(January 12, 2010) One of the biggest public messes in recent memory revolves around Jay Leno and the potential fall-out from late-night confusion on what to do after a failed attempt to strip Leno in prime-time. NBC was apparently forced to take Leno out of the prime-time line-up due to complaints from affiliates where viewership going into local news was off by as much as 30%. Originally seen as a cost-cutting move, the programming geniuses at NBC thought that by moving the casual late-night gabfest it would work as a prime-time fodder.

Now, as NBC execs attempt to sort out the musical chairs, The Hollywood Reporter is speculating that Last Call with Carson Daly may be the "odd man out." Carson recently joined his old pal Kevin Weatherly at AMP RADIO for wake-up duties. NBC claims they will have it all in place by early February. Hopefully it will not be the last call for Carson.

(January 12, 2010) The wide range of Los Angeles Radio People that we lost last year in April represented talent from a morning Country star to the host of a kids program.

Deano Day, April 10 (70) was the morning man at KLAC three times during the Country years that spanned three decades. He died due to complications of heart surgery at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. Deano had just turned 70 years old days before his death.

Born Ordean Moen, Deano was a station owner in Fargo while still in his 20s. He replaced Ken Dowe and Granny Emma in the morning drive slot at the legendary KLIF-Dallas in 1967. He left Big D for his first visit to Country KLAC in 1969. Deano’s major success came in the Midwest where he did mornings on a number of Country stations in Chicago and Detroit.

In 1975, Deano won Billboard magazine’s Country Personality of the Year Award while working at WDEE-Detroit. He also worked at WCAR-Detroit. It seems Deano never met a radio station he wouldn’t work for in Detroit ... or Chicago.

Dave Parks, April 18 (54) was a longtime host of the Saturday Morning Kids Show on KWVE (K-Wave 107.9/fm) where he was known as ‘K-Dave.”.

“K-WAVE lost a longtime staff member who was one of those creative individuals who can never really be replaced,” said KWVE gm Richard McIntosh. “The Saturday Morning Kids Show will never be the same. Dave, thank you for your dedication, wit and your ability to make people smile.”

Dave began at K-Wave in 1993, when he worked the overnight shift.  In 1995, Dave took on the hosting and production duties of The Saturday Morning Kids Show while at the same time continuing the overnight on-air shift. During Dave’s tenure, the Kids Show popularity soared.  Dave’s passion for kids combined with his love for his work and ministry was clear.

Dave created and was the official co-host of Woody the Bear. He also worked to take the Kids Show ‘on the road’ and created the ‘Saturday Morning Kids Show - LIVE,’ a 2-hour live version of the on-air show.

Evan King, April 25 (34) worked as an AE at Clear Channel’s KHHT (HOT 92.3) for six years and was one of their best billers. At the time of his death he was a partner in Damien Lewis’ multi-media company, Clocker Shade Productions.

“Evan was my closest friend,” said Damien. “We pretty much spent every day together, and the night before his death we went out and had one beer. We’re not big drinkers. Neither of us were much when it came to drinking. It is ridiculous for a guy who is 34 to pass away so young.”

“Evan had a single seizure in December, however, he went through a very thorough examination, including an MRI and CAT scan and was declared perfectly healthy,” said Damien. “The December incident was diagnosed as a seizure related to heavy caffeine consumption often found in energy drinks. Evan was the epitome of health – he loved to hike, work out at the gym and ate very healthy.”

“When Evan left Clear Channel, he took it as a sign to move on to try and to do new things while he still had time to do them. Evan was not married and had no children and this was a perfect time to take some risks and he felt like it was a good time to do it,” said Damien.

Barbara Birdfeather, April 26 (69)  was best known as one of the early female voices of Los Angeles “underground” radio. She succumbed to a long bout with lung cancer at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital, where she had been hospitalized since September 2008. She was 69.

Born in Mt. Kisco, New York, Birdfeather worked as a professional astrologer. She wrote The Birdfeather Astrological Space Book, published in 1969. She wrote regular astrology columns for Cosmopolitan and Rags.

Moving to Los Angeles, Birdfeather was heard on fm stations KMET (1969-71); KPPC (1971-73) and KPFK (1973-74).

