I spent 3 years there (early 90's)... and while I generally enjoyed my time, the big bonehead move in my opinion was, and I swear this is true, we did a remote from a strip club in Danbury. Yup... nothing better than a female based radio station doing a promotion at an out of market gentlemen's club.
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KC 101 Radio Reunion Weekend in July 2009 for 30th anniversary?
I remember that. That was a classic KC road show. I believe at the time KC had higher teen demo numbers than 98Q in Danbury. KC kicked arse in Danbury once upon a time. lol
I did 2 years at KC 101, 1984 and 1985. I'll admit that back then they really were a force to be reckoned with. Dr. Chris mornings, Sandy Kelly Middays, Jon Howe and Jim Cruise pm drive and I believe Fran Diamond at night. Joe Tironi and Mike Kirvin held the overnight slot. They had a guy named David lawrence on the weekend who did a show worthy of a full timer, and how could I forget Sundays with Father John. Stef Rybak could be a bit of a hard ass and as PD just seemed out of the loop some times. They were worthy of the labe "CT's hottest Station" because they were. Somewhere along the line the adults got weeded out and it slowly became what is is now. Children with cool nicknames yelling into the mic and calling it entertainment..... Sorry, was I ranting??
H
HarrisGatesFM10H
Guest
WOW there's some names from the past! Last i heard Sandy Kelly was out in San Diego on the FM and I believe Dave Lawrence passed away a few years ago.
Duggan said:
We must have crossed paths at those stations. I was there in the middle of Kops-Monahan selling to Eastern Broadcasting from PA. Then the fireworks erupted. Tony Bonvini was the PD. Air name was Tony Bonz. Short stint. The late Jay Stone did mornings. Great pipes!! The station was a dominating force in the ratings.
KC was a cash cow! AVZ didn't do too bad either from 1982-1989. KC was always #1 since the format change from AC to CHR.
The station was always sold out no matter what daypart. We did a ton of remote broadcasts! At least 5 a week. Many combo. It was a fun time to be there but the work load was enormous.
Rybak was a tough PD. Very demanding and always about results. That station rock and rolled on all cylinders for his tenure from 1982-1989. Never skipping a beat! Good times! Hope we see that again in local radio.
S
SallysPizza
Guest
Sandy Kelley moved to Los Angeles after KC101 and worked at SMN, then the original KYSR (before frequency change) and up until recently was part of the morning show on KTWV in Los Angeles. She's always been doing her voice-over business and is now focusing solely on that.
Al "Late Night" Lawrence passed away, not David Lawrence. David has been doing a syndicated radio show until he got into acting and is now one of the new villains on "Heroes." Seriously! I saw him in an article in USA Today and on the TV show he is credited. I have kept in contact with him and Sandy for years. I was there during their time on KC101 along with Stef, Mike Scalzi, Father John, Ian Roberts, The Cruiser, Yo Sonny Joe, Tony Terzi in the beach jersey, etc. Stef is tough because he expects results and because of that, the station did very well. You're so right about kids with nicknames yelling the microphone calling it entertainment. I hate that. It's okay to rant, Duggan.
Al "Late Night" Lawrence passed away, not David Lawrence. David has been doing a syndicated radio show until he got into acting and is now one of the new villains on "Heroes." Seriously! I saw him in an article in USA Today and on the TV show he is credited. I have kept in contact with him and Sandy for years. I was there during their time on KC101 along with Stef, Mike Scalzi, Father John, Ian Roberts, The Cruiser, Yo Sonny Joe, Tony Terzi in the beach jersey, etc. Stef is tough because he expects results and because of that, the station did very well. You're so right about kids with nicknames yelling the microphone calling it entertainment. I hate that. It's okay to rant, Duggan.
You're so right about kids with nicknames yelling the microphone calling it entertainment. I hate that. It's okay to rant, Duggan.
[/quote]
KC had so many weekend swing shift jocks from 1983-1989 that no one could keep track of who was filling in for who? I remember they even flew a guy in from a major top 40 station in Detroit for Sat. and Sun. shifts. Ahhhhh, the good ol' days when the hours were long, overtime hours were in abundance and the success of a station seemed it would go on forever.
