• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Where to find Nevada Radio history?

Radio13guy

Radio13guy

Other than talking to old radio people, any thoughts on where I might look/go? Up until 1962 Reno was the biggest city in Nevada. In 1972 the state had a total population of 727,000. KNEV was the first FM, and KOH the first AM both in Reno.. Does anyone recall anything else? (other than things have changed a lot since then) ;D How many Reno people read this board? Thanks for your input.

About all I can recall from the good old days was a 3.8 in the ARB.(10 to 2, 18+) KOLO 920 owned the market in the 70's With Gutenburger, Slothower, and Finley.. and Pete Carothers. Michael Hagerty was there too. It was the most fun I ever had in radio...
Jim
 
One interesting piece of Reno radio history is the 1230 frequency, which was purchased by Paul Schafer in 1959 to and used to demonstrate in the real (reel?) world an automation system that Schafer had built. He was a electronics guy who had already developed a dial-in remote transmitter control. The call letters of the station at the time were KDOT. It had a top 40 format and Schafer was able to run it with a staff off about three people. He used Ampex reel-to-reel tape decks for commercials, and the music was played from special-purpose Seeburg jukeboxes. This was proably the prototype system for what eventually became the Schafer 800 system. The studios were in a small second floor office on Commercial Row downtown near the Reno Arch. I think they had a telephone answering service, whose operators had third-class liscenses do the transmitter readings. It was on the air playing the hits around the time the Ray Charles song, "I Can't Stop Loving You," was a top hit. But it seemed there was always some kind of screwup or problem and somwhere in the early 60s the station went dark--either because of problems with the FCC or financial reasons. It came back on as KCBN with an MOR format that was trying to compete with KOLO. The studios were then on Wonder Street in the southeast part of town. In 1965 KCBN changed format back to Top 40, and was an immediate hit with #1 Pulse survey rankngs. At that time it was owned by local Reno Psychiatrist, Dr. Richard Brown. The studios were later moved over to near St. Mary's hospital. I worked there briefly during this period, until I was drafted into the Army in 1966, at which point I sort of lost track of things.
 
I was employed by KCBN for a while after I left KOLO. Thanks for the information on Paul Schafer. We had a Schafer 800 system at KPGM in Palo Alto in 1971. Most of the bugs were out of the system by then, but what I really remember was the prototypical slide pot board that was handmade by Bob Orban at that station. While other places used the gates Yard board, That slide pot board was way ahead of it's time. Thanks Mr. Orban for your encouragement to this young high school teenager, back in 1971...
 
Wow!

Well, better nearly 3 years late than never, at least I think!

Jim, I guess you and I worked together! Please refresh my memory. Meantime, here are my remembrances of Reno:

My first visit was in 1969...I was 13 and hadn't started in radio yet. We stopped at the shopping center in Carson City where I was surprised and excited to find KPTL (1300) had studios, with a glass window so you could look in from the mall.

I believe it was around that time that KCRL (780) went on the air with a personality MOR format. They took out a page in the local Bishop paper promoting themselves, but in daytime, the signal didn't quite make the 200 mile trip down highway 395. The only Reno radio audible in Bishop was KSRN (92.9), because someone put them on a translator for a while (they later flipped it to KFI, and then to KKDJ/KIIS-FM).

I went back to Reno (from Bishop) a couple of times a year, but it wasn't until I got into radio (at KIBS, Bishop in 1971) that I began visiting stations. I stopped in at KCBN (1230) that year. The studios were on the second floor above the downtown Woolworth's ( a factoid that I tucked away and used on KOLO whenever I said something slightly racy: "If I don't watch it, this place will be a Woolworth's...and that's happened once already in this town!").

I also started dropping by the Park Lane Mall studios of KGLR (105.7). The GM was a guy named Bob Glassburn...who I would meet on day one at KOLO years later...he'd come over to be Sales Manager.

Once I left Bishop (in February of 1974, for KSLY, San Luis Obispo), I stopped going to Reno. And when I went back six months later to help launch a new FM in Bishop, I somehow never made the run up to Reno.

