SF Bay Area 1970's

Some good references to the broadcast scene during this period.

http://richliebermanreport.blogspot.com/2018/04/those-were-days-my-freinds-san.html

TeaPartyDude said:

Some good references to the broadcast scene during this period.

http://richliebermanreport.blogspot.com/2018/04/those-were-days-my-freinds-san.html

Click to expand...

Not to pick....but that's what I do - but Lieberman's memory is missing a few cogs, as are all of us after a certain age. He references hearing the 4 Seasons Oh What A Night in 1975 on "Magic 610 KFRC." Just to be accurate, KFRC was "The Big 610" - "Magic 61" was the standards/MOR format the station switched to in 1986 after KFRC finally surrendered to the FM dial. The great Dr. Don Rose did stay on for awhile after as morning DJ after the switch in formats.

I'll throw in some Bay Area random radio memories from the mid-70s: 97.3 "Monster FM" (right after CBS got a signal upgrade in a 3-way station swap)... full-time big band music on KMPX 106.9... a million ads for "Matthews TV & Stereo, 6400 Mission Street, top of the hill Daly City"... KFRC's Visible Vault contest, where listeners stepped into a glass booth and tried to grab cash blowing around... James Gabbert's experiments with "quad" on his station K-101... Stefan Ponek on K-101... Mellow Rock CBS-FM (98.9) with very long and beautifully-sung jingles... KIQI AM 1010 signing off at sunset with Also Sprach Zarathustra.... K-101 going all disco for just one month (I think January 1979). Gill Haar ending every newscast with (in a slow, deep, formal voice) "And that's the news, so now you know."

Ahhh, those were the days.

KYA - All The Way

LKellerIII said:

Not to pick....but that's what I do - but Lieberman's memory is missing a few cogs, as are all of us after a certain age. He references hearing the 4 Seasons Oh What A Night in 1975 on "Magic 610 KFRC." Just to be accurate, KFRC was "The Big 610" - "Magic 61" was the standards/MOR format the station switched to in 1986 after KFRC finally surrendered to the FM dial. The great Dr. Don Rose did stay on for awhile after as morning DJ after the switch in formats.

Click to expand...

I didn't think there was a KFRC-FM at that time.

semoochie said:

I didn't think there was a KFRC-FM at that time.

Click to expand...

Semoochie: KFRC-FM (106.1) was born in 1960 (It had been KGO-FM from 1945-55, then went dark), ran until 1968, became KFMS from 1968-72 (running the Drake-Chenault "Hitparade" format) and then went Beautiful Music as KKEE from 1972-73.

The KFRC-FM calls returned in 1973. It was automated oldies, branded as "Golden Stereo 106"....but it simulcasted KFRC-AM several hours a day, including (at least for a while) Dr. Don Rose's morning show. Several variations of a gold/current mix were tried, as well as a re-branding to "K-106".

J.J. Jordan and Don Sainte-Johnn were both Program Directors of the FM (Don was brought in specifically for that job, replacing J.J. in early 1974---he added an AM airshift later).

Eventually, RKO took its failure to mean there was no future in FM in San Francisco and sold it to Century Broadcasting in 1977. They launched KMEL as an album-rock station, but in the summer of 1984, went CHR with it. A lot of people say that's what killed KFRC as a contemporary music station, but truth be told, they were already losing to KYUU.

michael hagerty said:

Semoochie: KFRC-FM (106.1) was born in 1960 (It had been KGO-FM from 1945-55, then went dark), ran until 1968, became KFMS from 1968-72 (running the Drake-Chenault "Hitparade" format) and then went Beautiful Music as KKEE from 1972-73.

The KFRC-FM calls returned in 1973. It was automated oldies, branded as "Golden Stereo 106"....but it simulcasted KFRC-AM several hours a day, including (at least for a while) Dr. Don Rose's morning show. Several variations of a gold/current mix were tried, as well as a re-branding to "K-106".

