LEGENDARY BAY AREA DJ'S...WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

[LKellerIII]

Rickradio.. I dont care about commas, or puncuation,,, personnally Im into radio thats worth listening to! In reply to your comments, Tall Tom Campell would command much more money than CBS would pay,,and they are probably thrilled with what thay have, being the "bean counters" they are! As far as Bobby Ocean,,, you identify KFRC w/Bobby Ocean doing V/O!!!!!!!! Sue Hall was rehired,,,didnt you indicate once there gone, there gone!!! And she is back middays!And as for Charley van Dyke, and KRTH,, you being a radio guy, could you imagine the V/O guy at KFRC doing V/O in LA?? Wouldn't sound right! The bottom line is whatever CBS did to Bobby Ocean,, was a big mistake! Whatever radio did to John Mack Flanagan to force him into another career is hardly fair! My next question for you is how can 106.9 continue on their current frequency? One thing for sure, if 1260 KYA was still on the air, they would cover much more area than 106.9! no one listens to KFRC in their car as you go over hwy 4 to east county! Kenny in Concord,,

I appreciate your posts, Kenny - Being about the age you must be (mid 50s, I'm guessing), I can get into the nostalgia you feel when you talk about Top 40 radio. And I don't care if you use a lot of commas,,,,and exclamation points!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My similar memories are from growing up in LA in the 60s, so I remember KFWB, KHJ, and KRLA, and think of Emperor Bob Hudson, the Real Don Steele, Casey Kasem, and many other seminal LA rock jocks - just like you remember "Tall" Tom Campbell, and Chris Edwards. From my bedroom in LA, I used to DX KFRC at night (KYA's signal didn't reach LA), so my earliest SF radio memories are of KO Bailey and a few other "610 Men" , who were the equal of the KYA jocks, I'm sure. I remember thinking that KFRC was a much hipper station that it's LA sister - KHJ. I was impressed that KFRC didn't use the annoying and outdated "Boss" terminology (Boss 30, Boss Jocks, etc). Really, that slang word was big on LA beaches in 63 to 65, but was passe by 67, though Bill Drake continued to use it on his stations until about 1970. I didn't know until a few years later that KFRC couldn't be "boss" because KYA was already the "Boss of the Bay."

When I arrived in the Bay Area in 73, Tom Campbell was the afternoon jock at KNEW ("California Gold"). I'm pretty sure it was his last DJ gig, and ended when KNEW went Country in about 1975. That's 33 years ago! He may have been great at KYA, but at KNEW he was no big deal - he just IDed the songs and delivered the format. DJs usually read a lot of commercials live on air in those days, but Tom didn't do as many because he was being a commercial shill for many of the competitors ...he couldn't read live waterbed commercials ,for example, because he was the spokesman for the Comfort Zone chain of stores. Same with electronics stores, because he was the shill for Matthew's ("Top of the Hill, Daly City!").

As I remember, Campbell stopped being the Matthew's spokesperson when there were allegations of deceptive advertising tactics - like "bait and switch." I don't recall if legal charges were filed against Campbell, or just the owner (Steven Matthew David) - but Campbell disappeared for awhile, and David started doing his own commercials. The store folded a couple of years later.

Within a year or two, Campbell showed up again on radio and TV, and was doing a lot of late night TV commercials all over California (the LA market, too) for Cal Stereo and the Comfort Zone. He was a fast talking, hard-selling guy, and was kind of a joke. I'm sure he got the last laugh because (from what I've heard) he became very successful and made a lot of $$$.


The point is - talking about what money CBS would have to pay Campbell is irrelevant. He stopped jocking about over a generation ago, and is living in luxury somewhere. If you asked him if he wanted to return to radio for any amount of money, he would probably laugh you out of the room.

 

[Marv-L.A.]

FWIW, Charlie Van Dyke does imaging and IDs for KRTH; Gary Bryan has been doing mornings for the past 18+ months after the disastrous experiment with Sean 'Hollywood' Hamilton.

Ex-KFRC legend Eric Chase was (and may still be) doing PM drive under the name Paul Christy at a station in Houston.