But Reno figured into my next gig. In February, 1976 I got a call out of the blue from KUKI in Ukiah. They wanted to hire a guy named Terry Flood from KRED in Eureka to be production director and part-time/fill-in jock, but he took a job at KCBN instead and recommended me (we'd worked together at KIBS).

And, after a year and a half in Ukiah, with 3 general managers, each worse than the last and all the key people heading for the exits, I answered an ad in Gavin for a rare opening at KOLO (920) in the fall of 1977. It was for Music Director and 6PM-12Midnight air talent, replacing Lindy Thurrell, who'd just gone to KLOK in San Jose. The PD was Dave Finley, who called me after listening to my tape and said "Alright, Michael...tape today's show and let's see if you can do it again".

I guess I did. I got the gig. $720 a month, a $100 a month raise from KUKI (where I'd been promoted to PD and mornings within six weeks of arrival). Finley told me I could afford to live in Reno on that as long as I remembered that tourists paid my state income tax for me by gambling...which meant I shouldn't. I still think of it that way and have to be prodded to drop a quarter into a slot machine when I'm in Nevada.

He didn't mention the wintertime power bill, which was equal to my rent for the first five months I was there. I was coming from Ukiah...high 68, low 48.

It was 15 degrees the night I arrived in Reno (November, 1977).

I was 21 years old, and not only did that make me 3 or 4 years younger than the jock I was replacing...it made me by far the youngest person on the staff of this heritage personality MOR station. Finley (who'd crossed the street from KCBN in 1971) was the next youngest at 39. Pete Carothers (middays since 1965) was 45. Lou Gutenberger (afternoons since 1969) was (I think) about Pete's age. And Click Slocum (overnights since Marconi invented the wireless) was certainly in his 50s, unwilling to suffer indignities like a smile and cheerful hello from the kid who led into him at midnight, lived in an apartment just behind the 1910-era two-story studios an offices at the corner of California and Lander and scared the hell out of me.

Over time, things evolved. Gutenberger bailed for mornings at KSRN and we brought Johnny Steele over from KONE (1450). Click quit (I can't remember why or where he went) and George Sepulvida came up from KPTL. Jock Scowcroft, who'd been doing weekends and fill-ins, moved to KUNR (88.7) to play classical, and we brought in a bunch of part-time people: Sam Shad (who later moved up to overnights), Steve Lehman (who went on to start Premiere Radio Networks), Morton Downey, Jr. (yes, THAT Morton Downey, Jr.), Dave McKnight, Brandy Marshall, Bob Larson, Norma Lindeberg....and a local kid named Tim Bello did a live disco show for us (hey, it was 1978) from the Money Tree casino. That didn't last long, he went over to KCBN as Hollywood Hamilton and has since been to KIIS-FM, KRTH and Z-100.

We had Don Shafer as News Director with Patrice Bingham reporting and anchoring. Shafe left for KCBS, San Francisco, Bingham became ND and we hired Kirk Frosdick (who'd been Kirk Walker at KCBN) to take her reporting and anchoring position. Rosemary Peacock reported for a while and Robin Holabird did entertainment reporting. Peter Laufer came over from KNBR briefly before going back to San Francisco. Lyndi Cooper did public affairs.

I loved KOLO. My favorite radio memories are of sitting in the second-floor control room, with the windows open on a spring or summer evening, looking out on the downtown skyline (admittedly made up mostly of Harrah's and the First National Bank building in those days), and playing some pretty great music for the time. Doing it in the winter with the windows closed and snow falling was pretty special, too.

But all things must pass. By 1979, KRNO (106.9) had flipped from beautiful music to our playlist with unobtrusive jocks and 8 minutes of commercials an hour. We were playing 18. We got the GM to agree to cut back to 14, but as soon as the 1980 political season started, he ran it up to 22.

The ratings went from #2 12+ to #6. Johnny Steele left for California and Michael Bennett came up from KKBC (97.3) in Carson City to do afternoons.

