W
W, Jeffrey: KEZY, 1986.
Jeff ("the boy with all the songs") is working morning drive (Jeff and Anna in the Morning) at KDMX (Mix
102.9)-Dallas.
Wachs,
Larry: KLSX, 1995-97. As part of the "Regular Guys" talk team, Larry was
working at WKLS-Atlanta until the Spring of 2004 when they were let go
following the accidental airing of explicit language during a "backwards
porno." He left WFOM-Atlanta in November 2017 after a brief revival of "The
Regular Guys."
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WADE,
Bill: KHJ,
1963 and 1968-74;
KBRT,
1980-81, pd. Born in Bill worked for KHJ in 1963, KDEO and KGB-San Diego. In 1966, he was working at KFRC-San Francisco. He returned to KHJ, when it was "Boss Radio," in 1968. In 1973, Bill worked morning drive while waiting for Charlie Van Dyke to join the station. He had a different guest dj every morning with superstars of the day like Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross, the Carpenters, Glen Campbell and the Osmonds.
In 1969 Bill ran the Bill Wade
Broadcast School of Radio and Television. In 1975 Bill was the gm of
KSOM-Ontario. Last heard he was teaching at
|
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WADE,
Shelley: KBIG, 2017-19. Shelley left her post at
KBIG in late 2019. She's now with Classic Hip Hop WXBK (94.7 THE
BLOCK)-New York. She has always had a passion for music and entertaining. As a young girl, the Houston, Texas native dreamed of being an award-winning singer and spent years performing at events throughout the state. Her interests later evolved into a curiosity for radio, and for more than a decade, she has graced the airwaves and entertained music fans from all walks of life. Throughout her career, Shelley has been honored with numerous industry awards and honors including winning Best Midday Show by A.I.R. (New York) and being named Member of the Year by the San Diego Association of Black Journalists. She has also been featured in Time Magazine, and has appeared on daytime talk shows The Today Show with Kathie Lee and Hoda and The Talk. Today, she hosts the weekday afternoon drive on KMYI Star 94.1-San Diego, and can also be heard weekends on 104.3 MYfm and KUBE 104.9-Tacoma. Fans love her relatability, her friendly demeanor, and her loveable laugh! Outside of radio, Shelley mentors high school and college students interested in careers in Journalism, and also volunteers her time hosting events geared towards helping women that have been victims of domestic violence. (from KBIG website) |
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WAGMAN, Rob: KBBY, 2003-04; KYSR, 2004; KFSH, 2012-14. Rob owns Straight Path Media + Marketing. Rob was programming WIBT-Charlotte until early 2009. Following a stint as apd/md at WXRK in New York, Rob joined KFSH in late 2012 for afternoon drive. He went on to WAY/fm and left in late Spring 2017. "I grew up in a
lower-middle class town called Carpentersville, Illinois, about 40 miles
northwest of Chicago. I began winning radio contests in the 70's
and would win so often that I would have to lie my name and change my
voice to fool the djs, and out of that came a character named ‘Keith,’
who was a 5-year old prodigy child. Keith knew a lot about life, for a
5-year old. DJ's in Chicago found his content fascinating and his
naiveté charming enough to put him on the air often, and eventually
offer him a job. Larry
Lujack, Fred Winston,
Steve
Dahl and Garry Meier were his earliest radio influences, as they
demonstrated how ‘real personality’ can draw in an audience. "Columbia College Chicago was where I chose to study radio, which quickly turned into on air and management positions at the college station, and an internship with B96, a CBS Top 40 in Chicago that would grow me up real fast. I was exposed to the fast side of our industry and my inability to manage the party lifestyle and the responsibilities of having a real job, got the best of me. I lost my positions in college, and eventually dropped out, before graduating." |
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WAGNER, Dave:
KMZT, 2001. Dave joined
"K-Mozart" as pd in March 2001. He is syndicated on a number of
Classical stations. As a Classical music broadcaster, Dave is heard regularly as the morning/afternoon host on WRCJ in Detroit. Other radio stations have included WQRS-Detroit, WGUC-Cincinnati, WTMI-Miami, WFLN-Philadelphia, and KTIM in San Francisco. Dave is also heard as the host of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra live broadcasts throughout the State of Michigan on the WRCJ/WKAR Radio Network. |
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WAGNER, Gary:
KLON, 1992-2001;
KKJZ, 2009-19. Gary the "Wagman" hosts 'Nothin' But the Blues' on
K-JAZZ.
“I first became interested in radio
as a profession in about 1965. An |
"At the early age of 17, they let me go on
the air and I have never looked back since," Gary continued. "After a stint
in
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WAGNER, Jack:
KNX, 1947; KGIL, 1951-52; KHJ,
1952-57; KBIQ, 1957-58; KHJ, 1958-62;
KHJ/fm, 1967-68; KNX,
1968. Jack's show business career began at age 4 in Hollywood films as a
French-speaking child actor. By age 17, he was a contract player at
MGM. He became a radio personality at KHJ and the Mutual Network
while performing in tv shows, including Dragnet, Sea
Hunt, The Ann Sothern Show and 144 episodes of The
Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet as "Jack in the Malt Shop." Jack started an association with the Disney organization when he and his family were guests for the opening of Disneyland. Beginning in 1970 Jack handled the voice work at the park and production of over 40 master tapes that contained background music for the theme areas at Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris. His taped messages included "Keep your arms and legs inside the coach," "All aboard" or "Enjoy your stay." For many years, he supplied the authentic voices of some 20 various Disney cartoon characters that were heard at the parks. His radio career spanned a period of special programs to popular music. At KHJ in 1957, he hosted an all-night talk/music show with guest stars. During his first job at KNX, Jack was the announcer for a live music program featuring performances by his older brother, Roger Wagner. Jack was the last pd at KNX before the station switched to all-News. At KMPC and KABC, he was the guest host for Dick Whittinghill and Gene Norman. In the 1990s, Jack was a consultant to Las Vegas casino owner Stephen Wynn and produced the music for the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino. Jack's son, Mike, was pd of KRLA for a decade. Jack passed away after collapsing at a rest stop on his way to Palm Springs on June 16, 1995. He was 69. |
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WAGNER,
Mike: KEZY, 1974; KIIS, 1976-82; KRLA, 1984-94.
Mike started his show business career at the age of 3 when he first
appeared on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. He went on
to appear in more than a dozen episodes. At age 6, he was featured
on an album cover of popular easy listening music. In the 1970s Mike
appeared in Happy Days and Ozzie's Girls. His
father, Jack Wagner, worked for a half-dozen radio stations in the
1950s and '60s. Mike's uncle was Roger Wagner, conductor of the L.A.