I don't know if she was ever on the air there, but ex-KFRC employee Carol Archer has been the Smooth Jazz Editor at Radio & Records for at least a dozen years.

 

[michael hagerty]

"40 years ago today the bay Area was waking up with Chris Edwards at 1260 KYA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He sounds just as good as he did in 1968,,when the men from Florida came west to Blow away the big 610..."

KYA had its moments, Kenny - but I don't think it ever came close to blowing away the Big 610 in 1968 or any other year they shared the airwaves.

Llew and all:
I pulled out the Pulse ratings for San Francisco and was shocked to find "the rest of the story (tell Paul Harvey's lawyers I'm unavailable)". The battle between KFRC and KYA was pretty hot...and wasn't over until early 1971:

October/November 1966 (months after KFRC's flip to Top 40)
KFRC: 14.3
KYA: 7.3

October/November 1967
KFRC: 10.6
KYA: 6.6

(a down book for both stations)

October/November 1968 (the arrival of Johnny Holiday, Bwana Johnny, Tom Campbell and others)
KFRC: 9.2
KYA: 7.0

(KFRC continues to fall, KYA inches up...but the teen battle is really close...KFRC 32.5, KYA 30.2)

December 1969/January 1970
KFRC: 15.2
KYA: 11.7

(Both stations skyrocket...with the best numbers since the battle began...KFRC's ahead overall, but in teens it's KYA 33.5, KFRC 27.5)

December 1970/January 1971
KFRC: 11.2
KYA: 5.2

(And here, despite a drop in their audience, KFRC ends the argument. Teens head back to 610, with KFRC at 34.5 and KYA at 21.2).

Kenny's point wasn't that KYA blew KFRC away, but that the new KYA staff came to town to do that. That was the mission. And given signal strength, changes in ownership and other intangibles, KYA came a lot closer than I would have thought possible.

---Michael Hagerty

 

[DavidKaye]

earliest SF radio memories are of KO Bailey and a few other "610 Men" , who were the equal of the KYA jocks, I'm sure. I remember thinking that KFRC was a much hipper station that it's LA sister - KHJ. I was impressed that KFRC didn't use the annoying and outdated "Boss" terminology (Boss 30, Boss Jocks, etc).

KFRC didn't really become the beloved station of so many folks until after it began to take on its own identity. Indeed, except for the jingles, KFRC and KHJ bore little resemblance to each other. But, LA is a different kind of place from SF. A KFRC might not have even worked in LA.

Really, that slang word was big on LA beaches in 63 to 65, but was passe by 67, though Bill Drake continued to use it on his stations until about 1970. I didn't know until a few years later that KFRC couldn't be "boss" because KYA was already the "Boss of the Bay."

Ron Jacobs and other KHJ people felt that "Boss" was way out of date and resisted using it until someone suggested that it tested well. I forget who suggested it but it was not Bil Drake or Ron Jacobs.

When I arrived in the Bay Area in 73, Tom Campbell was the afternoon jock at KNEW ("California Gold"). I'm pretty sure it was his last DJ gig,

I remember his last day on KLOK and knew that the next day he was starting at KNEW. He did not say a thing about leaving, not a single word. This surprised me, given that he had a reputation of having an ego. Maybe he didn't after all.

and ended when KNEW went Country in about 1975. That's 33 years ago! He may have been great at KYA, but at KNEW he was no big deal -

I was necking with someone in my car outside of the town of Crockett and listening the the final moments of John Hawkins' oldies format on KNEW, and hearing them talk about how wonderful the KNEW country format was going to be. (It wasn't.) I was working at KWUN at the time, and shortly took a TV job in Sacramento. Immediately, KWUN hired John Hawkins to replace me as music director, and KWUN began to pick up the Contra Costa part of KNEW's former audience. Dang! Who knew I'd be writing about such a thing 33 years later.

 

[michael hagerty]

Really, that slang word was big on LA beaches in 63 to 65, but was passe by 67, though Bill Drake continued to use it on his stations until about 1970. I didn't know until a few years later that KFRC couldn't be "boss" because KYA was already the "Boss of the Bay."

