tripton99 said:
I was meaning to salute the man, not just the station. I am hard-pressed to think of a single individual who has guided one station to success to the degree did in his time.
Oh, okay. You were talking about KIOI, so I began talking about other unique stations, including ones that continue to be unique today.
I guess the names of individuals who are single-handedly associated with a successful radio station elude me at the moment. Many of the station you list have, indeed, been some of the best in Bay Area radio history, but give me the name of one big fella at each that towered above all else at his station.
Well....Pat Henry at KJAZ (the first all-jazz station), Knox LaRue at KSTN (one of the first Top 40 stations and later one of the first Drake stations -- and on the FM side, one of the very first to go to a Spanish language contemporary music format), Ed Davis at KDFC (one of the longest-running commercial classical stations in the country). And, let's see...I guess we should include Lew Hill, founder of KPFA. And then there's Lorenzo Milam, who brought non-comm radio into the communities they serve with such stations as KTAO, KPOO (and outside the market KRAB, KPOO, KDNA, etc.), and Jeremy Lansman with KFAT. Oh, and let's not forget Richard Eaton whose United Stations specialized in programming aimed at black and Latin audiences (KVEZ and KSOL 107.7, KALI, etc), and Sherwood Patterson, whose KSAN 1450 was the early leader in R&B programming. Then maybe we should honor Clinton Churchill who owned KYA during its early glory days.
But indeed, for programming, engineering, marketing, and chutzpah combined, there is no equal to James Gabbert. None.