Radio Frisco?

[DuckBlue]

I apologize if this has been discussed before. I was a lowly Lieutenant in the Air Force in the mid/latter '60s stationed at McClellan AFB in Sacramento. I remember seeing an ad in either the Chronicle or the Examiner for a San Francisco radio station that had started promoting itself as "Radio Frisco." The ad pictured a smashing plate glass on a storefront along with the station's call letters. Not long after that, I read an article that said the station was forced to terminate the promotion because the term "Radio Frisco" was considered offensive by so many. I believe that the station was KSFO. Is there anyone here who might remember this and the controversy it caused?

 

[tripton99]

I worked at KNEW in Oakland (actually joined the station when it was still KEWB). Metromedia had bought it and it's first media campaign was as "Radio Free Oakland," complete with graffiti graphics. I am not saying there was never a Frisco campaign by someone, but I know Herb Caen would have had a hissy fit since he always said, "Don't Call it Frisco."

 

[BossRadioDJ]

"Radio Frisco" was KFRC before RKO blew it up and turned it into "The Big 610." I'm working off of memory here, but my semi-educated guess is that by early 1965, the "Frisco Radio" imaging was eliminated.

Dan Sorkin, who had been hired as the morning man at KHJ in Los Angeles, was transferred to KFRC in early 1965 to replace Van Amburg and compete with KSFO's Don Sherwood (and, to a lesser extent, Doug Pledger, Gene Nelson and Dave McElhatton), while KHJ was being converted to Boss Radio. In 1966, following the success of KHJ, RKO had Drake remodel KFRC, too, and Sorkin ended up on KSFO.

I'll dig around, but I don't think I have any airchecks or jingles from KFRC in the "Radio Frisco" era.

DJ

 

[tripton99]

And of course Sorkin eventually became the PM drive jock at KSFO.

 

[LKellerIII]

"Radio Frisco" was KFRC before RKO blew it up and turned it into "The Big 610." I'm working off of memory here, but my semi-educated guess is that by early 1965, the "Frisco Radio" imaging was eliminated.

Dan Sorkin, who had been hired as the morning man at KHJ in Los Angeles, was transferred to KFRC in early 1965 to replace Van Amburg and compete with KSFO's Don Sherwood (and, to a lesser extent, Doug Pledger, Gene Nelson and Dave McElhatton), while KHJ was being converted to Boss Radio. In 1966, following the success of KHJ, RKO had Drake remodel KFRC, too, and Sorkin ended up on KSFO.

I'll dig around, but I don't think I have any airchecks or jingles from KFRC in the "Radio Frisco" era.

DJ

Interesting info, DJ - thanks. All props to Dan Sorkin who is a talented guy. But competing with Sherwood on then lowly KFRC must have been a thankless task analogous to being the morning guy on KYA against Dr. Don Rose. Does anybody remember Roger W. Morgan now for anything other than his derivative on-air name?

Sorkin may have replaced Steve Allen at the pre-Boss KHJ - another thankless task competing with Bob Crane on KNX, and Dick Whittinghill on KMPC. My parents loved Allen's morning show on KHJ...along with about a dozen other people. Even being a talented and funny TV star didn't help. I can understand why RKO General prayed at the Drake alter for about a half decade.

 

[DuckBlue]

DJ, thanks for the information. When KFRC became the "Big 610," they had a big following in the Sacramento area. I remember being able to listen to them all the way to Reno, and that was during the day. They had a promotion once a year where listeners sent in a post card with their favorite top 10 hits. I remember "Can't Get No Satisfaction" being voted number one each year that I was at McClellan AFB.

 

[oldiesfan6479]

Sorkin may have replaced Steve Allen at the pre-Boss KHJ - another thankless task competing with Bob Crane on KNX, and Dick Whittinghill on KMPC.

Didn't Steve Allen (and Jayne Meadows) have a mid-morning talk show on KHJ?
9-noon perhaps, or maybe it was only one hour (9-10).

This is still "in the vault" from having read The Deejays by Arnold Passman
in the early 70s: the Allens were on the air for only a few weeks before the flip
to Boss Radio.

It sounded like a celeb gabfest, similar to Dorothy (Kilgallen) and Dick (Kollmar)
on WOR New York in the 1950s, IIRC. (I wasn't around then, just read about it. )

 

[Newname]

I understand that even while Sorkin and Sherwood were 'competitive, bitter radio enemies' in morning drive, they frequently called each other on-air, just to mess with KFRC's management. Did KFRC fire Sorkin for this reson, or was he simply let go due to the format change in '66?