Ron Jacobs and other KHJ people felt that "Boss" was way out of date and resisted using it until someone suggested that it tested well. I forget who suggested it but it was not Bil Drake or Ron Jacobs.

It was KHJ Promotions Director Clancy Ismuslind, and it wasn't that it tested well, it was that the materials were already printed and time was running out.

---Michael Hagerty

 

[calguy]

As far as Bobby Ocean,,, you identify KFRC w/Bobby Ocean doing V/O!!!!!!!! And as for Charley Van Dyke, and KRTH,, you being a radio guy, could you imagine the V/O guy at KFRC doing V/O in LA?? Wouldnt sound right!

Um, I should point out that Charlie Van Dyke worked at KFRC long before he worked in LA and he still voiced ID's & such for KFRC and KFRC FM (106.1) well after he left the City by the Bay. Bobby Ocean has worked in LA (KHJ & K-West) as well and has done VO for stations like KCBS-FM, KIIS-FM and KRTH. Matter of fact he did the K-Earth VO in tandem with Van Dyke only a few years back. Being a radio guy who has lived in both Northern and Southern California I can say that I actually identify these two VO giants with Drake, RKO and great radio more than any city they've spent time in. You can hear both Charlie and Bobby in markets all over the nation and they sound right in all of them.

 

[DavidKaye]

You can hear both Charlie and Bobby in markets all over the nation and they sound right in all of them.

He's also done KTVU for a long time as well.

 

[DavidKaye]

Um, I should point out that Charlie Van Dyke worked at KFRC long before he worked in LA and he still voiced ID's & such for KFRC and KFRC FM (106.1) well after he left the City by the Bay.

Indeed, I identify Charlie Van Dyke more with KFRC than I do Bobby Ocean. For comparisons of various v/o voices, I point people to this website: http://www.southernmedia-nmsa.com/index.php?page=6,3

Note that Paul Christy mentioned there is yet another KFRC alum who went on to do v/o work. At KFRC he was known as Eric Chase. And Beau Weaver, also of KFRC, has a made a big career of v/o work. What was it about KFRC that drove people to get out of radio and into v/o?

As I play through the various voices I notice that few of them are really distinct. For instance, Paul Christy, Beau Weaver, and David Kaye do not sound that different. Charlie Van Dyke sounds different, but nobody compares to one of the very greats in v/o, the late Paul Frees. It wasn't just the voice but the delivery, too.

 

[LKellerIII]

"He's also done KTVU for a long time as well."

Whoa - is that Charlie Van Dyke? That hadn't occurred to me, but I think you must be right. I think I've heard the same voice in other cities on other Fox affiliates, so perhaps he does the work for Fox, not just KTVU.

"Charlie Van Dyke sounds different, but nobody compares to one of the very greats in v/o, the late Paul Frees. It wasn't just the voice but the delivery, too."

My father was an animator, which probably has a lot to do with my interest in radio and VO people. He loved to attend the recording sessions, and brought home very entertaining stories about Paul Frees, Daws Butler, William Conrad, and others. The way my father spoke about them, those sessions were one big laugh-riot - usually followed by long martini-soaked lunches.

Frees was a longtime Bay Area resident, but commuted to LA often for his VO and cartoon work. My father thought he was a great and talented person, and held him in very high esteem.

 

[CarterB]

Paul Frees was a neighbor of mine. He had a complete studio in the house and would cut material right there with the director in N.Y. or L.A.

 

[LKellerIII]

Carter B said: "Paul Frees was a neighbor of mine. He had a complete studio in the house and would cut material right there with the director in N.Y. or L.A."

Apparently Frees showed up in person in LA for the recording sessions my father spoke of - perhaps because Jay Ward (Bullwinkle, et al) treated people so well. Ward had family money from Bay Area real estate, so he was not too concerned if his studio didn't turn a profit. From what my father said - it never did - though Ward's widow made a lot of money selling the rights to Disney later on.

Frees was the voice of Boris Badenov, Inspector Fenwick (Dudley Doright), "Ape" on George of the Jungle (which he did as Ronald Coleman), and many others.

