Four Old-Time Stations I Miss Today

[davideduardo]

But this thread is about stations people miss, and as I said, I doubt many people alive today were listeners of the Beautiful Music stations. I just turned 56, and people of my generation disparaged "elevator music," and considered KABL and stations like it to be for old fogeys.

Beautiful was the leading 25-54 format of the 70's and even early 80's. The thing that changed was the preference for vocals and not instrumentals, as evidenced by the almost total lack of record production of this type of music.

On the other hand, I think a significant number of people my age and younger probably miss the Standards format. Though we weren't even born when Glenn Miller was in his heyday, it was fun upbeat music. I remember first getting into Big Band on KMPX-FM in the 70s, after they had dropped the rock format.

Standards was, in the Music of Your Life presentation, the older demo format even in the 70's.

 

[DavidKaye]

But this thread is about stations people miss, and as I said, I doubt many people alive today were listeners of the Beautiful Music stations. I just turned 56, and people of my generation disparaged "elevator music," and considered KABL and stations like it to be for old fogeys.

I happen to be of your generation and I loved KABL's beautiful music format when I was a teen. What's more there are folks out there today in their 20s and 30s who love the lush sophisticated tunes that would have played on KABL. I go to various parties where performers such as Mister Lucky and Project Pimento play. While they're more pop standards than lush arrangements, still they're fare that KABL would have played.

It would be good to find out if there are any stations anywhere in the U.S. playing beautiful music these days and if so what kind of audience they have.

 

[LKellerIII]

David Eduardo said: "Standards was, in the Music of Your Life presentation, the older demo format even in the 70's."

Yes - I know that, David. Along with others, I bow to your expertise as the god of radio demographics, even though what you say is often depressing to hear. However - AGAIN - this thread was about stations that people "miss" and had nothing to do with ratings and demographics.

If somebody said they missed the Big 610/KFRC, would you launch into an explanation about how today's radio audience would never support a 70s type AM Top 40 station? Maybe you could allow us our nostalgic delusions.

Personally, I had a number of friends in the 80s who enjoyed Big Band music, listened to KMPX or Magic 61, and would even pay good money to go to Big Band style concerts. These same people - including myself - were jazz fans, and went to jazz festivals and listened often to KJAZ. Personally, I had NO friends who admitted to liking Percy Faith or Mantovani.

David Kaye said: "I happen to be of your generation and I loved KABL's beautiful music format when I was a teen. What's more there are folks out there today in their 20s and 30s who love the lush sophisticated tunes that would have played on KABL. I go to various parties where performers such as Mister Lucky and Project Pimento play. While they're more pop standards than lush arrangements, still they're fare that KABL would have played."

OK, other David - I suspect you were in a small minority, and I officially nominate you for Old Fogey status, to be applied retroactively to you in your teens and 20s. Though I just remembered that I used to borrow an old Ford Falcon belonging to a friend of mine. His AM radio was often tuned to KABL. He was also a major drug user in those days, so I have this image of him driving around peaking on LSD listening to Beautiful Music.

 

[XM RADIO]

In 1979, James Gabbert had KIQI 1050 Am .... The Time Machine,, with the legendary Bill Holley, and Steve Jordan. James Gabbert really knows Oldies Radio,,, In 1979 ,, you had Candi Chamberlin, doing "Golden Gate Greats" Sat nites on the Boss of the bay KYA1260!!! Candi and james Gabbert are Oldies Experts!!!!!!!!!! Kenny in Concord

 

[gameon]

Nobody is mentioning Magic 61--SF's last big time stab at standards. the consultant's report on that one was entitled "Patti Page To Profit" (Thom O'Hair told me that one) But who remembers the crazy Game Show format that followed kfrc chr on the big 610?

btw somebody in this thread mentioned the old ksan--if you've never read Hip Capitalism, find it read it, one of the best books about radio ever written

probably still at the SFSU library where I read it many moons ago

 

[LKellerIII]

"Nobody is mentioning Magic 61--SF's last big time stab at standards. the consultant's report on that one was entitled "Patti Page To Profit" (Thom O'Hair told me that one)"

Actually, I did mention Magic 61, though only in passing. And I think KABL AM 960 would be considered the Bay Area's last big time stab at standards, though I guess toward the end, they had morphed out of the "big band" sound into a format with mostly 60s pop tunes - Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Englebert Humperdinck, etc.

"But who remembers the crazy Game Show format that followed kfrc chr on the big 610?"