Master Chorale and the Roger Wagner Chorale. His cousin Phil Volk was known as "Fang" as a member of the rock band Paul Revere & the Raiders. He started his radio career in 1973 at KDES-Palm Springs and in late 1974 joined KEZY. Mike became the KIIS all-night man on March 18, 1976. When the station went to a Disco format at noon on November 14, 1978, he was named pd. In a 1979 LA Times interview, Mike commented, "I really believe that disco is the most mass-appeal format there is. It's become a new life-style." Mike resigned KIIS as pd in the spring of 1981 and stayed on another year in afternoons. Between KIIS and KRLA, Mike was vp of programming for Alta Broadcasting. Mike joined KRLA in late 1984 and served as pd for over a decade. |
He has narrated countless video presentations, and his voice has been heard introducing guest performances and special parades at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Mike was the voice at the Sony Game Show Network. In the fall of 1995 Mike joined Disneyland Paris as manager of product marketing and became the English language voice of the Eurostar train service between London and Disneyland Paris. In 2000 Mike joined Group NRJ in Paris as director of adult formats running NOSTALGIE, the Oldies network; CHERIE FM, the AC network, and a news/talk format. Mike works for a real estate firm in Kingman, Arizona. Once the Covid-19 pandemic ends, Mike is planning to start transitioning between Arizona and France to retire there with his wife of 42 years (Vicki, the Frenchie) at their home in Biarritz. |
Wagner, Shelley: KABC, 1979-2009. Shelley was the marketing head at KABC until the cluster downsized in early 2009. She worked for the Dodgers organization until 2020.
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WAHL,
Richard: KNX,
1960-67; KFWB,
1967-83. Richard began his radio career in Seattle in 1954. He moved
to Los Angeles in 1960 and started working as a yeoman newsman for
KNX. In the late 1960's, Dick joined the ABC Radio network news
bureau in Los Angeles. “He was one of the forerunners of news anchors for ABC when they formed their multiple radio network operations,” remembered colleague Scott Shurian. In 1974 he served an ABC tour in New York City before returning to Los Angeles for a spate of service with KFWB news. “He then decided it was time to share his professional knowledge as a teacher of broadcast journalism at California State College, Northridge. He also shared his great respect and his ethical practices for electronic journalism with his students. Dick was more than simply respected by his peers. He was admired by many of them for his quiet but strong approach to the business he dedicated so much of his life too. Dick gave up the ghost after a long painful struggle with Guillain-Barre syndrome,” wrote Scott. Richard died August 18, 2001, at the age of 69. |
Wailin, Jon R.W.: KZLA, 1979-80. Jon lives
in San Leandro and is doing airborne traffic reports for
KGO-San Francisco.
Waite, Charles: KNX, 1968-69. Charles died
of a brain tumor at a young age.
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WALCOFF, Rich:
KORJ, 1979; KRLA, 1979-83; KIKF, 1983-85.
Rich broadcast sports on KGO-San Francisco from 1985-2016 until a major shake-up at the Cumulus station.
Rich was sports director at KIKF and the voice of the UC Irvine sports teams. He and the rest of the KGO Radio/49ers broadcast team were recognized by Associated Press in 1994 with an award for Best Play-By-Play Reporting of Sports. Rich has also done play-by-play announcing for San Jose State football and Cal basketball, and color commentary for Cal football. Rich began his sports broadcasting career in 1971 while attending the University of Connecticut; he was the play-by-play voice of The UConn Huskies basketball, baseball and football games. Upon graduation in 1975, he went to WMMM in Westport, Connecticut as a news and sports reporter, and in 1979 moved to KORJ in Orange, California in the same capacity. A year later, Rich was lured to KRLA as news and sports director, and also became play-by-play announcer for U.C. Irvine basketball. He holds a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Connecticut, is a native of Long Island, New York. As a nine-year old kid in New York, Rich used to turn the sound down on the Yankee games and do his own play-by-play into his tape recorder. He knew from an early age that sports reporting was what he wanted to do. He got his first real microphone experience as courtside announcer for his high school basketball games. |
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WALD, Ronnie: KGIL, 1981-83; KGOE, 1982; KFOX; KTIE, KPRO, KRLA, KMNY, KWRM. 2011 marked Ronnie's 30th year in LA sportscasting. Since 2003, he has been Internet streaming at: waldcast.net. Wald's impressive resume includes work with Cal State Fullerton, Pepperdine, Cal State Northridge, San Diego State, University of San Diego, and UC Riverside. The dean of broadcasters in the CCAA, Wald has called games for Cal State Stanislaus, Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal State Monterey Bay, and Cal State San Bernardino. In 1984 he was the voice of the Cal State Northridge Matadors. Wald has also worked with the Visalia Oaks and Bakersfield Blaze of the California League and he's been heard around the world on Armed Forces Radio. |
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WALDEN,
Mike: KNX, 1966-69; KFI, 1970-73.
Mike was prominent in sports broadcasting in Southern California for
over 30 years. He’s the only announcer in radio and tv to serve as
both the voice of the USC Trojans in football and basketball, and
later the voice of the UCLA Bruins in both sports. He’s well known
for his play-by-play work on NCAA football and basketball, including
tennis telecasts for the Prime Ticket Network (now Fox Sports West).
He died in February 2017, at the age of 89. Mike has done seven Rose Bowl games and major league baseball for the Dodgers, Cardinals and Braves. Mike served as sidekick (“on-scene” reporter) for the Super Dave tv comedy specials originally broadcast on Showtime. He was born in 1931 and grew up in Springfield and graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in journalism. He worked on the Illinois Sports Network while in school. After the Air Force, he spent 10 years in Milwaukee broadcasting Wisconsin football and basketball, the Green Bay Packers and Braves. From Milwaukee he went to CBS radio in Chicago. Then, in 1966, he got the USC job. In 1970, he became sports director at KFI. He has won four Golden Mike awards, an L.A. Press Club award and has served five terms as president of the Southern California Sports Broadcasting Association. |
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WALDOW, Mitch:
KPFK, 1976-77; KFWB, 1977-83.
Mitch was a news reporter, writer and editor at all-news
KFWB. "After I left the station, I freelanced as a reporter and news
writer at several L.A. tv stations, ending up at KCOP/Channel 13,
where I have done everything from producing newscasts and specials
to selling stock footage." He also works at Fox 11, KTTV.
In late 2020, Mitch retired from KTTV, after 44 years in L.A. radio
and TV. Mitch produced a bio-documentary on Ronald Reagan's Hollywood years, which won the Award of Excellence medal from the Film Advisory Board. He is a former L.A. area governor of the TV Academy, and now serves on the academy's executive committee as L.A. vice-president. Mitch's biographical sketch of composer/musician/writer Mason Williams appears in the Blues and Folk Encyclopedia, published by St. Martin's. For five years in the 90s, Mitch was a regular guest on Ian Whitcomb's show on KPCC. "I'd bring in a bunch of 78s and we'd 'whack the shellac.' It was a lot of fun doing that show." |
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WALKER, Adrienne:
KOST, 1993-95. Adrienne
was
co-host of the syndicated "World Chart Show." After 20 years at
MIX/fm in Tucson, she left in late 2016. Adrienne graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with in political science and government. She lives in Tucson and has done voiceover work for the last 25 years. |
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WALKER, Glynnis:
KFI, 1996-99. Born and raised in London, England,
Glynnis teamed with Maria Sanchez and eventually
went solo for a weekend talk show during her time in L.A. radio. She
said her big break when KFI program director David G. Hall called on
April Fool's Day to say she was getting Tammy Bruce's weekend
shifts. "I thought he was kidding." In the early 2000s she was one of the few female morning drive talk show hosts in a major market. She has also hosted talk shows in San Diego at KOGO and KSDO. Prior to her radio career, she was the owner of a chain of 23 English pubs in Canada. In an interview with Gary Lycan of the Orange County Register, she said her favorite food is Bubble and Squeak (an English dish) with an egg on it. Glynnis is the author of six books, including Second Wife, Second Best?, which was featured on Oprah in 1986. Glynnis earned a BA in psychology and English at Queen’s University and an MBA in marketing from York University. In the late 1980s, Glynnis hosted a call-in talk show on Toronto tv. Before joining KFI, she hosted and produced “Real Talk” radio commentaries that were syndicated across the county. Glynnis left WAIT-Chicago in early fall of 2002. |
Walker, John Lee: KIIS, 1977. Unknown.