 

[rickradio]

Rickradio.. I dont care about commas, or puncuation,,, personnally Im into radio thats worth listening to! In reply to your comments, Tall Tom Campell would command much more money than CBS would pay,,and they are probably thrilled with what thay have, being the "bean counters" they are! As far as Bobby Ocean,,, you identify KFRC w/Bobby Ocean doing V/O!!!!!!!! Sue Hall was rehired,,,didnt you indicate once there gone, there gone!!! And she is back middays!And as for Charley van Dyke, and KRTH,, you being a radio guy, could you imagine the V/O guy at KFRC doing V/O in LA?? Wouldnt sound right! The bottom line is whatever CBS did to Bobby Ocean,, was a big mistake! Whatever radio did to John Mack Flanagan to force him into another career is hardly fair! My next question for you is how can 106.9 continue on their current frequency? One thing for sure, if 1260 KYA was still on the air, they would cover much more area than 106.9! no one listens to KFRC in their car as you go over hwy 4 to east county! Kenny in Concord,,

LMAO!! ;D


Kenny, Kenny, Kenny...



Deep breath...



Exhale...


My sincere apologies if I offended you, Kenny, ol' boy. My comment about your ,,,,,,,,,,,, and !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! was just an observation, nothing more. I wasn't trying to be critical of you, buddy. I understand your nostalgia, too. I'm very nostalgic myself. Like Llew (and probably everyone else here) I don't care, either, it's just something I noticed. Now, about your response to my response...

Like I said in my earlier post, I totally agree with you about Tom...like Llew alluded to, he'd probably start laughing, get up, shake their hands to be polite, walk out of the building, and get in his limo or high-end sports car laughing if CBS were to offer him anything in the way of a job, if he weren't so insulted...

I think you misunderstood me, though, when I said "Once you leave, you're gone." I was referring to employers, Kenny, not employees. Usually, when you leave a company, the company replaces you...the shift you vacated isn't yours, whether they fire you, lay you off, or you leave. You normally don't just walk right back in if you leave, unless they're still in limbo, were happy with you and haven't found your replacement yet (which, you'll be happy to know, Kenny, has happened). But I've known a number of people who wanted to go back to their old shift at some station, but couldn't because the station they left already made other arrangements and wasn't going to just change everything back around to the way it was. One place this happened at KRAK in Sac. My late friend, Rick Stewart was the morning man, but left for, I think, another station. When it didn't work out and he came back to KRAK, did he get his old shift back? No. Joey Mitchell was promoted to mornings, and stayed there. Now, if you have a contract which stipulates that you will work a particular shift, say, afternoon drive, at a certain rate of pay, then, the shift is YOURS (as well as everything else agreed to) as long as the contract is in effect. Now, if they buy you out, all bets are off, obviously. Now, where Sue Hall is concerned (or anyone else), if management wanted her back, and/or she wanted to come back, that's what will happen. Retirement only means what the employee wants it to, Kenny. The Real Don Steele retired, but went back to work when KRLA asked him in the 80s. As for John Mack, yeah, he had the "crap kicked out of him" (his own words), but he says not to feel sorry for him, he's got a much better gig now that's far more important than staying awake at a board and spitting out call letters between songs: he's the Director of Security at a downtown high-rise in San Francisco, responsible for the safety of 30 stories of people. In this post-9/11 world, this is NO small responsibility. The company that put John in charge did NOT make that decision lightly.

I could cite scenario after scenario, describing a myriad of different circumstances and situations, Kenny, but what it basically boils down to is what management wants and what the employee is willing to do. When management likes you and says you're welcome back, you are. I've been displaced myself (reassigned, laid off and fired) when management wanted to move things and people around and make room for someone (most everyone has). If management is indifferent about you, maybe you will, maybe you won't. But if they don't want you back, there's no way in hell you're going back, no matter how badly you may want to.

