Krth 101 personality changes - weekends purged?

[Thomps2525]

George, thank you for the additional details of Joe Rosati's career. Why would a New York radio station manager ask him to use "Kidd" instead of his Italian surname? Dick Biondi was never ordered to change his name...and Anthony Scillia, who hosted a program on PSC in New Jersey, changed his name---but he changed it to Tony Mangia!

K.M., on the day that the Don Steele parody was put online, I e-mailed Don Barrett. At that time I didn't know who to give credit to. Don ran my comments in his November 7 column. I just wrote him again so he can "give credit where credit is due." Thanks again to Neil Ross and to K.M. for allowing the world to be able to hear the aircheck of "Don Steele" at KMPC. "Braunnn-schweiger!"

 

[Thomps2525]

Don just wrote to say that he doesn't see a need to run another story about the Don Steele parody but everyone on this site knows that it is because of K.M. Richards that the "aircheck" is now online. I got to meet Steele in 1989 when he was doing afternoons on KRLA. He was very reserved and soft-spoken, not at all like his on-air persona. I imagine that the majority of hyper DJs are that way.

 

[benale]

Don Steele and Robert W Morgan have had similar careers bookended doing drive times at KHJ in the 60's and KRTH in the 90's. They both died pf lung cancer less than a year apart at about the same age. Steele will always be identified as one of the great Top 40 personalities. Robert W, as well, but Morgan also is identified with MOR music having worked ar KMPC. Great parody. It is hard to imagine Steele at KMPC, but Neil Ross nailed it.

Like B Mitchell Reed who had success in two different formats, Top 40 and Album rock, Robert W also excelled in two different formats, Top 40 and MOR. It would have been a kick to hear Don Steele in PM drive on KMPC when Robert was doing mornings, but I couldn't imagine Don Steele working at KMPC.

 

[Thomps2525]

In the late 1970s, KMPC was a soft-rock station and every Friday afternoon Wink Martindale would count down the top 20 songs. (KMPC, surprisingly, was the first Los Angeles station to play Kenny Rogers' The Gambler.) Just think how high their ratings would have been if Don Steele was on in afternoons! I wonder if station owner Gene Autry and general manager Stanley Spero would have asked him to "tone it down a notch." Probably. And Steele wouldn't have done so.

 

[MadMan]

Don just wrote to say that he doesn't see a need to run another story about the Don Steele parody but everyone on this site knows that it is because of K.M. Richards that the "aircheck" is now online. I got to meet Steele in 1989 when he was doing afternoons on KRLA. He was very reserved and soft-spoken, not at all like his on-air persona. I imagine that the majority of hyper DJs are that way.

Steele was in his prime at 1110 kR-LA. I would say he was better there than @ KRTH 101? Loved his TV shows on KHJ & KDOC as well. I posted fond memories of Steele when he would yank people off the stage during "Devil with a Blue Dress On", also when Morgan would 'Zap' people in that box & "Morganize" them, and KM deleted it. To this day we never knew what really happened in there, although their hair was always puffed up and they looked freaked out when Morgan opened the door!

 

[K.M. Richards]

... and KM deleted it.

Correction, please. A great number of posts from the era when I was a moderator were lost during a database conversion from the old Radio-Info software to that used now at RadioDiscussions. A large number of my own posts are also missing, and the glitch is such that those of my previous posts that survived cannot be merged into my current user history.

I continue to be amazed at the number of people who still hold me responsible for things that happened then even when there are/were other reasons. David appears to be the only one who remembers what really went on.

 

[Thomps2525]

I can vouch for K.M.---and you all know I'm not the voucher I used to be. There was a period of several weeks here when posts would suddenly disappear. Some might reappear and many would just be gone forever.

MadMan, you should also remember how, while the teenagers were dancing to Devil With A Blue Dress On, Steele would fling a realistic-looking dummy into the crowd and for a second or two the television viewers thought it was a real person. I wonder if Morgan used a Van de Graaff generator, a device that generates static electricity. One day in my junior-high physical science class, the teacher brought one in. One student---not me---just had to touch it. His hair went straight up! zzzZZZAPPP!

 

[michael hagerty]

In the late 1970s, KMPC was a soft-rock station and every Friday afternoon Wink Martindale would count down the top 20 songs. (KMPC, surprisingly, was the first Los Angeles station to play Kenny Rogers' The Gambler.) Just think how high their ratings would have been if Don Steele was on in afternoons! I wonder if station owner Gene Autry and general manager Stanley Spero would have asked him to "tone it down a notch." Probably. And Steele wouldn't have done so.