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WALKER,
Mike: KABC, 2005-08. Mike hosted
an entertainment weekend program on KABC until early 2008.
He died February 16, 2018, at the age of 72. The first time I met Mike Walker, King of Gossip for the National Enquirer, was ten years ago at a trendy spot on Santa Monica Boulevard. When we were introduced by our mutual pal, John Phillips from KABC, Mike blurted out to me, “how is covering a dying industry?” I could have said something similar about the publishing industry, but Mike was more than just the guy from the Enquirer. Mike was an entertainer. If you didn’t read the National Enquirer, perhaps you remember him from his days at KABC or his weekly guesting on the Howard Stern show playing ‘The Gossip Game,’ [Walker read four stories and Stern had to guess which one was true]. Or maybe his foray as morning man at “Real Radio” KLSX. It could have been his newsmagazine, “National Enquirer TV.” Or the book he wrote in 2005, Rather Dumb: A Top Tabloid Reporter Tells CBS How to Do News. Walker co-wrote with Faye Resnick the #1 New York Times best-selling book about the O.J. Simpson murder trial, Nicole Brown Simpson: Private Diary of a Life Interrupted in 1994. “The Hemingway of Gossip” — that’s how Howard Stern once described Mike Walker. To Geraldo Rivera, Walker was the “Guru of Gossip — the Dean of Celebrity News and a first-rate TV personality.” And Ryan Seacrest may have put it best when he asked: “Has Mike Walker ever missed a beat? Nope! Not to my knowledge. That guy impresses me — he always nails it!” |
| Mike Walker wrote, and some might say he was
the face, of The Enquirer for five decades. Walker — who
bravely battled a long illness with courage and humor — carried on
writing items for his “Gossip: Coast to Coast” column right up to
the end. “I knew I wanted to be a journalist by the time I was 12 or
13 years old,” said Mike. Leaving his family’s home in Boston at age
16, the future “Gossip King” joined the U.S. Air Force. During a
four-year stint, he taught himself how to be a working journalist by
freelancing features to daily newspapers. After the Air Force,
Walker remained in the Far East and became the youngest-ever foreign
correspondent for International News Service, honing his reporting
skills on a top newspaper in Tokyo, Japan. “What intervened then was a wife and two small children, and because I wanted to give them American roots, I decided that I had to give up the show business thing and go back to the States.” In 1970, Walker landed in The Enquirer’s newsroom, then based in Lantana, Florida. A colleague remembered: “Mike was hired as ‘Chief Writer,’ and he was a perfectionist. He was usually the first guy to arrive in the morning and the last guy to go home at night. He loved The Enquirer; how colorful it was and its great spirit.” |
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WALKER,
Rhett:
KRLA,
1967. Born in Rhett was also a popular dj at KOL-Seattle and KFXM-San Bernardino. Rhett arrived at KRLA in 1967 and left within the year. He returned to Australia in the late 1960s, where he stayed for the rest of his career. He held several higher education degrees in music. Rhett had high profile stints on AM radio and played a central role in the establishment of fm radio in Australia as the format consultant and first general manager for FOX FM Melbourne. When he left radio he became a professor of Business at Latrobe University in Victoria. "He was a programming legend," according to Bruce Corneil, an Australian pop culture historian. "And he WAS a brilliant programmer. He did very little on air work after he came back to Australia. Rhett became a reclusive figure in later years, severing all ties with his former life in major market radio ending his days in rural obscurity, which is, apparently, just how he wanted it." (Thanks to Bill Earl for the artwork, http://classicdjradioscrapbook.blogspot.com) |
Walker, Sky: see Dave Skyler
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WALL,
Kevin: KFI, 2006-07; KABC, 2008. Kevin was a fill-in talk show host at KFI.
He currently works afternoon drive at KMZQ-Las Vegas. The genesis of Kevin’s career in conservative talk radio came on September 11th, 2001. It was the day Kevin realized his career in sports talk radio was coming to a close. “The idea of debating the merits of the Detroit Lions running or passing on first down… or whether the Kansas city Royals should bunt a runner over in the first inning or hit away… it all seemed so trivial in comparison to workers leaping to their death from 90th floor windows of the World Trade Center.” Beginning in late 2001, Kevin began hosting talk programs on major market conservative talk radio stations, like KFI and KSFO-San Francisco. He also filled in for name brand national hosts like Glenn Beck and Bill Bennett. After fulltime stops in Nashville and San Antonio, Kevin made the move to the Las Vegas Valley and CBS Radio’s talk station KXNT. After four years at KXNT, Kevin created a statewide Nevada talk network utilizing Royce International Broadcasting’s KBET-AM as flagship. In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020, Kevin moved to AM 670 KMZQ. |
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WALLACE, Gerry:
KFI, 1988-92. Gerry was part of the KFI "TNT" morning
news magazine show. He died February 25, 2023, from complications of
kidney failure. Gerry was 76. "He started as a disc jockey in Lawrence, Kansas during college. He was a weatherman, talk show host and production director at WIBW in Topeka for 20 years, then weatherman and talk show host at WFMY-Greensboro for two years before joining KOVR 13-Sacramento where he worked as mid-morning tv host and weathercaster," accoring to Terri-Rae Elmer. David Grosby and Terri-Rae left KFBK with David G. Hall in 1988. They did the morning show on KFI with Gerry as weatherman and Mike Nolan traffic. Grosby was replaced by Tracey Miller. |
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WALLACE, Rick:
KFWB, 1967-68 and 1971-76; KABC, 1976-78;
KPOL/KZLA, 1978-80; KMPC, 1980-82. Rick was news
director at KPOL and KMPC. Rick lives on Vashon Island, Washington where he is working on getting a Low Power FM license for Voice of Vashon. He's also volunteer manager of Vashon Emergency Operations Center and president of non-profit VashonBePrepared. As the manager of the Emergency Operation Center (EOC) on Vashon Island, it’s up to him to get the emergency operation team in motion when “the big one” hits the Pacific Northwest. That means jumping on his ham radio and instructing each volunteer member in the community to go to EOC headquarters (a large space at the main fire station) and report to the Island Incident Commander (normally the fire chief). |
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WALLACH, Paul,
KIEV,
1976-93. Paul died May 26, 2002, of cancer.
