There sure are some cool people on this thread! George, Ox, John, Jeff - good to see you all here.
I will second the statement that Tom is one of the nicest people ever to grace a control room (and one of the savviest record collectors ever - Tom, I'm still waiting for those Who white label Lps! It IS good to see Tom finally getting the recognition he deserves. He's one of this business' living legends, and we ought to remember that there are damned few of those left, and fewer still that remain active on the air. I give thanks every time I turn on KRTH and hear those energetic pipes revving up!
A little perspective on the original B-100's flip to soft A/C: it did indeed happen in 1980. Remember that, as the 70s came to a close, there was a massive backlash against disco and everything identified with it - especially the Top 40 stations that had ridden high on it. Here in San Diego, no one was more identified with that era than B-100. Listenership to all the remaining Top 40s was bleeding off rapidly - KCBQ and 13K were in the ratings dumper, as was KHJ up in LA. No one would have imagined this to have happened just a year before. With that in mind, the decision was made to flip B-100 and go for a share of the lucrative A/C segment. I still remember the TV commercials that ran, with two hot chicks pulling up to a guy in a convertible with "Boogie Fever" blasting out the stereo, and wrinkling their noses, with the message "You've grown up. So has your radio station."
Personally, I hated the switch. At the time, San Diego was packed with A/C stations, and the last thing I wanted to see was another. But in retrospect, it probably saved the station. Gene Knight pulled off a very tough switch and kept it a winner, until the time when Hot A/C came into its own.
- Doc
I will second the statement that Tom is one of the nicest people ever to grace a control room (and one of the savviest record collectors ever - Tom, I'm still waiting for those Who white label Lps! It IS good to see Tom finally getting the recognition he deserves. He's one of this business' living legends, and we ought to remember that there are damned few of those left, and fewer still that remain active on the air. I give thanks every time I turn on KRTH and hear those energetic pipes revving up!
A little perspective on the original B-100's flip to soft A/C: it did indeed happen in 1980. Remember that, as the 70s came to a close, there was a massive backlash against disco and everything identified with it - especially the Top 40 stations that had ridden high on it. Here in San Diego, no one was more identified with that era than B-100. Listenership to all the remaining Top 40s was bleeding off rapidly - KCBQ and 13K were in the ratings dumper, as was KHJ up in LA. No one would have imagined this to have happened just a year before. With that in mind, the decision was made to flip B-100 and go for a share of the lucrative A/C segment. I still remember the TV commercials that ran, with two hot chicks pulling up to a guy in a convertible with "Boogie Fever" blasting out the stereo, and wrinkling their noses, with the message "You've grown up. So has your radio station."
Personally, I hated the switch. At the time, San Diego was packed with A/C stations, and the last thing I wanted to see was another. But in retrospect, it probably saved the station. Gene Knight pulled off a very tough switch and kept it a winner, until the time when Hot A/C came into its own.
- Doc