 

[BossJock1947]

Chrissy Edwards ,,Without a doubt,,, would be a HUGE improvment over Dave Sholin!!!!!!!!!!! KFRC needs help!!!!!!!!!! I cant listen very long to KFRC mornings,, Celeste Perry yes! 40 years ago today the bay Area was waking up with Chris Edwards at 1260 KYA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He sounds just as good as he did in 1968,,when the men from Florida came west to Blow away the big 610,, Bill Holley,,Chris Edwards, and the Legendary Tall Tom Campbell,,,,,,, CBS coulndt afford Tall Tom!! And Bill Holley passed away,,,great mid day guy on KYA 1260! I will never figure out why KFRC has such a tight playlist, and refuses to Get Rid of the VO guy,,that vo guy, is about as boring as taking out the trash!!! I wonder if Bobby Ocean will ever retain his position? KRTH has Charley Van Dyke,, forever,,,,KFRC has to be CBS"s step child

Huh?

Your penchant for commas, exclamation points, and double-spacing between every word notwithstanding, Kenny, parts of your post are enigmatic to say the least. I understand your comparing Dave and Celeste to Chris Edwards of 1968 KYA and preferring him on the air over D & C, but what's Tom Campbell got to do with CBS? Are you saying that CBS wouldn't pay Tom what he would demand if he were available (and interested) today to work at KFRC? Yeah, I'd believe that, but the juxtaposition was odd, though. But what "position" is Bobby Ocean supposed to "retain?" Going back to KFRC? People don't "retain" positions at radio stations, Kenny. Once you leave, you're gone. One notable exception to this was when Robert W. went back to his morning gig at KHJ after a year or so in Chicago, but this isn't a rule, especially today. Rumor has it that Bobby would rather "perform a root canal on himself" than go back to work for CBS because of how they apparently treated him, anyway. So, if that's true, Kenny, hearing Bobby on KFRC again is a pipe dream. KRTH has Charlie Van Dyke forever? Okaaaaayyyy....

Also, Llew's right that while KYA was a popular station when up against KOBY then KEWB, once KFRC came along as a Drake outlet in Feb '66, it was actually KFRC that "blew" KYA away. For starters, KYA never had the signal KFRC did (and does, as 610 KEAR). But to their credit, they bravely stayed the course, and had worthwhile programming in the music, jingles, and personalities, and was a contender, but again, had nowhere near the signal strength, which is interesting since both had 5kw (KYA 1kw night), but KFRC had the far lower frequency to its advantage, while KYA was burdened with not only the higher frequency, but a crummy transmitter location on Candlestick Hill.

That's really not Charlie Van Dyke doing the VO on KRTH. It's a dude named Charles Leo Steinle

 

[rickradio]

That's really not Charlie Van Dyke doing the VO on KRTH. It's a dude named Charles Leo Steinle

Whose air name is Charlie Van Dyke?

 

[BossRadioDJ]

That's really not Charlie Van Dyke doing the VO on KRTH. It's a dude named Charles Leo Steinle

Whose air name is Charlie Van Dyke?

Gee, BossJock1947, are you trying to give clues to your real identity?

Charlie Van Dyke's real name = Charles Leo Steinle.

Charles Leo Steinle's year of birth = 1947.

Hmmm.

 

[chris319]

Go here:

http://www.tvpmm.com/documents/62.html

and listen to the outtakes of a Rocky and Bullwinkle voice session, with Paul Frees, June Foray, Bill Conrad and Bill Scott. At the end a drunk-ass Bill Conrad (who can barely get his lines out through most of it) gets testy with June Foray.

 

[DavidKaye]

Gee, BossJock1947, are you trying to give clues to your real identity?
Charles Leo Steinle's year of birth = 1947.
Hmmm.

Well, his tagline does say, "Former jock at 93KHJ The Greatest Station EVER." Well, at least I said good things about him....

 

[michael hagerty]

Nope. Not him. This guy took some unfair and inaccurate shots at Van Dyke's PD skills on one of the radio-info market forums a year or so ago. But wouldn't we all like to know who "Boss Jock 1947" really is? Let the educated guessing begin!

---Michael Hagerty

 

[michael hagerty]

duplicate

 

[RadioStarOne]

Why don't you just send him an email privately and ask him. He seems nice enough that he would let you know.