93 KHJ's last day. Do you remember it like this?

[Hot Hits]

93/KHJ'S LAST DAY (as an English-Speaking Music Station)
By Kevin Gershan: It was Friday evening, January 31, 1986. At midnight 93/KHJ, now operating as “Car Radio,” would sign off the air to become a full-time Spanish language station with the call letters KKHJ, and owned by Lieberman Broadcasting.
Interesting story: This call letter change became an issue because, when spoken in Spanish, the first two letters of the call sign is considered offensive. In 2000 (when newly owned/managed stations would only be granted four-letter call signs,) the FCC granted a rare return to the original three-letter call sign. Former Boss Jock (circa 1974) Dave Sebastian Williams was on the air, doing his regular shift, from 7pm-12 midnight. At around 7:30pm, Robert W. Morgan and I were both listening to the end of an era and talking on the phone. He said, “I was there when this thing went on the air … I think it only appropriate I be there when it ends!” http://www.laradio.com/

I remember it somewhat differently, just like wiki:

On the evening of January 31, 1986, regular "Car Radio" evening jock Dave Sebastian Williams was joined in studio by Robert W. Morgan. Many disc jockeys from throughout KHJ's heyday of Boss Radio phoned in (including M.G. Kelly, Bobby Ocean, Jimmy Rabbitt,[4] and Boss Radio-era Program Director Ron Jacobs) for a farewell broadcast, playing the songs that had made KHJ a popular AM station in the 1960s and 1970s. At the stroke of midnight, the station changed its call letters to KRTH to match those of its FM sister station, KRTH-FM playing a format called "Smokin' Oldies" that featured hits of the first ten years of rock and roll. The station used "AM 930" as its on-air ID

 

[michael hagerty]

93/KHJ'S LAST DAY (as an English-Speaking Music Station)
By Kevin Gershan: It was Friday evening, January 31, 1986. At midnight 93/KHJ, now operating as “Car Radio,” would sign off the air to become a full-time Spanish language station with the call letters KKHJ, and owned by Lieberman Broadcasting.
Interesting story: This call letter change became an issue because, when spoken in Spanish, the first two letters of the call sign is considered offensive. In 2000 (when newly owned/managed stations would only be granted four-letter call signs,) the FCC granted a rare return to the original three-letter call sign. Former Boss Jock (circa 1974) Dave Sebastian Williams was on the air, doing his regular shift, from 7pm-12 midnight. At around 7:30pm, Robert W. Morgan and I were both listening to the end of an era and talking on the phone. He said, “I was there when this thing went on the air … I think it only appropriate I be there when it ends!” http://www.laradio.com/

I remember it somewhat differently, just like wiki:

On the evening of January 31, 1986, regular "Car Radio" evening jock Dave Sebastian Williams was joined in studio by Robert W. Morgan. Many disc jockeys from throughout KHJ's heyday of Boss Radio phoned in (including M.G. Kelly, Bobby Ocean, Jimmy Rabbitt,[4] and Boss Radio-era Program Director Ron Jacobs) for a farewell broadcast, playing the songs that had made KHJ a popular AM station in the 1960s and 1970s. At the stroke of midnight, the station changed its call letters to KRTH to match those of its FM sister station, KRTH-FM playing a format called "Smokin' Oldies" that featured hits of the first ten years of rock and roll. The station used "AM 930" as its on-air ID

Gershan got it wrong, which astounds me, because Gershan was one of Robert W. Morgan's producers (at KRTH and I think possibly at KMPC before that).

Your memory and Wikipedia is what really happened January 31, 1986, except I don't believe Jimmy Rabbitt was one of the callers.

KHJ didn't go Spanish as KKHJ until 1990.

 

[DrAkbar]

Was "Car Radio" the successor to "KHJ Country" after that format failed? Gotta give it up to RKO for trying to breathe new life into 9~Thirty when most operators would have parked it in simulcast. Guess we all didn't grow up to be Cowboys who listened to Car Radio while Smokin' Oldies!