“Barbara Birdfeather was an extremely kind and understanding human and humane being,” recalls former KMET program director Richard Kimball, “and one hell of a good dj. Birdfeather preceded me on the air every night at KMET, before B. Mitchel Reed took over that slot. We always had a pleasant, on-air chat about the happenings of the day. Even though we were both adamantly opposed to the Vietnam War going on at the time, I never once heard her say anything negative about those responsible for that conflict. She simply made her point known by the music she chose to play.”

To: Jhani Kaye

From: Don Barrett

Date: January 11, 2010

Re: Your new assignment as program director at KTWV

Station groups all over the country have consolidated the duties of the program directors by giving them all the stations in the cluster as a cost-saving move. So far, LA Radio has been far more judicious in adding stations to existing responsibilities of programming execs. They have made the move only when it seems to fit, instead of simply trying to save a buck.

There’s some good reasons CBS Radio has added KTWV to your responsibilities at K-EARTH.  You have demonstrated to the suits that left alone to create a well-disciplined radio station, your success will flourish. Your vision for KOST took this station to the heights of AC radio for two decades and became the standard by which all others are judged.

K-EARTH was a languishing Oldies station. Many critics had written off the format as, well, old. The once-standard of Oldies radio had mummified itself, rotating a couple of hundred titles, playing them ad nauseum and removing the fun. You could hear the stifling and choking sounds of the station as it sputtered toward extinction.

The day you arrived at K-EARTH in 2006, the bones began to rattle. You began to add some titles that hadn’t been heard in years. You expanded the playlist. You had aircheck sessions with the jocks. You juggled the staff. And it paid off with steady ratings that culminated this past November with KRTH ranked #1 in the PPM 6+.

Now CBS/LA Radio has given you the ratings-challenged KTWV. The 94.7 frequency has evolved from the legendary years of KMET to the launch of the NAC format in 1987 with Sting’s If You Love Somebody. The “New Age” format was complete with dangling wind chimes. Over the years the station captured the mood of Smooth Jazz and ratings followed.

Ten years ago I was chatting with the then-general manager Tim Pohlman at a Valentine’s Day listener promotion event in Santa Monica. I asked the seven-year veteran what his biggest challenge was at the highly successful station. “The challenge is not to get complacent. I’ve borrowed a line from Jimmy Buffet that sums up my philosophy: Quietly Making Noise.”

But it did become complacent. The station seemed stuck in another time. Smooth Jazz stations all over the country have been dropping the format, but CBS/LA  management has stubbornly held on because of its long-time position in the market. So the WAVE may be drowning, but it can still be resuscitated.

The decision to hire Smooth Jazz musicians to host the morning show (Dave Koz and Brian McKnight) hasn’t worked. The morning show is voicetracked and sounds it. There is nothing relevant. We wake up in the morning, not only wanting to be entertained, but we need to have the sense of what happened overnight and what the day holds in store for us.

I have no inside information, but I would imagine that Brian McKnight will be replaced sooner rather than later. This station needs to breathe. It needs some oxygen, so if management has given you the same freedom and budget to give it mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, I would imagine that the station will not only be live but even weekends will be live and vibrant. This might give the opportunity to out-of-work veterans that you’ve worked with in the past a place to help you succeed.

The reference to ‘Smooth Jazz’ has been dropped from your Web site. At K-EARTH you changed ‘Oldies Radio’ to the ‘Greatest Hits on Earth.’ It will be fun to hear how you evolve the sound of the station and give it a new coat of paint. At K-EARTH, the purists were disappointed when the ’50s and early ’60s music was dropped, only to be replaced by, hold on, ’70s hits. Today it is not jarring to hear music from the ’80s at KRTH. You have smartly evolved that station into a contemporary “Oldies” station.

The 94.7/fm frequency may become the new home to KROQ. The rumors have certainly been strong for well over a year. KROQ’s transmitter is not on Mt. Wilson. The storied Alternative station has struggled with the PPM technology because you can’t hear the station in enough of the nooks and crannies of Southern California. With so many great sounding alternatives, no one will put up with anything but a strong signal free of interference and static.

If that happens, KTWV will move to 106.7. The frequency swap couldn’t come at a more opportune time for you. You will have an opportunity to create your new, evolved image for the station at a new home. You will not only take your P1’s with you but have an outstanding opportunity to enlarge your audience far beyond what you could have at 94.7.

