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(Remy Maxwell, Ringo Starr, Bob Malik, Billy Burke, Kelly Jones, and Katie Clark)
Sage Tragedy
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(July 16, 2018) Sage Stallone, 36-year-old son of Sylvester Stallone, died six years ago this week. Nothing a parent wants to experience. I had the pleasure of working with both men and I wanted to share with you my encounter under a fun environment.
Gleason’s Gym has a history of some of the greatest boxers of all time having trained there at one time or another. And the smell? Oh, my God. The smell of sweat, booze, and history was something to embrace. I didn’t want the press to interview Sage in a hotel room because I envisioned five minutes of questions about his father, ‘How was it growing up as the real-life Rocky’s son’ over and over. Stop it. I wanted the focus to be on the kid. He was up for anything. And when I told him that I wanted a walking interview with boxers sparring in the background, boxers pounding punching bags, and characters just hanging around, he was up for it. There was a row of Everlast punching bags hanging on very heavy chains. The big bags swung with every punch. They were staggered throughout the gym. I wanted Sage and the interviewer (think local Sam Rubin) to walk around the gym and at three locations the bag would swing into shot (the bag let go by an off-camera PA) and Sage and the interviewer would walk in such a way as to avoid the bag. Well, the first interviewer was from a Minneapolis tv station and as they began the walking interview, I watched the interviewer surruptiously glancing sideways waiting for the swinging bag. Well, you guessed it, the bag hit the interviewer square on and decked him. After he saw that his interviewer was okay, Sage couldn’t stop laughing. He thought it was the funniest thing he ever saw. (Picture the tv show, Wipeout)
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Doug Dunlap's Keys to Happiness
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(July 16, 2018) Doug Dunlap has been
a familiar voice for decades in Southern California. His traffic reports
have been heard on virtually all LA stations at one time or another. He
started his radio career on KFOX-Redondo Beach in 1980. When the LA
Dodgers created their Transportation Center in 2007, Doug was one of the
anchors getting fans in and out of Chavez Ravine with as much ease as
possible. During the NFL season, a highlight every fall was attending a
football party he called the Doug-O-Rama. With large tv sets set in
every room of his Valencia home, there was plenty of hot dogs,
hamburgers, and drink while mingling with some of the elite of Los
Angeles Radio. Today, Doug is retired but still very busy. Everyone of us has a gift, the challenge is the discover that gift and share it with others. Doug is a pianist and a really good one. He is devoting his time to playing in assisted living homes. “As much as they get out of it, for me it’s life changing,” said Doug. “Their eyes light up and it makes my day!” “After retiring from radio, I found myself with lots of time on my hands,” Doug remembers. “I was talking to a friend who is a guitar player and she told me that she volunteered at an assisted living apartment playing guitar during their lunch three days a week. She suggested I look into something like that.” Doug knew a woman associated with the Santa Clarita Senior Center, so he contacted her. She was thrilled at his offer to play piano for them. “I have been going every week for several years playing standards from the Great American Songbook. I can’t tell you how much it has meant to me. Some of these seniors have memory issues. And while they can’t remember everyday things, they can remember the lyrics to a song written by Cole Porter, Irving Berlin or Rodgers & Hart DECADES ago! I have been told that music reaches through to people in a way like no other.” Doug now volunteers at numerous places for the elderly and for people who can’t get out. “It’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. Beats playing in a piano bar any day. No amount of money could compete with the joy I get from volunteering my time. I highly recommend it!” (You can reach Doug at: doug.dunlap@aol.com) |
| In other news: KPCC’s Rita Pardue, most recently crowned Ms. Senior California 2018, has been invited to speak at a women’s group that offers scholarships to college students. “What a coincidence, almost 30 years ago I was one of their recipients,” said Rita. “My scholarship covered my tuition and books for my master’s Degree at Cal State LA. I wrote an essay about wanting to have a career in radio and help children. How great it will be to report back to them, ‘Mission Accomplished.’" |
Sunday Nostalgia - 16 Years Ago Today
Frazer
Smith’s First Interview
Since Short-Lived KRTH Morning Show
|
(July
15, 2002)
“I tried to get fired faster than Bob Rivers, but he was too good,”
quipped Frazer Smith in his first interview since leaving the morning
show at KRTH. Fraze was in a very cool and upbeat mood on a hot, Sunday
afternoon in the middle of a Southland heat wave. Fraze was referring to
Rivers’ 11-days doing mornings at “Arrow 93” last year. Fraze joined
“K-Earth” on April 1 and was gone the following month. KRTH has been
attempting to fill the important morning drive slot since the 1998 death of
legendary Robert W. Morgan.
“I
thought it was a world record for a firing, but Rivers beat me.” (Rivers
returned to Seattle and in the last ratings book, his KZOK morning show was
rated #1 25-54.) Fraze has not let the experience slow him down. He has written
two scripts for the big screen. “I’m very close to a sale with a script for
Kid Rock. The other, a futuristic football story called 'Time Ball,' is with a
very big producer. Fraze is also up for a job as a tv host and another is an
acting gig. In between this busy schedule, he continues to hone his comedy
skills seven nights a week. “I’m ripping it up doing stand-up. My comedy is
the highest it’s ever been. I know how fresh it is because of the reaction
from 20-year-olds as well as those who are 55.”
Fraze
praised the jocks he met at “K-Earth” during his brief stay. “Brian
Beirne is a class act and Christina Kelley is fantastic,” said
Frazer. He really enjoyed being in the same building with KROQ. “I know the
future of radio looks bright thanks to Kevin Weatherly [pd at KROQ].
Kevin is a boy genius. Tami Heide is terrific and I’ve known Jed the
Fish for 20 years,” reflected Fraze.
“Where
is Andy Bloom today?” asked Fraze rhetorically. Fraze was reflecting on
the tough job that programmers have in being patient with new comedy shows.
Fraze was at KLSX when Howard Stern arrived. “Andy was a rare pd who
had vision. He told the sales people to ignore the initial angry reaction to
Howard. Andy encouraged them to be patient and that in six months they’ll be
very happy buying new houses. And they did.”
Frazer
worked at KROQ, KLOS, KMET and KLSX. Will Fraze entertain an opportunity to do
radio again? “I’m open to the right thing in radio. Some have painted me
unfairly, but I am as fresh today as I have ever been!” |
Email Saturday, 7.14.2018
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** KABC Essay from 2010
“Your points are well taken here, Don, even eight years later. It has been so long since KABC had a meaningful presence here that the call letters, if they mean anything at all, stand for an era that has passed. Heritage call letters are only useful when they have had years of active relevance; KIIS, KFI, even KABC's sister station KLOS, have a positive ongoing recognition factor. KABC does not. [And the funny thing is that I still think of 870 as KIEV, even though Salem replaced those calls way back on January 1, 2001.] If the program schedule in 2010 seemed like a ‘work in progress’ that got halted for some reason and then never resumed, then it looks now like the entire project was abandoned. Perhaps Cumulus was so focused on their bankruptcy that they didn’t notice Bob Moore was sitting on his hands over in the corner. I think that if Cumulus can’t make KABC work, they should either sell it, LMA it to an ethnic broadcaster, or – if they're intent on keeping this now-inferior AM signal – simulcast with KLOS until they come up with a workable game plan. Because the plan they’ve had for the past decade ain’t workin.’” – K.M. Richards ** KABC Ratings? “I just can’t believe what has happened to KABC.” – Allen Mclean ** More Ratings “I remember when KABC was #1 for all those years. So sad! Good for KPCC ... #10!! YEA!” - Alan F. Ross |
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** KPCC vs. KNX “I suppose that listeners are saying that they’d rather sit through pledge drives than 22+ minutes an hour of spots. Not to mention real content.” – Douglas Brown ** Boss Radio Insight “I recently received a sizeable collection of original memos that were written by Paul Drew while he was the program director at KHJ. As many of you who worked with him know, he was very detail oriented.” – Jeffrey Leonard |
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** Ciji Ware “I worked with Ciji Ware for a few months in 1971-72 when I joined KNBC as the Dayside Assignment Editor and she was our consumer reporter who went by Ciji Ware Billet. What I wish I’d known back then was that her dad wrote for One Man’s Family. It was created and produced by Carlton E. Morse who, with his wife Pat, was a lifelong friend of my parents. My mom and Morse worked together on the San Francisco Evening Bulletin before he hit it big in network radio drama. My parents wedding was held in Pat and Carlton’s SF apartment. So much for nostalgia. My entire LA experience was in tv, but I have known a lot of the radio people just because we’re all broadcasters.” – Warren Cereghino, Pacific Palisades
** Radio Streams “Entercom stations are announcing the only way to listen to stations on the go is to download the radio.com app. For those that do not want app overload on their mobile device – still as of today, one can enter web address player.radio.com and access all Entercom stations. Did you happen to hear the interview with Chuck Martin, done by Richard Wagoner and Mike Stark – posted by LA Radio Studios? It's over 2 hours long, but well worth the time.” – Greg Wood, West Hills |
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KRLA Mailer The padded package on the left arrived in the mail this week in 2002. Inside, a bag of M&M's wrapped with a promotional message |
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Marcellus Wiley Jumps Teams
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(July 13, 2018) After 11 years
with ESPN, the last seven locally with KSPN, Marcellus Wiley
has his final show today. “It has been amazing, years filled
w/laughs, debates & even tears,” he wrote on Twitter. “My gratitude runs
deep for every executive, co-host, co-worker & fan on this journey.
