BOB DE LEON Receives MAMA’s Lifetime Achievement Award – Page 11

KDJK- A dream come true

As an A immigrant to this country, from Germany , I became a US citizen, in part, to someday try to fulfill a long held dream to own and operate a radio station. And in 1976, along with my wife, Anne, we decided to go ahead and file an application with the Federal Communications Commission to build and operate a new FM station that could serve the Modesto Market. Initially planning was to apply for a new Class-A FM frequency that was available in Manteca , CA.

However, while preparing the application we had the good fortune of contacting local Broadcast Consulting Engineer, Cecil Lynch, who made us aware of the potential of a better opportunity for a new station that would be licensed to Oakdale, CA. as a Full Power Class B FM station.

However this was the last available frequency and came with certain restrictive technical rule requirements that had to be met. Although meeting these conditions would shift and thus waste some of the potential coverage area it still would be capable of reaching the Modesto/Stockton and Merced Markets.

In 1979 Goldrush Broadcasting, Inc. was granted a Construction Permit by The Federal Communications Commission for a new FM station to be licensed to Oakdale , CA .

In 1984, Wally Heusser, who owned KKDJ in Fresno , CA was brought in as a partner. Together with his help we were able to finish construction in time to begin broadcasting equipment tests by spring of 1985.

KDJK 95.1 FM, Oakdale , CA officially hit the air March 11, 1985, programming from Studios/Offices located in Oakdale, and broadcasting from its site located up in the foothills west of Oakdale, with 30kw ERP from an antenna that is 1400′ above the valley. Listener response was immediate and positive. When the next market audience research surveys came out, KDJK was rated the new No.1 station in the market with the most listeners, adults 12+ (Arbitron Spr.’85).

KDJK Oakdale

For KDJK to debut at No.1 was unexpected. Competing stations were saying it’s a fluke, potential advertisers were being told to wait and see what the next ratings would show. In the meantime KDJK’s balance sheet continued to flow lots of red ink. Station operating costs were always a challenge and had to be met thru our own boot straps.

But after the initial ratings we knew we had a winner and things were going to turn around.

There was a lot more excitement when the next book came out and reaffirmed the new kid on the block was here to stay. For the next seven years business was good. By not having any major debt to service, revenues generated were able to be put right back into the station.

Investing in the latest state of the art technical equipment and providing competitive compensation with full benefits including profit sharing. Everyone at KDJK, whether in the sales, engineering, or programming always seemed to work well together as a motivated team that really cared about the success of the station. Occasionally the station would host out of town trips and activities for the entire staff. I think most would say it was a fun time to be working there.

In the meantime, Wally became associated with a new partner, together they wanted to put together and operate a group of radio stations. They went on to acquire several more stations, and incurred millions of dollars of debt in the process. Later this would lead to financial problems that would also come to affect KDJK. In 1990 we were compelled to buying out his interest in KDJK, in order to do so we had to assume a portion of the debt from his lenders.

Unfortunately it wasn’t long before KDJK faced a much more competitive market situation when two other stations in the market were programmed to go directly after our listening audience. This along with a deepening overall economic recession left us unable to service the loans under the repayment terms of the debt we assumed.

Over the next couple of years expensive litigation over FCC licensee rights and foreclosure proceedings followed. These legal battles were lost when a Federal District Court ordered the sale of KDJK and appointed a trustee to carry it out. The station was sold and transferred to new owners, Photosphere Broadcasting Limited in Dec.1994. About a year later it was sold again to Citadel Broadcasting.

Listener response was immediate and positive. When the next market audience research surveys came out, KDJK was rated the new No.1 station in the market with the most listeners, adults 12+ (Arbitron Spr.’85).

Other Stories and Features
KDJK, a dream come true
KDJK Perseverance
KDJK Photos
Aroma from Manstinka
Beaver Brown remembers KDJK
Fast Lane Clark & Mark Davis (1986)
Joe Gross obituary

PAYOLA

By Bob Neira

What is payola? In the American music industry, it is the illegal practice of payment or other inducement by record companies for the broadcast of recordings on music radio, in which the song is presented as being part of the normal day’s broadcast. A radio station can play a specific song in exchange for money, but this must be disclosed on the air as being sponsored airtime, and that playing of the song should not be counted as a “regular play.” The number of times the songs are played can influence the perceived popularity of a song.

The term Payola is a play on the words “pay” and “Victrola”, meaning to bribe to play on the radio Victrola was a phonograph made in the early 1920s by the Victor Talking Machine Company of Camden, New Jersey, and became a word used for radio-phonograph combinations of all types with an enclosed listening horn or speaker in the cabinet, just as Kleenex is used for all facial tissue paper in a box. Payola means a bribe to influence the programming content of a broadcast radio, television or cable television program and is a federal misdemeanor.

