Just heard on Fox News Channel that Buck Owens has passed away.
A lot of people in Phoenix radio used to make fun of Buck and his operation at KNIX...that was, until the early 1980's, when the Urban Cowboy craze shot KNIX to the top of the Phoenix radio heap. Just as important, though, was KNIX's ability to stay on top long after the craze ended. They did it by always staying a step ahead of the marketplace.
Program director Larry Daniels deserves the lion's share of the credit for the station's success, but a tip of the cowboy hat should also go to Buck Owens for hiring good people and then staying out of their way.
In a business where owners are always regarded as cheap, Buck and his son Michael were not. They spent, and took very good care of their employees. Michael's philosophy was not to negotiate. The reason -- he felt he offered the best pay and the best working conditions. If someone didn't want that, they were welcome to leave.
The names that passed through KNIX in the 1980's reads like a who's who -- W. Steven Martin, Len Roberts, Don Cristi. Steve Wood, who has become one of the nation's top voice-over talents, worked overnights and evenings. John Michaels, who has established himself as a solid part of KOOL's current success, cut his broadcasting teeth at KNIX. In news, names like Frank Asberry, Stephan Kaufman, Dick Leighton and Bill Denney were drawn to KNIX because of the Buck Owens way of doing business.
Buck also understood good broadcasting, and didn't use any of his stations as a Buck Owens Museum. True story -- DJ's were not allowed to play Buck's music, because station research (another innovation KNIX had before a lot of others) determined that the station's listeners didn't care for his music.
A lot of the things you hear today in music radio -- weekend remotes, compuerized playlists, nightclub appearances by DJ's, were done first in Phoenix by KNIX. For ten years, no station in Phoenix dared try to match what KNIX was doing. Only when KMLE came on the air in 1989 did KNIX finally face a serious threat. Today, with Clear Channel's corporate operation in place, KNIX remains strong, but it will never dominate like it did 20 years ago, and will unlikely ever return to the cutting edge broadcasting it did when Buck Owens quietly put together a Phoenix radio powerhouse.
Eventually, most of his critics who thought KNIX meant spittin tobacco, bales of hay and pickup trucks, stopped laughing at Buck Owens. Buck got the last laugh. Rest in Peace, Buck Owens.
A lot of people in Phoenix radio used to make fun of Buck and his operation at KNIX...that was, until the early 1980's, when the Urban Cowboy craze shot KNIX to the top of the Phoenix radio heap. Just as important, though, was KNIX's ability to stay on top long after the craze ended. They did it by always staying a step ahead of the marketplace.
Program director Larry Daniels deserves the lion's share of the credit for the station's success, but a tip of the cowboy hat should also go to Buck Owens for hiring good people and then staying out of their way.
In a business where owners are always regarded as cheap, Buck and his son Michael were not. They spent, and took very good care of their employees. Michael's philosophy was not to negotiate. The reason -- he felt he offered the best pay and the best working conditions. If someone didn't want that, they were welcome to leave.
The names that passed through KNIX in the 1980's reads like a who's who -- W. Steven Martin, Len Roberts, Don Cristi. Steve Wood, who has become one of the nation's top voice-over talents, worked overnights and evenings. John Michaels, who has established himself as a solid part of KOOL's current success, cut his broadcasting teeth at KNIX. In news, names like Frank Asberry, Stephan Kaufman, Dick Leighton and Bill Denney were drawn to KNIX because of the Buck Owens way of doing business.
Buck also understood good broadcasting, and didn't use any of his stations as a Buck Owens Museum. True story -- DJ's were not allowed to play Buck's music, because station research (another innovation KNIX had before a lot of others) determined that the station's listeners didn't care for his music.
A lot of the things you hear today in music radio -- weekend remotes, compuerized playlists, nightclub appearances by DJ's, were done first in Phoenix by KNIX. For ten years, no station in Phoenix dared try to match what KNIX was doing. Only when KMLE came on the air in 1989 did KNIX finally face a serious threat. Today, with Clear Channel's corporate operation in place, KNIX remains strong, but it will never dominate like it did 20 years ago, and will unlikely ever return to the cutting edge broadcasting it did when Buck Owens quietly put together a Phoenix radio powerhouse.
Eventually, most of his critics who thought KNIX meant spittin tobacco, bales of hay and pickup trucks, stopped laughing at Buck Owens. Buck got the last laugh. Rest in Peace, Buck Owens.
