Archives, September 1998 complied and written by Don Barrett db@ecom.net

(September 30, 1998) KACE is planning a reunion of Los Angeles’ soul radio personalities of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Kevin Fleming, pd of KACE, has already received commitments from Larry Carroll, Lisa Canning, Carol Carper, Bob Jones, Walt "Baby" Love, Jesus Sweet, Don Tracy and Jack Patterson. Kevin is trying to track down the following djs: Donnel Boyd, Bill Chappel, Rick Holmes, Bill Howard, Dr. Perri Johnson, Brad Laray, Magnificent Montague, J.L. Martinez, Dee Dee Maxey, LaRita Shelby, Lawrence Tanter and Ken Taylor. If you have a phone number or know the whereabouts of any of the MIA soul jocks, call Kevin Fleming at 213.427.7954…KFI liner: "Pardon Our Dust, We’re Still Under Construction. KFI, Los Angeles, More Stimulating Conversation."…Bob Steinbrinck was with KMPC from 1972 to 1992. He was the news director for many of those years. He writes a weekly column for the Riverside County Record. Jeff Bowen sent me Bob’s current column that deals with the recent death of KMPC’s Paul "Panther" Pierce. Paul was writing a book titled Reporter Unrepentant at the time of his death. His opening paragraph was intriguing: "In the beginning it was not called news. It was a pictograph on the wall of a cave, a jungle drum, smoke signals on the horizon, a simple message for the few who had a need to know." In Bob’s column he reflected that radio has seen the biggest changes during this century. "It seems like only yesterday [actually it was 1901] that the United States Navy discontinued the use of homing pigeons in favor of wireless telegraphy." Bob knew the business of news in Southern California as well as anyone…The 9th annual SCBA RADIOFEST ’98 had a record number of advertisers, agency planners, buyers and station sales people attending the event last Thursday night…There are many radio stations in the Southland broadcasting an all-Sports format. Steve Klayman, a non-radio worker who is a fan and visitor to this Web site, is concerned why he couldn’t hear the baseball playoffs yesterday. Steve said the Chicago-San Francisco game was only on KOGO-San Diego. He couldn’t find the Texas-New York game. Steve said "XTRA Sports 690"-San Diego carried the San Diego-Houston game. Is any radio station in Los Angeles carrying the baseball playoff games?

(September 29, 1998) Brian Beirne is in the final stages of preparation for his 11th Annual "Legends of Rock ‘n Roll Concert" at the Greek Theatre Saturday night. The longtime KRTH dj has amassed an incredible array of Oldies performers, not the ones who normally appear at such shows. The latest addition to the show is the Murmaids, a one-time hit group from 1964 with Popsicles and Icicles. Brian said: "They were added just this past Saturday. The Murmaids were made up of two sisters. One of the sisters called Saturday and really wanted to get back together after more than 30 years." Brian signed them for their first big reunion in over three decades. David Gates of Bread was a 15-year old songwriter when he wrote the hit for the Murmaids…This morning in the 8 o’clock hour at KRTH, Charlie Van Dyke will interview the Tokens, another one-hit wonder group with The Lion Sleeps Tonight, a group that will appear in the "Legends" concert…A letter to this Web site from Norm Garr was going to be saved until our regular "We Get Email" feature each Saturday, but while we’re talking about KRTH, I thought I would include Norm’s email: "I have been a loyal KRTH fan since the days of KHJ/FM! I have contributed $$$ to their on-air drives, etc. But for the life of me, I can't understand why on a ‘Legends of Rock Weekend’ with soooooooooooo many hits to play, I heard the same song [I believe it was School Is Out] at 2 p.m. and again just three hours and fifteen minutes later? I know they play Pretty Woman every 15 minutes, but is it really true the playlist is as limited as people allege?" Tickets are still available for the "Legends" concert from Ticket Master and at the Greek…Pepe Barreto is back on the air doing mornings at KLVE after his very short lived hiatus due to a contract dispute. Whew!…On October 8, Tom Joyner will be doing his show from the Hollywood Athletic Club. Tom’s satellite show is heard on KACE in Los Angeles…Ricky Fuentes leaves the KPWR night slot for weekends. Sondoobie, from Funkdoobiest is the newest "Power 106" jock. The station is running an incredible promo for Sondoobie…Last Thursday the New York Times ran a story titled, "Clinton Is Talk Radio’s Only Topic." The photo that accompanied the national story was of our own Mr. KABC sitting at the controls in the KABC studios. Whotta’ great break!…Danny Martinez opened his show at "Arrow 93" last night with the declaration of how good it is to be back on the air after a few days off and a colon cleanser… New noonday KABC talker Al Rantel made an interesting point yesterday in the midst of a Clinton discussion: "Has it dawned on anybody that all of the villains that the Clinton supporters go after are women. Paula Jones, she’s trailer trash, according to them. Gennifer Flowers was a floozy and a liar. Kathleen Willey was also a liar, mixed up and she was confused. Monica Lewinsky is a temptress. She lifted up her dress and showed her thong. I guess in their minds, she was a woman who asked to be raped. Lucy Ann Goldberg, the book agent is in it for money. Linda Tripp is a bad person, not a good friend, back stabber. All the villains are women." Speaking of Al, I recently received this email: "Was minding my own business when my radio alarm mistakenly went off on a recent Saturday morning at 5:45 a.m. It was on KIEV. Wasn't that Al Rantel -- a voice I only ‘met’ recently on KABC -- doing an audio infomercial on some herbal prostate pills. [He did a good job, too -- pleasant, informative, not shrill or pushy.]" A KABC spokesperson confirmed that Al has done several infomercials across the country for many years and it could very well have been Al…One-Adam-Twelve. Kent McCord, star of Adam 12, has been found. Larry Marino played trivia with Kent on KIEV this morning while Kent was promoting the 5th annual Jack Webb awards dinner (Jack produced Adam 12, as well as starring in Dragnet) to celebrate the achievements of the Los Angeles Police Department…Ryan Seacrest, afternoon drive at "Star 98.7," hangs out at the Sky Bar after his shift…Thanks to Sandy Wells, who last week acknowledged this Web site in his weekly radio column in Cheers!, the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper group. Sandy mentioned the results of your voting for the top 100 Movies of All-Time, the Best Summer Movie, and your favorite tv shows…Radio Ink, The Voice of Radio Revolution, ran a cover story recently on "The Best Program Directors in America." Current and former Los Angeles Radio People were saluted: David Gleason, (#2 Best PD, Major Market); John Duncan (#13 Best PD, Major Market); Steve Blatter (#14 Best PD, Major Market); Ray Massie (#1 Best PD, Large Market); Ken Kohl (#5 Best PD, Large Market). Congratulations to all!

(September 28, 1998) On Any Sunday…what the heck is on Sunday night Los Angeles Radio? A one-hour monitor covered many, but certainly not all, stations last night.
KBIG (104.7FM): Syndicated Love Songs from Delilah.
KCMG (100.3FM): 45-year Southern California veteran, Art Laboe, playing oldies on "Mega 100."
KABC (790AM): Attorney Gloria Allred is the host.
KTWV (94.7FM): Smooth Jazz hosted by Wally Wingert followed by the syndicated Dave Koz Show.
KRTH (101.1FM): Oldies "K-Earth" with Dave Randall.
KOST (103.5FM): Shaun Valentine hosts Love Songs on the Coast.
KFI (640AM): Debra Rich is the Talker, Ed Berger is traffic director.
KPWR (105.9FM): Jeff Garcia is sitting in at "Power 106) for Kurtis Blow.
KLAC (570AM): Jerry Healy plays Pop Standards on The Memory Station.
KYSR (98.7FM): Jason Griffin is playing Today’s Best Music.
KLIT (92.7FM): Superstar Music Special.
KFWB (980AM): Andy Marshall and Sally Wallin anchor the news. Paul Gonazalez reports sports and Phil Nash with traffic.
KNX (1070AM): Old-time radio, The Lone Ranger.

(September 26, 1998) We Get Email…

** Ken Minyard Responds to Morning Go Round
"Re your "ponderable" [9/25] about Marc Germain going up against Bill Handel at the end of the year. Sounds like a damn good idea to me. We're only beating Bill by a couple of rankings (We're #6, he's #8)...no doubt Marc could improve on that dramatically! Glad you recommended it. – Ken Minyard, KABC"

** Death Notice
"Your column today [9/23 re Alan Harvey] about the newsman that died was very moving. Don't you just hate the idiots on the air who think anybody over 40 is washed up and death is a big joke? We have it in Chicago as well. Makes me sick." –Ed Schwartz CHIGUY46@aol.com

** Beam Me Up, Art Bell
"I can't believe KABC is cutting back the absolute BEST show [Mr. KABC] on the station. I've been a huge fan since he started at KFI. Are they completely out of their minds? Even my 78-year-old MOTHER likes him, and she doesn't like anybody ha ha ha! And to give more time to Art "Beam Me Up" Bell, of all people! I'm going to immediately email the pd at KABC, not that it will do any good, if recent events prove correct. Maybe I should also send the pd a shoehorn to pry his head out of his ass in light of this action! Sincerely, Mary Burr, Torrance, CA"

** More Death Notices
"I know that the guys on the FM talk are probably kidding about the daily news [9/23], but I for one really appreciate the info. I have not worked with anyone that you have written about recently, thank god, but to hear of the loss of the people who were the Credibility Gap, for instance, is still very tough for me. I grew up listening to those people, and remember fondly my thoughts at that time of their talent, and their politics. My politics have changed, but my respect for their talent will be with me forever. We have a small world in radio, as your page has shown countless times, and it’s nice to be able to know when it gets smaller. – Mike Nolan, KFI"

** The Doctor Is In
OK, I'm a big fan of LA radio, laradio.com and Dr. Laura Schlessinger. I've been thinking about this ever since I read the Vanity Fair article and here's my opinion, which should probably upset BOTH fans and detractors of Dr. Laura. Everybody kinda needs to wake up and realize what they are listening to...a RADIO ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAM. All the brouhaha about whether or not Dr. Laura practices what she preaches is very, very beside the point. Let's assume, for the sake of argument that she doesn't believe or subscribe to A WORD she says on her show. So what? Her job on the radio is to bring in listeners by the barrel full, which in turns brings in the advertisers. Tom Leykis has made this very proclamation on his show many times. He tells callers that he's there to bring in the dough for his boss and as soon as he's unable to do that, he's OUTTA THERE. And even if Dr. Laura is 100% sincere, she's not altogether altruistic.
Yes, she gives a lot of money to charity and her foundation, but she keeps a lot for herself and her family. Maybe she's not IN IT for the profit, but she's certainly not REJECTING her fame and fortune by any stretch.
Why people should expect anything more from radio talk show hosts than from actors is a mystery to me. When you go to the movies to see your favorite star, every word they say has been scripted for them. Often these people play despicable villains and sociopaths but we all know that they are doing their job to bring in the entertainment buck and then they go home and kiss their spouses and children. Why do you insist that your talk show host be any more REAL?
It doesn't matter one whit to me if Dr. Laura is sincere or scripted on the radio because she is very entertaining and the message she preaches is heavily rooted in common sense and virtue and I, for one, have learned a great deal and use her teachings in my everyday life.
Maybe all the people who are angry at her are telling the truth about her hypocrisy and it's sad that Dr. Laura isn't really a nicer person when not behind the mic, but they all need to chill out and remember that they all share the same goal in the radio biz: ratings. Thanks for letting me vent. I enjoy ALL of L.A. RADIO and am grateful that you have this Web site here for me to keep up with the news and events of the medium I have thoroughly enjoyed since before I can remember. I used to ‘Whittinghill’ every morning even before I was old enough to go to school and I've been hooked ever since. Sincerely, Chris Ledesma clicktrack@prodigy.com"

(September 25, 1998) Rhonda Kramer is about to celebrate 20 years of reporting traffic in the Southland. She has worked with eight of the all-time Top 10 Los Angeles personalities. She’s been bass fishing in the middle of Castaic Lake with Robert W. Morgan. "I caught the first fish and Robert said, ‘Now the pressure is off.’ He caught the next one." At KGIL "Sweet Dick" Whittington insisted on a twist to her traffic reports. "He wanted me to call them ‘Dick-A-lert’s.’ Here I was only 23 years old trying to keep a straight face talking about traffic jams as a ‘Dick-A-lert,’" said Rhonda. Her pioneering traffic reporting insights over two decades will be chronicled soon at this Web site...From 1991 to 1997, Little Ricci worked at KRLA. He was lured to KIBB, now KCMG, in the spring of 1997. He joins the morning team at "Mega 100" for trivia contests and is he good. His specialty is CHiPs trivia. A caller this week asked Little Ricci how Ponch’s car got blown up. Little Ricci struggled with recounting an episode where his car didn’t get blown up, but remembered it being smashed up. A car thief smashed both sides of Ponch’s car going down the freeway. The caller embarrassingly admitted that Little Ricci was right…Jack Hayes, former KFWB Rock jock in 1964 and 1965, just got back from his 40th high school reunion in Portland. Jack said: "I was surprised by how much taller I am than guys I was in awe of in school – and also surprised at how many died in Vietnam. There were 20 who died during the war from a class of 232." Jack said he had a great time except for the rain…Dan Avey is recuperating at home with his family from his recent successful heart valve surgery. If you want to send a note to Dan, address them to Pam Baker in care of the station at 6230 Yucca Street, LA, CA 90028 or you can email your note to Dan at Pam’s email address, BAKER@kfwb.cbs.com. She will get them to Dan…Last night was Mr. KABC’s first evening in his abbreviated one-hour time period. One caller was very disappointed in the change and Mr. KABC reassured him: "It’s not a bad thing. This isn’t a demotion. I’m not upset. I’m telling people to not call the station. Don’t email the station. This is not the time for the holy war. I want Art Bell to succeed. It’s not a feather in my cap if Art fails. It’s not the purpose here. The idea is to get people to listen to the station longer and find me as I fill in. This is not a battle with management. They didn’t pull the rug out from under me. They’re not trying to embarrass or humiliate me. It’s not working like that." Early ponderable. At the end of the year, Mr. KABC goes solo in morning drive as Marc Germain up against Bill Handel at KFI…Have you checked out the WHERE ARE THEY NOW/NOSTALGIA page at this Web site? Michael Moore’s update appears today. He is performing at the Irvine Improv on October 6. He's busy with voiceovers and has two screenplays in the works…If you are going to be at the Pioneer Broadcasters lunch today, come by and say hello. I will sitting with Bill Ballance…Congratulations to the Los Angeles Radio People Billboard winners for this year. Rick Dees (mainstream air personality); Gerry House (country air personality, formerly with KLAC); Dan Kieley (pd); Guy Zapoleon (AC + Top 40 radio consultant); Tom Calderone (mainstream/alternative consultant); Robert Lyles, KYSR (AC/Modern AC promotion/marketing); Von Freeman, KIIS/FM (mainstream/Top 40 promotion/marketing); Bob Kingsley (network/syndication for American Country Countdown); and Rick Dees (network/syndication for Rick Dees’ Weekly Top 40)…Steve Blatter is leaving his post as pd at "Y-107," KLYY…KRTH's Charlie Van Dyke continues his impressive move to promote his morning show by appearing AGAIN on KTLA/Channel 5's Morning Show...In announcing John Duncan’s resignation from KLOS, I suggested that longtime KLOS veteran Rita Wilde be given the job. John emails: "Your suggestion to up Rita Wilde to pd is a good one. The station is right on track, Rita has worked with some of the best programmers in America, she is definitely well loved and she has earned a shot! Regarding my exit, I would like to say that I have a special love for KLOS. It's a great radio station with many great people. During my tenure we took the station from 16th to 4th among 25-54 adults. That's quite an accomplishment for any station these days, but for a station in Los Angeles, where we battle of tenths of a share daily, that's outstanding. I'm proud to have been the person to have assembled and led the team that accomplished it. Special thanks go to Maureen Lesourd, Mark & Brian, Jim Ladd, Rita Wilde, Austin Keyes, Beau Rials, Gary Moore, Kelli Gates, Frank Murphy, Frank Sontag, Pam Baker, Preva Fleishman, Ruben Aguilar, Sonia Highet, Dina Louie, Bob Koontz, Arlo Hult and John Miller (now gone) for their extraordinary support. It was a great ride, gang!"