The news staff got cut back to just Bingham and Frosdick.

In August, 1980, Bingham was on vacation in Hawaii and John Birges put a bomb in Harvey's Lake Tahoe. I moved over to news, let a fill-in jock take my evening show and Frosick and I did about 30 hours of live coverage.

By the time Patrice got back from Hawaii, Kirk had an offer from KTVN (CBS, Channel 2). I asked to take his place in news. It was a pay cut and I couldn't supplement my income with commercial voice-over work anymore, but I saw more of a future there. Patrice said yes and I made the move...Sam Shad took my evening shift and Dave McKnight moved into Sam's all-night show. Michael Bennett followed me as Music Director.

About a year later, right after a move into gorgeous new state-of-the-art studios in a building just behind KOLO-TV (ABC, Channel Eight), Kirk Frosdick called to tell me that Tom Olson had just been promoted from weekend anchor at KTVN to 11PM anchor...and that I had an interview that day at 4:00 with Ed Pearce, Channel 2's News Director. Thanks, Kirk! I started at KTVN on September 9, 1981.

That should be the end...but six months later, early 1982, the recession hit Channel 2. I was the last hired. Pearce told me he'd bring me back as soon as he could, but...hey...c'mon...does that ever really happen?

I started calling friends in the Bay Area and making plans to go over for meetings, but a huge storm closed I-80 and US 50 for three days straight. And while I sat waiting for the storm to clear, the phone rang. It was KOLO's GM. The station was now #12. He'd been forced to offer reduced salaries to Finley and Carothers, who declined. Finley gave 30 days notice and was going to do mornings at KRNO, but wouldn't mention it on the air. Carothers gave 30 days notice with no plans. Would I come back as PD and mornings, rebuild the staff and the station?

I said yes.

When I walked in the door, Bennett was gone...so I took his afternoon shift. I did the best I could with the drastically reduced budget. I found George Sepulvida in Sacramento and asked him to come back for afternoon drive. He said yes. I called a female DJ who'd been at KKBC using the name "Lady Jay" who was by then in Palm Springs and offered her middays. She said yes. Dave Diamond (yes, the KHJ, KFRC, KFI Dave Diamond) wanted to come work at KOLO...but he wanted to do a nighttime talk show. I was dumb. I insisted on music. Huge mistake. I moved McKnight up into evenings (Sam Shad had already moved into TV and other enterprises).

About 17 days into his 30 day notice, Pete Carothers back-announced "Turn! Turn! Turn!" by the Byrds like this: "92/KOLO and the Byrds "Turn! Turn! Turn!" from 1965 with Sweet Peter Carothers...1965...same year I came here. Wow. 17 years I've been at this toilet." Then cold into a commercial break.

I grabbed my headphones out of my desk drawer and walked into the studio to find Pete already unplugging his. "Nothing personal, kid. I thought I could do 13 more days, but I just can't."

There were other disappointments. The GM reneged on my salary agreement...I wound up $7K light. The promotion budget...well, we'd have to wait and see...and let's face it: Finley and Carothers were KOLO. I could whip up a pretty good A/C station as long as there wasn't a comparison with what was. But there always would be.

And then the miracle. 90 days to the day, Pearce called. I was back at KTVN if I wanted it. And I did.

My replacement at KOLO flipped it to Country and that was the end of KOLO as it had been...and the beginning of the slow slide completely off the Reno radio radar (with 5K at 920, someone should be able to do something with that signal).

But man, when it was good....KOLO was the best.


---Michael Hagerty
 
wow indeed! I enjoyed this. Mike copy/paste and save your words. Maybe someday someone will gather all recollections from former and present Nevada Broadcasters to publish for what I'm positive would be a great read.
 
Some more Reno radio memories:

Ed Towey on KOH (630). PD of the station at the time (1980-1985), responsible for shaping it into a contemporary talk station. He did middays (9AM-12Noon).