You have inherited a staff of talented individuals. Change is always difficult for them but I’ve always observed you being fair and patient giving them every opportunity to see and execute your vision.

Well Jhani, you could have gone out on top with the enormous success of K-EARTH and KOST. Whotta’ career you have had. But it is clear you are about to embark on a hat trick by taking three stations to the top. We see all-pro quarterbacks stay one season too long. In your case, you have many more seasons to play and delight all of us who enjoy LA Radio.

Good luck.

(January 10, 2010) The recipient of the 2010 LARadio Lifetime Achievement Award is an oldie but a goodie. He has been part of our Los Angeles listening habits since the 1950s. He continues as an institution with his highly successful nightly evening show on HOT 92.3/fm (KHHT).

Art Laboe will be saluted on January 30 and you can be part of the festivities: an afternoon meet and greet, buffet luncheon, a one-hour interview by Don Barrett, presentation of the award and an opportunity to take your picture with this legend.

The Saturday afternoon event on January 30 is $30 (discount for subscribers) and a very limited number of seats are available. Contact us at: db@thevine.net for more information about reserving a seat.

Born Arthur Egnoian in 1925, Art entered the U.S. Navy and became a full-time Flight Radio Officer. Art arrived at KXLA (later KRLA) in the 1950s after stops in Reno, Pomona, Palm Springs and KSAN-San Francisco. His career has spanned an incredible six decades in Los Angeles radio.

He mastered the most successful record series in history, a compilation titled Oldies But Goodies. During the 1950s, Art conducted the first live remotes from midnight to 4 a.m. from Scrivner's Drive-In Restaurant at Imperial & Western. He took the successful concept to the huge Ciro's nightclub on the Sunset Strip, where he interviewed major movie stars.

As rock 'n' roll was about to skyrocket, Art recognized its potential. Beginning in 1955 he broadcast on KPOP from Scrivner's Hollywood Drive-In restaurant. Here, teens created traffic jams near the intersection of Sunset and Cahuenga.

His KPOP show generated 30 Hooper shares. During this time he produced and hosted over 300 live dance shows at the legendary El Monte Legion Stadium, Harmony Park in Anaheim and Long Beach Municipal Auditorium. Every top-name act appeared, including Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jackie Wilson and Chuck Berry.

In 1957, Art packaged an album featuring different artists. Volume One was on Billboard’sTop 100 for 183 weeks. He emceed a highly rated tv show on KTLA/Channel 5.

At KRTH in the 1970s, Art was on air and a consultant for the Oldies format. His nightclub, "Art Laboe's Oldies But Goodies" on the Sunset Strip hosted nostalgia parties every weekend. (Art Laboe with Rick Nelson during the KPOP days)

In 1975 he was pd, air personality and sales consultant at KRLA, and by 1979 he was senior vp. Art got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1981 at Hollywood Boulevard and Highland, near his favorite '50's hangouts. He returned to KRLA in 1985 in various on- and off-air capacities.

His Art Laboe Foundation presents annual scholarships to East Los Angeles high schools. Art devotes much time to animal causes. Humble Harve paid Art an enormous compliment: "Art was the only one to communicate with people on their level." Art owns radio stations in Fresno.

KFWB is dropping afternooner Rodger Hedgecock and replacing him with a news block from 4 p.m. – 7 p.m. Co-anchoring the new drive time show will be Maggie McKay and Michael Shappee. Dr. Laura Schlessinger’s noon – 1 p.m. hour will be repeated from 3 p.m. – 4 p.m. “Since people have called and written and said they don’t always catch the entire program because they’re in and out of their cars, headed to lunch, etc., KFWB is going to add the 'Dr. Laura Rewind' at 3 p.m.,” said a spokesperson for Dr. Laura.

In other CBS/LA radio news, Jhani Kaye takes over the programming reins at KTWV, “The WAVE.” The Smooth Jazz format has been struggling all over the country but Jhani’s new assignment will not only address the declining format in the key demos with a new mix of music, but a contemporary approach to the format. Jhani has been a winner at KOST and K-EARTH, and it is tough to imagine that he will not bring his winning magic to KTWV.

He will continue as program director at K-EARTH, which was ranked #1 in the November PPM, 6+.

Paul Goldstein, pd at KTWV since 2003 and once before from 1987-90, has left the building.