J.J. Jordan and Don Sainte-Johnn were both Program Directors of the FM (Don was brought in specifically for that job, replacing J.J. in early 1974---he added an AM airshift later).

Eventually, RKO took its failure to mean there was no future in FM in San Francisco and sold it to Century Broadcasting in 1977. They launched KMEL as an album-rock station, but in the summer of 1984, went CHR with it. A lot of people say that's what killed KFRC as a contemporary music station, but truth be told, they were already losing to KYUU.

Click to expand...

Thank you, Michael! It sounded like L Keller was saying that KFRC had an FM at the time and surrendered to it. From an outsider's viewpoint, I thought what really did in KFRC was "The Game Zone". 12+ still looked pretty good up to that point.

Didn't KYUU get going in 1977, as well?

onairb2014 said:

Didn't KYUU get going in 1977, as well?

Click to expand...

Yes, but it didn't really cause a problem for KFRC until '83 or so. In the early going, it was an AC. It still called itself an AC from '83-'88, but they weren't fooling anyone.

michael hagerty said:

Semoochie: KFRC-FM (106.1) was born in 1960 (It had been KGO-FM from 1945-55, then went dark), ran until 1968, became KFMS from 1968-72 (running the Drake-Chenault "Hitparade" format) and then went Beautiful Music as KKEE from 1972-73.

The KFRC-FM calls returned in 1973. It was automated oldies, branded as "Golden Stereo 106"....but it simulcasted KFRC-AM several hours a day, including (at least for a while) Dr. Don Rose's morning show. Several variations of a gold/current mix were tried, as well as a re-branding to "K-106".

J.J. Jordan and Don Sainte-Johnn were both Program Directors of the FM (Don was brought in specifically for that job, replacing J.J. in early 1974---he added an AM airshift later).

Eventually, RKO took its failure to mean there was no future in FM in San Francisco and sold it to Century Broadcasting in 1977. They launched KMEL as an album-rock station, but in the summer of 1984, went CHR with it. A lot of people say that's what killed KFRC as a contemporary music station, but truth be told, they were already losing to KYUU.

Click to expand...

I would think KFRC was also hurt by "Hot Hits" 105 KITS, and K-101, while both not exactly the same "Top 40" format, were damn close, and also siphoning off listeners big time. The stupidity of RKO's move in selling 106.1 has been talked about from time to time on this board. By 1977, it was pretty clear that even in the hilly Bay Area, FM was slowly taking over. It's interesting to speculate that KFRC could have continued a long run as a ratings leader with an FM/AM simulcast, like KIIS became in Los Angeles when it added the KKDJ FM signal to 1150 AM...and still going strong to this day, of course.

And speaking of James Gabbert - his technical prowess has often been discussed, and he has been given credit - rightly or wrongly, for being one of the FM pioneers who was in the forefront of doing whatever electronic magic was necessary to make FM viable in the Bay Area. When I moved here in 73, I had my first FM car tuner, and yes - the inconsistency in signals from the FM stations were notable, but really, no worse than in Los Angeles, which has a lot of high hills and mountains too. I remember that sometimes it would get so frustrating trying to keep an FM station tuned in (while driving) that I would just default back to AM and KFRC, KYA, and KNEW (Oldies). But again, same thing in LA.

semoochie said:

Thank you, Michael! It sounded like L Keller was saying that KFRC had an FM at the time and surrendered to it. From an outsider's viewpoint, I thought what really did in KFRC was "The Game Zone". 12+ still looked pretty good up to that point.

Click to expand...

Semoochie:

That's the perception...but it's not quite reality.

KFRC's peak was in the April/May 1978 book...#1 12+ with an 8.4. Les Garland was the PD.

Just two years later (April/May 1980), KFRC had a 4.4. That's almost half. Les was out, went to work doing promotion for Atlantic Records before landing the MTV gig, and they hired Gerry Cagle.

