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When Top 40 Radio Was Boss In L.A.

Welcome world! My name is Randolph Antony Pulido. As you know, this is my first blog of any kind. My blog will be based on my research that I have done in college. The colleges I attended were Cypress College, Cerritos College, and California State University, Long Beach. The research topics I have researched on had to do with research on the Protest Music of the 1960's in the Folk Song Genre, Disco Music's Return to Retro-"Spect", and the topic I researched on in Communication Studies dealing with the Theory of Self-Disclosure Within Relationship Development Leading Towards Relational Satisfaction. These three topics I have researched on went into developing articles for magazines where all my works have been sent to several magazine companies over the course of two years.

The article based on the "Protest Music of the 1960's" deals with the controversies surrounding the mixed interpretations and misunderstandings of lyrical content in musical messages striving for acceptance in society. These protest folk songs expressed messages that were either listened to, mocked at, or even misunderstood in reference to its music styles in communicating issues towards the mainstream music listening audience. As a musical researcher and former disc jockey, I propose to further elaborating on this topic in future blog postings in an effort to see the public coming to an understanding and belief what the messages entails and what the social and political struggle stood for.

The second article is a retrospect on the Disco music phenomenon of the 1970's. There were changes that was brought on that affected and influenced the music audience, the television and movie industry, the FM radio airwaves, roller disco and areas of this genre from the underground counter-culture into the popular mainstream. In regards to this musical phenomenon, the time has been 40 years since the disco music phenomenon became part of the mainstream culture. This musical genre gained acceptance by the pop music audiences while creating it into a multi-billion dollar industry and influencing a generation of popular music audiences worldwide.

The third article deals with the theory based on my research article "Self-Disclosure Within Relationship Development Leading Towards Relational Satisfaction". This was the topic that was researched on at California State University, Long Beach in the Communication Studies department.

As a researcher on the topic of "self-disclosure", developing relationships becomes the norm when it comes to couples striving towards relational security and success. The length and longevity of relationships is revealed during initial disclosure exploring dimensions of disclosure adequacy and reciprocity in interpersonal relationships. Appropriateness in initial self disclosure is determined in first impressions towards relational trust in developing relationships towards success.

As you can now see, the first four paragraphs of my new blog is a sneak peak of my credentials and past accomplishments in the three articles that I typed and sent to various magazine companies across the country. This particular blog will now deal with a change in niche and topic that I have grown accustomed to having many conversations about over the years with many people who grew up with Los Angeles Radio back in the 1960's and 1970's. This Blog shall be entitled "WHEN TOP-40 RADIO WAS BOSS in LA". This shall cover the various covering the radio stations, disc jockeys, and the television dance shows we all grew up with back in the day. The "BOSS"days of radio probably had to go back as far as 1958 or probably earlier when a radio station called KFWB called itself "Color Radio", and was arguably the first Top-40 radio station to have a strong format playing the latest hits and upcoming new songs of the day. KFWB was the first # 1 Top-40 Station in Los Angeles and pretty much had the whole city to itself as far as listenership was concerned. As the years matured, so did the number of upcoming and competing AM Top-40 Stations that would compete with KFWB and eventually give KFWB a run for the money. The next great radio station to give KFWB some competition and eventually overtake them as the LA ratings champions is Radio 1110 KRLA. This process of KRLA eventually overtaking KFWB in the ratings took a long six years and a lot of tough competition between the two Top-40 heavyweights. As this blog progresses, I shall mention the disc jockeys who worked at the various competing Los Angeles radio stations that entertained radio audiences all over Southern California. There were more radio stations that I shall mention as the years progress chronologically throughout the 1960's and 1970's.

