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930 KHJ stunting w/God rock

The basketball team that played at the old Forum was the Los Angeles Lakers, not the Inglewood Lakers. Hah! I gotcha there. :)

Please 'splain to me how that overrides the community of license provisions in FCC rules.
 
There will be no LARadio.com column on April 29 so I'm posting this here for all you big boss fans of 93/KHJ:

LARadio Rewind: April 29, 1967. KHJ, which had switched from adult contemporary to top 40 as "Boss Radio" two years earlier, presents its second annual Listener Appreciation Concert at the Hollywood Bowl, featuring Johnny Rivers, Brenda Holloway, Buffalo Springfield, the Seeds, the Supremes and the 5th Dimension. The nearly three-hour concert included appearances by all the Boss Jocks and Buffalo Springfield performed their upcoming single, Mr. Soul. Tickets were only 93¢ and the proceeds went to establish the Motown Scholarship for Musical Excellence. The previous year's Listener Appreciation Concert at the Hollywood Bowl featured Bob Lind, Otis Redding, Donovan, Jan & Dean, Sonny & Cher, the Turtles, the Mamas & Papas, the Knickerbockers and the Modern Folk Quintet and the profits were donated to the Braille Institute of America.
 
Big A: Yes. Double-sided hit with "Bluebird". Peaked at #2 on the Boss 30.

Probably only in LA, since BS was an LA-based band. I can't find any national numbers, so it probably never made the Top 40.

The official single lists "Bluebird" as the A side, which is logical since it features Steve Stills as the lead singer, and he also sang their only national Top 10: For What It's Worth.

The other interesting note is that the single version of Mr. Soul had a different lead guitar solo. The single is mono, too bad since Mr. Soul had a lot of interesting stereo effects. Written & sung by Neil Young.
 
Probably only in LA, since BS was an LA-based band. I can't find any national numbers, so it probably never made the Top 40.

The official single lists "Bluebird" as the A side, which is logical since it features Steve Stills as the lead singer, and he also sang their only national Top 10: For What It's Worth.

The other interesting note is that the single version of Mr. Soul had a different lead guitar solo. The single is mono, too bad since Mr. Soul had a lot of interesting stereo effects. Written & sung by Neil Young.

Yep. "Bluebird" only hit #58 and Billboard did not treat it as a double-sided chart record.
 
Michael probably already knows about this site---Is there anything radio-related that he doesn't know?---but several years of surveys from KHJ, KFI, KFWB and KRLA, along with surveys from stations in Albany, Chicago and Minneapolis, are on the Oldies Loon website:

http://oldiesloon.com/
 
Michael probably already knows about this site---Is there anything radio-related that he doesn't know?---but several years of surveys from KHJ, KFI, KFWB and KRLA, along with surveys from stations in Albany, Chicago and Minneapolis, are on the Oldies Loon website:

http://oldiesloon.com/

Steve:

Oldiesloon is a major chart resource for me...a great way to see the differences between stations in the same market (when the charts overlap) as well as comparing markets (KHJ versus WLS, for example).

Another wonderful resource is Ray Randolph's site, which has actual photos of each Boss 30 as well as KHJ memorabilia. Apart from one playlist per new DJ thereafter, Ray's site stops in mid-1973, with the departure of Bill Drake, Robert W. Morgan, The Real Don Steele, Mark Elliot and Jerry Butler, but within the time frame of 1965 to mid-1973, the alphabetical listing (by artist) of every song to hit the Boss 30 (or just plain "Thirty" after spring, 1971), its debut date and peak position is a marvelous thing:

The Music of 93/KHJ Boss Radio
(clicking an individual song takes you to the Boss 30/"Thirty" for the week that record debuted)

And for a really deep dive, there's even a list of songs that were Hitbound, but never made the Boss 30:

93/KHJ Hitbounds That Didn't Chart
 
I do love the bogus story about "KK" being an "obscenity" en Espanol (crude, yes...obscene, no). What conveniently got left out and the FCC didn't figure was that since the station didn't use its call letters except for a legal ID....and legal IDs must be done in English, it would never be an issue.

The story errs in another area, too. "From its inception" KKHJ was called "Radio Alegría". In about 1997 it briefly became "Radio Noticias 930" and only then became "La Ranchera".

As the PD of KKHJ from 1992 to early 1995, I can say we never had a complaint, issue or problem with the KKHJ call letters. As you say, they were only used once an hour, and in English.

And, very true Michael, "caca" is not an obscenity. It is the Spanish equivalent of "poop" or "crap" and a pretty mild term in today's world.
 
On February 1, 1986, KHJ became "Smokin' Oldies" KRTH-AM. Just before the change, Robert W. Morgan and Dave Sebastian hosted a farewell broadcast. A montage of KHJ jingles was played and one of them was "Wonderful KHJ." David, do you know which years that jingle was used? And was it KHJ's first jingle?
 
On February 1, 1986, KHJ became "Smokin' Oldies" KRTH-AM. Just before the change, Robert W. Morgan and Dave Sebastian hosted a farewell broadcast. A montage of KHJ jingles was played and one of them was "Wonderful KHJ." David, do you know which years that jingle was used? And was it KHJ's first jingle?

I can take a crack at that one, Steve. It was circa 1960-61, from PAMS, I believe. A fairly popular package at the time, used in many markets. KHJ's San Francisco sister, KFRC (610 AM) used it, too, and in 1961, branded themselves as "61-derful". Whether it was KHJ's first jingle or not, I have no idea. It may have been, since a lot of MOR stations didn't bother with jingles until well into the 60s. Gene Autry was among the pioneers in the format at KMPC, and to a lesser extent, KSFO. Still, there exists a 1961 aircheck of a complete hour of Don Sherwood on KSFO where there are not only no jingles, but the call letters are only mentioned by the newscaster as he begins the top-of-the hour newscast with a legal ID.
 