In those two years, KYUU had gone from a 1.7 to a 3.6, and KSOL from a 2.5 to a 4.3.

Cagle decided to defend against KSOL.

July/August '80 was a transition book...Cagle's game plan wasn't in action yet. It was even worse than April/May. KSOL with a 4.8, KFRC with a 4.0 and KYUU with a 3.7.

October/November '80 saw KFRC and KSOL tied with a 5.1. KYUU had fallen back to a 2.9. For the rest of Cagle's run, KFRC would be between a 4.5 and a 5.4, finally putting KSOL in its rear-view mirror in the Summer '82 book.

But what worked for Gerry was that hard rhythmic approach. This was when most Top 40 was playing Air Supply and Juice Newton. In '83, when the CHR revolution came along, Gerry had to play the hits, and that meant KYUU could stick to mass-appeal hits, play most of what KFRC played, and do it in FM stereo.

In Winter of '83, it was KFRC 4.1, KYUU 3.7. Spring '83, KFRC 4.3, KYUU 3.2.

Summer '83 was KFRC 3.9 and KYUU falling to a 2.4....but KSOL was gaining with a 3.6.

Fall '83 and Winter '84 were the books that sealed Cagle's fate. Fall '83 had KFRC 7th with a 3.0, being beaten by KIOI (which was what we'd call a "Hot AC" today) at 3.2 and KYUU two-tenths behind at 2.8. KSOL was 3rd with a 4.7.

Winter '84 was a tenth of a point better for KFRC, at a 3.1...but worse in every other way. They'd fallen to 9th, with KSOL at a 3.8, KYUU with a 3.5 and KIOI with a 3.4

That was it for Cagle. He was gone in mid-March of '84.

Mike Phillips was next. He made the mistake of going totally by the charts and ignoring rhythmic product that wasn't mass-appeal crossover. Now there was no difference between KFRC, KYUU and KIOI apart from Dr. Don on KFRC and the other guys being in stereo.

Summer '84: KFRC tied for 13th with a 2.6. KSOL 2nd with a 6.1, KYUU fourth with a 3.9, newcomer KITS 8th with a 3.1 and KIOI 9th with a 3.0.

Fall '84: tied for 9th with a 2.7. KSOL third with a 4.0, KYUU fourth with a 3.4, KIOI tied for 7th with a 2.8.

It was at this point that Walt Sabo, who was consulting RKO, began putting the pieces in place for the Game Zone.

Winter '85, before the launch of the Game Zone, was a bit better...8th place with a 3.1, but KYUU was 3rd with a 4.1, KIOI was fourth with a 3.5 and KSOL was fifth with a 3.5.

And then, the Game Zone.

First book, Spring 1985: KFRC 1.9, tied for 20th with KLOK-FM and KKHI AM/FM.

Second book, Summer 1985: Worse. KFRC 1.5, 22nd place.

Third and final book, Fall 1985: Marginally better, but still awful. KFRC 1.7, 21st place.

In mid-November, the Game Zone was dropped, PD Dave Sholin brought back Bobby Ocean and tried to make the thing fly again, but never did better than a 1.7.

So, KYUU had been a threat for a long time, passed KFRC in Winter of '84 and never looked back. KMEL debuted in Summer '84, but didn't beat KYUU until Winter of '86.

And KFRC...well, looking at the huge audience loss between Spring of '78 and Spring of '80, you could make a case that had Gerry Cagle not decided to go after KSOL, the decline would have continued...and KFRC would have been, like most AM Top 40s, out of the format by 1982.

LKellerIII said:

I would think KFRC was also hurt by "Hot Hits" 105 KITS, and K-101, while both not exactly the same "Top 40" format, were damn close, and also siphoning off listeners big time. The stupidity of RKO's move in selling 106.1 has been talked about from time to time on this board. By 1977, it was pretty clear that even in the hilly Bay Area, FM was slowly taking over. It's interesting to speculate that KFRC could have continued a long run as a ratings leader with an FM/AM simulcast, like KIIS became in Los Angeles when it added the KKDJ FM signal to 1150 AM...and still going strong to this day, of course.