Going to miss it all, but I am so excited to create many more media
memories!” Word is Marcellus will join Fox Sports. The former NFL star and ESPN analyst joined Max Kellerman to form the “Max & Marcellus” show in early 2011. Previously, he has been paired with various personalities, most recently Roger Lodge. A native of Southern California, Wiley attended St. Monica High in Santa Monica, where he was an academically and athletically honored student. Wiley is a graduate of Columbia University. A 10-year NFL veteran, Wiley played for four teams during his career, including the Buffalo Bills (1997-2000), San Diego Chargers (2001-03), Dallas Cowboys (2004) and Jacksonville Jaguars (2005-06). He had his best years with the Bills and the Chargers. Wiley was also voted to the Pro Bowl in 2001 and was named one of Pro Football Weekly’s Top 50 Players in the NFL. After the NFL, Wiley turned to broadcasting as an NFL commentator for ESPN. In other news: Saul Levine is prepping for a “grand celebration” in February 2019. “KBCA went on the air the night of February 18, 1959 from temporary studios on top of Mount Wilson on a cold and stormy night with immediate listener calls from all over Southern California,” emailed Saul … KUSC’s Rich Capparela just returned from the Galapagos Islands. “It was a mind-blowing trip. Whoa,” declared Rich … Tom Joyner’s Foundation presents “Fantastic Voyage,” a cruise that supports Historically Black College and University scholars. This year’s offering sold out faster than any of the eight before it. The cruise departs next spring from Miami with port stops in San Juan, St. Thomas and Grand Turk … K-EARTH’s Larry Morgan posted on Facebook that he has been diagnosed with Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo. “The doc gave me the Epley Maneuver, a series of positional changes to realign these rascal crystals in my inner ear back to their normal place. The positions basically bring on the vertigo, which is not pleasant, but by design. Not fun. But necessary.” It all started with a fall that knocked him unconscious … Morning KOST star Ellen K got pulled over by the LAPD the other night. Window tinting was too dark. She got off … MY/fm’s Lisa Foxx has lost 40 pounds in six months thanks to the Orbera Weight Loss Balloon. “I turn 48 on the 28th and already feel ON TOP OF THE WORLD!” enthused Lisa. With the balloon out, she has vowed to lose another 20 pounds by the end of the year through healthy eating and exercising … Mark Elliot, former operations head at Gold Coast Broadcasting in Ventura, is now the Group Program Director for Cherry Creek Media in Denver. Cherry Creek Media owns and operates 46 stations in Washington, Utah, Montana, Arizona, Colorado and North Dakota … Manny the on-the-street reporter for KIIS’ Ryan Seacrest was laid off. |
Call Letter Longevity
by K.M. Richards
|
Someone who read that old post I did on FM call letters history on
the occasion of KRTH/KHJ-FM/K45LA's 70th anniversary of continuous
operation back in 2011 asked me what the records are in L.A. for FMs
keeping the same call letters. So I put together a list and offer
it to you for whatever use you may find for it. I set a minimum of 20 years holding a call sign for inclusion. Currently held call letters: 1) KOST/103.5 - from KADS, 1967 (51 years) 2) KRTH/101.1 - from KHJ-FM, 1972 (46 years) 3) KROQ-FM/106.7 - from KPPC-FM, 1973 (45 years) 4) KBIG/104.3 - from KXTZ, 1974 (44 years, also see below) 5) KLVE/107.5 - from KEZM, 1974 (44 years) 6) KIIS-FM/102.7 - from KKDJ, 1975 (43 years) 7) KLOS/95.5 - from KABC-FM, 1971 (37 years) 8) KKLA/99.5 - from KHOF-FM, 1985 (33 years)* 9) KPWR/105.9 - from KMGG, 1986 (32 years) 10) KTWV/94.7 - from KMET, 1987 (31 years, includes 280 days as KTMV-FM)** 11) KCBS-FM/93.1 - from KODJ, 1991 (27 years) 12) KLAX-FM/97.9 - from KSKQ-FM, 1992 (26 years) 13) KYSR/98.7 - from KXEZ, 1992 (26 years) 14) KSCA/101.9 - from KLIT, 1994 (23 years) Ties were broken based on the month of the year that the new calls were granted. * - I've counted KKLA because, as shown in the records, it was a relicensing of the KHOF-FM facilities after the FCC revoked its license. Some may disagree with that, but it still shows the longevity of the KKLA calls. ** - My understanding is that the KTMV calls were used only on an interim basis while the FCC recovered the KTWV calls from a marine vessel. |
Call letters held before changing: 1) KFAC-FM/92.3 - to KKBT (40 years, 1948-1989) 2) KFSG/96.3 - to KXOL (31 years, 1970-2001) 3) KNOB/97.9 - to KSKQ-FM (30 years, 1958-1988)* 4) KHOF-FM/99.5 - license revoked (29 years, 1956-1985) 5) KZLA/93.9 - to KMVN (28 years, 1978-2006) 6) KUTE/101.9 - to KMPC-FM (25 years, 1952-1987) 7) KNX-FM/93.1 - to KKHR (25 years, 1948-1983)** 8) KLSX/97.1 - to KAMP (23 years, 1986-2009) 9) KKGO/105.1 - to KMZT (22 years, 1978-2000)*** 10) KBIG/104.3 - to KXTZ (22 years, 1959-1971) 11) KPOL-FM/93.9 - to KZLA (21 years, 1957-1978) Ties broken based on recentness of change. * - If the years KNOB was on 103.1 (1949-1958) the total would be 39 years and ranked #2. ** - If one adds the return to KNX-FM pre-KODJ (1986-1989) the total would be 28 years and ranked #5. |
KPPC's Rita Pardue is a Beauty
 |
(July 12, 2018) KPCC’s production manager Rita
Pardue was crowned as this year’s Ms. Senior California during the
annual pageant at the University of San Diego’s Joan Croc Institute for
Peace and Justice Theater. “In October, I go to Atlantic City to compete
in the national Ms. Senior America pageant,” emailed Rita. “What an
honor to represent our great state of California. This pageant is for
women over 60 who have reached ‘The Age of Elegance.’”
Her responsibilities this year include appearances, speaking engagements, entertaining and encouraging everyone, regardless of age, to live life to the fullest every day. “My first official appearance was appearing in the Coronado Island Fourth of July parade. How fun.” The annual pageant shows off singing and dancing talents, evening gown modeling and the wisdom of women ages 60 and older, according to a story in Pasadena Now. Five judges evaluate the contestants on talent, a statement on their philosophy of life and other criteria. Pardue, 66, was chosen out of eight talented women who competed during the pageant last month, where she sang I’ve Got the Music in Me. In April, Rita was crowned Ms. Senior Ventura County before going on to the state competition. Pardue has over 20 years of experience in radio and has expertise in fundraising, writing, presentation, production and media campaign expertise. Before coming to KPCC, she was KKLA’s Midday LA host from 1998 to 2004. Her assignments have taken her to China, Indonesia, Japan and North Korea, where she was a guest of the state. Born in Indiana, she grew up in St. Louis. “I started singing at 16 years old and toured across the country performing at major hotels and supper clubs,” said Rita. “I opened for name acts including Harry Blackstone Jr., George Burns and Pia Zadora. Also did some acting in film and television work, too. I sang with the original cast of ‘Jubilee’ at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas in 1981.” |
|
Rita started her next career in radio, working at KORK-Las Vegas as a
news reporter, while returning to college at the University of Las
Vegas. Simultaneously, she was hosting a talk show, Paying Dues at
KUNV- Las Vegas. “At that time my faith walk became very important in
my life,” continued Rita. “I rededicated my life and moved to Los
Angeles to pursue my dreams in children’s radio.” She also does
freelance work doing voiceovers, teaching audio production and vocal
coaching. As a community volunteer, she has been working with the Lake Avenue Community Foundation in Pasadena for six years, helping in a mentoring program where she’s paired with a young Latina girl who had just completed her first year of college. She has also committed to reading before school children, doing Saturday morning sessions in Pasadena and Altadena. Rita tells the children her story of growing up in the Midwest and moving to California later in life. Pardue is also an actor, musician, and vocalist. Her credits include the CBS film When the Circus Came to Town, PBS Math Facts, and WB’s Unhappily Ever After, to mention a few. In the 1990s, she was the voice of Mrs. Aahs and a host of other characters on Children’s Broadcasting Corporation’s “Radio Aahs.” Pardue is the author of the children’s book The Nothing-To-Do Funshop, and a narrator for several of the popular Hello Kitty children’s books. She has also performed with the Hollywood Bowl Easter Choir from 2008 to 2011. |
The Cold Dose of Radio Reality
by Jason Barrett, BSM Media
 |
(July 11, 2011) It’s hard sometimes
not to become jaded if you work in the radio business. The more time you
spend time in it, the more you discover that it’s not just about
watching and talking about sports. The newspapers and industry trades at
times paint a gloomy picture of what’s happening, leaving you to wonder
about the stability of your career. Then as you improve at your craft and command more respect and warrant higher compensation, you learn why the word ‘business’ is included in your industry’s profile description. One of the most common mistakes people make in radio is believing that their contributions to a company entitles them to something greater. Managers believe the brands they run are ‘their radio stations’ and the hosts, producers and contributing members all feel their presence and value to a brand is vital and difficult to replace. Their contributions certainly do matter, especially to those they work with, but in the grand scheme of everything, we’re all still replaceable parts. Some may have greater value, but none of us are irreplaceable. How many times have you heard someone who’s young and on the way up in their career complain about the money, long hours, and lack of attention they receive from their employer? There’s this belief that their hard work should be recognized, radio should reward its people better, and more TLC should be provided by bosses. (Read complete story by clicking the artwork) |
Vic the Brick is Feeling You
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(July 11, 2018) Fans of KLAC’s Vic
the Brick Jacobs can rejoice as Chachi’s Benztown
Branding is syndicating Vic in a new 30-second daily feature, This
Day in Sports History. A native of Queens, NY, Jacobs has been a
sports broadcaster since 1979, working in Austin, Fresno, Phoenix, and
most notably, Los Angeles, where he landed in the early '90s as a sports
anchor on KCOP/Channel 13 and for Rick Dees on KIIS. In
1997, he helped launch the new Sports-Talk format on KXTA (now KEIB) as
the midday host. He later went on to co-host with NBA superstar Karl
Malone and NFL Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw.
