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KFMX before its move-in to Lubbock's KLBK FM...

BigVoiceGuy said:
Cool if it were an actual sticker associated with KFMX Lubbock.
Click to expand...

That's what I was thinking....
 
Maybe I'm missing the point here. KFMX was KLBK FM and had been on the air for years and years. It was big band radio and it's sole announcer was "Misty". Some time in '76 or maybe '77 the station flipped from big band to rock and changed the call letters to KFMX. It's sister station KLBK AM 1340 was changed to KSAX and then KKAM and for a while it was KBBL. Short lived religous format. Then back to KKAM.
 
According to the inforamtion originally posted on Wikipedia, KFMX was a Minneapolis-St. Paul radio station that was purchased, and the call letters (and format) were moved to 94.5 in Lubbock. Therefore, it would be the same KFMX.

However, someone who must have been embarrassed by this has apparently taken it down. What is there now about KZJK, is this:
"KRSI-FM to KFMX and back
From February 1968 until 1973, KRSI-FM played Top 40 hits and oldies as "Request Radio" , simulcasting with their AM sister station. This was by far the most successful format for both stations, and in Spring 1969, they were the #3 station in the market, behind WCCO and WDGY.

The two stations moved away from oldies and more toward current pop music in 1971. In March 1973 950 AM became the first affiliate of Drake-Chenault’s automated “Great American Country” format, as both stations moved from their location in St. Louis Park to new facilities in Eden Prairie (which today is still home to 950 AM).[1] The FM station broadcast in stereo for the first time and continued with a rock/Top 40 hybrid format, soon changing its call letters to KFMX.

Following that, the FM station went through a succession of different formats and transitions throughout the rest of the decade. For a brief time, they played freeform rock, going up against KQRS-FM. They began playing disco music at night in 1978, soon adopting the format full time and becoming "Disco 104". By this time, the AM station was playing rock/Top 40 as "Musicradio I-95" (featuring a great deal of New Wave music). KFMX gave up disco in February 1980 as the fad faded in popularity, and both stations switched to an adult standards/"Music of Your Life" simulcast, with KFMX becoming KRSI-FM once again."

Link the to full page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KZJK

But then, I found this:
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/KFMX
 
Call letters can move from town to town and owner to owner. The radio station on 94.5 FM in Lubbock Texas was originally KDUB FM. Part of the AM, FM & TV combo.

AM 1340
FM 94.5
TV 13

Call letter were changed to KLBK when Dub Rogers sold the stations.
The stations were owned by Grayson Enterprises out of Dallas. They owned several stations in west Texas and were shady operators. The FCC caught up with them and forced the sale of the stations in Lubbock. And others as I remember. Some guy named Woods bought the KBLK TV station. He was a WWII hero, he was horribly burned over 99%of his body. Nice guy but he was horrible to look at. A true hero.

Southern Minnesota Broadcasting bought the AM/FM. The guy’s name was Greg Gentling. KLBK AM/FM were tops in their formats. AM was top 40 and FM was rock. The sale triggered the call letter changes. Why they chose KFMX is unknown to me. But 94.5 was doing rock when it was KLBK FM. I remember they would simulcast KLBK AM/FM from 6 AM to 6 PM and the FM would go live from 6 to midnight. They had two 14” reel to reels and a home brewed automation system.

KFMX continued to do good. The AM was run into the ground. Chuck Spa was the first GM at the time of the sale. He was let go and the sales manager was put in charge. Her name was Stacey… forgot her last name.
 
I remember seeing that Woods fellow on TV late one night when I was a kid, scared the hell out of me. He came on and did some sort of PSA.
 
KSEL FM was the first rock station in Lubbock in '71. John Michael Scott headed up KLBK FM when they went to rock a year or two after KSEL. JMS wound up heading off to KATT in OKC.
Chuck was the SM for KSEL. He eventually wound up at KLBK. I think the Stacey you're thinking of was Stacey Lewis.
KSEL FM had Ken Bateman (KZEW later), Stan (Castle) Michaels (KFAD later/KNUS??), Bud Crahn and David Holland on the air.
 
I worked as a DJ at KLBK-FM from January to October 1978. This was when the station was calling itself "Stereo 94.5" and had an AOR format. The Program Director for both KLBK AM and FM was Kevin Stone (air name). He was also the radio stations' chief engineer. The FM side's music director was Don Sitton, a very fine person who was one of the most amazing people I ever met in broadcasting because he was blind but did his show without any help.

I will always be grateful to Don also for giving me my first job in broadcasting when I was only 17 years old. He hired me based on my audition reel, my experience working at a record store, some references, and a promise that I would pay my own moving expenses from Dallas to Lubbock for the chance to start in radio.

My on-air colleagues were Don, Randy, Brian Boyd, Shawn, Barbara, and John Harris. Apologies to those whose last names I don't remember!

On weekdays we simulcasted KLBK-AM from 0600 to 1000. After the 1000 network newscast the AM DJ flipped a switch and the FM studio was connected to the 100KW FM transmitter. Don's show was from 1000 to 1400. Randy did afternoon drive 1400 to 1800. Brian was on from 1800-2200. My show was 2200-0200. At 0200 I flipped a switch to start the automation system, which we always introduced as "Furman". "Furman is up next, he'll take you through the night with more album music." Furman the automation system played preproduced shows, usually made by Don. The announcements were on carts and the music sets were on huge reels.

A few months after I started working there the very talented Brian Boyd took a job in California and I moved up to the 1800-2200 shift. Shawn (a woman) took over the 2200-0200 shift. Barbara and John Harris worked part time.

On the weekends we simulcasted KLBK-AM until 1200. FM DJs like to sleep late on weekends, you know!

One of our good friends on the AM side was Jeff Hunter.

We had an AOR format with a wheel which showed which type of music to play at which time of the hour, such as a current hit, an old hit, or any approved album cut. But we often broke the format to create a good sounding set.

In autumn 1978 the PD required us to start mixing up our Album Oriented Rock with adult contemporary songs like Barry Manilow and disco like the Bee Gees. This gave the station a sound that ensured that all listeners would tune out at some point because AOR, AC and disco are very different audiences. I loved DJ'ing but I loved AOR music even more, and couldn't sell out to AC or disco, so I took a job in the production department of KAMC (TV Channel 28) in Lubbock. (Or maybe it was KMCC then.) This was at the same time that Scott Pelley was working in the news department there. He was young, still bearded, and already very good.

KLBK-FM was an incredibly primitive station technically. We had a special switch on the mixer to kill the mike before we started any cart machine, because the old cart machine mechanisms were so loud. The speakers in the studio must have cost $5 each in 1978 dollars, so it was better to just wear your headphones all the time. The studio was just an office room without any sound proofing.

The good thing about the station was that we had a large album library, good colleagues and a music director who allowed you the freedom to create a good show even if it meant not always following the format. We aspired to be the KZEW of the panhandle of Texas, and our signal reached into New Mexico and also south to Midland Odessa.

I don't know what happened to the station before or after 1978, but I remember very well everything that happened that year. This is a great forum to share a bit of nostalgia. Greetings to my old colleagues who find this message.

Ken Alexander
 
I nearly jumped in my chair when I clicked on this thread and saw a post from Big Voice Guy, figuring he passed on several months ago. Then I realized it's a four year old thread.
 
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