HOW DID THE PAYOLA SCANDAL BEGIN?

It actually began in 1958, with the infamous “game show” scandals, in which federal investigators revealed that the wildly popular NBC- TV show “Twenty-One” and “$64,000 Question” were rigged. That scandal led to the investigation of similar practices in radio.

On January 25, 1960…the National Association of Broadcasters proposed that radio disc jockeys accepting payment from record labels for broadcasting particular songs would be charged a $500 fine and spend a year in prison. The practice, known as payola, had provoked an extensive investigation by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) .

In May 1960, disc jockey and TV personality Alan Freed, who coined the term “rock ‘n’ roll,” was arrested along with seven other people on suspicion of commercial bribery. Freed had refused to sign an affidavit in 1959, denying that he had accepted payola, which was not against the law at that time. He said he would accept a gift if he had helped someone, but he would not take a bribe to play a record. He was charged with 26 counts of commercial bribery, but got off with a fine.

Radio disc jockey Dick Clark, in testimony before a House subcommittee, denied involvement in the payola radio scandal of 1959 and 1960. Clark, one of the top two deejays in the country had much to lose, and quickly gave up all his musical interests when ordered to do so by ABC-TV. In testimony, statistician Bernard Goldsmith…brought in by Clark…stated that Clark had a 27% interest in records played in the past 28 months and those records had a 23% popularity rating. The committee was stunned as they wondered what came first the chicken or the egg.

Clark testified that the only reason he had gotten involved with those businesses were for the tax advantages. He admitted a $125 investment in Jamie records returned a profit of $11,900 and of the 163 songs he had rights to, 143 were given to him. When questioned about Jamie Records, it was discovered that Jamie paid out $15,000 in payola, but Clark denied ever accepting any. The committee clearly did not believe Clark…but he received a slap on the wrist. In fact, committee chairman Orin Hatch called Clark “a fine young man.”

THE SORDID HISTORY OF PAYOLA

In 2003, Cliff Doerksen of the Washington City Paper, wrote that payola isn’t really back – just back in the news. Payola has been a constant universal part of the economy of popular music for about 125 years, and the likelihood that legislators will be able to do anything constructive about it is about a high as the odds of winning the war on drugs. It was old when ragtime was new, and it still will be going strong long after rock ‘n’ roll has died. Generations of reformers have gone up against payola – and those few who have accomplished anything lasting have succeeded only in making things worse.

Turning a song into money requires repetitive exposure. No matter how infectious a tune might be, it won’t go anywhere with the masses until they get to hear it…a lot. Accordingly, a firm with a promising new number on its hands was obliged to prime the pump by paying to have the song performed until such time as popular demand for it became self sustaining and the bucks began rolling in a process known as “putting a song over.”

Prior to the advent of radio, song-plugging campaigns entailed the orchestrated outlay of cash bribes and/or other emoluments – a new suit or dress, some luggage, a case of liquor, a piece of the song royalties, the services of a prostitute – to flesh-and-blood performers. By far the most important of these were itinerant vaudevillians, who, once paid…would carry a publisher’s song clear across the continent, exposing it one performance at a time from the stages of hundreds of theaters to a cumulative audience of millions. The bigger the star, the more valuable were his or her services as a song promoter. Headliners working the big-time circuits stood to make as much or more from his song plugging as they did from their theatrical salaries. But smaller performers were also in line to receive their share of the graft. This was true even of performers whose talents were not primarily musical. Dancers, jugglers and conjurers, for example, worked to music…and music publishers found it worthwhile to assist them in selecting appropriate accompaniment for their acts.

On the local level, practically anyone involved in mediating between the music industry and the public stood to benefit from the largess of the publishers. Cabaret singers and dance bands were all on the take. But, so was the blind busker whose one talent was winding the crank of a wheezing curbside barrel organ; ditto the guy in charge of stocking the rolls in the coin-operated player piano in saloons and penny arcades.

There were a million other angles to the song-plugging racket, but the point stands: Payola was already a ubiquitous feature of urban life. It was also legal…although interpreted even then as a symptom of the ethical bankruptcy of those in control of the music industry.

THE PAYOLA SCANDAL AND RADIO STATIONS

Paying somebody to place a song before the public dates to the early days of the modern popular music industry. At the height of the scandal, Billboard magazine claimed that payola in various forms had been common during the big band era of the 1930s and 1940s and in the vaudeville business in the 20s. Be that as it may, payola on the scale that became apparent during the 50s was the product of a unique conjunction of circumstances – the emergence of rock ‘n’ roll, the introduction of the inexpensive 45 RPM single, radio’s shift to Top 40 music once television commandeered drama, postwar prosperity, and the arrival of teenagers as an economic force. In the 50s, records were taking over from live performance as the principle way to hear…and sell…music. Record industry moguls were well aware that teenagers had cash, loved rock ‘n’ roll, listened to the radio, and were easily stampeded into buying hit records by popular deejays.