Tony Valdez wrote on Facebook: “What’s gone wrong at Los Angeles’ all-News radio station? A story running today about a primary source of water for Los Angeles calls the lake ‘mono’ as in the opposite of stereo. The name is correctly pronounced ‘MO-no’ with two long ‘o’s. Making matters worse, in a sound bite we hear an official pronouncing ‘Mono Lake’ correctly. Like ‘Cahuenga’ and ‘Lompoc,’ Mono Lake is a place Los Angeles newscasters are supposed to know how to pronounce. But today, a reporter, several anchors, a writer, a producer and maybe even the news director didn’t know any better. Tuning to KPPC-FM right now.” In other news: Bill Seward is part of the NBC Sports team covering the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens from San Francisco later this month … Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy, KRRL’s Big Boy is headed to television via Fuse Media. A syndicated show will be based on “Big Boy’s Neighborhood” beginning July 30 … Longtime Emmis chairman/ceo and founder (1980) Jeff Smulyan has his contract extended into 2022. He will be paid $1,025,000 during the first year of his new contract, with $25,000 increases over the next three years, ending up at $1,100,000 for the fourth year. He received a signing bonus of $1M … Yvette Nicole Brown has been chosen by AMC to step in and moderate The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead panels at Comic-Con later this month. The decision to select Yvette is in response to accusations of misconduct by longtime host Chris Hardwick … Alt 98-7 adds Tamo Sein to middays. She is on her way here from WEND-Charlotte. “In the words of my family and friends, ‘We totally thought you were pregnant, but OH MY GOD THIS MAY BE EVEN MORE EXCITING NEWS!’” She replaces Marty Whitney, who continues at KIOZ-San Diego. |
Ratings Steady as They Go
 |
(July 10, 2018) Very little
major movement with the top stations in the just-released June '18 PPM
6+ Mon-Sun, 6a-mid. KBIG (MY/fm) remains on top followed by KOST,
K-EARTH, and KTWV (the WAVE). KIIS, once market leader but still revenue
leader, continues in a downward cycle. Pasadena City College's KPCC
moves into the Top 10, while KABC falls out of the Top 40, tied at 41st
with Oldies KSUR. 1. KBIG (MY/fm) 5.7 - 5.8 2. KOST (AC) 5.6 - 5.6 3. KRTH (Classic Hits) 5.0 - 5.1 4. KTWV (the WAVE) 4.8 - 4.5 5. KIIS (Top 40/M) 4.5 - 4.3 6. KCBS (JACK/fm) 4.2 - 4.1 KFI (Talk) 4.4 - 4.1 8. KLVE (Spanish Contemporary) 3.7 - 3.5 9. KYSR (Alternative) 3.2 - 2.8 10. KAMP (Top 40/M) 2.7 - 2.7 KPCC (News/Talk) 2.7 - 2.7 |
| 12. KLOS (Classic Rock) 2.7 - 2.6 KNX (News) 2.7 - 2.6 KPWR (Top 40/R) 2.4 - 2.6 KRRL (Urban) 2.7 - 2.6 KXOL (Spanish AC) 2.7 - 2.6 17. KROQ (Alternative) 2.4 - 2.5 18. KLAX (Regional Mexican) 2.7 - 2.4 KRCD (Spanish Adult Hits) 2.6 - 2.4 20. KKGO (Country) 2.1 - 2.3 21. KBUE (Regional Mexican) 1.9 - 2.2 22. KSCA (Regional Mexican) 2.6 - 2.1 23. KXOS (Regional Mexican) 1.8 - 2.0 24. KUSC (Classical) 1.6 - 1.7 25. KDAY (Rhythmic AC) 1.4 - 1.5 26. KJLH (Urban AC) 1.7 - 1.4 27. KCRW (Variety) 1.3 - 1.3 KSSE (Spanish Oldies) 1.2 - 1.3 29. KRLA (Talk) 0.9 - 1.1 KSPN (Sports) 1.0 - 1.1 31. KLAC (Sports) 0.9 - 1.0 KLYY (Spanish Adult Hits) 0.7 - 1.0 33. KEIB (Talk) 0.8 - 0.9 KKJZ (Jazz) 0.8 - 0.9 35. KFSH (Christian Contemporary) 0.7 - 0.8 36. KFWB (Regional Mexican) 0.8 - 0.7 KKLQ (Christian Contemporary) 0.8 - 0.7 38. KDLD (Regional Mexican) 0.4 - 0.6 KWIZ (Spanish Variety) 0.6 - 0.6 40. KYLA (Christian Contemporary) 0.6 - 0.5 |
Michael Savage to the Supremes
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(July 10, 2018) Back
in 2013, Mary Ann Sause of Louisburg, Kansas, was listening to Westwood
One’s syndicated The Michael Savage Show when
the police came to her door over a complaint that her radio was playing
too loud. The retired nurse eventually opened the door to the police,
they said she would go to jail, and then Sause, a devout Catholic, asked
to pray. They ordered her to stop. After the incident, she tried to get an apology from the Louisburg Police department, to no avail. She went to court claiming violation of her constitutional rights and a legal saga ensued. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court, who ruled on behalf of Ms. Sause on June 28th … a precedent that all started with Michael Savage. You can read more here in The Hutchinson News. |
One-of-a-Kind LARPs
by Mike Hagerty
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(July 10, 2018) When we asked
readers to suggest one-of-a-kind personalities in the history of
LARadio, most zeroed on one character who would stand alone, never to be
duplicated. Some couldn’t decide on one LARP, but mentioned many. Our
contributor this morning, iHeartMedia's Mike Hagerty, has a strong list.
LARadio has had several one-of-a-kind personalities. There was no Art Laboe clone, before or since, anywhere in America. The sophisticated wit and astonishing vocabulary of Bill Ballance was not going to be found anywhere other than with Bill himself. Bob Crane was to radio what Ernie Kovacs was to tv, but in his own, unique way. Find me a jock who was ‘just like Bob Crane.’ Johnny Magnus – ain’t nobody better than he (a line he once used about Wes Montgomery) when it comes to knowing the music and sharing that knowledge, which he still does every Saturday and Sunday morning on 88.1. The Real Don Steele spawned a host of imitators, all doomed to fail, because as Robert W. Morgan (arguably another original) said "if you try to sound like him, you just end up sounding like an idiot." B. Mitchel Reed pioneered the concept of an FM album rock jock and proved you didn’t have to sound or be stoned to do it. Jimmy Rabbitt often was or sounded stoned when he did it (sometimes on the same station as BMR), but he’s an original too. There was only one Wolfman Jack. Or Frazer Smith, for that matter. I never heard anybody do radio the way Lee Baby Simms did it. Or Bobby Ocean. And how about Phil Hendrie? I’m sure I’m leaving out names. I hope other readers fill the blanks I’m unintentionally leaving. Bottom line – the ranks of LARPs includes a whole host of originals, which is probably how they made it to – and made it in – Los Angeles. |
A New Role for Kelli Gates
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(July 9, 2018) I love stories
of revival, resurrection, renaissance, and rejuvenation. And this is one
of them. We all know that our radio job is going to end. But this should
not be the end of the story. What we do with the rest of our lives is
the real story. Kelli Gates was one of the forgotten soldiers in the midst of the dissolution of the KLOS Mark & Brian Show in 2012. Since 1998, Kelli had been the third important voice on the morning show. Equal parts contributor by giving news that was relatable to the audience, plus laughing at all of their jokes – the funny ones and the ones that went flat. She dazzled them with very personal stories, which included playing in the World Series of Poker a few years ago. We seemed to care as much about Kelli’s life as we did the two boys. Virtually overnight, Kelli went from playing a key role on a coveted morning show to unemployment. “I thought the company was going to continue with Brian Phelps after Mark retired,” said Kelli. She spoke the day after the massive firings of everyone connected with the morning show except for the Skylord (Scott Reiff) and sports guy, Todd Donoho. Kelli thought she would be part of the reconstructed morning show. But with the snap of a finger and without warning, Brian announced that he, too, was leaving. Kelli grew up in Dearborn Heights, Michigan and moved to Kentucky in the 11th grade. Kelli graduated from Eastern Kentucky University in 1987. She worked at WKQQ-Lexington as half of "Kruser and Kelli's morning show." From there, KOMP-Las Vegas then back to the Midwest at “97X,” Oxford, Ohio. “Maybe you remember Dustin Hoffman chanting ‘97X, The Future of Rock and Roll’ in the movie Rainman?” she said in recounting her journey. Her big break came at WWCD-Columbus, Ohio in 1990. “I'm really proud of the fact that I was pd and drive-time talent for two start-up stations that are still very successful. Some of the talent hired on the small budgets provided were green. You can always teach formatics, but you can't teach people personality." |
| Her radio path changed course in 1993. “I
married a guy that I met only because he was in love with my voice and
came to a live remote to meet me. He was a tall, dark medical student.
