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KIIS FM in the late 80s and early 90s, those were the days...

G

Garrett

I remember living in the University City part of San Diego in the early 90s. We had some Great radio stations, Q106 and Z90 of course. But my favorite was listening to the 1150 AM simulcast of KIIS FM ! They had a playlist unlike anything anywhere. Q106 and Z90 only played dance leaning Top 40. If you wanted to hear some mainstream music, you had tune to B100 which was as Top 40/AC hybrid (there was really no such thing as Hot AC yet). Power 106 was good, but also leaning too rhythemic. KIIS FM was a Good Old fashioned Top 40 station! They had the reverb, and the top of the hour "one-two punch" jingle-legal I.D's
Rick Dees did mornings, and Magic Matt for afternoons.

Than I remember, for a short while we had our own San Diego version of KIIS FM on Q106! Matt was hired over to San Diego to do Q106 mornings, and the bumper stickers were now called "super Q stickers." For a short while, Q106 tried to sound like KIIS. The format loosened, and they too had the jingles and some heavy reverb. But it only lasted about 3 months afterwhich Matt left.

I still enjoyed DX'ing the 1150 signal for a short while. Then they dropped the format for sports, and that was that. But boy, were those the days...

Thoughts on KIIS FM in the late 80s and 90s?
 
> I remember living in the University City part of San Diego
> in the early 90s. We had some Great radio stations, Q106 and
> Z90 of course. But my favorite was listening to the 1150 AM
> simulcast of KIIS FM ! They had a playlist unlike anything
> anywhere. Q106 and Z90 only played dance leaning Top 40. If
> you wanted to hear some mainstream music, you had tune to
> B100 which was as Top 40/AC hybrid (there was really no such
> thing as Hot AC yet). Power 106 was good, but also leaning
> too rhythemic. KIIS FM was a Good Old fashioned Top 40
> station! They had the reverb, and the top of the hour
> "one-two punch" jingle-legal I.D's
> Rick Dees did mornings, and Magic Matt for afternoons.
>
> Than I remember, for a short while we had our own San Diego
> version of KIIS FM on Q106! Matt was hired over to San Diego
> to do Q106 mornings, and the bumper stickers were now called
> "super Q stickers." For a short while, Q106 tried to sound
> like KIIS. The format loosened, and they too had the jingles
> and some heavy reverb. But it only lasted about 3 months
> afterwhich Matt left.
>
> I still enjoyed DX'ing the 1150 signal for a short while.
> Then they dropped the format for sports, and that was that.
> But boy, were those the days...
>
> Thoughts on KIIS FM in the late 80s and 90s?
>

If you are talking Late 80's, date not defined, you should also mention Big Ron O'Brian. He was the highest rated FM jock KIIS ever had in afternoons. Magic Matt was just a pompous a*s.

KIIS-AM was not a full time simulcast except for morning and afternoon drive. Otherwise, it had its own staff but the exact same playlist as the FM. I have 100's of hours of airchecks (including the AM in stereo. I use to aircheck both stations simultaneously. It was great hearing two different jocks at the same time with the same format clock ---> same music placement, jingles, imaging, spots etc. at both KIIS-FM and KIIS-AM).

The only San Diego version of KIIS-FM was KS103 (102.9 FM) not Q106.
 
> I remember living in the University City part of San Diego
> in the early 90s. We had some Great radio stations, Q106 and
> Z90 of course. But my favorite was listening to the 1150 AM
> simulcast of KIIS FM ! They had a playlist unlike anything
> anywhere. Q106 and Z90 only played dance leaning Top 40. If
> you wanted to hear some mainstream music, you had tune to
> B100 which was as Top 40/AC hybrid (there was really no such
> thing as Hot AC yet). Power 106 was good, but also leaning
> too rhythemic. KIIS FM was a Good Old fashioned Top 40
> station! They had the reverb, and the top of the hour
> "one-two punch" jingle-legal I.D's
> Rick Dees did mornings, and Magic Matt for afternoons.
>
> Than I remember, for a short while we had our own San Diego
> version of KIIS FM on Q106! Matt was hired over to San Diego
> to do Q106 mornings, and the bumper stickers were now called
> "super Q stickers." For a short while, Q106 tried to sound
> like KIIS. The format loosened, and they too had the jingles
> and some heavy reverb. But it only lasted about 3 months
> afterwhich Matt left.
>
> I still enjoyed DX'ing the 1150 signal for a short while.
> Then they dropped the format for sports, and that was that.
> But boy, were those the days...
>
> Thoughts on KIIS FM in the late 80s and 90s?
>

