Those of you who have looked over the list for the 2007 Hall of Fame might notice the name Frank Cope and wonder who he was. Frank was one of the earliest DJ's in history in the Bay Area, playing records on the old KJBS (now KFAX) in the 1940's His morning show was called "The Alarm Clock Club". Between the records he always had a one liner, many of which were very good. When KJBS went under, Frank was given an on the air audition on KSFO. Never having worked with engineers, he was not happy and spent the rest of his working life in the car business. A real pro with a lot of class.
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Frank Cope
- Thread starter CarterB
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Production Boy said:
Production God,
We're trying to gather more information regarding Frank Cope for the radio museum. If you have anything, could you please PM or email me?
Thanks!
DJ
I knew that name rang a bell from somewhere, and if anyone
still has a copy of Arnold Passman's book The Deejays, it had
a mention of the "Alarm Klok Klub" (spelled as such).
This is all from the book, IIRC (and that's a big "if" since I loaned
the book to someone in the early 1970s and never got it back,
but did borrow it a few times from libraries in later years)--it
started in the 1930s, lasted until the late 50s, was on 5-8am.
KJBS/KFAX was L-WTAM Cleveland, but I think that applied only
from local sunset to midnight PT, so the station could probably
be on at 5am even in winter. Corrections welcomed.
still has a copy of Arnold Passman's book The Deejays, it had
a mention of the "Alarm Klok Klub" (spelled as such).
This is all from the book, IIRC (and that's a big "if" since I loaned
the book to someone in the early 1970s and never got it back,
but did borrow it a few times from libraries in later years)--it
started in the 1930s, lasted until the late 50s, was on 5-8am.
KJBS/KFAX was L-WTAM Cleveland, but I think that applied only
from local sunset to midnight PT, so the station could probably
be on at 5am even in winter. Corrections welcomed.
oldiesfan6479 said:
The great Len Shapiro -- hey Len, sign up and get on this board, would ya? -- has been pursuing this topic with dogged determination for several months.
With the assistance of the San Francisco Chronicle, Len has discovered that Frank Cope actually started at KJBS back on March 8, 1930, and was at the station as late as 1958.
Arnold Passman's book is a wonderful period piece, and includes a very informative segment about the transition of 93/KHJ in Los Angeles from Full Service/MOR to Top 40 in late 1964/early 1965. The local angle is that KHJ -- owned by RKO General -- hired a hotshot from Chicago, Dan Sorkin, as its morning man, but shortly thereafter decided to go to Top 40 under Bill Drake and Ron Jacobs.
Robert W. Morgan and The Real Don Steele were hired away by KHJ from 91/KEWB in Oakland, and Dan Sorkin was transferred from KHJ to KFRC, where he toiled until RKO General put KFRC under Drake's control.
"The Deejays" is worthwhile reading and can be found occasionally on Ebay or Alibris.com.
DJ
"The local angle is that KHJ -- owned by RKO General -- hired a hotshot from Chicago, Dan Sorkin, as its morning man, but shortly thereafter decided to go to Top 40 under Bill Drake and Ron Jacobs."
My parents loved KHJ in its MOR period - they were truly POed when Boss Radio came on the air. I was not aware of Dan Sorkin until I moved to the Bay Area, and didn't know he did mornings (before they were "morgans") at KHJ. Sorkin's big-name predecessor in morning drive at KHJ was Steve Allen who had been with the station on and off since the 1940s. But as big as Allen was on TV, he couldn't compete in mornings with the likes of Bob Crane on KNX and Dick Whittinghill on Gene Autry's KMPC.
My parents loved KHJ in its MOR period - they were truly POed when Boss Radio came on the air. I was not aware of Dan Sorkin until I moved to the Bay Area, and didn't know he did mornings (before they were "morgans") at KHJ. Sorkin's big-name predecessor in morning drive at KHJ was Steve Allen who had been with the station on and off since the 1940s. But as big as Allen was on TV, he couldn't compete in mornings with the likes of Bob Crane on KNX and Dick Whittinghill on Gene Autry's KMPC.
Dan Sorkin was a great morning talent in Chicago in the late 50s & early 60s on WCFL. He helped a guy named Bob Newhart get started.
It was a sad day for radio in Chicago when Sorkin moved out west.
It was a sad day for radio in Chicago when Sorkin moved out west.
oldiesfan6479 said:
My mom used to listen to the Alarm Klok Klub and said that Frank Cope had a deep voice. She used to imitate it for me. I guess she liked listening to him a lot.
KJBS/KFAX had a weird schedule until 1977 when they were granted fulltime authorization at 50kw. WTAM was authorized to operate from 5:00am to 12:00 midnight Central Time. This allowed KJBS/KFAX to do the following:
(1) Sign on at 50kw from Hayward at 5:00am (already 7am in Cleveland and well into sunlight)
(2) Sign off 50kw at local sunset (apparently WTAM was not bothered by being in darkness 2 hours before KFAX went off
(3) Sign on at 1kw from SF (1470 Pine) at 10:00pm (remember, WTAM went off at midnight CST)
(4) Sign off 1kw at 3:00am (when WTAM came on CST).
This meant that during the summer, KJBS/KFAX would be off the air for just 1 1/2 hours (from 8:30pm to 10pm), but during the winter, they'd go off at 4:45pm.
The Pine Street tower was demolished Easter Sunday 1977. I was there; I lived half a block away.
DavidKaye said:
Thanks for the detailed "broadcast day hoops" that KJBS/KFAX
went through as it was frequentially subservant to WTAM,
however if I may make a time zone correction...
Cleveland was (and is) in the Eastern time zone. My source
(Time Changes In The USA by Doris Chase Doane) notes
Cleveland adopted ET in 1914 (switched from CT) and has been
observing DST in the summer since 1948.
oldiesfan6479 said:
Well then this confuses me because I remember hearing from someone at KFAX (Al Covaia?) that the reason they came on at 10pm was because it was midnight in the Central time zone. Hmmm...maybe WTAM was licensed to operate until 1:00am instead of midnight.
Anyhow, KFAX was an odd bird of a station. They had to keep the dual transmitter situation until they could get Hayward licensed for 24/7 at 50kw. Incidentally, the daytime operation came from the Hayward transmitter (originally on West Jackson, aka Breakwater Avenue, later moved to its present site on American Way or whatever it is).
The board op in Hayward had no mic. In order to match up the timing on the block religion and rightwing programming with real time, the board op would fill with carts of varying lengths with PSAs, bumpers, and whatnot. They did have some newscasts during the daytime. This came from SF via telco. Nighttime came entirely from SF.
KFAX was one of the first all-news stations (the first?) in the U.S. before losing their shirt and hitting on block religion instead, so I must assume that they fed this format entirely from SF with the board op in Hayward.
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