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The best station ever

P

purpledevil

Guest
After reading that we here on the Houston board are typically so negative about...well everything, it got me to thinking. In your opinion, what is the best station ever in Houston's history? Whether it be format, presentation, or what have you; past or present. What, in your mind, made that station a cut above the rest and what would you take from your best station ever and include into our current state of radio in the market?

I am in my 40's, so my history doesn't go back as far as some here. My pick is the original 79Q. The tempo, the presentation, the energy. It was all there. When most music stations, and especially Top 40's, were packing up and moving off of the AM dial, here came 79Q which gained such popularity in the beginning that 92.5 KYND (later 92.9) dropped their Beautiful Music format to simulcast the AM. Unheard of in today's radio and I haven't heard a station like 79/93Q even come close to what they once achieved. You really could hear it in the voices of those involved on air with the original KKBQ that they truly loved the station they worked at...and I assume working from the top of the Century Bank Building was pretty neat as well.

So who holds the title of best station ever to you?
 
You guys named the top two, in my opinion. I'll settle for a couple of honorable mentions, first Majic 102, still sounding good after all these years. Going way back I'd nominate another incarnation of 790 AM, "Demand Radio 79."
 
jd said:
You guys named the top two, in my opinion. I'll settle for a couple of honorable mentions, first Majic 102, still sounding good after all these years. Going way back I'd nominate another incarnation of 790 AM, "Demand Radio 79."
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Yes, I agree, JD. KTHT "Demand Radio 79" was a good station. It wasn't my favorite as a teen; however, I listened to it a lot. It was behind KILT and WLS as one of my favorites. Of course, the Big 89 was my favorite night time station. In the late 1960s, KIKK 650 became my favorite.
 
Interesting...I replied to this and my post vanished. Last night I saw a couple other posts that followed Chucks and now they're gone... What's going on?
 
I have a few:

1. Hot 79Q
2. 93Q (before Rock Hits)
3. Club 104 KRBE
4. Yo 1590 Raps KYOK
5. Kiss 98.5/103.3 (and Kiss 98.5 1st incarnation before Y985)
6. Early days of 97.9 The Box as Contemporary Crossover
7. Majic 102 Jamz, followed by 102 Jamz
8. 98.5 Houston's Jammin Hits
 
I didn't live in this area until the late 1970s and can think of a few stations from that time period as well (KLOL, KFMK, KSRR, KRBE) that were good.

Does anyone see the common denominator in these 'best station ever' threads? Its something that is deemphasized today. Live and local personalities that could connect with their loyal audiences.

If I'm not mistaken, we reached back at least 20+ years for many of these 'best' stations - none are current. That speaks volumes.
 
KLOL - rock station.

The original KILT when it was McLendon top-40.

KAUM 96.5 when it was album rock.

KFMK - when it was CCM, and again when it was oldies.

KGOL, when it was CCM.

You have to give a nod to KRBE, over the years they have been a great top-40 station, but the current mix with hip-hop is almost unlistenable. They were also the Houston station with one of the largest footprints in the country - 130 miles in every direction, still almost like a local in Austin, very listenable over most of the DFW metroplex. I guess their good legacy engineers either died or left the station, they gave up their incredible signal.


The original KSBJ under Buddy Holiday - thank goodness the creativity is back on NGEN, but the over the air options suck in Cypress and the North part of Harris county. Its either find an HD radio for sale (good luck with that), or a deep fringe antenna to Sugarland on 99.5 and put up with interference from The Wolf in Ft. Worth and rock from San Antonio on 99.5.
 
I worked at several stations in Houston back in the day...790 KULF, KTRH, KFMK under Buddy Holiday, KGOL. All were good in their time. I would also vote for the McLendon days at KILT, KRBE in the 70s, and even going back before 79Q, before KULF, to Demand Radio 79. :) Yes, I am old.
 