 

[LKellerIII]

Sorkin may have replaced Steve Allen at the pre-Boss KHJ - another thankless task competing with Bob Crane on KNX, and Dick Whittinghill on KMPC.

Didn't Steve Allen (and Jayne Meadows) have a mid-morning talk show on KHJ?
9-noon perhaps, or maybe it was only one hour (9-10).

This is still "in the vault" from having read The Deejays by Arnold Passman
in the early 70s: the Allens were on the air for only a few weeks before the flip
to Boss Radio.

It sounded like a celeb gabfest, similar to Dorothy (Kilgallen) and Dick (Kollmar)
on WOR New York in the 1950s, IIRC. (I wasn't around then, just read about it. )

My memory is that Steve and Jayne's show was a regular morning drive show, but needless to say, my memories are not always accurate. My other memory is that Allen left KHJ some months before Boss Radio premiered - but the reminiscences about the launching of the Drake format (see links below) seem to indicate that was not the case.

The show originated from a studio in their home - probably quite unusual in those days. "Celebrity Gabfest" is probably accurate. There were many of those on the radio in the 50s and 60s. My mother's favorite show of that type was Pamela Mason's on KABC. Pamela was mostly famous for being actor James Mason's ex-wife.

Steve Allen was also on KHJ in the late 40s - before his TV fame. But since I wasn't yet born, I wouldn't remember that show.

From Boss Radio Forever:
http://www.bossradioforever.com/html/khj.html


From Gary Mack (the first official "Boss Jock')
http://440.com/_gmack.html

 

[DavidKaye]

Not long after that, I read an article that said the station was forced to terminate the promotion because the term "Radio Frisco" was considered offensive by so many.

Nonsense. It was KFRC and it was a transition promotion while the honchos were trying to figure out if KFRC could compete with KSFO. I believe they called it "Frisco Radio" rather than "Radio Frisco".

 

[LKellerIII]

Not long after that, I read an article that said the station was forced to terminate the promotion because the term "Radio Frisco" was considered offensive by so many.

Nonsense. It was KFRC and it was a transition promotion while the honchos were trying to figure out if KFRC could compete with KSFO. I believe they called it "Frisco Radio" rather than "Radio Frisco".

Are you sure, David? A lot of old-line San Francisco purists - Herb Caen among them (even though he was originally from Sacramento), found the appellation "Frisco" to be vulgar and fought against its use. I can't imagine they'd let Frisco Radio or "Radio Frisco" get by without at least making some kind of fuss.

And I'd say that if that's the best the RKO General publicity dept. could come up with, it's no wonder their West Coast radio stations did so poorly in the ratings before Drake came along. Great imaging idea - pick a slogan that will irritate a substantial number of your audience (middle age San Franciscans) angry.

 

[BossRadioDJ]

It was KFRC and it was a transition promotion while the honchos were trying to figure out if KFRC could compete with KSFO. I believe they called it "Frisco Radio" rather than "Radio Frisco".

David is absolutely correct -- it was "Frisco Radio," not "Radio Frisco." The idea that it was a transition promotion fits perfectly with what was happening within RKO General at that time.

Doesn't it sound like something that an Under Assistant East Coast Programming Director would come into town with?

I know that there is a recording of Russ "The Moose" Syracuse on "Frisco Radio." I'll see about dredging it up.

DJ

 

[BossRadioDJ]

I understand that even while Sorkin and Sherwood were 'competitive, bitter radio enemies' in morning drive, they frequently called each other on-air, just to mess with KFRC's management. Did KFRC fire Sorkin for this reson, or was he simply let go due to the format change in '66?

I'd say it was the latter, but you are correct in noting that Sherwood would occasionally call Sorkin on the air.

Sorkin had been huge in Chicago at WAIT before signing with RKO General, and his style was not exactly the Drake/Boss Radio prototype.

According to Passman's "The DeeJays":

The situation in San Francisco was similar to the problems of KHJ ... even though Sorkin's arrival there was the most exciting thing that had happened to KFRC in years.

Also:

So desperate was (KFRC program director Bob) Marshall's plight that just before his leaving [Fall 1965] he started promoting KFRC as "Frisco Radio." The contraction 'Frisco is not generally looked on with favor in the Bay Area. "It got some talk," said Marshall, shrugging his shoulders. "That's what we needed."

According to "The DeeJays," Sorkin arrived at KFRC on April 5, 1965. "Subtle and jarring shifts" at KFRC led to severe budget cuts at the station at the end of 1965, and a move was made to cut his salary by two-thirds and change his status to staff announcer. Sorkin resigned after the start of 1966, and was hired a few weeks later as KSFO's PM driver.