As we fast forward into 1964, the Beatles just made their initial appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, the musical British Invasion just literally invaded America by storm, and the Mod look was the trend that everything had to look British. That was the year ratings champion KFWB started to show its age by slowly decreased listenership in its audience as the audience slowly moved over to KRLA in order to get the latest information on the Beatles, because KRLA was where it was at for the Southern California Beatle connection. Because of this trendsetting transaction that took place at Radio 1110 KRLA, there was a new champion in LA radio as far as the ratings go. KFWB later joined on the Beatle bandwagon. but it was too late for them to make up any deficit they had in the ratings as KRLA climbed its way into Number 1. 1964 was the year of the post Kennedy assasination, and America mourned a tragic loss of its President and political leader. America wanted to become happy again. Across the Atlantic over in Liverpool, England, there were four young lads who called themselves the Beatles. Beatlemania was the trend started by the Beatles all over America and worldwide abroad. Beatlemania was the magic touch that catapulted KRLA into first over KFWB. On KRLA, they played all Beatle singles, album cuts, even their foreign recordings of their songs. It was a Beatle bonanza on KRLA, along with the Top-40 hits and hit previews of songs that had promise for the times. Just as KRLA was soaking in Beatlemania and its Number 1 ratings, another development was around the corner across town. By 1965, KRLA was still the ratings champion, but a new Top-40 station debuted as 93/KHJ. KHJ was originally established in 1922, and had various programming. Before early 1965, it was a MOR formatted station. The Drake-Chenault Company came in and decided along with RKO to turn 93/KHJ into a hit music station to compete with KRLA, and to hopefully beat KRLA in the ratings. 1965 was the year to be Beatle Radio versus Boss Radio. To Be Continued.....

In 1965, KRLA was basking in their Number 1 ratings while KHJ was the new kid on the block about to make some noise at 930 on the AM dial. KRLA disc jockeys Rebel Foster and Bob Eubanks were responsible for bringing the Beatles to Los Angeles, first to the Hollywood Bowl, then to Dodger Stadium. There would be countless contests on KRLA in order to win Beatle concert tickets. The most famous contest was called Beatleball, where three Beatle songs would be played in fragments and the listener would come up with the correct title of these songs. If the contestant identified these songs, they won tickets to the upcoming Beatle concert. While all this Hullabaloo and Beatlemania was going on at KRLA, the other side of town showed KHJ tooting its horn in trying to earn bragging rights for the first time on who was "boss" in Los Angeles radio.KHJ was the newest kid on the block trying to make some noise on the KRLA Beatlemania party, while KFWB was slowly dying in the ratings that later in the decade, they had to switch to an all-news format from their original Top-40 format. KHJ countered KRLA with non-stop contest offering more money than other stations could afford, cut the commercials to the minimum required to be played every hour, cut some of the disc jockey chatter, and present more non-stop music played each hour. Between the years 1965 thru 1967 waged the war between KRLA'S "Beatle Radio" versus KHJ's "Boss Radio".

These two stations would go toe to toe in their battle for radio supremacy in all of Los Angeles and Southern California. KHJ had their connections with the Beatles also, as they played all the Beatle singles and their "Boss Hit-Bound" Goldens. While over at KRLA, you had the Beatle connections with the latest fads, trends and news from KRLA disc jockeys Dave Hull and Bob Eubanks. KRLA not only played Beatle singles, but all cuts from all their albums up to date.

Meanwhile, there was another radio station brewing across town in Burbank as the "little station that could" on 1500 on the AM dial. KBLA was the station that never became a ratings champion because of its weak signal and could not be heard in parts of the Southland; however, the station does deserve a special mention here because their station had first rate air personalities who would work for other LA radio stations throughout the years to come. KBLA came into existence around 1964 when KRLA, KHJ, AND KFWB were going for supremacy. KBLA was the station that did things different with their Top-40 format that the other competing stations did not do before them. It was 1966 when KBLA first experimented with long play album cuts played for an AM radio audience, that was otherwise heard on the FM band. It was former "KHJ Boss Jock Dave Diamond" who started expirmented with playing these long album cuts for the AM audience otherwise unheard of on AM radio Yes, KBLA dared to be different as the little frog in the big pond of Southern California Radio. Because of their weak signal and not being able to be heard in parts of the Southland, KBLA finally signed off in June, 1967. The last disc jockey to be heard on KBLA was none other than than Dave Diamond, who adopted the name of his show "The Diamond Mine" on KBLA. He would carry the "Diamond Mine" handle to the other stations he would later work for in the years to come.