Unfortunately, he lived in Toledo." She began working in markets all over Southern California, her ultimate radio goal. Kelli worked in the Inland Empire at KCXX and KCAL and in San Diego at KGB. During a stint as radio coordinator for the Museum of Television & Radio, she infused a much-needed shot of awareness into the radio activities of Southern California. “The Museum job was very exciting, especially since I was able to meet all of the key radio people in town, past and present.” Single again, she got a weekend job at “Y107” before landing a job at KLOS, which led to being a part of the morning show with Mark & Brian. On one of her stops after KLOS she did mornings in Santa Rosa. And then silence. She called old bosses and friends. Nothing led to a job. Kelli then an idea. She decided to go home, despite Thomas Wolfe’s proclamation. “I really am excited to back in Lexington,” wrote Kelli recently. “It's brought a sense of calm and inner peace I haven’t felt in a long time. Little did I know that I was going to really need support from my family in a big way after a major health scare. I guess intuition said to get back to where I would be near in proximity to those closest to me.” As we all age, it is incumbent that we pay attention to our bodies. A year ago, Kelli noticed her energy level and ‘lust for life’ had taken a real dive. She saw a doctor, who said her iron levels were low and suggested she take an over the counter prescription to help and eat more iron-rich foods. “I did, but it didn’t seem to get any better. I ended up chalking it up to a combination of depression in not finding job. I was out of work due to a combination of station budget cuts and the economy.” At the same time, her sister in Kentucky was terminally ill. “The silver lining there was that I was able to spend some beautiful, quality time with her and was with her when she passed.” Kelli chalked up her lethargy and depression to getting older and that this was the “New normal” for her. She returned to familiar territory in Northern California to look for a job back on the air, and a place to live, both unsuccessfully. “The housing market was tight already, then came the devastating fires in Santa Rosa, which really diminished the possibilities of even finding a place even if I was employed. So, I decided to go to Reno for a while where there was a radio job that was looking like a real possibility. The initial interview and feedback was all positive, so I thought I would wait it out and stay in cheap hotels and use my poker skills to make some cash. When I was too tired to even just sit and play poker, which is one of my favorite things to do, I knew something was really wrong. Kelli made a snap decision, jumped in her car and drove the 33 hours back to Kentucky where she could feel at least feel centered with family around. “I went to a health clinic and had some lab work done, and the next day, while interviewing for a local radio gig, I got a frantic phone call from the nurse at the clinic, who told me to get to the emergency room right away. My red blood cell count was at 3.9. The normal is in the 13-15 range! I wasn’t getting oxygen to my heart, muscles, or even hardly my brain. No wonder I felt so crappy! Kelli saw a battery of doctors and nurses who all said they had never seen levels so low in someone that was actually up and walking around. “I was admitted to the ICU immediately and had a blood transfusion. 4 units! My idol Keith Richards would be proud! They kept me for five days and did a series of exploratory procedures but couldn’t find anything abnormal or figure out where the bleeding was coming from. So, I’ve been taking a heavier dosage of iron pills and vitamin C and will swallow a nifty pill with a camera in it next week to further explore possibilities of where the problem might stem from.” The story is still in process, but Kelli is feeling very optimistic. “I can honestly say I am a brand-new person. I have energy again, I don’t look like a zombie, and feel positive about what's to come.” And Kelli landed the radio job! With her medical and mental challenges behind her, she encourages other to seek help if things are quite right. “Thank goodness I sought medical help when I did, and I’m so grateful for the care I received. And for my family who gave me a safe place to come back to! So, if you find yourself not feeling right, listen to your body and take the steps to get things checked out. Don’t take as long as I did thinking it will just pass.” (You can reach out to Kelli at: kelligates66 |
Nostalgia Sunday - 8 Years Ago Today
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Open Email
to Bob Moore
KABC is a currently a mish-mash of various formats –syndication, local, baseball, infomercials, and network news. And right-wing radio is dead. Do you have the power to blow up afternoons and drop Sean Hannity and Mark Levin? Face it, they’re never going to improve, only stay stagnant and continue declining. Their brand of Talk radio belongs in a previous decade. The constant drone of far right politics from Hannity is causing even the most loyal conservatives to get glassy-eyed and fall into a stupor. The KABC call letters are no longer 2010. Time to abandon them. Blow them up. They have a musty image. They’ve ended up like the passe Oldsmobile. They are associated with a station that has long since lost its charm or relevance. When the KMPC call letters were taken over by 1540AM, a sports station, the call letters meant nothing. Ditto for the Top 40 giant KRLA, the station that brought the Beatles to the Hollywood Bowl. Never understood why the call letters were obtained by Salem for its brand of right-wing radio at 870AM. You’re considered one of the best radio sales people ever to work in Los Angeles. Your past stations have been among the Top 10 billers in the entire country, generating incredible revenue. If your mission is to regain that revenue position with no regard for the programming, then this note is for naught. If victory means making budget, then this note is for naught. You’re at a crossroads. You have an opportunity to set a new course in LA. It will probably take all your salesmanship to dump your network programming, but the sad fact is that you can’t win with it. KFI has found a way to be a huge revenue producer for Clear Channel with provocative programming and NO infomercials so we know that it can be done. Perhaps you, Jack, and Dave can sit over a long meal at The Palm and carve out a mission statement that results in victory – not only a programming success at 790AM but a revenue leader. Good luck! |
Email Saturday, 7.7.2018
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** Firecracker AT 40 “I worked briefly for Casey Kasem around the time of the Bicentennial. I was part of the team [Paul Grein, Sandy Stert Benjamin, and Nikki Wine] that came up with the idea of ‘The 4th of July’s Greatest Hits.’ It went pretty much as you’d expect. Starting with 1976, we went back 40 years and did the AT40 treatment to as many of the hits that fell on that day as possible. Amazingly, Casey and Don Bustany went along with the idea. I salute them for that. It worked out pretty well. Casey never did fit 40 records into the program, generally eliminating a few selections on the way down. Of course, I can’t remember the entire list, but we had a good Beatles record, a good Stones record, and so on. And it may have been the strangest AT40 show ever.” – Todd Everett ** Casey’s Characters “I loved your story about Casey Kasem and AT 40. I bet I know which show Casey was shooting at Warner Bros. It may have been the Hardy Boys-Nancy Drew series. He played a character actor who imitates Peter Falk as Columbo but ends up being the villain. He was really good at it. Casey was also good with his voiceover work on Scooby-Doo and Superman-Batman Hour and Super Friends. I had the pleasure of playing a trivia contest hosted by Bill and Sylvia of KBIG during the 90’s at the LA County Fair where Casey gave the questions and he was so nice. A true gentleman. Hope you stay cool during this awful heat!” – Julie Byers |
| ** Record Lady “My AT40 story. When the show began, the Live Earl Jive [Vaughn Filkins] was in charge of obtaining the music from the record companies. When he departed, about 18 months later, he set me up with his gig. It was very part-time, I had no office space, but the most important part was to have copies of all possible 45’s on hand, as there was no time to shag singles after the fact. When the Billboard Hot 100 was released to us every Tuesday, I had a big cardboard box in my car, containing pretty much the whole Hot 100. Sometimes records warped in the heat. I had the job from 1971 until AT40 [and ACC] was moved to Texas in 1995. Fabulous part-time work. Working for Casey Kasem and Tom Rounds was a real blessing. I miss TR to this day.” – Ann Beebe ** Radio in a Comic Strip “Do you happen to remember the name of the comic strip that was set in a radio station that appeared in newspapers years ago? I've been looking online and can’t find it anywhere. I remember seeing it, I think, in the 1990s in either the Times or the OC Register. One strip in particular that I cut out one day showed the overnight guy with an intravenous bag of Java. I was working overnights at the time, and so it resonated... ;)” – Brian Perez |
Progressive Talker Ed Schultz Dies
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(July 6, 2018) Back in the
2000s, Ed Schultz was thought to be the Progressive
Talk show answer to King of the Talkers, Rush Limbaugh.
The former syndicated host who was heard locally on KTLK (then-1150 AM)
and KGIL, has died of natural causes. He was 64. Ed played football at Minnesota State University/Moorhead, eventually becoming the play-by-play announcer for North Dakota State. “In college, I had an opportunity to do a little sports show in Moorhead, Minnesota on KQWB. That was my first shot,” said Ed in a 2011 interview. Schultz began his media career working as a radio and television host in the Fargo market. Schultz started his broadcast career working in sports on tv. He served as the sports director at WDAY/TV-Fargo during the 1980s. Schultz had an uncanny similar presentation as Limbaugh, despite their opposite political views. Ed opened his show with “From the heart of America, the nation’s #1 Progressive voice where truth and common-sense rule.” From 2009 to 2015, he hosted a daytime news and opinion program on MSNBC called The Ed Show. He was a controversial presence. At MSNBC, Ed attacked Laura Ingraham once telling his listeners: "President Obama is going to be visiting Joplin, Missouri, on Sunday but you know what they're talking about, like this right-wing slut, what's her name? Laura Ingraham? Yeah, she's a talk slut. You see, she was, back in the day, praising President Reagan when he was drinking a beer overseas. But now that Obama's doing it, they're working him over." Ed was heard for three years on LA Radio, first at Progressive Talk KTLK from 2005-08, then on KGIL when Saul Levine briefly went all-Talk with his AM station. The trade newspapers had a field day covering Schultz’ colorful language on his syndicated radio show. One time he tore into a caller, telling him to “get the fuck out of here” before fretting over whether the radio producers had managed to hit the delay censor button. And somehow, audio of the incident flew under-the-radar for a whole week, according to a story at Radiate. |
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Ed exited KTLK in 2008 due to the show being tape delayed. “In this current explosive political environment KTLK cannot afford to be tape delayed,” explained then-KTLK program director Don Martin. “There is too much breaking all the time.” At one point when the media talked about Progressive radio, Ed was always in the same breath as Keith Olbermann, Stephanie Miller and Rachel Maddow. At the peak of his radio and tv career he said. “I’ve wanted this for a long time. You’ve got to have some talent, but you’ve got to be lucky, too.” |
July 4th Anniversary of AT40
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(July 5, 2018) Yesterday marked the anniversary of the launch of American Top 40. And I was there. In the late spring
of 1970, I was general manager of WWWW (W4) in Detroit. We were the
nation’s first 24/7 live Oldies radio station on fm. Out of the blue one
morning, I received a phone call from Tom Rounds of
Watermark. He was launching a new syndicated countdown show called
American Top 40, hosted by
Casey Kasem. I had heard of Tom from his success at KFRC-San
Francisco. Despite the fact that there were a handful of Top 40 stations
in the market, no one wanted this new syndicated offering. He turned to
W4 out of desperation because he wanted the show to be heard in Casey’s
hometown since Casey grew up in Detroit and went to Wayne State
University. I remember being reluctant. Didn’t want to
interrupt the 24/7 Oldies format and told Tom so. He promised to never
charge for the show and would help me with any customizing that I
needed. The clincher was, “why don’t you give the Oldies a rest on the
weekends and you have a ton of inventory you can sell at a premium.” W4 became one of the seven stations that launched
the show on July 4, 1970. Watermark took out a full-page in Billboard
thanking us. The following week a phone call came from Casey. My
assistant put him right through. It was that unmistakable voice from
years of listening to him in San Francisco and 1110/KRLA. He wanted to
personally thank me for carrying the show. He said his parents never
quite understood what he was doing in California. Now they could listen
to their son every weekend. Eventually I left radio and got into the motion