 

[calguy]

Was "Car Radio" the successor to "KHJ Country" after that format failed? Gotta give it up to RKO for trying to breathe new life into 9~Thirty when most operators would have parked it in simulcast. Guess we all didn't grow up to be Cowboys who listened to Car Radio while Smokin' Oldies!

No, KHJ went to a gold based format after Country. Car Radio came about a little later.

 

[michael hagerty]

Was "Car Radio" the successor to "KHJ Country" after that format failed? Gotta give it up to RKO for trying to breathe new life into 9~Thirty when most operators would have parked it in simulcast. Guess we all didn't grow up to be Cowboys who listened to Car Radio while Smokin' Oldies!

No, KHJ went to a gold based format after Country. Car Radio came about a little later.

Right. When KHJ returned in April '83, it was as an oldies station. They had the old acapella jingles, Sweet Dick Whittington in morning drive and the promo line was "The Boss Is Back". Trouble is, the jocks' deliveries were so lackluster that the phrase ended up sounding like the GM had just returned from lunch.

By fall '83, Whittington was out (replaced by Dave Hull), the music expanded to include currents and recurrents (still not Top 40/CHR...it was really more of an A/C), and the slogan was gone. RKO sent KFRC's mobile studio (a fully outfitted GMC motor home) down to KHJ. KFRC had used it to broadcast for days at a time from the California State Fair in San Francisco, Marine World, Lake Tahoe, and the deck of an aircraft carrier, as well as while driving around the city (the signal being bounced off a relay mounted on a small plane). KHJ used it for remotes from donut shop parking lots.

None of it helped.

In summer '84, "Car Radio" was born. The brainchild of then-RKO programming consultant Walt Sabo, the format was simple: Two burned-to-a-crisp recurrents, back announced by the jock, a commercial cluster (2 minutes), a traffic report read by the jock, who ended by telling you "Another traffic report in ten minutes. Now here's another great car tune on Car Radio 93...KHJ.

And repeat. No variation. Every bit as mind-numbing as it sounds. It lasted 18 months, and then came KRTH-AM.

 

[Dave Atonement]

Sabo is an overpaid idiot who should never be forgiven for what he did to that station.

 

[Bryan Simmons]

I remember hearing Whittington's first day. I was horrified. It was a technical mess. I had grown up in Northern California KFRC and KHJ on my summer visits to LA as a child, so I was expecting a little more precision.

I don't know if Uncle Ricky at reelradio.com plans on posting it, but I've sent him an aircheck of KHJ's return to popular music from 4-6-83 that I got from someone at RKO. They tried to re-create the 1965 Sneak Preview. Even the promos voice by Rick Scarry were copies of the ones Robert W. Morgan voiced in 65. Only this time around you were encouraged to compare them to KFI at 640 and KRLA at 1110 on the dial. It did sound a little laid back at times. But this was 1983, so they were following a less talk approach. Danny Martinez is featured on the recording I have.

Car Radio wasn't that bad an idea on paper. After all this was LA, the traffic capitol of America, but RKO was doing it on a shoestring, and the music selection was not very wide. It seemed to me that having the jock do the traffic reports, while less expensive, made the station sound like it was on a non-existent budget. Not sure why RKO sent the Sturgeon down to LA, but I do recall how cool it was. When I was at KXOA we did two weeks from the California State Fair in Sacramento and KFRC was set up right next to our pavilion. It was beauty with PR&E consoles and that mystique that was KFRC. We would wander over to stare at it during music sweeps and dream of working there.

Clearly Walt Sabo was pulling out everything but the kitchen sink to keep listeners from abandoning the AM's that RKO had on the west coast. In SF he tried the Game Zone which while sounding great, didn't really help. In LA it was car radio. It's interesting that while the Game Zone failed in SF, it was executed to perfection. Car Radio just didn't seem to to be produced with that same precision. I'm not knocking the staff of the then KHJ, rather the management. They just didn't give them the budget to, in my opinion, do it right. As far as the music for Car Radio goes, Sabo certainly failed there and while station gave you traffic information, there seemed to be little room for personality, something KFRC still had tons of at that point.

