I had been ensconced on-air at KLON for several months when KNBC, Channel 4 News made contact. Would I be interested in their coverage? You think? Reporter Furnell Chatman, a really very nice guy and an R&B fan born in New Orleans came to the studio and hung out with me and did an interview of sorts while I was engaged in my show.
I think he wanted to hang out longer, but he got a call from his editor to cover a story in Orange County, so he was on his way. That afternoon, a film crew from Channel 4 came to my house and did some shots. It was broadcast that Sunday night news and I’m sure it helped spike my listener-ship. In those days, VCRs were rare and I lost my only copy of that tape.
I did put all of my shows on cassettes, of which I still have a healthy collection, though mostly just interviews.
I think it was after that report that I met Don Julian (pictured at right). I had gotten soft vibes that my show was being checked out by the R&B performing hierarchy in L.A. But I wasn’t prepared for what happened on a Sunday morning in early 1982.
As I was getting out of my car in the parking lot, four, count ‘em four, black Cadillacs pulled up. Out stepped, mainly garbed in black leather jackets, Don Julian, creator of “The Jerk,” Richard Berry, creator of “Louie Louie,” Chuck Higgins, creator of “Pachuco Hop,” Vernon Green, creator of “Buick 59” and of “the pistmology of love – The Letter” and Brenton Wood, creator of “The Oogum Boogum Song.”
Not that I deserved a warning this all-star talent would be showing up unannounced, me with none of their records. We all walked to the station and thus began the most unfocused and confused set of on-air conversations you could imagine, talking about their great music, but unable to play it…except I think I had a few Chuck Higgins records with me.
Of course, KLON needed bucks, so they brought in an outside consultant, a female whose name I don’t recall.
Celebrate 88 was the result and an early event was held at the Nugget at which Julian and others performed on-air. I think Dootsie Williams, who operated the label on which “Earth Angel” was released was there.
At the time, Steve Horn was president of the university and had appointed his assistant, Gene Asher as his point man with the station. A glossy program guide was issued monthly and I still have every issue.
In 1982, KLON held its Second Annual Blues Festival on a small field near the administration building and among other acts was the great George “Harmonica” Smith who walked the crowd after his performance, still wowing the crowd with his mouth harp virtuosity. I don’t think there’s been such interaction at the festival since then.
Months later, local Budweiser distributor Whitey Littlefield of Somerset Distributing – rumor had it that Frank Sinatra was a silent partner – agreed to underwrite my show and it seemed all was good. So I read Bud underwriting announcements for months, years, in fact, on end.
In fact, Somerset underwrote a new event. Some called it a beer drinking contest and concert, but we were warned off that designation quickly and for good reason. It was a concert at CSULB with acts like Joe Liggins (“the Honedripper”) and Little Caesar on vocals and was a major success. I remember that Red Stripe, a new beer on the scene, was part of this promotion.
In early 1982, vinyl was still king. The two turntables operated flawlessly, but CDs were beginning to appear. Nothing great, but there were a few we could put on the air.
Remember, at that time, and until KKGO went off the air as an all-jazz outlet in 1989, KLON had a tremendous inferiority complex and low powered one at that. KKGO refused to recognize we existed, so basically, we didn’t. A few years later, KKGO jazz DJ legend Chuck Niles contacted Program Director Ken Borgers and told him he listened to the station, but neither could make much more of that fact, Niles because of his job and Borgers because Niles didn’t want the conversation revealed for job reasons.
So KKGO continued to pretend KLON didn’t exist. Ironic, in that Saul Levine, who still uses the KKGO call letters, with a revamped jazz/classical hybrid going classical then going country and who now has a deal with the CSULB Foundation to operate what used to be KLON – now KKJZ.
Levine went so far as to protect the KJAZ calls he owned in the Bay Area, so KLON could not grab them, keeping the calls, even though KJAZ played country music at the time. Had that situation not been the case, the station would be KJAZ, not KKJZ.
All that history has been wiped away, except for those of us who were there and recall. And there are not that many of us.
Ex-KSUL jock Dave Burchett is DJ Dave Randal doing weekends at KRTH; until recently Ken Borgers was a KCRW announcer, and his sister Helen, who worked only weekends right after my show, is still at KKJZ.
Langley Patterson, an early nighttime DJ was murdered in an L.A. back alley in 1984 and was replaced by Bubba Jackson who’s still at KKJZ. One of several original DJs, Bob Epstein, music director, died in 1995, three years to the day after jazz historian Will Thornbury passed away. In March 1993, Jay Roebuck, who inherited Borgers’ program director job when Ken left the first time, passed away. There was Bob Young who did overnights and died after he was let go.
But I’m still around and I still remember.