Memories of XERB

[jonbruce]

Art Way was also on XEAC as Artie Lee. 950 was country for a time in the late 195o's. 1470 XEAU was Top 40 (as X-O radio) for a while in 1961, then it went country.

 

[OldGringo]

Great memories. I also appreciate the old school spelling of Tiajuana.

My mother grew up in Tiajuana, that's the way she pronounced, we pronounced it, and they pronounced it. I have a 1964 Pemex map - in Spanish - that lists the city on the map and in the mileage grid as "Tia Juana."

The USGS calls the river, both inside and outside Mexico, as the Tia Juana River.

Tijuana is so much 1960s era political revisionism.

There are various versions of this, so it is obviously not an asbsolute.

Tijuana's history dates from 1829 when the region it occupies was part of a large cattle ranch known as Rancho de Tia Juana. The origin of the name is not clearly known. In 1864 a judge was appointed with jurisdiction over Tia Juana, and by 1891 settlers in the area were calling the place Tijuana. It became a municipality in 1917 and the seat of the municipio of the same name in 1925.

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Historians have investigated the origins of the name of the city of Tijuana. One legend says that it was the name of a ranch in the area, property of "Tía Juana" – Aunt Jane, although it is now shown that name comes from the Yuman Indian language from the early inhabitants. In other documents there are mentions of "La Tia Juana", "Tiguana", "Tiuana", "Teguana", "Tiwana", "Tijuan", "Ticuan", "Tijuana". Based on the Yuman language, historians have come to recognize Tijuana originating from "Tiwan", meaning close to the sea.

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The Name
There are different views on the origin of the name for the town. One belief is that it came from an ancient Indian word, "Tiguan", meaning "close to the water." Another view holds that the name came from a ranch, Tia Juana’s (Aunt Jane’s) Ranch, owned by the Allegro Family. The Allegro Family partitioned the ranch into various family decided to divide the ranch into sections of a city grid in the Tia Juana Valley.

 

[zumahans]

Interesting. I wonder if Ticuan and Sycuan are the same word, with only a slight consonant shift.

 

[OldGringo]

Interesting. I wonder if Ticuan and Sycuan are the same word, with only a slight consonant shift.

I have no idea how the langauge was pronounced, but it it is phonetically spelled, they are certainly similar. If the "S" is pronounced like the Náhuatl "x" with an "sh" sound, then the two may sound nearly alike.

On that subject, I was always amused by the calls "XHTY" in Tijuana (or "Tía Juana"). A bilingual might say that the "X" should be pronounced in Náhuatl style, such as the name "Xochitl" which is roughly "So´sheet." In that case, XHTY would be pronounced as "sh---ty" which defines their ratings up until this year.

 

[Lopaka]

Hi Jon Bruce, the info on XEAC was interesting, do you have any more? Its kind of "The Lost Station", everybody knows what came after it, but I for one know nothing about what it was or did. Nor did I know that the Tijuana 950 (was it XEGM then?) ever did English before about 1967. Does anybody remember the Patch The Roving DJ show? Unusual. He'd take a tape recorder around to youthful hangouts, record a few interviews, and play records over XEMO and I think also XEGM.

On the subject of Mexican stations, one of the longest lasting marketing agreements would be XETV and Bay Cities Television; does anybody know who the principals are in this arrangement? And approximately, just a ballpark guess, what do you imagine the arrangement would involve?

 

[jonbruce]

Hi Lopaka, Yes the calls were XEGM and the country format on it in the 1950's was mentioned on one of the Cal Worthington country music tv shows in the early 60's I watched on KCOP CH 13. One of the jocks was Smokey Rogers I believe. He later went on to jock on 1470 XEAU. Buck Wayne was another 1470 jock who I got to know in the mid 1970's. I am just starting to find out information on XEAC myself. Bill Earl of "boss cool stuff" was scheduled to have a meeting with Art Way last saturday but Art was forced to cancel it at the last minute. That meeting would have filled us in on the details of XEAC we are interested in, as I can't remember listening to 690 prior to the switch to XEAK, but I must have as I remember hearing rock hits during that year on the air (I was only 10 years old in 1956). I recall hearing Patch the roving DJ on XEMO in the mid 1960's.

 

[Lopaka]

Jon, you are the only person I have ever met who remembers Patch The Roving DJ. I wonder what ever happened to him, that would be an interesting story to track down. The XEAC info will no doubt be very interesting. XETRA and XERB both go back to the mid '30's. It appears that 690 held at a modest 5kw until the Harmon group (California Broadcasters) from Tulsa turned it into XEAK in June 1957.

