Los Angeles Radio 1960s - Playlist Research [18], One of the first woman disc jockeys was Halloween Martin. One of the teenagers settled the case before the trial for the limits of his insurance policy. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. 93 KHJ Boss Radio in Los Angeles Conover reportedly had "millions of devoted followers in Eastern Europe alone; his worldwide audience in his heyday has been estimated at up to 30 million people".[54]. The first official British DJ was Christopher Stone, who in 1927 convinced the BBC to let him broadcast a program consisting of American and American-influenced jazz records interspersed with his ad libbed introductions. ~Los Angeles Radio People, Where Are They Now, W The 93 KHJ YouTube channel is a groovy trip back to Los Angeles in the During an interview earlier this week, Drake, who eventually became the head of Drake-Chenault, a national radio programming and consulting firm, still exhibited pride in his creation. That summer, the station ran a series of contests known as the "Super Summer Spectacular". [9] Along with the 400 meter authorization, KHJ was also authorized to broadcast on the 485 meter "market and weather reports" wavelength. Tom had quite the reputation before he arrived at KHJ/Boss Radio in 1974. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. 1, with more than 15% of the radio audience. Remembering LA's KHJ 930 AM and the sneaky trick that launched the And then you could tell someone had yelled, It's not over! Though the KHJ we know and love no longer exists, its memory and the voices of Boss Jocks most definitely survive within time capsule-reminiscent recordings. The change became official onMarch 15,2000. Jack L. Cooper was on the air 9.mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);clip-path:polygon(0px 0px,0px 0px,0px 0px);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}12 hours each week on Chicago's WCAP and is credited with being one of the first black radio announcers to broadcast gramophone records, including gospel music and jazz, using his own phonograph. Now with PPMs, it is all about the music, commercials and the format. Listen! There was a lot of circus elements put into the format, but it was all tempered with discipline. [66] As a late night show host, Steele created an on-air persona, calling herself "The Nightbird". At the time that KHJ introduced its accelerated format in May, 1965, the 5,000-watt, RKO-owned station attracted less than 2% of the Los Angeles radio audience. At first his wife Gertrude spoke into the microphone to Captain Donisthorpe alone, but later she broadcast to army camps nearby playing gramophone records. [33][34], Program director Alfredo Rodriguez and chief engineer Jerry Lewine wished to bring back the original KHJ call sign; however, the FCC stopped issuing three-letter call signs to radio stations in the 1930s. Davy and I just looked at each other and beamed. Tuna and Steele are disc jockeys on KODJ-FM (93.1). [55], DJ Herb Kent began his career in 1944 playing classical records on Chicago's WBEZ, then an FM broadcasting service for the Chicago Public Schools. 93 KHJ "Boss Radio" became a hit music station in May 1965. May 9, 1990 12 AM PT TIMES STAFF WRITER They were more than just the kings of the radio dial. The original KHJ Radio Boss Radio 93/khj best of the 60's music and KHJ streamed on line 24/7. [9][10], In 1892, Emile Berliner began commercial production of his gramophone records, the first disc records to be offered to the public. The voices are the Johnny Mann singers, says L.A. journalist Dennis Wilen. Goes Out newsletter, with the week's best events, to help you explore and experience our city. Freed's career ended when it was shown that he had accepted payola, a practice that was highly controversial at the time, resulting in his being fired from his job at WABC. [16] CBS would eventually purchase a more-powerful West Coast flagship station, 50,000-watt KNX, and part company with KHJ. After years of "personality" radiodominated by deejay chatter and replete with long jinglesit ushered in the mainstreaming of Top 40 radio. Everything from Motown and psychedelic rock to bubblegum pop and 1950s throwbacks was played. When Charlie Tuna joined the Big 93 from WMEX in Boston, he brought another slant and creativity to the format that no one else had done. 6. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. But the years prior to 1965 had not been kind. By the end of October, the show and the first Monkees album were number one. On September 11, 1966, the station held a round-trip train expedition for four hundred KHJ and Monkees fans alike. The inclusion of upbeat radio snippets are also heard in scenes with other characters alike. First introduced as Ninth Street West, Hollywood a Go-Go followed in the same path as a music variety show that aired from 1965 to 1966. It was a continuous loop of the same hit songs, every hour. The station was bought by Westinghouse in 1966. Radio programmer Bill Drake brought to life the vision of Boss Radio in the spring of 1965. Times Staff Writer. . . [29], Bob Smith (aka Wolfman Jack) began his career as an announcer on XERF located in Mexico and became an influential DJ who advocated for African American music on his long running rock and roll radio show. The DJs made the difference, my favorites were Robert W Morgan, Real Don Steele and Charlie Tuna. John Keys, La Mirada, My dad worked for Phillip Yarbrough (aka Bill Drake) and Gene Chenault for many years. Within a year, Los Angeles teen listeners responded so intensely to the Drake Formula that RKO began using it at its stations across the country, including KFRC-AM in San Francisco. The Hullabalooers antics with sound effects, one-liners and good-time patter failed to boost the KHJ ratings quickly enough to satisfy RKO Radio president Jerry Lyman, who formally announced the demise of the station on Thursday. Though tactful and carefully mapped out, this regime audibly sounded anything but. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Paul Drew, a future executive at Radio & Records, programmed KFRC in the early 70s. Keep playing! And they'd scurry back into mime mode. [40] Admission was either free, or a small admission fee was charged. With popular music spanning the genres in the late 1960s, KHJ boasted an eclectic playlist of current top 30 hits. [33], Drive time or "morning drive" shows capitalized on a listening audience of weekday commuters and parents getting children ready for school. 1964. There is much more to the story, which you can find by searching KHJ Sneak Preview on socalradiowaves.com, as well as numerous other places. During the Vietnam War, United States Air Force sergeant Adrian Cronauer was a notable Armed Forces Radio disc jockey whose experiences later inspired the 1987 film Good Morning, Vietnam starring Robin Williams as Cronauer. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Remembering LAs KHJ 930 AM and the sneaky trick that launched the stations classic format, Remembering radios John Felz, a stalwart of Southern California programming. We were too busy doing it to deal with the historical significance of it all.. KRLA Los Angeles Radio History - Playlist Research It became a full-time Spanish-language station, adopting the call lettersKKHJin honor of its historic calls. The KHJ format was distinguished by fast-talking jocks, a limited amount of commercials, a cappella jingles by the Johnny Mann Singers, a Top 30 playlist instead of a Top 40, and the promise of much more music. Groups such as the Byrds and Sonny and Cher would show up at the Melrose Avenue studio, begging the jocks to play their records. Bill Drake enforced time limits for deejay patter between records and other program elements, Eberly wrote. [2][3], The term "disc jockey" first appeared in print in a 1941 issue of Variety magazine,[4][5] although the origin of the term is generally attributed to American radio news commentator Walter Winchell who used it to describe radio presenter Martin Block's practice of introducing phonograph recordings to create a "Make Believe Ballroom" experience for radio listeners. Writer Mark Evanier reminisces, Much of the show was, of course, teens dancing to records. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. For about three years its competition was its neighbor on the dial, long-time hit station KFWB "channel 98". The company was eventually ruled an unfit broadcast licensee and was compelled by the FCC to sell its broadcast properties. Riddle was a top-of-the-lineup DJ at KHJ-93 radio when the station unveiled its "Boss Radio" format, a departure from the rapid-fire chatter of most Top 40 stations in the mid-1960s. KHJ went on the air in 1922. Kelly, Dave Sebastian Williams, Beau Weaver and John Leader (johnleader.com). A jury found in favor of the car's manufacturer, but found both the second teenager and RKO General liable for the accident and awarded the plaintiffs $300,000 in damages. Sneak previews of the new Boss Radio format were played in the few days before the official big launch as testers, the station labeled as the station thats happenin. By the time KHJ reached popularity among teens, it was esteemed for its hip and diverse music choice. The DJs . It started big in 1965 copied at stations from coast to coast and ended big when the last true top-40 programmer, Chuck Martin, brought back much of the stations glory, and ratings right before RKO made a horrendous decision to take the station Country in November 1980. Freed also made a practice of presenting music by African-American artists rather than cover versions by white artists on his radio program. Even some of their names had more than a hint of Bossness to them--the Real Don Steele, Humble Harve, Dave Diamond, Sam Riddle, Walt Baby Love, Charlie Tuna. Were gonna fit Chuck out here on a fractious Friday boy, got to get a set outside that (unintelligible word resembling blowing bubbles in a glass of water) jumbo city. Riddle, Steele and Robert W. Morgan became popular video personalities as well as audio stars. KHJs claim that it played much more music could hardly be met, Drake felt, if disc jockey yakked on endlessly. I turned on the player and to my surprise, I hear 93 KHJ and the Real Don Steele from the station I listened to back home! Famous entertainers of the period, such asGeorge BurnsandGracie Allen, andSteve Allen, appeared on KHJ. It was the frequency and scale of their contests that brought fans closer to their favorite artists, providing an intimate musical experience, and setting a trend for future stations to come. In his 1993 autobiography, Im a Believer: My Life of Monkees, Music, and Madness, Micky Dolenz reflected on the exact moment he turned on KHJ to hear the Monkees voices pouring over the airwaves.
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khj radio djs 1960 and 70s