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Anybody remember KFI-AM and KGIL-AM radio from the 1970s?

M

MichaelRoss

Hello,

Thanks to the Internet, many of us (who lived in the LA Area in the 1970s) have had a chance to listen to KFI radio personalities like Lohman & Barkley (who did the morning commute shows), and KGIL's Dick Whittington a.k.a. Sweet Dick.

I would be neat to hear more of these vintage broadcasts esp. if these broadcasts were made available on cassette tapes; as listening to these broadcasts in the older analog, AM-radio audio (yes, there is a noticable difference between analog and digital) would really make these personalities sound authentic.

Thank-you
 
Before going to KFI in 1968, Lohman & Barkley did mornings at KLAC and then KFWB. How many kids sent away for the kit to make a Lohman & Barkley Lemonade Stand? We were happy when Ted J. Baloney married W. Eva Schneider. And we listened every morning to hear the latest chapter of the ongoing drama, Light Of My Life. Here is a December 1978 aircheck of Lohman & Barkley:

http://airchexx.com/2012/03/04/lohman-barkley-64-kfi-los-angeles-december-1978/
 
MichaelRoss said:
Hello,

Thanks to the Internet, many of us (who lived in the LA Area in the 1970s) have had a chance to listen to KFI radio personalities like Lohman & Barkley (who did the morning commute shows), and KGIL's Dick Whittington a.k.a. Sweet Dick.

I would be neat to hear more of these vintage broadcasts esp. if these broadcasts were made available on cassette tapes; as listening to these broadcasts in the older analog, AM-radio audio (yes, there is a noticable difference between analog and digital) would really make these personalities sound authentic.

Thank-you
Click to expand...

What you really want is at Reelradio.com. It's an online museum of mid-late 20th century broadcasting, a licensed 501(c)3 non-profit. There's an annual $12 membership fee for unlimited listening.

There is a 55-minute unscoped aircheck of Sweet Dick at KGIL in 1973: http://reelradio.com/jeff/index.html#dwkgil112373

And several airchecks of Lohman and Barkley at KFWB and KFI:

http://reelradio.com/dk/lbkfwb.html#lbkfwb011268 (four on this page)

http://reelradio.com/jeff/index.html#lbkfi111676

It's also great fun to watch L&B work. Here's an Eye on L.A. piece on them from 1980 in which they press Paul Moyer into service on "Light Of My Life":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xceTOR-DAwI
 
Al Lohman told aspiring DJ Sandy Newton, "We think you have talent...and we think you have money." It's nice to know that Michael got a job on talent alone. :)
 
When I worked at KOWN Escondido in the 70's - I listened to L&B KFI mornings on the way to work and Hudson and Landry in the afternoon on the way home. It was great, I got to steal material from both
teams!
 
What are you saying? Charlie & Harrigan weren't good enough for you to sreal from? :)
 
The first time I ever heard Sweet Dick, it was in 1976 on KFI. He was there from sometime in 1975 to January 1977...between stints at KGIL. He left in January '77 after the station switched from talk to all music - it was odd hearing him forced to act like a DJ, playing lots of music and only talking occasionally, with none of his famous "shtick" featured at all. He lasted a couple of weeks and that was it...Bob Shannon replaced him on his 3-7 pm shift.
 
On April 1, 1983, a lot of listeners thought KHJ was playing an April Fools prank. Following the ominously-titled The Last Country Song by Ed Bruce, we heard "Ladies and gentlemen, the Boss is back!" followed by the "KHJ Los Angeles" jingle and Bill Haley's Rock Around The Clock. The two-and-a-half-year attempt to succeed with a country format had failed. With the return of pop music, KHJ's new morning man was Dick Whittington. I think he played only four or five records an hour.

Remember when Whittington was on KGIL and invited listeners to send in and get an autographed photo of the Harbor Freeway? :)
 
LARadioRewind said:
Remember when Whittington was on KGIL and invited listeners to send in and get an autographed photo of the Harbor Freeway? :)
Click to expand...

Nope. But I remember when Gary Owens did it on KMPC in 1964. I sent in for one...an 8x10 glossy aerial shot from Captain Max Schumacher's Airwatch #1, signed "Best Wishes, the Harbor Freeway."
 
Gosharooties! How insegrevious of you, Michael, to point that out. I would have sworn it was Whittington who did that. Let's all sing The Nernie Song. Of course Gary's funniest bit---and the one he always got the most requests to replay---was one of the hourly generic "Merry Christmas" messages that he read and then turned a page to see who that hour's sponsor was. Gary broke up laughing while struggling to finish a commercial about how Preparation H wants to thank their customers for being so kind to them over the years. The bit even appeared on a bloopers album narrated by Dick Clark.
 
LARadioRewind said:
Gosharooties! How insegrevious of you, Michael, to point that out. I would have sworn it was Whittington who did that. Let's all sing The Nernie Song. Of course Gary's funniest bit---and the one he always got the most requests to replay---was one of the hourly generic "Merry Christmas" messages that he read and then turned a page to see who that hour's sponsor was. Gary broke up laughing while struggling to finish a commercial about how Preparation H wants to thank their customers for being so kind to them over the years. The bit even appeared on a bloopers album narrated by Dick Clark.
Click to expand...