picture marketing business. My first job was at Columbia Pictures in
1976. We shared the Burbank lot with Warner Bros, and the facility was
called The Burbank Studio. Our marketing department was the first
building on the right as you entered the Pass Avenue gate. Across the
street was Malpaso, Clint Eastwood’s production offices. One day as I was leaving our Technicolor Building,
there was commotion on the roof of the Malpaso Building. The perpetrator
was Casey Kasem, running around with a gun. He was a guest detective in
some tv show shooting on the roof. I waited for a break in the shooting
to join Casey. We reminisced about the enormous success of
AT40 and the embryonic days
of the countdown show. Casey always wanted to be an actor, but that was
about the only career that didn’t work out for him. Isn’t it ironic that Tom Rounds and Casey Kasem die
within days of each other? Decades later when LARadio was born, Casey joined a
panel of other early personality giants for LARadio Day at the Museum of
Radio & TV. He was very generous with his time. We had another conversation when
Casey was dropped as host of AT40
to make the way for Ryan
Seacrest to take over. If he was bitter, he never let on. Casey was
so praiseworthy of Tom Rounds and Premiere Radio Networks for carrying
the show. He got a laugh when I reminded him of a
Howard Stern observation
that Casey became a multi-millionaire by counting backwards. |
LARadio is on Hiatus
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From the creators of Inside Psycho and Inside the Exorcist comes a new story about a classic movie and its inspirations. A tale of a modest thriller that became an ordeal and then a disaster and then a phenomenon and then a classic. A story of one man, a fresh-faced, inexperienced director who nearly wrecked his promising career and became the most important filmmaker of our era. This is Inside JAWS. Click artwork to begin the journey ... |
National Radio Hall of Fame Set to Induct LARPs
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(June 27, 2018) Stories galore with the
announcement of the National Radio Hall of Fame Class of 2018. Jonathon Brandmeier (c) who took Chicago by storm at WLUP (Loop) for decades, as well as trying to duplicate his success at KLSX, was elected on the first public vote ballot. Johnny B was among 11 broadcasters to be elected. Other Los Angeles Radio People voted in by the public include Mark Levin (r), the talk radio conservative fire brand whose syndicated program was first heard locally on KABC and now afternoons at 870/KRLA. In addition, the sports duo of Mike Golic & Mike Greenberg and Dr. Laura Schlesinger were voted in by the industry panel. |
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“It’s our mission to recognize the most impactful personalities and individuals to our medium and honor them,” Hall of Fame chairman Kraig T. Kitchen said in a statement. “We’re proud to induct these individuals for their contributions into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018, our 30th year.” Nominated LARPs who will have to wait until next year include: George Noory, Jim Rome, John Tesh and Ellen K. Kitchin said over 500,000 votes were cast in the two listener-chosen categories. |
Email Wednesday
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Who Goofed? I've Got to Know ... Jim Healy is One-of-a-Kind
by David Alpern, Long Beach
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(June 26, 2018) (This
is the second installment in the summer series of you saluting those
LARP who were absolutely unduplicatable and truly stand out as
one-of-a-kind) Who Goofed? I've Got To Know. Not LARadio.com by being sure to honor one of the most original broadcasters ever to grace the LA airwaves, Jim Healy. I knew him just from his KMPC days, while others benefitted from enjoying his craft dating back to his time at KLAC. Jim Healy was a gifted radio talent who combined being a sportscaster/comedian/technician/commentator/community connector/consumer of all media/lover of celebrity/mocker/punster. Dateline: Los Angeles – Jim Healy was appointment radio, to the extent that such listening doesn’t much exist anymore outside of perhaps some NPR programming and morning drive. If it was 5:30 p.m. on any LA freeway, far and away more buttons were being punched (yes back then we pressed a physical haptic button) to AM 710 to hear the wonderful soundbite fest that was Jim Healy’s short but marvelous sportscast. So compelling was his show and his time slot, that KMPC programmed around him, with the afternoon host vacating the air at 5:30 p.m. and returning only some minutes after “the dreaded six-o’clock tone.” So sit down and have dinner with Pearl Harbor, and think of Howard Cosell, while you admire Kurt Bevacqua, and contemplate what Tom Lasorda thinks today of Dave Kingman’s performance. IS IT TRUE that any of the references in that last sentence brought a smile to your face? If yes, then you (like me) have not gone “the Leonard Tose route” and as such are lucky to have caught a chance to admire one of the finest talents ever to grace the airwaves here in the city of the angels. Some memorable quotes played ad nausea on Jim Healey’s show: Benoit Benjamin saying "I don't give a #%$@ about the fans" "The World Champion" – how Jim labeled the LA Times Sports section, which hopefully can reclaim that title under new owner, Patrick Soon-Shiong Ed Bieler’s geographical claim that "the San Antonio River goes right through the heart of downtown Los Angeles." Lawrence Welk impersonation that simply sums up what Jim’s show was: "A Wun'erful, A Wun'erful." |
The Face/Voice of OC Radio, Arnie McClatchey, Dies
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(June 25, 2018) Newer listeners
to Southern California radio may have a tough time understanding that at
one time there was radio exclusively for Orange County. As the
population of the Southland began to spread, low powered AM station
originating from L.A. had a hard time reaching the OC. Three of the
leading OC stations in the 1960s and ‘70s had Arnie McClatchey
as a common denominator. He was an innovator, programmer and talent. The
well-liked leader of OC Radio died June 20, 2018, after a long illness.
He was 76. Arnie was born June 14, 1942 in Vancouver, Washington and raised in Camus, Washington. He started his radio career at the age of 15 at KVAN-Portland. After serving in the Army, he relocated to Orange County where he worked in local radio for almost two decades. Arnie was pd at KEZY from 1967–74 until he was succeeded by Mark Denis. Arnie transformed the station from an easy-listening station to “The Mighty 1190.” A number of djs who later became prominent in L.A. – Mike Wagner, Paul Freeman, Bruce Chandler, among others – worked with Arnie to create a Top 40 station which dominated the OC airwaves. KEZY even had a following into the Los Angeles market despite the fading signal at night when the station reduced power. Recalled Arnie: "Mark helped me a lot with the programming, we would get in my office and brain storm to come up with our one liners and contests. We did not know it at the time but we were doing some of the best radio ever." In March of 1975, Arnie started a new venture on the fm dial. “I became general manager of KYMS in Santa Ana and put on the first Contemporary Christian Music station in the nation," he said in a 1995 interview for Los Angeles Radio People from his home in El Paso. He eventually bought KYMS along with stations in Phoenix and Denver and kept them until 1983. "I took some time off and then I bought KELP/AM in El Paso in 1984, and I commuted from Southern California to El Paso for eight years until we moved here permanently in the early 1990s.” |
| Arnie continued to do commercials and voice work
for The Word for Today, a national radio ministry heard on 200
radio stations daily and Horizon Radio, another nationally syndicated
program. His wife of 49 years, Pam, said the Lord called her husband home last week. “He was a kind, loving, gentle man who loved and served the Lord for many years and will be missed by those who had the pleasure of knowing him,” said Pam. Bruce Chandler wrote that Arnie was “always so mild mannered and genuinely nice. He hired me in the fall of 1973 for weekends at KEZY while I was working full time at KFXM-San Bernardino. A few months of that and then when Mark Denis took over as pd, Mark hired me full time in February 1974. I did every day shift.” There will be a memorial service for Arnie at Fairhaven Memorial Chapel in Santa Ana, on Friday July 6 at 2:30 p.m. In other news: After two seasons, Nick Hardwick will not be heard as color analyst on KFI for the LA Chargers ... Greg Tantum (pd at all-News KFWB in the '90s) celebrates his 40th wedding anniversary ... Nick Tyler and KJazz 88.1 FM will once again broadcast from the 39th Montreal International Jazz Festival, midday, this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. This is our 8th year covering one of the largest music festivals in world," said the all-Jazz outlet ... Dave Skyler celebrates 10 years with K-EARTH ... Congratulations to Leslie Marshall on her 22nd wedding anniversary ... Another anniversary - Tom Watson (ex-KKDJ) is celebrating 11 years of wedded bliss ... Happy 91st birthday to KFWB/Color Radio's last man standing, Elliot Field ... After an assault claim by ex-girlfriend Chloe Dykstra, Chris Hardwick (ex-KROQ and founder of Nerdist) sees his talk show pulled by AMC as NBC mulls what to with his game show The Wall. He’s now married to Lydia (nee Hearst), the daughter of Patty Hearst. |
Sunday Nostalgia - 14 Years Ago Today
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“Rita Wilde is a Player’s
Coach”
Because of Rita’s obsession with the Angels (long before ABC took over broadcast rights), many sports metaphor’s were used to describe Rita. “She’s a player’s coach,” said Davison. “She’s been a player and now she’s a coach. She relates fabulously well with her staff. She gives out just the proper amount of tough love to handle a job that’s very demanding.” Early in the introductions, the KLOS programming staff put together an audio greeting that was played for the audience in the Versailles Room. “She is a human being who cares about her staff first and being program director second, and a damn fine one as well,” enthused KLOS afternooner Gary Moore.
(Pictured: Cynthia Fox; Nora and Jeff Gonzer, Cynthia, Tony Scott; and Ray Kalusa, John Davison) KLOS middayer Cynthia Fox said that she was proud to be part of Rita’s team. “You’ve got a great heart and great compassion. You demonstrate time and time again the depth of your commitment plus you’ve created a community at KLOS," said Cynthia.
A theme that went through many of the speakers was acknowledging Rita’s modesty. “She told me earlier today she was embarrassed by it all,” said Davison. “But I think it altogether appropriate that we make her embarrassed.” John touted Rita’s incredible knowledge of Rock music. He thought if there was a Name That Tune program for Rock music; Rita would win millions of dollars. “She understands the music better than anyone I know,” said Davison.
Ladd continued: "This flies in the face of the time honored tradition of ruling by intimidation. She does not rule by intimation – something even more devious. She leads by example and because of this, I find myself in the unusual position of respecting my boss. You can see my problem. Rita Wilde is not only someone I respect, she’s a person whom I trust. A funny thing happens, you find yourself wanting to work harder than you ever worked before because the thought of disappointing Rita Wilde is more intimating to me than anything else.” Ladd praised Rita for supporting him, even in the face of enormous pressure. “For that, she has earned something more valuable than my trust, Rita Wilde has earned my respect.” Many of the KLOS personalities, including the gm, talked of Rita beyond just being the boss. “Over the years, Rita Wilde has been responsible for raising literally tens of millions of dollars for everything from 9-11 Relief Fun, for military families who cannot afford to make ends meet and year after year she is responsible for the largest blood drive in the entire United States of America. She has contributed to countless other causes by focusing the power of KLOS where it belongs – in the service of the community. And doing all this while rocking Southern California into the 21st century,” said Ladd. In accepting the Genii Award she said it was her first award since she was 13 and living in Georgia when she won the Best School Crossing Guard award. “I take things with a lot of modesty,” said Rita, “but this truly means a lot to me.” She thanked Tommy Hadges for hiring her at KLOS as a jock in 1983. She also thanked Bill Sommers for allowing her to continuing working at the station. “And to John Davison, I continue to learn from you every day.” She thanked Sam Bellamy for “blazing the trail,” and being one of the first women program directors. Rita praised her mother, who was sitting in the front row, as the strongest person she knows. “Last year she was in the hospital for three months and after eight days she was going in for her third operation. I was amazed how great she did. I said to myself if I ever doubt doing anything, I’m just going to remember looking at you and what you got through. I love you, mom!” During her closing, Rita got choked up when she thought of Dave Forman [pd at KEZY in the 1970s]. “There’s one guy who I was hoping would be here, but he died two weeks ago. He was someone who believed in me before I believed in myself. He taught me that if you dream it, you can do it. I just hope that someday I can inspire somebody like he inspired me.”
