didn't understand was that everything worked in San Diego back in the 70s. With only one exception (KSEA) every new Top 40 station there wound up either toppling or seriously threatening the established #1 station within a book or two.

L.A. (with one exception---KHJ in '65) was never like that. It took years to build an audience in that town.

After KHJ hit number one, KGBS tried Top 40, KDAY tried top 40, KKDJ tried Top 40, KIQQ tried Top 40...

And nobody had ever tried the hyped-up "Q" approach...even at its peak...and this was way past its peak.

I don't know if KTNQ could have succeeded no matter what it did, but I'm pretty sure it would have done better if:

• It hadn't been so fatiguing for adults to listen to.

• It had hired big name jocks in the market. Steele counted, but Steele had been off the air for more than two years. They needed a big name in mornings. Morgan was doing weekends at KMPC---he had a long-range plan there, but working with Steele again might have proven irresistible. Tuna was still at KIIS-FM and five months later defected to KHJ. They probably could have snagged Tuna. For the right money, Jim Carson would probably have jumped from K-100 for middays. He'd moved on to consulting, but again, for the right bucks, Billy Pearl might have been lured for evenings. If not, I'm sure they could have pulled Humble Harve away from KIIS.

• It hadn't tried to break so many records at once (especially since the vast majority were stiffs---they never really "beat" KHJ on anything that mattered)

Even then, though, it was up against KHJ and (starting about the same time) the much more listenable KFI and the real action was on FM anyway.

 

[K.M. Richards]

Once again, what were they thinking? It all sounded out of control.

It was supposed to, according to Freddy Snakeskin, who got that from PD Jimi Fox (Freddy worked at Ten-Q as Dave Trout before jumping over to KROQ).

 

[davideduardo]

I don't know if KTNQ could have succeeded no matter what it did, but I'm pretty sure it would have done better if:

• It hadn't been so fatiguing for adults to listen to.
• It had hired big name jocks in the market. Steele counted, but Steele had been off the air for more than two years. They needed a big name in mornings. Morgan was doing weekends at KMPC---he had a long-range plan there, but working with Steele again might have proven irresistible. Tuna was still at KIIS-FM and five months later defected to KHJ. They probably could have snagged Tuna. For the right money, Jim Carson would probably have jumped from K-100 for middays. He'd moved on to consulting, but again, for the right bucks, Billy Pearl might have been lured for evenings. If not, I'm sure they could have pulled Humble Harve away from KIIS.
• It hadn't tried to break so many records at once (especially since the vast majority were stiffs---they never really "beat" KHJ on anything that mattered)

And KTNQ has a very tight directional pattern. It is only fair in the farther parts of the San Fernando Valley, has little signal to the east of City of Industry in the San Gabriel Valley and is fair daytime and not good at night in the northern parts of Orange County. KHJ, despite the power difference, had a better overall metro survey area coverage.

 

[K.M. Richards]

And KTNQ has a very tight directional pattern. It is only fair in the farther parts of the San Fernando Valley, has little signal to the east of City of Industry in the San Gabriel Valley and is fair daytime and not good at night in the northern parts of Orange County. KHJ, despite the power difference, had a better overall metro survey area coverage.

I used to hear it very clearly up in Ventura, where Ten-Q actually stole some audience from KACY.

 

[davideduardo]

I used to hear it very clearly up in Ventura, where Ten-Q actually stole some audience from KACY.

Once it got to the water, it was even a local in Hawai'i. Our overnight show used to get at least one call a night from there!

 

[michael hagerty]

Once it got to the water, it was even a local in Hawai'i. Our overnight show used to get at least one call a night from there!

In fact, in their first week of the night signal back in '76, they had an "instant winner" promo with a caller from Hawaii.

 

[michael hagerty]

...and Don Steele coming across like the loudest drunk in the bar.

Which he probably was.

Robert W. Morgan used to tell a great story about when he and Steele were at KHJ. A popular music industry hangout at the time was Martoni on Cahuenga (gone now, irreparably damaged in the '94 Northridge quake).



MORGAN:

"Steele and I were at Martoni, having a couple of drinks just to relax. Don had relaxed several times.

Sinatra and his entourage came in and went straight back to the private dining room. Didn't pay much attention to it. Not unusual.

About half an hour after they arrive, Steele needed to go to the little boy's room, so he gets up and starts staggering toward the men's room, kinda bouncing off one wall and into the other along the hallway.

And he bounces straight through the curtain that separated the private dining room from the hallway.

I ran...got there just in time to see Don pirouette and then land---seat first----in a plate of pasta.


Sinatra's plate of pasta.

Five guys reach into their coats.

Don looks up, sees Frank...








....and starts to sing "Witchcraft."

Thank God Sinatra laughed, and said "get your friend outta here". The guys' hands came out of their jackets...empty."

 

[KilowattKat]

Which he probably was.