The question was how best to exploit that fickle market. At the time, a major record company might release upwards of a hundred singles a week. Then, as now, maybe 10 percent of those would become hits, or at least make a profit for the label. Radio air play was the easiest way for an artist to get exposure and sell records, but with singles pouring into the stations at such a fast clip, labels needed a way to distinguish their songs from those of their competitors. Since this was before the era of MTV and slick promotions, bribery seemed the way to go. Record labels hired promoters who paid deejays to feature songs by favored artists.

Will the practice of payola continue? It’s debatable. It’s not common now, and with so many radio stations owned by conglomerates, there’s less opportunity for the local market deal making that was so prevalent in payola’s heyday.

SOURCES-

1) Cartwright, Robin: Straight Dope Science Advisory Board
2) Fontenot, Robert: About.com
3) McDonald, Heather: About.com
4) Wikip/edia Encyclopedia

Related story:

KTRB Demolition

KTRB Norwegian studios demolished January 25, 2016.

Demolition crews began demolishing the original studios of radio station KTRB on January 25, 2016 following the sale of the property. KTRB’s home for 75 years (1941-2016) sat on what originally was 40 acres of farmland station owner Bill Bates purchased on Norwegian Avenue just west of Coffee Road in 1940.

Three cylindrical antennas structures, a studio building and Bates home were constructed on the southwest corner of the property. The new owner has announced she intends to build an independent and assisted-living facility on the property.

Bill Bates died in 1969 and the station operated under the auspices of Bates estate administered by the Crocker National Bank from 1969 to 1973 when it was sold in 1973 for $675,000 to a corporation headed by the Pappas brothers (Mike, Pete and Harry) of Visalia (formerly of Modesto).

Other members of the purchasing group included Bob Piccininni (Save-Mart Super Markets) and Mike Sturdevant among others.

In 1981 Pete Pappas bought out his fellow investors for $1110,000 and operated the station until 1986 when he passed away of a heart attack while visiting in Price, Utah. The station was inherited by his wife Bessie who subsequently sold KTRB-FM to a Sacramento based broadcast company for 6.5 million in cash.

In October, 2002 Mrs.Pappas tired of the business and sold KTRB-AM to her brother-in-law Harry Pappas, the only surviving brother, who at that time owned several TV and radio stations across the country. The local staff was let go at that time and the programming for KTRB came from Harry’s news-talk station KMPH-FM in Fresno. The microwave programming feed continued from Fresno until September 2005 when origination control returned to KTRB on Norwegian. Satellite receivers were installed and the news-talk format continued.

In 2004 Harry Pappas applied for, and was granted, a permit by the FCC to move KTRB-AM 860 KHz to San Francisco and to replace it with KMPH, 840 KHz in Modesto. In preparing for KMPH in late September 2005, workers began repairing and remodeling the KTRB studios on Norwegian with the intent to return the building to it’s original appearance and design in 1941.

Once completed, it was to house the new KMPH and the Modesto Radio Museum, which was the brainchild of Harry Pappas. However, the economic downturn resulted in Harry Pappas being forced in bankruptcy and becoming unable to provide a home for the museum. The KTRB building and 1.5 acres of land on Norwegian was put up for sale in 2009. (Asking price $800,000) On June 18, 2006, KTRB in Modesto went off the air and was replaced on July 10, 2006 with KMPH on 840 KHz officially ending the history of Modesto’s Pioneer broadcast station.

OGDEN’s Class of ’69

OGDEN’s -Actor Richard Kiel taught math at Ogden’s in ’63

Those Ogden grads at the Burbank school location in and around 1963 were able to meet and be taught math by actor Richard Kiel who was just starting his acting career at the time. Ogden grad Denny Blair was one of those students with fond memories of those nights with Kiel .

Denny recalls:

“I attended Ogden’s in early 1963 when our math teacher was RICHARD KIEL, the actor who played “Jaws” in the James Bond 007 movies. He stood 7 foot 2 and that first night he walked into the class room….the whole room fell silent. We had not been warned ahead of time to expect him. Ogden’s little joke . He was a neat guy and we had some great times visiting.

One time, we went downtown with him in the front seat of a Jeep, his knees under his chin. You can imagine the looks he got from other drivers At that time he was doing the “Jolly Green Giant” at supermarkets and had done some Disney stuff. Kiel knew his math and was 24 at the time . He started acting professionally in 1960. It was a wonderful experience.”