I sherwood love to hear that aircheck. (Sorry.) Thank you for that information. I do not have a copy of The Jingle Book (yet) but it is a history of radio station jingles:

http://www.danoday.com/jinglebook/ebook.cgi

The first jingle for a commercial product aired on Christmas Eve of 1926. It was titled "Have you tried Wheaties?" and was sung by the all-male Wheaties Quartet. The commercial was for...ummm...Wheaties.

http://www.old-time.com/commercials/1920's/Wheaties.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FjA_-bBUPI
 
I can take a crack at that one, Steve. It was circa 1960-61, from PAMS, I believe. A fairly popular package at the time, used in many markets. KHJ's San Francisco sister, KFRC (610 AM) used it, too, and in 1961, branded themselves as "61-derful". Whether it was KHJ's first jingle or not, I have no idea. It may have been, since a lot of MOR stations didn't bother with jingles until well into the 60s. Gene Autry was among the pioneers in the format at KMPC, and to a lesser extent, KSFO. Still, there exists a 1961 aircheck of a complete hour of Don Sherwood on KSFO where there are not only no jingles, but the call letters are only mentioned by the newscaster as he begins the top-of-the hour newscast with a legal ID.

For those interested in Bay Area radio history, the Bay Area Radio Museum http://bayarearadio.org/site/ has a 1964 air check of (Fred) Van Amburg on the pre-Drake KFRC. At the time, KFRC was trying unsuccessfully to compete in the MOR arena with KSFO and KNBR, much as its RKO General sister station KHJ was getting its clock cleaned in LA at the same time by KMPC and KNX.

Amburg was most famous - some would say infamous - for later (70s and 80s) losing the "Fred" and being the top-rated anchorman on KGO-TV's NewsScene, known for teaser headlines like "Penis found on railroad tracks. Details at 11:00."

But in 1964, "Van" was still toiling away in relative obscurity on KFRC. Much like the KSFO air check mentioned by Michael, there were practically no jingles (maybe one or two slow sleepy ones), and almost no mention of call letters, or anything we associate with "stationality" these days, or with Top 40 stations even in those days.

In fact, the whole air check is so sleep inducing and boring, it was hard listening all the way through.
 
For those interested in Bay Area radio history, the Bay Area Radio Museum http://bayarearadio.org/site/ has a 1964 air check of (Fred) Van Amburg on the pre-Drake KFRC. At the time, KFRC was trying unsuccessfully to compete in the MOR arena with KSFO and KNBR, much as its RKO General sister station KHJ was getting its clock cleaned in LA at the same time by KMPC and KNX.

Amburg was most famous - some would say infamous - for later (70s and 80s) losing the "Fred" and being the top-rated anchorman on KGO-TV's NewsScene, known for teaser headlines like "Penis found on railroad tracks. Details at 11:00."

But in 1964, "Van" was still toiling away in relative obscurity on KFRC. Much like the KSFO air check mentioned by Michael, there were practically no jingles (maybe one or two slow sleepy ones), and almost no mention of call letters, or anything we associate with "stationality" these days, or with Top 40 stations even in those days.

In fact, the whole air check is so sleep inducing and boring, it was hard listening all the way through.

Van gets credit (blame?) for the "Penis found on railroad tracks" tease, but I was watching that night. It was Valerie Coleman. The line was: "Severed penis found on railroad tracks in the East Bay. Film at 11."

Van, however, did do my favorite: "He drove up to the tollbooth with a dollar in his hand...and left with a bullet in his gut. Film at 11."

Those teases were classic Al Primo, the man who invented the "Eyewitness News" style at WABC and then consulted all the ABC owned and operated stations.

Most over the top? A practically frothing-at-the-mouth Jerry Dunphy on KABC, Los Angeles: "Hollywood vice squad cops bust kiddie porn bookstore and our cameras follow 'em in! FILM at 11!"

Having been back in California for a year and a half now, I'm surprised at how un-sensational KABC and KGO have become.

I miss Van.
 
Van gets credit (blame?) for the "Penis found on railroad tracks" tease, but I was watching that night. It was Valerie Coleman. The line was: "Severed penis found on railroad tracks in the East Bay. Film at 11."

Van, however, did do my favorite: "He drove up to the tollbooth with a dollar in his hand...and left with a bullet in his gut. Film at 11."

Those teases were classic Al Primo, the man who invented the "Eyewitness News" style at WABC and then consulted all the ABC owned and operated stations.

Most over the top? A practically frothing-at-the-mouth Jerry Dunphy on KABC, Los Angeles: "Hollywood vice squad cops bust kiddie porn bookstore and our cameras follow 'em in! FILM at 11!"

Having been back in California for a year and a half now, I'm surprised at how un-sensational KABC and KGO have become.

I miss Van.

Yes - Bay Area TV news has been the same way (un-sensational) for a couple of decades now. The trend started when KTVU switched their brand from Action News to "The ___O'clock News"... pre 1990, IIRC. Sensationalism became a no-no, and some TV writer joked that there was not only NO "happy-talk," but that you wouldn't think the anchors were in the same building, though they were sitting next to each other. And if I recall, KGO-TV started cleaning up its act even before Amburg was shown the door by new owners Capital Cities, which balked at Van's high salary.
 
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