How ahead of his time was Ed? He hired Travus T. Hipp for afternoon drive. In 1981. In Reno.

Ed had (and has...we're still in touch) a subversive sense of humor. One morning, he was discussing the UNR Wolfpack and an upcoming game in Moscow, Idaho. A caller asked "Hey, Ed...is it "Mos-COW" or "Mos-KO"? Ed said he didn't know, but it was time for the news and while the news was on, he'd call the Moscow, Idaho Chamber of Commerce and ask them.

Well, Ed called directory assistance, got the number, tried twice, got a busy signal, and with a minute or so left in the newscast, did what Ed thought was the right thing...he refilled his coffee and made up a story. It helps to know that Ed was prematurely bald...something that he referred to quite often and the audience was familiar with since his last gig was on-air at Channel 2:

"10:06 at Newsradio 630 KOH. I'm Ed Towey...and we're talking about the upcoming Wolfpack game in Mos-COW or Mos-KO, Idaho. I still don't know. I called up there and this woman answered the phone "Chamber of Commerce" and I said "Hi, Ma'am. I'm Ed Towey from KOH radio in Reno and we were wondering...do you pronounce the name of your fair city Mos-COW or Mos-KO?"

"She said...."It's STALINGRAD, skinhead!" and hung up the phone!"

And then Ed moved on. Joke over, right?

Nope.

An outraged listener took him seriously, called Idaho to complain and within 15 minutes, the MAYOR of Moscow (pronounced Mos-COW as it turns out) was calling in on the air to apologize, assure Ed that they were friendly people and promising to find and fire that Chamber of Commerce woman.

Reno radio, in those days, was populated by jocks willing to stretch a bit for a good line. It stunned me to learn that Dave Finley (who bore a striking resemblance to a young David Niven) had this philosophy as PD at the classiest adult station in town, KOLO:

Talk dirty and play the hits.

Mind you, Dave talked dirty with finesse. Some examples:

"A reminder from the Chamber of Commerce to our visitors. If you're driving east on I-80 just outside Sparks and you see a sign that says "Ethyl. Full service. Cash Only.....it may or may not be a gas station."

A better example...and one that nearly caused me to wreck my car. As part of the modernization of KOLO's music, we started playing early rock and roll oldies....going back to Elvis.

One morning the receptionist called in on the intercom and Dave put her on the air.

"Dave, I hear all these oldies now...and I love them...but how about some Annette records? Like Tall Paul or Pineapple Princess. Why aren't we doing that, Dave? Do you have something against Annette?"

"No...no...in fact, I love Annette...especially those old 'Beach Blanket Bingo' movies. I especially like the one where she performs Funicello on Frankie Avalon."

Sweet Peter Carothers, who as I introduced him every Friday at noon "put the 'honky' in "honky-tonk" with his format-breaking play of the "Friday Nooner National Anthem"...Johnny Paycheck's "Take This Job and Shove It."

Johnny Steele, who would occasionally introduce me with..."Michael Hagerty's next after the news at six. Go easy on him. It's already been a rough day. He lost his chewing gum in the chicken coop and thought he found it five different times."

George Sepulvida, who once told a listener on the air that for the KOLO Halloween Party, he was considering "getting naked, putting on roller skates and going as a pull-toy."

And then there was yours truly...who can think of four lines that probably should have gotten me in bigger trouble than they did:

*When I was filling in for Carothers in middays and noticed that they were changing the signage on the First National Bank (FNB) building to First Interstate Bank and asked on-air..."Can you trust a bank called "FIB"?"...only to get a hotline call from the GM, who was on the Board of Directors.

*When I was doing news and the last story before going back to Carothers was about functional illiteracy. And as he rolled his first record, Carothers asked "Michael, how do you spell 'functional illiteracy'?" Seeing an opportunity to hit the post, I replied "F-o-o-t-b-a-l-l-s-c-h-o-l-a-r-s-h-i-p". Carothers erupted in laughter over the vocal. The GM erupted in something else over the hotline, reminding me that he was in the middle of negotiating the UNR Wolfpack Sports contract.