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(Editor’s Note) After receiving this information from Denny we searched on the internet and found Richard’s official fan club website. We sent him an email asking if he had any information on Bill, Tally, Thora etc. Here is his prompt reply:

“Hi Bob,

I am sorry to say that I do not have any information about Bill, Tally or Thora. The last time I saw Bill he was still on Olive Avenue in Burbank. I stopped by to see them the day President Kennedy was assassinated and went to work that day on The Man From UNCLE and never stopped.

I didn’t take algebra in high school and was terrified of the math part. I worked so hard at learning math that Bill said one day after one of the final exams, “I am mad at you Richard Kiel!” I wondered what I had done and then he said. “You’re the first student in the history of the school to ace the 75 question math final.” I guess it’s too easy and I will have to make it harder.

His son-in-law was teaching math at night when I attended and when the young man got a really good job at Cal Tech or some other similar institution Bill was left without a night time math instructor. He offered me the job and I worked from 7:00 – 10:00 PM every night for a couple of years except for Friday and Saturday nights when I worked as a doorman, I.D. checker and very rarely as a bouncer.

Acing Bill’s 75 question math final gave me a lot of confidence that if I worked hard enough I could accomplish almost anything. My Dad used to say, “The harder I work, the luckier I get,” and it’s true! Many obstacles were put in my way as I pursued my career as an actor that weren’t nearly as challenging as Ogden’s 75 question math final and I overcame them and became a successful actor.

Richard Kiel ” (Clovis, California)”

From Wikipedia—Richard Dawson Kiel was an American actor and voice artist. Standing 7 ft 2 in tall, he was known for his role as Jaws in the James Bond franchise, portraying the character in “The Spy Who Loved Me,” and “Moonraker.” He lampooned the role with a tongue-in-cheek cameo in Inspector Gadget.

Denny Blair Remembers his days at Ogden’s in 1963

“I was employed at KCVL AM radio in Colville, WA when we had need of a First Class Operator. I was young, married a year with a daughter and one more on the way when I got on a bus and headed for Olive Ave, Burbank, CA. I rented a room in a private home close to the school and survived on 29 cent TV dinners for the two months I was there. Sometimes we splurged and went for a hamburger at this place close by that made burgers as big as footballs.

For a small town guy who grew up in Palouse, WA the 50’s, the whole California thing was a real culture shock. I saw a VW Beetle with “JUST DIVORCED” and trailing cans and streamers, what a sight. The Ogden’s were great. Thora was beautiful and reminded me of Harriet Nelson, everybody’s Mom, a real sweetheart.

I remember Bill was a friend of Moe Howard (The 3 Stooges) and he talked about him a few times. Our math instructor was Richard Kiel, the actor best known as “Jaws” in the Bond films. At that time he was doing the “Jolly Green Giant” at supermarkets and had done some Disney stuff.

I remember the first night he came into class (yes, NIGHT) classes were, as I recall, from 8 AM to 10 PM…something like that. Richard was so tall (7 foot 2 and 315 pounds) that he had to duck coming through the door. The room just fell silent when he walked in, we had not been warned ahead of time what to expect. Ogden’s little joke on us.

Kiel was very nice and knew his math. He was 24 at the time and had started acting professionally in 1960. One night some of us gave him a ride to LA and he was in the front seat of this little open top Jeep, his knees up under his chin. You can imagine the looks he got from other drivers. I really missed my family, but it was a wonderful experience. I remained in radio till 1979 when I went into real estate. I still have my Gold Pencil, ID card, and some great memories.”

MICROPHONE MAN-1

Note: This page is under renovation. We will have it up in a few weeks.

Part 1

Microphones have been around since Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. In radio, television and recording, the microphone is the the very first instrument used in the process of picking up sound. So the “mike” is

pretty important and went through development from relatively primitive devices in the early days to units that could very faithfully reproduce the full range of humanly audible sound.

In this segment I want to concentrate on those broadcast-type microphones that had a huge impact on the industry from the early 1930s through the 1960s.

Here is one of the most recognizable broadcast and recording microphones made in the USA. The RCA model 44 series. These were first developed back in the 1930s by Harry Olson of RCA Labs in Camden New Jersey.

The first in this series was the 44A. The model 44 microphones were called “ribbon-velocity” microphones because the internal workings were comprised of a thin corrugated aluminum element, called a “ribbon” suspended in a strong permanent magnet field. This ribbon was the generating element taking sound waves and generating a tiny electrical current that was an exact representation of the sound. This small signal was stepped up by a transformer so it could be sent down the cable to the equipment it was connected to.

The basic ribbon-velocity microphone has a bi-directional pickup pattern. That means that it picks up sound equally well from the front and back of the mike but is relatively dead to sound arriving from either side. This pick up pattern was very useful in the so called “golden age” of radio…especially in dramatic programs where several actors could be grouped around the mike. There could be two or three actors facing the front side and another group facing the back side of the ribbon mike and all would be picked up equally well.