 

[bizwriter84]

Re: Memories of XERB - actually XEMO & KDEO

Hi Lopaka, Yes the calls were XEGM and the country format on it in the 1950's was mentioned on one of the Cal Worthington country music tv shows in the early 60's I watched on KCOP CH 13. One of the jocks was Smokey Rogers I believe. He later went on to jock on 1470 XEAU. Buck Wayne was another 1470 jock who I got to know in the mid 1970's. I am just starting to find out information on XEAC myself. Bill Earl of "boss cool stuff" was scheduled to have a meeting with Art Way last saturday but Art was forced to cancel it at the last minute. That meeting would have filled us in on the details of XEAC we are interested in, as I can't remember listening to 690 prior to the switch to XEAK, but I must have as I remember hearing rock hits during that year on the air (I was only 10 years old in 1956). I recall hearing Patch the roving DJ on XEMO in the mid 1960's.

I know this is a really old post -- but I was amazed to stumble across someone who remembers Patch the roving DJ on XEMO. I heard his show precisely twice in 1966, both times on Saturday afternoons. It was on that show that I first heard and enjoyed the Rolling Stones and The Animals. I was a pre-teen radio nut, and never forgot the show. (Interestingly, the second time I heard the show was the following weekend, and it was a taped repeat!)

XEMO 860 hosted Brother Springer from Zzyzyx mineral springs at 8 p.m. every night in the mid 1960's. It followed Dr. Stuart McBirnie's Voice of Americanism.

In about 1967, XEMO had a program sponsored by Rossmoor ... the retirement community ... on at about 4:00 p.m. Sponsored by HTH -- the health food supplement. Why was a 12 yr old listening to that? Cuz I was a radio nut. "XEMO Radio, 860 on your Dial, the Great Christian Beacon of the West, with offices in the U.S. Grant Hotel."

While we're on the subject of obscure San Diego radio -- anybody remember Ricky Spinnn ... that's how he spelled it ... on KDEO 910. He was the quirky but entertaining morning DJ on KDEO in 1972-1973.

 

[RicoGregg]

Another XEMO stalwart: Richard Cotton's Conservative Viewpoint.

His catchphrase at the end of every program:

Freedom is not free, free men are not equal, and equal men are not free.

I have the same question regarding Patch, the roaming DJ in Where are They Now? I know that later on, he changed the billing to Patch, the gay DJ.

I'm surprised that no one mentioned the Magnificent Montegue, another XERB fixture. He's famous for coining the term "burn, baby, burn."

 

[Bob_Hudson]

XERB also had Leo Herbert for Turfcraft touting the race horses.

 

[doublecashkgb]

Ricky Spinn was the late, great Perry Allen. He used it when he made (live btw) prank calls
to people and other stations. The Radio KDEO Quonsent Hut, great little station with no power.
Can you imagine if they would have bought an FM in about 1972?

 

[bizwriter84]

Ricky Spinn was the late, great Perry Allen. He used it when he made (live btw) prank calls
to people and other stations. The Radio KDEO Quonsent Hut, great little station with no power.
Can you imagine if they would have bought an FM in about 1972?

Thank you so much for this information. Yes, that must have been the fellow. I recall those prank calls. I miss the wild woolliness of independent stations in those days.

In the evenings, 1972-1973, KDEO had what might be termed an "alternative" rock format of sorts ... and played, for example, the soon-to-be-banned cut, "Junkie John" by Penrod. During the same time period, I called KGB FM to request they play that cut but the DJ had never heard of it. Until recently, the tune was pretty much unavailable anywhere. (Apparently the cut was banned due to explicit drug references.)

Also, Rico recalls Richard Cotten (I think he spelled it that way), which came on before Brother Springer. You got the tag line exactly right.

Just incidentally, I spoke to Ken Kramer years ago on-air when he was subbing on KSDO 1130 (news talk) and asked if he remembered Brother Springer. Ken not only remembered, he did an amazingly accurate voice impersonation of Brother Springer on the air -- what a scream.

 

[doublecashkgb]

Ricky Spinn was the late, great Perry Allen. He used it when he made (live btw) prank calls
to people and other stations. The Radio KDEO Quonsent Hut, great little station with no power.
Can you imagine if they would have bought an FM in about 1972?

Thank you so much for this information. Yes, that must have been the fellow. I recall those prank calls. I miss the wild woolliness of independent stations in those days.

In the evenings, 1972-1973, KDEO had what might be termed an "alternative" rock format of sorts ... and played, for example, the soon-to-be-banned cut, "Junkie John" by Penrod. During the same time period, I called KGB FM to request they play that cut but the DJ had never heard of it. Until recently, the tune was pretty much unavailable anywhere. (Apparently the cut was banned due to explicit drug references.)

Also, Rico recalls Richard Cotten (I think he spelled it that way), which came on before Brother Springer. You got the tag line exactly right.

Just incidentally, I spoke to Ken Kramer years ago on-air when he was subbing on KSDO 1130 (news talk) and asked if he remembered Brother Springer. Ken not only remembered, he did an amazingly accurate voice impersonation of Brother Springer on the air -- what a scream.

