• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

What you all miss in Seattle radio

D

DMK

I did a search to see if this topic had been covered before. Sure enough back in February 2006 JustaLissner did such a topic (Time To Reminisce). That thread is closed so I'm starting another. Here are few things I miss:

1. KUBE in the 80s
2. KMPS early 90s
3. Groz with Gas
4. KBSG
5. Steve Slayton
6. Bob Blackburn, Pete Gross, Dave Niehaus and Kevin Calabro

My earliest recollections of Seattle radio include listening to Paul Harvey and Larry Nelson on KOMO while dad drove me to school. Mom preferred KING 1090 when they played music. Nostalgia is a powerful drug.
 
KNBQ. There were some great personalities that made their rounds there. Gary Bryan, R.P. McMurphy, Joe Michaels, Jeff Randall, The Slim One, I believe Ric Hansen, Beau Roberts, and Ichabod were there for a hot minute.
KPLZ late 80s/early 90s. Kent & Alan, Greg Thunder, Mark "In the Dark" Allen (and his Hit Election and Mark's Moment of Mush"
KXRX with Crow & West
KBKS late 90s. It's a shame Chris Collins and Dana Dearden didn't take off, especially for Chris Collins' past success.
Lately KXXO, Ty Flint and Lori, Anna Winter, Jeff at night, Dave Cowan, Wayne Carlson were all good people there. It's one of those "don't know what you got 'til it's gone."
 
KBSG definitely. Also KLSY late 90s early 2000s. The era of Kiss right before Clear Channel took over. I thought I would miss the Point more, but I have a couple airchecks of that station from 2003 now and am actually not that impressed. The KLSY aircheck I have from April 2003 is now one of my favorites in my collection.
 
I was born in the mid-late 90’s, so my memories of Seattle radio probably differ a bit from other folks. I have great memories of growing up with KBSG 97.3, and 102.5 KZOK. I think I listened to KZOK almost exclusively from the time I started high school (2009) until the station was gutted and changed.

I remember listening to KNDD when it had more of a rock lean, but I wasn’t a huge “end” listener. My parents always listened to 103.7 The Mountain, which also shaped much of my taste in music.

I’ll also mention that I miss the way KIRO radio used to be as well. I still listen to KIRO quite a bit, but it doesn’t interest me as much as it used to.

And of course KXXO, since I started working there as a teenager and continued for nearly eight years. I wouldn’t be who I am today without that station.
 
1. J Michael Kenyon. Mostly on KVI, first in afternoon drive time and later doing a four-hour sports show in the evenings and a college football scoreboard show every Saturday afternoon during football season, and then briefly on KING-AM in afternoon drive time. This would have been 1980 through 1983, something like that? J Michael Kenyon could've read the Everett Yellow Pages for four hours and it would have been gripping -- I mean, that college football scoreboard show was just him and Grayle Howlett reading the same scores over and over for several hours, and I listened to every minute. I understand that his management did not share my enthusiasm for him.

2. KIRO when it was a news station.
 
KMCQ in 2010-2012 after the initial move from The Dalles and before it was managed by Ohana (and they did play Kokomo)
 
I spent all of my early years with 98.9 Smooth Jazz KWJZ. Dianna Rose and City Lights at night (I would fall asleep to KWJZ on a little clock radio)...Jay Phillips at drive-time as well (I think he's still at KNWN?)
From that station, I grew a love of what the average Joe calls the "sappy elevator music". Richard Elliott, Dave Koz, the late David Sanborn, the late Chuck Loeb, Acoustic Alchemy, Sade, Anita Baker, and David Benoit are/were talented in ways that go beyond the stereotypical attitudes of smooth jazz. They know how to play the sax, the guitar, and smooth out the mood.

I remember one song they constantly played was "Tough Tofu" by Deems (from the '80s), a great piano instrumental that I have never heard on any other jazz station. A chestnut in the likes of the "Stop the Calvary" Christmas tradition at Warm.
One of my school bus drivers growing up won the Vacation-a-Day, to I think it was Maui?

