The most comprehensive listing of 6,000 Los Angeles Radio People, spanning the last 62 years, is now available just by clicking on your favorite personality.  The listings provide a colorful snapshot of where they came from, where and when they worked, and what they’re doing now. Enjoy!      A\B\C\D\E\F\G\H\I\J\K\L\M\N\O\P\Q\R\S\T-Z/W     (Paola Boivin, Mike Butts, Steve Mason, and Lonnie Lardner) Sunday Nostalgia - 20 Years Ago Today One-on-One Sports Goes One-on-Two and Wins Best Sports Station (January 20, 1999) Tom Hoffarth of the Daily News has launched his four-part series on the best and worst of Los Angeles’ sports media with a gusher. He praises One-on-One Sports at KCTD (1540AM) as the Best, especially with the fact that it is up against the established two Jacor-owned stations for sports-talk listeners. "In essence, One-on-One is going one-on-two against KXTA and XTRA," asserts Tom. The network began with 75 stations when it purchased the Sports Entertainment Network out of Las Vegas in 1993 and has grown to 400 affiliates ... Lotsa Michael’s in this next story. Michael Ovitz guested with Michael Jackson at KRLA Tuesday morning. Michael asked, "Have you forgiven Michael Eisner?" Ovitz said that he had (didn’t he get $100,000,000 to leave Disney after a year?), speaks with him and that their friendship had not ended. Michael Eisner will be in-house with Michael Jackson the first week in February. That should be a fun show. It’ll be interesting to hear if Michael Jackson will ask Michael Eisner to what extent he knew about the KABC changes and in particular Michael Jackson’s move from weekdays to weekends. Michael Jackson certainly hasn’t missed a step in delivering a diversified array of interesting personalities to his 9 to noon shift…I heard Buddy Holly and the Crickets being played the other afternoon at KLAC. When Johnny Magnus begins in afternoons next Monday, I figure that’ll be the day when Johnny plays That’ll Be the Day … Congratulations to KNX! The station was the most-honored radio station at the Radio & TV News Association of Southern California’s 49th annual Golden Mike Awards. KNX was so honored for the third time in as many years, winning 10 awards, including best newscast of more than 15 minutes. KFI won for best short newscast. Charleye Wright, a veteran L.A. newsman who died following kidney failure last October, was honored with an emotional tribute. According to Kevin Baxter in the LA Times, "Wright won a sports reporting award for a piece he did on basketball star Michael Jordan’s off-court troubles, and when Wright’s wife, son and daughter stepped forward to accept, they received a long standing ovation … David Schwartz was tv channel surfing over the weekend and caught a series called Challenge Golf on the Golf channel. It was a 1963 show hosted by longtime KMPC morning man Dick Whittinghill (on camera) and featuring Gary Player and Arnold Palmer. The show runs at 8 Sunday mornings … MSNBC Web site finally changed Don Imus’ station listing for Los Angeles to KRLA. Until last week, they still had KLAC as the L.A. flagship station even though the station switch took place on November 30 … Danny Romero and Irma Blanco at "Mega 100" are running a Flashback contest every morning giving a week-long trip to Hawaii and a grass shirt stuffed with $1,000 … It’s tough to avoid the rumor of a major afternoon drive change at a major station … At 11 tonight Geoff Edwards and his wife Michael leave for a trip around the world on Holland America's Rotterdam VI. "We will be gone 98 days and sail from L.A. to Fort Lauderdale. We will be calling in weekly with 20-minute segments to both our shows. KPSI Newstalk 920 in Palm Springs, Saturdays from 8-10 a.m. and KPCC from 9-11 p.m. on Sunday nights. Our inserts can be heard on the Internet at www.ontravel.com. I will also file a weekly diary to www.porthole.com. Our broadcast partners are Paul and Elizabeth Lasley, travel writers of note. The first time we did this in 1996 the ship (not the Rotterdam) hit a reef off of Egypt and we were at lifeboat stations for 6 hours before being evacuated to Sharm el Sheik and flown home. A ship on a world cruise becomes its own little society and many strange and funny [I hope] things happen during the trip. I hope you will get a chance to listen." Bon Voyage, Geoff…Larry Mayer of KUSC remembered the earthquake five years ago. "I am very thankful that I married my wife, Judy. If she hadn't married me I would have still been living in the Northridge Meadows Apartments, the now-famous apartments that fell apart during the earthquake. It’s hard to believe that of all the buildings in the San Fernando Valley to tumble to the ground, it had to be one that I was living in when I was single."…Herschel Adler is another who hears new KABC talker Mark Taylor’s voice "resemblance" with Ken Minyard…There is no NBA action yet, but here is a NBA story. One year ago, Los Angeles Lakers announcer Chick Hearn called his 3,000th consecutive basketball game. His incredible streak started November 20, 1965…Rick Minyard asked his father Ken Minyard on KRLA yesterday for help while watching the president’s State of the Union Address. He asked, "How do we tell when he’s telling the truth?" Ken thought it was a cheap shot but shot back, "When he’s not talking about his sex life." By the way, when do you think Ken will remember that he is no longer working morning drive? He introduced lawyer Alan Dershowitz late yesterday afternoon with the salutation, "Good morning!"