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Anybody Remember...?
- Thread starter Lopaka
- Start date
I do remember Rock 95 XEGM.
Did some publicity work for, as I recall a fellow named Chuck Johnson who was the time leasor at night when he programmed at least 6 or 7 hours of R & B, James Brown, Percy Sledge, etc. I think the little ad agency me and another guy owned designed a logo for Rock 95 ... a little fuzzy there.
I was and still am a white guy and was pretty young at the time. My ad agency partner and myself visited Chuck at his studios in a fairly tired former Speedee Mart in Logan Heights where he taped his shows for delivery to the bus to Tiajuana.
We accompanied Chuck to Mexico to the studios in a small drive through center on Revolucion. The Rock 95 Studios were in an all glass store front with a number of rack mount tape recorders which were loaded sequentialy for broadcast - some out of time sequence - maybe Johnson announcing 8 pm when it was ten.
As I recall there was always someone on duty at the facility keeping track of tape decks.
A real fun part of all of this was visiting San Diego black music clubs with Chuck, who sort eased the way for a six four white guy in his twenties. Never felt uncomfortable and had few adventures thanks to the Rock 95 world.
I'm old now, thanks for jogging the memory modules.
By the way, how about La Jolla's, KDIG - a jazz operation managed by a fellow named Roger Dawson - who bought my MG TC from me mighty cheap. My partner and I did a logo and some publicity stuff for jazz concerts KDIG sponsored events.
The KDIG call letters were not loved by northern neighbor KBIG who filed a complaint with the FCC to no avail - the calls stayed.
This would have been 1966.
Rickity
Did some publicity work for, as I recall a fellow named Chuck Johnson who was the time leasor at night when he programmed at least 6 or 7 hours of R & B, James Brown, Percy Sledge, etc. I think the little ad agency me and another guy owned designed a logo for Rock 95 ... a little fuzzy there.
I was and still am a white guy and was pretty young at the time. My ad agency partner and myself visited Chuck at his studios in a fairly tired former Speedee Mart in Logan Heights where he taped his shows for delivery to the bus to Tiajuana.
We accompanied Chuck to Mexico to the studios in a small drive through center on Revolucion. The Rock 95 Studios were in an all glass store front with a number of rack mount tape recorders which were loaded sequentialy for broadcast - some out of time sequence - maybe Johnson announcing 8 pm when it was ten.
As I recall there was always someone on duty at the facility keeping track of tape decks.
A real fun part of all of this was visiting San Diego black music clubs with Chuck, who sort eased the way for a six four white guy in his twenties. Never felt uncomfortable and had few adventures thanks to the Rock 95 world.
I'm old now, thanks for jogging the memory modules.
By the way, how about La Jolla's, KDIG - a jazz operation managed by a fellow named Roger Dawson - who bought my MG TC from me mighty cheap. My partner and I did a logo and some publicity stuff for jazz concerts KDIG sponsored events.
The KDIG call letters were not loved by northern neighbor KBIG who filed a complaint with the FCC to no avail - the calls stayed.
This would have been 1966.
Rickity
This touches a little on the historic studio thread...but its also about memories of San Diego radio in the 1960's...remember the KCBQ glass studios at 7th & Ash, across the Ash from XETV's offices and across 7th from the glass elevator at the El Cortez Hotel. Remember the great neon sign on KGB on Pacific Highway (right up there with Frank The Train Man and the neon majorette at the Campus Drive In!)...Rememeber the school spirit contest KGB ran in about 1962 or so where students spent countless thousands of hours of class time filling in their names on petitions to show their school spirit...truly great talent like Harry (Happy Hare) Martin, King Richard and Bill Wade on KGB, Don Howard, Ernie Meyers, Art Way, Scotty Day...so many of them, great talents who loved radio and some of whom were even nice enough to personally answer letters from teenage fans...such as myself.
Yes to all of them - Frank the Trainman! - watched the KGB sign longingly from my fun times at MCRD in 1965 - no music in boot camp, but I knew where the music was, right across the street. Bicycled right past the great Campus drive in batton twirlers and the enter sign, the little car zooming in and right up to the green KCBQ transmitter building, with three towers at College and El Cajon, knocked on the door and got a tour of the night time studios from a gentleman that looked like Clark Gable - Jack Vincent I'd bet that would be - who explained to me how it all worked, then there was the big sign in El Cajon for KBAB 910 ... and the MVI, Mission Valley Inn, the Garden Hotel San Diego, but better, home of the Mighty 690. Looked in the empty windows after the Mighty became XTRA News Over Los Angeles, snooped around back and found a metal sign with Mighty 690 in raised reflective letters with an arrow that I presume pointed at the studios - took it home, hey, it was in the trash! My dad had it for years and finally let it go, who knows where ... radio was magic, actually I think it still is ... growing up in San Diego in the 1950's was wonderful, exciting ...