By June, 1967, KBLA had just signed off, the Monterey International Pop Festival took place as like the Woodstock of the Westcoast, and KRLA and KHJ continued the battle for radio supremacy. It was a year away before KFWB would leave the Top-40 ranks in LA radio and become an all-news station. 1967 became the year that KHJ took over sole possession of first place in the ratings. It was Boss Radio that finally showed who was "BOSS" in Los Angeles Radio. With their non-stop contests, concert ticket giveaways, more money and music, it was no wonder KHJ was beating KRLA at its own game. KRLA had sunk into a semi-automated radio station where a live disc jockeys worked part of the schedule and the remaining time was taped broadcasts of the disc jockeys show. The difference was that KHJ had live disc jockeys 24/7 while KRLA divided half disc jockeys and the other half to automation. There is nothing like the spontaneity of live radio that was happening over at KHJ. This is one bloggers opinion. .

When KHJ became a hit music station in 1965, the fast-paced format had an accelerated feel than previous top 40 radio stations across the country, with their less talk and short playlist. the station sounded like it was playing hit after hit continuously. The programming at KHJ in the sixties had the most impact than any other station in America at that time. KHJ showed who was "BOSS" by maintaining strong ratings versus its other competitors in Los Angeles radio. Strong ratings at KHJ was consistant until the late 1970's when music fans began to migrate to the FM band where the improved technology and the sound quality of stereo was superior to that of the mono sound heard on AM radio. By 1980, in spite of their highest rating in years, KHJ regretably switched to a Country format, since that was the musical genre for the times. Another format change came to KHJ when they went back to their Top-40 format combined with traffic reports meshed into their broadcasts with their format called " Car Radio". By February, 1986, the 930 AM call letters of KHJ became KRTH, using the same call letters as the sister station at 101.1 M. 930 AM KRTH became "Smokin' Oldies."

By 1978, John Sebastian, a former KHJ disc jockey, became the program director. It was the time when Sebastian took on the monumental challenge of programming an aging Top-40 AM station despite the fact that the FM band was sweeping the nation and in Los Angeles. The vast percentage of the listening audience was already on the FM dial simply because the sound quality was better in stereo as in contrast to AM which the sound was in mono. During John Sebastian's tenure at KHJ, he was proud to have scrapped up the last great ratings as a Top-40 station in the waning days in KHJ history. KHJ in 1978 was able to beat a laundry list of such heavyweight stations like KTNQ (Ten Q), KFI, KIIS-FM, KIQQ, and even tying the hottest AOR stations in the country, KLOS and KMET. Quite an accomplishment in the last few years as a station that was once a proud Top-40 powerhouse in the country. The last Program Director of KHJ as a Top-40 station was Chuck Martin from 1979-1980. Martin was responsible for bringing in Rick Dees from KHJ's sister station in Memphis, WHBQ. Rick Dees and his Cast of Idiots were known for the parody disco hit "Disco Duck". KHJ went to the Country format ny November, 1980 despite high ratings in their last Top-40 format ratings book.

There were the radio personalities and disc jockeys who shaped 93/KHJ throughout its Top-40 heyday from 1965-1980 that needs to be mentioned. Ones that became famous via radio, television and other facets of media. Those who grew up with the popular television dance shows of the 60's were the DJ's that were from KHJ, KRLA, KFWB, and some from even KBLA. Many grew up on POP Dance Party, Hollywood a-GO-GO, 9th Street West, Boss City, The Lloyd Thaxton Show, Groovy, The Real Don Steele Show just to name a few. I could have sworn there was a dance show hosted by Wink Martindale called POP Dance Party, and there was Shebang hosted by Casey Kasem. A number of the so-called "BOSS JOCKS" had distinguished television careers from Sam Riddle to the Real Don Steele. Even Robert W. M organ had TV exposure hosting Groovy on KHJ-TV Channel 9. Remember back in 1965 when Sam Riddle hosted 9th Street West then later Boss City? These were the local dance shows shown in "BOSS ANGELES" back in the day.

