106.1 KFRC-FM aircheck 1974

[michael hagerty]

And somehow, I forgot to mention Don Sainte-Johnn, who is teaching college here in the Sacramento area, but also does part-time broadcast consulting. So, also not gone or fully retired.

If you think about it---the fact that we're talking about people who were on KFRC between 43 and 50 years ago, the "whoa" is how many of them are still active in the business in some capacity. The youngest people on that list are Beau Weaver and Mark McKay, both of whom are 70.

 

[radio128]

O'Brien was replaced at 99X in August of 1977 by Al Bandiero. Bandiero, who came up from Philly's WIFI 92, would become a New York radio legend.

 

[seatownmedia]

I dx’d KFRC from North Seattle in about ‘75-76. I thought it sounded terrific, way better than the Seattle stations. So tight and bright! Today you can barely hear mega KGO in Washington. Can someone explain why dx’ing has become so more difficult?

 

[microbob]

I dx’d KFRC from North Seattle in about ‘75-76. I thought it sounded terrific, way better than the Seattle stations. So tight and bright! Today you can barely hear mega KGO in Washington. Can someone explain why dx’ing has become so more difficult?

 

[michael hagerty]

I dx’d KFRC from North Seattle in about ‘75-76. I thought it sounded terrific, way better than the Seattle stations. So tight and bright! Today you can barely hear mega KGO in Washington. Can someone explain why dx’ing has become so more difficult?

Biggest reason is increased interference within the AM spectrum. In the 70s, we didn’t have personal electronic devices. Most stores had incandescent or neon signage. Now fluorescents are what’s inside those backlit plastic signs.

It all raises the noise floor and makes it difficult to hear the stations clearly. I’m in Sacramento, where KFRC and KGO used to show up in the ratings books in the 70s. You can hear them still, but they’re not clean signals. You’d never mistake them for locals.

 

[seatownmedia]

Thanks for that explanation. Too bad.

 

[DaveBayArea]

Thanks for that explanation. Too bad.

Don't know for sure that this link will work, but one of the more celebrated cases was a car dealership in North Dakota who decided it was a good idea to replace all of their lights with big, bright LED's. The interference was so bad that it took out cell phone service in the area:

https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-18-18A1.pdf

The genie is totally out of the bottle at this point, but one wonders what might have happened if AM broadcasters would have objected to the compact fluorescent lights, microprocessors, switching power supplies, and hundreds of other poorly shielded products when they first hit the market.

Dave B.

 

[seatownmedia]

Interesting. But I don’t think anyone or anything can stop technology. It will move on despite any human resistance. As it has since the dawn of time.

 

[Lou_S]

The genie is totally out of the bottle at this point, but one wonders what might have happened if AM broadcasters would have objected to the compact fluorescent lights, microprocessors, switching power supplies, and hundreds of other poorly shielded products when they first hit the market.

Dave B.

The FCC did (and does) have standards for "non-intentional radiators" and occasionally you'll hear of them removing a product from the market or fining someone for selling something that exceeds those rules. But the interference rules are applied to each individual device. What they missed was that so many of them would hit the market and be clustered in a single location, increasing the overall noise floor.

 

[cc333]

I have noticed that, outdoors in a residential area, the noise floor is still fairly decent (but of course, what constitutes "decent" is relative, as 50+ years ago, before the constant noise of computers and cell phones, I'm sure the noise was substantially quieter than it is now, even under ideal conditions). I hear noise from distant stations competing and overlapping more than anything.

However, when I put a radio indoors next to my computer screen, it blocks out pretty much everything except a couple of the strongest stations (KCBS comes in clearly, but with an annoying whine from the screen), so modern technology definitely has an effect. Thankfully, the interference is substantially reduced if I move it a couple feet away and/or switch the monitor off (at night I can get KYNO 940 out of Fresno off and on; I'm sure a better antenna would help at least a bit), but I'm in a relatively un-updated house (save for the electrical wiring, which was modernized in the early 90s) built in 1941, so maybe that makes a difference somehow as well because it's somehow electronically quieter than more modern houses?

c

 

[rustyhodge]

when I put a radio indoors next to my computer screen, it blocks out pretty much everything except a couple of the strongest stations (KCBS comes in clearly, but with an annoying whine from the screen), so modern technology definitely has an effect.

In all fairness if you put an AM radio next to a old-style CRT TV reception would get ruined as well.

 

[TomásEstefan]

In all fairness if you put an AM radio next to a old-style CRT TV reception would get ruined as well.

This is one reason it was so amusing back in the early 60's when they tried to demonstrate "stereo" using your tv for one channel and am AM station for the other. Unless you received a city grade signal from your AM station, the TV caused so much interference
you had to put the radio practically across the room.

