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106 KMEL San Francisco - April 25, 1987

For those who don't know - Renel was a "sidekick" on the very popular "Morning Zoo" during this period, but is probably best known for her years (more than a decade, I think) hosting the morning show on 98.1 Kiss-FM. She was (is?) also the stadium announcer for the San Francisco Giants
 
Alan Smithee said:
They died in 1984 when they ceased to be "Camel".
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I think their ratings from the late 80s would say otherwise. The range of the station was so popular, they even showed up in Stockton's ratings. The station seemed more in tune to its listeners as a Rhythmic CHR than they ever were as AOR.
 
Nathan O'Dan said:
I think their ratings from the late 80s would say otherwise. The range of the station was so popular, they even showed up in Stockton's ratings. The station seemed more in tune to its listeners as a Rhythmic CHR than they ever were as AOR.
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Agree.

There must be a reason "the brand" is still around. In the late 80's and 90's KMEL was killin' it!
 
Nathan O'Dan said:
I think their ratings from the late 80s would say otherwise. The range of the station was so popular, they even showed up in Stockton's ratings. The station seemed more in tune to its listeners as a Rhythmic CHR than they ever were as AOR.
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Yeah, really. The station was album rock "Camel 106" for what? 6-7 years, tops? Then they became "All Hit" KMEL which morphed within a few years into basically the Hip Hop station it is today, for 34 years, if that 1984 date is correct.

I'd say the longevity speaks for itself.
 
LKellerIII said:
Yeah, really. The station was album rock "Camel 106" for what? 6-7 years, tops? Then they became "All Hit" KMEL which morphed within a few years into basically the Hip Hop station it is today, for 34 years, if that 1984 date is correct.

I'd say the longevity speaks for itself.
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That's the standard response from AOR fans, though, Llew. There are still people who claim KMET in L.A. should never have become KTWV and should change back now. KMET lasted 19 years---KTWV's going on 33.

KMEL was in the 1.6 range in the ratings and not even in the top 20 stations when it flipped. Its peak was in the early 80s---right after KSAN went Country in the fall of 1980. Within a couple of years, it fell and was bumping along with 2s or less for the last couple years of its life.

BTW, the date for KMEL is correct. The CHR launch was August 25, 1984. Here's audio: https://formatchange.com/106-1-kmel-goes-chr/
 
michael hagerty said:
That's the standard response from AOR fans, though, Llew. There are still people who claim KMET in L.A. should never have become KTWV and should change back now. KMET lasted 19 years---KTWV's going on 33.

KMEL was in the 1.6 range in the ratings and not even in the top 20 stations when it flipped. Its peak was in the early 80s---right after KSAN went Country in the fall of 1980. Within a couple of years, it fell and was bumping along with 2s or less for the last couple years of its life.

BTW, the date for KMEL is correct. The CHR launch was August 25, 1984. Here's audio: https://formatchange.com/106-1-kmel-goes-chr/
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Being an LA ex-pat, I can see the nostalgia for KMET - it was a real heritage "underground" FM station. I can still remember my first year of college, when KMET was still playing "elevator" music 12 hours a day, but let B. Mitchell Reed loose to play the other 12.

"Camel" on the other hand was kind of a Johnny-come-lately to album rock, had a rather tight playlist (IIRC) and didn't bring anything new to the format. No loss.

Come to think of it, I don't remember any big ground-swell of support and angst when KSAN went country, either
 
LKellerIII said:
Being an LA ex-pat, I can see the nostalgia for KMET - it was a real heritage "underground" FM station. I can still remember my first year of college, when KMET was still playing "elevator" music 12 hours a day, but let B. Mitchell Reed loose to play the other 12.

"Camel" on the other hand was kind of a Johnny-come-lately to album rock, had a rather tight playlist (IIRC) and didn't bring anything new to the format. No loss.

Come to think of it, I don't remember any big ground-swell of support and angst when KSAN went country, either
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I get what you're saying, but fans of stations don't think of it in those terms.
 
I loved the hourly chime with the electricity static sound "69 Thousand Watts of Music Power, 106.1 KMEL FM, San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose"!!!!

I tested there range repeatedly. There signal is no joke. I was able to get them all the way above Blue Canyon on I80 ( Heading to lake Tahoe ).