Thanks for the memories.
Rickity
Thanks for the memories.
Rickity
Jack Vincent, wow, what a fine talent. There was some reunion of radio people covered on TV news, Jack Vincent was there, still looking like Clark Gable, still with the mellow pipes. I think one of the tragedies of deregulation of the broadcast industry is that streaming eliminated so many jobs for so many talented people, a loss not just for the talent but for their listeners.
From KCBQ, lets remember Lucky Lane, Ralph James, Johnny Holliday, Jerry Walker and Casey B. Quack...
From KCBQ, lets remember Lucky Lane, Ralph James, Johnny Holliday, Jerry Walker and Casey B. Quack...
B
Bob_Hudson
Guest
Lopaka said:Jack Vincent, wow, what a fine talent. There was some reunion of radio people covered on TV news, Jack Vincent was there, still looking like Clark Gable, still with the mellow pipes.
Jack had an incredibly long career at KCBQ beginning as a jock in 1955. He worked the overnight shift at the transmitter site and that meant he had to have an FCC 1st class license. A directional station with KCBQ's power was required to have a 1st class licensed person on duty 24 hours a day. Having a DJ with the license work at the transmitter meant they could get by with one less person on duty during the overnight hours. So technically Jack was a DJ and "engineer" but the lots of jocks went to the cram courses to prepare for the mulitple choice FCC tests and you could get one without being an engineer just so long as you had a good memory.
As I recall the story was told to me by Jack when i was at the Q in 1979, sometime in the early 60's along comes rock n roll and a program director who decides to get rid of the old air staff and replace them with some Top 40 jocks. Well, they found out they could not fire Jack. At some point in previous years he had been told that he would have to decide whether his primary union was the engineers union, NABET, or the jocks union, AFTRA. He had chosen NABET and between that time and the time they went to Top 40, he had gained so much seniority that they could not fire him without first firing all the other engineers on staff. Jack was kept on the overnight shift and after leaving on-air duties in 1968 he stayed on staff as an engineer, which basically involved taking meter readings, and, as he once told me, he also became the defacto KCBQ in-house carpenter because he was good at that.
Thanks, that is good history.
A couple of years ago I happened to go to an estate sale in the neighborhood, it happened to be at the house of a man who had been the engineer for KSDJ, the precursor to KCBQ. All I bought was one of those gigantic 45's that was used in the industry at the time for recording and playback. Having no turntable capable of handling its size, I have never heard whats on it, but it does have the label reading "KSDJ San Diego, 1000 watts day, 500 watts night."
I would love it if people who have worked in the industry would sit down and write the history as they remember it--broadcasting history blogs. Radio is such an integral part of our lives, we tend to take it for granted.
A couple of years ago I happened to go to an estate sale in the neighborhood, it happened to be at the house of a man who had been the engineer for KSDJ, the precursor to KCBQ. All I bought was one of those gigantic 45's that was used in the industry at the time for recording and playback. Having no turntable capable of handling its size, I have never heard whats on it, but it does have the label reading "KSDJ San Diego, 1000 watts day, 500 watts night."
I would love it if people who have worked in the industry would sit down and write the history as they remember it--broadcasting history blogs. Radio is such an integral part of our lives, we tend to take it for granted.
D
doublecashkgb
Guest
Thanks fellows, for filling in a lot of blanks. When I was 11 KCBQ moved from downtown to Santee, and I remember going through the 7th & Ash studios before the move. The Q of course had that great custom built on-air board, & a stand up production studio I think. Jack VIncent still plays pool once in awhile with Shotgun Tom. I didn't know the Q had once transmitted fromt the grounds of the Campus Drive In, I wonder if they were better off then, after all the problems in Santee & ultimately lowering power.
The KGB studios on Pacific Highway had that classic 50's space age design, and of course the KGB neon sign. Once in awhile Bobby Ocean or Charlie Van Dyke would let me watch through the lobby window.