…Chris Parker from Dana Point emailed wanting to know why KRLA aired President Clinton’s State of Union address on a ten-second delay. "Was Bob Moore afraid the Prez might make an obscene remark?" asked Chris. Sister stations KFWB and KNX had no such delay…Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson from Rush appear with "Arrow 93’s" Bob Coburn tonight at 8:30…Merv Griffin guested on KLAC with Charlie Tuna the other morning. When newslady Fran Tunno chimed in at one point, Merv wanted to know if she was Charlie Tuna’s sister, Ahi…Mark Wheeler reports morning drive traffic for Larry Marino at KIEV and Charlie Van Dyke at KRTH…Dave Anthony, formerly with KODJ/KCBS/FM, has been reading about the experiences of Los Angeles Radio People who have been fired. Dave emails: "Termination, whether on the implementing end or the receiving end, is almost always painful. Easy ones are those who clearly deserve it [not showing up, damaging behavior, etc.]. The truly difficult ones are those who have tried hard but simply haven't made the grade, or those who must be let go due to budget reasons or via direct order from corporate. One particular experience makes me grimace to this day. Due to corporate executives throughout the building and no office to utilize, I asked an individual to go for a walk. Suspecting the worst, he asked me if his job was over while we were on an elevator. Not being able to lie, I said ‘yes.’ Deferring the answer would have confirmed what I was being forced to do [this termination was NOT my choice]; therefore, I terminated a talented guy in an elevator. Insensitive, yes, but at the time I saw no choice. If he reads this, he'll know instantly who I'm talking about and likewise know that sometimes we're forced to do things against our choosing. A side note to other managers: If you are among those who enjoy terminating others, seriously reconsider your life's values. Apply the Golden Rule." Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On Five years ago, Southern California was devastated by a 6.7-magnitude temblor. Scott Shurian, longtime Los Angeles newsman, remembers: "I was living in Agoura when the ground decided to shake...again...in Southern California. In my younger days as a working newsguy, I might have thought it was an aftershock from the night before...January 16th is my birth date. But such was not the case. Being an old hand at such things as quakes and fires and the like I got in my car and first checked on senior friends at a center in Thousand Oaks. The lights were out but all was well. I called KNX news and offered my services and they took me up on it. I headed into the San Fernando Valley by way of Woodland Hills and Tarzana and all the way down Ventura Blvd. This was some 15 minutes after the big shaker and I think I was one of the few reporters out and about. The scene down Ventura Boulevard was awesome, frightening and somewhat miraculous at the same time. No one on the streets. No one to talk to. No police, no fire, no nuthin.' Just me in a BMW convertible and car phone cruising the neighborhoods at 30 miles an hour. One of my stops the big shopping center on Topanga. Broken windows everywhere. I thought several times what a looters delight because there were no authorities around. They were just a bit busy trying to get people of out collapsed homes. In the earlier big shaker in San Fernando, (when the heck was that one anyway?) I had a home in Northridge and worked for ABC news at the time. That kept me busy and had it's own awesome scenes, but the "day after the birthday" quake will stick with me for it's intensity, it's closeness to home and the opportunity it gave me to work with pros in Jim Simon's shop. As memory serves me, I sort of hung in there, on the air for several days from the "field." I always had a desire to include CBS in my resume. At that time, it rounded out to the fact that I had worked for all four major networks. And I have just learned that here in Salt Lake City, my new home, there is a newly discovered earthquake fault that could rupture at any time. Stand by." - Scott Shurian Email Saturday, 1.19.2019  ** Hulett’s Traffic Journey “I enjoy every single day you publish LARadio. Thank you for sharing your work of love with us. Phil Hulett was recently (meaning most of 2018 until Thanksgiving'ish) doing the weekend morning traffic reports on KNX, but he is no longer there. I enjoyed his folksy reporting of the traffic, which made him unique and entertaining, considering it's traffic reports.  