David has been doing a syndicated radio show until he got into acting and is now one of the new villains on "Heroes." Seriously! I saw him in an article in USA Today and on the TV show he is credited.
David Lawerence had a great Saturday morning midday show right after Dees. His Arb and Birch numbers
were in a word "phenominal" So much so that KC mgt. offered him morning drive. Which he refused cause
it would cut into his work at ACN and the salary was too low. A very funny guy and the weekend king of drops.
[/quote]
KC had so many weekend swing shift jocks from 1983-1989 that no one could keep track of who was filling in for who? I remember they even flew a guy in from a major top 40 station in Detroit for Sat. and Sun. shifts. Ahhhhh, the good ol' days when the hours were long, overtime hours were in abundance and the success of a station seemed it would go on forever.
David has been doing a syndicated radio show until he got into acting and is now one of the new villains on "Heroes." Seriously! I saw him in an article in USA Today and on the TV show he is credited.
David Lawerence had a great Saturday morning midday show right after Dees. His Arb and Birch numbers
were in a word "phenominal" So much so that KC mgt. offered him morning drive. Which he refused cause
it would cut into his work at ACN and the salary was too low. A very funny guy and the weekend king of drops.
Stef is tough because he expects results and because of that, the station did very well.
When he took over PD at AVZ in '85 the station went from up 4 points in one book. Not bad for a
1000kw automated daytimer. Had the ability to take that station and put it in the top 5 in New Haven
in 3 books.
From the day he became PD at KC, he was focused on keeping that station number #1 in all the key advertising demos. Every "I" was dotted and "T" crossed. From examining program logs to music logs, last minute shuffling of air talent shifts.He was big into show prep. Aircheck sessions were a must. If you missed one, better have a darn good reason or lose your next air shift. Exception was morning drive. lol. He even agonized over 12a-6a. He had a formula for making that station a success. Don't know how it would old up today in other markets?
A great motivator of people!
When he took over PD at AVZ in '85 the station went from up 4 points in one book. Not bad for a
1000kw automated daytimer. Had the ability to take that station and put it in the top 5 in New Haven
in 3 books.
From the day he became PD at KC, he was focused on keeping that station number #1 in all the key advertising demos. Every "I" was dotted and "T" crossed. From examining program logs to music logs, last minute shuffling of air talent shifts.He was big into show prep. Aircheck sessions were a must. If you missed one, better have a darn good reason or lose your next air shift. Exception was morning drive. lol. He even agonized over 12a-6a. He had a formula for making that station a success. Don't know how it would old up today in other markets?
A great motivator of people!
B
bigmax
Guest
Really? Children with nicknames yelling in the mic? Last time I checked, the morning show has Michael Maze who is in his 30's and has an 8 or 9 year old daughter, Chaz is in her 30's, and Dollar Bill (ok, nickname there, but how is that any worse than Mark the Shark?) who is married, Ryan Smart who I think is in his 30's and has a daughter, Trey Morgan who is if not 30, pretty close to it, and Brady who is probably in his late 20's. Nicknames, yelling into the mic? Like Walmart Jeff, Justin Sane, Munchie and Skillet? Are you sure you aren't confusing KC101 with KISS 957???
bigmax said:
Gotta get that station back in the top 5 among New Haven stations. Tenth isn't going to raise advertising $$$$$$.
S
SallysPizza
Guest
BigMax-Was talking about Clear Channel Top 40's as a whole. Yes, Michael Maze gets radio. He's a great guy and I used to stay in touch with him. Since Clear Channel owns KISS, it isn't any different than most any other Clear Channel Top 40. Overall, Top 40 radio is nothing but nicknames, but they're different. Maybe because almost EVERYONE has a nickname. Before, some people had nicknames and some people didn't. Not talking about "radio" names versus "real" names either. It's hard to explain, but maybe because I don't feel they're relatable anymore. I believe Mark the Shark got his nickname because that's what people called him...ya know, his friends. But now, it's everywhere and it's very tedious. Plus, Mark the Shark has been around a lot longer than a Walmart Jeff, etc. I don't know if I am explaining it well enough, but I certainly am trying.
