Bill Virgin's Radio Beat July 6, 2006

[radiofan]

Thursday, July 6, 2006

On Radio: '60s rock powerhouse KJR-AM will live again

By BILL VIRGIN
P-I REPORTER

If you grew up in the Northeast in the 1960s with a transistor radio glued to your ear, that radio might have been tuned to WABC in New York. In the Midwest, it might have been WCFL from Chicago or CKLW in Detroit-Windsor.

In Seattle, however, the station of choice was KJR-AM (950).

The music of that era may survive on oldies stations, but the personalities, the style and the market dominance of those powerhouse AM rock stations is long gone.

In the case of KJR, it will be reborn for five hours at 1 p.m. this Friday on satellite service XM Radio's "Sonic Sound Salutes."

XM spokesman David Butler said '60s on Six is one of the satellite service's most popular channels, and "Sonic Sound Salutes" is one of that channel's most popular shows. Each week it features a real station that no longer exists or has a much different format (these days KJR on the AM band in Seattle is sports talk; the FM version, at 95.7, is a classic-hits station).

Friday's show will feature songs from the era (including tunes from the KJR Fabulous Fifty weekly survey), KJR jingles ("Channel 95, Go-Go!"), recordings of KJR disc jockeys and announcers (Lan Roberts and Tom Murphy, a newscast with Pat O'Day), contests ("answer the phone 'KJR Go-Go' and win a transistor radio"), weather reports and updates ("the Sunny Jim peanut butter time is ..."), as well as chatter about local high schools, restaurants, concerts and hangouts.

Terry "Motormouth" Young, who hosts the afternoon segment on the XM channel including the weekly station re-creations, said research comes from his own tapes, Web sites, even the occasional call to local chambers of commerce to find someone who grew up with that station.

This is the second time KJR has been featured. Aside from its reputation, KJR was a natural because "there was lots of musical heritage coming out of Seattle," Young says.

KJR-AM was considered one of the most successful and influential of the big AM rock stations in the 1960s. At times it grabbed more than 30 percent of the local listening audience, a share unheard of today in a much more crowded and competitive radio industry.



Young said he grew up wanting to work for a high-energy AM rock station, a style that is far removed from music radio of today. "AM actually sounded like that," Young said, recalling the advice XM gave hosts it hired for its '60s channel: "You're going to have to get all the FM vibe out of your body."

In other radio notes:


Nick Morrison, recently dumped by KWJZ-FM as morning host, is back on KPLU-FM (88.5) -- sort of. Morrison, who was with KPLU for more than 15 years before moving to KWJZ last year, is doing commentaries called "Unemployment Diaries" the next two Wednesdays at 6:35 a.m., 8:35 a.m. and 4:44 p.m.


Old call letters don't get much chance to rest once they've been turned loose. Sandusky Radio dropped KLSY-FM for its station at 92.5 when it changed the format. But they've been picked up for a proposed station at 107.9 at South Bend.


Seattle soul singer Choklate is interviewed about her new album on "Yes Yes Y'all" at 11 p.m. Friday on KBCS-FM (91.3).


U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert takes listener calls on "Weekday" at 9 a.m. Friday on KUOW-FM (94.9).


Don Riggs' guests on "Introspect Northwest" at 7 a.m. Saturday on KPTK-AM (1090) and 7 a.m. Sunday on KMPS-FM (94.1) include Gig Harbor writer Larry Johns, author of "The Island Gang."


The group Anansi performs on "Sonarchy" at midnight Saturday on KEXP-FM (90.7).


Kate Daniels interviews Howard Zinn, author of "Original Zinn: Conversations on History and Politics," on "Sunday Morning Magazine" at 5:30 a.m. Sunday on KRWM-FM (106.9).


Tami Kosch interviews attorney Mark Prothero, author of "Defending Gary," on "Community Matters Weekend Edition" at 6 a.m. Sunday on KPTK-AM.


Local singer and songwriter Robin Holcomb is featured on "The Old Country" at 7 p.m. Sunday on KBCS-FM.


The Sunday edition of Jim French's "Imagination Theatre," heard at 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday on KIXI-AM (880), includes a new Harry Nile mystery.

P-I reporter Bill Virgin can be reached at 206-448-8319 or billvirgin@seattlepi.com.

Bill Virgin's Seattle P-I Radio Beat