I miss him.” – Steve Nieto ** Hanna Scott’s Radio Journey “I know you'll get a lot of comments on Hanna Scott's broadcasting journey, but I thought I would chime in. Either there was an error in handwriting, or a faulty memory, but KTAR/fm-Phoenix, is now on 92.3. I say ‘is now on’ because they were on 98.7 when they first put the fm on the air. Since then there has been a plethora of call sign changes. Thanks for your daily dose of radio in my email box.” - Mike Femyer, faithful reader * Winker and Elvis “Thank you for your very kind words earlier this week. And I was literally 'blown away' by Saul Levine's comments in today's column. Re the Elvis picture, just sharing. Taken during his very first FILMED interview in 1956 on my teen Top Ten Dance Party, on WHBQ-TV, Memphis. He'd just returned from Hollywood filming Love Me Tender.” – Wink Martindale ** Week of Potpourri “Thanks for posting Brian Dunkleman's burn of Harvey Levin's TMZ story. Harvey is really scraping the bottom of the barrel these days. Sad. I'm grateful that Saul Levine is replacing the transmitter for KKJZ. It's nigh impossible to get the signal now and I miss my Johnny Magnus Swing Time.” – Julie Byers ** Batter Up “I am very pleased to see Tim Neverett pop up joining the Dodger broadcast team. Tim worked for me at the sports station in Vegas and was a stellar performer. I thought he was a great sports talk personality. I wish him the very best. He was always prepared, very knowledgeable and a really nice guy.” – Jack Hayes Series to Preserve Radio Archives  (January 18, 2019) A new stage series aims to raise funds to preserve and modernize radio archives at Thousand Oaks Library. The Ventura County Star reports on the effort, a series recreating shows from the Golden Age of Radio. The stage presentation, which debuted in early December, has a second goal: to make researchers more aware of the archives, the largest collection of radio memorabilia in the country and one of the largest in the world, according to the foundation. Currently, the archives are only available to researchers, not the general public. “We find that most people in this area don’t even know that the archives exist,” said Cary Ginell, a trustee of the Thousand Oaks Library Foundation, one who has a background in radio as a writer, producer and program host. “So, there are a lot of things we have planned to help raise awareness,” he said, “Having these shows is the beginning.” In other news: When American Idol debuted as a summer replacement on Fox in 2002, there were two hosts – Ryan Seacrest and Brian Dunkleman. Ryan continued with the series, Brian did not, leaving after the initial season. Harvey Levin’s TMZ did a story on Dunkleman reporting that he was an Uber driver. Brian shot back: “I make over a grand on a good week motherfuckers.” … Earlier this month, Larry O’Connor joined KABC in the 10 a.m. – noon slot. He is based in Washington, DC and works afternoons at WMAL. He made a case for being relevant to Southland listeners. “I am your unelected representative to Washington, DC. I lived most of my life in California. I still consider myself a Californian at heart because my children still live there. It is easy to look at what these clowns do in DC and how it affects California.” … Congratulations to KNX’s Brian Ping on the birth of his daughter. He tweeted, “My child will be driving age in 2035. Which begs the question, will she ever need to learn how to drive?” Thanks to Dave Kunz Update on Former KFI News Reporter Hanna Scott  (January 17, 2019) Hanna Scott is a voice you may have heard on KFI or other stations delivering the news. Hanna studied theatre at Santa Ana College, where she wanted to be an actress. She got a fair amount of work as an extra, but nothing suggested she could make a living from acting. “One night I saw an ad in the PennySaver for the broadcasting academy. Within a week I was enrolled and that was that. It was love at first report!” Born in Laguna Beach in 1970, Hanna thought she would be an fm jock but got bored quickly at school and instead fell in love with news. She was a weekend traffic reporter for KFI, eventually going full time covering all stations contracted with AirWatch’s news service. In 2003, Hanna left the Southland for an afternoon drive anchor job WHP 580 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. She moved to Phoenix in 2005, starting at 550 / KFYI before moving across the street two years later to become a reporter/anchor for KTAR 97.3 FM where she remained until she got the reporter gig at KFI. “I got my taste for reporting and being in the field at KTAR, covering a variety of major stories including the 2008 presidential election and the search for the Baseline Killer and Serial Shooter cases, among many others,” Hanna said. But she wanted to return to KFI as a reporter or anchor. Hanna did get a job at the L.A. news / talk station in the mornings as a reporter. “I covered several major stories while there including the Station Fire, murder of Chelsea King and Jaycee Duggar kidnapping. However, KFI was a bad fit and I was let go in June 2010, but on good terms [as much as than can be true] with references.” Hanna is a good example of the nomadic way of life of radio, moving from place to place as opportunities become available. “By September 2010 I was in Seattle working as a reporter for KOMO. When Sinclair