If the script called for someone to walk into a scene the actor would move from one of the dead sides of the mike to a live side providing a perfect “fade-in” The same could be done in reverse for a “fade-out”.

Radio announcers always loved ribbon mikes because they tended to make the voice sound more “bassy” or deep sounding when worked closeup. One of the problems with this is that the ribbon element was very fragile and could be easily stretched by a blast of breath from a close-talking announcer. This also caused a big “pop” in the audio. RCA recommended aworking distance of a foot or more for ribbon mikes….of course this was predicated on having a well designed studio with proper acoustics!

The RCA 44 series of microphones were manufactured from the early 30s to 1958. They went through several updates ending with the 44BX.

The RCA 44s were used by all the major radio and TV networks, local radio and TV stations, as well as recording studios. They were excellent for music pickup as well as voice. The 44 is a heavy weight in more ways than one….it weighed in at 8 pounds!! Obviously the 44 was not intended as a hand mike! Also it could not be used outdoors where wind was a factor and the big warning for any user of a ribbon mike was….”don’t ever blow into it”!

These mikes are still in demand and have seen a resurgence in recent years with digital recording. Although RCA stopped making microphones about 1973, there are ribbon mikes being manufactured new today by many makers here in the US as well as China and Russia. The ribbon mike has a very smooth, mellow sound that is very pleasing to the ear.

You can find old RCA 44 ribbon mikes selling on Ebay for up to several thousand dollars. This is a testament to the enduring quality of these units even after over 50 years since they stopped being manufactured. The amazing thing is you could have bought a brand new 44BX in 1957 for $129…of course, that’s in 1957 dollars!

“CBS modified this 44A with a Cannon “P” connector on the rear.”

There is a company in Pasadena, Audio Engineering Associates, that makes an exact replica of the RCA 44 called the AEA 44…..They sell for around $4,000. Some of the biggest recording studios are using these modern replicas in music productions of all kinds today.

So that’s the brief story of the RCA model 44. For more info on this and many other microphones, I recommend Stan Coutant’s website www.coutant.org. Stan has pictures and specs and also audio sound bites to give you an idea of how various mikes sound.

In future posts I’ll review other great broadcast mikes like the RCA 77 and the Western Electric/Altec 639 “birdcage” and several more.

Page 2

Our previous sessions have dealt with ribbon microphones by RCA, one of the two prime makers of broadcast and sound equipment in the mid 20th century. This time we’ll turn to the other of these major makers, Western Electric Company.

RCA and Western Electric were fierce competitors in this era. I think I am safe in saying that the majority of radio stations from the 1920s through around 1950 used either RCA or Western Electric equipment, or a combination of both. Western Electric was the manufacturing arm of Bell Telephone…but also made broadcast equipment designed by Bell Telephone Labs. In 1949 Federal anti-trust laws forced Western Electric to divest of their broadcasting equipment manufacturing. Both these companies made just about everything needed to equip a station from microphones and audio control to transmitters and antennas.

About the time RCA came out with the revolutionary ribbon microphone…Western Electric developed the first high-quality dynamic microphone. The dynamic uses the same basic principle as the ribbon….a moving conductor in a magnetic field to generate the audio signal from sound waves. Instead of a moving foil ribbon…the dynamic uses a round-shaped diaphragm that has a coil of wire attached that moves in the magnetic field…it’s a small electric generator. Another way of explaining a dynamic microphone is to think of it as a loudspeaker in reverse! A loudspeaker takes a signal from a radio receiver or amplifier and turns that electric signal into sound we can hear. A microphone, as we explained before, takes that sound we hear and translates it into an electrical signal so it can be amplified and sent to a loudspeaker, as in a PA system, or for broadcasting or recording.

Western Electrics’ new dynamic microphone was dubbed the model 618 and came out about 1931. The model 618 was an omni-directional…or non-directional mike that was relatively small in size and very rugged…making it excellent for studio as well as remote broadcasting, especially in the outdoors. This mike was not sensitive to wind and breath noises like the ribbon mike…and it was relatively insensitive to handling noises making it excellent as a hand mike for interviews and such.

The model 618 was a great improvement over the earlier noisy carbon and bulky condenser mikes of that era. The 618 was a big hit with the radio industry and these mikes were used clear into the 50s. RCA, of course, would not be left behind by Western Electric….so they shortly came out with a very similar-looking mike they called the model 50A. Internally the RCA model 50A used a slightly different way of embedding the wire into the diaphragm so as not to infringe on Western Electrics’ patents….but externally they looked very similar.

You’ll see both of these mikes in news photos and newsreels of the day…they were used for President FDR’s “Fireside Chat” broadcasts. If you look closely at these photos you’ll see that CBS and Mutual (MBS) used the Western Electric and NBC and the Blue networks used the RCA because NBC was owned by RCA.