Steele was a pro who knew what worked for him and what didn't. He wouldn't have taken a gig at KMPC in the first place if he couldn't be The Real Don Steele.

 

[MadMan]

Correction, please. A great number of posts from the era when I was a moderator were lost during a database conversion from the old Radio-Info software to that used now at RadioDiscussions. A large number of my own posts are also missing, and the glitch is such that those of my previous posts that survived cannot be merged into my current user history.

I continue to be amazed at the number of people who still hold me responsible for things that happened then even when there are/were other reasons. David appears to be the only one who remembers what really went on.

Dude you did and this is when Neel owned it? Was I mad, well maybe I thought perhaps you only watched Ventura TV and never saw Sam Riddles's show, or Steele's show, or Morgan's show on RKO 9, and couldn't imagine what I was asking. You were a very active deleter of posts, and ruled with an iron fist. I still liked you if that meant anything though. Why I remember when I mailed you that DVD collection for free from Dollar General before everything was on YouTube. Sure I could use that $14 bucks now but I was making tons of money with the Government and still couldn't take the Cubans!

 

[K.M. Richards]

Dude you did and this is when Neel owned it?

Neel never owned Radio-Info. It was owned by Doug Fleming. Lance Venta was the administrator who decided which people moderated which boards. The Los Angeles board was a three-way shared moderation between Neel, Joshua and myself.

What very few people know -- and most of those who know don't believe me when I say it -- is that there was a hidden board on Radio-Info that only the moderators could access. 99% of the time, moderation did not involve deletion of posts, but if any of us on any of the boards thought a post should be deleted, it was discussed among all the moderators first. I will also tell you, Scott, that only about one-third of posts proposed for deletion ever were.

Now, after all these years, I don't remember precisely what post you are referring to. We've had thousands of them over the decade or so that I've been here (off and on) so I couldn't tell you what might have been in a post that caused it to
be deleted. And I don't have any idea why it would matter now anyway.

Was I mad, well maybe I thought perhaps you only watched Ventura TV and never saw Sam Riddles's show, or Steele's show, or Morgan's show on RKO 9, and couldn't imagine what I was asking.

FYI, we got the same VHF stations in Ventura as the rest of the Los Angeles market. The only difference was that people in western Ventura County could also receive KEYT/3 from Santa Barbara.

You were a very active deleter of posts, and ruled with an iron fist.

See above. No decisions for deletion were ever made by a lone moderator.

I still liked you if that meant anything though. Why I remember when I mailed you that DVD collection for free from Dollar General before everything was on YouTube. Sure I could use that $14 bucks now but I was making tons of money with the Government and still couldn't take the Cubans!

I remember that DVD set and it's still around here somewhere; it was a four disc set of public domain television shows advertised under TV Guide's name. I think it's the only place I have ever seen kinescopes of the pre-film Burns & Allen programs. (I also remember trying to get you to accept compensation for the DVDs and postage but as you said, you had your VOA -- or was it Radio Marti? I forget -- gig. If you'd like the money now, I'd still be happy to PayPal it to you.)

 

[MadMan]

Neel never owned Radio-Info. It was owned by Doug Fleming. Lance Venta was the administrator who decided which people moderated which boards. The Los Angeles board was a three-way shared moderation between Neel, Joshua and myself.

What very few people know -- and most of those who know don't believe me when I say it -- is that there was a hidden board on Radio-Info that only the moderators could access. 99% of the time, moderation did not involve deletion of posts, but if any of us on any of the boards thought a post should be deleted, it was discussed among all the moderators first. I will also tell you, Scott, that only about one-third of posts proposed for deletion ever were.

Now, after all these years, I don't remember precisely what post you are referring to. We've had thousands of them over the decade or so that I've been here (off and on) so I couldn't tell you what might have been in a post that caused it to
be deleted. And I don't have any idea why it would matter now anyway.



FYI, we got the same VHF stations in Ventura as the rest of the Los Angeles market. The only difference was that people in western Ventura County could also receive KEYT/3 from Santa Barbara.



See above. No decisions for deletion were ever made by a lone moderator.



I remember that DVD set and it's still around here somewhere; it was a four disc set of public domain television shows advertised under TV Guide's name. I think it's the only place I have ever seen kinescopes of the pre-film Burns & Allen programs. (I also remember trying to get you to accept compensation for the DVDs and postage but as you said, you had your VOA -- or was it Radio Marti? I forget -- gig. If you'd like the money now, I'd still be happy to PayPal it to you.)