As well as on the sadly long-neglected KMPC tribute website:

http://710kmpc.com/Gary Owens Preparation H.mp3
 
I remember both Dick Whittington and Lohman & Barkley from when I was a kid! My mom loved "Sweet Dick" and always had him on her bedside radio in the morning, as well as driving me to school and on occasion, to the orthodontist, who was clear out in Van Nuys. My dad preferred Lohman & Barkley, and when he drove us in the car in the morning, would have that zany pair on. I especially remember listening to them during trips to northern California as KFI had a strong signal all the way up past Fresno. I liked both morning shows but did have a preference for "Sweet Dick," although when I lived in Hawaii in the first half of the 1980s, if I got up early enough during the winter, I could DX KFI and listen to L&B for a short while.
 
Whittinghill was 10 times the power of Whittington, and had his own Bar & Grill on Ventura Blvd!
 
Hot Hits said:
Whittinghill was 10 times the power of Whittington, and had his own Bar & Grill on Ventura Blvd!
Click to expand...

Whittinghill was just such a cranky old man. Whittington was creative...probably the closest thing to a successor to Bob Crane. If he'd had KNX's 50,000 watts to play with like Crane did, it might have been a real interesting battle of the Whits.

Between Crane, Robert W. Morgan, Charlie Tuna and Lohman and Barkley, there were only a few years where Whittinghill had the #1 morning show on a music station. He came in second to KHJ from 1968 (the first year for which I have daypart breakouts)-76, and in 1977, when KHJ dropped below him, Lohman and Barkley went past him. He might not have been #1 since 1955 or 56, given how quickly Crane took off.
 
Looked for a photo of Whittinghill's which seems to be missing I saw a picture of Crane standing & Whit sitting! By the time I met Whit he was too old to be cranky, pure nice person and glad to be back on Radio. I'm sure Gannett was paying him more than scale. 1150 AM actually was the #1 English Music Station for a Book or two in Los Angeles with sister station KIIS. The old folks loved that Daily Cash Payoff! I have a new Barber here in Arizona and he knew Whit and the whole bunch from the Bar and Grill days!

Interesting true story. Gary Owens and Whit did not talk for many years including those at KPRZ. Gannett gave us about two months notice that the KIIS Shadow Casting was coming and we were out of a job. Anyway Gary's jaw dropped one morning, and I asked him why, he told me quickly and I politely excused myself as Whit walked in . I don't think Whit ever came back?
 
Dick Whittinghill produced a long-running daily skit titled The Romance Of Helen Trump, which was a parody of the 1933-60 CBS Radio soap opera The Romance Of Helen Trent. A compilation of the skits is available at iTunes, along with Whittinghill's 1965 album The Square.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/romance-helen-trump-soap-opera/id687454414

Michael might be able to answer this: Dick Whittinghill has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, along with Brian Beirne, Charlie Tuna, Don Steele, Robert W. Morgan, Shotgun Tom Kelly and many other DJs. Who was the first DJ to be honored with a star? Was it Alan Freed? I'm referring to DJs who played music and not to the hosts of 1930s-40s-50s radio programs (Jack Benny, Fred Allen, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, et al).
 
Hot Hits said:
Looked for a photo of Whittinghill's which seems to be missing I saw a picture of Crane standing & Whit sitting! By the time I met Whit he was too old to be cranky, pure nice person and glad to be back on Radio. I'm sure Gannett was paying him more than scale. 1150 AM actually was the #1 English Music Station for a Book or two in Los Angeles with sister station KIIS. The old folks loved that Daily Cash Payoff! I have a new Barber here in Arizona and he knew Whit and the whole bunch from the Bar and Grill days!

Interesting true story. Gary Owens and Whit did not talk for many years including those at KPRZ. Gannett gave us about two months notice that the KIIS Shadow Casting was coming and we were out of a job. Anyway Gary's jaw dropped one morning, and I asked him why, he told me quickly and I politely excused myself as Whit walked in . I don't think Whit ever came back?
Click to expand...

The photo of Whit & Crane was a spoof of a similar pose from Hogan's Heroes. It was a publicity shot for KMPC, which did a deal with Crane to fill in for Whittinghill a few weeks a year during planned vacations. Whit, who'd been known to tape a week's worth of shows in advance to avoid having someone get a week in his chair, hated the idea. I'm told the photo shoot took less than 5 minutes and Whittinghill didn't say a word.
 
LARadioRewind said:
Dick Whittinghill produced a long-running daily skit titled The Romance Of Helen Trump, which was a parody of the 1933-60 CBS Radio soap opera The Romance Of Helen Trent. A compilation of the skits is available at iTunes, along with Whittinghill's 1965 album The Square.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/romance-helen-trump-soap-opera/id687454414

Michael might be able to answer this: Dick Whittinghill has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, along with Brian Beirne, Charlie Tuna, Don Steele, Robert W. Morgan, Shotgun Tom Kelly and many other DJs. Who was the first DJ to be honored with a star? Was it Alan Freed? I'm referring to DJs who played music and not to the hosts of 1930s-40s-50s radio programs (Jack Benny, Fred Allen, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, et al).
Click to expand...

I can't find a chronological listing. Alan Freed didn't get his until 1991 (when the Walk of Fame began in 1960, Freed was in L.A., but near the bottom of his career).

If I had to take a guess, I'd say either Johnny Grant or Dick Whittinghill was probably the first.
 
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