A few smaller manufacturers also made mikes that looked very much like the Western Electric and RCA units but these smaller outfits could not compete with the two giants in the broadcast industry and their mikes were used mainly in PA systems and some smaller radio stations.

The dynamic-type microphone is one of the most used units up to this very day…and Western Electric was the start of it all. These pioneering mikes were all omni-directional….picking up sounds from all around…later a small company, at the time, named Shure Brothers designed the first uni-directional dynamic mike called the “Unidyne”. Most dynamic mikes today are uni-directional picking up sound from the front side of the microphone and rejecting sounds from the rear, thus preventing sound system feedback (howling) and eliminating background noises, and all based on Shure’s ground-breaking development of the late 1930s.

We’ll save that story for another session.

Spec sheet for the WE 618 4

page 3

Mel Freedman, 92

By -Derek Waring

The Modesto Radio Museum lost a very dear friend. Mel Freedman passed away January 11, 2017. He had suffered a serious stroke earlier in January. Uncle Mel, as he liked us to call him, was the engineer when I worked at KFIV. He was known for his cantankerousness which masked a loving and caring soul that subsequently became so evident. We remained friends over the years. I will miss our lunches and our drinks together Uncle Mel. I was privileged to have you as a mentor and such a big part of my life for so many years. Mel was a Founding Board Member and the Secretary for the Modesto Radio Museum. He also belonged to the Central Valley Broadcasters (CVB). On behalf of the Modesto Radio Museum and the CVB, we dearly miss Mel.

Mel was was a veteran of World War II. He was laid to rest at the National Cemetery at Santa Nella, California.

– Derek Waring-
Modesto Radio Museum Board Member

Without Mel, we would all be silent. Top row, left to right: Dave Nelson, John Chappell, Derek Waring, Tim St. Martin, Rick Myers, Greg Edwards, and Wes Page. Front row: Bob DeLeon, Mel Freedman, John Huey, Kenny Roberts, and Bob Lang.

OGDEN’S- Neil Ross Remembers

“Accomplishment of the difficult tends to show what men are! “

By Neil Ross, Manhattan Beach, CA.

This piece was originally written for an LA radio website in answer to the question: Where were you when you heard about the Kennedy assassination? In my case the answer was 1150 West Olive in Burbank – The Ogden School.
______________________________

After getting my First Class License I worked twenty plus years in radio with stops at KGMB in Honolulu, KCBQ San Diego, KYA San Francisco and finally 710 KMPC Los Angeles. Then I left radio for voice-overs.

I went back to 1150 West Olive in 2008 for a recording session. What a strange feeling to stand, forty five years later, in a studio where the classroom had been. I told the guys at the studio a little bit of the history of their building. Then I told them this story.

On the morning of November 22, 1963 I was seated in class at the William B. Ogden Radio Operational Engineering School at 1150 West Olive in Burbank, California. The school was what was known in those days as a ‘ticket mill.’ It existed solely for the purpose of cramming enough knowledge into the empty heads of aspiring disc-jockeys to allow them to pass the FCC First Class License exam. A test which was infamous for its difficulty, frequently defeating even MIT graduates.

In those days most medium market radio stations were ‘combo’ – meaning the DJ would also be responsible for transmitter readings. Any station that was directional, or over ten thousand watts, had to have someone with a ‘first phone’ (as it was commonly known) on duty at all times. Major market stations had transmitter engineers, low powered small market stations usually didn’t require a first class operator. But in the medium markets the first phone was nearly always mandatory. A jock without one simply couldn’t move up. “We’d love to hire you but we had to go with a guy with a first phone – he ain’t half the talent you are, but he’s got the ticket.”

I only had to hear that a few times before I started making inquiries about the best way to acquire that ‘ticket.’ Without exception the old pro’s told me: “Go to Ogden’s.” William B. (Bill) Ogden was one of the most unforgettable people I ever met. Put five or six Ogden grads in a room together and they can talk about him for hours. An irascible, chain smoking little firebrand of a man with a razor sharp wit and a dazzling intellect, he was a true auto-didact. Continue reading “OGDEN’S- Neil Ross Remembers”

Letters, We Get Letters. . .

Radio Rick Myers, 1976

When DJs take on a subject, their train of thought often jumps the tracks. One of us radio guys read an article that breast-feeding could improve the neuromuscular system involved in speech. All that suckling activity is just darned good, healthy exercise. That article morphed down into the lower levels of disc jockey humor. “Hey, DJ guy, you’ve got a great voice, but imagine where you’d be if your momma breast fed you. You’d probably be in New York by now…” I wasn’t breast-fed and I’m not in New York. That’s my excuse.