(September 24, 1998) The Fall ratings book starts today. Many radio stations have been highly visible with tv ads this week...Starting tonight, another adjustment at talker KABC. As reported yesterday, Mr. KABC’s three-hour evening show will now run only for an hour. Mr. KABC is very upbeat about the change, having been reassured by pd Drew Hayes that there are long-term plans for him. Mr. KABC said: "I'm fine with this change. Drew Hayes believes that I'm more valuable to the station at 9:00 p.m. and being the primary fill-in host around the clock at 790 KABC. It was something that Drew and I had discussed for weeks and we're on the same page." Some readers to this Web site are not so fine (a couple are on fire) with the reduction in his hours and their thoughts will be published this Saturday as part of our We Get Email feature…KXTA’s "The Car Nut," Steve Parker, was part of the Crooked Bar festivities last night. Steve emailed: "Caught KABC's Joe Crummey and KFI's Wayne Resnick jamming on guitar and bass at a Sunset Strip nightclub...lots o' fun! They acquitted themselves quite well, actually!" Speaking of Steve, he said that he received much reaction to his now-hilarious Hawaiian wedding debacle earlier this month. If you missed it, scroll back to September 14…Stephanie Edwards is getting lucky with her own one-hour radio talk show beginning November 9 at KKLA from 7 – 8 p.m….Are you going to the SCBA festivities tonight? If you’re part of the advertising/sales radio world, you have to go. If you forgot, call Carol Senor at the SCBA…"Arrow 93" pd Tommy Edwards is excited about the upcoming live broadcast from the Big Easy. The station will air the Jimmy Page/Robert Plant concert from New Orleans University a week from tonight…Dick Sinclair is expected to return to KIEV for fill-in. Dick, who had been with the station for 34 years and pd since 1968, was not part of Salem Communications original plans when they took over the station last month…KFI’s Mike Nolan has been flying over the Southland reporting traffic for 18 uninterrupted years (weather permitting) until this week. Mike explains: "I came back from a week in Bend, Oregon, [had a blast at a rally for our motor home, they are built there]. My first day back, Tuesday, I noticed a small leak from the fuel system. As I tried to make it stop, it became a bigger leak. I was grounded, my Bonanza's fuel bladder was kaput. In the meantime, I had bought a Cessna to replace the Bonanza, but the Cessna was still getting a new interior. So I own two airplanes, neither of which would work for me!!!! After a week broadcasting out of Airwatch America in Orange County [and driving to work with all of the other commuters], I have my Cessna working....I hope." And this morning, Mike is high in the sky for KFI…KEZY’s John Fox weekly Wednesday feature "Joke-Off Day" was consumed with Clinton jokes. One caller from Fullerton asked, "What does the D.C. in Washington, D.C. stand for? Disappearing Cigar." A Long Beach fan asked, "If Kennedy’s administration was Camelot, what is Bill Clinton’s? Come-a-lot." John couldn’t use the last one. He is hoping to see many Los Angeles Radio People this Saturday on Catalina Island for the Avalon Lions’ Run for Sight. Call KEZY for details…The LA Times is reporting this morning that "Pepe Barreto, the city’s top-ranked morning deejay for most of the last three years, has been taken off the air at KLVE. He had been working without a contract and the station manager had said they wouldn’t enter today’s new ratings period without an agreement."

(September 23, 1998) The new ratings book starts tomorrow and KABC is making an adjustment to their talk show host line-up. Beginning tomorrow evening, Mr. KABC's three hour program is slashed to one hour (9-10 p.m.), with Art Bell moving up to 10 p.m.-2 a.m., and Larry Elder getting an overnight replay 2-5 a.m. A 790 spokesperson says, "We love Mr. KABC, but this is a chance to expand Bell's listening base."…All fans of KABC’s Joe Crummey and KFI’s Wayne Resnick can see them sing and play the guitar at the Crooked Bar in Hollywood tonight. No cover charge and no running for cover…KRTH’s Charlie Van Dyke is broadcasting from Disneyland this morning. While Charlie and Joni Caryl were frolicking at the Magic Kingdom, the news was being reported by Hettie Lynn Hurtes. Whotta’ treat to hear her again. She was news director at KRTH from 1979 to 1981. This Friday Charlie will appear on KTLA/Channel 5’s Morning Show...Speaking of the Morning Show, KFWB’s Jack Popejoy was doing the financial news on tv this morning for Jim Newman…Yesterday afternoon, KYSR’s Ryan Seacrest was trying to explain how when two women live together, they end up on the same cycle. A caller called to say that it also happens with female cats that get their period at the same time. Who knew?…KROQ is giving away tickets to the Dodger Stadium Halloween show featuring the Smashing Pumpkins and KISS…Jamie White revealed this morning at KYSR that her husband would prefer if she wouldn’t wear a bra. Jamie said, "You know how that nipple thing is in now. He really thinks it’s sexy whenever they barely touch the fabric. But I would prefer to wear a Wonder Bra and push them up to my chin." Now you know…Evening talk show hosts at KLSX, Doug Steckler and Tim Conway, Jr. find a way to frequently complain about my book and this Web site. Recently they were upset that there is nothing at <laradio.com> but news about people dying. If the pair is reading this this morning, it’s time for you to click over to allaccess. The radio community has lost another passionate broadcaster. Alan Harvey died September 21. I met Alan while doing research for my book. After spending almost four decades in Southern California radio, Alan told me in the summer of 1996, "I am not about to go gently into that good night, but I’ve probably come to an end in radio." His love for political commentary and jazz (one of his dogs was named Swing) was outstripped by a passion for movies. He became an expert on William A. Wellman movies and later befriended the director. Born Albert Hoefeld II in Chicago on October 8, 1927, he graduated from Northwestern University with a speech major in 1948. He started out in Evanston and was a staff announcer for a Chicago tv station until he was blacklisted for helping organize the talent union. Alan left the cold for sunny Southern California and stayed for the long haul. In 1959, he hosted a jazz show at KNOB and in 1961, moved into news. He wrote editorials, always with passion for the socially liberal causes, and he was news director for many stations. Alan revisited KPOL three times over the decades. KNX’s Charleye Wright worked with Alan at KIIS/AM in the early 1970s. Charleye remembers: "Alan was a bright man who wrote incisive daily commentaries. It’s a loss because he was a kind man with a provocative mind." I hired Alan to proofread my book. In the spring of 1997, we would meet weekly at a Carls, Jr. near his home in Arleta (he had a favorite breakfast sandwich) to go over the copy, but invariably we would end up sitting for hours talking about the state of affairs in the country. We were at opposite ends of the political spectrum, but respected each other’s opinions. I even suspected a softening on some of his staunch stands. Alan was hospitalized last week for what one colleague said appeared to be pneumonia. On Monday he quietly passed away. When Alan reminisced about his radio career, he remembered a line from John Chancellor; "I have outlived my culture." Alan was 70.

(September 22, 1998) This is the week for Los Angeles Radio People to appear in national publications. A story by KABC’s Dennis Prager appears on page 53 of the October issue of Reader’s Digest. "In my 20 years of asking high school seniors ‘Would you save your dog or a stranger first if both were drowning?’ one-third always vote for the dog, one-third always vote for the stranger, and one-third always find the question too difficult. But my second question is even more interesting to me. I ask the students who voted to save the person, ‘Are the students who voted to save the dog wrong?’ Not one student has ever said that the others are wrong. Their argument is always the same: ‘Listen, I personally feel that I should save the person, but they feel they should save their dog." The piece originally appeared in The American Tradition of Personal Responsibility…In the current (9/28/98) issue of People magazine, KLSX evening talk show hosts, Doug Steckler and Tim Conway, Jr., are shown in a photo on page 141 leading a crusade against David Cash, the Cal Berkeley sophomore who was at the crime scene when his best friend sexually assaulted and murdered 7-year-old Serrice Iverson in a Nevada casino…Conway and Steckler’s producer, Jason Insalaco saw Permanent Midnight, about the life screenwriter Jerry Stahl. Jason emails: "There is a climatic moment where Jerry Stahl is shooting up heroin while listening to motivational station KYPA. They use the call letters. He mutters at one point in the film, Hollywood is so f---ed up, it is the only city to have a 24-hour motivational radio station." KYPA apparently didn’t take its own advice. The station no longer exists…KCRW’s operational director Scott West emailed that he has asked his significant other, Rosa Julia Chandler, to be his wife and "she has accepted!!!!! We have a tentative date set in June 1999. We've been together for a year, but have been friends for about 4 years." Scott is considering the offer to keep a diary of the honeymoon and have it published here as a first…From 1994 to 1997 Jacque Gonzales worked weekends at KOST. In the spring of 1997 she returned full-time to KCAQ-Oxnard and in addition to an on-air shift, was apd. Last spring she joined KPSI-Palm Springs as pd. Jacque is coming around full circle with a return to Los Angeles to be program coordination at KPWR.

(September 21, 1998) KABC and KNX are broadcasting the Bill Clinton deposition in its entirety this morning. KNX is running the testimony tape delayed a few seconds behind KABC…Bill Handel at KFI comments on the airing of the tapes, "It’s only to embarrass the president"…Over at KYSR, Jamie, Frosty and Frank remember the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings and how boring they were. "Pubic hair in a Pepsi" was the only thing Jamie remembered. And who can forget Long Dong Silver?…News guy at KROQ, Doc on the Roq, described the Clinton testimony as splitting pubic hairs…KLOS broadcast live from the Jimmy Page/Robert Plant show at the Hollywood Bowl over the weekend. Celebrities dropping by to say hello included Susan "Cindy Brady" Olsen (former KLSX talk show host)…KRTH’s Brian Beirne is in the final stages of putting together his 11th Annual "Legends of Rock ‘n’ Roll" concert on October 3 at the Greek Theatre. "Mr. Rock ‘N’ Roll" has lined up The Kingsmen, Gary U.S. Bonds, The Tokens, Eddie Floyd, The Champs, The Capris, The Del-Vikings, Frankie Ford, Barbara Lewis, The Cadets. It’s interesting that the station doesn’t play some of the performing artists on a regular basis anymore. I wonder if the artists know or if it makes a difference. Great line-up…Beginning October 1st, KBET-Santa Clarita (Valencia, Newhall, Canyon Country, Saugus) will be simulcasting "XTRA Sports 1150." Jacor recently purchased the Class A station for $3 million…Speaking of sports, KFWB’s Rod Van Hook had the best time Friday night playing an actuality from Senator Ted Kennedy saluting homerun slugger Sammy Sosa. Kennedy pronounced his name "Sammy Sooser." Rod ran it three times in one sportscast…John Adkins from Phoenix responds to two weekend letters posted at this site (9/19): "The off-camera announcer on the latest syndicated version of Hollywood Squares [returned for the fall TV season] sure sounds like Shadoe Stevens. Watched most of the show once but did not see or hear any credit for him. Comment on the seven seconds late tone at KABC, same thing here in Phoenix on the CBS station. KFYI, except in morning drive, on a :07 delay which makes the CBS bong :07 late each hour. But what puzzles me is the writer said ‘except for 4-6pm;’ isn't KABC in a talk show then so wouldn't they be in delay?" KABC morning host Ken Minyard also emailed about the tone wondering if the original writer didn’t listen to KABC anymore, how did he know about the delayed tone?…In the OC Register yesterday, Gary Lycan profiled new KABC talk host Al Rantel. Al and pd Drew Hayes go back to the 1970s when Al was doing news and Drew was "a baby doing a weekend talk show" on a station in Miami. Al’s contract with KABC is for three years…KIIS/FM is saturating tv with a $1 million promotion…KROQ tv spots appeared during many sports programs over the weekend….USC graduate Susanne Whatley, normally heard doing the news at KFI, hosts two very interesting public affairs show at sister station KOST on the weekends.
**
Los Angeles Radio People Phil Little passed away last week. Phil was someone who was a star behind the scenes. He was an integral part of The Credibility Gap that aired on KRLA in 1960s. Creator of the Gap, Lew Irwin, fills in the gaps in Phil’s life.
"Radio production engineers live rather anonymous lives. Indeed, in recent years they have become something of a vanishing breed as announcers have learned to perform double duty -- in back of the microphone and in front of the mixing board.
I do not know of any announcer who could have worked the wizardry of Phil Little, however. He had a gift for provoking an audience's imagination with sound effects, inventive edits and electronic trickery that provided a happy reminder of what ‘theater of the mind’ once was and still could be.
Phil was as important to the success of The Credibility Gap on KRLA as any of the performers, and he received a credit at the end of virtually every broadcast. He could fix botched performances, requiring numerous takes, at blazing speed, something that was often required as we squeezed every deadline. There were times when Phil was editing the final part of a Gap program while the first part was already on the air -- and I can still recall the relay teams that often had to be mobilized to toss the tape from his second floor production studio down the stairs to the first floor master-control booth even as the last commercial was rolling.
And yet he never seemed flustered by the clamorous demands around him, never exhibited anything other than cool professionalism.
In some of those ‘rare records’ shops and on some Internet vendors’ sites, you can still find well-worn copies of the Credibility Gap's first record, An Album of Political Pornography, which includes an example of Phil's work. The final track of the album, titled Humphrey and the Demonstrators, consists of a sound montage, recorded at the 1968 Democratic Convention, of Hubert Humphrey's acceptance speech juxtaposed with the voices of demonstrators outside the Chicago convention hall, underlaid with musical effects that Phil put together with Len Chandler, our ‘staff folk singer.’ Phil mixed various musical phrases that Len recorded on drums, oboe and tambourine, speeding up some, slowing down others and adding massive reverb to blend them together. The result was a haunting production that ended up being played on numerous ‘underground’ radio stations all over the country at the time. It was just one of Phil's many virtuoso performances. Remember, we produced nearly a thousand programs a year!
I have just looked up to re-read what I have written here and stopped short on the words ‘vanishing breed’ in the first sentence. Except for Len Chandler and myself, all of those who participated in the Credibility Gap during its original incarnation thirty years ago are gone: Thom Beck, John Gilliland, Richard Beebe, Jim Hamblin, Severn Darden and now Phil.
What a gap there is now." -Lew Irwin studio@usa.net