You're welcome. Right, KDEO was a strange mix of laid back rock, jazz & pop & at night they went free form. Rick Phelps, Mark Williams, & Goerge Manning at various times did the night gig. I remember that as well as Charger & Aztecs play by play.

 

[RicoGregg]

Re: KDEO

No one did the KDEO night shift better than the unforgettable "Hawkeye", Royce Johnson. He left us much too soon.

 

[doublecashkgb]

Royce was one of a kind. One of the best communicators I've ever heard. He actually was
a great Top 40 jock prior to KDEO doing mornings at KFRC.

 

[thebeach33445]

Re: Memories of XERB Format before 1966

Hey Guys:

I have been reading all of the post here. Very enjoyable reading.

Would anybody know the format history of XERB from 1957 to 1966? I do know that XERB went R&B Aug 1, 1966. (Got that from Wolfman Jack's Web Site and articles I researched on line)

Was XERB Country in the mid 50's?

Thanks

T.J.

 

[radio-darn]

Re: Memories of XERB Format before 1966

Hey Guys:

I have been reading all of the post here. Very enjoyable reading.

Would anybody know the format history of XERB from 1957 to 1966? I do know that XERB went R&B Aug 1, 1966. (Got that from Wolfman Jack's Web Site and articles I researched on line)

Was XERB Country in the mid 50's?

Thanks

T.J.

After seeing all of your posts regarding old formats, I do decided to do search of an online newspaper archive I subscribe to, searching for the phrase "radio log." I did not find anything for San Diego, but it was fairly easy to find them for the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas.

It is kind of amazing at the detailed info that was once listed each day, but was eye-opening was to realize the obvious: formats, as we know them, largely did not exist as such back in the 50's and even into the 60's. A given station could play a hodge-podge of programming throughout the day with classical music in one hour and country music later in the day. I actually worked at a station which still did that in the 70's. We called it "block programming" and at different times of the day we were different radio stations targeting different segments of the local population (we were the only radio station in town and too far from other stations to have any competition).

Anyway, it might be worth a trip to the library to search the old microfilm archives for the newspaper radio logs: those would reveal all sorts fo great insights about radio programming in those days.

 

[PatioDaddio]

Re: Memories of XERB Format before 1966

It is kind of amazing at the detailed info that was once listed each day, but was eye-opening was to realize the obvious: formats, as we know them, largely did not exist as such back in the 50's and even into the 60's. A given station could play a hodge-podge of programming throughout the day with classical music in one hour and country music later in the day. I actually worked at a station which still did that in the 70's. We called it "block programming" and at different times of the day we were different radio stations targeting different segments of the local population (we were the only radio station in town and too far from other stations to have any competition).

Kind of reminds me of Chris in the Morning on KBHR!

 

[rickityone]

On the subject of XEAC-XEAK Mighty 690 - a note perhaps of interest to Mr Lopaka, et al

"48, 49, 50 cents a roll - Dean's Photo Service" -

All these posts have been really interesting. 690 will always stand out as the "one" for me, it was where I made my strong music connections - better than any other top forty of the time, including, in my opinion KFWB (for that matter I preferred at various times, in their heydays, KCBQ, KGB, KRLA, KHJ and the terrific K/men 129 to KFWB) - ALL the kids listened to 690 - anyway, after that digression, especially for Lopaka who must have grown up in San Diego at the same I did, here is a little research tip for you, or whomever. Around 1957-58 there is a story on the cover of San Diego Magazine (San Diego & Point I believe it was actually called) featuring a photo of Noel Confer and the morning dj from KCBQ and I can't recall who the other dj was (3) -anyway the story is about the morning radio rating wars for commuters, etc. if I recall correctly. In the story Noel Confer talks about the shift from XEAC to XEAK - this is all dim memory, but he talks about the XEAC studio's in a house in downtown Tia Juana and the physical size of the new 50,000 watt transmitter and moving to a new location. XEAC's antenna may have been in downtown Tia Juana at that time.

So, whomever in the San Diego area interested in radio history might keep an eye open for old copies of San Diego & Point Magazine - perhaps they are microfilmed in a library locally. On that note, I remember reading about the creation of KCBQ from KSDJ in the Main Library downtown in their microfilm files of the Union.

Rickity
www.gulchradio.com

 

[Lopaka]

Thank you, that was real interesting. I do remember an article in a very old San Diego Magazine, it identified George Rivera as the owner of 690 at the time. I guess he would have been the Mexican citizen licensee, the stockholder of Radio Del Pacifico. Robert and James Harmon and or Harman seemed to have had the US broadcast franchise of XEAK, they had some history in the industry in Oklahoma, they brought Noel Confer out from Tulsa and he went on to manage stations in the area. There was also some connection with one of the Harmons to ownership of KFMB AM-FM-TV at the time, I think that connection owned channel 69 for a while. I happened on the obituary for one of the Harmons (or Harmans), it identified him mainly as a La Jolla real estate man and mentioned only briefly that he presided over XETRA during significant phases of its development. Understatement.