 

[michael hagerty]

I remember hearing Whittington's first day. I was horrified. It was a technical mess. I had grown up in Northern California KFRC and KHJ on my summer visits to LA as a child, so I was expecting a little more precision.

I don't know if Uncle Ricky at reelradio.com plans on posting it, but I've sent him an aircheck of KHJ's return to popular music from 4-6-83 that I got from someone at RKO. They tried to re-create the 1965 Sneak Preview. Even the promos voice by Rick Scarry were copies of the ones Robert W. Morgan voiced in 65. Only this time around you were encouraged to compare them to KFI at 640 and KRLA at 1110 on the dial. It did sound a little laid back at times. But this was 1983, so they were following a less talk approach. Danny Martinez is featured on the recording I have.

Car Radio wasn't that bad an idea on paper. After all this was LA, the traffic capitol of America, but RKO was doing it on a shoestring, and the music selection was not very wide. It seemed to me that having the jock do the traffic reports, while less expensive, made the station sound like it was on a non-existent budget. Not sure why RKO sent the Sturgeon down to LA, but I do recall how cool it was. When I was at KXOA we did two weeks from the California State Fair in Sacramento and KFRC was set up right next to our pavilion. It was beauty with PR&E consoles and that mystique that was KFRC. We would wander over to stare at it during music sweeps and dream of working there.

Clearly Walt Sabo was pulling out everything but the kitchen sink to keep listeners from abandoning the AM's that RKO had on the west coast. In SF he tried the Game Zone which while sounding great, didn't really help. In LA it was car radio. It's interesting that while the Game Zone failed in SF, it was executed to perfection. Car Radio just didn't seem to to be produced with that same precision. I'm not knocking the staff of the then KHJ, rather the management. They just didn't give them the budget to, in my opinion, do it right. As far as the music for Car Radio goes, Sabo certainly failed there and while station gave you traffic information, there seemed to be little room for personality, something KFRC still had tons of at that point.

Apart from the Van Dyke PD era (January, 1975-May, 1977), KFRC from 1973-1980 was always more precise and more polished than KHJ, in my opinion. Michael Spears and Les Garland were great PDs at that station, and Dave Sholin is arguably the best music director of the 70s.

 

[Dave Atonement]

Have any of Sabo's numerous radio "innovations" ever worked, anywhere?  How is it that people with such a long track record of failures continue to get hired in the first place?

On the other hand, when it comes to "executing" a format, this guy has got to be the world's leading authority on the subject.

 

[michael hagerty]

Have any of Sabo's numerous radio "innovations" ever worked, anywhere? How is it that people with such a long track record of failures continue to get hired in the first place?

While "Car Radio" and KFRC's "Game Zone" were total disasters, he did pioneer Hot Talk on FM. When KLSX worked as a talker, it was because of Walt's format, which also did well at WTKS in Orlando. And I understand he did well in his gig as VP in charge of the ABC radio networks in the early 80s.

 

[radiorob2.0]

I remember hearing Whittington's first day. I was horrified. It was a technical mess. I had grown up in Northern California KFRC and KHJ on my summer visits to LA as a child, so I was expecting a little more precision.

I've heard the aircheck and had the same reaction. It's worth noting the last year of KHJ as a CHR was the best it had sounded in years. Chuck Martin gave his all but unfortunately it was too late.

 

[Thomps2525]

The last country song played on "We didn't really all grow up to be cowboys" KHJ in 1983 was a perfect choice: The Last Country Song by Ed Bruce. As it ended, listeners heard "Ladies and gentlemen, the Boss is back!", followed by the station ID and Bill Haley's Rock Around The Clock. Because it was April Fools Day, a lot of listeners thought the format change was a stunt. It wasn't.

As for the poorly-named "Smokin' Oldies" format, the slogan was "Music from rock'n'roll's first ten years." Excluding the aforementioned Bill Haley song, which was first released in 1954, KHJ played from 1955 to 1965, a span of eleven years. Somebody must have flunked arithmetic.

 

[Radio Owl]

I'm still preparing thoughts about the demolishing/destruction of those two towers.
Those were Great Landmarks in the West Part of the LA Area and functioned well.

I really liked the story of the last last day of KHJ as an English speaking station. The 1986
year and month is correct, but KHJ became KRTH-AM at midnight that night. If I recall, Larry
King was just added that midnight and he was the first one to identify the station as
KRTH, Los Angeles.

Uncle Ricky, I believe, has a tape of that night in his collection. KHJ-TV was sold in another direction from the radio and the TV kept the calls. That's the reason for the change of the
KHJ-AM call. Beasley bought both KRTH AM & FM from RKO in that "forced sale". Later the
AM and FM were sold in different directions around 1989 or 1990. That's when Leiberman
got the AM (from what I read, Lieberman was the highest bidder) and they named it KKHJ, in memory of it's old call. We all know the story of how it got back the KHJ call some 10 years later.

After the AM and FM were split apart, that's when the AM transmitter was re-located in the backyard between the two towers. There was a period of time when both KRTH AM & FM had their studios and the AM transmitter right there at Fairfax and Venice building. That was during the last half of the 1980's.

 

[Thomps2525]

KRTH was obviously more popular than KHJ in 1986...but does anyone know the real reason that the historic---dating from 1922---KHJ call letters were dropped? Why bother to become KRTH-AM if the station would be identified, except for the top-of-the-hour legal ID, only as "AM 930, Smokin' Oldies"?

 

[michael hagerty]

I'm still preparing thoughts about the demolishing/destruction of those two towers.
Those were Great Landmarks in the West Part of the LA Area and functioned well.

I really liked the story of the last last day of KHJ as an English speaking station. The 1986
year and month is correct, but KHJ became KRTH-AM at midnight that night. If I recall, Larry
King was just added that midnight and he was the first one to identify the station as
KRTH, Los Angeles.

Uncle Ricky, I believe, has a tape of that night in his collection. KHJ-TV was sold in another direction from the radio and the TV kept the calls. That's the reason for the change of the
KHJ-AM call. Beasley bought both KRTH AM & FM from RKO in that "forced sale". Later the
AM and FM were sold in different directions around 1989 or 1990. That's when Leiberman
got the AM (from what I read, Lieberman was the highest bidder) and they named it KKHJ, in memory of it's old call. We all know the story of how it got back the KHJ call some 10 years later.

After the AM and FM were split apart, that's when the AM transmitter was re-located in the backyard between the two towers. There was a period of time when both KRTH AM & FM had their studios and the AM transmitter right there at Fairfax and Venice building. That was during the last half of the 1980's.

A couple of notes:

KRTH-AM was basically a jukebox. It played music that night at midnight. The Larry King thing got circulation because Robert W. Morgan had been joking throughout the final hour that Larry King would be on at midnight to explain it all. I believe Larry ran at Robert W.'s once and future home, KMPC, at the time.

That final hour is on Reelradio...has been since almost the beginning of that site...summer of 1996.

RKO didn't sell KHJ-TV until 1988. The call letter change to KRTH-AM was because 930 was going to play music that was associated with the K-Earth brand.

 

[Thomps2525]

Oh yeah, that's right! Many many years ago, KRTH did play songs from the 1950s and early '60s! I vaguely remember those days. Thank God we never again have to hear such drivel as Lonely Teardrops or Book Of Love or El Paso or Sleepwalk or That'll Be The Day or Johnny B. Goode or All I Have To Do Is Dream or Theme From A Summer Place or.........

 

[Radio Owl]

To: Michael Haggarty

Thank You for the info about the date of sale of KHJ-TV Channel 9.
The story I referred to was in some news article that was around. I didn't make it up.

