Don Imus dies at 79

Don Imus, morning radio host for nearly 50 years, was hospitalized on Christmas Eve at Baylor Scott and White Medical Center in College Station, Texas. He died this morning at age 79. Cause of death has not been announced.

Fitz fits the countdown show
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Beginning January 4, 2020, Cory "Fitz" Fitzner, morning host at country "98.9 The Bull" KNUC in Seattle, will take over the weekly countdown show formerly hosted by Bob Kingsley, who died of cancer in October. The program will be rebranded "Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40 With Fitz."  His syndicated programs "The Fitz Show," "The Hit List With Fitz" and "Nashville Minute" will cease production at the end of 2019. 

Cancer claims Country Countdown's Kingsley

Bob Kingsley died today, October 17, at his home in Weatherford, Texas, just one week after announcing he had been diagnosed with bladder cancer and was temporarily stepping down from his syndicated country countdown program.  He was 80.  Kingsley worked at several stations in southern California before becoming the voice of Drake-Chenault's new "Great American Country" syndicated format in 1973. The following year, he became executive producer of "American Country Countdown." Kingsley succeeded Don Bowman as host in 1978. He exited in 2005 and launched "Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40." Before stepping down from the program, Kingsley struck a deal with the Country Music Association to have a succession of female singers serve as guest hosts through the December 1 broadcast. A celebration of his life will be held November 14 at the Country Music Hall Of Fame theater in Nashville. 

No more Fog in San Francisco

KFOG 104.5 in San Francisco dropped its alternative rock format on September 6 and switched to a simulcast of sister station 680 KNBR, "The Sports Leader," as KNBR-FM. The KFOG call letters have been moved to 1250 AM, formerly KPZK, in Little Rock, Arkansas.

http://www.knbr.com

R.I.P, Roger

Roger Carroll, who worked at KABC from 1946 to 1959 and KMPC from 1959 to 1979, has died at age 90. Carroll also voiced hundreds of commercials and served as the announcer for The Bobby Darin Show, The Leslie Uggams Show, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and many other television variety series. In 2017, he launched Roger Carroll's Best Sounds In Town, an online repository of hundreds of airchecks of himself, Gary Owens, Dick Whittinghill, Robert W. Morgan and other air personalities: https://rogercarrollbestsoundsintown.com

 

R.I.P., Reb

Reb Foster, born James Dennis Bruton in Amarillo -- "Reb" was short for "Rebel" -- died August 25. He was 84. Foster worked at stations in Houston, Dallas, Amarillo, Fort Worth, Wichita Falls, Cleveland, Denver, Portland and San Francisco before joining Pasadena top-40 station KRLA in 1962 as one of the "Eleven-Ten Men." Foster moved to KFWB in 1965 and returned to KRLA two years later.  He left KRLA in 1969 but returned for three more stints: 1972-73, 1982-83 and 1985-87. He also worked as manager for Steppenwolf, the Turtles and Three Dog Night.

Humble Harve dies at 85

"Humble" Harve Miller died this morning, June 4. He was 85. Harve worked at KBLA from 1965 to 1967, then spent four years as one of the "Boss Jocks" at KHJ.  He later worked at KIQQ, KKDJ, KUTE, KRLA, KRTH, KCBS-FM and KZLA and hosted a doo-wop show on KIEV in 1999.  .

KGO's Jim Dunbar dies at 89.

Jim Dunbar, who hosted mornings at news/talk KGO in San Francisco from 1963 to 2000, died April 23 at age 89. In 1956, Dunbar became a top-40 DJ at a New Orleans station, replacing a man who had quit to go into acting. That man was Dick Van Dyke. Details of Dunbar's career will appear in the May issue of DecalcoMania. 

Meruelo Media buys KLOS

Cumulus Media announced today, April 15, that it has entered into an agreement to sell classic rock KLOS to Meruelo Media for $43 million in cash. Meruelo Media owns hip-hop "Power 106" KPWR 105.9, classic hip-hop KDAY 93.5 in Redondo Beach and KDEY 93.5 in Ontario, Spanish-language KWHY-Channel 22 and Spanish-language religious KBEH-Channel 63. No changes are expected at KLOS. At least not yet.

Mark & Brian return to KLOS.

After two years at WAPI in Birmingham, Mark Thompson and Brian Phelps took over the morning show at Los Angeles rock station KLOS in 1987. They stayed together until August 17, 2012. On April 25, Mark and Brian will reunite to host the 3-to-7 PM program live, as part of the station's 50th anniversary celebration.  KABC-FM began carrying a syndicated progressive-rock format in 1968, began using live-and-local DJs in 1969 and switched to album rock in 1971 as KLOS. Yeah, I know, 2019 isn't really their "50th anniversary" but I'm not going to argue with them. I will have more details in the next DecalcoMania. You can hear KLOS -- and the Mark & Brian reunion -- at http://www.955klos.com

STICKER FROM KWLP 100.9 PEACH SPRINGS, ARIZONA

KWLP is an 8,700 watt Aboriginal/Community station based out of Peach Springs, Arizona in the Kingman area which was licensed in 2014. The station is operated by the Hualapai Tribe and features a variety of music and talk, including local language, culture, and education. 


KWLP "THE PEACH" WEBSITE:
http://kwlpradio.com/

Bid bye-bye to Bean

Gene "Bean" Baxter, who has hosted mornings with Kevin Ryder at Los Angeles alternative rock station KROQ since December 31, 1989, announced this morning he will exit the show before the end of the year and return to his native England, where he hopes to land a new radio job. Details will be in the April DecalcoMania.



Kevin (left) and Bean (right).

Chuck Blore, the programmer who oversaw KFWB's switch from MOR to top 40 in January 1958, came up with a promo to convey to listeners that rock'n'roll wasn't just for teenagers -- adults could enjoy it too. Two or three times an hour, listeners heard a young girl declaring that her "mommy listens to KFWB." After six months, KFWB had a 50 share. Of all the people listening to radio at a given moment, 50% of them were listening to KFWB. Wow! Program directors today get excited if their station manages a 5 share! Here is a KFWB bumper sticker from circa 1963:

STICKER FROM KYYO 96.9 McCLEARY-OLYMPIA

KYYO is an 11,000 watt Country station serving Metro Seattle's South Sound from Olympia. The station signed on the air in 1992 as KGY FM with Classic Rock. In 1997 it flipped to Country. The KAYO branding salutes heritage station KAYO 1150 in Seattle which was the Puget Sound's primary Country station in the 1960's and 1970's (now KKNW with talk).

96.9 KAYO COUNTRY WEBSITE:
http://www.kayofm.com/

In western Colorado, "107.3 The Outlaw" began broadcasting February 25 on K297BR in Grand Junction and KGJX-HD4 in Fruita. They play country hits from the late 1960s to today with an emphasis -- as you might expect -- on top-ten songs.....but it's still a pretty good station. Here is a small sample of the playlist. You can listen online at http://1073theoutlaw.com

Amanda - Waylon Jennings (1/1979)
Bless The Broken Road - Rascal Flatts (1/2004)
Cool To Be A Fool - Joe Nichols (18/2003)
Down To The Honky Tonk - Jake Owen (13/2018)
Famous In A Small Town - Miranda Lambert (14/2007)
From A Jack To A King - Ricky Van Shelton (1/1989)
Galveston - Glen Campbell (1/1969)
Hillbilly Rock - Marty Stuart (8/1990)
I Know Where I'm Going - Judds (1/1987)
If Tomorrow Never Comes - Garth Brooks (1/1989)
Is It Still Over - Randy Travis (1/1989)
Just Call Me Lonesome - Radney Foster (10/1992)
Lonely Women Make Good Lovers - Steve Wariner (4/1983)
Love In The First Degree - Alabama (1/1981)
My Town - Montgomery Gentry (5/2002)
Play Something Country - Brooks & Dunn (1/2005)
She's Got It All - Kenny Chesney (1/1997)
Something Like That - Tim McGraw (1/1999)
T-R-O-U-B-L-E - Travis Tritt (13/1992)
Tequila Talkin' - Lonestar (8/1995)
The Man I Want To Be - Chris Young (1/2009)
There Ain't Nothin' Wrong With The Radio - Aaron Tippin (1/1992)
What I Need To Do - Kenny Chesney (1/2000)
Why Does It Have To Be - Restless Heart (1/1987)
XXL - Keith Anderson (23/2005)

Thought I would add to the new Decalcomania blog by posting scans of stickers and other promo items that I have recently received. We begin with CKYL 94.9 in Peace River, Alberta. CKYL operated on 610 AM for over 60 years. In March 2018 the station flipped to 94.9 FM and rebranded from YL COUNTRY to RIVER COUNTRY.

RIVER COUNTRY WEBSITE:
http://www.rivercountry.fm/

George Klein dead at 83

Legendary Memphis DJ George Klein died today (February 5) at 83. He was in hospice care and had been suffering from dementia. Klein met Elvis Presley in 8th grade at Humes High School and they remained best friends until Presley's death in 1977. Klein wrote two books about Elvis (2007, 2011) and hosted a weekly program on SiriusXM's Elvis Radio channel.

Art Laboe by Steven Lee

Art Laboe, who is 93 and continues to host his syndicated "Art Laboe Sunday Special" requests-and-dedications program, was honored February 1 at a luncheon hosted by Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters at Airtel Plaza in Van Nuys. Rick Dees, Wink Martindale, DJ Romeo, Paul Rodriguez and Shotgun Tom Kelly were among the attendees. Laboe has been in radio since 1943 and has worked at KSAN, KPOP, KCMJ, KGFJ, KFWB, KXLA, KDAY, KPPC, XEPRS, KRTH, KRLA, KFI, KCMG and KHHT. He is credited as being the first DJ to take requests. In 1959, Laboe coined and trademarked the phrase "oldies but goodies," launched the Original Sound record label in Hollywood and began releasing "Oldies But Goodies" compilation albums. Laboe was inducted into the Radio Hall Of Fame in 2012. More details will be in the next issue of DecalcoMania.

Convention for Decalcomania and ICRA in September in Seattle

Hello Decalcomaniacs! Just a reminder that the convention for Decalcomania and International Radio Club of America will take place in Seattle / Tukwila WA the weekend of September 5, 6, 7 2019. Details appear in the Decalcomania bulletin as well as the S.D.X.M. bulletin. 'Hope that many can attend.---Mike Sanburn

Message from Editor Phil Bytheway

Thank you for creating this. I will be mentioning it in the next DECAL bulletin. Hopefully, this will generate a healthy exchange of information.