SallysPizza said:
People are listening for the music not the yacker.
S
SallysPizza
Guest
Yes, but if the "yacker" is annoying enough, they will leave. That's why that whole "more music, less talk" thing started years ago. If you're not saying something either compelling (ok, not in Top 40) or having a meaning of something to the listener, they will hit that button. Now, granted that a person's attention span is smaller than ever (not just Top 40 listener's either) but you've gotta make it count...somehow.
Maybe if jocks were not so consumed with hitting posts on introductions and concentrating on the contentSallysPizza said:
of their raps maybe the listener would pay attention. No one wants to hear yo,yo,yo. etc. It's all superflous garbage.
S
SallysPizza
Guest
I completely agree. If you hit the posts when you have something to say, cool. If you drag out something to say in order to hit the posts, sucks.
Duggan said:I did 2 years at KC 101, 1984 and 1985. I'll admit that back then they really were a force to be reckoned with. Dr. Chris mornings, Sandy Kelly Middays, Jon Howe and Jim Cruise pm drive and I believe Fran Diamond at night. Joe Tironi and Mike Kirvin held the overnight slot. They had a guy named David lawrence on the weekend who did a show worthy of a full timer, and how could I forget Sundays with Father John. Stef Rybak could be a bit of a hard ass and as PD just seemed out of the loop some times.
Those were some crazy radio daze. Management should have installed a turnstile on the studio building. If I had a quarter for every jock that passed thru I could have retired in 1993. ;D
M
m_c
Guest
hmm.. kinda confussed here, Eastern Broadcasting bought WKCI/WAVZ in December 1982. Curt Hansen was PD, Andy Gambardella was Sales Manager, Danny Lyons was MD and Ken Stiles was the Chief Engineer while Bill Burns was Copy Chief and Stef Rybak was his assistant.
I don't recall those names at all. Chris Evans was Mornings, Danny Lyons Mid-days, Peter Bush followed by Floyd Wright. When Eastern bought the company I was the 2nd person let go in the office, keep in mind I wasn't FT airstaff just fill-ins on the overnights, working the front office and board-oping sports and Wolfman Jack Show on Sundays before "Take A Stand". I guess people forget the original crew during the sale to Eastern.
m_c said:
You have to consider the turmoil going down when the people from State College, PA came in and methodically fired the whole air staff. Morning mouth left on Monday in early September of 1983 and wound up at WHYT in Detroit and the late Jay Stone took over on a Tuesday morning. It was total bedlam. I was surprised that fists weren't flying in the parking lot. The old gang didn't want to move on.
I had to deal with all that garbage as an intern in programming. :
: Well, as part of the "people that came from State College", the idea that the entire air staff was fired is incorrect.
Rumors were flying at WAVZ/WKCI that Eastern was going to flip 101.3 to country because the company owned a country station (Z107/Hershey). Resumes were flying as happens during any takeover and some of the staff left (Curtis went to start WEBE for instance). Other staff remained on included Willie B. Goode, Peter Bush and others - although Curtis made the call to a large number of "his" staff to join him on the air in Westport. Dr. Chris and Hozay continued on at KC101 until Chris got a job WHYT (September '83 sounds about right). The mayor of Fogarea left with Chris, of course. In the meantime, Jay Stone and Tony Bonvini were hired to program the stations. Tony, who had worked at WAXY in Florida as a promotions guy didn't last long...Jay did well, but moved out West to again work with Jerry Clifton and add more stations on his multi-page resume. Somewhere in there was Loo Katz from WPGC as PD of KC101 for a short time (his idea of "four in a row" without talk didn't go over well as you could drive for 15-20 minutes and never hear the call letters mentioned). I took over as PD of WAVZ, Mike Scalzi as PD of KC101...and about that time Dr. Chris returned from the Motor City and worked a new deal as AM guy teamed up with Coach George DeMaio (a listener who won a contest to be on the air for a week and who ended up with a career). I hired Bill Beamish from out of WAVES' past as morning host on the AM and did afternoons myself.