*When I introed The Brothers Johnsons' "Strawberry Letter 23" with "92/KOLO and Michael Hagerty with Strawberry Letter 23...hey...there's a PS. It's a Bible quotation...the 11th Commandment...Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Brothers Johnson."

*And...the one that really should have done it...coming off a Budweiser commercial with a live tag into "Love Me Do."..."Anehuser-Busch, St. Louis. And as we all look up the verb "To Anheize", let's listen to the Beatles on KOLO."

That really was a bit much.....

---Michael Hagerty
 
A few more Reno memories have come wandering back:

When I arrived in town, there were 7 AM (KOH, KCRL, KOLO, KCBN, KTPL, KBET and KONE ) and 7 FM (KUNR, KSRN, KNEV, KKBC, KGLR, KRNO and one I'm forgetting) stations. The Lake Tahoe FMs were purely local and hadn't yet hit on the idea of moving their sticks from inside the Tahoe basin to the top of Mt. Rose. That started around '81/'82 and was when the over-population of signals for the market truly began.

Carl Roliff was KSRN's owner. Studios were in Old Town Mall. The music was bizarre...mostly instrumentals and aimed at an older audience, but not really beautiful music, either...polkas interspersed with 101 Strings.

KOLO upped its rock oldies content in the fall of 1979, when Jonsson Communications of Sacramento (owners of KROY), bought 1270, changed the call letters to KROI and became the market's first oldies station. The PD: Richard Irwin, founder and curator of Reelradio.com.

Until 1979, there were only two FMs playing contemporary music...KKBC with an automated Top 40 and KGLR's album rock. Neither competed with KOLO, which had a 12 share when I arrived (just behind KCBN's 14). KRNO's flip from beautiful to A/C in '79 made three...and was the moment when the mass adult audience began listening to FM.

The first true star on FM was Bruce Van Dyke at KGLR (which by that point I think had changed calls to KOZZ). He arrived to do nights and within six months owned the timeslot...blew me and whoever was doing evenings at KCBN completely out of the water. Within a year, they moved him to mornings, where he turned the town upside down. I remember he wanted to work a five-day week, befitting his popularity...but KOZZ would have none of it. So Bruce created the illusion of a five-day week by doing his Saturday show in a character voice as "Dick Cabeza".

Dave Finley's move to KRNO in 1982 was another huge shift to FM listening in the market. At that moment, and from then on, the most popular talent in town (Finley, Van Dyke and Larry Irons, who'd moved over to KRNO from sister KCBN) was on FM, not AM.

And, in 1983, KRNO had a female jock who went by the name "Marilee". Never heard her before and never heard her on Reno radio after that. But two years later, in Las Vegas, I met her and we became friends. She was Marilee Joyce, daughter of legendary Nevada advertising giant Jim Joyce (Joyce & Martin Advertising), who was working her way through UNR. She went on to print reporting (Las Vegas Review-Journal), TV news (Flagstaff, Sioux Falls, Madison) and for the past decade, has had her own company, producing and hosting Eye On Washington, a public affairs TV show which airs on FOX11 in Reno.

---Michael Hagerty
 
My website/blog is in it's early stages, where I'm collecting memories of veteran Las Vegas/Southern Nevada Broadcasters--as well as sharing some of my own in 46 years of listening to Las Vegas radio and 38 years working in the biz:

http://gapfel.com/vegasradio
Las Vegas Radio History

Contributions, comments, and corrections are welcome.

GT
George Thomas
 
George,
Enjoying you Las Vegas Radio History site...one more fact about KORK & specifically owner Don Reynolds in the late 70's...you were correct in pointing out Donrey's practical media monopoly with an AM, FM, TV station, and the Review-Journal newspaper. But you neglected that they also owned all the billboards in town ! Why we didn't trade out with each other and wipe out all the other stations was beyond me. But each was treated separately, BUYING time on each others outlet.
 
mailman ron said:
George,
Enjoying you Las Vegas Radio History site...one more fact about KORK & specifically owner Don Reynolds in the late 70's...you were correct in pointing out Donrey's practical media monopoly with an AM, FM, TV station, and the Review-Journal newspaper. But you neglected that they also owned all the billboards in town ! Why we didn't trade out with each other and wipe out all the other stations was beyond me. But each was treated separately, BUYING time on each others outlet.
Click to expand...