For many years Steve Knight (below
Paul) and Paul hosted a
restaurant/wine show at KIEV. “Though Paul had not communicated with me for many years, I had heard in recent years that he was not in the best of health. I had always thought that I would at least learn about his passing through a newspaper obituary. Turned out I was wrong.” Knight continued: “Paul was born in Los Angeles and much of his youth was spent in the Biltmore Hotel where his father was the house physician. Paul’s youngest son, Ward, was one of the six Americans and 520 victims of the crash of a Japan Airlines 747 Near Tokyo on August 12, 1985. [Japanese singer, Kyu Sakamoto-whose recording of Sukiyaki was a big hit in 1963 - was also one of the fatalities of that crash.] “Paul will undoubtedly be remembered well by many Los Angeles radio listeners for his long-running afternoon drive program on KIEV. Paul came to the station in April of 1976 and left the station in 1993 over a disagreement with management about the direction of the program. I was originally Paul’s announcer on the program, eventually becoming his co-host. For many years Paul was the restaurant critic for Westways magazine. He also published a guide to the restaurants of Southern California, and for a time, a Northern California version as well. The guides were updated about every year and a half. He also hosted monthly dinners in connection with the radio program. These dinners regularly drew 200 or more listeners, depending on the capacity of the restaurants where they were held. Paul originally purchased the time from KIEV, beginning with an hour a day. Because of the intense interest in dining out and the advent of the celebrity chef – Wolfgang Puck, et al—the program expanded to as much as four hours to accommodate a high volume of commercials. Eventually, Paul worked out a deal with the station to share the commercial revenues from the program. For most of our years together on the show Paul and I had a lot of fun together and shared some remarkable dining experiences,” concluded Steve. |
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WALLENGREN, Mark:
KOST,
1985-2020. Mark co-hosted the morning show with Kim Amidon (they have a Star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame) and Kristin Cruz at KOST. In
2014, he began the program solo. In October 2015, he moved to afternoons.
Mark exited KOST in early 2020 following a massive iHeart downsizing. Born in Heber, Utah, Mark arrived in Los Angeles from KBOI, a full-service AC station in Boise. In a 1989 LA Times article profiling morning personalities, Mark said: "The key to our success is that we haven't changed. We've been consistent. We're kinda mom and pop. People who listen to us are keeping their eyes on the interest rates, hoping the variable rates on their mortgages don't go up." A career highlight for Mark was interviewing Paul McCartney. His personal high was being present at the birth of his first child. Mark was nominated for Billboard's 1993 Adult/Contemporary Radio Air Personality of the Year. When asked if Wallengren was his real name, Mark replied, "Would I change my name to Wallengren? You've got to be kidding." |
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WALLICHS,
Clyde: When radio was struggling to figure out what to do when tv
came along and stole all the major talent, radio discovered rock 'n
roll music. And the coolest record store in the world was at Sunset
& Vine. It was Wallichs Music City, a place where young people could
gather and individual listening booths to hear the latest new music. Clyde Wallichs figured it all out and he was the longtime president of the landmark Hollywood music store. He opened the record store in 1949. At its peak of popularity during the 1960s, it grew to 11 stores in Orange County, L.A. County and Phoenix. The Wallichs Music City jingle commercials, performed by various celebrities on radio including Nat King Cole and Dean Martin, were very well know to Angelinos. When the discount record stores began to proliferate, Wallichs found it increasingly difficult to continue his service-oriented business approach. He sold the business in 1978. The stores closed a year later. Clyde died of heart failure on December 31, 1997. He was 80. |
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WALLIN, Fred:
KIEV, 1976; KGOE, 1978-79; KPRZ, 1981-82;
KWNK, 1985; KFOX, 1982-87; KABC, 1988-89;
KMPC, 1992-93; KIEV, 1995; KWNK, 1996;
KIIS/AM, 1997. Fred has been reporting on the world
of sports for decades He was one of the many who hosted KABC's afternoon drive "SportsTalk." He started hanging around KABC in 1975 doing odd jobs hoping for a shot. His first job out of Cal State Northridge, with a political-science degree, was as a producer. "Part of my morning newstalk responsibilities was to steal the traffic reports from KNX, since we no longer had a helicopter reporter." He followed Ed "Superfan" Beiler as a producer and got his first on-air experience filling in for Beiler on the weekends. In the mid-1970s, Fred worked as a sports producer in Boston at WEEI and WMEX. In 1985 he left the Southland to join KEX-Portland but was back in four months. In 1987 he did fill-in work at WFAN-New York and was back at KABC "I enjoyed my two years at KABC more than anything else in my career. It was there I made the worst decision anyone in my industry could ever make. After gm George Green brought in Beiler, I was offered ‘DodgerTalk’ again. Insanely, for a few dollars and the matter of pride I turned it down." At KMPC Fred started out doing all-nights during the all-Sports programming and then moved to mornings until Charlie Tuna arrived and Fred moved to weekends. . He is does Sports Overnight America for Sports Byline. |
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WALROND, Zoe: KPCC, 1991-94; KABC, 1996; KFWB, 1998-2006. Zoe was teaching news writing and reporting in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at Humboldt State University. Zoe was a news anchor at KFWB. She was nd at KKAM-Pueblo, Colorado from 1973-76 and nd KCUR-Kansas City from 1980-84 plus many years in tv news. Zoe was a reporter and anchor at KOA/TV in Denver and WDAF-Kansas City, under the name “Zoe McCray.” Her first job was doing morning drive news on the number one rocker “13-K” in Pueblo, Colorado. "Radio is so much more fun.” She was born July 25, 1947 in Greencastle, Indiana. “My dad, a Presbyterian minister, had a Sunday night radio program on - no kidding – WIOU-Kokomo, Indiana. I used to go with him to the station - it was magic. I practiced playing radio using a hair brush as the mic - and my sister's old 45s introducing songs like The Green Door and Love Me Tender!" |
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WALSH, Chuck:
KFWB, 1968-79; KABC, 1979-93.
One report has Chuck living in the South Seas as a
beachcomber. Born in 1935, Chuck was one of the first voices when KFWB launched the all-News format in March 1968. In the early 1960s he was an actor who always loved the movies. At KABC he worked morning drive with the popular "Ken & Bob Company" team and has done movie reviews for years. In 1986 he co-hosted a new food show with Jackie Olden. |
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WALSH,
George: KNX, 1952-86. George died December 5, 2005,
at the age of 88. He was a veteran with KNX from 1952-86. “When I
was growing up in Cleveland in the 1930s, radio was magic. It was
like being an astronaut today,” George told me when he was
interviewed for Los Angeles Radio People. After
high school graduation he joined the local steel mill and worked
church socials at night. World War II broke out and George enlisted
in the Army Air Corps and served for four years. “I froze in Munich
and decided that when I got out I wasn’t going to return to the
Cleveland cold.” In 1946 George became pd of KSWS-Roswell, New Mexico and stayed five years. In 1952 he decided to return to school for more education and enrolled in the Don Martin School of Broadcasting in Hollywood. On May 26, 1952, KNX offered a part-time job of vacation relief at $100 a week. He stayed 34 years. George was the announcer on Gunsmoke for three decades (10 years on radio and 20 on television). “By 1986 I was ready to retire. I had had a prostate cancer operation and a heart pacemaker installed.” George lived in Monterey Park where he phoned stories into KNX for many years after his retirement. |
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WALSH, Dr.
Wendy: KFI, 2015-19. Dr. Wendy Walsh hosts a late
Sunday afternoon show on KFI. She drew national attention in the
spring of 2017 as one of the women accusing Fox's
Bill
O'Reilly of sexual harassment. She is a Doctor of Psychology and media commentator who is obsessed with the science of love, according to her website. Walsh’s tv career began in Los Angeles at UPN 13 News where she worked as an anchor/reporter and later as correspondent on Telepictures Nationally Syndicated show, EXTRA. After a break from television to earn a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and raise two children, Walsh returned to tv as a news commentator on CNN and Fox New’s The O’Reilly Factor. In 2012, she co-hosted The Dr. Phil spinoff, The Doctors and was nominated for an Emmy Award. Other television credits include Investigation Discovery Network’s Happily NEVER After, and Dr. Drew on HLN. Dr. Wendy is an Adjunct Professor of Psychology at California State University, Channel Islands. She holds a B.A. in Journalism, a Masters degree in Psychology, and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, and is the author of three books about relationships. |
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WALTER,
Lisa Ann: KFI, 2011-14.