(BTW, WAVZ was 1kw full-time, not a daytimer as someone mentioned before. Also, Kathie Foxx was the 7-10 jock, Fran Diamond did 10p-2a, Mike did overnights)
Under Eastern, the entire plant was redone from studios to towers by some of the best engineers in the business - Bill Elliott, Stan Briggs and Wynn Suitor. Three years after buying the combo for 6.5 million, they sold them for 30 million and bought stations in Rhode Island.
As to the turnover, as I explained to a former employee (and poster on this thread) yesterday, KC101 was like any medium market station - talented folk honing their skills and going for the next gig in the bigger market.
David Lawrence, far from dead, worked at ACN, simply owned the market when he was on the air in New Haven, had several coast-to-coast talk show on topics ranging from tech to whatever he felt like doing that evening and is now on Heroes as mentioned. He is doing a number of other roles (I just saw him as a Russian doctor on The Unit last week).
Jim Cutler (who came from WZOU in Boston) is now the voice guy on 1010 WINS, Fox Sports and a number of TV stations.
Ian Roberts runs a production house in CT.
Stefan (the PD who took KC101 to a 14.7 in 1989) was Billboard PD of the Year at least once and later programmed stations in Phoenix, Long Island (WBLI) and was a GM, a GSM and is a top sales guy today.
CJ
P.S. Getting back to the original topic, I was at the last reunion and *if* the station has not been reduced to a parking lot by July 2009 - would toss the headphones in the car to do it again.
Rumors were flying at WAVZ/WKCI that Eastern was going to flip 101.3 to country because the company owned a country station (Z107/Hershey). Resumes were flying as happens during any takeover and some of the staff left (Curtis went to start WEBE for instance). Other staff remained on included Willie B. Goode, Peter Bush and others - although Curtis made the call to a large number of "his" staff to join him on the air in Westport. Dr. Chris and Hozay continued on at KC101 until Chris got a job WHYT (September '83 sounds about right). The mayor of Fogarea left with Chris, of course. In the meantime, Jay Stone and Tony Bonvini were hired to program the stations. Tony, who had worked at WAXY in Florida as a promotions guy didn't last long...Jay did well, but moved out West to again work with Jerry Clifton and add more stations on his multi-page resume. Somewhere in there was Loo Katz from WPGC as PD of KC101 for a short time (his idea of "four in a row" without talk didn't go over well as you could drive for 15-20 minutes and never hear the call letters mentioned). I took over as PD of WAVZ, Mike Scalzi as PD of KC101...and about that time Dr. Chris returned from the Motor City and worked a new deal as AM guy teamed up with Coach George DeMaio (a listener who won a contest to be on the air for a week and who ended up with a career). I hired Bill Beamish from out of WAVES' past as morning host on the AM and did afternoons myself.
(BTW, WAVZ was 1kw full-time, not a daytimer as someone mentioned before. Also, Kathie Foxx was the 7-10 jock, Fran Diamond did 10p-2a, Mike did overnights)
Under Eastern, the entire plant was redone from studios to towers by some of the best engineers in the business - Bill Elliott, Stan Briggs and Wynn Suitor. Three years after buying the combo for 6.5 million, they sold them for 30 million and bought stations in Rhode Island.
As to the turnover, as I explained to a former employee (and poster on this thread) yesterday, KC101 was like any medium market station - talented folk honing their skills and going for the next gig in the bigger market.
David Lawrence, far from dead, worked at ACN, simply owned the market when he was on the air in New Haven, had several coast-to-coast talk show on topics ranging from tech to whatever he felt like doing that evening and is now on Heroes as mentioned. He is doing a number of other roles (I just saw him as a Russian doctor on The Unit last week).
Jim Cutler (who came from WZOU in Boston) is now the voice guy on 1010 WINS, Fox Sports and a number of TV stations.
Ian Roberts runs a production house in CT.
Stefan (the PD who took KC101 to a 14.7 in 1989) was Billboard PD of the Year at least once and later programmed stations in Phoenix, Long Island (WBLI) and was a GM, a GSM and is a top sales guy today.
CJ
P.S. Getting back to the original topic, I was at the last reunion and *if* the station has not been reduced to a parking lot by July 2009 - would toss the headphones in the car to do it again.
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