1110 KRLA 'Hitmen'. Art Laboe Jr?

[davideduardo]

RF construction. Transmitter, phasor, ATU's, pattern measurements...

The Engineers at KRLA were great! Why was it you needed a First Class Ticket to work there, yet I worked at the only 100KW Directional AM Radio Station in the United States and all I needed was a Drivers License?

Because Martí 1180 is not FCC licensed.

 

[Hot Hits]

RF construction. Transmitter, phasor, ATU's, pattern measurements...

The Engineers at KRLA were great! Why was it you needed a First Class Ticket to work there, yet I worked at the only 100KW Directional AM Radio Station in the United States and all I needed was a Drivers License?

Because Martí 1180 is not FCC licensed.

Yes of course David! What a great thread. Thanks for Michael and of course KM for adding this incredible information. KM, how did you know all this? I need to read all those links as I have a lot to learn. What a great group here including at least one person who remembered Art's son too! I know Art Sr. had loaned Oak Knoll a couple million dollars around 1976. Since KRLA seemed to be stuffed with cash I wonder why they needed it, where the money went, and if it is contained in any of these documents? Also if Art himself somehow attempted ownership of the Big 11?

 

[michael hagerty]

Cutting and pasting are not among my best skills, apparently. I cut off the top of KM's list of articles. Apologies to KM and all. Start with these, then scroll up to the previous post:


Two articles, in sequential issues, laid out the original problem in 1960:
http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1960/BC-1960-11-07.pdf (beginning on page 70)
http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1960/BC-1960-11-14.pdf (beginning on page 76)

Broadcast Bureau asked for KRLA license revocation five months later:
http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1961/1961-03-20-BC.pdf (page 82 onward)

Examiners recommend one-year renewal instead of revocation, the following month:
http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-IDX/61-OCR/1961-04-24-BC-0009.pdf

January of 1962 ... Broadcast Bureau still wants license revoked, KRLA says they've cleaned up their act in the intervening two years:
http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-IDX/62-OCR/1962-01-22-BC-0052.pdf

KRLA asks stay of order forcing them to go dark until petition for reconsideration is acted on, wins reprieve:
http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-IDX/62-OCR/1962-03-26-BC-0052.pdf
http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-IDX/62-OCR/1962-04-02-BC-0064.pdf

KRLA then goes on attack against FCC:
http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1962/1962-04-23-BC.pdf (pages 50 and 52)

 

[Thomps2525]

I knew that the FCC refused to renew KRLA's license because of falsified program logs and fraudulent contests. I knew that KRLA appealed the refusal and an appeals court upheld the FCC's decision. I never knew, until today, that KRLA tried to get a hearing with the United States Supreme Court. Did Jack Kent Cooke really think the Supreme Court would take the case?

Thank you, K.M., for all the research! By the way, my friend Bill Earl, author of Dream-House, the history of KRLA, wrote that the "Find Perry Allen" contest prize was $50,000. I let him know that the prize was $10,000. I can't criticize the official KRLA historian for making a mistake---I've made two or three myself.

Here is a page about the contest: http://www.440.com/_palle2.html

 

[davideduardo]

Cutting and pasting are not among my best skills, apparently. I cut off the top of KM's list of articles. Apologies to KM and all. Start with these, then scroll up to the previous post:

That has got to be the longest list of links to my site that I have ever seen. That took a lot of work, and the little synopsis of each is waaay too cool!

 

[Hot Hits]

Wow this thread, my first here far exceeded my expectations! If KRLA was flooded with cash (ask me about the drawer stuffed with new $100 bills) why was Art Laboe infusing big money into the facility as a loan in the mid 70's. I'm not sure this was publicly known. Was Art part of one of the dummy companies trying to take control of Hit Radio 11?

 

[Thomps2525]

In late 1973, Roy Elwell took over programming. He turned KRLA into a mostly-automated MOR-oriented station. By early 1976, KRLA was broke. They fired Johnny Magnus, Paul Compton, Sie Holliday, Lee Simms, Thom Beck, Sie Holliday...and Roy Elwell. They kept Art Laboe and Johnny Hayes. Laboe offered to "bail out" the station, provided he be given total control of programming. KRLA's transmitter was in South El Monte, so Laboe decided to play music that would appeal to the Latinos who lived in that area. That meant a few current hits, a lot of r&b oldies, and no Beatles. Laboe sometimes broadcast from the transmitter site, something that no other KRLA DJ had done. He changed the slogan from "Radio Eleven-Ten" to "HitRadio 11" and, as mentioned earlier, created the KRLA Hit Men promotion. Johnny Hayes was on from 7 to 11 pm; the rest of the day was Art Laboe, live in the mornings and on tape the rest of the day. By 1981, Laboe was no longer on the air and had little say about the programming. I don't think Laboe wanted to own the station---he mostly wanted an outlet to promote his Oldies But Goodies albums. In 1976-77 he hosted a (taped) nightly program called Love At 11, featuring songs from the Oldies Bu........oh, you know.