Born in 1963 in Silver Spring, Maryland, Walter studied drama at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. She appeared in several local plays, performed stand-up comedy and starred in two television series, My Wildest Dreams on FOX and Life’s Work on ABC. She had roles in several movies, including Eddie, The Parent Trap (1998) and Bruce Almighty. Walter was the creator and executive producer of Oxygen Network's 2009-10 dance/weight-loss reality series Dance Your Ass Off. Her KFI program, “The Fabulous Lisa Ann Walter Show,” was heard from 4 to 7 pm each Saturday and Sunday from May 2011 until August 2014, when she quit in order to focus on her acting career. She discussed acting, dating, dieting, self-esteem, body image and other subjects in her 2011 memoir, The Best Thing About My Ass Is That It’s Behind Me. |
Walton, Cynthia: KNOB; KFOX. Cynthia is a
part-time actress and is married to former KWIZ dj Johnny
Lewis (Reeder).
Wamsley, Bill: KLAC, 1971; KFOX, 1971-72. Bill retired in
the summer of 2001. He's enjoying his two passions - flying and photography.
Waples, Alvin John: KGFJ, 1972-77; KJLH,
1984; KGFJ/KKTT, 1984; KACE. Alvin left WMMJ ("Magic 102.3")-Washington, DC
in the early summer of 2010 when the entire staff was let go and the station
automated.
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WARD, Bill: KBLA/KBBQ, 1967-70; KLAC, 1972-79; KMPC, 1982-93; KLIT/KSCA, 1993-97. Bill was a radio pioneer bringing Country music to prominence with the personality-driven KLAC. He also forged a place for NASCAR broadcasts. If it wasn’t for Bill, there might never have been an AAA format in this market. Bill died July 30, 2004, of an apparent heart attack. He was 65. Born on January 29, 1939 in Italy, Texas and raised there as well, Bill’s childhood hero was Gene Autry. Forty-three years later Bill went to work for Gene as President of Golden West Broadcasters. Whotta’ arch to one's professional journey. His first radio job at age 15 was in Waxahachie, a few miles from his hometown. He got an FCC 1st Class Radio License and did the all-night shift at WRR-Dallas while attending the University of Texas at Arlington in the late 1950s. Bill went to Gordon McLendon's WAKY-Louisville in 1959 to do the morning show and in 1962 moved to evenings at WPRO-Providence. His first programming job was at WPLO-Atlanta while doing mornings. Bill moved to KBOX-Dallas in late 1964 as morning man and became program director in 1966. KBOX switched format to Country music in January 1967. In March 1967, he joined KBLA as pd and changed the call letters to KBBQ and the format to Country music. He became station manager in 1970. |
Bill was hired by Metromedia in the late summer of 1971 to program KLAC and within a year was promoted to general manager. In 1979 he was promoted to exec/vp of Metromedia and moved to New York. By the spring of 1980 he was elevated to president.
He left Metromedia in the spring of 1982 and moved back to Los Angeles as president of Golden West Broadcasters, where he became manager of KMPC, in addition to his duties as president of the company. In 1985, Bill bought KUTE for Golden West, and the station adopted a Soft AC format with the call letters KLIT. Bill orchestrated the format change of 101.9/fm to KSCA, Los Angeles' first AAA station.
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WARD,
Cameron: KALI, 1996-2000; KLOS, 1998-2009. Cameron is a Marriage
Family Therapist in the San Fernando Valley. He is the son of the
late Bill Ward. "The best (and worst) holiday gift that I ever received as a child was a tie rack," Cameron responded to a LARadio quetion. "It was a gift that once of my chintzy cousins brought to a family gift exchange one year. The rule of the exchange was every gift had to be valued at ten dollars. This guy brings a tie rack with a price tag attached that read $4.59. "The 'worst gift' was re-gifted more than a holiday fruit cake. Although I do not know who in our family ended up with the tie rack, the gift ended up being the "best" holiday gag. The best holiday gift I gave was a collage of Tom Petty photographs that I took of Petty receiving his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. After taking several pictures of Tom at the ceremony, I asked him to autograph a copy of his CD Southern Accents for my sister Carmen." |
Ward, Mike: KMPC. Mike was an anchor/reporter at news/talk KFBK-Sacramento. He's now a producer with Rubber City Radio in Akron.
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WARD, Paul:
KGBS, 1967-69; KFI, 1969-70;
KOST, 1970-71; KBIG, 1971-72;
KOST, 1973. Paul went on to program KEZS-Sacramento,
KFRC-San Francisco, and WROR-Boston. Paul passed away
October 27, 2009. He was 68 years old.
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He jocked at KVFM, but wasn’t paid. He answered an ad in Broadcasting (“Great radio positions for men who loved to hunt and fish, and enjoyed skiing, which meant that it was a terrible place to have to live.”) and ended up in Show Low, Arizona, the city named by the turn of a card, for $125 a week. The job didn’t last long and Paul returned to the Bay Area and went back to school and worked part-time at KPEN (later K101).
His journey took him to Truckee, Santa Rosa and Hawaii and Australia and New Zealand. Following his Southern California stay, Paul moved on to Sacramento, KFRC-San Francisco and WROR-Boston and then became head of Audio Stimulation, Wolfman Jack’s company.
Paul owned Far West Communications and was doing five formats on CD, and a service called MASTERDISC, which provided hard to find bits on custom CD for about 400 stations around the world. He was marketed outside of the U.S. by Radio Express. He also spent about three months a year in South Africa, consulting three Urban AC stations. He was president/ceo at Far West until his death.
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WARD, Rick:
KDAY, 1962; KBLA, 1965; KIEV,
1973; XPRS/XERB, 1973-75; KALI. Rick lives in Little Rock, Arkansas and he
was heard on RockitRadio.net. Born David Ricci, Rick started his Southern California run at KDAY. In 1975, after the theatrical success of American Graffiti, Rick guided the rebirth of the Mexican mega-watt stations XPRS and XERB which could be heard in 13 states on a clear day. At the time, XPRS was on tape with the voices of Art Laboe, Ted Quillin and Sam Babcock. Rick left for Macon, Mississippi, then returned to Los Angeles to work with Huggie Boy. He had brief stays at Spanish KALI, WQAM-Miami and WWSC-Cocoa Beach before spending time in the military. |
Ward, William: KNX, 1958-62. William died December 13, 1996, at the age of 76.
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WARE, Ciji:
KABC, 1977-93. Born Corlis Jane Ware in 1942 in Pasadena, she moved
with her family to Carmel in 1954. Her father was Harlan Ware,
novelist and writer of the classic radio show, "One Man's Family."