(September 20, 1998) The movie theatre box office grosses for the summer of 1998 turned out to be a record. Over 60 films were released between May and Labor Day. Disney and 20th Century Fox accounted for 40% of the year’s total. Warner Bros. had a disastrous summer. Many of you deal with the studio field reps in securing promotional screenings. I am curious which studios are the best to work with as far as communication, promotional items and follow-through. Well, drum roll please, here’s how Los Angeles Radio People voted when asked for their three favorite films during the summer of 1998.

Top Ten Favorite Summer Films 1. Saving Private Ryan 2. There’s Something About Mary 3. The Truman Show 4. Lethal Weapon 4 5. Armageddon 6. The X-Files 7. Bulworth 8. Horse Whisperer 9. Mulan 10. The Mask of Zorro

(September 19, 1998) We get email…
** "Where is Shadoe Stevens? What's he doing since Dave's World? I wrote radio spots for University Stereo with him in the 70's-80's." –Robert House roberthouse@hboc.com

** "Very sorry to hear of the death of Phil Little. You didn't mention it, but listeners mostly knew of Phil Little; he was always on the credits following Credibility Gap newscasts for his engineering them. This has not been a good year for Credibility Gap alumni." --Rick Lewis ricklew@primenet.com

** "I just read on the Web site about the death of David Cloud, and was greatly saddened. I had the privilege of working with David at KPFK between 1973 and 1978. One small correction to your posting: David was music director, not pd. I was an announcer/engineer at the time, and always found David a most gracious colleague who was quick to offer help and encouragement to those of us cutting our teeth in radio.
In fact, there are a lot of stories to tell about KPFK during that era. When I got there, I was immediately thrust into the ‘Watergate Watch’ which was breathtaking. Here are some names from that time, and I'd love to know if anyone knows what became of: Dennis Levitt [nd], R.H. "Bob" Lowe [engineer], Don Wilson [chief engineer], Jim Berland [public affairs director], Peter Sutheim [operations/production director], Lucia Chappelle, Helene Rosenbluth, Ed Hammond, Janet Dobson, Roy Tuckman, Fred Ampel, Steve Tyler [not of Aerosmith fame], and many more. The late Mario Cassetta and Mike Hodel were also fixtures. I know Bob Gowa is around, as is Scott Free, Earl Ofari Hutchenson, and Larry Moss [the man of a thousand dialects], and it would be fun to reminisce sometime. We got to visit with the likes of the Credibility Gap, Firesign Theater, and many celebrities who did Christmas readings of classical literature. Plus there were programs from all sides of the political spectrum. Where else could you hear a communist, followed by a libertarian, followed by poetry, followed by classical music, followed by Bulgarian music, etc.? What a time! What a place! Whether it was good or bad depends on your opinion. All the best, Bill Wright" billwright@kwve.com

** "It's hard to take seriously any radio station that puts a "TIME AT THE TONE" beep on a seven second delay [except for 4-6 p.m.]. What the heck are those guys at KABC thinking? Maybe they think no one will notice; after all, who listens to them anymore anyway? -Steve Langford" SKMBEEBS@aol.com

** I am looking for outrageous, obscene, and overall great material for a compilation CD. I am looking for shocking airchecks from all over the country. Also, if anyone has the Tom Dooley inebriated broadcast on KHJ from the mid-70's or Jimmy Rabbit’s last day on the air on KGBS in 1976. I am also looking for radio outtakes. IF you have any leads or ideas of some great material in the past, please email at jasoninsalaco@hotmail.com or call me at (310) 777-0117."

(September 18, 1998) KLOS pd John Duncan has left the building. He resigned yesterday. John arrived at the "home of rock ‘n roll" in the spring of 1997 after two years at KYYS-Kansas City. He has slowly turned around a station that had lost its focus. In the most recent ratings the station has continued its climb to regain prominence in the market. A replacement? A thought for an excellent candidate. She is right under Bill Sommers’ nose. Since 1983 she has done it all at KLOS. She’s smart. She knows music. She’s a great on-air talent. She loves Mark & Brian (their contract was recently renewed). She is well liked, no, make that well loved by the staff at KLOS. Don’t even go through the motions of bringing an outsider in. She is Rita Wilde.

Everyone loves the spin across the morning LA-LA-LAnd radio dial. By request...
6:00 a.m. KFWB (980AM) News anchors Ron Kilgore, Judy Ford, Bob Jimenez, and Brett Lewis with sports (Angels lose and no homers by the homerun leaders). "Non-stop headline news" leads with 19 who are gunned down in Ensenada. High today expected to be 83 degrees. Traffic by Rhonda Kramer with Jeff Baugh and Tom Storey in the air. No major traffic problems.
6:05 a.m. XTRA (690AM) "Southern California’s Sports Leader." The morning team is talking about going to the San Diego Padre-Chicago Cubs game last night. Media frenzy over Sammy Sosa and no one paid attention to Padres.
6:07 a.m. KCMG (100.3FM) Mario DeVoe is in for new morning man Danny Romero. The rest of the "Mega 100" crew, Irma Blanco and Monica Brooks are talking about how much fun it has been having Mario sit in all week.
6:12 a.m. KABC (790AM) "What Steams You?" feature with Peter Tilden and Ken Minyard. First caller wants "nice" calls. Ken says, "Okay, how about swap shop, where we trade stuff?"
6:15 a.m. KRTH (101.1 FM) Charlie Van Dyke comes out of Stand By Me by the Drifters and gives away two tickets to the Phantom of the Opera. News with Joni Caryl and traffic with Mark Wheeler.
6:32 a.m. KIEV (870AM) Larry Marino comes out of a financial report from "The Wizard of Wall Street" and goes into phone calls about the president’s ability to continue in office.
6:44 a.m. KFI (640AM) Bill Handel is lamenting the roller coaster stock market. Ken Gallagher is doing news. 64 degrees. Mark Denis (in for Mike Nolan) reports that the 605 freeway has the three right lanes blocked.
6:46 a.m. KRLA (1110AM) Huggie Boy comes out of C.C. Rider and promotes his appearance this morning the L.A. County Fairgrounds. Traffic report from Jeff Baugh.
6:50 a.m. KLOS (95.5FM) Mark & Brian review the upcoming weekend of football. Newsman Chuck Moshontz and Frank Sontag participate.
7:03 a.m. KYSR (98.7FM) Frosty, Frank and Jamie are playing the game, "You Know Your Marriage Is Over When…"
7:07 a.m. KIIS (102.7FM) Rick Dees asks Ellen K how are Paula Jones and Monica Lewinsky alike? Close, but no cigar.
7:11 a.m. KNX (1070AM) News anchors Linda Nunez and Tom Haule lead with a carport fire in La Puente. Fred Gallagher is doing sports and Charles Laszlo has financial news. Jim Thornton reports on a SigAlert on the 22 with an overturned trailer.
7:13 a.m. KROQ (106.7FM) Kevin & Bean promo the morning: actor Ben Stiller with an in-studio appearance; Chris Tucker; phoner with a Congressman on impeachment possibilites; giving away a satellite dish; and, Depeche Mode tickets. Doc on the Roq (Boyd R. Britton) reports the news. Jimmy Kimmel is doing sports.
7:20 a.m. KIKF (94.3FM) Charlie Tuna is asking Reba McEntire, who gets her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today, if she remembers his station at KOMA in Oklahoma City when she was growing up in in the mid-60s. She did remember listening.
7:22 a.m. KDIS (710AM) "Disney Radio" is playing Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye by Steam.
7:27 a.m. KTWV (94.7FM) Allen Lee is reporting traffic. Paul Crosswhite is playing Notorious by Rick Braun.
7:41 a.m. KBIG (104.3FM) Carolyn Gracie and Rick Diego come out of Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper for their listener sing-along to Rod Stewart promotion.
7:52 a.m. KLAC (570AM) Don Imus is broadcasting from the Americana Theatre in Branson, Missouri. Mel Tillis is his guest.
8:07 a.m. KCBS (93.1FM) Scott St. James is doing sports on "Arrow 93." Lon Landis is reporting sports. "Uncle Joe" Benson is playing Barracuda by Heart.
8:17 a.m. KKGO (105.1FM) Classical music from the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
8:22 a.m. KLSX (97.1FM) Howard Stern is talking with a lesbian virgin.
8:36 a.m. KZLA (93.9FM) Bob Harvey is playing One Boy, One Girl by Collin Raye.
8:40 a.m. KOST (103.5FM) Mark Wallengren is envious of Kim Amidon’s vacation next week to New England. He’s asking for some honest-to-goodness Vermont syrup.
8:47 a.m. KPWR (105.9FM) Big Boy is giving out birthday props on "L.A.’s Party Station."
8:52 a.m. KKBT (92.3FM) John London’s House Party with Shirley Strawberry doing traffic, Ben Kelly with news and Dennis Cruz reporting sports.
You may now take control of your radio…This weekend will be the listing of your favorite summer movies. You won’t have to be a General to guess what came in #1.

(September 17, 1998) KABC and KFI will come together next Wednesday evening. KABC’s Joe Crummey and KFI’s Wayne Resnick will be performing together and appearing at Crooked Bar, #8121 Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood. Joe emailed: "The two of us are old friends who share an interest in guitars and music. Our radio shows are on the air at KABC & KFI at almost the same times on Saturday nights but we get together during the week to jam and record. On KFI he's promoting the appearance as Wayne Resnick and a mystery guest. On KABC I'm promoting the appearance as Joe Crummey and a mystery guest. We're doing this for our listeners who have put up with our guitar playing on the air for years." The Crooked Bar is located underneath the Coconut Teaser Club at the corner of Sunset and Crescent Heights…Gary Owens, voted #1 Southern California personality between 1957 and 1997 by readers of Los Angeles Radio People, is off to Las Vegas this weekend. He is hosting the Las Vegas Film Festival and his son Christopher has a movie in competition. When I talked with Gary, morning host at KGIL’s "Music of Your Life," earlier this week, he had just returned from voicing 30 commercials. He voiced everything from the Ponderosa Restaurant and Motorola to the Wisconsin Lottery. G.O. will appear in the Halloween episode of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. He plays a guy who thinks he’s Gary Owens. Gary said, "It was so much fun. They let me ad lib all I wanted." When my book was published last fall, Gary couldn’t have been more generous with his time. He appeared with me in back-to-back book signings in West Los Angeles and Orange County…Jacor buys Santa Clarita’s only radio station, KBET, for $3 million…If you are part of the agency/client/sales radio world of Los Angeles, don’t forget RADIOFEST ’98. It takes place a week from tonight. Details at the SCBA. Call Carol Senor…Los Angeles Magazine just-out issue lists the 100 Most Influential Power Players in L.A. "XTRA Sports’" Jim Rome was the only Los Angeles Radio People to make the list. The article said, "Rome is the hottest name in the booming field of sports talk. He’s largely responsible for bringing to a national radio audience the unsparing sports crit of the local diner and beer dive – and the sometimes cryptic Valley patois of his youth." Good props…Longtime tv sports anchor, Jim Hill, joins Charlie Van Dyke at KRTH for sports news on Fridays or whenever sports news breaks…Yesterday in the Daily News, Fred Shuster had an interesting story about an incident with KROQ’s Jed the Fish. Fred noted that Jed was absent from work the day after the on-air airing. Fred’s every Wednesday radio column is must-reading…Tomorrow and Saturday afternoon, "Arrow 93’s" Joe Benson will be announcing races, as well as meeting fans at the Motor Trend Thunder at the Marine Air Corps Station in Tustin. Next weekend "Uncle Joe" will be at the L.A. County Fair introducing Creedance Clearwater Revival…Jim Ladd is giving the "Ultimate Jimmy Page/Robert Plant Package" to one of his KLOS listeners. A winner wins a pair of tickets to the killer koncert at the Hollywood Bowl AND in New Orleans. Package includes round-trip air tickets, hotel, spending money and an autographed Led Zeppelin box set…Sunday night "Arrow 93" will broadcast the nationally syndicated program "Off the Record with Joe Benson" featuring the music of Led Zeppelin and conversation with Jimmy Page and Robert Plant…Sounds like the AOR/Classics stations are head-to-head promotionally and competitively. What’s next, Hootie & the Blowfish performing live for two radio stations?…KFI’s Dr. Laura Schlessinger has been on the national tv circuit tub-thumping her book, The Ten Commandments: What’s in It for Me? Last night on CNN’s Larry King Live, Larry quoted Bill Ballance from the recent Vanity Fair profile of Dr. Laura that she had broken all ten Ten Commandments and asked her to comment. It was clear she didn’t like the question and so she didn’t answer it but went on to answer some imaginary question. At KLSX, Tom Leykis has been offering $10,000 to the listener who manages to get on Dr. Laura’s radio show and works in these phrases: (1) Carp out of water, (2) thrashing around like a couple of crazed weasels or (3) gets his name uttered. Tom offered a bonus plan last night encouraging his listeners to get any one of the three phrases on Larry King’s show and he would pay $500 or all three for $1,000. No one made it. Saying ba-ba-booey must be easier…David Cloud, best remembered as a radio pioneer who raised the level of public awareness of classic music at KPFK (in the early 1970s he was pd) and KCRW, died August 27, 1998. He arrived in the Southland in 1961 after finishing graduate work at the University of Alabama. In 1981 he left radio join the staff at UCLA to train students in audio technology. He was 60.