One thing I am curious about is the days of the smaller locally owned FM stations. Anyone remember where KFMX's studios were located back in their Jazz days?. I visited KLRO in the late 60's, the entire studio was maybe 2 hotel rooms in the US Grant Hotel. The format was mostly jazz, blues, & exotica, MOR. ALso any memories of KDEO in their Pacific Highways days? or KCBQ when they were located on 5th Ave or on
University Avenue. Its fascinating stuff. Today I work in an environment that is far less inspiring, 3-4 computer monitors, a mouse & keyboard & we call it radio.
The KGB studios on Pacific Highway had that classic 50's space age design, and of course the KGB neon sign. Once in awhile Bobby Ocean or Charlie Van Dyke would let me watch through the lobby window.
One thing I am curious about is the days of the smaller locally owned FM stations. Anyone remember where KFMX's studios were located back in their Jazz days?. I visited KLRO in the late 60's, the entire studio was maybe 2 hotel rooms in the US Grant Hotel. The format was mostly jazz, blues, & exotica, MOR. ALso any memories of KDEO in their Pacific Highways days? or KCBQ when they were located on 5th Ave or on
University Avenue. Its fascinating stuff. Today I work in an environment that is far less inspiring, 3-4 computer monitors, a mouse & keyboard & we call it radio.
I don't recall KCBQ on University Ave, but I do recall their studios on top of the Lafayette Hotel on El Cajon Blvd, which was the main, US 80 into San diego, ending at Park Av. - right by, ta da ... FRANK THE TRAINMAN!... anyway, KCBQ had a large read neon sign on top of the Lafayette and the studios were in sort of a penthouse. I visted there while doing a brocheure for Bill Wade School of Broadcast - mid sixties, Bill Wade had worked for at least KGB and set his school up in the old KCBQ studio.
Those studios were used between the KSDJ - 5th and Ash - KCBQ 7th and Ash days. If I'm right, KSDJ - San Diego Journal, or San Diego Daily Journal which was an unsuccesfull daily effort to compete against the Union - Evening Tribune. A liberal newspaper that later Congressman Lionel Van Deerlin wrote for as a columinist - I think Lionel had a show on radio and later KFSD TV 10 - maybe XETV also?
The Daily Journal might have been published by McKinnon who later published the San Diego Independent. Later KFMB took over CBS from KCBQ and occupied the 5th and Ash building with AM-FM, TV, where I think the newspaper had been published. I'm not sure if McKinnon was the same that owned KSON in it's 1240 AM incarnation
That Q - it's been around awhile.
Rickity
Those studios were used between the KSDJ - 5th and Ash - KCBQ 7th and Ash days. If I'm right, KSDJ - San Diego Journal, or San Diego Daily Journal which was an unsuccesfull daily effort to compete against the Union - Evening Tribune. A liberal newspaper that later Congressman Lionel Van Deerlin wrote for as a columinist - I think Lionel had a show on radio and later KFSD TV 10 - maybe XETV also?
The Daily Journal might have been published by McKinnon who later published the San Diego Independent. Later KFMB took over CBS from KCBQ and occupied the 5th and Ash building with AM-FM, TV, where I think the newspaper had been published. I'm not sure if McKinnon was the same that owned KSON in it's 1240 AM incarnation
That Q - it's been around awhile.
Rickity
X-0 RADIO 1470! I loved it. Moved to Long Beach in early 1961 and it came in clearly there. First as top 40 with lots of excitement, then as country. Bob Kingsley was a jock there under the name Bob Canyon. He came from 1470 KUTY Palmdale and I listened to him there when I lived near Palmdale til 1961.
The original call letters of KSDO were KYOR, it was a daytimer. The KSDO transmitter used to be located in Mission Valley, right across some street from Westgate Park, there were buffalo grazing either in or next to the tower array. I remember listening to Padre games coming in on KOMO from Seattle when they played the Rainiers.
Was it just coincidence that KBAB employed Sam Babcock, or was he actually involved with the ownership of the station, or at least the selection of the call letters? He moved on to KDAY in LA and shared duties with Art Laboe and the legendary Alan Freed in the early '60's.
KFMB dates, I think, from 1941, originally at 1450 kc, then 550 kc, then 540 kc, and its been on 760 kc since about 1965. It was started by a rich heir, I always wondered why the particular call letters were selected.
Did KGB (as an am) have a call before it became KGB? KFBC or some such thing?
