A QUESTION FOR DALLAS RADIO HISTORIANS

[RADIO TRUTH]

In the mid 1960s, why did KLIF and KBOX sound so bland on-the-air in comparison to WABC, WMCA and various other top forty stations of the same era? Was it because that Dallas is in the bible belt? Was it because of the conservative nature of the market? It is no wonder that Dan Ingram got out of Dallas, to find greener pastures, as quickly as possible after one year at KBOX.

 

[Steve Eberhart]

I imagine it all has to do with particular taste. Some would argue (I among them) that KLIF was better than WABC. While both were great stations in their own right, KLIF had more of a decidedly "adult approach" with the occasional exception (Russ Knight / Jimmy Rabbitt).

KLIF was essentially a station "for everyone" - teens and adults - and the ratings suggest their efforts were heroic! What they got away with was a sign of the times, but remember too that after 1967, they had the format entirely to themselves in Dallas after KBOX went country.

KBOX was designed to be more "exciting" in their presentation. If one were to describe KLIF at the time, I would suggest they were "less hype" and "more content". News was not a blow-off at KLIF. They also relied heavily on news and at one time were known as much as a news source in Dallas as they were for the popular Top 40 format.

It is an era that is long gone in many ways, but as far as popularity goes, KLIF was dominant in a way any station would crave today!

 

[Al Timiter]

I had a friend who worked at KLIF in the 60's in news. He had the voice of God and excellent journalism/storytelling skills. Yes, they were a strong news force even though they were a pop/top40 station.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

In the mid 1960s, why did KLIF and KBOX sound so bland on-the-air in comparison to WABC, WMCA and various other top forty stations of the same era? Was it because that Dallas is in the bible belt? Was it because of the conservative nature of the market? It is no wonder that Dan Ingram got out of Dallas, to find greener pastures, as quickly as possible after one year at KBOX.

WABC was a touch catch from Midland, TX, where I lived, but WLS and KOMA - two other top-40 greats were not. There was virtually no difference in audio between WABC and WLS. Remembering the technology of the time, about the only audio processing available was something made by the engineer at the station. Some stations seemed to spin records ever so slightly fast, giving them a bit of a crisper sound than the competition. There was also a reverb effect - you could do it by spooling 50 feet of garden hose, putting a speaker at one end and a mike at the other. It sounded really good when mixed in at a low level, and gave the illusion of a concert hall. That is about the only thing I noticed different between the big city stations and KLIF. I actually appreciated the musical purity on KLIF as opposed to stations like WABC and WLS.

 

[romanradio]

Read between the lines of the original post and the message is CHRISTIAN + CONSERVATIVE = BORING. Hmmmm.

 

[Holstead]

While we are talking about old radio news, I was wondering if anybody had pictures of the various mobile news units used by the stations is D/FW back in the day?

FACT: Back then, being first to a story was key, and many stations equipped their news departments with the HORSEPOWER to get them there. Here is what I recall:

KXOL had red and white Chevy Chevelle's with "Big Block" 400 cubic inch engines.

KBOX had candy apple red and gold Pontiac GTO's (complete with the reporter's name painted on the side)

KRLD had a fleet of 2 door Chevy Nova's that not only were V-8 but MARTI equipped!

In the early 70's, I recall my Dad buying a fleet of blue Ford Mustang Mach 1's with the "Boss 351-Cleveland" engines for KLIF.

At WBAP for a while he was cursed with a 6 cylinder Ford Fairlane he eventually souped up with an Eddlebrock manifold and a four barrel Holley Hi-Rise carburetor that enabled this little machine to get a second gear scratch when you stomped on it. I hope that you readers are finding this as funny as I am, because I am laughing my a$$ off as I type.

 

[Robert Bass]

Not all that funny to me, since it sounds like speeding was going on. Why is racing to a story at mach 1 (hypothetically, of course) more important than avoiding accidents and pedestrian safety?

R

 

[TheLaffer]

Not all that funny to me, since it sounds like speeding was going on. Why is racing to a story at mach 1 (hypothetically, of course) more important than avoiding accidents and pedestrian safety?

R

Oh Robert you little stinker : Youuu spoil all the fun.

Speaking of speeding...you need to slow down in that wheelchair. I'm hearing stories of you almost running people over

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Read between the lines of the original post and the message is CHRISTIAN + CONSERVATIVE = BORING. Hmmmm.

I think you have to read way beyond the lines to come up with that conclusion. True - Gordon McLendon tried to influence popular music into being more conservative, but his impact would have been limited since he only controlled regional radio stations. The music producers in Los Angeles and New York were more interested in audience reaction from KHJ and WABC than they would have been by a station owner in Texas. To them - if WLS played it as well as their stations, they probably assumed it was a nationwide hit.

 

[Paul Boomer]

...I hope that you readers are finding this as funny as I am, because I am laughing my a$$ off as I type.

That's awesome. I'd love to see some photographs of those batmobiles.