With that in mind, this February 21st, I came upon an “Ask the Doctor” column. A woman wondered if it was all right to continue breast-feeding her twenty-six month old son. I misread the column, thinking for a second it read “twenty-six year-old son.” I did a quick double take, and talked about my goof later on the air. All was fine, as I summed up the story with “But if there were to be a woman out there somewhere breast feeding a twenty-six year old son, I’d be happy to put myself up for adoption.” It was just one punch line out of many, and I forgot all about it—until those letters started coming in.

Negative letters usually are addressed to the boss; favorable ones come to the disc jockey. I wish it were the other way around. The first paragraph of the first letter read:

“I am surprised that you would let a disc jockey profane himself on prime time public radio by making gross mockery of such a sacred subject as breast feeding babies….” The closing sentence had some holy wrath with it: “In my opinion this man should be ‘adopted’ as he wishes—only by a mental facility!”

Another letter decided to embellish what I said: “And he wondered what it would be like for a 26-year-old to be breast fed and he could go about volunteering to be adopted and breast-fed by that young mother.”

That was more than what I said! I closed by saying I wondered if I could put myself up for adoption. This listener added to the punch line. In radio, that’s called “talking past the punch line.” The writer watered down what I said just to make sure it didn’t even remotely sound clever. When it comes to humor I need all the help I can get. As fellow disc jockey, J. Michael Stevens, once said, “Rick, to call you a wit is only half right.”

Radio stations do get letters! Most are complimentary. The critical ones seem release tensions. The writer just feels better. “I told them a thing or two.” My Program Director, Larry Maher likes to say some people listen with one hand on the Bible, and with the other hand on a note pad ready to dash off a letter of protest.

Most protest letters come when the listeners are given the chance to be “righteously indignant.” At the letter’s heart lies the assertion the disc jockey was insensitive. One winter day, I made the comment, “It’s December 7^th, and every year on this day, the Navy goes out and bombs Pearl Bailey.” In came a letter:

“How dare one of your disc jockeys make fun of Pearl Bailey, a woman who is such a great entertainer, she is practically an American Institution…”

Oh, come on now! Just because you don’t get the joke, don’t take it out on me. (Note: Pearl Bailey was a great entertainer, passing away in 1990. The Navy never sought revenge.)

I’m not alone on these incoming slings and arrows; many DJs are Writers’ Wrath Recipients. One foggy morning, Terry Nelson made the comment, “be careful out there, folks; it’s foggier than a pervert’s breath.” In came a letter:

“…How dare you people! I was in the car with my son when your disc jockey talked about a pervert, and my 10-year old asked, ‘Daddy, what’s a pervert?’ I was all embarrassed and didn’t know what to say. Parenting is hard enough without idiots who think they have the right to ruin my day!! Well, thanks; you succeeded!!”

You’re welcome. Another time, Ron Posey started his show with “I got a letter here, let’s see what it says (then the sound of the envelope being opened). Ron then reads, “It’s addressed to All the Virgins of the World. It says, “Thanks for nothing!” Let’s not even get started on those letters.

One brutally cold day, I mentioned that it was “colder than a Mother-in-Law’s love.” Those incoming letters were pretty much universal, along the lines of “I laughed at what you said, but, I want you to know that MY MOTHER-IN-LAW is a VERY NICE PERSON!!” The letters all had that common theme. I guess mothers-in-law have their own union, and they’re headquartered in Modesto.

**Write us a letter, and we’ll sing you a song!** Don Shannon, Radio Rick, Captain Fred James, Kenny Roberts, Larry Maher, Diane Cartwright, and J. Michael Stevens. 1976

So keep those cards and letters coming! They let us know that at the microphone’s other end are living, breathing people. Letters keep us on our toes. DJs really strive to never cross the line. We just like to get close.

I’ve learned threes things about listener letters: 1) they are certain to continue. Therefore, 2) It’s better to limit any controversial comments for when the boss is on vacation, because 3) when he’s away, he’s put me in charge of the mail.

“I Honestly Love You,”

(Radio Rick Myers-1978)

I had two whirlwind romance chances with Olivia Newton-John. Twice I held her in my arms, twice I dazzled her with my charms, and twice she left unimpressed. To protect my ego, I must assume she simply doesn’t like younger men.

The last day of March 1976 was a sun-splattered San Francisco Sunday, and M.C.A. Records had invited me to an Olivia Newton-John cocktail party! I was invited partly because M.C.A. knew of my undying devotion to Olivia. I was invited mostly because KFIV was a “Reporting Station,” which meant we reported the songs we played to the record trade magazines. If we discovered a song, then a station in say, Mobile, Alabama, might decide to give that song a try. We carried weight. M.C.A. knew who to invite to this party, bless its corporate heart.