(September 16, 1998) Dan Avey, afternoon anchor at all-News KFWB, is going into surgery this morning, according to marketing rep Pam Baker. He is having a heart valve replaced. Pam says that Dan is really in excellent health, however, he needs the valve replaced due to a defect. His doctors expect a successful surgery and will be out for a minimum of 8 weeks! Dan has been a KFWB news anchor for 22 years plus he teaches at Cal State Northridge. Pam said, "He's a true broadcasting professional and a wonderful family man! He's very passionate about adoption ­ Dan and his wife have two adopted daughters that are absolutely beautiful." We join Pam, Dan’s family and KFWB colleagues wishing him the best and our prayers are with him…Jacor Communications, Inc. will announce today it is buying KEZY/95.9 FM and KORG/1190 AM (both Anaheim) for $30.1 million in cash, according to a story in the OC Register this morning. "The deal is subject to regulatory approval and not expected to close until December or January. The seller is ML Media Partners LP, which bought the two stations in 1989 for $15 million. KEZY is hot adult contemporary; KORG is mostly foreign language brokered to third party programmers. With these acquisitions, Jacor now owns, operates or represents 222 radio stations in 63 broadcast markets. In another Jacor deal, the company bought KCKC/1350 AM Riverside for $2.5 million from Willie Davis' All-Pro Broadcasting." KCKC plans to simulcast the "XTRA Sports 1150" format…Speaking of "XTRA Sports 1150," KXTA is looking for sports producers. Sports director Tommy Boman needs new producer talent and has no idea of who might be available in Southern California. Tom said, "I’m looking for qualified sports producers!" If you qualify, call Tommy at 818.295.6423 or email him at tommy@am1150.com…Speaking of KEZY, morning guy John Fox will be hosting the annual Avalon Lions Club Run for Sight Saturday the 26th on Catalina. This is John’s 5th year hosting the event and he would to have as many Los Angeles Radio People as can strap on running shoes to get involved. You don’t have to run the 26 miles to Santa Catalina. Boats boat you there for the 5 and 10K runs. If you are interested, email John for details JohnFox@kezy.com…Newest member of the Los Angeles Radio People community is KABC’s Al Rantel. He started his first show yesterday at 12:15 p.m. with: "I have been in talk radio for a long time. I am from South Florida. I have been in Miami for many, many, many years, but I’m delighted to be in Southern California and have lived here before, know the region pretty well and intend to know it a lot better. I’m delighted to be with people like Ken & Peter, Dennis Prager who has been very kind and this, of course, being the time slot that Dennis has been in, hopefully it is in very good hands. Dennis is now with you from nine to noon. Of course, to precede Larry Elder is also a great honor. And I’ve not met Stephanie Miller yet. I have to do that, but I love her show since I got here. And Mr. KABC at nights, so it’s a great family that we have here at the moment and we’ll be getting better, hopefully. So it’s good to be here." Don’t know if we should read between the lines when Al says "it’s a great family that we have here at the moment." Does that mean there will be a different family at a different moment? Naw, let’s take it at face value. Welcome, Al…Ed Tyll, evenings at Talk KLSX, got his listeners riled up last night talking about the car pool lanes…Last month Jeff March (former KIEV and KBBQ dj) was visiting from his home in Northern California and we had breakfast. He is writing a fascinating book called Echoes Of The '60s: Whatever Became Of Your Favorite Pop Stars. It will contain 12 chapters, each of which will focus on the latter-day activities of recording artists who charted nationally during the '60s. Jeff said, "On its serious side, the book explores the personal and philosophical development of artists who influenced a generation during one of the most tumultuous eras in modern history. But the book also contains a lot of hilarious anecdotes, previously untold stories and eye-opening insights from the 45 musicians about whom my co-author, Marti Smiley Childs, and I have written. Our profiles of all 45 artists are authorized biographies, authenticated by each of the artists we interviewed in order to eradicate inaccuracies that may previously have appeared in print." Echoes will be published in 1999 by Billboard Books…Speaking of books, KABC’s Warren Eckstein had his first book signing this past weekend in Encino. Denise Madden reports: "It went beautifully, more than 100 people attended -- plus the thing that always makes it worthwhile. We had the group HARTT/Muttmatchers there with ‘adoptables’ and we actually found a home for a 14-year-old Silky Terrier with a tumor, whose owner had just passed away from breast cancer. It takes a very special person to take on that responsibility but one of Warren's listeners had heard him talk about it on KABC, and made kind of a pilgrimage out of attending and adopting that dog." The book is titled, Memoirs of a Pet Therapist…Steve Knight will be sitting in for Elmer Dills this Sunday afternoon at KIEV from 3 to 5 p.m.…China Smith has returned to the Southland. He spent three decades working at KDAY, KRLA, KROQ, KMET, KLOS, KWST, KMGG, KUTE, KTWV and KACD. He’s ready to go back to work after a sabbatical in his Grand Rapid hometown. China emailed: "I'm getting healthy, and looking good dude. I've dropped a bunch of weight, eating better, and getting more exercise. Hot damn, I'm gettin' ready to jump in, all that radio stuff!" Catch up with China at ChinaSmith@yahoo.com...Wayne Resnick has been with KFI since 1988 working in various capacities. The full-time supervisor with the U.S. Probation Office is working Saturday nights at 9 at the Talk station…Rick Dees read a list listing the 10 Smelliest Places in the Southland. He told his KIIS morning audience that the #1 smelliest place was a rendering plant at the 5 and 710 freeways. As Rick explained it, rendering plants grind up animal body parts munching together the intestines, bowels and colons…Tom Leykis has returned from a 7-day vacation in Puerto Vallarta. He raved to his KLSX and syndicated audience about the Mexican tourist spot and the peso dropped 20% during the week he was there. At 5:45 this afternoon Tom is making a special announcement about the Dr. Laura Schlessinger contest. You can read about it at www.blowmeuptom.com and learn how you can win $10,000.

(September 15, 1998) At 8:35 this morning, KABC morning duo Ken Minyard and Peter Tilden welcomed new nine to noon host Dennis Prager. His move from the noon hour to nine in the morning is part of the reengineering that is going on at the Disney/ABC outlet. Dennis admitted that the new hours would require some adjustments. "I’ve had a lifetime of work never before noon. This is a shock to the system." Ken quipped, "I’ve had a lifetime of work never after nine." When asked what Dennis would be talking about this morning, Dennis said, "Romania and NATO." Peter told Dennis that very shortly he would be back to sleeping in. KABC accommodated Dennis’ first morning introduction with a Schubert Classical musical bumper. (The current crop of bumper music is very contemporary which was a sore spot for Dennis when they were changed earlier this year.) Dennis reiterated that he talks about "the greatest issues of life every day from a perspective of common sense and hopefully some enduring values."… Remember the provocative KFI billboard campaign during the O.J. Simpson trial? The Talk station continues to be equally provocative with its on-air IDs at the top of each hour. Heard over the weekend: "He don’t practice what he preach, so, now it’s time for us to impeach. KFI, Los Angeles, More Stimulating Talk Radio." Sometimes it is tough to determine why one station is "better" than another and ends up winning in the ratings race. Maybe the advantage comes in paying attention to the little things that add color and imagery, like the station IDs?…Speaking of billboards, former radio personality Mother Love is plastered all over Southern California with the headline "Tough Love." The massive outdoor campaign supports her successful syndicated show, Forgive or Forget…On Sunday, Sammy Sosa hit his 61st and 62nd homeruns. Sitting in the stands was Bill Murray. The tv cameras kept cutting to Murray and he was wearing a "Rick Dees KIIS/FM Weekly Top 40" hat. How do you buy that kind of promotion?…Happy Birthday to KOST morning co-host Kim Amidon. She read a card this morning from traffic lady Sharon Dale: "You know you’re getting old when someone asks you if you’re getting enough and you think they’re talking about sleep." Partner Mark Wallengren asked what Kim was going to do on her birthday and she squealed, "I’m going to Disneyland." This is the 13th year that she has celebrated her birthday working at KOST. Kim started her radio career at KLON in 1982 while attending Long Beach State. After graduation she worked at KUTE, KHJ and KRTH before joining KOST in 1985…KRTH is taking advantage of the focus on our roller coasting stock market. The current promotion has a listener guessing which dj stock in the Jock Market will be up. Keeps the dj names in the forefront as a rating book is just around the corner…Todd Donoho will stay on at KLOS doing sports. His 10-year stay at KABC/Channel 7 has come to an end when the station did not renew his contract…Spanish sportscaster for the Dodgers, Jaime Jarrin, had a huge turnout yesterday for the unveiling of his Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Former Dodger owner Peter O’Malley showed his support for Jaime, who has been calling the Dodger games in Spanish since 1959…Set your clocks. We’re only a month away from Mark & Brian’s "scary sound effect" on KLOS…Charlie Van Dyke had psychologist Dr. Joyce Brothers on KRTH this morning to talk about how parents should deal with talking to their kids about the Clinton/Monica mess…Beach Rogers, a KNX and KFWB longtime veteran, has announced his retirement, effective September 30. The veteran overnight anchor is signing off and getting ready to go back to daylight hours…Frustrated at the hype over the video release of Titanic, KABC’s Ken Minyard blurted, "It sunk. Get over it."…The Titanic hype hasn’t been lost on Jamie White at "Star 98.7." She thinks it’s nothing but Dirty Dancing on a boat…KABC’s Carol Ramos reported this morning that President Clinton is on a new regime of repentance. Peter Tilden chimed in: "For breakfast he had eggs Benedict with saltpeter, then bacon and saltpeter and a hearty bowl of oatmeal and saltpeter"…"For a guy who’s got thousands of dollars in CDs, Chase needs a lot of help with his finances." That was the first line in a LA Times Business section front-page story this morning on KLYY’s dj Chase. The weekly feature titled, "Money Make-Over," dissects the finances of Southland individuals and offers suggestions on how best to prepare for the future. The story is unusually candid about Chase’s personal finances. According to the Times, the "Y107" jock has $8,000 in savings, $450 in an IRA and a $2,000 credit card debt. He drives at 1996 Ford Explorer for which he pays $360 a month, on a 9% five-year loan. He shares an apartment with a co-worker, keeping his rent at just $525 a month. The Times recommended that Chase "learn about personal finance and begin an investing program." The paper said that he needs to save more and invest in an educated way. A photo of Chase accompanies the article…Jack London is emceeing his 30th Pasadena High School Reunion this weekend at the Altadena Country Club…Steve Knight emailed that Phil Little, a former KIEV engineer who was currently working at KRLA/KLSX died September 12. Steve wrote: "Phil was afflicted with a congenital heart condition. His wife, Penny, returned home from running some errands shortly before 2 o'clock this past Saturday afternoon and found him on the floor where he had succumbed to a heart attack. Phil was one of my classmates at Pasadena City College in 1959. My longtime friend and colleague, Cam Currier, who worked with Phil at KRLA, KIEV, and the ABC Radio Networks, helped me compile the following overview of Phil's career as we best remember it. He did some combo work out of college at the original KMAX in Sierra Madre, and also at KACY in Oxnard [currently KTRO], as well as at KBVM in Lancaster. Phil was hired as an engineer at KRLA when it changed from KXLA in 1959, and worked there until the mid 80's when he came to KIEV. He left KIEV to return to KRLA a few years ago, and then worked at the ABC Radio Networks Technical Operations Center in Hollywood. He left that position during the summer of '97 to return to KRLA/KLSX. He was an excellent production engineer--Cam rates him as one of the best he ever worked with. He was also extremely bright and possessed a quick, subtle sense of humor. Those of us who knew and worked with him are shocked and saddened at his untimely passing." Funeral services are scheduled for this Friday at 1:30 at Forest Lawn Glendale at the Church of the Recessional. In addition to his wife Phil is survived by a son and a daughter.