TooMuchCoffee said:
and even going back before 79Q, before KULF, to Demand Radio 79. :)
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Yep, I mentioned that also (the original KTHT), before my post and some others went poof!
 
jd said:
TooMuchCoffee said:
and even going back before 79Q, before KULF, to Demand Radio 79. :)
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Yep, I mentioned that also (the original KTHT), before my post and some others went poof!
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Radio Discussions mu st be having some problems. My answer to you, disappeared as well. This thread, by the way stated, "Station" and not "Stations."

 
TXCalradio said:
98FM KFMK and 96 1/2 KAUM were great stations as well!
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If I were able to listen as an infant I would agree about 96 1/2 KAUM. They played Rod Stewart's 45 version of Do you think I'm Sexy. I listened to a couple of KAUM airchecks off the web.

I never really listened to KFMK during it's final years at 98FM, I heard it was hybrid AC and Oldies. So I couldn't really say. The first station I ever listened to in Houston was Majic 102.1 and 100.3 KILT in 1983. Of course, living in Alief that was the station constantly playing in the neighborhood businesses. I was only 3, but remember listening to it in my dad's Mercedes with Alpine AM/FM Cassette stereo with the 7 band Graphic Equalizer in the glove compartment, with ADS Speakers.
 
Having been in the market since the middle of 1993, I think the best station was the short few months that 98.5 KTJM was doing Jamming Hits but really offered the sort of variety the old top 40s offered when those songs were popular. In a sample hour they might toss in a 1960s hit and then some artists like Jackson Browne in the mix. I thought the 'jamming' imaging was a little off during that time but coupled with live jocks, a low commercial load, etc., they were a great sounding station for about a 4-6 month period.

I recall hearing and really enjoying KZFX (am I recalling those calls correctly?) a few times when in was living in Bryan/College Station until early 1987. This would have been in the early days of their classic rock format. I was working at KTAW/WTAW then and getting down toward Houston was a treat as well as hearing Houston you couldn't get there.
 
bturner said:
I recall hearing and really enjoying KZFX (am I recalling those calls correctly?) a few times when in was living in Bryan/College Station until early 1987. This would have been in the early days of their classic rock format.
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Yep. 107.5 was KZFX starting sometime in the late 80's. I believe it was '94 when it went modern rock, first as KRQT and later KTBZ. KRQT called itself "The Rocket," and I seem to remember the basketball team wanted them to change, hence 107.5 The Buzz.

By the way, I really enjoyed listening to Z-107.5 in the early 90's. Houston always seemed like a turd in a punch bowl to me, especially after 93Q switched to country. KRBE was never my cup-of-tea, but I never really embraced top-40 in the early 90's. I remember Dad wouldn't tolerate KRBE in the car because he couldn't stand the morning show. He much preferred The Q Zoo!
 
Staying -close- to the area I miss...

B95 battle k106
I miss kykr at it's 93.3 incarnation
Kfrd 104.9 country
K-gulf 103.3
X97 BTW.. what ever became of Dillon Ryder? She was always super friendly and easy to talk with when I worked promotions @ kilt.
Energy 96.5
Kikk 96fm
K-lite 93.7
Power 104

Its a shame what Houston radio has become...
 
Kent said:
bturner said:
I recall hearing and really enjoying KZFX (am I recalling those calls correctly?) a few times when in was living in Bryan/College Station until early 1987. This would have been in the early days of their classic rock format.
Click to expand...

Yep. 107.5 was KZFX starting sometime in the late 80's. I believe it was '94 when it went modern rock, first as KRQT and later KTBZ. KRQT called itself "The Rocket," and I seem to remember the basketball team wanted them to change, hence 107.5 The Buzz.

By the way, I really enjoyed listening to Z-107.5 in the early 90's. Houston always seemed like a turd in a punch bowl to me, especially after 93Q switched to country. KRBE was never my cup-of-tea, but I never really embraced top-40 in the early 90's. I remember Dad wouldn't tolerate KRBE in the car because he couldn't stand the morning show. He much preferred The Q Zoo!
Click to expand...

KZFX signed on to serve Houston (moved in from Lake Jackson) in October of 86
 
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