This was my big chance, and I arrived predictably early; Olivia arrived fashionably late. We were at The Sheraton at the Wharf. Five-star hotels begin with “The,” as in “The Fairmont Hotel,” “The Waldorf Astoria,” but never as in “The Holiday Inn.”

I informed my date that if I could sweep Olivia away on the wings of romance, she, my date, was to get home the best she could. I was at the bar when Olivia entered. I couldn’t believe she was unescorted! She stood there in the middle of the banquet room, alone. I drove a hundred miles to see her, this was no time to be shy. I walked right up to her and said, “Olivia, I would like to shake your hand.” She placed her hand in mine and smiled. In retrospect, I believe she smiled because she was relieved she was no longer unnoticed. Under my breath I was humming, “This Could Be the Start of Something Big!”

Olivia, with twinkling blue eyes, said, “My, you must be a radio announcer!” I knew what was going on, I lowered my voice another notch and asked why she said that. “Your voice, it’s so low!” I now lowered my voice to the point of pain and explained I was from Modesto, California.

I asked if she had ever heard of Modesto and she said indeed, she had! I never learned what she had heard, for it was time for more pressing matters. I pressed my arm around her waist as we posed for photos. A line of invited guests/fans had woven its way all the around the hors d’oeuvres table. She autographed a few colored glossies for me, smiled again, and it was time for me to move on.

Jim Lange of KSFO Radio, and “The Dating Game” TV Show

The cocktail party continued another forty minutes. I had another drink, but the exhilaration of the moment was more powerful than any intoxicant. I stood next to Jim Lange, radio personality at KSFO, and host of the “Dating Game” television show. He gulped down double shots of Scotch. He was friendly and funny. (Mental note: when you reach the big time, make sure you enjoy it.)

Olivia soon left the party, and like that, my/our romance was over. As she left, my heart melting, she turned, smiled, waved to the room and disappeared. Who knew destiny would soon bring us together.

M.C.A. Records, the corporation with a heart, invited me to yet another Olivia Cocktail Party! This was December, 1977, and Olivia had been re-signed! Kill the fatted calf, we’re going to have a party! This was the biggest gala I ever attended. M.C.A. booked the Grand Ballroom of the Marc Hopkins Hotel. Easily 500 were in attendance, 125 tables for-four lined the perimeter. Two identical wall-to-wall hors d’oeuvres tables traversed this gigantic room. Each table had two ice sculptures anchoring the ends. The San Francisco 49ers were there! The San Francisco Giants were there! Over there, was Willie McCovey!!

Olivia, this time, did not enter alone She was escorted by two M.C.A. big shots, a body guard, and the record promoter who knew all the little people, like me. The Queen had arrived. This was a formal audience with Olivia. We were to sit at our tables, and wait to be introduced.

When my turn came, I mentioned that perhaps she remembered me from last year! She smiled, being too polite to say no. I had photos of our last, brief fling; maybe they would refresh her memory! Again, Olivia smiled. She autographed my photos, and then posed with me for others.

Her escorts thought it was time to resume the procession. Now was my chance! From last year’s photos, I made posters! If she would autograph them, I would give them to listeners during my show!!

She said she would like to sign them, but over 500 people were waiting, and first she had to circulate. (Mental note: when you make the big time, while others walk around, you “circulate.”)

Les Garland is the Program Director of KFRC Radio. When it was his turn, he rushed to Olivia, tripped, and spilled his drink on her gray-on-white three-piece suit. (Mental note: even when you make the big time, sometimes all you can do is want to hide.)

In her own hand writing, Olivia says she loves me

Olivia circulated and departed. Like that, she was gone. The record company officials said she had retired to her suite. Had my second chance come and gone? I had nothing to look forward to now except enjoy some shrimp in the shadow of an ice sculpture, and have a pleasant conversation with Gene Nelson, a true radio star from KSFO. Gene was wearing a turtleneck sweater. (Mental note: though not fashionable at this soiree, one is always forgiven once one has reached the big time.)

The party had continued for another 45 minutes. Suddenly, I felt a tapping on my right shoulder. I turned around and stood face-to-face with Olivia Newton-John!! “I came back to sign your posters.” She came back by herself, all alone, just to see me! Gene Nelson was my all-time radio idol, but now I had bigger fish to fry.

Olivia and I turned and I placed my hand on the small of her back escorting her to my table. Five hundred sets of eyes were watching us! “What? Olivia is back?” “What’s going on?” “Who is that guy?” Altogether I spent 47 years in radio; this was my finest moment. She autographed the posters, and left. Leaving me had become a habit.

I am Hopelessly Devoted. My love was not reciprocated, but I will never forget when Olivia Newton-John returned to a party just to see me (Mental note: I had made the big time.)