Nationally on network television, KRLA alum Jimmy O'Neill hosted the television musical dance show SHINDIG on ABC-TV. Jimmy O'Neill was the first disc jockey to open up the mic at 1110 KRLA. Shindig was a musical dance party that described the typical 60's dance show accompanied with musical artists and celebrities and a whole lot of dancing. Radio DJ's hosting their own local TV dance show enhanced the popularity of the radio personalities, especially when it came to not only spinning the Top-40 hits of the day, but in interviewing musical artists and entertainment celebrities in the world of folm, radio, and television. Another KRLA alum Bob Eubanks used radio as a springboard to parlay his career into television as the host of the long running game show "The Newlywed Game" along with dozens of other game shows he would host throughout his illustrious television career. Some of us may remember that radio in Los Angeles also provided Bob Eubanks the medium to promote and bring the Beatles to the Southland for their concerts at the Hollywood Bowl and Dodger Stadium. Bob Eubanks was "THE MAN" who brought the Beatles to Los Angeles. All LA Beatlemaniacs can be grateful and owe a debt of gratitude to Bob Eubanks.

Los Angeles radio provided local Angelenos and national audiences with voiceovers that were heard over the years through radio and television commercials, movies and radio and TV station ID's. The most recognizable voice of note has to be another KRLA alum, and that is Casey Kasem. From counting down the nation's musical Top-40 to announcing commercials, Casey Kasem had to be arguably the hardest working radio pitchman in the business. His American Top-40 Radio Shows can be rebroadcasted throughout the country on many radio stations that carry his former syndicatedradio show. Early in his career, Casey Kasem had television exposure hosting the TV dance show SHEBANG on KTLA-TV Channel 5. That show marked the early television exposure that introduced Casey Kasem to Los Angeles audiences.

The Golden Age of Radio in Los Angeles back in the 60's showed the medium for radio personalities as a springboard toward potential television exposure resulting from increased popularity within each radio personality. The popularity of TV dance shows were in abundance back in the day in contrast to today which is pretty much extinct in LA, i hate to say. The local TV dance shows springing from radio shows are no longer the norm in society today unfortunately. That goes for just about most major cities across the country. Hopefully, a few cities may tape a few local TV dance shows spawning from radio stations from that respective city depending on the local television station. It seemed TV dance shows were the ones to watch in the afternoon or weekends when all the teenagers were all watching their favorite radio personalities on television doing their thing hosting the show while being part of the young audience.

As a young child, yours truly, fantasized and pretended to host a mock dance show during parties in the backyard of our home. I would literally style my hair like the dance show host of the day, be it either a Sam Riddle,or Dick Clark. I would take a tablespoon and pretended it was a microphone. I would comb my hair every ten minutes using my father's Brylcream. They once said a "little dab will do you", to me as a kid, it was a "Big Glop". I guess it was my dream as a kid to be the next Lloyd Thaxton, Don Cornelius, or even Dick Clark.

Maybe that is why, yours truly, studied, and majored in Communication Studies. The intent was to get into radio Broadcasting, which I accomplished at the community college level at both Cypress and Cerritos College respectively. Today, I'm a writer of the articles I've mentioned earlier in this blog and the continuing saga of "When Top-40 Radio Was Boss in LA". The decades of the 1960's and 1970's featured the competitive era in the wars between the Top-40 radio station giants. There were dozens of stations to choose from in the Los Angeles market alone. For any aspiring radio broadcaster, most gained their experience by announcing in the smaller markets across the country. Many would strive for the goal to make it to the "Big Time", that is LA radio. The majority of aspiring disc jockeys across the country wanted to make it to BOSS RADIO- 93/KHJ, the top radio station in the country. KHJ was the ultimate radio goal for any disc jockey to have on his or her resume. It was those distinct KHJ microphones that made every disc jockey sound powerful and unique on the air, giving that "Boss Jock" sound.

My personal favorite "Boss Jock" type sounding voice has to be Charlie Van Dyke, since his voice is heard all over the country in various TV and radio station ID's and is one of the premier voiceovers with his deep and resonate voice. That is the voice I aspire to have, although mine can come close. Charlie Van Dyke was a former 93/KHJ disc jockey and station program director who guided the station to its highest ratings in the history of KHJ during the 1975-76 years. Those kind of ratings were the ones that made KHJ the Top-40 powerhouse across the country which seemed to be an unbeatable combination at the time. That was the time when KHJ had its final number one ratings book in 1976 with a jock lineup that included Charlie Van Dyke, Mark Elliot, Bobby Ocean, Machine Gun Kelly, Dave Sebastian Williams, Dr. John Leader and Beau Weaver (Weekends). Afterwards, the PD chair over at KHJ seemed to have broken continuity after the Charlie Van Dyke PD regime. After 1976, every year, KHJ had a new program director until 1980 under KHJ's Top-40 format. Besides the change in format to Country, KHJ's audience migrated to the FM band where the physical sound of music was better in FM stereo.