bought KOMO, I survived the first round of layoffs but not the second and was laid off in 2014.” She jumped across town to KIRO/fm, for the past two years serving as a reporter / talk show contributor covering the Legislature, city hall, gun control, opioids/homelessness, the rape kit backlog and breaking news. In other news: Cathy Hughes, mother of Urban One’s (formerly Radio One) day to day chairman Alfred Liggins, will be inducted into the Broadcasting Hall of Fame at the 2019 NAB Show. She became the first woman VP/GM in Washington DC and created the format known as the “Quiet Storm,” which revolutionized Urban radio and aired on over 480 stations nationwide. In 1980, Hughes purchased her flagship station, WOL-AM/Washington DC ... Nicole Sandler, formerly with KLSX, KNX/fm KODJ, KLOS and KSCA in the 80s and 90s, is having a tough time finding her next assignment. “I’ve been in radio for 40 years,” she wrote on Facebook. “I’ve had amazing success. I’ve produced the biggest morning shows in both NYC (Jim Kerr at WPLJ) and Los Angeles (Mark & Brian at KLOS). I’ve hosted my own shows in just about every daypart, in multiple formats. I’ve been a program director, music director, promotions / marketing director. I’ve applied for a couple of positions in the past year because it would be nice to work inside a radio station and with people again, and I know I still have a lot to offer. Yet for some reason, I don’t even get a phone call or email of acknowledgement, let alone an interview. I guess once you reach a certain age, you don’t matter anymore? It’s the only thing I can think of.” ... Billy Crystal, the award-winning comedian and nine-time Oscar host has been tapped to serve as color commentator for the entire January 31 game between the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers and the team’s crosstown rival Lakers. He will join Ralph Lawler on the broadcast, as the legendary announcer continues his final season on the air on Fox Sports Prime Ticket. For Crystal, the new gig is all about saluting Lawler. “It’s going to be a real honor to sit with him and do this game,” he said. “And hopefully it goes well. Who knows? I may have a new career.” … “KKJZ has been operating with an old analog fm transmitter that does not do justice to the wonderful mainstream Jazz station broadcasting at 88.1,” emailed Saul Levine. “The Levine Family has donated a new state of the art digital 30,000-watt fm transmitter to KKJZ. Soon a better, higher quality signal will be heard at 88.1. And improved HD quality too.”    KNX's Diane Thompson was kind enough to send this 1971 LA Times ad showing Sylvia Chase as part of the team  How Will a Recession Hurt the Media Biz? (January 16, 2019) The lead story in Variety this week asks how a recession will hurt the media biz. “Stock market is tanking, debt levels are rising, China is locked in a trade war with the United States and economics sage Alan Greenspan recently warned investors to run for cover,” writes Brent Lang and Rebecca Rubin. “If investors’ fears are justified, then the decade of economic growth the world has been enjoying could soon come to an end.” Excessive debt has crippled the top two radio groups. One has emerged from bankruptcy while the other is likely to do the same later this year. If a recession looms, the radio biz must be on vigilant guard because advertising usually takes a hit. Advertisers usually find a way to cut their expenses, and elimination of commercials is an easy cut. One lesson that can be implemented immediately is to have the creative be more, uh, creative. When stations elect to run 6-8 commercials in a stop set, they become numbingly sounding the same. Maybe this is the time to invest in writing and producing clever spots with a call to action. Spots that deliver customers will be a hedge against elimination during a downswing in the economy. In other news: After 40 years, Bob Costas and NBC have officially parted ways. Seems like truly the end of era. The current crop of ESPN and Fox sportscasters seem to lack a distinct originality … Dodgers have a new announcer. Tim Neverett has joined their broadcast team for television and radio, in part to lighten the load on AM 570 for Charley Steiner, who requested to cut back on his schedule. The 52-year-old Neverett, who has called radio play-by-play for the Red Sox the past three years also spent seven seasons with the Pirates. He will fill in on SportsNet LA when Joe Davis is on national assignments, in addition to assuming some of Steiner's previous responsibilities … Ed Krampf, former CBS/LA market manager, is now a senior AE with Sun & Fun Media … Stoney Richards, former morning man at Country KLAC/KZLA, has returned to Y108 (WDSY/fm) in Pittsburgh as morning drive co-host. He is such a creative broadcaster. I had the pleasure of Stoney working for us at W4 in Detroit back in the 70s … KFI news editor Nicole Campbell will be honored by The Greater Los Angeles chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists at their annual spring banquet. LA Times ad from 1.13.69 from David Grudt's collection Climb Every Mountain  Essay by Saul Levine (January 15, 2019) In the fall of 1958, I received a construction permit from the FCC to construct and operate KBCA/fm with the transmitter on Mount Wilson. The channel had become vacant because the licensee, a 50 KW AM station, had lost faith in fm and did not even want to pay the electric bill to keep it on the air. I made a barter arrangement with a motel on Sunset Blvd. in West Hollywood to trade out advertising for studio space. But there were fires raging in the mountains, and the forest service would not allow me to construct the transmitter building. The motel owner did not believe me about the delay, and forced me to pull out of the studio deal. I lost almost all my money. When I was permitted to finish the transmitter building, I had no studio and decided to start broadcasting from that building on Mount Wilson. There was not time to get a telephone installed. I had an announcer-engineer who was willing to stay on the mountain and live off the land. I was waiting for a telegram to come from the FCC authorizing me to start broadcasting. I had an answering service in downtown LA receiving my phone calls, and Channel 4 TV (KRCA, now KNBC) was kind enough to allow me to use their telephone at their transmitter on Mount Wilson, so I could access the answering service. Late February 18, 1959, the telegram arrived from the FCC with authority to commence broadcasting. But I had no way to inform the engineer, John, to turn on the station. It was a dark, cold, stormy February night. I would have to drive up to Mount Wilson to tell John to turn on the transmitter. I had previously promised my mother to have dinner with her that evening. I had a hurried dinner, then drove my 1955 Chevy through snow drifts up to the 6,000-foot high transmitter. I burst through the door of the building and shouted to John, ‘turn on the transmitter.’ John said, ‘I can’t do that. The antenna had iced up and will not turn on.’ Thankfully, John climbed the 100-foot tower and shook off the ice. The station was now operational, so we went on the air without any previous notice to the public. John would announce to the public that we wanted to hear from our listeners and to call the answering service number. I would then run through snow drifts a half mile to the Channel 4 transmitter and call from there the answering service for the names of listeners. Then I would run back to our building and give John the names and cities, which John would put on the air. The phones at the answering service lit up with hundreds of listeners all over Southern California, calling in to report that they were hearing us. It was a very emotional experience. I was especially taken by calls from distant cities in Ventura and Orange County. The listeners were thrilled to hear a new fm radio station playing beautiful Classical music. My dream had become reality and I now owned a radio station, not in rural Northern Michigan, but in the second largest city in the USA. I drove home through the snow drifts feeling very emotional (and very happy). In other news: Elston Butler has joined Stevie Wonder-owned KJLH as its new market manager. For the past four years, Butler has been working at iHeartMedia Riverside. He returns to KJLH were he was local sales manager from 2010 to 2014. Karen Slade remains at the station as gm … Love receiving emails from those who are just plain, downright excited. Justin Michael returns as executive producer of The Big Time with Whitney Allen, syndicated by Westwood One. It's a return to The Big Time for Justin, who served as exec producer for the show during its original launch in 2005 before transitioning to roles with Ryan Seacrest and Nikki Sixx. You can send congratulations to: justin@thebigtimeonline.com … Rick Scarry recently had the honor of narrating a documentary film on the life of famed, old-time radio historian and past president of the PPB, Frank Bresee. “Frank was a fixture of the group until he suffered a debilitating stroke a few years back,” emailed Rick. I knew Frank for over 40 years and worked with him on many projects over the decades. To see this informative and entertaining film, click on the link … In a front page LA Times story over the holidays, Bill Plaschke praised the Dodgers for trading Yasiel Puig. Plaschke said that Vin Scully delightfully called Puig the ‘Wild Horse.’ … Blogger George Johns has an interesting thought about the PPM ratings: “Nielsen’s statistics may be true about the people in their sample but what about the people they don’t have. I’m talking about the 23% of the population who are Alpha types who would never wear a PPM device. Then there’s the continuing problem of the 30 minutes the device misses every morning, and how about the fact that they can’t find anybody under 25 to participate in their research. Also, I can only wonder if the people wearing the PPM devices can hear all the radio stations that the device can?” … Letty B, middays at KIIS, spotted this video of Tom Hanks in a Fontana In-N-Out. Hanks bought lunch for all cars in line. Entertainment Weekly Cindy Doles Out Story Book Styling (January 14, 2019) The challenge in broadcasting