(September 14, 1998) KXTA’s "Car Nut," Steve Parker, had his car stolen the day he arrived in Hawaii for his wedding earlier this month. He and his bride-to-be secured a rental car at the airport and drove to their hotel. The hotel valet crew told them to check in and they would have their bags (inside the four bags was everything including the wedding dress and tuxedo) up to the room in about 10 minutes. Once they were in their room, the phone rang. And the bad news started. While no one was looking, a car thief jumped in his car and took off. Steve and "Mrs. Nut" spent the next three days replacing EVERYTHING. The media caught up with the story and three tv stations followed them everywhere as they went shopping and they also covered the wedding. (Steve said the cameras were not allowed in the honeymoon suite following the wedding.) The next day Steve and his new bride went to Maui for a week and on the last day of their honeymoon, the Hawaii 5-0 police found Steve’s stolen rental car. The couple flew back to Honolulu to identify the contents of the suitcases. Everything that was valuable was gone. One of the bags had sex toys, but Steve denied any knowledge of how they got in his bags…KZLA morning man, Shawn Parr, has left the building. New pd Bill Fink said, "We are immediately launching our search for the best available country morning talent in America. We're in L.A. It's what the audience expects and deserves. We expect that talent will be currently working in a top 20 market and will have either current or recent morning drive experience." Send your tapes to Bill…Since 1983 Dennis Prager has been the moral compass at KABC. For 10 years he hosted "Religion on the Line," a popular Sunday evening show that featured a Jewish rabbi, Protestant minister and Catholic priest. In 1994 he took over the noon to 3 shift. Today will be his last early afternoon show, at least for now. He will say goodbye to his regular listeners and encourage them to start listening at 9 a.m. tomorrow. Al Rantel, as reported last week, will be joining KABC, working from 12:15 to 3 p.m. The station moves the 15-minute Paul Harvey report back to noon…Your voting for the Top 50 L.A. personalities has been updated. If you haven’t voted for your ten favorite, you are invited…KBIG is "searching for an entertaining afternoon personality," according to the AP newsletter distributed by Steve LaBeau. The newsletter went on to say, "Need someone who can shine between the music." KBIG pd Steve Streit is the contact…Former KNAC and KROQ personality Roland West is working swing at KLLC (Alice)-San Francisco…KLOS’ Mark & Brian will appear on ABC’s Dharma & Greg tv show Wednesday evening. Dick Clark will also make an appearance…Lew Irwin remembers Richard Beebe today at WHERE ARE THEY NOW/NOSTALGIA page at this Web site…Depeche Mode singer, Dave Gahan joins Kevin & Bean this morning on KROQ…Dangerous Darren worked at KNAC from 1989 to 1995. When KNAC was taken over by new owners and the format switched to Spanish, Darren moved to evenings at KEGL-Dallas. He’s now available and can be reached at djsilval@prodigy.net…Last Saturday night, Doug the Slug hosted an hour-long Beastie Boys special on KROQ...Glynnis Walker returns to KFI talker following two heart surgeries to host the Sunday morning 5 – 7 a.m. shift. She was teamed with Maria Sanchez last year for a "bitchin’" show. Maria’s now doing a Talk show in Sacramento, so Glynnis is solo. Yesterday she was lambasting those women who feel the need to have a breast implant…Peg Stewart remembers Colin Sharp (ex-KDAY and KFWB) who passed away last month and emails: "Love the Web site! I'm compelled to write in remembrance of Colin Sharp, who gave me my first big break in radio in the early 80's at KUMU-Honolulu. He was a very nice guy and used to crack everyone up with his dry British humor. I remember him allowing me, someone who'd only lived in Britain, to do one commercial in my best upper-crust voice. He preferred that version to the 'American' take, saying 'snob appeal sells.' Actually he was a really down to earth guy and I am sad to see he's gone."

(September 12, 1998) We get Email…
** In answer to the question about the lack of women djs at KLAC and KGIL, Stephan Daystrom replies:
"What about Teresa Payerle who works evenings at KGIL? And with MOR djs past, are you forgetting Kathy Gori? The situation with her today, of course, is that she now prefers to do news at KPFK than music radio, but was she not a major MOR announcer in L.A. a few decades ago? One of the problems with the today part, of course, is the precedent of yesterday. The satellite services prefer veteran djs of the format, and since almost all the djs in this format decades ago were men, naturally almost all the veteran djs of the format today are also [those same] men. Women in radio seem to get more opportunities with the newer formats and/or the less the format cares whether the djs are ‘legends’ or not [thus perhaps the most announcer opportunities for women in AAA and modern AC and the least in adult standards and oldies]. StefanDaystrom@compuserve.com

** "I love the Web site, I do mornings in Palm Springs and there is nothing greater than rounding the halls and running into a real Radio Legend and nice guy Al Lohman. I remember listening to the records and the radio show growing up, never knowing that I'd be getting into this crazy business. Not to long ago I spoke on the phone with another one of my favorites Dave Hull who is out here. He still has his style and finesse with phone calls, an innovator in working the phones. Russ O'Hara works in the next studio! Geoff Edwards is always at charity events, helping out. There is a Ton of Talent and great people out here in Palm Springs! Thanks for a great Web site! Andy Taylor techtalk@gte.net

** "Warren Eckstein will be doing his first book signing for Memoirs of a Pet Therapist this Sunday, September 13th from 2:30-4 p.m. at Barnes & Noble, 16461 Ventura Blvd. in Encino." - Denise Madden
** "I have been negotiating with a radio station in New Orleans for a new position as morning show host. They loved my tapes, flew me out to the Big Easy for a few meetings and made an offer to my agent. All of this was going on while I was touring with the Platters around the country. Notice how I said ‘was.’ Sinclair owned, WEZB, [‘B97.1’]- New Orleans now has a new morning show. ‘Wankus in the morning.’ We came to terms and signed a deal. I'm excited to work with my new boss, pd Rob Wagman, who really has a keen insight to what the station needs to do to win. Needless to say, they want me in the studio by Monday the 14th. This is a good thing and although I hated resigning from the Platters, this is my focus, my direction and what I believe I do best. Wish me luck!" Wayne "WANKUS" Lewis Wankiss@worldnet.att.net

** "Shocked to read your item about Richard Beebe's death. I worked with him on Lew Irwin's Earth News Radio show back in the mid-70s and early ’80s" -Jeff Hillery, pd KHOW/KTLK-Denver

(September 11, 1998) Wednesday afternoon Charlie Tuna was preparing for his Thursday morning show at Country KIKF when the fax machine in his office rang. The machine spit out papers displaying a grid of show prep ideas with phone numbers of guests like the UCLA coach. Longtime KRTH morning producer Mitch Lewis had inadvertently faxed the grid to the wrong Charlie. It should have been sent to new morning man, Charlie Van Dyke for his review. Charlie Tuna faxed back Mitch telling him thanks for the ideas, but his own prep work was much funnier…If longtime Los Angeles radio vet Roger Barkley hadn’t died this past Christmas holiday season, we would be celebrating his 62nd birthday today. In his autobiography, The Story Man’s First Writes, I thought it would be appropriate to quote from a note that his daughter wrote that appears in the book: "The Story Man lived his life with the values taught to him by his Mom and Dad in Odebolt, Iowa. Gentleness, kindness, sincerity, respect, hard work, integrity and humor: these are the qualities that were our Story Man’s character. Without needing to be told, Dad let us know he wanted his final resting place to be in Odebolt, his home, with his Mom and Dad, where he learned to be the incredible Story Man that he was. We will miss your stories." Signed, The Story Daughter…Johnny Mellen (former KNOB, KGLA, KLFM and KEZY) wrote from Hawaii that ex-KDAY and KFWB broadcaster Colin Sharp died August 19, on Kauai. Colin worked at WIND-Chicago before coming to the Southland. He moved to Hawaii in 1965 and worked for many years at KUMU-Honolulu. Colin retired in 1989 and moved to Kauai. The obituary in the Honolulu Advertiser said, "He had many friends, but no surviving family members." He was 65…Did you know that the Jay Coleman who worked at Country KZLA in 1981 is KNBC/Channel 4 weatherman Fritz Coleman? He started out in Buffalo radio and came to the Southland to pursue his dream of being a stand-up comic. In 1983, an NBC station manager was in the audience during one of his stand-up performances and offered him a weekend weather gig at Channel 4 which led a couple of years later to a full-time assignment. Fritz, in his spare time, plays himself in It’s Me! Dad! at the Coronet Theatre. His one-man show, that ends soon, features his experience as a stand-up comic and reflections on his life…Scott St. James, actor and sports guy at "Arrow 93," was thinking about Dr. Laura Schlessinger during the recent hub-hub following the Vanity Fair article. They worked at KMPC during the Talk days in the early 1980s. Scott remembers the day he sat in for Dr. Laura: "I assumed that Doctor Laura was dispensing advice using the ‘by the seat of her pants’ method. I decided to take some ‘advice’ calls, too. I had a lot of fun with it and so did the audience. The next day, Doctor Laura was back on the air and one of her callers mentioned what I had done and how much sense she thought I had made. In a voice dripping with sarcasm, Doctor Laura responded to this caller with, ‘Oh, he’s so cute!’ And to myself, I said, ‘Self, we have ourselves a Diva at this radio station!’ And no, we didn’t end up wrestling like wild weasels." Scott recently played a PI in an episode of Port Charles…Is Chuck Madden gone from the morning drive show at KABC with Ken Minyard and Peter Tilden? Christopher of Pasadena emailed to say he heard Chuck twice the other morning on "XTRA Sports" between 4 and 5 doing updates for ESPN Radio Sports…The final touches on KABC pd Drew Hayes’ vision for the station will be in place within days. Station gm Bill Sommers is anxious and excited to launch the "new line-up" before the start of the new ratings period (begins September 24). I told Bill that this Web site gets more mail, 4 to 1, about KABC than any other subject. The radio fans are so passionate about their heritage station that they write with such opinionated views…Last Sunday in his excellent weekly radio column in the OC Register, Gary Lycan asked if Talk radio has gone too far and crossed the boundaries of good taste. He sent a list of questions to the pd’s of KABC, KFI and KLSX asking for help in understanding if there are guidelines for the talk show hosts and how they are monitored. Only Jack Silver of KLSX responded by Gary’s press deadline. I’ve taken an early peek at Jack’s responses and you will find them VERY revealing and insightful. Don’t miss Gary’s column this Sunday…Okay, already! When I pondered why KLAC and KGIL had no full-time women djs on staff, a number of you emailed to slap my wrist. Teresa Payerle works evenings at KGIL. She spent four years at Classical KKGO and two years at KUSC before joining Chuck Southcott’s "Music of Your Life" satellite-delivered music…When KBIG announcers announce "K (pause) BIG" with the emphasis on an up inflection on "Big," does anyone else think of the Pig Vomit scene in Howard Stern’s movie when the pd is trying to instruct Howard to give an up inflection to the letter N when he says W (pause) N (pause) BC?…I have the new KYSR imaging line, "music by all white whiny women, all the time."

(September 10, 1998) Yesterday morning Rick Dees slammed syndicated self-proclaimed "King of All Media," Howard Stern. On his KIIS morning show, Rick was recounting the magic of Mark McGwire’s 62nd homerun and how the St. Louis authorities kept "goofballs" from attempting to run out on the field and run with McGwire. Rick contrasted the evening with Hank Aaron when he hit his 715th homerun and as Rick described him, "This idiot trapped in seventies garb with the big hair and the bad leather jacket who decided to jump on the field and run the bases with Hank Aaron. Every time I see that magical, wonderful moment in sports history, there’s that idiot again, that goofball. It’s not funny. It’s like somebody Howard Stern would send out on the field. It’s just not funny. It just reminded me of something Howard Stern would do. In St. Louis, luckily there were the people there who knew of the Howard Stern types who jump over the fence and try to mess up the moment for that wonderful guy and they tackled that son of a gun and I don’t know if he has a groin left." Rick was on fire…Down the dial, KRTH morning man Charlie Van Dyke came out of Tom Jones’ It’s Not Unusual with the news that Tom’s audience is aging. Instead of throwing panties on the stage during his performance, the fans are throwing Depends…KABC has a new talk show host. Al Rantel wrote on the WFTL-Miami Alternative Web site: "As you probably know, I will be the new host on TalkRadio 790, KABC in Los Angeles starting in mid September." His Web message was filled with what is wrong with talk radio in South Florida. Al went on to say: "After 18 years on talk radio in South Florida, I said goodbye when the offer came – which I did not seek – at KABC in L.A. Better to go there than go down with the Titanic, or be forced to drive to Palm Beach should they have moved me to the next station they will program." Mixed word on which shift Al will take. KABC management is officially denying that he has even been hired. Remember the way the station handled the departure of former pd Dave Cooke last spring?…In the 1940s/50s/60s, the djs who played the music of the 1940s/50s/60s on the radio were men. In 1998, the djs who play the music of the 1940s/50s/60s at KGIL and KLAC are all men. What happened to the women? Not one woman qualifies to be a full-time announcer?…Brian Beirne has lined-up the Kingsmen and Capris for KRTH’s annual live show next month…A strange generational pairing on KIEV yesterday. Matt Drudge sat in with "TalkBack" veteran George Putnam…Mark Wheeler does morning traffic at KRTH and one of his jokes appears this morning in the LA Times’ Laugh Lines column: "Two insurance companies say they have reached a tentative settlement on a class-action lawsuit over some deceptive life insurance polices issued from 1982 through 1997. Apparently, deep in the fine print of the policies, it says that if you die all benefits go to some guy named Morty."…Speaking of the Times, this morning Judith Michaelson profiles the new 9 to 11 a.m. host at KPCC, Linda Othenin-Girard…"Star 98.7" is giving tickets away to a Hootie & the Blowfish appearance…On Saturday, "Arrow 93" morning man "Uncle Joe" Benson will be part of Motor Trend magazine’s 50th Anniversary Celebration at the L.A. County Fair, including introducing REO Speedwagon on stage that evening…Long block of fill-ins at KLOS yesterday. Gary Moore was in for Garth Kemp (Garth has been doing the morning weather at KABC/Channel 7) followed by Kelly Cox who was working the Jim Ladd shift. Kelly talked about being a new mommy. Congratulations!

(September 9, 1998) R&R produced another great special edition last week, dissecting the rebirth of CHR radio. CHR editor Tony Novia did an A+ job. A few years ago, the trade publication seemed like it had lost its focus. No longer! For the past couple of years the newspaper has been stronger than ever…In last Sunday’s Parade magazine, Walter Scott’s Personality Parade section had a reader ask how many original cast members from Gone With the Wind are still alive. I teased yesterday that one of the surviving cast members happens to be a Los Angeles Radio People. Raul Moreno emailed: "Fred Crane!!!!! KFAC now KKGO. He always had plenty of 8x10's of his scene to sign for fans!!!" Fred was a classical music announcer for four decades in Southern California. In GWTW he was one of the Tarleton boys and Fred’s line is the opening line in the first scene of the film…This Web site, <laradio.com>, has just celebrated a one-year anniversary. The first month of operation there were 679 visitors. Last month, we had 136,798. I have been told that it is a daily "must-read" for many executives and fans of Los Angeles radio. A visitor to the Web site last weekend was reading the responses to tv’s most memorable moments and wondered who some of the people were who responded. I told the new friend that my book, Los Angeles Radio People, Volume 2 should be used as a directory resource. There are over 3,000 names and 500 photos of Los Angeles Radio People between 1957 and 1997. If you aren’t sure of a name being mentioned in the daily column, the book makes for an excellent reference. With the amount of visitors visiting <laradio.com> I have been encouraged to sell advertising and I have resisted. I did not want to clutter the page with advertising, photos and graphics. You have indicated you like the news. If you have not supported this Webpage by purchasing my book, you should. The book is only $14.95 and if, for no other reason than supporting this Web site, you should own this book. You can find details on how to purchase the book on another page at this Web site or email me at db@ecom.net for the Southland bookstores that carry Los Angeles Radio People.