Down here in San Jose, the station was squashed between two locals 105.7 (then) KARA of Santa Clara and KEZR 106.5. Most radios back then had crappy selectivity, and so, bleed-over was very common.

KMEL was one of my favorite stations back in 1990. Today, no way!!!
 
formula72 said:
I loved the hourly chime with the electricity static sound "69 Thousand Watts of Music Power, 106.1 KMEL FM, San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose"!!!!

I tested there range repeatedly. There signal is no joke. I was able to get them all the way above Blue Canyon on I80 ( Heading to lake Tahoe ).

Down here in San Jose, the station was squashed between two locals 105.7 (then) KARA of Santa Clara and KEZR 106.5. Most radios back then had crappy selectivity, and so, bleed-over was very common.

KMEL was one of my favorite stations back in 1990. Today, no way!!!
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I always loved their range and picked them up a long ways away in two separate instances.
First was on a flight from Sacramento to Denver. Their signal lasted about an hour into the flight which put me somewhere over eastern Nevada maybe western Utah when the signal faded. This was before the PSA of turning off electronic devices.
Another was during a tropo/E-skip instance in the fall of 94. I picked them up all the way out in eastern South Dakota for a period of about 5 minutes. Long enough for me to ID them.
 
formula72 said:
I loved the hourly chime with the electricity static sound "69 Thousand Watts of Music Power, 106.1 KMEL FM, San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose"!!!!
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Completely remember that.

They certainly knew how to use "theater of the mind" and make themselves look BIG!
 
Nathan O'Dan said:
I always loved their range and picked them up a long ways away in two separate instances.
First was on a flight from Sacramento to Denver. Their signal lasted about an hour into the flight which put me somewhere over eastern Nevada maybe western Utah when the signal faded. This was before the PSA of turning off electronic devices.
Another was during a tropo/E-skip instance in the fall of 94. I picked them up all the way out in eastern South Dakota for a period of about 5 minutes. Long enough for me to ID them.
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I used to listen to them well outside their "fringe" until KCFA (106.1) signed on in Arnold. Very nice TX facility though, been there a few times. Unfortunately, LPFM has changed any kind of FM DX'ing that once existed.
 
stewie said:
Completely remember that.

They certainly knew how to use "theater of the mind" and make themselves look BIG!
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It was a Xerox of KPWR (Power 106), Los Angeles' ID----"72-thousand watts of music power (music power) (less talk) KPWR, Los Angeles (static sfx)---Power One-Oh-Six."
 
Does KPWR ( Power 106 ) still do that? I was wondering back in the day if KMEL and KPWR were sister stations. They both were pretty cool!! When I lived in the southland ( Ontario / Cucamonga ), the signal out to the valley wasn't very good. Where we lived, we were on the fringe edge of most LA stations. With family in the area, every time I passed through on the 210, I turned to KPWR to see what was playing and caught the hourly chime a few times. My favorite LA FM station station was, and probably always will be, is 102.7 KISS FM.
 
formula72 said:
Does KPWR ( Power 106 ) still do that? I was wondering back in the day if KMEL and KPWR were sister stations. They both were pretty cool!! When I lived in the southland ( Ontario / Cucamonga ), the signal out to the valley wasn't very good. Where we lived, we were on the fringe edge of most LA stations. With family in the area, every time I passed through on the 210, I turned to KPWR to see what was playing and caught the hourly chime a few times. My favorite LA FM station station was, and probably always will be, is 102.7 KISS FM.
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Not for a long time. Here's the latest ID on the tophour site---it's from last year: http://tophour.com/audio/Los Angeles CA/fm1059_2018-08_kpwr_bthompson.mp3

They do have one from 1993: http://tophour.com/audio/Los Angeles CA/fm1059_1991-03_kpwr_bthompson.mp3
 
Nathan O'Dan said:
I always loved their range and picked them up a long ways away in two separate instances.
First was on a flight from Sacramento to Denver. Their signal lasted about an hour into the flight which put me somewhere over eastern Nevada maybe western Utah when the signal faded. This was before the PSA of turning off electronic devices.
Click to expand...
I once picked up the 125kw K-101 (now Star 101.3) while sitting in a plane's window seat about 200 miles south of San Francisco. That was years before another station signed on at 101.3 in the Central Coast.
 
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