It sounds to me like the cold war one-uppsmanship between the Soviets and the USA. "Our spies report that the enemy station has recently upgraded to Cragar mags and mail-box hood scoops...should we begin our deployment of Hurst shifters and ladder bars, sir?"

 

[Robert Bass]

Oh Robert you little stinker : Youuu spoil all the fun.

Yep, that's apparently my reputation around here. I'm just a party pooping trouble maker. ;D

Oh and what wheelchair ??? Last time I looked, I was still walking.

R

 

[Holstead]

Oh yes, there was speeding involved. I recall news departments budgeting money for the occasional speeding ticket or other moving violation. Most of them were for parking citations when the news units parked in front of city hall to get some late breaking scoop.

Thing is Robert, men in the media during that time (especially RADIO men) were respected as much as the law enforcement officers they were chasing for stories. They had a real working relationship.

Back in the day, it would not be unusual for a police officer to flag a mobile news unit, and allow them to join a chase, tail a dope raid, be 'in' on a big bust and tag along. I did those myself in Cleburne in the late 80's. But my mobile news unit was a Chrysler K-Car.

Many a mobile news unit was equipped with 2-way radios to communicate with the studio, but they also had radios to communicate directly with police officers in their cars and multi channel scanners to monitor every police, fire and ambulance frequency.

Probably still to this day, the Texas DPS offers a media badge you could flash at just about any incident they are working and have access to the area.

Also, back to the almost subject at hand, in the mid 70's, KFJZ bought the first year model Mustang II's for news units. Small but FAST. 302 cubic inch V-8.

 

[RADIO TRUTH]

WABC, as many other top forty stations, had an EMT 140 plate reverb in the audio chain at their transmitter sight in Lodi, New Jersey. The reason for the reverb was to add density to the signal because tube compressor/limiters would only give about 10 db of gain reduction, which is not much. It was to make the stations that used the reverb sound punchier, more dense and bigger than life. That sound was missing in Dallas and Chicago as neither KLIF, KBOX, WLS or WCFL had the EMT.

 

[grantchester]

DPS stopped issuing media I.D.'s a few years back. Sheriff Department took over locally, when DPD stopped issuing theirs.
Most police officers have contempt for reporters, or at least act like it. They will keep media away from a scene, credentialed or not.
I used to have a 'free parking' deal in another city. In Dallas, they not only ticket you, but when you pay, if you give them cash, they pocket the cash and send your boss a delinquencyy notice. It happened to me.
g

 

[Chuck]

DPS stopped issuing media I.D.'s a few years back. Sheriff Department took over locally, when DPD stopped issuing theirs.
Most police officers have contempt for reporters, or at least act like it. They will keep media away from a scene, credentialed or not.
I used to have a 'free parking' deal in another city. In Dallas, they not only ticket you, but when you pay, if you give them cash, they pocket the cash and send your boss a delinquencyy notice. It happened to me.
g

Times have changed. Back in '67 & '68, I worked at KRLD in the news room. One of the big perks of the job was a Dallas Police issued Press Pass, as well as a DPD Car Pass. The Press Pass you carried in your wallet and the big yellow car pass was placed on your dash board. You could get into almost anything with this combination. Parking tickets were unheard of.

Back then, the station had very cordial relations with the Dallas Police Department. In fact, several police officers also had part time jobs at the station. It was a much different world.

 

[newsmark]

Dallas police really don't seem to understand the value of working WITH the media. A sound bite on the radio or TV can make it appear as though they're on top of everything in the city. But these days, gettings them to talk can often be nearly impossible, especially if it's at night or on the weekends.

Sure, the media will occasionally run a story about a cop who's done something bad. But really, they should welcome that story as well.

 

[Steve Eberhart]

...actually....KLIF had a German built EMT reverb unit...VERY expensive at the time...with a deep rich reverb to add to the KLIF audio...the thing was several feet long and cumbersome but sounded incredible on the air.
KLIF used it until the summer of '74 when it was taken out of the audio chain.

 

[RADIO TRUTH]

If that is true, then WABC and KLIF had the same German EMT 140 Plate Reverb. I think WABC cranked it up more than KLIF did. WABC's audio chain sounded more dense and punchier than KLIF's did in the mid 1960s.

 

[Holstead]

KLIF had that big reverb unit in a storage shed in Arlington when I worled there in the mid 1980's. It was about 8 feet long, 4 feet high and maybe a foot wide with a big hand crank dial on the end of it. They had a bunch of old relics from the Triangle Point building. I was allowed to take some of them. Matter of fact, in the movie "Talk Radio" when they do the flashback scene, they used the old KLIF Gates/President console for that shot. It was in the shed too.

 

[TheLaffer]

KLIF had that big reverb unit in a storage shed in Arlington when I worled there in the mid 1980's. It was about 8 feet long, 4 feet high and maybe a foot wide with a big hand crank dial on the end of it. They had a bunch of old relics from the Triangle Point building. I was allowed to take some of them. Matter of fact, in the movie "Talk Radio" when they do the flashback scene, they used the old KLIF Gates/President console for that shot. It was in the shed too.

I bet there were some other "goodies" in that shed ;D