Click to expand...

Llew:

KITS usually got between a 2.0 and a 2.5 and only beat KFRC once before The Game Zone. Part of the problem was that it's not the best FM signal in town, the other was that the high level of repetition and energy level of the "Hot Hits" format probably resulted in shorter listening times...which affect the numbers.

As for KIIS-KKDJ, the FM was by far the stronger of those two stations at the time of the merger (October, 1975). And, FCC rules regarding simulcasts meant you still had to have separate programming at least 50% of the time. That's what KFRC was doing with KFRC-FM. And like, KIIS AM/FM in the 70s, part of the simulcast was morning drive. Dr. Don on FM wasn't pulling any appreciable numbers.

And let's remember that the KIIS AM/FM simulcast didn't work, either. By late '78, KIIS-FM went disco and KIIS-AM was separately programmed. When that didn't work, it went religious as KPRZ for a couple of years, followed by an adult standards format that did work until KMPC decided it wanted that audience. Then it was "shadowcasting" KIIS-FM with its own set of jocks before finally doing a full simulcast a few years later (by which point, all but 0.1 was listening to the FM).

Looking at the numbers when KFRC was #1, the highest-rated FM that wasn't a beautiful music outlet was KIOI...and it had half the numbers of KFRC. Easy to see how RKO could come to the assumption there wasn't a there there. And even in markets where it was clear FM was going places, RKO seemed to be a little oblivious...pouring money into KHJ as the numbers went nowhere but down while keeping KRTH automated or at best live-assist.

michael hagerty said:

Llew:

KITS usually got between a 2.0 and a 2.5 and only beat KFRC once before The Game Zone. Part of the problem was that it's not the best FM signal in town, the other was that the high level of repetition and energy level of the "Hot Hits" format probably resulted in shorter listening times...which affect the numbers.

As for KIIS-KKDJ, the FM was by far the stronger of those two stations at the time of the merger (October, 1975). And, FCC rules regarding simulcasts meant you still had to have separate programming at least 50% of the time. That's what KFRC was doing with KFRC-FM. And like, KIIS AM/FM in the 70s, part of the simulcast was morning drive. Dr. Don on FM wasn't pulling any appreciable numbers.

And let's remember that the KIIS AM/FM simulcast didn't work, either. By late '78, KIIS-FM went disco and KIIS-AM was separately programmed. When that didn't work, it went religious as KPRZ for a couple of years, followed by an adult standards format that did work until KMPC decided it wanted that audience. Then it was "shadowcasting" KIIS-FM with its own set of jocks before finally doing a full simulcast a few years later (by which point, all but 0.1 was listening to the FM).

Looking at the numbers when KFRC was #1, the highest-rated FM that wasn't a beautiful music outlet was KIOI...and it had half the numbers of KFRC. Easy to see how RKO could come to the assumption there wasn't a there there. And even in markets where it was clear FM was going places, RKO seemed to be a little oblivious...pouring money into KHJ as the numbers went nowhere but down while keeping KRTH automated or at best live-assist.

Click to expand...

Michael:

I can confirm 105.3's crappy signal. Though I was never particularly a fan of alt rock, I was a fan of Alex Bennett...who hardly ever played music anyway - on Live 105 in the late 80s and 90s. Even after FM signals were upgraded, 105.3 was difficult to hear in a moving vehicle.

Thanks for mentioning K-101. When people reminisce about the 70s, K-101 is usually forgotten, which I think is strange, considering it was a good station. It was a bit eccentric - in keeping with it's owner - James Gabbert. I suspect he didn't use a lot of consultants to choose music, though I don't know for sure. There were occasional oddities in the play list, and I used to wonder if they were there just because Gabbert personally liked them. Then there were the odd format quirks that would probably seem less odd now in the voice-tracked world - like the last song of the set going directly into the stop set without DJ talk, then the DJ back announcing the previous songs after the commercials. Gabbert would also let some of his jocks do little features - I recall that Sam Van Zandt did a kind of "man on the street" thing from time to time.