(September 8, 1998) Did you check the results of the latest Los Angeles Radio People survey about tv viewing habits? Mark Thompson of KLOS Mark & Brian fame had a killer response to his most memorable moment in television. Mark said: "When the Beatles stepped on the moon." It jumped off the page…With Mark McGwire homerun fever at its peak, check out the WHERE ARE THEY NOW/NOSTALGIA page at this Web site. KABC’s Joe Crummey has written a very moving and insightful piece titled "Maris, McGwire and My Grandpa & Me." Don’t miss it…Wish Joe Cipriano a Happy Birthday today. During the 1980s Joe worked at KHTZ, KKHR and KIIS. He has gone on to an enormously successful voiceover and acting career. He's a regular visitor to <laradio.com> during his busy day. He has a very slick Web site http://www.joecipriano.com that you should check out. Joe co-hosts "World Chart Show" that is heard on over 300 stations around the world...Karla Sifuentes has been at KRLA since 1996 when she joined the promotions department. Within months she was working morning drive with Little Ricci and then Huggie Boy. One morning last week at 11:20 she played Mary Wells’ My Guy. Once the vocal started you could still hear Karla. She was talking about her first visit to a new gym the day before and how sore she was. Accepting the fact that Huggie Boy talks over vocals all the time, there didn’t seem to be anything unusual about it until she mentioned some very personal things. It was clear she forgot to turn off her microphone when a colleague walked into the booth. For two minutes the listeners regaled in her experiences during her workout with Mary Wells singing away. Somebody must have said something because a few songs later she owned up to the mistake…Mike Thompson, new pd of KXTA ("XTRA Sports 1150"), is getting high marks from his co-workers. Many like the fact he is a talk radio guy first and sports guy second…Speaking of sports. Jacor is enlarging its commitment to sports radio with the purchase of two stations in Lancaster. The AM will carry "XTRA Sports" and will join Santa Barbara and Thousand Oaks to broaden the sports voice…Gary Lycan’s weekly radio column in the OC Register this past Sunday asked the pertinent question: "How far can one go in talk radio?" Gary’s commentary posed a series of questions to his readers: "Do stations have written guidelines for talk show hosts? If not, should they?" What do you think? Has talk radio gone too far?…Mucho Morales, 28-year radio veteran who has worked mornings at KRLA, afternoons at KRTH and KHJ, joins the Southern California trimulcast (92.7FM) in afternoon drive beginning this afternoon…The 4th annual Leimert Park Jazz Festival takes place this Saturday afternoon. KLON’s James Janisse emcees. He graduated from UCLA in 1977 with a degree in draftsman engineering. While working in the aerospace industry and in construction, someone commented that he had a "radio voice." James went to a radio school and followed his love for jazz music to KLON where he has been since 1992…Heftel AM programming veep, David Gleason, is putting together an English language history of the 1020AM frequency. Check their site at www.1020am.com. David said, "I'm looking for KTNQ memorabilia, pix, charts, etc. I'd love to get such material by email, particularly digitized pix and charts. Also looking way back for any data on KPOP and KGBS. Particularly, I'm interested in getting information on KGBS's early experiments with talk, such as the Bill Ballance show [for which I have already found an early sales presentation]." You can email him at david@davidgleason.com…It seemed strange to hear former KROQ personality Carson Daly on KIIS promoting the MTV Music Video Awards…In the Parade magazine supplement to most Sunday newspapers, a page 2 question asked if any of the original cast members of Gone With the Wind were still alive. There are. Did you know that one of them is a Los Angeles radio veteran? Do you know who it is?…Lots of Los Angeles Radio People at the Jerry Lewis telethon this weekend giving of their time...One of the morning features on KPWR’s Big Boy’s Neighbor is "Guess What’s Under My Stomach?" This morning the clues were: (1) Over 1,000 went down on me, (2) I wasn’t maiden for long, (3) and, A big hard thing ripped me open." The winner guessed the Titanic...Speaking of "Power 106," the station launched Jose, the Brown Hornet (one horny guy) into the busy skies above the freeway in a Bell Jet Ranger 1 piloted by Captain George. Jose complained that they were "going too fast and were too high" and he told Big Boy that he had no idea where they were...Harry Shearer saluted Richard Beebe, who passed away last month, on his Le Show at KCRW with a very warm tribute. Harry ran some highlights from "The Credibility Gap."

(Labor Day Weekend, September 5-7, 1998)
Los Angeles Radio People Pick Favorite TV Shows
Los Angeles Radio People love 60 Minutes, Seinfeld and The Simpsons. In a survey of hundreds of past and present Southern California radio people, these three shows show up on the weekly "Must-See" list AND the "All-Time Favorite TV Show" list. Hal Fishman was voted favorite local tv anchor while NBC’s Tom Brokaw tops the national list.

Must-See List of tv shows 1. 60 Minutes 2. X-Files 3. ER 4. Frasier 5. Law & Order 6. Ally McBeal 7. Seinfeld 8. The Simpsons 9. Dateline 10. Biography 11. Friends 12. Just Shoot Me 13. Homicide 14. Touched By An Angel 15. South Park 16. NYPD Blue 17. Third Rock From the Sun 18. David Letterman Show 19. Star Trek Voyager 20. ESPN Sports Center

All-Time Favorite tv shows 1. M*A*S*H 2. I Love Lucy 3. Seinfeld 4. Hill Street Blues 5. Star Trek 6. Twilight Zone 7. Mary Tyler Moore Show 8. Tonight Show w/Johnny Carson 9. St. Elsewhere 10. 60 Minutes 11. The Fugitive 12. Cheers 13. The Simpsons 14. Saturday Night Live 15. Andy Griffith Show 16. Rockford Files 17. Star Trek: Next Generation 18. The Ed Sullivan Show 19. The Larry Sanders Show 20. Dallas

National News Anchors 1. Tom Brokaw 2. Peter Jennings 3. Dan Rather 4. Brian Williams 5. Bernard Shaw

Local News Anchors 1. Hal Fishman 2. Paul Moyer 3. Jerry Dunphy 4. Harold Green 5. Ann Martin

In addtion to voting for their favorite tv shows and news anchors, Los Angeles Radio People were asked to share their most memorable moment on television:
Rich Buhler: Toward the end of Sammy Davis Jr.'s life when he was in the final stages of his cancer, there was a television tribute to him featuring many Hollywood greats. Gregory Hines was among them. There was a small, portable tap floor set up in front of Sammy and Hines walked up to him and said something like, "Sammy, you've meant so much to me that I can't put it into words. I just have to dance it out." Then Hines stepped over to the dance floor and in a powerful, spontaneous, wordless, and childlike way tap-danced his heart to Sammy Davis. It was one of the most memorable experiences of seeing heartfelt love and honor expressed between two people that I have ever seen and will always be a television highlight for me. It was real, and touching.
Ken Levine: Winning my Emmy on national television, giving my speech, and thinking in the back of my head that if I don't get off soon billions of people I've never met will hate me.
Kurt Kretzschmar: Dallas - When JR Ewing set up Cliff Barnes, getting him to embezzle three million dollars from his mother’s company (Wentworth Tool & Dye) to invest in a worthless oil field. Cliff lost Sue Ellen, his job, and his self-respect, while JR got Sue Ellen back. Cliff found out when JR entered his office, set a small canister of oil on Cliff's Desk and said "Barnes, I set you up. There's more oil in this container than the entire worthless plot of land that you just bought!"
Johnny Chiang: My most memorable tv moment, since I worked in the tv news industry, was the Northridge earthquake.
Bill Earl: The last 2 original episodes in 1967 of The Fugitive.
Don Elliot: Inauguration of JFK.
Rex Moore: The live broadcast of Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald on 11-24-63.
Greg Edwards: The last episode of M*A*S*H.
Raul Moreno: Watching the L.A. Riots. It scared the hell out of me. It was all going on just outside from us at KMPC. All of us got scared, and was not any easy task to leave. Thanks to Channel 5 for keeping us informed. When I drove home that night, LAPD was covering up a body of a man that was killed just outside the Van Ness Avenue gates of KMPC. Too close.
Walt "Baby" Love: Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech. Why? Because it touched my spirit as a human being after all I had experienced serving my country as a member of the military in the 82ND AIRBORNE DIVISION.
Gary Mack: I wish it were still the first broadcast of men walking on the moon. Unfortunately, that memory was replaced by the startling explosion of The Challenger.
Christina Kelley: Huddled around the screen with my family watching Apollo 11 land and Neil Armstrong walk on the surface of the moon!
Gary Marshall: JFK assassination weekend.
Jeffrey Leonard: (A) The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show" in l964 and (B) The John Kennedy Assassination in November l963.
T. Michael Jordan: MY first appearance in Chicago at 8, doing a ventriloquist act on The Little Rascals show.
Jeff Baugh: The Watergate hearings.
Ronn Owens: Hosting TalkBack on KRON/TV in San Francisco.
Al Brady Law: Hands down it was the Chuckles episode of Mary Tyler Moore in which Chuckles the clown was dressed as a peanut and was shelled to death by an elephant in a parade.
Elizabeth Salazar: Actually, there've been several: Watching man land and walk on the moon in 1969; watching the Challenger disaster live on CNN 17 years later; watching Princess Diana's service and funeral procession in 1998; watching the Symbianese Liberation Army shootout live one late afternoon in May 1974; watching the 1989 7.1 Loma Preita earthquake occur during the live warm-up to the World Series between the S.F. Giants and Oakland A's and simultaneously feeling the violent shaking; watching the Rodney King riots unfold in a live, surreal haze from a helicopter reporter's safe vantage; finally, watching a live, volatile hostage situation complete with AK-47 gunfire and hearing the reporter on the scene give the name of a deputy who'd been shot: the name of my best friend.
Kevin Fleming: Two things. (1) I was a judge on Star Search-twice! and, (2) the most tragic was watching the '92 L.A. uprising.
Steve Propes: When I appeared on Password with John Forsythe – I won! Same show, next day, with Pat Carroll (who messed up my winning streak with an all-time terrible clue: can for ash) - I lost.
Paul Long: It was either the SLA flameout, I was 7 or 8 at the time and had never seen anything like that before or the Berlin Wall coming down. That was amazing.
Daniel Thomas: KTLA's tribute to Stan Chambers (You GO Stan!)
Pam Baker: Bette Midler on the Tonight Show for Johnny Carson's last day.
Steve Ray: The day Steve Allen read a cuecard that said "I'm hungry, can somebody make me an ice cream sundae?"...and they did...literally! Dragging him from behind his desk, they stripped him down to his shorts, put him in a huge plastic bowl and filled it with ice cream, chocolate sauce, nuts, whipped cream and cherries...AND THEN...a female wrestler came out and got in this huge bowl with him and they tousled around. It was hilarious!
John Driscoll: Kennedy Assassination, both of them and the 1969 Moon Landing.
Don Jaye: (A) The telethons I've hosted and (B) Election of Pope John Paul II (I've met and interviewed him twice).
Gary Moore: It's a tie between coming home after school on a cool October day in 1965, turning on our black and white Curtis-Mathes set and seeing images from some baseball park with palm trees swaying in the breeze. Then seeing the Dodgers' crisp white uni's with the beautiful sun-drenched denizens in the stands and thinking "Where is this place? How can I get there? Who's the blonde behind the dugout?" It was the first spark of many that eventually led me to this very spot in southern California. And the other moment? Watching the Braves FINALLY win the '95 series after THIRTY YEARS'-worth of austral frustration. People from the south know what I mean. It was something nice to finally hang your Atlanta cap on after coming up of the short end of three previous series and that nasty little intra-state "conflict" in the 1860's.
Bobby Ocean: Owning my first color set. It just didn't MATTER WHAT was on. I remember being keen on getting the skin tone right ("...if you get that right, all the other colors will be right..."). Memorable television moments happen whenever large amounts of humanity are watching synchronously– as when JFK was buried, the Challenger died, Desert Storm, O.J.'s slo-mo ride. At Clinton's message to the people after grand jury testimony revealed he inappropriately wet his Willy. I still sense a "happening" (as we called it in the Love 60s) at these moments.
Steve Parker: When I won my Emmy. Memorable, but certainly not favorite: Kennedy assassination stuff.
Wayne Wankus: Hate to say it but it's got to be when I was suppose to perform in an Improv Show in Santa Barbara and they held up the show so the audience could watch the O.J. car chase.
Ken Kohl: Memorable moment has to be the Berlin Wall coming down. Never saw it coming and to come home and turn on the TV to see that spectacle...wow!
Art Kevin: The one time I talked a director into letting me do a newsman’s part without a toupee!
Todd Parker McLaren: Have to be the Space Shuttle "Challenger" explosion. How many of us have ever watched seven people die before?
Robb Edwards: Moon Landing…"One Small Step For Man."
Charleye Wright: STUNNING...television moment turned into a weekend of national continuous coverage fixation which began with the Friday assassination of President Kennedy on 11/22/63...and concluded with the live murder of Lee Harvey Oswald on Sunday the 24th. I have seen nothing since to match it for its viewer disbelief and the national shock. Everything else in our social fabric seemed to stop while we watched that horrible weekend happen to us live.
Bill Wright: Man on the Moon #1 in '69.
Dick Whittington: The President Clinton Mea Culpa Speech.
Bob Morgan: When the first soldier stepped off the plane and set foot on American soil returning from Viet-Nam.
Jeff Young: Local consumer reporter David Horowitz being held at gunpoint, after an intruder broke into his studio while he was broadcasting live!
Kiris Coburn: Clinton making an ASS of himself and basically giving America the Finger the other night.
Kathy Gori: My most memorable television moment hasn't happened yet...till now I've just been faking it.
Bradley: The beginning of the Persian Gulf Crisis or President Reagan getting shot.
"Shotgun Tom" Kelly: When Richard Kimbel (David Janssen) found the one-arm man.
Steven O. Sellers: Coverage of the Kennedy assasination and funeral-it was a weekend when the entire nation was in mourning-even as children, we knew. And man landing on the moon, anchored by Walter Cronkite.
Sean Lynch: Filling in for a weather guy and accidentally knocking the map over on camera during the forecast!
Greg Hardison: Watching Lee Harvey Oswald being shot, live.
Rick Scarry: The Challenger Disaster.
Jeff Davis: The day Kennedy was shot... it all hung out, it was real life and in its most stark reality.
Jerry Lee: Neil Armstrong setting foot on the moon.
Charlie Tuna: When I was doing all the Game Show/Variety Show announcing and crowd warm-ups with people like Chuck Woolery, Alex Trebeck and Mike Douglas. Still have a tape of Mike, Brooke Shields and myself as I emceed a fish-counting contest on camera between Brooke & Mike.
Mike Wagner: Unfortunately, it was the WHO SHOT J.R. episode of Dallas! A close number 2 would be the JFK funeral in Washington, D.C.
Frank Murphy: RFK assassination; Apollo 11; From The Earth To The Moon
Lisa Foxx: That woman who 'ate' glass on that Fox special the other night (Guiness Book of World Records show).
Beau Bennett: Simpsons (O.J.)
Andy Park: As a viewer, watching the JFK events; as a performer, ad-libbing live on camera nightly for 90 minutes in prime time in San Francisco while the Watergate hearings were in recess and the network provided no feed.
Craig Hines: The Kennedy funeral or the early space shots.
Jeff Gehringer: Without question, the moon landing in 1968. As a student of this medium, I have never seen the entire country join in celebration like this one moment in time.
Dave Van Dyke: It’s a toss-up between watching the Kennedy assassination coverage as it was happening and the first time my baby sitter allowed me to stay up late enough to watch Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show - for that night I became a man!
Dave Cooke: The Apollo 11 Moon Landing. I’ve never seen anything on television more inspiring, dramatic, beautiful and powerful.
Gene Thayer: When Walter Cronkite told us that JFK was dead. I was on active duty with the USMC aboard the USS Ranger, CVA 61. We went on full, locked and loaded, we devour our own offspring, take no prisoners, alert. We were all stunned and pissed-off and wanted to kill something or somebody. Instead, I was shipped to Laos for some fun and games within the indigenous Marxists (I found out, later, that little sojourn never happened. Officially. Right.).
Kenny Morse aka Mr. Traffic: Me giving the Playboy Playmate of the Year driving lessons for a segment of EXTRA, AND getting paid for it. Life, or tv just doesn’t get better!
Jack Armstong: When I shot the original 28 episodes of MTV for Bob Pittman at Warner-Amex. When you take an idea and make it happen for the first time, that is the toughest moment. We had little or no help those 3 days!
Eric Tracy: The last M*A*S*H and the last Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.
Mr. KABC: When David Letterman worked at a Taco Bell drive thru.
Dave White: Two Elvis Presley specials: The 1968 NBC Comeback Special and Aloha from Hawaii in 1973.
Kelli Gates: My most memorable tv moment was my grand-prize winning appearance on Wheel of Fortune! Now if I can just figure out what the heck I did with that $25,000!!!!
Chuck Southcott: SHOOTING OF ROBERT KENNEDY
Rich Brother Robbin: I’d have to say the final M*A*S*H episode, "goodbye, farewell and amen."
Kenny Noble Cortes: July 1969. Man on the moon. It doesn’t get any better than those surreal black and white images. An awesome event covered live.
Nasty Neil: Appearing on the Jerry Springer Show.
Bill Wright: The 1969 moon landing/walk of Armstrong and Aldrin. What I’d really watch, if I gave in to my addiction and ordered cable (which I won’t!), would be American Movie Classics-probably 24 hours a day, dropping out of society and drooling a lot!
Cyndee Maxwell: When the L.A. riots hit, I was working nights/weekends at KLOS, so I had lots of free time during the day. I couldn’t believe how I became so mesmerized to the tv.
Mikki: The Boy Who Drank Too Much was filmed in Madison, Wisconsin. I was in the 7th grade. We skipped school so we could meet Scott Baio and the guy who played James at 16. So when it was on tv, we all watched and saw ourselves for a whole 8 seconds. Other tv moments? Living in West Palm Beach when the tragic Space Shuttle incident happened. That was really sad.
Mark Denis: Man on the Moon.
Red Blanchard: Watching Harry S Truman imitate H.V.Kaltenborn.
Whitney Allen: It was around 1983 when the television news media started reporting the "gay cancer." Remember that? Well, I was used to reading Op-Ed pages, magazine articles and was becoming accustomed to seeing the word "condom" in print. But I believe it was KABC/Channel 7 when a very prominent female news anchor turned to the reporter who had just given a report on exactly how aids was spread...and the shock of hearing this woman say..."well, we MUST stop anal sex" was so hysterically funny...I have yet to get over it. Now of course, we hear stories like that all the time...(especially when dealing with the president!!) but to hear it that very first time was quite a moment.
Joe Crummey: The Beatles first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. That’s when "the 60’s" began.
Myles Cameron: The Challenger exploding while I was on the air middays at KHTZ, January 1986. Although the Kennedy deal was certainly on a par. (Not Jack Parr!)
Clark Macy: The last show of M*A*S*H.
Craig Sea: When John F. Kennedy was killed and when we landed on the moon.
Scott West: When I received my SAG eligibility on a tv series called Equal Justice.
Mark Thompson: My most memorable tv moment would have to be when the Beatles stepped on the moon.