Donrey's situation in Reno was similar, just smaller (minus an FM and a newspaper). Same deal there, though...if KOLO-AM or TV wanted billboards, we had to pay market rate in cash at Donrey Outdoor.

---Michael Hagerty
 
michael hagerty said:
*And...the one that really should have done it...coming off a Budweiser commercial with a live tag into "Love Me Do."..."Anehuser-Busch, St. Louis. And as we all look up the verb "To Anheize", let's listen to the Beatles on KOLO."
Click to expand...

Along the same lines, a Bud spot live tag done by Dan Ingram on WABC:

"A product of Anheuser's Busch, St. Louis" (read it out loud).

Somehow I doubt that Rick gave him any grief over that, and I guess
Leonard Goldenson's wife wasn't listening that day. <wink>
 
mailman ron said:
George,
Enjoying you Las Vegas Radio History site...one more fact about KORK & specifically owner Don Reynolds in the late 70's...you were correct in pointing out Donrey's practical media monopoly with an AM, FM, TV station, and the Review-Journal newspaper. But you neglected that they also owned all the billboards in town ! Why we didn't trade out with each other and wipe out all the other stations was beyond me. But each was treated separately, BUYING time on each others outlet.
Click to expand...

Thanks, and glad you're enjoying the site... yes, I forgot about Donrey Billboards, you couldn't drive anywhere without seeing Donrey billboards! I always thought the radio/TV stations would either trade or get a special rate on those boards-- I imagine Clear Channel does that as I see their stations on boards around town. Thanks for jogging my memory, it's contributions like yours which will continue to enhance the site.
 
Would anyone know where I could get a photo of the KOLO Bear?? I was a DJ there (I think the first female D J) In 1979 to 1980. I have photos of the station, but none of the bear.
 
Brandi@KOLO said:
Would anyone know where I could get a photo of the KOLO Bear?? I was a DJ there (I think the first female D J) In 1979 to 1980. I have photos of the station, but none of the bear.
Click to expand...

Brandi Marshall? Wow! That's a blast from the past!

You were the fourth female jock at KOLO---Lindy Thurrell was there from 1975-77 (I got her job when she went to KLOK in San Jose), as was Liz Bentley (who went to KYUU in San Francisco) and Norma Linderberg was with us from 1978-79. In fact, I think we hired you to replace Norma.

I'd be amazed if any photos of the KOLO Bear exist. It was a very (mercifully) short-lived thing...four or five months, tops. However, Mark Carey, who was also with us at KOLO, has a YouTube page of airchecks...and on one of mine, I promote (in the last five seconds) that you're coming up next:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-0R5AO7DCY
 
michael hagerty said:
Wow!

I also started dropping by the Park Lane Mall studios of KGLR (105.7). The GM was a guy named Bob Glassburn...who I would meet on day one at KOLO years later...he'd come over to be Sales Manager.

---Michael Hagerty
Click to expand...

10 years after this 'history' was first written! :)

A small correction here: Phil Dorsam (sp??) was the GM (And 'First' on record) and his wife Penny, was the owner of the station. Phil was great to work for, Penny was funny and a cool owner, but very puritanical. FYI, we (KGLR-FM) were a Progressive Rock Station, and all of us announcers (PLEASE, WE WERE NOT DJ's!) tried our damnedest to be like KSAN in San Francisco.

Penny would note on all the album covers is there was something she wanted bleeped...for example, if we played MONEY, by Pink Floyd, as noted on the album cover, at 2:23 (Or at whatever point in the song), we were to bleep 'BULLSHIT'! We rarely did. To busy planning our next set or pulling albums from the library, or filling out the ASCAP/BMI play sheets, etc.)