Somebody mentioned Gabbert's Quad experiments. He was known as a techno-geek, supposedly one of the first to broadcast in FM stereo, then later his TV 20 was the first Bay Area TV station in stereo. I guess he thought Quadraphonic sound would be the next huge thing.

On that subject, I remember driving through Sacramento in the 80s hearing a station that called itself "Quad" - KWOD, IIRC. I assume the origin of those calls was to push quadraphonic sound at some point. As a student of radio history, perhaps you can confirm.

I know that when I was in a hit music mood, K-101 was one of the stations that drew me away from KFRC and KYA - IIRC, it had one of the stronger signals.

LKellerIII said:

Michael:

I can confirm 105.3's crappy signal. Though I was never particularly a fan of alt rock, I was a fan of Alex Bennett...who hardly ever played music anyway - on Live 105 in the late 80s and 90s. Even after FM signals were upgraded, 105.3 was difficult to hear in a moving vehicle.

Thanks for mentioning K-101. When people reminisce about the 70s, K-101 is usually forgotten, which I think is strange, considering it was a good station. It was a bit eccentric - in keeping with it's owner - James Gabbert. I suspect he didn't use a lot of consultants to choose music, though I don't know for sure. There were occasional oddities in the play list, and I used to wonder if they were there just because Gabbert personally liked them. Then there were the odd format quirks that would probably seem less odd now in the voice-tracked world - like the last song of the set going directly into the stop set without DJ talk, then the DJ back announcing the previous songs after the commercials. Gabbert would also let some of his jocks do little features - I recall that Sam Van Zandt did a kind of "man on the street" thing from time to time.

Somebody mentioned Gabbert's Quad experiments. He was known as a techno-geek, supposedly one of the first to broadcast in FM stereo, then later his TV 20 was the first Bay Area TV station in stereo. I guess he thought Quadraphonic sound would be the next huge thing.

On that subject, I remember driving through Sacramento in the 80s hearing a station that called itself "Quad" - KWOD, IIRC. I assume the origin of those calls was to push quadraphonic sound at some point. As a student of radio history, perhaps you can confirm.

I know that when I was in a hit music mood, K-101 was one of the stations that drew me away from KFRC and KYA - IIRC, it had one of the stronger signals.

Click to expand...

Gabbert did a lot of things with K-101 just to be different, I think. And, by and large, he succeeded.

KIOI is one of the best signals in the market.

As for KWOD in Sacramento, yes, that was the reason for the calls. The station had been KMJL for 20 years before making the switch in 1977. Scroll down to the bottom of this page: http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Billboard-IDX/IDX/70s/1977/Billboard%201977-03-05-OCR-Page-0024.pdf#search=%22kwod%22

Another Gabbert/K-101 innovation in the 70s that turned out to be much more significant than quad: FM circular polarization. This vastly improved reception in cars, and probably sped up the overall audience move to FM. Before circular, you would often get the "picket fence" effect driving in areas without line-of-sight to the transmitter.

Also, early FM car receivers were far inferior to today's tuners. I still remember 98.9 north of Mt. Beacon being blanked out for miles by the harmonics from Beacon's superpower 97.3 and 98.1. Nowadays, my car radio won't get any harmonics unless I'm practically underneath a transmitter.

Since we've been talking about the somewhat eccentric James Gabbert, I thought I'd provide a link to a somewhat eccentric KOFY TV20 station ID....with the inevitable dog (occasionally a cat), the whisper "sterrreoooo" that moved from left to right on your speakers, and features the voice of Mr. Gabbert, himself:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DANFFnsWNQk

LKellerIII said:

Since we've been talking about the somewhat eccentric James Gabbert, I thought I'd provide a link to a somewhat eccentric KOFY TV20 station ID....with the inevitable dog (occasionally a cat), the whisper "sterrreoooo" that moved from left to right on your speakers, and features the voice of Mr. Gabbert, himself:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DANFFnsWNQk

Click to expand...