Robert W. Morgan used to tell a great story about when he and Steele were at KHJ. A popular music industry hangout at the time was Martoni on Cahuenga (gone now, irreparably damaged in the '94 Northridge quake).

View attachment 10117

MORGAN:

"Steele and I were at Martoni, having a couple of drinks just to relax. Don had relaxed several times.

Sinatra and his entourage came in and went straight back to the private dining room. Didn't pay much attention to it. Not unusual.

About half an hour after they arrive, Steele needed to go to the little boy's room, so he gets up and starts staggering toward the men's room, kinda bouncing off one wall and into the other along the hallway.

And he bounces straight through the curtain that separated the private dining room from the hallway.

I ran...got there just in time to see Don pirouette and then land---seat first----in a plate of pasta.


Sinatra's plate of pasta.

Five guys reach into their coats.

Don looks up, sees Frank...








....and starts to sing "Witchcraft."

Thank God Sinatra laughed, and said "get your friend outta here". The guys' hands came out of their jackets...empty."

When I listen to the Real Don Steele airchecks, I have to wonder if he was at times intoxicated while on air. That can't be easy, staying in a wild and crazy mode for an entire air shift.

 

[michael hagerty]

When I listen to the Real Don Steele airchecks, I have to wonder if he was at times intoxicated while on air. That can't be easy, staying in a wild and crazy mode for an entire air shift.

You also can't maintain that pace drunk.

Don off-air was a fairly quiet, very intelligent guy, according to people who knew him. "The Real Don Steele" was a character he played. Gotta remember, at least at KHJ, it wasn't some maniac alone in a room---while the records are playing, he's interacting with his engineer, preparing his next break.

I just remembered that The Real Don Steele Collection at REELRADIO has a raw tape of Don recording callers for a contest. If you listen to his on-air setup and then his interaction with the callers and his back-and-forth with the engineer, you realize that he's in control:

rdskhjcontest70.mp3

drive.google.com

 

[michael hagerty]

THIS is what drunk on the air sounds like:

This, by the way, was Rabbitt's last show on KGBS-FM and very likely the reason they automated that station and had the jocks voice-track it.

 

[KilowattKat]

THIS is what drunk on the air sounds like:

This, by the way, was Rabbitt's last show on KGBS-FM and very likely the reason they automated that station and had the jocks voice-track it.

Oh my! At first I thought I was listening to a really bad religious program. Wasn't he supposed to be playing records instead of babbling. KGBS was Top 40 or Country at the time, is that correct, and what was the date of the recording? I believe this didn't end his radio career, although he ended up in smaller markets like Sacramento.

 

[michael hagerty]

Oh my! At first I thought I was listening to a really bad religious program. Wasn't he supposed to be playing records instead of babbling.

Yes.

KGBS was Top 40 or Country at the time, is that correct, and what was the date of the recording?

It was Country and the date (11/9/75) is displayed at the top of the screen, and the preview.

I believe this didn't end his radio career, although he ended up in smaller markets like Sacramento.

It didn't end his career, and he actually worked in L.A. for a few more years. From KGBS, he went to KROQ, when they came back on the air in '76, and by Christmas Eve of 1977, he was drunk on the air there, too:

Mixcloud

www.mixcloud.com

But KROQ didn't fire him for that.

He stayed until Rick Carroll took over KROQ in '79, and then moved to Aspen, Colorado.

He came back to L.A. for one last shot in 1984 at KZLA:

After that it was Tyler, Texas and then Grand Junction, Colorado.

 

[michael hagerty]

Which he probably was.

Robert W. Morgan used to tell a great story about when he and Steele were at KHJ. A popular music industry hangout at the time was Martoni on Cahuenga (gone now, irreparably damaged in the '94 Northridge quake).

View attachment 10117

MORGAN:

"Steele and I were at Martoni, having a couple of drinks just to relax. Don had relaxed several times.

Sinatra and his entourage came in and went straight back to the private dining room. Didn't pay much attention to it. Not unusual.

About half an hour after they arrive, Steele needed to go to the little boy's room, so he gets up and starts staggering toward the men's room, kinda bouncing off one wall and into the other along the hallway.

And he bounces straight through the curtain that separated the private dining room from the hallway.

I ran...got there just in time to see Don pirouette and then land---seat first----in a plate of pasta.


Sinatra's plate of pasta.

Five guys reach into their coats.

Don looks up, sees Frank...








....and starts to sing "Witchcraft."

Thank God Sinatra laughed, and said "get your friend outta here". The guys' hands came out of their jackets...empty."

By the way, I can see where this got misconstrued.

When I said "which he probably was" in reply to the "loudest drunk in the bar" line, I didn't mean "which we probably was---drunk on the air".

What I meant was Don probably was the loudest drunk in the bar. ANY bar.

I think I've established that you couldn't do what he did on air drunk.