It should be noted that Chuck Martin, the last PD of Top-40 KHJ opened up a new format at the new K-WEST 106 (KWST), in 1981, which sounded like a continuation of KHJ in FM stereo. Complete with late 70's sounding KHJ type jingles and the "Boss Jock" announcing approach, it was no wonder that K-WEST 106 literally brought KHJ from the dead for a brief year and a half. Ratings wise, K-WEST 106 could not muster enough ratings to overtake other competing stations in LA. In spite of Chuck Martin's brave attempt at raising KHJ "from the dead" sort of speak, K-WEST 106 lasted until the summer of 1982. Simply put, Rick Dees over at KIIS-FM was running away with the Top-40 competition during the 1981-82 season. By that time, K-WEST PD Chuck Martin was no longer able to land Rick Dees like he did during the KHJ days. Many say that the power of a disc jockey's popularity plays a big role in a station's top rating. It may have been a posability that Rick Dees would have made a difference in K-WEST's fortunes, but unfortunately that was not the case.

There were other competing AM Top-40 stations that competed strongly against the competition, being KHJ and KRLA. One station that deserves a special mention is KTNQ (The New Ten-Q) at 1020 on the AM dial. During the late 70's, KTNQ became a legendary Top-40 station because of the top air talent that worked during the era when most listeners migrated to the FM band for better sound quality. In 1977, KTNQ made movie history when it was the featured radio station in the Ron Howard film Grand Theft Auto. During the era of the New Ten-Q, the station not only played the current hits, but were not afraid to mix it up with up-and-coming artists that KHJ and KRLA simply avoided playing. The musical playlist included some punk rock and emerging radio talent, along with radio veteran The Real Don Steele, which made the station memorable. Their contests of money giveaways and fast paced jingles made the station addicting for the first time listener of the station. Unfortunately, by July 31, 1979, KTNQ was purchased by Julio, Elias and Liberman and switched the format to Spanish. The call letters would remain the same through decades of ownership changes.

Another AM Top-40 station that emerged south of the border from Tijuana, Mexico was XETRA, better known as the " Mighty 690". The station was very powerful that it could be heard across Western America way past 50,000 watts. The "Mighty 690" was another KHJ offspring, since it included KHJ's similar radio jingles, only identifying the station as "The Mighty 690". The station was sure reminiscent of 93/KHJ, since their jingles were similar and their "Boss Jock" sound had the same quality the way the announcing was approached on AM radio. Like many competitors of Top-40 radio, "The Mighty 690" had a short life span of its own for over four years. By 1984, The Mighty 690 became "69 XTRA GOLD". Their format focused on oldies from the 60's and 70's.

Top-40 radio not only came out of the Los Angeles area, but as we look to Orange County, radio flourished in 1190 AM KEZY in Anaheim, California. KEZY was known as "The Mighty 1190," making its on-air launch on May 18, 1959. KEZY was one of the choices of AM Top-40 stations to choose from during the radio wars of the 60's and 70's. During the late 60's, the station played a mix of pop and middle of the road music, then shifted the format to Top-40 to take on the LA radio giants. KEZY was run under program director Arnie McClatchey from 1967 until 1974 when the Top-40 format continued under the new PD Mark Denis in 1975. By 1979, there was a change in format to Heavy Metal to probably compete with the FM album rock stations playing their dose of heavy metal at that time. That lasted until 1982 when KEZY switched format again, this time to a pop/oldies format. Obviously music audiences shifted to the FM band for better sound quality and AM radio became a staple for talk radio. In March, 1983, KEZY switched to an all-news station and became KNWZ. Due to the station's low ratings with their all-news format, by February, 1984 switched back to the KEZY call letters with a Top-40 music format. That lasted until April 2, 1985 when KEZY became KPZE (K-Praise) playing religious music. By February, 1989, the call letters became KORG, better known as K-0range, which broadcasted a different variety of formats over the years. Today, the 1190 frequency airs a Korean gospel format under the KGBN call letters.