today is to prepare for when the gig ends. There is so much uncertainty about radio as the two largest radio groups emerge from bankruptcy (Cumulus last year and iHeart expected this year). For almost two decades, Cindy Dole was a familiar news anchor voice at KFWB and KNX. And then the gig ended. But she had a plan B. Cindy has a green thumb and an eye for design. She has taken all her home improvement and design expertise to be a home stager and two years ago started a new company, www.StorybookStyling.com. Her website is gorgeous and, on the side, she teaches Strategic Multimedia content to USC Annenberg PR Students. She has figured out the next journey in her life. Cindy is a fourth generation Angeleno (her ancestors were here before there was tar in the La Brea Tar Pits) and graduated from USC with honors in 1982, having majored in broadcast journalism and communication. While she was at KNX, she won two Golden Mikes. For the six years preceding KNX, Cindy was anchor/reporter at WWMT/TV in Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo, spending the last three years as the station’s prime 6 & 11 p.m. co-anchor. She has also been a reporter and anchor at KRDG/TV, Jefferson City/Columbia, Missouri and KYEL/TV Yuma. Cindy began her broadcasting career as an anchor and reporter at KDES-Palm Springs. She hosted the “Home Wizards Show” (Garden, Home, and Life Improvement Radio) on various stations and even hosted the Rose Parade for KFWB. Best Picture. Today is the deadline for Academy of Motion Picture members to nominate the best movies and cinema achievements during 2018. The nominated movies will be revealed later this month. We are not supposed to disclose our picks but this is only between us radio folk, and I rarely pick the eventual winner. Green Book was the best in my book! Great performances and a subject I was unfamiliar with. It is almost a perfect movie. The Motion Picture Academy has been having a hellava time in recent years. As of this morning, no host for the telecast in February. Lotsa drama behind the scenes. Kevin Hart was chosen, but then controversy erupted when it was revealed he has made homophobic jokes and tweets in the past. Then there was no-host. Then Ellen DeGeneres stirred it up with push for Hart to be considered again. He declined. The Academy seems to have stumbled in recent years. Too many old white men voting to naming of the wrong best picture winner to announcing a new category, ‘best popular film’ and then shelving the idea weeks after the announcement. What about Jimmy Kimmel as host? He appears in an LA Times story related to the Oscar telecast. “Ratings for the telecast have been steadily declining, with last year’s show, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, reaching an all-time low audience, and many have argued the show needs a fresh approach.” Tough to win any positive feedback for any host in this era of snarky social media. Kimmel said his hosting required weeks of preparation for relatively minimal pay. In 2017, he said he received $15,000. Oh, by the way, Black Panther was the #1 grossing movie of last year with over $700 million in domestic B.O. For anyone who was in the Southland when 11-10/KRLA was one of the dominant Rock stations or anyone who wants to learn about the 60s in LARadio, check out Bill Earl's Dream-House by clicking the cover of his book   Email Saturday, 1.12.2019 ** Passing Parade “As always, another nice send-off to our comrades who ‘went on’ this past year; hit a little closer to home for me this time with Dex Allen and Paul Cassidy, good guys both. Here’s to them and those like ‘em: Fewer and fewer left as the clock keeps tickin’.” – Rich Brother Robbin ** Tears for LARP in Passing Parade “First time I’ve read LARadio.com and cried.” – Craig Powers ** Passing Parade Memory “Reading your Passing Parade 2018, I had forgotten about John Mack Flanagan. I listened to him as much as I could when I lived in Northern California and met him once when visiting KFRC. I was there to have lunch with Big Tom Parker and we ran into John when we came back. He was everything I thought he would be and more. He regaled us with stories of radio from his early days at KTKT and at KFRC and though he may not have had the time, spent the better part of an hour with us. He was everything I wanted to be in an air talent, but more than that, he was a good and kind man, a great human. It saddens me still to think that he’s no longer with us.” – Bryan Simmons ** KNX Memories “I applaud your work on LARadio. I was a KNXer in the 80’s and now report for KTVU/TV in the Bay Area. When I was at KNX, it was a temple to the news profession. Bob Sims and Ed Pyle along with Ronnie Bradford and that entire magic staff were an honor to work with. I’ve been lucky to do tv and radio for 40 years and intend to continue for a while longer as I love the work. Again, thanks for your remarkable efforts.” – Tom Vacar ** Let’s Get to the Chase “I had the privilege of working with Sylvia Chase at ABC News and KRON/TV. She was a highly intelligent, tremendously talented, indefatigable reporter. A real pioneer for women in network television news. Also, a very fine person. Sylvia’s passing came with unfinished business. In October 1985, Sylvia completed a long, exhaustive investigative story for 20/20 on the untimely death of Marilyn Monroe. Her story told of an alleged plot to murder Monroe who, in a fit of depression, was threatening to go public with her long affairs with JFK and brother Bobby. According to Sylvia’s well-documented story, a well-known member of The Kennedy Family was dispatched to Monroe’s bedside to administer a fatal drug overdose. ABC News/Sports President Roone Arledge, my former ABC boss, viewed Sylvia’s cut piece the morning of the 20/20 broadcast. Arledge killed the piece, claiming that it was not ready for air and needed ‘more work.’ Arledge's decision was widely criticized by 20/20 staff members, including anchor Hugh Downs. Cancellation of her exclusive, well supported and compelling story contributed to Sylvia’s decision to leave ABC News for KRON. Arledge denied that his close association with The Kennedys, especially Ethel, influenced his decision to cancel Sylvia's story. The ABC-Kennedy connection ran deep. David Burke, a senior Arledge aide, worked for Ted Kennedy. Jeff Ruhe, an Arledge protege, was married to one of Ethel’s daughters. And, of course, Arledge’s long, close friendship with Ethel. Here is a posted condolence message from Victor Neufeld, former 20/20 executive producer. The 20/20 family learned this week that our beloved Sylvia Chase passed away. Sylvia was one of the original 20/20 correspondents. She always brought the highest levels of intelligence, humanity, integrity and grace to every story she did for the show. She did every kind of story, investigative, profiles, adventure, every producer wanted to work with her. She was fun to travel with, committed to the journalism, a wonderful collaborator, and always a fierce protector of the quality of her work. Many of the 20/20 producers traveled the world with Sylvia, and close friendships were made, but it was always the quality and soulfulness of her work that made her one of kind, and thus... very sad news for our original 20/20 family.” – Bob Sirkin   ** Chase Is On “Sad to hear about the passing of Sylvia Chase. I knew her well when she worked at KNX … her office was next to mine on the 2nd floor. What wasn’t mentioned was that, I believe, she started out at the station as the station ‘ombudsman.’ She might have been one of the first with that ‘title’ attached to her in the market. I recall that she did some fine reporting and investigative work for KNX back then and was very close to Jim Zaillian, who was news director at the time. No one was surprised when she moved on to the network. A very bright, hard working woman. On one of my trips, years ago, I had lunch with her up in the SF area and she was doing very well and very happy at the affiliate there. A true pro.” – Arlen Peters ** Chris Carter in a Different World “On the topic of Chris Carter. I’ve been restoring my old cassette tapes and putting them up on my YouTube channel, and discovered a bit of the LAST DAY of Y107 and ‘The Chris Carter Mess.’ It’s a tiny snippet of how Y107 sounded on, I think, a Sunday night, a nice time capsule. Never met the guy but he puts on a great show and, dude he was in Dramarama so, yeah.” – Barry Funkhouser  ** Format Observations “Regarding the New Year’s resolution for KABC switching to MOR/AC Chart Music, this is a brilliant idea and the author is correct it would garner higher ratings than the station currently gets. I for one would be more than happy to stream this into my office even though I live in Omaha. I enjoy and miss that type of format, it’s pretty much disappeared but there’s still folks around who would listen. Side note, whatever happened to the person who was resurrecting the KNX/fm sound for streaming? A version came out but it’s not the version I remember from the late 1970s into the early 1980s.” – Gary Fead ** CKLW News Presentation “Great Doc on the CKLW newscasts - very enjoyable. Thanks for sharing.” – Bill A. Jones  ** More on Super Dave “An on the record addendum to Norm Epstein’s tribute to Bob Einstein: Bob did a call-in interview once when I was on Sports Talk with Bud Furillo and Tommy Hawkins. I don’t recall what Bob said that initially triggered my funny bone, but I began laughing ... as in uncontrollably ... and I continued throughout the entire interview. Even Bud’s glare had no effect on me.  