Oh no man, I'm not ragging on you plus I have bigger fish to fry. Was hit by a Semi Truck 10 months ago, almost killed, hurt seriously and just spent the last 4 days in San Diego meeting with my new Attorney and a ton of Doctors and Hospital tests. If it wasn't for OnStar guiding me I would have never made it back to this area alive. My back is broken and by the way, San Diego sucks. 70% cost of living difference and prices are outrageous. You told me you enjoyed those films and that is all that was important to me. I never had any real problems with you and actually enjoy your passion for 80's music. I did disagree that 80's music didn't have deep roots from the 70's (Bowie, Ramones, Iggy, Marley...) but I'm sure you have adjusted and adapted to accommodate that era as well. I did listen to your sample station on your site and it didn't do much for me, sounded like my Windows media player, but I don't doubt you talents at all. I never left the 80's and appreciate anyone who helps to keep that era alive and well! Heck I was a Mod on an Auto Guide site and people hated me!

 

[K.M. Richards]

One minor clarification, if I may ...

I did listen to your sample station on your site and it didn't do much for me, sounded like my Windows media player, but I don't doubt you talents at all.

The link from my site is not to a created "sample" but is the real-time stream of my client station in Albuquerque.

 

[MadMan]

One minor clarification, if I may ...



The link from my site is not to a created "sample" but is the real-time stream of my client station in Albuquerque.

If that's the case then you might have some fine tuning to do? I heard about 6 songs separated by a promo voice. It buffered at the start, a song started playing from the beginning and I didn't hear anything you wouldn't have heard anywhere else? I'll give it another try someday but I actually thought it was demo tape. Does this station have announcers or do you just pick the music?

 

[K.M. Richards]

If that's the case then you might have some fine tuning to do? I heard about 6 songs separated by a promo voice. It buffered at the start, a song started playing from the beginning and I didn't hear anything you wouldn't have heard anywhere else? I'll give it another try someday but I actually thought it was demo tape. Does this station have announcers or do you just pick the music?

The station runs without announcers. The liners are voiced by one of the announcers of their sister smooth jazz station.

Of course the music is familiar. The format is researched and tested. But in ABQ, no one is focused on this decade and genre and the old format was in direct competition with at least three other stations in the market.

I don't know why the stream had trouble buffering. It originates at the station and it works fine here, although I have a tendency to open the stream URL in Windows Media Player rather than have a full browser window open just to maintain that connection.

 

[MadMan]

Cool answer KM! I would hire you as well although focusing on a earlier era of 80's rock which I seem to be stuck in since the late 70's. Even got Fred Cote to tweak KOLA into playing currents back then before his Murder charge that the kids went wild for, your Rock Lobsters and other Crustaceans!

 

[Thomps2525]

MadMan, I can answer your question about Robert W. Morgan's Morganization box. I was looking up some information about the Beach Boys and---serendipity!---found the SmileySmile website with a post from someone named Mr. Wilson (Dennis Mitchell's neighbor, perhaps?) who said that his girlfriend was on Morgan's tv show. Inside the box is an air hose. As for what part of the woman's body it's aimed at, you can use your imagination.

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php?topic=17096.0

 

[MadMan]

MadMan, I can answer your question about Robert W. Morgan's Morganization box. I was looking up some information about the Beach Boys and---serendipity!---found the SmileySmile website with a post from someone named Mr. Wilson (Dennis Mitchell's neighbor, perhaps?) who said that his girlfriend was on Morgan's tv show. Inside the box is an air hose. As for what part of the woman's body it's aimed at, you can use your imagination.

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php?topic=17096.0

That is what I thought, air. Of course Steele on the other hand would just yank and pull & push people off the stage. How could such a benign question be removed, and this was years ago under the old owners?

 

[Thomps2525]

There is probably a joke in there somewhere about being "on the air"...but I already make enough bad puns.

 

[michael hagerty]

That is what I thought, air. Of course Steele on the other hand would just yank and pull & push people off the stage. How could such a benign question be removed, and this was years ago under the old owners?

Let me see if I can save KMR some stress at the beginning of the weekend by repeating for him:

A great number of posts from the era when I was a moderator were lost during a database conversion from the old Radio-Info software to that used now at RadioDiscussions. A large number of my own posts are also missing, and the glitch is such that those of my previous posts that survived cannot be merged into my current user history.

 

[K.M. Richards]

Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás was right.

(Go look it up if you don't get the reference.)