Another AM radio station that competed well with other Top-40 stations in LA came out of the 1580 dial. That station is KDAY, Santa Monica. 1580 KDAY had a long history of delivering Top-40 pop hits and R&B Soul Music as well. The station started in 1968 as a Soul?R&B station as a competitor to another soul station, AM 1230 KGFJ. KDAY briefly took a shot at the Top-40 format for a few years to compete with the LA Top-40 heavyweights. When KDAY shifted its format to AOR (album oriented rock) their biggest asset was bringing in Wolfman Jack to American radio airwaves from the border radio he was broadcasting in Mexico. The KDAY gig for Wolfman Jack led to a bigger and brighter future for this trendsetter once known as Bob Smith. His KDAY on-air live radio show 6 nights a week led to his hosting the Midnight Special on NBC and being casted in the movie American Graffiti. By 1974, KDAY returned back to its original Soul/R&B roots while continuing its brave competitive battle with the other top LA stations. By the 1980's, KDAY shifted its format to Urban Contemporary, emphasizing its airplay to early rap and hip-hop artists. The KDAY call letters disappeared by the 1990's when the 1580 frequency became KBLA and shifted to business talk radio. By September, 2004, the KDAY call letters resurfaced at 93.5 FM, licensed to Redondo Beach, California.

Beginning in 1936, one of the oldest stations in Los Angeles is the first radio station to broadcast a 24-hour schedule on a regular basis. By 1954, KGFJ was that station to bill itself as "the original 24-hour station." At 1230 on the AM dial, KGFJ played a mix of news and orchestral music in the daytime, and R&B music at night. The mid-1960's was when KGFJ adopted their trademark Soul/R&B format full time around the clock under the ownership of East West Broadcasting Inc. As an adolescent listening to Soul/R&B music on KGFJ, I remember how KGFJ would come in clear during the daytime hours. The nighttime hours were a different story as far as listenership goes. In parts of the Southland at night, KGFJ was hard to get that clear signal due to television interference in the airwaves. As always, their anagram stood for "Keeping Good Folks Joyful." That is exactly what KGFJ did throughout the decades. One of the more memorable personalities at KGFJ was Hunter Hancock, where listeners loved to go "Hunting with Hunter." Hunter Hancock was one of the first white disc jockeys to broadcast rhythm and blues music to black and white audiences in America. KGFJ always had a history of intergrating its radio station, especially in the wake of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's. Always a positive in living up to its moniker of "Keeping Good Folks Joyful," KGFJ has lived up to that tradition in broadcasting and appealing to audiences of all races. Whether the disc jockeys were black or white, all of them were knowlegable about the Soul/Rhythm&Blues music and its artists played on KGFJ.

Radio was made famous south of the border beyond Southern California across all of Western America from Rosarito, Baja California. XPRS was the station that was made famous by the legendary Wolfman Jack. XEPRS, the official call leters to the station, originally began as XERB in the late 1930's. By 1965, Robert Smith aka Wolfman Jack started recording his own shows and selling commercial time on XERB while running the station from his home in Minneapolis. XERB was earning most of its income from their money machine, Wolfman Jack, who profited the station by selling 15-30 programming blocks of commercial airtime on the station to many religious organizations. By the early 70's, the laws caught up with XERB and were passed in Mexico preventing religious groups from purchasing radio air time. As the situation came to a brew, the revenue and profits finally dried up and the Mexican owners eventually took ownership of the station changing the call letters to XEPRS in 1971. It was by that time the station billed itself as "The Soul Express." Wolfman Jack would remain with "1090 Soul Express" until 1972. Ironically after Wolfman left XEPRS, Mexico would reverse its laws banning religious entities from radio broadcasting and selling blocks of commercial airtime. Wolfman Jack would be on his way to American radio airwaves and his fortunes would take a big turnaround in years to come.

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