When I was stationed in Long Beach in the early 60's KRLA was my favorite music station. We didn't have FM receivers on the ship.
That was a magical time. They were very, relatable to teenagers and 20-something adults Their air talent was chosen, I think, on the ability to create a very uptempo, very bright young sound. I spent numerous afternoons / early evenings/ weekends quietly standing in KRLA's lobby watching those guys work. They had to be able to read copy and ads very fast to keep the high energy sound. They read aloud flawlessly and rarely made a mistake. It was live radio then, which required a strong talent level.
Tomas Estefan reported this above, but here is some additional history from the internet
From KBLA Radio History:
It always seemed to me that L.A. radio stations constantly were changing call letters, or formats, or frequencies, or just about anything. I always remembered frequency 870 as KIEV Glendale, but that frequency belongs to KRLA now, and they are nothing at all like they used to be. Just a totally different station.KBLA was a hit music station at 1500 AM from Burbank in the sixties until June 1967 when it switched to a country format as KBBQ. The KBLA callL letters resurfaced in March 1991 when 1580 KDAY dropped its urban format and switched to business talk.
When KDAY 1580 switched over to business talk, they took on the KBLA call letters. Before they switched, KDAY had a storied history. Sometimes their format was Top 40, sometimes R&B, and later on, they were early adopters of hip-hop. Several of the KRLA 1110 men migrated over to KDAY in the 60's and 70's. They were: Roger Christian, Sam Riddle, Johnny Hayes, Jimmy O'Neill, and Manny Pacheco. ( He worked at KRLA in the 1990's, after their studio moved from Pasadena down to Wilshire Blvd. circa 1985)
Glad to hear that Tavis Smiley is involved with KBLA in some capacity: hopefully he can make a success of it. -- Daryl
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