I remember it. You had to give KFRC credit for taking a chance...but I found it virtually unlistenable. Besides, all they could afford to give away were low rent appliances like toasters. I think it only lasted a month...maybe less.

 

[newsperson]

Newsperon responds:

A lot of the music was older than that including standards from the 40s, 50s and 60s and not the pop music or top 40 of the 60s.

I do remember the game shows and enjoyed them. When it went to Big Band/Standards I tuned eleswhere.

Some of the talk shows on KFRC began airing more sexual confessions from listeners and got some goood response.

Now what do we have? Tom Leykis, so one sided....oh I heard him on 1550 Khz. 2 nights ago.

Newsperson

 

[BossRadioDJ]

In 1979, James Gabbert had KIQI 1050 Am .... The Time Machine,, with the legendary Bill Holley, and Steve Jordan. James Gabbert really knows Oldies Radio,,,

No... KIQI was 1010 AM (K-101 AM). He also had KOFY/1050. I'm a huge fan of James Gabbert -- he's one of Great Radio Heroes -- but you should go back and listen to the Oldies that were programmed on KOFY/1050. They were very chicken-rock, milquetoast, Fifties-intensive, white-bread ... hold on, I'm running out of words to describe how incredibly bland -- wait, there's another one: bland! -- KOFY/1050 was.

There should be some airchecks available on some radio museum website somewhere to prove it. I'll check.

 

[BossRadioDJ]

4. KFMR: Good Country Oldies format which my father would love to see make a comeback in this
market, this time with the KFMR call letters (FM 104!)

KFMR 104.9 in Fremont? When were they ever country?

Ah yes, KFMR in Fremont. That was the station I haunted when I was a kid. It was owned at one time by the one-and-only Leon (Country Lee) Crosby, who later owned KMPX (FM 107), the first true Underground Rock station in the United States, and KEMO (Channel 20), which later became James Gabbert's KOFY TV20.

Why, I'll be darned. There's a radio museum what has a ad from KFMR when it was a Country-fried station:

http://www.bayarearadio.org/kfmr/kfmr_country-ad_1970-01-07_fa.png

The 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. guy was the great John Schneider, who was a San Francisco State broadcasting student at that time, commuting between his home in Lafayette, school in the city and a low-paying radio job in cosmopolitan Fremont's elegant Centerville District. John wrote the landmark "Voices Out Of The Fog," a history of Bay Area radio that is a centerpiece of the museum's website:

http://www.bayarearadio.org/schneider/

Anybody sharing an affection for KFMR or admitting (even in jest) to missing it should contact me immediately. We can go in halvesies on the therapy sessions...

D.J.

 

[BossRadioDJ]

4. KFMR: Good Country Oldies format which my father would love to see make a comeback in this
market, this time with the KFMR call letters (FM 104!)

Jeez, if I'm able to get in four consecutive posts in this category, do I win something?

Note that Bob Kieve, Empire Broadcasting and the crew from KRTY/95.3 in San Jose are test-driving a Country Oldies format online at:

http://www.everybodysmusic.com/

The station is called "KRTY Classic" and uses the tagline "This IS your Dad's Country!"

Dave Bob says check it out.

 

[BossRadioDJ]

I'm making this post -- my fourth in a row -- on the outside chance that I actually might win something.

A pony would be nice.

 

[DaveBayArea]

I don't think anyone has mentioned KFAT yet. A quirky free-form radio station on 94.5 out of Gilroy. It actually played a part in my decision to move to the Bay Area. I came out here on a job interview and heard KFAT. WOW! Alas, it was gone shortly after I moved here. Some of that lives on with today's KPIG, but it suffers from having a weak signal on AM.

There was also a great incarnation of the 98.9 FM under Jim Gabbert. With Norman Davis, Thom O'Hair, Nancy Walton, and Bonnie Simmons (some others that I can't remember). The variety of tunes was excellent, and this was a time when there was a lot of excellent AAA music coming out (John Hiatt, Michelle Schocked, etc). I heard that Gabbert didn't like the format that well tho, and even though they did well in the ratings he decided to make a change (this according to a Chronicle article at the time). I remember one afternoon this DJ named Tony Gilbert came on - a new guy - and started playing truly awful stuff. Like what you hear on KKIQ and KKDV today - mostly lame tunes that you've heard a thousand times. It was really weird, because nobody would listen during afternoon drive, but we all tuned in otherwise. Then it went away completely and became an automated hit station, IIRC.

Oh - my other two - the original Live 105 and any other real AOR station - Remember when we had KMEL, KSJO, KOME, and KRQR all playing rock & roll?

Dave B.