 

[michael hagerty]

Well worth reading for a look inside KRLA around the time of the Hit Men.

http://books.google.com/books?id=xC...a=X&ei=BLURUcvnJoGQiQLnm4CQCQ&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA


Pearl and Greenleigh left KRLA for KIQQ just a few weeks after this was published, but didn't have the same kind of success.

 

[Hot Hits]

In late 1973, Roy Elwell took over programming. He turned KRLA into a mostly-automated MOR-oriented station. By early 1976, KRLA was broke. They fired Johnny Magnus, Paul Compton, Sie Holliday, Lee Simms, Thom Beck, Sie Holliday...and Roy Elwell. They kept Art Laboe and Johnny Hayes. Laboe offered to "bail out" the station, provided he be given total control of programming. KRLA's transmitter was in South El Monte, so Laboe decided to play music that would appeal to the Latinos who lived in that area. That meant a few current hits, a lot of r&b oldies, and no Beatles. Laboe sometimes broadcast from the transmitter site, something that no other KRLA DJ had done. He changed the slogan from "Radio Eleven-Ten" to "HitRadio 11" and, as mentioned earlier, created the KRLA Hit Men promotion. Johnny Hayes was on from 7 to 11 pm; the rest of the day was Art Laboe, live in the mornings and on tape the rest of the day. By 1981, Laboe was no longer on the air and had little say about the programming. I don't think Laboe wanted to own the station---he mostly wanted an outlet to promote his Oldies But Goodies albums. In 1976-77 he hosted a (taped) nightly program called Love At 11, featuring songs from the Oldies Bu........oh, you know.

Great info. KRLA didn't seem too broke as they had no problem selling time. I knew about the Laboe bailout but never knew why. It seems strange to be allowed to lend money to a station with a not for profit stipulation. Couldn't the terms of the Court order have been changed before accepting money from the programmer/Vice President? I did want to say that Hayes did mid days following Art when I was there as a Jr. Hitman in 77! I need to buy that Book!

 

[Thomps2525]

From 1980 through 1982, KRLA had a "Big 11 Countdown" show every weekday at noon. Whatever the date was, Johnny Hayes would count down the top 11 songs from that date in a past year (1956 to 1973). Hayes tried to make the show sound as if it was actually from the year being featured, making references to then-current DJs and music news. Adam J. DeMarais even did a newscast that featured a few stories from the particular date. The Billboard charts were used but of course KRLA ignored all the MOR songs and country crossovers. That meant that often KRLA's #11 song was down in the 30s on the Billboard chart. I remember one countdown that featured the chart dated July 7 1962. The top three songs were The Stripper, Roses Are Red and I Can't Stop Loving You. KRLA didn't play any of them. They played Billboard's #4 song, Palisades Park, and said it was number one. So much for accuracy! :-\

Hayes was on from 9 am to 3 pm but only the Countdown show was live. The other five hours were voice-tracked. In 1983, the Countdown was moved to 6 pm and listeners immediately started complaining. It was soon moved back to noon.

 

[oldies76]

The Billboard charts were used but of course KRLA ignored all the MOR songs and country crossovers. That meant that often KRLA's #11 song was down in the 30s on the Billboard chart. I remember one countdown that featured the chart dated July 7 1962. The top three songs were The Stripper, Roses Are Red and I Can't Stop Loving You. KRLA didn't play any of them. They played Billboard's #4 song, Palisades Park, and said it was number one. So much for accuracy!

Amazing.......even mentioning a song is #1, when it truly isn't, is just flatout wrong. ???

 

[michael hagerty]

The Billboard charts were used but of course KRLA ignored all the MOR songs and country crossovers. That meant that often KRLA's #11 song was down in the 30s on the Billboard chart. I remember one countdown that featured the chart dated July 7 1962. The top three songs were The Stripper, Roses Are Red and I Can't Stop Loving You. KRLA didn't play any of them. They played Billboard's #4 song, Palisades Park, and said it was number one. So much for accuracy!

Amazing.......even mentioning a song is #1, when it truly isn't, is just flatout wrong. ???

Yeah, I'm not comfortable with that one either.

I can't understand why they used Billboard, given that KRLA had its own charts in 1962.

 

[Hot Hits]

Art Laboe Turns KRLA Around in 70s Recieves Lifetime Achievement Award

I was not expecting to see the story right from Art himself on YouTube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQV0-1CRcOA

 

[skippertthomas]

Number one in your hearts and number one with the girls who work six to close at the local burger stand on Saturday nights! Now, THAT'S A NUMBER ONE! ;D Here's "Old Man In The Bleachers!"

 

[radiohistory]

I forgot now who mentioned Bob Hope had owned KMBY-1240 in Monterey at one time. I thought it was Bing Crosby who was at least a part owner of KMBY-1240 here in Monterey (now KNRY-1240) in the early-1950s. I know a guy in his 80s who worked in this market on and off for spome 60 years and always talked about when Bing Crosby owned KMBY and what a nice guy he was. Also, great stuff on the KRLA license troubles. I too love David's web site, found uite a few answers to some unsolved radio history question's I've looked up in the past year or so.

Jim Hilliker