Radio memories from Jerry Davis 5-16-03!

While surfing around trying to find out what had happened to KUDE, I ran across your site and spent an enjoyable hour or so revisiting my youth and marveling at the work that you've done in cataloging local radio history. I spent much of the period from '59 to '72 working in San Diego radio and tv, and thought I'd throw in a couple of "tidbits" of info:

KSON: Their "TNT" format was not only revolutionary creatively, but also technically. "Cart" machines hadn't come into general use yet, and the format elements were all on 1/4" inch audio tape. One wall of their Grant Hotel control room consisted of a "peg-board" with hundreds of reels of tape hanging from it. There were three tape decks mounted near the console, and the "jocks" not only had to select and cue records, but load and unload tapes. Pretty hectic! One disgruntled employee is reported to have capped his departure from the station by running a bulk-eraser across the peg-board.

KITT: Jack Rabell was, in fact, the chief engineer of KSON, but the "navigator" of "Cloud Nine" was his father, Fred Rabell.

KDEO: During that late 50's, early 60's, period when their studios were located downtown, one of the DJ's was a skinny kid named Mike Ambrose.

I got a kick out of seeing the reference to John (or J. Paul) Huddleston. During that time period they were counter-programming music against the opposition's news segments, then running their own news near the end of the hour instead of at the top. To hold listeners, they'd "tease" the newscast with a short headline, the more exciting, the better. On slow news days, this required quite an exercise in creativity. The only requirement was that the headline had to have some basis in fact. John's classic involed a story on a fire in a local pet shop. Spying a line that indicated one of items damaged was a display of an ant colony, he pondered for a moment then came up with something. And listeners to the "tease" that morning heard: "City Burns While Millions Flee, details at 55!"

Although we had remote control for transmitters at the time, its use for AM stations was restricted to non-directional operations. For the local stations with directional patterns in the evenings, an engineer was required on duty at the transmitter. As a rule of thumb, this engineer was also "the Jock". KDEO and KOGO both had control rooms at the transmitter. TV transmitters were required to be manned (peopled?) during all hours of operation. No problem for the guys working on Soledad, but for the Channel 39 team, it made for some pretty exciting days (and nights). The dirt road to the top of Mount Miguel had been cleared in order to bring the transmitter up in the KAAR days, and then only sporadically maintained after that. The trip up the mountain in their decrepit four wheel drive "vehicle" was an exercise in avoiding the ever-changing ruts, obstructions, landslides, etc. That trip was followed by a period spent locked inside the complex while the station was on the air and then capped off with an even-more-exciting drive down. I guess I shouldn't complain, that "engineer on dury" requirement kept many of us employed.

Speaking of which, I was at Channel 39 from 68 to 72 and my recollection is that the call letter change from KAAR to KCST came at or about the time Bass Broadcasting acquired the station in '68. I know it was way before '72.

And... one final piece of trivia... The day in 1949 that channel 8 went on the air was May 16th.

Thanks for all the work you've done, it's truly an appreciated exercise.

Jerry Davis

San Diego Radio Wires 5-15-03!

Jim McInnes, unfairly fired from Clear Channel through no fault of his own, but through the fault of poorly produced voice tracked shifts preceding his, will be on 103.7 The Planet hosting a show called "Vinyl Resting Place" Sundays from 6-8pm. He'll also be a regular disc jockey from 8pm-MID Sundays and act as a fill-in jock when the regular jocks are out.

Mike Cook's show "Hooked on Trivia" will be back on the San Diego airwaves on another 50,000 watt station. The trick? KFMB where his old show was had 50,000 watts at night. His new home at KCBQ is 50,000 watts daytime, but the power drops down at night so low that people north of Escondido can't even get his new station. KCBQ is on the Internet at kcbq.com and streaming the talk shows for all the fans to listen to worldwide, just like 760kfmb.com does. "HOT" (get it?) will be on Saturday nights from 6pm-2am beginning on May 31.

San Diego Radio Wires 5-12-03!

Listeners who tuned to North County station KFSD-AM over the weekend heard nothing but static. Anyone who talked to the station's fired disc jockeys, however, could hear plenty of colorful words. Just a couple months after it debuted as an experiment in North County-based radio, 1450 AM/"The Fox" is history. Orange County station owner Art Astor abruptly switched the station back to classical music on Monday, leaving three veteran radio personalities without jobs. Read more about it at NC Times.

Also: Oh, Muck. One of the most recognizable voices on alternative rock station 91X is leaving the building. Longtime evening disc jockey Chris Muckley will quit next month to pursue a career selling commercial real estate. Besides being one of the few disc jockeys to use his real name, the 30-year-old Muckley has played a big role in programming the station by serving as its music director. (That means he helps choose which songs go on the air.) The last day for Muckley, who grew up in Rancho Bernardo, is June 6. He'll continue to work part-time at the station, but he'll no longer play a huge role in introducing listeners to good new music and keeping them away from bad new music?

Good news for Macintosh computer users: They can now pick up the online simulcast of San Diego traditional jazz station KSDS-FM at www.ksds-fm.org. That's great for Mac fans, but what about the rest of us, the 97 percent who use Windows?

Cast of "90210" Reunites 5-11-03

Jason Priestley, Luke Perry, Jennie Garth, Gabrielle Carteris and Shannen Doherty are all showing up for the "Beverly Hills 90210: 10-Year High School Reunion" show airing on Fox May 11. But the daughter of series creator Aaron Spelling, Tori, has taken a pass due to her busy workload, and her reason has nothing to do with rumors printed elsewhere, said an official representative of Tori.

The special is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET/PT Sunday, May 11.

"Reunion", similar to February's "Married...With Children" special, won't be an update of what the characters would be up to several years after the original series run ended. Instead, this will be an interview special.

In addition to most of the West Beverly Class of '93 -- James Eckhouse and Carol Potter, who played twin Brandon and Brenda's parents, are scheduled to appear.

Shannen has a new show on Sci Fi channel titled "Scare Tactics".

The special also includes favorite clips from the series. That night, Malcolm in the Middle moves to 8:30 p.m. from 9 p.m. to make room for the special. A rerun of The Simpsons kicks off the night at 7 p.m., followed by King of the Hill at 7:30

Answer to Sabrina question: Brian Austin Green, who played my namesake David in the 90210 series, was a guest in the first episode that was first seen on September 27, 1996.

And there's less than 27 days until Weird Al's "Poodle Hat" CD is released. Go get it!