(September 4, 1998) Visit our Web site this weekend for the results of our latest survey on what Los Angeles Radio People watch on tv. Thanks to all of you for participating…One of the casualties when Salem Broadcasting took over KIEV last month was longtime host Gregg Hunter. The host of Gregg Hunter’s World of Entertainment emails: "That much publicized exit from KIEV after 30 years was actually a two day absence from broadcasting. I signed off the ‘original’ 870AM with owners in studio as well as new boss. Am now heard three evenings a week on the National Cable Radio Network -- Thursday 10 p.m. - midnight, Saturday 10 p.m.- 1 a.m. and Sunday 9 p.m. - midnight. Am also into negotiation for L.A. area AM dial schedule. [More on that soon.] Have been motivated by a lot by volume of mail that came to KIEV, the new program director David Armstrong -- everybody makes mistakes -- and my own mailbox. An incredible 2,000 plus letters and cards on a late evening sustaining program. Kinda' unheard of response. Have been on the air since the age of 13 in the Midwest and all my adult life in L.A. Nothing lasts forever, but three decades came close. I'm one happy and grateful broadcaster." Gregg continues to cover the restaurant scene at Menuserve.com and he has a weekly column in the Tolucan Times…The X-Man from KCMG, Xavier Soriano, was part of the LA Times Calendar section cover story yesterday on "Savoring Summer to the Last." He said: "I’m from the Bay Area – Monterey – so I love Southern California’s beaches, especially Venice Beach. I like to walk, hang out, watch people. If I feel up to it, I might Roller-blade a little. I live in Burbank, but it’s worth the drive."…Royal Oakes was working morning drive at KABC on Wednesday. Home run record chaser Mark McGwire was sitting at 57 homers. Royal pontificated that Mark "would go cold" and not break the Roger Maris record. Later that day McGwire hit two more homers. Trust Royal implicitly with his legal expertise, but accept no sporting tips…KRTH’s Joni Caryl will sing Beauty School Dropout from Grease at noon today at the Thousand Oaks Mall. Yes, yes, she will be wearing the "red dress" while she warbles…A KBIG morning newsperson earlier this year; Mother Love left radio to host a syndicated daytime strip Forgive or Forget. The Hollywood Reporter compared recent rating gains for the show after eight weeks on the air to the early days of Judge Judy, the biggest syndication hit in years...Jim Ladd knows how to get his audience involved. One recent night this week, Jim said: "Get involved. One of the great things about KLOS. If you’re in Redondo Beach, South Central. If you’re in Ventura, Sherman Oaks, Thousand Oaks. If you’re in Studio City or in Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, Long Beach. If you’re in Hollywood proper, San Bernardino or Riverside. If you’re in Oxnard or in San Diego. If you are living in Malibu or Zuma. If you are in Torrance, Orange County, Santa Ana, Anaheim. By listening to this station we create an electronic community. Suddenly you’re not living in just another kind of faceless mini-mall situation. You are part of KLOS. You are part of what we are doing here. You are now connected through the airwaves to everyone else who is listening, whether they’re in the car, in the bedroom, or wherever. You are connected. We are one. We are a community, which is very cool."…The former Miller Genuine Draft poster girl, Wendi, did overnights and swing for six years at KIIS. Once a vj at MTV, she is now working weekends at KZLA…KCMG celebrates the end of their $1,000,000 summer with a big party for listeners at the House of Blues. I musta lost my invitation…The LA Times reports this morning that the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists (AFTRA) has filed grievances on behalf of talk show host Tammy Bruce against KFI for issues involving "disparate treatment based on gender and sexual orientation, unpaid vacation, enforcement of the term of her contract with two additional months of pay, failure to investigate sexual harassment complaints, and retaliation for filing sexual harassment complaints." The Times asked KFI pd David G. Hall for comment and he refused but quipped that he loves the attention that Tammy is giving KFI…KNX’s Charleye Wright has been observing the flap over Tammy Bruce’s comments about Bill and Camille Cosby and the resultant apology by KFI and Tammy’s termination. Charleye emails: "Do I understand correctly? That Tammy Bruce has been taken off the air for mouthing personally defamatory remarks about other human beings? That her current contract is being honored fully? That Tammy is suing for that? And AFTRA is fighting the battle with her? I don’t understand their argument, beyond injured ego and/or pride. Are Tammy and AFTRA saying a radio station may not remove a personality from their air no matter what the person says? Sounds like that’s what they are saying, since I can’t think of anything Tammy could say about the Cosbys that would be much uglier or more personally insulting than what she did say. And she was incorrect to boot! If I do understand correctly, let’s go slow here in our attempt to make Tammy a heroine and KFI the villain. I’m surprised the Cosbys are not suing HER after a performance that was a radio version of the Star magazine."…The World Famous KROQ is running a "Flashback 500" this weekend with KROQ’s "prehistoric songs." They have lined up guest djs from Berlin, Tears for Fears, Go-Go’s, Duran Duran, Adam Ant and a cave full of others. Should be fun…It has been almost a week since Los Angeles radio veteran Richard Beebe died at the age of 68. Notice of Richard’s passing came from his lovely wife Ann and it was posted here last Sunday. She follows up with this note: "I have heard from so many people, it is astounding. People are very caring and give of themselves when they write, and that in turn, helps me. Every day I am answering emails and that makes life a bit easier right now. Richard was 68 years old. When he was first diagnosed, we talked about it and decided to try and keep things quiet, for a couple of reasons. We wanted to keep our lives as normal as possible. Once people knew, relationships had to change. The other reason was that so many others have had the same disease, we somehow did not want to add our name to the same list, even though it was inevitable." Ann Beebe was a radio person in her own life. She was music coordinator for "American Top 40" for 20 years. God bless, Ann…Ray Lopez, who works under the name "Sugar" Ray Lopez for KABC’s Larry Elder, emailed: "I knew Richard Beebe and his lovely wife Ann when Ann and I worked on L.A. Clipper broadcasts at KMPC. At the time I was a 22-year-old punk kid who had no business working on the air, much less at KMPC. Richard and his wife gave me ideas on how to get better and told me when I was improving. They kept my head up when we all knew how nervous and painful my on-air segments were sounding. They both helped me learn how to be a better broadcaster and I know I could never be the asset I am to KABC without Ann and Richard." Services for Richard will be private…Labor Day weekend at "Star 98.7" will be all-80s music…Doc Bailey has been sitting in the morning drive chair at KBIG for vacationing Rick Diego and Carolyn Gracie…Radio & Records "Street Talk" column is "hearing" that longtime WIOD-Miami talker Al Rantel will join the talk line-up at KABC. Al auditioned in the vacant nine-to-noon slot last week. Next week all the announced hosts in the 9 – noon slot are KABC people like Robin Abcarian, Royal Oakes and Mr. KABC. So maybe the auditions are over and Al is the new guy…Speaking of "Street Talk," this email from John Leader, who worked at KHJ in the mid-1970s, will be of interest: "I'm really enjoying my daily visits to the Web site for your updates. As the former author of ‘Street Talk’ in R&R for eight years, I know how much fun it can be gathering together all the tidbits of daily radio activity...you're doing a great job of it. I wanted to let you know I took a major fall off my mountain bike two weeks ago and broke my right hip! So, I'm off my feet for at least six weeks and won't be driving a car again for probably 8-10 weeks! Naturally that makes driving around town all day doing freelance voiceover work impossible. However, we installed an ISDN line studio set-up here at my house, so I can resume working on a limited basis. I will heal and life goes on. Actually, I feel way too good to be flat on my back, but I have no choice, if I am to avoid surgery. I can rest if I have to. I really enjoyed listening to Charlie Van Dyke's first day at ‘K-Earth.’ It was just like old times - KHJ 1975 - with CVD, Mark Elliot, Bobby Ocean, Machine Gun Kelly, Dr. John Leader, J.B. Stone, Dave Sebastian, and Beau Weaver. I can't imagine what I would sound like if I were to go back on the air now. Charlie sounds like he's never missed a day!"…KLON is actively involved in the Long Beach Blues Festival this weekend…This weekend KROQ is giving away tickets to the MTV Video Music Awards show…Stephanie Edwards stopped by radio for a Lucky’s cup of coffee when she worked at KGIL last year. She was the cover story in last weekend’s LA Times Magazine. Besides marrying a Santa Monica High School buddy of mine, Murray MacLeod, the author of the Times piece said it all of Stephanie. "I can’t imagine anyone not liking Stephanie Edwards. She is just sooooo nice."