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Email Saturday 6.23.18
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** Duncan Meets the Wolfman “Something many people don’t know about me: Two weeks after coming to LA to join Radio & Records newspaper as a columnist and story writer [thank you Bob Wilson!], I was taking a tinkle in a restroom in the 6430 Sunset Blvd building when Wolfman Jack walked in and stood next to me to do the same. A little sidebar: The first voice I ever heard on the transistor radio my dad brought home from Tokyo, while in the submarine service, was Wolfman Jack on XERB. It was then a 14-year-old changed his life’s course from medical doctor to disc jockey. Standing nervously next to Wolfman. I barely got out the words: ‘Hello Mr. Wolfman.’ He laughed and said: ‘Hey man, you’ve got a great voice! How would you like to be Wolfman’s announcer?’ Of course. I said yes! He told me come into the R&R studio when I was done to cut some tracks. The rest is history. ‘Live from Hollywood it’s Wolfman Jack!’” – Jim Duncan |
| ** When Is an Oldies
an Oldie? “An oldie for me is a car that has knobs and push buttons. Go ’57 Chev!” – Stan White, Seattle |
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** One-0f-a-Kind Picking is Tough
“There’s no way I can pick one supreme air personality in Southern California radio. It is impossible! With all the talent and radio genres over the years, it’s comparing apples to oranges. What I will concede is that it takes time, creativity, guts, a huge ego, and lots of support personnel to create a true superstar. But, there will be many bodies strewn about along the way to ratings and public glory. Some people are not willing to sacrifice their loved ones, co-workers, and friends to reach the pinnacle. I think anyone who has been hired in the Los Angeles radio market and survived is a superstar.” – Diane Thompson |
| ** Memory of Arnie McClatchey
“It is with great sadness to hear of the passing of Arnie McClatchy. Arnie, for some reason, hired me to, do weekends and vacation relief at KEZY, on March 15, 1969, which was my 20th birthday. I was still pretty green, but he always encouraged me and made me a better air talent. Saw him at a KEZY reunion a couple of years ago and I asked him why he ever hired me. He told me that he thought with a little guidance, I could be a good air talent. He and Mark Denis were big influences in my radio career and in life.” – Jim Shannon |
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** Mack Attack
“Thanks for posting my old Boss 30 today. It’s nice to see my picture sans wrinkles. I’m still kickin’ [in Florida – God’s waiting room]. Hope you’re well. Maybe we can outlive ’em all.” – Gary Mack |
| ** Voice Concerns
“Your relaying the story about a mid-show substitution for the Frankie Valli character in the performance of Jersey Boys shows respect for the dedication some vocal performers bring to their gigs. It’s something few audience members have ever thought about. When the amazing Mel Blanc was required to voice the WB cartoon character Yosemite Sam, the abuse to his throat was well known. Recording Sam's lines was always reserved for Friday afternoons so that Mel had time to recover over the weekend. In his advanced years, when re-creating many of the characters he had voiced decades earlier for the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Mel was unable to do justice to the role. Sam was later dubbed by another animation voicer. When I subbed for Rod Roddy at The Price is Right I finally understood the difficulty he encountered, taping as many as six one-hour episodes over three days. The studio was so loud with 300+ audience members cheering and yelling prices through the reams of copy that the gig called for. Consequently, after projecting to such an extent, that by the end of the work week whoever was behind that mic frequently ended up with a raw throat and a voice that could easily crack uncontrollably. On my first day, I understood something Rod rarely spoke about – the lengths he often went to in order to resuscitate his voice. Picture yourself opening your mouth as wide as possible, while a doctor reaches deep with a long hypodermic needle to inject several doses of cortisone into your vocal chords. Rod did that countless times over his 17+ years on the show. There’s lots to respect in the lesser-known trials and tribulations of vocal performers. Only recently has SAG-AFTRA started to explore bringing sanity to the abuse that some members face recording for video games.” – Randy West ** Live Performances “Thanks for sharing your experience with the real world of live theatre! Although I’ve never seen a performance have to stop and an understudy come on, that was handled just right by SLO/Cal Poly. [I almost got to go to SLO for college but costs dictated Pomona for PR in the Media. Good experience but not the same.] If you would like to read a good, honest bio, I can heartily recommend the new book My Girls-A lifetime with Carrie and Debbie by Todd Fisher. Having read both the last biography of Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher’s Princess Diarist, it is a great look at a remarkable family and one which is really touching. I know how hard it is to live with an aging parent and disabled sibling, but how one deals with it under a public spotlight and a financial quagmire is almost impossible. It is very hard not to read it at one sitting but at the same time I rationed myself to three chapters a night just so I could handle [literally!] the range of emotions. And having visited Debbie Reynolds Hollywood Casino and Hotel the first year it was open, it’s heartbreaking to read how such a dream could go down in flames. It's a great read.” – Julie Byers |
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** Hip Hop Hit “Your cartoon on June 20 is totally relevant today! Substitute ‘high pitched tone’ with too much bass, and you have a hip hop hit! I know...I know...get off my lawn...take care!” – Mike Nolan ** Funnie Gone to the Dogs “I just looked at today’s funnie and I wonder if the sign is to make hot dogs.” – Sterrett Harper |
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Fascinating Interview with LARP Icon Rita Wilde
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Hear Ache
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(June 22, 2018) The New Mexico Broadcaster Association has awarded Bryan Simmons, former KOSTer, Best Metro Market Radio-Public Service Announcement. “I recorded VO for a charity golf tournament,” emailed Bryan. “I've never submitted any of my work before, so it was a surprise and very nice that my market manager submitted it.” … Arnie McClatchey, OC Radio veteran, has died ... Rich Marotta, Hall of Famer and former sports guy on KFI, returned to fill in this week. “Bill Handel is still insufferable. Wouldn’t want it any other way,” said Rich … Does your chewing gum lose its flavor on the bedpost overnight? … Scott Shurian, veteran of XTRA and 710/KMPC, sent a strange email this week. “I have been advised that I have 90 to 140 days left to wander the streets of Utah ’til my demise. Medical conditions and my age (86) say it is a time to move to the big broadcast studios in the sky.” You never know about these kinds of notes. Were there medical issues prompting his writing? “The ‘note’ is prompted by a convergence of advanced COPD, stenosis of the trachea and residual radiation from two earlier bouts of vocal cord cancer...and of course the advancing years brought all that together.” Scott said there will be NO funeral and NO services. “I have been told that there may be some folks out there who would say a word about memories of times we’ve spent together or near together. Please feel free to contact me at: scott@voscott.com and I will collect them as the final pages of the last chapter of my book “Me, Myself and I” ... Wanna see a really cool house? Jim Ladd has lived there since 1974 and it is now up for sale. Here’s the video listing site … Speaking of Ladd, Rich Piombino kicked of our summer series by putting a spotlight on Jim as a one-of-a-kind broadcaster in the history of LARadio. Our second spotlight is set for Monday. By the way, if you want to select someone you think was unique and unduplicatable, send a note to: AvilaBeachdb@gmail.com along with the reasons why your candidate was so special … After 16 years with Entercom/CBS cluster in LA, John Michael has resigned. He held a number of positions, including music director, apd and talent at KROQ, JACK/fm, and AMP Radio … Howard Lapides sent a note about the passing of Billy Sammeth, manager of Cher and Joan Rivers. “He was always a great friend to LARadio. He operated with hurricane force, but always was a gentle friend” … Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane is making a $2 million donation to NPR and $500,000 to Los Angeles’ NPR membership station, KPCC … Remember when Wolfman Jack used to pitch a pill called Florex, which was supposed to enhance one’s sex drive. “Some zing for your ling nuts,” the Wolfman would say. |
Oh What a Night
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(June 21, 2018) Since moving to
the Central Coast a year or so ago, Cherie and I have supported the Cal
Poly/SLO theatre group. Jersey Boys was performed the other
night, where something happened that was a first for both of us. There is a scene when the bad guys come to collect owed gambling debts from a member of the Four Seasons. All of a sudden, an announcement over the loud speaker. “Will all actors please exit the stage and will the audience remain seated.” All actors scurried off the stage. Lights were dimmed on stage and we all sat in the dark for 10 minutes. And then another announcement. “Jersey Boys will now continue.” Actors came back on stage and resumed the action where they left off, but it was clear that all was not right. As soon as the Frankie Valli character sang his next song, we knew they had made a change. Not only was he taller and stockier, but his falsetto range was limited and not as strong. The audience began to buzz about the change. Recognizing that something happened to the original character playing "Frankie, the audience embraced the change and gave the new actor a rousing applause and cheering at the end of his first song. The play stopped for a moment while the audience continued to applaud the replacement actor/singer. You could tell he was moved as he bowed and patted his heart with a thank you. Yesterday we received the following email: “Thank you so much for joining Cal Poly Arts for a fabulous performance of Jersey Boys on Tuesday evening at the Performing Arts Center. During Act II a replacement was made due to a minor injury. For the remainder of the performance, the role of Frankie Valli was played by Ben Bogen.” At dinner before the performance, we marveled at how many “Frankie Valli’s” there must be to cover for the damage done to the voice singing the falsetto night after night. We guessed before the play resumed that the loss of "Frankie’s" voice was the reason for the change. And the show must go on and it did. The kid was a real trooper. |
Batter Up
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(June 20, 2018) TALKERS’
editor Mike Kinosian takes a look at flagship baseball
affiliations. The following April 2018 scoreboards are for an MLB team’s
English-language, Nielsen Audio subscribing key station. Specifically,
information for the flagships of the Mets (WOR) and Yankees (WFAN) is
limited to their home market – New York City – even though they may
appear as well in Nassau-Suffolk (Long Island) and
Middlesex-Somerset-Union. Key stations for the two Bay Area teams – the San Francisco Giants (KNBR) and Oakland A’s (KGMZ) – have San Francisco ratings info only (not San Jose). Things though admittedly get especially thorny for ratings stats of the primary flagship for the Los Angeles Angels, as KLAA is unlisted (April 2018) in both the Los Angeles and Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario reports. Therefore, “NA” (Not Available) is frequently displayed next to KLAA throughout this entire overview. |
Is the Bloom Off the Rose?