Was it just coincidence that KBAB employed Sam Babcock, or was he actually involved with the ownership of the station, or at least the selection of the call letters? He moved on to KDAY in LA and shared duties with Art Laboe and the legendary Alan Freed in the early '60's.
KFMB dates, I think, from 1941, originally at 1450 kc, then 550 kc, then 540 kc, and its been on 760 kc since about 1965. It was started by a rich heir, I always wondered why the particular call letters were selected.
Did KGB (as an am) have a call before it became KGB? KFBC or some such thing?
B
Bob_Hudson
Guest
Lopaka said:Did KGB (as an am) have a call before it became KGB? KFBC or some such thing?
In the pre-computer days i wrote an article for the Adams Avenue Post newspaper about KGB's beginnings in Normal Heights. Since my pre-digital writings are hidden away in file boxes, I found online another story about KGB's beginnings as KFBC: http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/80winter/kgb.htm - the article also has tidbits about the roots of other San Diego radio stations.
Lopaka asked about the KFMB calls:
It's my understanding that he, whomever, who built KFMB was a a fan of KFWB Los Angeles.
So, flipping the W upside down came up with KFMB.
I believe I read that on that long ago radio board, can't remember the name anymore, but the San Diego correspondent was John Fox.
John had some great stuff about KCBQ's Don Howard - one of the Lucky 11-Seven's best.
John also maintained a KCBQ fan site on the net for a number of years.
rickity
It's my understanding that he, whomever, who built KFMB was a a fan of KFWB Los Angeles.
So, flipping the W upside down came up with KFMB.
I believe I read that on that long ago radio board, can't remember the name anymore, but the San Diego correspondent was John Fox.
John had some great stuff about KCBQ's Don Howard - one of the Lucky 11-Seven's best.
John also maintained a KCBQ fan site on the net for a number of years.
rickity
D
doublecashkgb
Guest
The KDEO Top 40 era was before my time, but the more I hear about it, the more impressed
I am with the talent that Tiger Radio had.
Moving into the 1970's, Does anyone remember Royce Johnson?. I know he did mornings
at KFRC is San Francisco,then went to KDEO for mornings, later he switched with Perry Allen to afternoons, and in 1972 he left for KOGO. Unfortunately he ended his life later that year. What a great
disc jockey, and communicator, something that is almost extinct in radio today. KDEO
had a great vibe in the early 70's with Perry Allen, Sam Schwan, Ron Reina sports, Royce,
George Manning & Aztec & Charger football. Perry Allen was probably the best overall morning
talent SD had in the 70's. Very urbane, sophisticated humor, great satire. In a lot of ways KDEO
sounded bigger league than anyone else from 1970-1973.
They made an interesting transition from chicken rock, to a progressive rock AM format, with a lot more discipline & focus than when KGB-AM did the same thing a few years later. But as always, the signal
was problematic, I can't believe that Mort Sidley never bought an FM. I believe KDIG was sold for less than 350,000 dollars in the early 70's.
I am with the talent that Tiger Radio had.
Moving into the 1970's, Does anyone remember Royce Johnson?. I know he did mornings
at KFRC is San Francisco,then went to KDEO for mornings, later he switched with Perry Allen to afternoons, and in 1972 he left for KOGO. Unfortunately he ended his life later that year. What a great
disc jockey, and communicator, something that is almost extinct in radio today. KDEO
had a great vibe in the early 70's with Perry Allen, Sam Schwan, Ron Reina sports, Royce,
George Manning & Aztec & Charger football. Perry Allen was probably the best overall morning
talent SD had in the 70's. Very urbane, sophisticated humor, great satire. In a lot of ways KDEO
sounded bigger league than anyone else from 1970-1973.
They made an interesting transition from chicken rock, to a progressive rock AM format, with a lot more discipline & focus than when KGB-AM did the same thing a few years later. But as always, the signal
was problematic, I can't believe that Mort Sidley never bought an FM. I believe KDIG was sold for less than 350,000 dollars in the early 70's.
KDEO--one of the more forgotten, neglected operations, owned by the Dandy Broadcasting Corporation, I believe. They had at least one other station, in Albuquerque. And here is a question I have had for a looooong time. Is there something inherent about the 910kc frequency that produces a whistling kind of tone? It might have been something about my radios or my location, but KDEO was never without that somewhat irritating background tone. In an era when disc jockeys had dedicated fan followings, one of KCBQ's great moves was hiring Shadoe Jackson away from KDEO.
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