(September 3, 1998) Former KFI late night talker Tammy Bruce takes action against KFI. This just in from Gary Lycan of the OC Register: "Union grievances will be filed against KFI/640 AM for the ‘unjust suspension’ of late night talk show host Tammy Bruce, who was taken off the air July 10 following remarks she made about Bill and Camille Cosby. [KFI’s full apology appeared on August 20.] The Orange County Register is reporting this morning that the broadcast union AFTRA will announce its actions at a press conference at 10 a.m. today at its Wilshire Boulevard offices in Bruce’s behalf, who is under a gag order for the duration of her contracts. Bruce will appear, but not speak at the press conference. AFTRA rep Kristen Harper will claim violations in the collective bargaining and personal services contract, specifically KFI’s suspension of Bruce and its attempts to silence her. The goal, Harper said, is ‘to get her back on the air’ in Los Angeles. KFI, meanwhile, announced Wednesday Bruce is being permanently replaced 11 p.m.-3 a.m. weeknights by the team of Tim Kelly and Neil Saavedra, who will continue to also do a weekend afternoon show on the station. According to AFTRA, Bruce will continue to be paid, AFTRA said, through the next cycle of her contract, which it said ends in November."…You must read the following story of Rollye James, who once worked in Los Angeles radio at KPOL, KMPC, KHTZ, KGIL, KLAC and KFI. She went on to Austin talk radio. The dilemma of how far talk radio hosts can or should go and the resultant consequences are illustrated in a story written by Rachel Taylor in the current (September) issue of Brill’s Content. The story in Brill’s Content begins: "The brouhaha began in Austin, Texas, on October 15, 1996, with a call to Rollye James’s radio show on KLBJ/AM. ‘I saw a bumper sticker at a parking lot on a redneck’s truck up in Kentucky, and it said ‘Lee Harvey Oswald, where are you when we need you?’ said the caller. ‘You know,’ said James, ‘unless that bullet passes through Al Gore first, I think we’re in deeper trouble.’ About 40 minutes later, another caller took James to task. ‘That’s the same thing we were hearing right before the Kennedy assassination,’ he said. ‘With the kooks around nowadays, anything could happen.’ James answered, ‘I really don’t think I’m going to be able to cause anybody to take out Bill Clinton. But if I can, I hope their aim is good and I hope that bullet passes through Al Gore first. And if you want a trifecta, take Hillary, too.’" The story reports that six days later, the then gm asked Rollye to apologize on the air and she did. The request for the apology had come from Luci Baines Johnson, daughter of the late President Lyndon Johnson and chairwoman of the company that owned KLBJ. Four days later Rollye was fired. She was seven months into her two-year contract. According to Brill’s Content, Rollye sued for "breach of contract, negligence, libel [because the station manager suggested her behavior was unpredictable, and because someone at KLBJ faxed around a picture of her head atop a witch’s body], and ‘intentional infliction of emotional distress.’" Her lawyers argued "that her job was to make provocative statements to ‘drum up ratings.’" In the Brill’s Content story, Rollye "insists the station ‘knew precisely what they were going to get’ and cites as proof her KLBJ audition tapes containing other assassination talk." This past May, Rollye was awarded $575,000 for libel and $170,000 for lost wages. In July, a judge set aside the libel part of the jury’s verdict and attorneys are seeking a settlement with the company. Rollye currently works at WWDB-Philadelphia…Ronn Owens worked the nine-to-noon shift at KABC from July 14, 1997 to July 31, 1998. He was brought in by then gm Maureen Lesourd to simulcast his show with sister station KGO-San Francisco where Ronn has been since the fall of 1975. He has had enormous success in the Bay Area and one of the few to consistently beat Rush Limbaugh in the ratings. When new KABC management arrived this past fall, rumors began to run rampant that major programming changes would be installed to stop the downward ratings spiral of the station. On April 23, Ken Minyard, one-half of the KABC morning team, spoke on a panel at the Museum of TV & Radio. Ken quoted the new gm Bill Sommers, "Look, we aren’t going to be a 2 and a half share radio station. If we can’t do better than that, we’re gonna blow it up." Ken agreed and said, "I think we should too. I agree completely. I don’t want to be either." New KABC pd Drew Hayes arrived a few months later and Ronn was the first casualty. Ronn reflects on his time here and his full-time return to KGO: "There is truly something to be learned from my return to KGO-San Francisco. This is a station that has been #1 in the market for over 20 years. Its management treats its air personalities with respect, friendliness, concern and dignity. They are always asking if there is anything they can do to make your job easier. They realize that this attitude fosters loyalty and an unwavering desire to always give 110%. Contrast that with KABC, where management seems to rule by fear and rumor. When you have a program director who talks of ‘blowing up the station,’ and ‘bodies flying out the door,’ [quotes in the LA Times], it's easy to understand why some of the very good people working there are constantly on pins and needles and unhappy. This may be a legitimate management style, but I've never understood why, in a business of communication, people in charge wouldn't go out of their way to be open, honest and friendly. I hope that one day soon my friends at KABC get to experience the joy of working under the type of management as exists at KGO...especially since they are owned by the same company. The Disney I know is reflected by KGO: class, warmth and quality. I can't imagine Michael Eisner being comfortable with a station that proudly proclaims it will have ‘bodies flying out the door.’"…KFI’s Mark Denis would like to know what happened to John Peters/Joe Green who worked at KUTE and KEZY in the mid-1970s…The Killer Kat, was part of the beginning of the Rock format at Long Beach’s KNAC in 1986. She is back on the airwaves using her real name of Kat Snow playing New Music for Buckley Broadcasting’s KLLY [95.3FM]-Bakersfield. She’s also working on her Master’s degree in psychology at Cal State Bakersfield…When newly-arrived KIKF afternooner (and pd), Rick Shaw, introduced his traffic reporter Craig Carpenter, he said, "Now with traffic is the man who introduced me to my second wife." Craig told him he "didn’t want to go there." Whew! Is this business tiny?…Warren Olney, host of KCRW’s "Which Way, L.A.?," will be one of the honorees at the Western Center on Law and Poverty’s 14th annual garden party and awards presentation on September 16…Alan Oda emailed: "On the item from Rick Dees and the guy swallowing the change - now there’s a guy left with no cents."

(September 2, 1998) The "Car Nut," Steve Parker and his wife-to-be, Carey, leave for Hawaii this week to get married. KXTA’s Steve enthused: "I am VERY excited, as you might imagine." I asked him what she was going to call him and he quipped, "Mr. Nut, of course"…Our request for information about the whereabouts of former KABC talk show host Bob Heckler prompted numerous sightings. Bob K emailed that Heckler is now owner/station manager of WXBH/AM near Albany. Howard Sisko emailed: "I heard him as a guest over the past few months on the Peter Ford show [on the original KIEV]. He and Peter are good friends. His comments were that he tried so long to get back into L.A. radio that, after very little other work and no radio show, he bought a 5,000-watt station in upstate New York and now he could do anything he wanted since he was the boss. He, of course, was going to have his own show as well."…Sandy Wells wrote an interesting piece on Radio Disney in Cheers!, the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group. Sandy took his 5-year-old daughter to the Glendale Galleria to witness Radio Disney’s "World Tour." Sandy’s daughter has been a fan since the station signed on and she can recite their slogans and loves the music. Sandy surmised: "Standing in the Galleria and seeing the kids enjoy the Disney djs, I couldn’t help but recall my own infatuation with watching radio djs at work as a kid. Much of what Radio does – with the carefully chosen and, yes, repetitive playlist, the well-planned short breaks for jokes, requests and contests – is just good Top 40 basics applied to a very young audience."…Yesterday, KLOS’ Rita Wilde was giving tips on staying cool during our scorching heat wave: "Stay inside where it’s nice and air conditioned, drink plenty of cool fluids like water and stuff like that, go to the beach because it’ll be nicer down there. Of course, keep KLOS with you cuz we have a lot of cool rock and roll all day long."…During the last hour of Tom Leykis’ show on KLSX last night, he asked, "What food is best eaten off another person?" In the middle of the action, Tom revealed, "This is the first time anyone asked if my wife was springtime fresh." The caller responses were very creative. Soy sauce, Pixie Sticks, Yeagermeister, strawberry sherry, Bicardi, mouthwash, berry blue jello squares, honey, toothpaste and a big stick Popsicle…Rick Dees announced this morning on KIIS that a San Diego man has been hospitalized after trying to set a world’s record for swallowing more than 200 quarters, dimes and nickels. Ellen K asked how the man was doing? Rick replied there was no change yet…KABC’s Joe Crummey, who was scheduled to sit in for the vacationing morning team of Ken Minyard and Peter Tilden, is sick today. Robin Abcarian, originally scheduled for the nine-to-noon slot worked morning drive with Royal Oakes. Paula Jones’ representative, Susan Carpenter-McMillan will "audition" solo at nine…During the first hour of Doug Steckler and Tim Conway, Jr.’s KLSX show last night, the pair took calls from listeners reflecting on the coverage to their crusade against David Cash, the young man connected with the Jeremy Strohmeyer/7-year-old Sherrice Iverson Nevada casino murder. Cash is going to Cal Berkeley and last week the KLSX pair led a caravan to the campus to protest. They took calls in answer to some who have suggested they were merely doing a publicity stunt and taking advantage of a tragedy. Callers, for the most part, were very supportive. It’s clear that they have no patience with the LA Times when the following was heard: "The LA Times has terrific writers and then they have somebody like Shaun Hubler, who can’t write at all, cover a story…and that Judith Michaelson. F both of them."…Bill Alexander hosts the overnight show at "Star 98.7" and has a "This Date In History" feature. Bill reported that on September 2, 1964, a man hit two successive holes-in-one on a Saugus golf course. He beat those odds, but the same fellow died when struck by lightning. When he arrived in hell, they were having their first ever cold day there…Veteran Los Angeles radio personality, Lew Irwin, has just learned about Richard Beebe’s passing (see 8/30/98) and emailed: "I’m currently in London and just received your email about Richard’s death. The news was desolating. He was a close friend and colleague for nearly 35 years. I’ll try to send you a more detailed note about Richard later in the week. For now, let me just say that I have never known anyone who was a greater joy to work with and just be with than he. No matter how difficult or tedious or vexing the job may have been, Richard made it fun. When they taught lessons on quarreling and complaining, Richard flunked out. I saw him only a few weeks ago, and though he apparently knew that the end was near, there wasn’t so much as a hint that anything was wrong. We shared old war stories, and he laughed a lot, that deep, embracing laugh that was as intoxicating as a vintage brandy. 100 proof pleasure."

(September 1, 1998) When Charlie Van Dyke arrived at KRTH for his first day in morning drive yesterday, 20 "K-Earth" staff members from sales, engineering and programming were sporting a Van Dyke beard, including gm Pat Duffy and pd Mike Phillips. Two women on the staff had paste-on Van Dyke’s…KCMG, "Mega 100" is finishing up its $1,000,000 summer. "Mega’s" Rob Riddlemoser talks about the high-profile summer: "The summer started with the contest and sticker drop in the LA Times May 31st. The conclusion of the summer will take place at the House Of Blues – Mega 100's End Of Summer party with the new ‘Mega’ Morning Show, Danny Romero [UPN 13 Weather], Irma Blanco [from Chicago] and Monica Brooks. The Party will take us past our mark - What a great summer for a new station, the response has been unbelievable and we have been received so well. IT's MEGA!!!"…KFWB is rearranging its anchor teams beginning September 14. Morning drive will feature Judy Ford, Bob Jimenez and Ron Kilgore. Handling middays, John Brooks and Jack Popejoy. In afternoon drive the anchors will be Dan Avey, Ken Jeffries and Tammy Trujillo. The evening anchor team features Jim Burson and Bob Howard and Vicky Cox serves as the overnight anchor. Andy Ludlum, former pd of KABC/KMPC/KTZN, will take on the duties of executive director. I asked Andy what an executive producer does at an all-News station. He emailed: "I do a variety of things from working with the morning show to coordinating coverage throughout the day...expanding and developing top stories...coordinating special projects and coverage. It's lots of fun, very hands-on. It's also great to be in news again"…Former LA Times columnist, former partner with Tracey Miller at KTZN and current fill-host at KABC, Robin Abcarian, will be sitting in the nine to noon "audition" chair at KABC today…Speaking of the vacant nine to noon chair at KABC, the man who sat in that chair, Ronn Owens, speaks about his return to KGO-San Francisco as well as his experience at KABC. Ronn’s comments exclusively here later this week…Bob Heckler worked middays and evenings at KABC and KMPC in 1995 and 1996. Any idea where Bob is?...Who goofed? I’ve got to know! BJ Mora emailed to say that USC football will be carried on flagship station XTRA [690AM]-San Diego and KCTD [1540AM]. BJ notes: "This is interesting because KCTD is a One-On-One Sports o&o station [o&o = owned and operated], which is a direct competitor with Jacor's 'XTRA 690' and KXTA [XTRA 1150]." KXTA is the flagship station for UCLA football. Clear?…Starting this Saturday, The Dr. Demento Show will be heard Saturdays at 10 p.m. on KLSX. On The Radio Broadcasting continues to syndicate the show to stations across the USA…Harry Shearer, actor, comic, writer, host of the weekly "Le Show" at KCRW and voice of several characters on The Simpsons, worked with veteran L.A. newsman Richard Beebe who passed away August 29 of lung cancer. Harry remembers: "Just returned to town to read the sad news of Richard's passing. He was a wonderful friend and mentor during the original days of the Credibility Gap on KRLA and KPPC, and on stage and record. I had listened to him do rock-n-roll news for years before meeting him, and it was a surprising treat that, behind that almost frighteningly stentorian baritone was a gentle, funny man who loved to laugh and to enjoy life. As I'd encounter him, rarely, in the years since the Gap's demise, Richard was unfailingly friendly and encouraging, and I was looking forward to seeing him at a reunion of the Gap that the Museum of TV and Radio here in L.A. is organizing. His are big pipes to fill."

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Last modified: November 27, 1998