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(June 20, 2018) Lisa
Bloom was featured in a massive eight-page story in Los
Angeles Magazine. The title of the piece was The Trials of Lisa
Bloom. Some highlights from the Bryan Smith story: The legal pundit and civil rights attorney made a name of herself taking on powerful men on behalf of her female clients. Then she came out defending Harvey Weinstein last fall, and all hell broke loose. She anchored her own show on truTV, Lisa Bloom: Open Court (for eight years) and had parlayed appearances as a legal analyst on cable news and entertainment show into a career as the go-to pundit on CNN, MSNBC, CBS News, Dr. Phil, Dr. Drew, KABC, and the Joy Behar Show. Her reputation ignited when it was learned that Lisa represented Harvey Weinstein. How could she, of all people? She didn’t just work with him. She defended him. Lisa received death threats and rape threats against her and her daughter. To make matters worse word surfaced that Bloom, in the course of her work with Weinstein, had struck a deal for his production company and the rapper Jay-Z to make a docuseries based on a book she had written about the Trayvon Martin case. “It was probably one of the worst times that I’ve ever seen for her, or at least that I’ve witnessed,” says Bloom’s daughter Sarah, an attorney who joined her mother’s shop. The central rule in most crisis management is not to make matters worse. In the Weinstein case, however, Bloom didn’t just breach that rule, she trampled it, tore it up, and turned it into confetti. Even she admits that she stumbled in those first fraught days. At 56, Bloom is lean and fit. She works at a stand-up desk with a treadmill and, characteristically Type A about how she spends her off-hours, she’s summited Mount Kilimanjaro, backpacked both the Appalachian Trail in New Hampshire and the Inca Trail in Peru, completed the New York City marathon, and visited more than 40 countries from Cambodia to Costa Rica. Law school wasn’t part of the plan early into Bloom’s days at UCLA. Like her daughter, Gloria Allred didn’t set out to become a lawyer at first. Bloom worked for her mother’s firm for nine years after graduating from Yale Law. There was an early marriage, though Bloom talks little of it. You can read the complete story at: http://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/lisa-bloom/ |
Fox 11's Good Day LA Reunion
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(June 19,
2018) Whotta’ fun reunion at KABC the other day when the
longtime hosts of Good Day LA got together on the John
Phillips and Jillian Barberie show. “It was
wonderful,” enthused Phillips. It was the first time the three of them have done a broadcast together since Dorothy Lucey left the show. They talked, they interacted, they laughed, and they talked over each other, just like they did for 20 years doing the Fox 11 Morning Show. Steve said he felt like a referee. There were times over two decades when Jillian and Dorothy didn’t like each other, but they were unable to explain why. Later, Steve remembered what happened after 9/11 happened. “The tenor of our shows changed for the next six months.” He was hopeful that it would be a more peaceful period in our society but he said it didn’t last that long. He addressed the issue of polarization. “Fox and CNN can be talking about the same story, yet they speak a different language.” When GDLA started in 1995, Steve said there were five morning shows “and we were in 12th place on local tv.” Steve didn’t talk about the circumstances regarding why he left the Fox show. It would fun to have three of the together again. They were unpredictable and fun to listen to. In other news: former KNAC dj Diana DeVille has joined middays for at 99.1/The Ranch (KWSV-LP) – Simi Valley. "Our listeners are a very vibrant and involved community of Country music fans, and I’m really looking forward to entertaining them through their workdays," said Diana ... KPFK’s Bill Gardner, host of Saturday’s Rhapsody in Black, participated in a documentary on Sam Cooke, one of the best Top 40/r&b singers. If you loved Sam's music, it is a fascinating story. |
Jim Ladd is One-of-a-Kind
By Rich Piombino, RD Music & Marketing
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I was fortunate enough to work at KMET from 1983
– 1986. Having previously worked with some amazing air personalities on
previous occasions, I was especially proud to share space at The Mighty
Met with Cynthia Fox, Pat “Paraquat” Kelley, Jeff
Gonzer and a man who I feel is the best rock dj of all time, Jim
Ladd. Honestly, I didn’t meet him for a full three months after I started at KMET on June 6, 1983. One Friday night on the way out, I stuck my head in the studio, said hello, he nodded and shook my hand. I spent many “late hour” evenings at the station, so I was in a position to be an average listener with the distinct advantage of being 15 feet from the studio. What I remember most, and what makes Jim the “essential” rock jock, is based on his overwhelming knowledge of the artists and the music, much of it based on personal relationships with many of them. Second are the narratives — if you’ve ever seen, heard Bruce Springsteen at shows, we all know the kind of intros Bruce makes as lead up to the songs. Jim is amazing there – I always remember best how he intro'd Panama from Van Halen, any number of Pink Floyd and Doors tracks. As a matter of fact, hearing Jim’s intro of LA Woman sealed my respect for ‘both' Jim’s, the Doors were the second and third concerts I ever saw in the late 60’s at Madison Square Garden and the Felt Forum in NYC. Jim Ladd and I did a promotion together when Elektra released Dance On Fire, the first Doors video compilation. We gathered fans and listeners for a “Dinner with the Doors,” including Robbie, John and Ray – it’s no coincidence that it was Jim Ladd who rounded out that foursome. After I left The Met, I went to work for Norm Pattiz, Thom Ferro and Brian Heimerl at Westwood One. We were assigned to tape one of Roger Waters’ early Radio KAOS shows at Great Woods outside of Boston. Roger had handpicked Jim to “narrate’”the dj parts on that record, thus capping an amazing era and close-up opportunity to work with one of the all-time greats. These memories are sealed forever... |
Nostalgia Father's Day - 6 Years Ago Today
|
Vin Scully Honors His Father
“Dad
was working late as usual,
finishing up a 14-hour shift at
the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Vin
Scully had finished his homework
and was getting sleepy. Although
something was on his mind, he
couldn’t wait up, so he wrote a
note and put it on his dad’s
breakfast plate before going to
bed. It was
1943 and Vin was 15. His
stepfather, Allan Reeve, left
for work each morning at 4:30,
riding buses and subways to the
shipyard, often not returning
home until after nightfall. Reeve
had an opportunity take a
civilian job on a ship headed to
the combat zone in Europe. The
money would be good, maybe even
enough to get the family out of
the $40-a-month, fifth-story
walk-up apartment in Washington
Heights. Vin had
only a hazy memory of his
biological father dying of
pneumonia 11 years earlier, but
he knew the toll it had taken on
his mother, Bridget. The thought
of losing Reeve, a reserved,
pipe-smoking Englishman who had
brought stability and love to
the household, terrified him. So in
the note, Vin asked his dad to
turn down the job. ‘I was
afraid he might be put in harm’s
way,’ Vin said. ‘I didn’t want
him to risk the family to make a
few more dollars.’ Vin
remembers his father, a silk
salesman at an upscale clothing
store, from a few grainy photos.
After he died, Bridget took
4-year-old Vin to Ireland to
spend time with her family. ‘My
mother told me later that when
we came back, I had a brogue you
could cut with a knife,’ he
said. ‘My
ache now is all the things I
missed because of my job,’ he
said. ‘Mother’s Day, Father’s
Day, birthdays, anniversaries,
graduations, you name it. It has
been a series of misses. And it
had made my heart ache. Baseball
just devours you. Allan
Reeve read Vin’s note at
breakfast and did not take the
job that would have sent him
overseas. His relationship with
his stepson continued to grow
over the years. ‘To me, he was Dad,’ Vin said. ‘I never thought of him as a stepdad. I had an ache because I never knew my father and it was washed away by my dad.’” |
Email Saturday, 6.16.18
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** Listening to Cousin Duffy
“I remember listening to Warren Duffy when he was ‘Cousin Duffy’ with WMEX – one of the two leading AM Top 40 station in my hometown Boston. I would visit the station’s lobby, where the public was allowed to come in and watch the djs working through a large picture window on the left as you entered the building. On one visit, Duffy came out to say hi to me and my friends. I think one of us asked him how he decided what songs to play. His answer was he didn’t. ‘I don’t even know what I’m playing now,’ he said with irritation. I looked at the 45 spinning on the turntable through the window behind him and wondered how anyone could be unhappy in such a job. It was obvious that he was very passionate about music and that he was frustrated there. He was a wonderful dj, though.” – Sandy Wells ** Duffy’s Full Life “I listened to Warren Duffy quite often in the 1990s. I'm sorry to hear of his passing. Here is a page with dozens of his airchecks, newscasts, promos and commercials, plus several photos and Duffy's essay about his early years in radio by clicking Warren's photo.” – Steve Thompson |
| ** Ratings “Twenty years after all of us are long over the mountain, whoever takes over this site will STILL be reporting KRTH at #3 behind those other two! What d’ya wanna bet? Been goin’ on for decades. Why not a couple more? As they say, some things never [seem to] change.” – Rich Brother Robbin ** Non-Com in the Race “I believe that one of the most interesting things about the ratings over the last several months is the slow but steady rise of KPCC. Here is a listener supported station that is doing what KQED [another listener supported station] in the San Francisco Bay Area has done. I haven’t heard much talk about how KPCC has done this, but kudos to them. KPCC has now cracked the Top Ten. Maybe some of the other news/talk stations should take a few KPCC classes.” – Sterrett Harper, Burbank |
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** Red Ryder Collection “I really enjoyed the re-cap of Frank Bresee’s life. When I was 10 years old I had the complete collection of Red Ryder figures. Now I know that I was not the only Red Ryder voice. I recall one time that Irv Ivers and myself were at the Malibu Colony and we had the rare opportunity to see Paul Newman’s 944 Porsche. Whotta’ treat.” – Stan White, Seattle ** Bresee Memory “I got to know Frank Bresee from his association with Roger Carroll, while I was at KMPC as apd from 1972 – 75. When Frank found out I loved the radio Gunsmoke show with William Conrad as Matt Dillon, US Marshall – ‘the first one they look for and the last they want to meet; it’s a chancy job, and a little lonely’ – he gave me a carton of tapes of the show. Sorry, indeed, to hear it is gone.” - Eric Norberg, Portland, Oregon ** More Bresee “Frank Bresee started Golden Days of Radio on my KMPC show. It was on for years at 7 p.m. with 5 or 10 minutes of old shows. I just talked with his wife and she doesn’t sound well. I introduced Frank to Bobbie years ago.” – Roger Carroll ** Wall of Fame “I read of Frank Bresee’s passing and the story of the autograph wall in his basement theater. I’m happy to report that the wall is intact and restored. The house was purchased a few years ago by Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, who asked my company to do some lighting and hardware work. We are friendly with them and they asked us to take a look at the theater. I knew a bunch of the names [other than the obvious ones] on the wall and explained who they were. They wondered if they were real, so we called a friend who is an autograph expert and he came over and authenticated them all. That is when Sharon decided to restore the wall as there was some water damage. The attached photos are from before the restoration.