 

[tripton99]

good points, Dave.

Two very minor corrections:

Tom o'hair (for some reason Tom used a lower case o) and Tony Kilbert (not Gilbert)

Tom passed away in the 90s but Tony, I think, is alive and well on the island of Kauai.

A dream radio dial would include the following stations in their prime: KSFO, KFRC, KNBR, KCBS, KGO, KSAN, Live 105, KABL, KMEL, KDIA Lucky 13, KEWB, KYA, KJAZ, KKSF, KFOG, and KOIT.

I can claim four of 'em on my CV, if I chose to dust it off. My timing could have been a little better, but I can claim them none the less.

 

[DavidKaye]

Why, I'll be darned. There's a radio museum what has a ad from KFMR when it was a Country-fried station:
http://www.bayarearadio.org/kfmr/kfmr_country-ad_1970-01-07_fa.png

Dang! I had no idea. I thought I'd followed KFMR quite closely. I didn't remember it ever being country. I remember it being MOR for most of the time. Some kid stage actor whose name I forgot, but who appeared in lots of Neil Simon-type plays for the Chanticleers, Altarena, and others, was a DJ at KFMR.

I remember when they had the house on Mowry where the DJ sat in the picture window of the living room. I also remember a couple other, less opulent, locations. In one of its final forms, when it was running brokered religion and rightwing programming, the board was really cheap, the tape decks were consumer models that had been stripped of their cases, and the mic was a Radio Shack wonder. The fact that it was even on the air was a miracle. But they also managed to sell all or most of their time.

 

[rickradio]

I don't think anyone has mentioned KFAT yet. A quirky free-form radio station on 94.5 out of Gilroy.

Actually, Dave, KFAT was on 94.3. However, it DID move to 94.5, change call letters to KWSS, and move its COL to San Jose.

 

[DavidKaye]

Actually, KFAT was on 94.3. However, it DID move to 94.5, change call letters to KWSS, and move its COL to San Jose.

The story goes that Jeremy Lansman bought 94.3 specifically in order to move it to the higher-powered 94.5. Legend goes that the famous KFAT format was simply a placeholder until he could make the changes and sell off the station. The eclectic country format was chosen because it was believed that nobody would miss it when the station was sold and it was dumped for something that made more money.

Jeremy was quoted somewhere some years after the sale as saying that they were going to ditch the format until research showed that the audience had about twice the income of other listeners in that area, so they quickly began to line up Mercedes dealerships, et al, to reach that audience.

KFAT was later bought by the manager of KNEW (which at that time had a country format) and he had desired to keep the format as-was. Unfortunately, he succumbed to an illness and died not long thereafter, and KWSS was born.

 

[SCV_Ears]

Even today's KPIG beats just about anything on the air today.

I think what I miss most about radio now vs. radio 30-40 years ago is personalities. Where do I begin? Don Sherwood, Dr. Don Rose, Frank and Mike, Gene Nelson, Jim Lange, and not to forget Carter B., of course ... and all local guys too, even to someone growing up in San Jose. Now you can't go anywhere without Carolla being a big deal, like he's gonna help you through an hour's delay at the Toll Plaza or hold your hand and say its when the Niners blow a big game. No one today's gonna raid Stockton or do some of the goofy things Frank and Mike did to each other.

Oh, and if you're going through the South Valley, thy 103.3 for standards ...

 

[BossRadioDJ]

Even today's KPIG beats just about anything on the air today.

I think what I miss most about radio now vs. radio 30-40 years ago is personalities. Where do I begin? Don Sherwood, Dr. Don Rose, Frank and Mike, Gene Nelson, Jim Lange, and not to forget Carter B., of course ... and all local guys too, even to someone growing up in San Jose.

To be precise, both Carter B. and Don Sherwood were San Francisco born-and-bred. As for everyone else, San Francisco was once a "destination" radio city, even into the 1980s. For example, there's a group of guys from Minnesota (Jim Lange, Al Hart, Don Bleu, Ken Ackerman, etc.) who migrated here ... another group from upstate New York ... another group from Illinois.

All of them found great jobs here, and a great place to put down roots.

Now, radio-wise, there's no "here" here to attract great radio talent.

DJ

 

[DavidKaye]

All of them found great jobs here, and a great place to put down roots.
Now, radio-wise, there's no "here" here to attract great radio talent.
DJ

Radio has changed. The "greats" are going to XM and Sirius or getting out of the business or doing podcasts. It's not just here but everywhere.

 

[SCV_Ears]

I think you misread my post DJ ... I grew up in San Jose!