I gasped for breath between the punchlines and tears rolled down my face. My lack of control was utterly unprofessional, but Bob had rendered me helpless. He knew he had me on a string and he flew me like a kite. The man was brilliant. I don’t believe I've ever laughed as hard nor for as long as I did that day. I don’t exaggerate when I say that Bob’s interview is a treasured memory.” – Lisa Bowman   Marketing Lesson from the Fiji Water Girl (January 11, 2019) Following the Golden Globes broadcast, many headlines blared: “Bohemian Rhapsody is the worst-reviewed Golden Globe winner in 33 years.” There was much anticipation from LArp to the seeing the Freddie Mercury (Queen) biopic. Barring a fluke, Bohemian Rhapsody will end its domestic run with around $180 million. That’ll be the biggest (sans inflation) musical biopic of all time and the second-biggest such offering since 1978, even adjusted for inflation. World-wide gross for the $50 million production is over a half billion dollars. So, what happened to the critics? Were they wrong? Why did moviegoers flock to the film? Has social media made movie reviewers and critics obsolete? It sure looks like it. You give the public what they want, then get out of the way at the multiplex for fear of being run over. How does radio adjust to social media? When I was doing movie marketing, I lived by the mantra, never promote a promotion, always promote the movie. There is always a tendency to think any publicity is good publicity. If what you are promoting doesn’t move the product off the shelves or increase your listenership, why waste your time? And creative marketing doesn’t have to be expensive. This is good news for the cost-conscious market manager who claims to have no budget for marketing. Last Sunday, Fiji Water was everywhere at the Golden Globes. In the movies we call this product placement. The Fiji Water Girl photobombed celebrity photos everywhere. She was a model. She was smart and angled her way into being a viral sensation. How do you put a twist on talent appearances at an advertiser event? How do you promote your station in a new and dazzling way? In other news: KLOS weekender Greg Beharrell takes over the evening slot at the Classic Rocker. In a very strange press release announcing the move, KLOS pd Keith Cunningham said: "What do you want me to say? Even great teams fumble sometimes. Apology cards will be mailed to listeners within the next two to four weeks.” … George Johns wonders, ‘With only one original member still in the band and with some ticket prices going for a couple of grand, this has got to make the Eagles the most expensive cover band of all time” … Kelly Jones moves to side-kick with Jeff Pope at HOT 103.9 and 101.3 The Mix-Inland Empire. “I have a new radio wife,” exclaimed Pope … Remember What’s Your Name by Don & Juan, a 1962 hit? “Don” died in 1982, age 45. “Juan” died in 2002, at age 67 … Buster Bodine, ex-Power 106 from 1987-89, just celebrated his 15th anniversary of his dissected ascending aortic aneurysm surgery when he was given a 1 in 3 chance of survival. “After 5 hours on the table with 600 micro stitches holding together a St Jude’s plastic aortic valve on top of my heart, I obviously survived it and feel fantastic to this day,” said Buster … Summer James (former Star 98.7 host) started the new year as middayer at WTCB (B106.7)- Columbia, South Carolina … Jaime Barragan, K-EARTH intern in the early 90s, sent along a terrific aircheck of The Real Don Steele … Baby, It's Cold Outside became the hottest holiday song this past season. In 1944, Frank Loesser sang the song with his wife, Lynn Garland, at their housewarming party in New York City at the Navarro Hotel. They sang the song to indicate to guests that it was time to leave. When a station in the Midwest decided to pull the song from its playlist in light of the #MeToo movement, the buzz took over. On Christmas morning, KFOG-San Francisco played continuously all of the versions of the Academy Award winning song they could find. Cute. David Grudt sent this LA Times ad from April 1, 1966.  "Robert W. Morgan ad was directly above a Tums ad that I thought was kinda funny"  Archives 1st Quarter 2019: Passing Parade: Sylvia Chase; Super Dave Osborne; Larry Van Nuys jumps into the (K)Surf; KABC shuffles line-up; LARP who died in 2018; Art Laboe set for PPB honor luncheon; Jaime Jarrin honored; Archives 4th Quarter 2018: Classic win for K-EARTH; Ellen K doubles down; Rachel Maddow profile; Imus lawsuit thrown out; Jeff Baugh's book; Gary Thompson was at right place, at the right time; Don Elliot reports from NAB/RAB Radio Show; Rocio Rivera gets more time at KFI; Johnny Gunn's new book gets dressed down; New life for KNX/fm; Passing Parade: Scott St. James; Hal Pickens, Ed Crook, John Lyle Campbell, Mike Parker, Dave Roberts; Bill Dudley plays a record; Invisible LARP; RJ Curtis hits jackpot; LA Times beats up Charley Steiner; KBIG begins with Poole; 93/KHJ gets benched; Allie MacKay's Journey; Al Wisked Away by Dallas;What did music stations talk about during World Series; Heaven is in Your Mind; Brother John source material; Gary Moore stands up for cancer; Jillian Barberie diagnosed with breast cancer; What's in your berry bag, Wolfman?; Flash! Bohemian Rhapsody is a Smash!; Mornings growing at 870/KRLA; Another Southern California Inferno; Ingraham transitions to podcasting; Nobody knows anything; Casey Kasem counts backwards to 48 Hours; Jim Hawthorne would have been 100; Best Broadcaster ever!; Wink a heavenly treasure; 2018 rearview review; Scott St. James remembered; Bob Cole to hell and back; VO artists sing for kids; KLAC raises 1/4 $; Highest paid radio people; Doug McIntyre is set to leave KABC after 22 years; Wally Clark falls; Vic the Brick feelin' you; KABC, By George Green; Art Vuolo's farewell party