I remember once night when I was sitting in for Steve Lehman, or 6-9 top 40 guy. One of the top 10 songs that week was the Byrds 'AMERICA'S GREAT NATIONAL PASTIME'

My shift was always the midnight to 3 (on Tuesdays and Wednesday only, normally Midnight to 6) so I usually got 'carried away' with my selection of music, much to Penny's annoyance!
So, as I was playing 'PASTIME', Penny popped into the booth and whispered to me that 'THAT' was the music she wished i would play more of! I told her, "Penny, wait..I really like this line, what do you think?" The line? Heh, Heh: 'One of America's great national pastime is cutting the grass, Grabbing some ass living too fast.''

The next day, Penny listened to the song more closely and took it out of the top 40 rotation. We got so many complaints, she reluctantly put it back in. She never forgave me for that, and always teased me about the music I played. (Anyone remember Grootna's, 'I'M FUNKY'? Yeah, Played that after midnight, if it fit into the set theme I was playing at that time!

Oh, almost forgot, while we were doing our best to be Reno's version of KSAN, Penny wanted the station to be more like KCBN. (UGH!)

Oh well...memories from 50 years ago. Wonder if anyone will read this thread after a 10 year lapse?!!

MC (Air Name: Brother Joe)
 
MCharlie said:
10 years after this 'history' was first written! :)

A small correction here: Phil Dorsam (sp??) was the GM (And 'First' on record) and his wife Penny, was the owner of the station. Phil was great to work for, Penny was funny and a cool owner, but very puritanical. FYI, we (KGLR-FM) were a Progressive Rock Station, and all of us announcers (PLEASE, WE WERE NOT DJ's!) tried our damnedest to be like KSAN in San Francisco.

Penny would note on all the album covers is there was something she wanted bleeped...for example, if we played MONEY, by Pink Floyd, as noted on the album cover, at 2:23 (Or at whatever point in the song), we were to bleep 'BULLSHIT'! We rarely did. To busy planning our next set or pulling albums from the library, or filling out the ASCAP/BMI play sheets, etc.)

I remember once night when I was sitting in for Steve Lehman, or 6-9 top 40 guy. One of the top 10 songs that week was the Byrds 'AMERICA'S GREAT NATIONAL PASTIME'

My shift was always the midnight to 3 (on Tuesdays and Wednesday only, normally Midnight to 6) so I usually got 'carried away' with my selection of music, much to Penny's annoyance!
So, as I was playing 'PASTIME', Penny popped into the booth and whispered to me that 'THAT' was the music she wished i would play more of! I told her, "Penny, wait..I really like this line, what do you think?" The line? Heh, Heh: 'One of America's great national pastime is cutting the grass, Grabbing some ass living too fast.''

The next day, Penny listened to the song more closely and took it out of the top 40 rotation. We got so many complaints, she reluctantly put it back in. She never forgave me for that, and always teased me about the music I played. (Anyone remember Grootna's, 'I'M FUNKY'? Yeah, Played that after midnight, if it fit into the set theme I was playing at that time!

Oh, almost forgot, while we were doing our best to be Reno's version of KSAN, Penny wanted the station to be more like KCBN. (UGH!)

Oh well...memories from 50 years ago. Wonder if anyone will read this thread after a 10 year lapse?!!

MC (Air Name: Brother Joe)
Click to expand...

Brother Joe: I stand corrected about the GM---and I do remember Phil and Penny---but I know I met Bob Glassburn at KGLR in '73. Was he on the sales staff?

And, during that '73 visit, I remember seeing a note from Penny on the Steely Dan "Countdown to Ecstacy" album---no doubt urging you to bleep "Show Biz Kids".

We both worked with Lehman---he did weekends for us at KOLO in '79---before going off to run Bahama Mama's, jock at KIIS in L.A. and make a fortune co-founding Premiere Radio Networks.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom