by skyvalleyradio » Wed Apr 14, 2010 7:58 am
My favourite three stations were the ones that made me want to get into radio. In order:
1. LG-FM (CKLG-FM 99.3) - one of the original "Groove n Blue" fans, major influences on my decision to try getting into broadcasting were Bill Reiter especially the late John Runge whose musical vision was beyond belief. I was delighted to hear one-time AM boss jocks Tim (Pam) Burge, TDM, John Tanner plus the eclectic & complex Bob Ness entertain me during my formulative teen years.My ears were glued to 99.3 until I left to pursue my own broadcast career in the early 70's
2. KJR - when I first got a decent DX rig and long-wire antenna in the mid-60's I discovered the wacky world of one of the greatest of all time: the late Lan Roberts and of course, the "deejay's deejay" Pat O'Day who'se still got 'his pipes' voicing those Schick Center ads in NW Wash. "Channel 95" had a more progressive and broader playlist than C-FUN or the ever-tightening Drake approach at 73CKLG "Boss Radio". I listened to KOL "Lucky 13" a lot too but KOL had a tighter list than KJR and it was usually "Channel 95" that broke new ground for regional and local groups.
3. KYAC AM 1460 FM 96.5 Seattle - aside from being amongst my best memories in radio, KYAC was the "Soul Of The City" skewing towards Seattle-Tacoma's growing working-class population of African-Americans in the late 60's and 1970's. It's Top 50 R&B format (the "Rhythm 55" survey) was sprinkled with some jazz, blues and southern gospel music too! KYAC's biggest hindrance was its worse-than-shit signal based out of nearby Kirkland where it was licensed to. KYAC was, in reality a 'Sea-Tac' station with a crappy 5000 watt signal. As soon as it got remotely close to sunset, an AM station on 1460 from Yakima would start blasting through KYAC's signal. Even worse, KYAC had to sign off every day at local sunset which meant going off air at 4:15 in the winter and 9:30pm summer. This always prevented KYAC from playing with the big boys like KJR, KOL, KTAC, KRKO but did get respectable ratings and garnered enough ads to keep functioning. The purchase of a high powered FM signal in the early 70's was a huge boost. The 60 kW FM simulcast the AM to sunset with its "Rhythm 55" soul format and then switched to jazz evenings and overnight. KYAC could now be heard from Portland to Vancouver BC on 96.5 FM. (now KJAQ - Jack FM) Some awesome music by familiar soul/R&B/blues artists got played on KYAC but were never heard on any regional Top 40 stations. It had a very respectable jazz LP library too! According to most KYAC alumni, sadly, there is very little memorabilia existing today from this 12 year run as Seattle's Afro-American voice.