I agree. KIIS sounded great up until the late 80's. In or around 1990, things took a turn for the worse with the hiring of Bill Richards as PD. If you know anyone who worked at KIIS during this time, they can tell you some amazing (and not in the good way) stories about Bill Richards doings. One that sticks out in my mind: Magic Matt scored a rare, exclusive interview with Paul McCartney. The record reps made it very clear that Paul was on a strict schedule, and would walk in X o'clock and walk out at exactly X o'clock, no exceptions. (About 20 minutes total, if I remember correctly) Instead of immediately getting McCartney on the air with Magic Matt, Bill Richards "hijacked" Paul and took him to a production studio---where he proceeded to have him sign his personal items (guitars, photos, etc) and tried to get him to record personal answering messages for himself and GM Lynn Anderson!!! ABSOLUTELY TRUE!!! If you know anyone who worked at KIIS during the time of this disaster, they likely have an audio copy of Paul McCartney going apesh*t when he starts reading the copy and realizes what it is. ("It's a bloody answering service!") I think one of the production guys gave everyone a copy of the tape at the company Christmas party or something. Anyway, by the time McCartney finished signing Bill Richards' personal stash and recording liners, he barely got to say 'hi' to Magic Matt on the air. What a waste.

Bill Richards reign as KIIS PD would also qualify for the "Biggest Blunders" thread below, IMHO.
 
Big Ron O'Brien & KIIS FM in the Late 80's, never happened!

Sure he worked at KKBT in the 80's in L.A., but does not list it. He also worked at MARS FM, and at K-ROQ as Eugene Oregon.


Big Ron O'Brien
KUDL [Kansas City KS] 1969
KTLN [Denver CO] 1970
WQXI [Atlanta GA] 1972
WCFL [Chicago IL] 1972
WOKY [Milwaukee WI] 1976
WFIL [Philadelphia PA] 1976
KFI [Lps Angeles CA] 1979
KIIS [LA] 1982
KWK [St. Louis MO] 1985
KZDG [Denver] 1994
WYXR [Philadelphia] 1996
WLCE [Philadelphia] 1999
WOGL [Philadelphia] 2002



> Thoughts on KIIS FM in the late 80s and 90s?


> If you are talking Late 80's, date not defined, you should
> also mention Big Ron O'Brian. He was the highest rated FM
> jock KIIS ever had in afternoons. Magic Matt was just a
> pompous a*s.
>
> KIIS-AM was not a full time simulcast except for morning and
> afternoon drive. Otherwise, it had its own staff but the
> exact same playlist as the FM. I have 100's of hours of
> airchecks (including the AM in stereo. I use to aircheck
> both stations simultaneously. It was great hearing two
> different jocks at the same time with the same format clock
> ---> same music placement, jingles, imaging, spots etc. at
> both KIIS-FM and KIIS-AM).
>
> The only San Diego version of KIIS-FM was KS103 (102.9 FM)
> not Q106.
>
 
Re: Big Ron O'Brien & KIIS FM in the Late 80's, never happened!

> Sure he worked at KKBT in the 80's in L.A., but does not
> list it. He also worked at MARS FM, and at K-ROQ as Eugene
> Oregon.
>
>
> Big Ron O'Brien
> KUDL [Kansas City KS] 1969
> KTLN [Denver CO] 1970
> WQXI [Atlanta GA] 1972
> WCFL [Chicago IL] 1972
> WOKY [Milwaukee WI] 1976
> WFIL [Philadelphia PA] 1976
> KFI [Lps Angeles CA] 1979
> KIIS [LA] 1982
> KWK [St. Louis MO] 1985
> KZDG [Denver] 1994
> WYXR [Philadelphia] 1996
> WLCE [Philadelphia] 1999
> WOGL [Philadelphia] 2002
>
>
>
> > Thoughts on KIIS FM in the late 80s and 90s?
>
>
> > If you are talking Late 80's, date not defined, you should
>
> > also mention Big Ron O'Brian. He was the highest rated FM
> > jock KIIS ever had in afternoons. Magic Matt was just a
> > pompous a*s.
> >
> > KIIS-AM was not a full time simulcast except for morning
> and
> > afternoon drive. Otherwise, it had its own staff but the
> > exact same playlist as the FM. I have 100's of hours of
> > airchecks (including the AM in stereo. I use to aircheck
> > both stations simultaneously. It was great hearing two
> > different jocks at the same time with the same format
> clock
> > ---> same music placement, jingles, imaging, spots etc. at
>
> > both KIIS-FM and KIIS-AM).
> >
> > The only San Diego version of KIIS-FM was KS103 (102.9 FM)
>
> > not Q106.
> >
>

Ron was at KIIS in 1985. I consider 1985 to be late 80's. Early 80's/Late 80's. As I posted, the dates were NOT defined.

