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Who was the best all-night jock ever in LA?

O

oldmanradio

Your favorite ... all night, overnight, all through the night ... and the morning.

Your favorite uptight, outta sight, all-night satellite?
 
Funny, first name I thought of was Johnny Williams as well. Was he the best? If not he's right up there. He certainly did the overnight shift long enough. Did Dave Diamond do overnights at KFI in the late 70's? I remember hearing him late at night, but he may not have done overnights. He was pretty good as well.
 
The Voice

http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2005/07/pastor_john_ryd.html

Was he ever on overnights live?

Certainly, he was on day and night on the old WABC-FM, and perhaps, KABC-FM on ABC's automated "Love" format.

Amazing little vignettes at the bottom of the page from the link above.

Someone who worked at KRLA told me John Rydgren had an aura about him when he walked into a meeting.
 
Overnights would have to be Johnny Williams at KHJ. With the exception of a couple of months in middays in 1967, he did it for 9 years (1965-1974).

Brother John did do all-nights at certain points in his career...I believe KRTH was one instance.

And I've got one other name...but it depends on how we're defining this...do they have to have been on all-night...or would just having their shift go beyond midnight (say to 1 or 2 AM) be enough?

---Michael Hagerty
 
Definitely Johnny Williams. I usually stayed up all night in LA in 65 and I don't even remember who was overnights on KRLA or KFWB. I do remember Dave Diamond on 6-9 PM on KHJ and bumping in to him walking down Gower St. Actually, I thought KHJ was so much superior to the others I only listened to the others just to see what they did and when KHJ played the Carpenters. KFWB reminded me of KQV in Pittsburgh at the time. The same overlong jingles and just not as good as the Drake products. I often wondered, however, if the more music concepts on Drake led eventually to the robojocked COX stations all over the South.
 
Not necessarily the 'best' in any objective sense...but my favorite - Johnny Hayes on KRLA during the couple years of the "Music Power" period. (68, 69). The station allowed The Rabbitt (9-Midnight) and Hayes (Midnight - 6:00 AM) to break format, so they played a lot of album rock, which was new to me since I had grown up with straight Top 40. He occasionally billed himself as the "Midnight Hayes" was very relaxed at that hour, but interesting to listen to.
 
michael hagerty said:
Overnights would have to be Johnny Williams at KHJ. With the exception of a couple of months in middays in 1967, he did it for 9 years (1965-1974).

Brother John did do all-nights at certain points in his career...I believe KRTH was one instance.

And I've got one other name...but it depends on how we're defining this...do they have to have been on all-night...or would just having their shift go beyond midnight (say to 1 or 2 AM) be enough?

---Michael Hagerty
Click to expand...

Yes, the rules are loose here, Michael.

By the way, Michael should be awarded a Ph.D in broadcasting history.

I forgot about Johnny Hayes working all nights for awhile.

Did not know this until recently, but Bob Eubanks worked all nights when he arrived at KRLA in 1961. Also, somewhere I read that Hudson replaced Eubanks in morning drive when "Beautiful Bob" arrived from Oakland.

If that is true, was Eubanks moved to 6-9 p.m. because that is the only slot I remember him.
 
[/quote]

.

Did not know this until recently, but Bob Eubanks worked all nights when he arrived at KRLA in 1961. Also, somewhere I read that Hudson replaced Eubanks in morning drive when "Beautiful Bob" arrived from Oakland.

If that is true, was Eubanks moved to 6-9 p.m. because that is the only slot I remember him.
[/quote]

---------------------------

Eubanks did overnights at KRLA right after he came into town from KACY/Port Hueneme in the Oxnard-Ventura market. It was quite a feeder to LA for a while. We radio geeks at Pasadena City College would traipse down to the grounds of the Huntington-Sheraton at all hours of the morning and were gladly welcomed as we brought him some munchies and more--usually a cheeseburger and fries. The place was a dump even then (I am sure the sofas in the huge lobby had seen a lot of use) but it was MAGIC. We were always blown away by the fact that the jock had a board with two outputs--one for the microphone, which the jock could peg to his heart's content as the engineer on the other side of the glass would actually ride gain, and one for the two turntables for the 45s.
 
oldmanradio said:
michael hagerty said:
And I've got one other name...but it depends on how we're defining this...do they have to have been on all-night...or would just having their shift go beyond midnight (say to 1 or 2 AM) be enough?

---Michael Hagerty
Click to expand...

Yes, the rules are loose here, Michael.
Click to expand...

Then...The Prince of Darkness...The Host Who Loves You Most....

Johnny Magnus (KMPC 10PM-1AM 1962-1973)!

To me, the definition of what a late-night jock should sound like. Obviously an approach that wouldn't work in Top 40, so Johnny Williams wins on that format...but Magnus, cool delivery, jazz LP tracks, "Weather With A Beat" and all, is my choice beyond Top 40.

---Michael Hagerty
 
JON BRUCE said:
Dick "Huggy Boy" Hugg, KRKD 1150 in the 1950's and KBLA 1500 in 1965.
Click to expand...

And, I think "Huggy Boy" was the last DJ on KRLA before it became ... well ... whatever ... talk?

Sometime in the 1990's, I recall flying from Dallas to LA and tuning to 1110 to hear the oldies.
Instead, I think I heard Michael Jackson (the talk-show host).

870 AM is NOT KRLA ... no matter what they say.
 
I give thumbs up to Brother Bill on 102.7 KIIS-FM throughout the 80's and early 90's. This guy had pure energy for a overnight Jock. BTW, does anyone knows what he's up to now a days?
 
"And now, ladies & gentlemen -- Johnny Williams ..."

In my opinion - the legacy of the best.
 
My suggestion isn't from the 60's or 70's...but I used to be a fireman in Orange County (1989 -1996). Sometimes we'd be up after late night calls. One nightwe had it on to Pirate Radio....and they had a guy named "Watuzi" or something like that. He had the strangest show with things like "the 5 oclock fighting ****", I laffed at that even if it was only the sound of a fight bell and a rooster crowing. Seemed like there was drunks & stoners calleing him all night and he would always ask the caller if he could put them on hold...they'd say yeah and an hour later he'd check on them AND THEY WERE STILL THERE! (could have be a recording) but it did make me laugh. His show was up and fast paced and the music cranked & you never knew what was going to happen next and it helped me and my fellow fire fighters get through some long nights. One day the PIRATE was gone and there was a new station playing "woose" music and he and the other dj's were gone. Then I found him again at KIIS FM, different music, but same kind of program "off the wall" lol. Is this guy even around anymore?
 
For pure Los Angeles, yes, Huggy Boy. But if you are willing to include Mighty 690, add Len East, his mellow tones echoing all over the west.
 
oldmanradio said:
By the way, Michael should be awarded a Ph.D in broadcasting history.
Click to expand...

Nah...what I remember on my own is almost always contradicted on some point by a fast Google search. And that's where this stuff comes from...well, that and the volume of great information in the comments sections of Reelradio exhibits.

And now, with Billboard magazine back issues being scanned and provided through Google Books online, it's possible to get right to stuff printed at the time...Claude Hall's original Vox Jox columns.

If I'm anything, it's a researcher, not a scholar.

---Michael Hagerty
 
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