I was not in the LA area during the era when RKO was selling its stations. For them (RKO)
to change the call of KHJ just to "brand it to K-Earth" was really foolish, especially when they
only used "AM 930" as their on-air logo. Top of the hour IDs are not that well known if they are Not the Main station on-air logo. Looks like top leadership really helped sink the ship (AM Radio)through their over-reaction.

So, 1988 was the year the TV was sold. When was KRTH AM & FM sold? I'm pretty sure
both were sold to Beasley and later Beasley spun the AM to Lieberman and the FM to CBS (or
one its former parts -- "Infinity").

I'm pretty sure that KFRC in SF was the last RKO station to be sold when it was
known as "Magic 61", a Standards format with Jim Lange and other MOR type personalities.
Dr. Don Rose had left the station only a few months after the change to Standards.

 

[Hot Hits]

For them (RKO)
to change the call of KHJ just to "brand it to K-Earth" was really foolish, especially when they
only used "AM 930" as their on-air logo. Top of the hour IDs are not that well known if they are Not the Main station on-air logo.

Perhaps to sell the two together, similar to KIIS AM & FM? Perhaps it could have been in preparation of a station sale? Charlie Van Dyke did the Legal ID mentioning "an RKO Radio Station". Then back to the 20 hours of Brother John Rydgren

Brother John must have been far out?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MBepRrLaKA

 

[DoctorWu]

If you search YouTube, you'll find video of Dr. Don Rose's last hour on the air at KFRC. He's a pro 'til the end, but when the mic closes for the final time, he tears up and cries. It about makes me cry too, when I watch it.

Side note: On that day when Lieberman took possession of 930 and changed to Spanish-language, a friend of mine was working AM Drive news on KRTH. She told me that when she came in that morning, a wall had magically appeared in the lobby overnight, dividing the AM from the FM side of the studio complex. She was livid, and disgusted.

-- Doc

 

[michael hagerty]

To: Michael Haggarty

Thank You for the info about the date of sale of KHJ-TV Channel 9.
The story I referred to was in some news article that was around. I didn't make it up.

I was not in the LA area during the era when RKO was selling its stations. For them (RKO)
to change the call of KHJ just to "brand it to K-Earth" was really foolish, especially when they
only used "AM 930" as their on-air logo. Top of the hour IDs are not that well known if they are Not the Main station on-air logo. Looks like top leadership really helped sink the ship (AM Radio)through their over-reaction.

So, 1988 was the year the TV was sold. When was KRTH AM & FM sold? I'm pretty sure
both were sold to Beasley and later Beasley spun the AM to Lieberman and the FM to CBS (or
one its former parts -- "Infinity").

I'm pretty sure that KFRC in SF was the last RKO station to be sold when it was
known as "Magic 61", a Standards format with Jim Lange and other MOR type personalities.
Dr. Don Rose had left the station only a few months after the change to Standards.

I didn't think you made it up. Unfortunately, newspapers and other media don't understand radio or care much about getting the story straight. Papers as well-respected as the Los Angeles Times get stuff wrong all the time (there's a quote in circulation about the Real Don Steele and what he would say on the radio that is pure gibberish and never anything Steele would have said....I tracked it down, determined to find the culprit...it originated in the Times).

There really wasn't a ship to sink when it came to KHJ-AM. They failed to even get a 1.0 in the Spring '84 and Spring '85 Arbitrons (and since the back issues of Billboard on Google Books didn't report anything below a 1.0, I can't tell you if it was a 0.9, a 0.1 or asterisks (below measurable). David, if you have those numbers in your archive, it'd be interesting to know. Frankly, I viewed the call letter change as an end to the abuse of a once-great brand. Whatever they did couldn't live up to "KHJ".

Looks like the RKO sale of KRTH AM/FM to Beasley and the spinoff of the AM to Lieberman both happened in 1989. Beasley didn't sell KRTH-FM to Infinity until 1993.

You're correct that KFRC was the last RKO station. RKO sold that to Bedford in 1991. The flip to "Magic 61" happened in August, 1986. Dr. Don was supposed to work to the end of his contract, December 31, but the station and he parted ways a few weeks early, in November.