Did you know that I am pushing 30 and I still use smooth jazz to help me sleep? (I put on 106.3 the Seabreeze in Fort Walton Beach at low volume).

Going to other stations, definitely the old KBSG 97.3. That's where I first heard the many Beatles classics, Three Dog Night, the Rolling Stones, and The Supremes. I remember the commercials on TV, especially the ones where everyone kept singing the wrong lyrics.
-My father was a regular KIRO-AM listener when it was news/talk on 710. I miss Dave Ross. He also enjoyed the Saturday Blues show on 88.5 KPLU (now KNKX) which is still going to this day! We saw Jeff Beck at the Puyallup Fair when he came in 1999 (or 98?), and that was his favorite guitarist. I was too young to remember.
-My mother loved KMPS, and always listened to it when she was out and about. Icahbod Caine made KMPS great. She started listening to country around the time the Garth craze came around, and hasn't quit since.
-Aforementioned KMCQ "All Songs of the '60s and '70s" era. Oh, if only I would have airchecked them. I didn't have the recorders to do that back then, nor the software on the computer. (By the time I could record airchecks, they had already gone to the Q104-5 relaunch and tighter playlist.)
-And of course, the Christmas season at Warm 106.9...the DJs and the music all made the holidays great for this kid!

I also miss the small-town friendly people at KXXO (I still cannot believe Bustos bought them out).
 
I really miss KUBE. KUBE basically switched to KJR right as i fully got into radio. Power 93.3 seems like a weird era. I don't know what it was like.
 
On the topic of personalities, KZOK and KJR-FM really stand out. While I grew up listening to KBSG, I probably was a bit too young to really appreciate the style of some of the personalities (though I certainly remember them).

I have many memories of listening to Gary Crowe, Stacey Ireland (“crazy mama”), Danny and Sarah, and many others. On KJR, I certainly remember Heidi May (still on the radio on KRKO), and Jodi Brothers (now the morning host of the new “95.7 The Jet”).

I could talk about personalities that I remember all day, but I think the key takeaway is how great radio was when there was more of a focus on local programming. I’m a classic rock fan, though I stopped listening to KZOK after the local content was eliminated. I’d rather find an alternative like KISM, where there are real people who tell stories, share what’s going on locally, and seem “real.”
 
fordranger797 said:
I was born in the mid-late 90’s, so my memories of Seattle radio probably differ a bit from other folks. I have great memories of growing up with KBSG 97.3, and 102.5 KZOK. I think I listened to KZOK almost exclusively from the time I started high school (2009) until the station was gutted and changed.

I remember listening to KNDD when it had more of a rock lean, but I wasn’t a huge “end” listener. My parents always listened to 103.7 The Mountain, which also shaped much of my taste in music.

I’ll also mention that I miss the way KIRO radio used to be as well. I still listen to KIRO quite a bit, but it doesn’t interest me as much as it used to.

And of course KXXO, since I started working there as a teenager and continued for nearly eight years. I wouldn’t be who I am today without that station.
Click to expand...
As a young kid I would get into my dads car and KIRO would be on. I picked up on that and listened to KIRO my entire adulthood. That is until about a year ago. I stopped. 100% stopped. LONG commercial breaks with 2 or 3 promos for KIRO radio thrown in. Guess what, I knew I was listening to KIRO radio because I turned the darn thing on. I don't need to be reminded 15 times an hour that I am listening to what I am already listening to. I now listen 100% of the time to KUOW.
 
crainbebo said:
I spent all of my early years with 98.9 Smooth Jazz KWJZ. Dianna Rose and City Lights at night (I would fall asleep to KWJZ on a little clock radio)...Jay Phillips at drive-time as well (I think he's still at KNWN?)
From that station, I grew a love of what the average Joe calls the "sappy elevator music". Richard Elliott, Dave Koz, the late David Sanborn, the late Chuck Loeb, Acoustic Alchemy, Sade, Anita Baker, and David Benoit are/were talented in ways that go beyond the stereotypical attitudes of smooth jazz. They know how to play the sax, the guitar, and smooth out the mood.