You are missing plenty from his bio. For one, Ron not only worked at Rock w/ a Beat, he also worked at FM 92 The Beat in 1990-91 (doing production).
 
Re: Big Ron O'Brien & KIIS FM in the Late 80's, never happened!

> You are missing plenty from his bio. For one, Ron not only
> worked at Rock w/ a Beat, he also worked at FM 92 The Beat
> in 1990-91 (doing production).

Scott pastes from the 440: Satisfaction site, which I have found to be very incomplete in many ways.

Consider this a request to stop doing so, Scott.
<P ID="signature">______________


</P>
 
Big Ron Was At KIIS thru 1987

> > You are missing plenty from his bio. For one, Ron not only
>
> > worked at Rock w/ a Beat, he also worked at FM 92 The Beat
>
> > in 1990-91 (doing production).
>
> Scott pastes from the 440: Satisfaction site, which I have
> found to be very incomplete in many ways.
>
> Consider this a request to stop doing so, Scott.
>

Not only incomplete but WRONG. I just listened to MY aircheck of Ron from 1987. I use to go see Ron all the time at KIIS.
 
Re: Big Ron Was At KIIS thru 1987

> > > You are missing plenty from his bio. For one, Ron not
> only
> >
> > > worked at Rock w/ a Beat, he also worked at FM 92 The
> Beat
> >
> > > in 1990-91 (doing production).
> >
> > Scott pastes from the 440: Satisfaction site, which I have
>
> > found to be very incomplete in many ways.
> >
> > Consider this a request to stop doing so, Scott.
> >
>
> Not only incomplete but WRONG. I just listened to MY
> aircheck of Ron from 1987. I use to go see Ron all the time
> at KIIS.
>
Ron also worked in NY at 99x in 1974 and at WNBC just before KIIS.
 
If you have 100's of Hours of the 'Shadowcast'...

Why not share them with the World? Uncle Ricky would love to hear from you. The only KIIS BigRon Airchecks available On Line, OR for Purchase are from 1983. Possibly that AM Stereo comparison Aircheck from 85 also features him. BigRon was as fun to listen to as to Work with. And although 440 Satisfaction listings might not be complete, Johnny Williams does not add listings, they are submitted by the Individual only. And Ron did work at KWK, along with many other Stations not listed.
> KIIS-AM was not a full time simulcast except for morning and
> afternoon drive. Otherwise, it had its own staff but the
> exact same playlist as the FM. I have 100's of hours of
> airchecks (including the AM in stereo. I use to aircheck
> both stations simultaneously. It was great hearing two
> different jocks at the same time with the same format clock
> ---> same music placement, jingles, imaging, spots etc. at
> both KIIS-FM and KIIS-AM).
 
Re: Big Ron Was At KIIS thru 1987

> > > Scott pastes from the 440: Satisfaction site, which I
> have found to be very incomplete in many ways. Consider this a request to stop doing so, Scott. Not only incomplete but WRONG. I just listened to MY
> > aircheck of Ron from 1987. I use to go see Ron all the
> time at KIIS.

If I remember, 440 is run by Johnny Williams (all nights on KHJ in the 60s and 70s). He's retired, and I'm sure the website is a labor of love. He probably gets his information mostly from other retired jocks, programmers, and listener-fans. I don't think you can expect total accuracy. Laradio.com's "Where are they Now" pages fill in a lot of the blanks (for Southern CA only), and you can often find this kind of information on blogs - just google the DJ's name. There's still a lot of confusion with DJs who used recycled names. Some examples are Blank W. Morgan, Mark Elliot, Blank Tripp...and Johnny Williams, for that matter. I googled Roy Elwell once, and found airchecks from a Portland Top 40 station, and incomplete lists of KRLA's jock schedules from the late 50s thru the mid 60s. All from people's memories, I suspect.
 
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