She attended Radcliffe and graduated from Harvard in 1964. Ciji
majored in Renaissance History, but spent most of her time in
musical comedy and ended up as the first female dance captain of the
Hasty Pudding Club. She developed a career in radio and television,
reporting and producing, often on consumerism or public affairs, and
also wrote for magazines. In the early 1970s Ciji was the consumer reporter for three local tv stations. In 1984 she wrote her first book, Sharing Parenthood After Divorce, after her own marriage came apart. She also won a local television Emmy in 1977 for a program on children whose own parents kidnap them during custody disputes. Ciji worked with KABC's morning news team for decades as the health and lifestyle editor. She has published two historical novels, one titled Island of the Swans which was an 18th Century historical epic based on the life of the Duchess of Gordon, a Scottish woman and confidante of kings and queens. She also does voiceover work. |
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WARFEL, Lynne: KFAC, 1983-86 and 1987-89. Classical music icon Carl Princi hired Lynn on the fact that she was an ex-actor and classically trained singer. "Thai’s all the credentials Carl needed," said Lynn. "I wasn’t afraid to talk and I could pronounce (at least somewhat) German, French and Italian. His Italian was more than perfect if that were possible." |
After KFAC, she filled in for Jim Svjeda at KUSC and then left for Scotland where she worked in Rock at Radio Forth in Edinburgh. "In 1991, WCAL in Northfield at St. Olaf College hired me back into the Classical world and soon after, in 1993, Minnesota Public Radio hired me. Currently I am a host on their national Classical service C-24 and you can even catch me in LA on KUSC EARLY Saturday and Sunday mornings. My background before radio was in theater."
Lynn graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in theater and music. She came to LA in 1978 where she did bit parts in various and sundry tv shows and films, (Rockford Files, Mommie Dearest, and Rich and Famous) and then attended and graduated from Fuller Seminary in Pasadena. While at Fuller Carl hired her as KFAC’s first female announcer. "I returned to KFAC with my husband, Tony Holt, until leaving for Scotland.
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WARLIN, Jim:
KPSA, 1972; KEZM, 1973;
KJOI,
1975-79; KNOB, 1980; KMPC, 1980-81. Jim owns an insurance
brokerage firm and is the "Love Doctor" on KEZN-Palm Springs. Jim was born in Juno, Alaska. He worked morning drive at KPSA and went on to do evenings at Beautiful Music “K-Joy.” After running a talent agency in Claremont, Jim settled in the Palm Springs where he owns an insurance brokerage firm and was a planning commissioner for Cathedral City. |
Warne, Steve: KLAC, 1993. Unknown.
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WARREN , Bob: KGBS, 1970-74. The former announcer for the Lawrence Welk Show and This Is Your Life died May 21, 2013, in Bend, Oregon. He was 93. Born June 22, 1919 in Osmond, Nebraska, he spent four years in the early 1970s as a news anchor at KGBS.His first radio job was at WDEL-Wilmington, Delaware and then to WPEN-Philadelphia. "My dad met my mom, Madelyn, at WPEN and they married," emailed his daughter, Kathie Roberts Garrigus. "He joined NBC-New York before volunteering in World War II where he became a paratrooper and was shipped off to England, where they discovered there was talent in their midst and he was asked to announce for the Armed Forces Network and the BBC. While there he starred in a play by Sara Churchill, the Prime Minister's daughter, and got a part in the movie Stairway to Heaven with David Niven." "By V-day he was part of all the American networks and found himself working with Edward R. Murrow's roundup of the great victory," continued his daughter. "On his return to New York, he worked for ABC radio and landed the part of The Sherriff playing Mark Chase, Lawman. He moved on to tv becoming the announcer of such shows as Pinky Lee, Kate Smith, The Red Skelton Show and This is Your Life with Ralph Edwards. He worked for many major companies doing tv commercials like Tide, Colgate, Prell, Aqua Velva, Miller highlife beer, Hertz and on and on. He landed the 'lifetime' contract for Edsel commercials. That lasted 3 years. He was the announcer for the Lawrence Welk show for 20 years, where Lawrence would always thank him with his famous accent, 'Thank-a you-a Bob-a.'" |
“I worked closely with Bob at KGBS,” emailed colleague Bob Morgan. "Warren and the late Clark Alexander were the first two ‘Minuteman’ newsmen. Bob was great! They used to pre-cart the news each hour and they would bring the carts in to whoever was on the air and that person would put them in as close to :15 and :45 as possible.”
Morgan continued: “Bob was notorious for going ballistic when he’d mess up and have to rerecord one. Many times you could hear him throughout the halls letting go with a tirade after about 4 takes, then you’d see him look up out the window with a huge smile. Ron Landry called him one morning on the hotline which audibly rang in the newsroom while he was trying to record. Obviously angry, he answered surly, ‘KGBS.’ Ron asked if he would tell someone today that he loved them and Bob said loud and clear ‘F*&k You!’ It was all live on the air with no delay. The only call we got was from a guy who said: ‘You guys are sure trying to find new ways to wake us up.’ I have an aircheck of the whole thing and it always brings a smile as I recall what a great guy Bob was to work with. He was Lawrence Welk’s announcer and was famous for his gentle delivery of the Rosemilk Skincare products, and you would normally see him dancing with a beautiful woman on the Welk show. So sad to hear of his passing. A top of the line pro to the bone.”
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WARWICK,
Stan: KXLA,
1957;
KMPC,
1957;
KLAC,
1957-64; KGIL,
1964-92, gm. "Your whole life changes after a stroke. I'm lucky I
can still walk and drive but I can't write." That's the way Stan
started a
phone conversation in the spring of
1996 from his home on the From 1969 until KGIL was sold, Stan was the vp of West Coast operations at Buckley Communications.
He was born in |
Stan died November 2, 2004 after a number of years of failing health.
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WASHBURNE, Jim:
KRLA, 1961-63. In 1966, Jim
fell asleep at the wheel of his car coming home from a
weekend in Big Sur and died in the automobile accident. Jim came to KRLA as the Pasadena outlet's pd and afternoon drive jock. Some of his best remembered on-air references included calling the L.A. basin the "Washbasin" and saying "..but isn't it quiet when the goldfish die?" During his short two-year reign, Jim brought Emperor Bob Hudson to the station. In 1963, Jim left everything for San Francisco and KYA. |
Wassil, Aly: KABC, 1972. Unknown.
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WATERS, Lou:
KFWB, 1968. Lou
was one of the original news
anchor at CNN in 1980. Lou began his broadcast career in 1959 as a reporter for KDWB in Minneapolis, where he became the city's number-one disc jockey. After a half-decade working early evenings at KDWB, Lou moved to Los Angeles and sister station KFWB for the all-night shift. He was at the station the last night that rock music was broadcast along with Gene Weed, Roger Christian and Joe Yocam. After KFWB, Lou became a reporter for WWTC radio in Minneapolis, worked in San Francisco at KNEW, then at New York’s WCBS. His first television assignment was as a reporter and anchor for KVOA/TV in 1970. Later, after two years at KOLD/TV, the CBS affiliate in Tucson, where he served as assistant station manager and anchored evening newscasts, Lou joined CNN as a news anchor for their launch in 1980. He co-anchored Early Prime and hosted special editions of the program including Coming of Age, a series of specials on aging in American society. In 1986, Lou co-anchored seven hours of live, continuous coverage of the space shuttle Challenger explosion. In 1989 he covered five space-shuttle missions, anchored CNN's one-hour special on the Voyager mission to Neptune and anchored the initial tense hours of the 1989 San Francisco earthquake. In 1994 Lou traveled to France and England to prepare a series of reports on the 50th anniversary of the allied invasion of Normandy. He spoke with German and allied survivors of the invasion, adding depth and perspective to CNN's weeklong coverage of the D-Day anniversary. A graduate of the University of Minnesota School of Architectural Engineering, Lou received three Houston International Film Festival awards and a first-place news award at the New York Film Festival for his extensive political coverage. In addition, he won a CableACE Award for Inside Politics, several Golden Microphone awards and an Emmy Award for spot news reporting. |
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WATKINS, Chick:
KMPC, 1987-88; KGIL,
1998-2000. Chick worked at the Adult Standards format at Dial-Global for
over a quarter of a century. He left in late spring of 2012 after a company
downsizing. Chick was the pd of WW1’s Adult Standards format, and he also hosted a program. The format was aired on KLAC. Born and raised in Akron, Ohio, Chick got his radio start at WCUE-Akron and stayed for 12 years. In 1972 he was the pd of WGAR-Cleveland during the Don Imus/Jack Thayer period. In 1982 he joined Transtar Satellite Network in Colorado Springs. Two years later he became pd of KOY-Phoenix. In 1988 he rejoined Transtar which had become Unistar and later Westwood One. The Adult Standards format was carried on over 250 stations. “We were originally designed as an alternative for AM radio, and it just grew from there.” |
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WATSON, Bill:
KHJ, 1972-73; KIQQ, 1973-74;
KMPC, 1975-78 and 1982-87. The former Drake-Chenault national
pd used to split his time between Carlsbad and Rosarita Beach.