I remember one song they constantly played was "Tough Tofu" by Deems (from the '80s), a great piano instrumental that I have never heard on any other jazz station. A chestnut in the likes of the "Stop the Calvary" Christmas tradition at Warm.
One of my school bus drivers growing up won the Vacation-a-Day, to I think it was Maui?

Did you know that I am pushing 30 and I still use smooth jazz to help me sleep? (I put on 106.3 the Seabreeze in Fort Walton Beach at low volume).

Going to other stations, definitely the old KBSG 97.3. That's where I first heard the many Beatles classics, Three Dog Night, the Rolling Stones, and The Supremes. I remember the commercials on TV, especially the ones where everyone kept singing the wrong lyrics.
-My father was a regular KIRO-AM listener when it was news/talk on 710. I miss Dave Ross. He also enjoyed the Saturday Blues show on 88.5 KPLU (now KNKX) which is still going to this day! We saw Jeff Beck at the Puyallup Fair when he came in 1999 (or 98?), and that was his favorite guitarist. I was too young to remember.
-My mother loved KMPS, and always listened to it when she was out and about. Icahbod Caine made KMPS great. She started listening to country around the time the Garth craze came around, and hasn't quit since.
-Aforementioned KMCQ "All Songs of the '60s and '70s" era. Oh, if only I would have airchecked them. I didn't have the recorders to do that back then, nor the software on the computer. (By the time I could record airchecks, they had already gone to the Q104-5 relaunch and tighter playlist.)
-And of course, the Christmas season at Warm 106.9...the DJs and the music all made the holidays great for this kid!

I also miss the small-town friendly people at KXXO (I still cannot believe Bustos bought them out).
Click to expand...
I just listened to Tough Tofu and had never heard it before. Awesome song!
 
I miss the fun radio use to bring. The excitement, The request line, The competition between KJR and KING -
KISW & KZOK. The on air talent. Promotions radio sponsored events, contest. KYAC KZAM KYYX KXRX. Being at Seward Park most radio's on the same station. Elevator music that you may hear on Saturday morning cartoons. The station that played sad country songs KMPS.
 
TheDaChicken said:
I really miss KUBE. KUBE basically switched to KJR right as i fully got into radio. Power 93.3 seems like a weird era. I don't know what it was like.
Click to expand...
I actually liked Power, I felt iHeart was actually trying to compete with Movin', and doing a pretty good job at it. It's too bad it never caught on, as I would listen to that station all the time and heard it everywhere. That was the last time CHR in general was everywhere too.
 
bobdavcav said:
I actually liked Power, I felt iHeart was actually trying to compete with Movin', and doing a pretty good job at it. It's too bad it never caught on, as I would listen to that station all the time and heard it everywhere. That was the last time CHR in general was everywhere too.
Click to expand...
I also thought Power was very good. Imaginative, and different for sure. It’s too bad that it never took off. At least iheart resurrected 106.1 and is doing a good job of keeping some of that momentum going. Unfortunately, there’s no easy fix for CHR being an extremely fragmented format. In 2026, everybody has a different idea of what new songs they want to hear, and CHR really hasn’t been able to keep up.
 
When they reverted Kiss back to CHR, I felt it was just the old Kiss updated, not a progression of Power. And what was up with running without a name for almost two years? It felt like they didn't have a plan until Jubel arrived on the scene when they finally decided to relaunch.
 
It was a classical station at that time, but it must have had other programming at that point as well.
I vaguely remember KNWX on 770 (it was Business talk). I wasn't around for KULL or the KRPM-FM simulcast. I suppose KBSG walloped KULL in the ratings anyway (770 was oldies between 1991-1995).
 
The 103.9/103.7 days, I assume. I wonder if there are people who still use KBRD 920/101.1 to keep their birds company. Can Glenn Miller calm down a squawking macaw?
 


Back
Top Bottom