Once they started restoring the wall they found out about Frank Bresee and contacted him. He remembered all the stories behind each of the names including the circumstances of each signing. He told them about the beginnings of Let's Make a Deal as well as the signatures of Elvis and Natalie Wood. It seems they were there together and wound up having an argument, which continued right out into the street.” – Gary Gibson |
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** One is a Lonely Number “I love the K-Earth promotion and how great is it to see Jerry Mathers :) As for your question about one LARP that is one of a kind. That’s a tough one. There are so many great ones. I idolized Robert W. Morgan [until I met him]. The Real Don Steele was, of course, a tremendous talent and unique. Casey Kasem started something special with American Top 40 and was a very nice as well. Sadly though, we have all been replaced at one time or another.” – Mike Butts ** One Perspective “To my way of thinking — the LA radio personalities who broke thru barriers are the unduplicatable ones as the barriers are no longer there to break and as such cannot ever be duplicated.” – Roy Laughlin |
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** LARadio Newsletter
“John Newton forwarded a copy of your newsletter. I worked with John and Mark Morris at KKLA back in the 80’s. Can’t believe what a service you are providing. What a wealth of radio history you have put at people's fingertips. So many names popped up that I recall. Thank you so much for doing this. Could I possibly be put on your email list? It would be such a pleasure to receive. Thanks so much.” – Joseph Roth |
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** Mentions About Mary Lyon and Gene
Weed “1. On people leaving California, I realize it isn’t what it once was, but I moved to Oregon for nine months in 1973. The summer was almost ‘dream like,’ but when the reality of the cold and gray and rain of the Pacific Northwest kicked in at the end of summer, I asked myself, ‘what have I done?’ By November of ’73, I became a permanent resident of California, and have never considered moving away again. #2. On Gene Weed, he had a show on Los Angeles TV on Saturday night's in ’65 and '66 called Shivaree. One Saturday night, while living in Lompoc, and working with ‘YOU’ (Don Barrett), I was watching Gene’s show, and his guests that night were The Righteous Brothers and Stevie Wonder. At the end of the show, Gene thanked his guests and invited us to tune in ‘next Saturday night, when our guests will be Len Barry and The New Beats.’ Gene says ‘Goodnight’ and then, he, Bill and Bobby of The Righteous Brothers, and Stevie, start waving goodnite to the camera, except Gene and The Brothers are facing the camera, and Stevie, is facing left and waving to the side and back stage area, and Gene, suddenly realized this, and quickly grabs Stevie by the shoulders, and turns him about 45 degrees towards the camera. [True story].” – Joe Collins |
K-EARTH Locks Up Perfect Promotion
 |
(June 15,
2018) K-EARTH ran a near-perfect sales/programming promotion,
the “Locks of Love Week” for the eighth year. The morning team of Gary
Bryan and Lisa Stanley were the face of the
promotion, along with Supercuts, Paul Mitchell, and the Girl Scouts. This past Monday, Gary and Lisa were at Universal CityWalk 5 Towers stage where 101 listeners and Girl Scouts got their haircut by Supercuts stylists. The first 50 donors each received a pair of tickets to Universal Studios. Locks of Love provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children with medical hair loss. Last year, 1,208 people participated donating more than 12,500 inches of hair. Everyone wins. The station received high visibility at the event and at Supercuts. And ultimately it is for a great cause. Congratulations. In other news, Entercom is returning Kevin Weatherly to the programming post at AMP Radio. He will continue as pd at KROQ and JACK/fm. At the same time, former AMP and current K-EARTH pd Chris Ebbott has added operations manager duties for Radio.com in Los Angeles. “We are proud to cultivate our existing talent at Entercom/Los Angeles,” said Jeff Federman, svp/market manager “Kevin was the original architect of AMP almost 10 years ago. He was successful at creating a format lane that was duplicated across the country. With Chris focused on Radio.com in Los Angeles, we are guaranteed compelling, creative and innovative ideas that will lead to growth in our consumer base and expand our relationships with our clients.” |
|
Hear Ache. People are still
buzzing how iHeart ceo Bob Pittman could make another
$10.4 million, under iHeart’s “incentive plan for insiders.” During
iHeart’s bankruptcy. Pittman, whose regular deal includes access to a
Dassault-Breguet Mystere Falcon 900 aircraft, has a “target award” of
nearly $7 million this year. He could make another 50% above that,
depending on the metrics, and that would equal $10,462,500 … Not
everything is a sure thing. Didja know that 20th Century Fox slated Alvin
and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel a week after they released Avatar as
insurance due to fears that Avatar could bomb, according to
Stan White. “20th called it their ‘secret weapon.’" … Earlier this week,
870/KRLA afternooner Mark Levin was honored with a
“Speaker of Truth” Award at the Endowment for Middle East Truth’s “Rays
of Light in the Darkness” dinner in Washington DC … Loving Channel 4 at
SiriusXM. All Beach Boys music this summer with some wonderful and
insightful vignettes from all of the living Beach Boys. A true surfin’
safari all summer long. Also, my favorite daughter picked a Beach Boys
song for the father of the bride dance … Brad Chambers is
celebrating “Mother Miriam’s 80th Birthday Bash” at a Martini In the
Morning event at Catalina Jazz Club on June 25. Performing is Dave
Damiami and the No Vacancy Orchestra along with Johnny Blue, Gloria
Loring, Deana Martin, Jane Monheit, among others. My Heart at iHeart/SF. Many familiar LARP names are reemerging in the San Francisco market. iHeartMedia is bringing Progressive Talk back to the Bay Area at Real Talk 910 (KKSF), replacing ESPN Deportes. The station features a line-up led by Stephanie Miller (formerly heard on KFI, KABC, KTLK), Thom Hartman (ex-KTLK), along with KEIB consumer expert Clark Howard. One is a Lonely Number. Have you figured out the personality who was a one-of-a-kind on LARadio? The person who jumped out of the radio every day probably still resonates with you today. If you want to share your fan fave, be sure to include all the reasons they were so unique. We’ll start revealing your favorites next week. Send your one-of-a-kind to: AvilaBeachdb@gmail.com |
Archives 2nd Quarter 2018: Michael Benner's new book; Brian Beirne in concert; KNX celebrates 50 years; Uncle Joe to Townsquare; Amp says Yes to Yesi; Click and Clack to automotive Hall of Fame; When is an Oldie Not an Oldie? Passing Parade - Mark Morris, Bill Watson, Dex Allen, Dick Orkin, Don Bustany, Mark Morris, Roger Collins, Art Bell, Mike Walker, Frank Bresee, Warren Duffy, John Mack Flanagan; 3 LA stations in revenue Top 10; NAB nominations and voting; Kimmel in People; Ted Leitner diagnosed with cancer; PPM re-issue issue; Lady LARPs of Grace; Dick Biondi out of WLS after six decades; 6-minute commercial load too much; Purely Personal with son's graduation and daughter's marriage; Len Chandler songs for Credibility Gap; Alfonzo Ortiz @KNX; THR award to Harvey; Stern cut and he's not happy; 2 LARPs on Time list of 2018 Most Influential; Ladd is back and Tribe thrilled; Larry Gifford diagnosed with Parkinson's; Is Savage being set-up; Walker needed for pd; Good Time Steve Mitchell to Georgia HOF; LARPs nominated for HOF; Marriage of Alexandra Barrett; Lyon Queen; David Viscott king of psych Talker; Debunking myths of a dj; New day for Sue Fruend; Adam Carolla is driven to buy Paul Newman's cars; One of a Kind LARPs Series with Jim Ladd;
About the Publisher of LARadio.com, Don Barrett
 |
As publisher of LARadio.com, Don Barrett chronicles radio news and lists 6,000 people in Los Angeles who work or have worked in radio in the past 60+ years. Barrett is a historian of contemporary Los Angeles radio history and author of Los Angeles Radio People, published in 1994. He published a second volume of the book a year later, along with the launch of a daily website column. In 2013, he started as the radio columnist for the Orange County Register. Barrett's Southern California roots (Santa Monica) include a bachelor's degree from Chapman University. He also earned a master's in psychology. He spent 10 years in radio working as a disc jockey, program director and general manager (W4-Detroit and WDRQ-Detroit). He launched KIQQ (K-100) Los Angeles in the early 1970s. In the mid-1970s Don joined the motion picture business, working as a marketing executive at Columbia, Universal, and MGM/UA. Barrett was part of the marketing team that released E.T., Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Back to the Future, Thelma and Louise, Rocky and James Bond movies. He also represented a number of films at the Cannes Film Festival. He was the first recipient of TALKERS Magazine's Lifetime Achievement Award. Don has been honored with an honorary Golden Mike and Special Recognition from the Society of Professional Journalists. |