 

[cc333]

This is one reason it was so amusing back in the early 60's when they tried to demonstrate "stereo" using your TV for one channel and am AM station for the other. Unless you received a city grade signal from your AM station, the TV caused so much interference
you had to put the radio practically across the room.

It could've worked with a hifi or console radio (modern-ish style component systems were also a thing back then, weren't they?) with external speakers. Just put a speaker by the TV and keep the receiver across the room where it's safe from CRT interference.

c

 

[TomásEstefan]

It could've worked with a hifi or console radio (modern-ish style component systems were also a thing back then, weren't they?) with external speakers. Just put a speaker by the TV and keep the receiver across the room where it's safe from CRT interference.

c

That would probably work, although many had credenza style hi fi or stereo systems (that incidentally were actually sold by the foot back then) that were on the same wall or next to their TV, particularly if they were plugged into the same AC receptacle.

 

[conditioncritical]

I recall in early 1977 FM 106.1 had a DJ-less daily Top 20 or Top 30 countdown format.

K106 would countdown the current hits from bottom to top. Then the same countdown would repeat all day.

The next day, there would be another countdown. Some songs would go up a bit, some would go down, some would stay at the same number. It would repeat all day.

And so on.

 

[michael hagerty]

I recall in early 1977 FM 106.1 had a DJ-less daily Top 20 or Top 30 countdown format.

K106 would countdown the current hits from bottom to top. Then the same countdown would repeat all day.

The next day, there would be another countdown. Some songs would go up a bit, some would go down, some would stay at the same number. It would repeat all day.

And so on.

I remember that too. By that point, RKO had an agreement to sell the station to Century, so they were just running out the clock,.

 

[GeoffR]

Not entirely correct. Well, okay, not at all correct.

Dave Sholin is doing a daily radio show on KSJJ in Bend, Oregon.

Eric Chase has been working under his real name, Paul Christy, for 30 or so years. He was on air in Dallas until a few years ago and appears to be voice tracking mornings for a station in Elko, Nevada in addition to doing V/O work.

Mark McKay is doing V/O, too.

Chuck Buell took part in Rewound Radio's WLS reunion Labor Day weekend and does V/O and audiobook narration.

Kevin McCarthy is co-host of the nationally syndicated CarPro radio show.

Robin Bailey went back to his pre-KFRC air name of Rob Harder, and until the same January, 2020 nationwide layoff that caught me, he and Mark Holman (as Harder & Holman) had been doing mornings in Spokane for more than 25 years.

And Bobby Ocean calls himself retired, but if you approached him with something fun, he'd be up for it (he's been doing some nice promotional stuff for the events that the restored KFRC mobile studio, "The Sturgeon" is making around Northern California this year.

As for Beau's KFRCs work being "forgotten", that depends on your perspective. You're very into V/O work...you said essentially the same about Charlie Van Dyke and Mark Elliott. Others, who are game show freaks, see Jim Lange, Bob Eubanks, Wink Martindale, Geoff Edwards and others that way.

But there are a lot of us (of course, we're of a certain age....) who absolutely remember. Every one of these guys had significant radio careers.

Beau had a great radio one---KAKC Tulsa, KNUS Dallas, KFRC San Francisco, KILT Houston, KHJ Los Angeles, KULF Houston, the Transtar Radio Network and his last on-air gig---30-ish years ago---weekends and fill-ins at KRTH:

https://soundcloud.com/beauweaver%2Fbeau-weaver-krth-los-angeles

Eric Chase voicetracks mornings on KYNO/Fresno as Harry Miller - the name he used when he worked there in the late 60's-early 70's. Mike Novak voicetracks middays on KYNO.

 

[Cityguy76]

Wow interesting. I was born September 1976 and I never knew that KNBR AM way back when played Adult Contemporary music on the airwaves...thats amazing!!

 

[michael hagerty]

Wow interesting. I was born September 1976 and I never knew that KNBR AM way back when played Adult Contemporary music on the airwaves...thats amazing!!

Marty, KNBR was Billboard Adult Contemporary Station of the Year in 1979 and continued playing music until the full-time flip to Sports in 1990.

 

[onairb2014]

Marty, KNBR was Billboard Adult Contemporary Station of the Year in 1979 and continued playing music until the full-time flip to Sports in 1990.

The last year or so, after Susquehanna took over around June of '89, they had a harder AC format through summer, then, starting on Labor Day, they were almost all-sports during the week, with music only on weekends.
Leo Laporte(recently mentioned on the Los Angeles board), who'd been on KNBR since '87, remained until the end of 1990, when he left to start doing computer-related syndicated shows.
Peter B. Collins and Michael Knight, formerly DJs at KRQR and elsewhere, did a news and political talk show(Knight left after a matter of weeks; Collins remained until 1992, even co-hosting a 12 noon cooking show with Harvey Steiman, a chef previously heard on KCBS). KNBR finally went full-sports later in '92.