It's worth finding a copy of "The DeeJays" just for Chapter 28, which details the changes at RKO, KHJ and KFRC in a virtually contemporary account. Amazon.com has a few used copies available:

http://tinyurl.com/5c4ke7

DJ

 

[LKellerIII]

"So desperate was (KFRC program director Bob) Marshall's plight that just before his leaving [Fall 1965] he started promoting KFRC as "Frisco Radio." The contraction 'Frisco is not generally looked on with favor in the Bay Area. "It got some talk," said Marshall, shrugging his shoulders. "That's what we needed."

So I guess it fell under the category: "all publicity is good publicity."...the last vestige of a desperate and flailing radio station.

 

[Ultimajock]

Sorkin had been huge in Chicago at WAIT before signing with RKO General, and his style was not exactly the Drake/Boss Radio prototype.

...although Sorkin was once on WAIT, it was his years at WCFL Chicago that were big there. He was fired from WCFL for being one of Lenny Bruce's character witnesses at the comic's 1963 Gate of Horn obscenity trial; William Lee, President of the Chicago Federation of Labor (WCFL's owner), was an extremely close friend of Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley and ordered Sorkin's dismissal as a favor to Daley...

 

[BossRadioDJ]

...although Sorkin was once on WAIT, it was his years at WCFL Chicago that were big there. He was fired from WCFL for being one of Lenny Bruce's character witnesses at the comic's 1963 Gate of Horn obscenity trial; William Lee, President of the Chicago Federation of Labor (WCFL's owner), was an extremely close friend of Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley and ordered Sorkin's dismissal as a favor to Daley...

Ultima is correct; Dan Sorkin was at WAIT after WCFL, and left WAIT for KHJ.

The great John Catchings confirmed to me that KFRC PD Bob Marshall was the same Bob Marshall many of us remember as a newsman on KGO-TV (Channel 7).

In line with Ultima's info is that Marshall himself was fired by KFRC in Fall 1965 after refusing to terminate Sorkin's on-air interview with Paul Krassner, who was advocating that young men should burn photocopies of their draft cards as a way to circumvent the law.

DJ

 

[DavidKaye]

Are you sure, David? A lot of old-line San Francisco purists - Herb Caen among them (even though he was originally from Sacramento), found the appellation "Frisco" to be vulgar and fought against its use. I can't imagine they'd let Frisco Radio or "Radio Frisco" get by without at least making some kind of fuss.

Herb Caen notwithstanding there wasn't all that much objection to "Frisco". Even today as a someone who grew up here myself I much prefer Frisco to "San Fran". That's like saying "New Yor" or "Bost" or "Chica".

And I'd say that if that's the best the RKO General publicity dept. could come up with, it's no wonder their West Coast radio stations did so poorly in the ratings before Drake came along. Great imaging idea - pick a slogan that will irritate a substantial number of your audience (middle age San Franciscans) angry.

They wanted attention, but they didn't even get that.

 

[tripton99]

DK,

You are unique. In all my 63+ years in this city (where I was born) I have never heard anyone use the term Frisco. Oh, maybe some hayseed tourist from Topeka with Bermuda shorts, brown oxford shoes and argyle knee socks with a Polaroid around his neck and some babe from a John Waters movie on his freckled arm.

Let's not start now....wait until I die. Keep it Frisco-free.

 

[DavidKaye]

You are unique. In all my 63+ years in this city (where I was born) I have never heard anyone use the term Frisco. Oh, maybe some hayseed tourist from Topeka with Bermuda shorts, brown oxford shoes and argyle knee socks with a Polaroid around his neck and some babe from a John Waters movie on his freckled arm.

I am younger than you and I remember the remnants of the longshoremen hand-loading freight on the piers. I heard lots of "Frisco" from them as a kid. Also, going with my family into old-style restaurants like Original Joe's and the Java House I heard folks use the word, too. It was always men. And in North Beach where I spent some of my growing up years, the oldtimers in the park used to talk about Frisco, too.

("Ah, yeah...I come to Frisco when I was discharged from the army. Wasn't a prettier place, no siree. And the dames, they was always somethin special. You could tell a Frisco babe because they had strong muscular legs from all that walkin up and down the hills. Yeah, this place was really sumpin. And you spend a fortune for some godawful rot gut whisky. You made money but you sure spent it. Frisco takes your money, but you're glad for that because ain't nothin like the place. No siree...")