I think this is the neatest bumper I have ever heard: https://youtu.be/sFFL9q5NIeo

landtuna said:

I think this is the neatest bumper I have ever heard: https://youtu.be/sFFL9q5NIeo

Click to expand...

Now there's some history. 103.7 is one of those Bay Area frequencies that has had probably a dozen formats since then.Off the top of my head, here at the changes to 103.7 since those days:

1. "Love FM" I think they called it - around 69-70, that automated ABC album rock format out of New York with Brother John Rydgen, Tony Pigg, and others.

2. "Rock N Stereo" 104 KSFX - like KLOS in Los Angeles, but not successful like KLOS.

3. "Musicradio" KSFX - 1973 or so (?) a copy of the legendary Top 40 77/WABC in New York - also not successful.

4. 104 KSFX with a soul music sound that morphed in the mid-late 70s into "Disco 104" to ride out the disco era. Had a long run until disco tanked.

5. KGO-FM Talk Radio FM 104 in the early 80s - the ABC Talk radio network, with shows primarily out of New York. Later some local shows, such as Don Chamberlain's "Sex Talk" show - a very explicit version of what Bill Ballance started in LA with the "Feminine Forum." Ultimately not a ratings winner, and ABC sold the station.

6. 103.7 KLOK-FM "Yes/No Radio" (essentially light rock) late 80s. The "Clock-FM" gimmick was that you could call to up-vote or down-vote songs on the play list.

7. Smooth Jazz KKSF - had a long run in the 90s. Ultimately bought and ruined by Clear Channel

8. iHeart's various versions of Classic Hits, starting with "Oldies 103.7, "The New 103.7," "The Bay's 103.7" (branding seemed to change monthly), finally morphing into the current "iHeart [email protected]

And I've probably left out a few formats...I know there were one or two between #7 and #8.

LKellerIII said:

Now there's some history. 103.7 is one of those Bay Area frequencies that has had probably a dozen formats since then.Off the top of my head, here at the changes to 103.7 since those days:

1. "Love FM" I think they called it - around 69-70, that automated ABC album rock format out of New York with Brother John Rydgen, Tony Pigg, and others.

2. "Rock N Stereo" 104 KSFX - like KLOS in Los Angeles, but not successful like KLOS.

3. "Musicradio" KSFX - 1973 or so (?) a copy of the legendary Top 40 77/WABC in New York - also not successful.

4. 104 KSFX with a soul music sound that morphed in the mid-late 70s into "Disco 104" to ride out the disco era. Had a long run until disco tanked.

5. KGO-FM Talk Radio FM 104 in the early 80s - the ABC Talk radio network, with shows primarily out of New York. Later some local shows, such as Don Chamberlain's "Sex Talk" show - a very explicit version of what Bill Ballance started in LA with the "Feminine Forum." Ultimately not a ratings winner, and ABC sold the station.

6. 103.7 KLOK-FM "Yes/No Radio" (essentially light rock) late 80s. The "Clock-FM" gimmick was that you could call to up-vote or down-vote songs on the play list.

7. Smooth Jazz KKSF - had a long run in the 90s. Ultimately bought and ruined by Clear Channel

8. iHeart's various versions of Classic Hits, starting with "Oldies 103.7, "The New 103.7," "The Bay's 103.7" (branding seemed to change monthly), finally morphing into the current "iHeart [email protected]

And I've probably left out a few formats...I know there were one or two between #7 and #8.

Click to expand...

Llew: There's one between #4 and #5, too...an album rock format from the summer of 1981 (after KSAN went Country in late '80) until April 30 of 1982 when 103.7 became KGO-FM. Stephen Capen did mornings.