"If you're looking for me, I'll be in the first row,
dead center shady side at the Tijuana bullring every season
Sunday at 4.
Bill Watson, who achieved major success in
the world of radio broadcasting, died May 15, 2018 at the age of 88.
His death was a result of pneumonia and emphysema related health
issues. He was raised in the San Fernando Valley. After his discharge from the U.S. Air Force in the mid 1950's Watson attended the Don Martin School of Broadcasting in Hollywood with help from the G.I. Bill. He began his professional radio career in the Sacramento area. Bill enjoyed almost immediate success as a disc jockey and hosted a local tv show for teens. The show was modeled after Dick Clark's American Bandstand. Eventually, the super self-confident Watson had a falling out with the radio station's management. He quit and headed South to Los Angeles in search of a disc jockey job there. Watson hoped to land a position at the dominant Top 40 radio station KFWB. Unfortunately there were no openings at the station at that time. |
While in L.A. he visited a friend who was employed at KDAY. It was in the hallway there that Watson met a young hyper-active radio executive by the name of Ron Jacobs. Jacobs invited Watson to lunch at a Hollywood restaurant which was frequented by record promoters and out-of-work disc jockeys. Jacobs had previously enjoyed major success as a disc jockey and program director at Honolulu radio station KPOI. The parent company of KPOI had recently purchased two radio stations on the mainland. One in San Bernardino and the other in Fresno. Jacobs was looking for talented disc jockeys to staff the two stations. As Watson tells the story "Jacobs was talking a mile a minute" and trying to convince Bill to join the staff at the San Bernardino station KMEN. KMEN was situated in a cow pasture there and was not generating any ratings (there were no listeners).
Before the lunch was over Jacobs had convinced Watson to accept a position as afternoon drive disc jockey. And for a little extra money he would serve as the program director too. Turns out that Watson was a natural leader and excellent program director. Within six months KMEN went from Last to First in the Inland Empire radio ratings. At the peak of Watson's tenure KMEN generated 70 shares which meant that 70% of the people listening to the radio were tuned into KMEN 1290. Watson was instrumental in bringing the Rolling Stones to San Bernardino's Swing Auditorium for their first performance on American soil.
He very skillfully established the perfect pitch for the on-air presentation at KMEN and rode the wave of the Surf sound and the British Invasion. After four years at KMEN, Watson left and became a programming consultant for other radio stations. Within a short time Bill Watson teamed up with the legendary radio programmer Bill Drake. Drake and his partner Gene Chenault had been given the task of turning around the radio stations owned by RKO General. Those stations included 93 KHJ in Los Angeles, KFRC in San Francisco, WRKO in Boston, and WOR-FM in New York City. Other stations under their direction included KGB in San Diego, CKLW in Detroit/Windsor, Ontario and KYNO in Fresno. Together Watson and Drake worked their programming magic on these radio stations creating the "Boss Radio Format." Within a short time all of the stations enjoyed top ratings too.
Later Watson was instrumental in producing the national version of the "The History of Rock and Roll", "The History of Country Music", and several other syndicated radio specials. Towards the end of his broadcast career Watson was program director at K-100 FM and KMPC 710. He guided KMPC to the number 4 position in the Los Angeles ratings in a market where 86 stations could be heard on the dial. It was the last music formatted AM station in town to reach the Top 10 in listener ratings. (Obit by Commander Chuck Street)
Watson, Rich: KUTE, 1982-87; KOCM, 1988-89; KJOI, 1989; KLIT, 1989-90; KIKF, 1990; KACD, 1992-98. Rich is the entertainment director at Knotts Berry Farm.
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WATSON, Tom: KKDJ, 1972; KJLL, 2009. Tom was the operations manager of Amaturo's JILL/fm stations until late 2009. He died in October 2022. Tom arrived in the Southland from
KERN-Bakersfield. He also worked at KXKL-Dallas. Tom went on to be a
producer and programmer at Premiere Radio Networks in Los
Angeles for the National Network shows: Country Music show, “After
Midnight with Blair Gardner,” Delilah
Love Songs, Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Laura,
Jim Rome Show and others. Tom also did production for William Shatner’s Malibu based company, “Heartbeat of America.” |
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WAY, Art: XTRA, 1958-61. Art passed away on March 25, 2008 of a heart attack. He was 76. Art jocked at the flame-thrower Top 40 station from just below the border at XEAK (690 AM) in the 1950s and early ‘60s. Art was also a popular air personality at Crowell-Collier's KDWB-Minneapolis, sister-station to KFWB. During the infamous KFWB strike in August 1961, KFWB needed several KDWB jocks to substitute on KFWB, according to Dream House author Bill Earl. “Because Art had already been heard by Southern California listeners from his days on 690 AM, right before he joined KDWB earlier in 1961, it was a shocker the Way was passed over to be a KFWB substitute jock by KDWB brass. KDWB instead sent its two popular drive-timers Hal Murray (6 – 9 a.m.) and Bobby Dale (3 – 6 p.m.) to jock on Channel 98 during the KFWB strike, leaving the more "familiar" Art Way BACK in Minnesota.” After leaving KDWB, Way was also heard on San Diego's 136/KGB, right before the 1964 flip to the "KGBeach Boys" Drake-format. Only Bill Wade made the "cut" from pre-Drake KGB, again passing over Art, who left KGB in April 1964 upon the start of the KGBeach Boys format.
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WAYMAN, Tom:
KMPC, 1962-81. At various times during his
two-decade involvement with 710/KMPC, Tom was news director. He was
the news sidekick to both morning show veterans Dick
Whittinghill and Robert W. Morgan. In early 1981 he hosted a one-hour cooking show as the station was heading toward an all-Talk format. Tom began his radio career at age 14 just after the outbreak of World War II. Most of the announcers at his hometown station in Logan, Utah, had been drafted. When he walked into a radio station with his booming voice, he got the job, despite being in his teens. He wrote a cookbook called Chef Tom's Chicken. (Tom is pictured on left with Paul Panther Pierce) |
Wayne, Bill: KZLA, 1983. Unknown
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WAYNE,
Bruce. KFI/KOST. Born in New Hampshire, Bruce was
KFI's fixed-wing traffic veteran reporter whose single-engine
Cardinal crashed shortly after takeoff from Fullerton Airport. He
was considered the nation's dean of flying traffic reporters. He
started in 1961 for a Boston station. He died exactly one month
before his 25th anniversary as an airborne traffic reporter. Bruce reflected in an interview before his death, "I was in television and radio for 10 years before I ever had a flying lesson." He came to Los Angeles in 1968 and because of his media background was able to cover breaking stories from the air. In 1985 his wife talked about the dangers of traffic piloting, "It's very hazardous. Most people don't know that. It's stressful too. Heart attacks are very high among them." He died June 4, 1986. |
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WAYNE,
Darrell:
KEZY, 1972-74; KAGB, 1975; KHNY, 1975;
KROQ, 1976-81. "Insane Darrell Wayne"
Wampler buried disco albums at the beach as part of a disco funeral. During his time at KROQ, Darrell was pd, operations director, chief engineer and he worked afternoon drive. “I ran the Don Martin School of Radio and TV in Hollywood from 1981 till 1984 along with some cable radio and hosted a tv program through 1994,” said Darrell. “I recovered from the party atmosphere at KROQ in 1985 and have been clean and sober ever since. Went back to school in 1994 and completed my master’s degree in business administration in 1999.” Darrell was vp of sales and marketing for an Aerospace manufacturer in Ventura County. Darrell lives in Ventura, edited LARadio.com, and owns KTHO-AM in South Lake Tahoe. |
WAYNE, David: KGER, KWVE, 1993-2009. Born David Parks, he hosted and produced the Saturday Morning Kids Show using the on-air name of 'K-Dave.' He created and produced successful evangelistic/entertainment stage presentations for family audiences. He died in his sleep on April 18, 2009. He was 54. Born on July 4, 1954 in Gardena, David grew up in Anaheim. He earned a commercial art degree from Cypress College in Cypress. David went to school at the LA Broadcasting School and Columbia Broadcasting. A news release from KWVE says that the cause of death has not been officially announced, but Parks had a stroke a couple of years ago as well as some later medical complications. “K-WAVE lost a longtime staff member last weekend who was one of those creative individuals who can never really be replaced,” said KWVE gm, Richard MacIntosh. Dave began at KWVE (K-Wave) in 1993, when he worked the overnight shift. In 1995, he 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 additionally 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.
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WEATHERLY,
Kevin: KROQ, 1993-2018; JACK/fm, 2005-18;
KAMP, 2009-19. Kevin programs three successful
radio stations – KROQ, JACK/fm, and AMP Radio – in the market.
After a short stint with Spotify, Kevin returned to Audacity and SVP
of KROQ. While running KROQ, he also guided the launch of JACK/fm, arguably the most successful JACK format in the country. His peers believe that he has localized JACK and integrated lines and attitude so much so that we forget the station is jockless. In early 2009, he flipped the FM Talk Station KLSX to a high powered relentlessly pounding Top 40 station named AMP Radio with instantaneous results. He put Carson Daly in the mornings. Carson emerged as a national star as host of The Voice and part of the ensemble on NBC's Today Show. Kevin has been acknowledged with many industry accolades over the years. Born in 1963, Kevin started his career at age 12 working for his father at KPIN-Casa Grande, Arizona. He came to “the ROQ” from KKLQ (“Q106”) – San Diego. Before “Q106,” Kevin was the md at KIIS and KMEL-San Francisco and on the air at KZZP-Phoenix. When he arrived at KROQ, he immediately tightened the playlist, reflecting his Top 40 background. During the summer of 2001, Kevin was made vp of all Infinity (now CBS/Entercom) music stations in the LA cluster. |
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WEAVER, Beau:
KHJ, 1975-76; KRTH, 1990-94.
Beau was the voice of Entertainment Tonight. Beau grew up in Tulsa, and got his start hanging around KAKC the summer Bill Drake became consultant. Beau weaseled his way into the station by bringing fresh KHJ airchecks of Rober W. Morgan and The Real Don Steele he obtained from a family friend in California. "At fourteen, I was calling the jocks up on the hitline, telling them about format mistakes they did not know they were making," said Weaver, as part of a ReelRadio bio. "Eventually PD Lee Bayley hired me, mostly to shut me up." That paved the way for later stints on sister Drake stations. Michael Spears, who would later take Weaver to KFRC, brought him aboard the groundbreaking team at KNUS- Dallas, the fm station Gordon McLendon kept after selling his legendary KLIF. KNUS was an AOR/Top Forty hybrid that eventually knocked off KLIF, and was one of the first major market fm's to dominate in the Arbitron. It is the marriage of Drake discipline and McLendon showmanship which would be the hallmark of Beau's style. He was one of the seven "original astronauts" on the pioneering Transtar Satellite network (now Westwood One)." He has a prolific voiceover career, heard daily on network program promos, trailers for feature films, national commercials and animated cartoons. |
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WEAVER,
Bill: KWIZ, 1964-90, vp/gm. Bill was responsible
for the very successful Oldies all-Request format that dominated the
Orange County ratings for many years as well "You Pick the Hits" and
"Yes/No Radio" in San Jose, Seattle, Fresno, and San Francisco. He
created one of the first male-female morning teams with
Buddy & Fran in addition to an all-female FM air staff, and
sales staff.
Born in Brooklyn New York in 1918, Bill 's family moved to Los Angeles in 1928. His first job at Ralphs grocery store, after graduating from Marshall High School. He served in the Navy during World War II, he attended Ventura Junior College. After attending radio school in Los Angeles, his first radio job was at KGFL-Roswell, New Mexico followed by KBST-Big Springs, Texas. Unable to lose his New York accent, Bill returned to California, working for the Ventura Star Free Press. In 1951 he remarried and they opened an advertising agency in Ventura called Weaver Saucier and Associates. A year later, Bill moved to Sacramento and joined the sales staff of KROY. Bill found the programming related to his sales so he then began creating the "weaver sound." |
Bill left KROY and
jumped crosstown to KXOA only to return with ownership in Sacramento
Broadcasters and KROY. He also owned an ad agency in Sacramento called Media
Scope. In 1964 he moved his family to Orange County and started rhw Voice of
the Orange Empire, KWIZ AM & FM with a format consisting of "instant
requests, and voting."
Weaver added additional stations KLOK-San
Jose, KUUU-Seattle, KARM/KFIG AM & FM-Fresno - KLOK/fm-San Francisco. "My
father very rarely if ever took vacations he loved what he did, and he
looked forward to going into the station each day," wrote his daughter
Patrice. "It was never work for him, it was a love. He ate, slept and lived
radio. He was that rare person who gave so many people the chance in radio.
It was always exciting to be around him." Bill passed away in January 1990.
In 2013, he was inducted into the Bay Area Radio Museum.
Weaver, Bill: KPOL, 1967-70. Bill was the
second CapCities general manager at KPOL. Unknown.
Weaver, Hank: KLAC, 1957-61. Hank was a sportscaster in the 50s and
60s and he was replaced at KLAC by Jim Healy. He was in
an automobile accident in the early 1960s on his way home from a boxing
match at Dodger Stadium. Hank was eventually taken to Stanford University
Medical Center and died several weeks later.
Webb, Larry: KRLA, 1965-75. When Larry left
his general manager post at KRLA, he joined the staff of FCC
Commissioner Robert T. Lee.
