Questions Regarding "Mother KOIT" and KGO-FM/KSFX
Concrete Bob
be here !!!!
In August 1968 KOIT (93.3 FM) became San Francisco's third Progressive
Rock station. From what little I've read about the station, I
understand it was fully-automated. It also was known as "Mother Radio"
(or something like that). Does anyone remember "Mother KOIT?" How
long did the station last? What format did the station shift to? Were
there any live personalities at all during its "Mother KOIT" period?
How deep was the selection of music?
Later that year KGO-FM flipped from Automated Hot 100 to its syndicated
LOVE format (taped progressive rock). Sometime in 1971, KGO-FM became
KSFX and continued in a Progressive Rock format, but with live
announcers. Were there any memorable announcers on KSFX in its first
attempt at Rock. Was it tightly-formatted "Rock n Stereo" like its
then sister stations KLOS and WPLJ? I believe KSFX flipped to Top 40
on Memorial Day weekend in 1973 (if I remember Richard Gosset mentioned
it in May 1982 before 103.7 became KGO-FM again).
Anyway, if you can provide me with any information, it would be greatly
appreciated.
Tiernan
I recall and format shifts were accomplished by changed the carts with
announcers on them and the reels with music on them. I do not recall
Mother KOIT, though I rather doubt it as I was an avid FM listener in
those days (you would have thought I not lurkers on this list had much
to do with its propagation).
Speaking of others, Gil and Bob O might remember maybe even the
venerable Higdon, himself.
--
Dean
David Kaye
> In August 1968 KOIT (93.3 FM) became San Francisco's third Progressive
> Rock station. From what little I've read about the station, I
> understand it was fully-automated. It also was known as "Mother Radio"
> (or something like that). Does anyone remember "Mother KOIT?"
Mother KOIT's motherly voicetracks were reputedly voiced by singer Gale
Garnett ("We'll Sing in the Sunshine"). She is now 64 and continues to
appear as an actress.
> How long did the station last? What format did the station shift to? Were
> there any live personalities at all during its "Mother KOIT" period?
> How deep was the selection of music?
I'd like to think it was a couple years but I'm not sure. I do know
that it was run on a Schafer 800 automation system using 6 reel-to-reel
decks. Spot breaks I believe were also on open-reel. The music
selection was good, the sound was very peace'n'love. I liked the
station. I believe it went to all Beatles and Stones for a month and
then went to automated country. I was told that KOIT hired a guy with
a guitar right out of the ads in the back of Broadcasting magazine to
sing all the time checks country-style. He had a jingle for every
minute as I remember.
> Later that year KGO-FM flipped from Automated Hot 100 to its syndicated
> LOVE format (taped progressive rock).
Ah yes, Love. Created by George Yahraes, a VP of ABC, who I believe is
still involved in the media in Marin, in advertising I think. Love was
an incredibly good format, featuring a guy from the Village Voice
newspaper doing social vignettes about the street culture of the Lower
East Side, etc.
And then there was Brother John Rydgren. A quote from the laradio.com
website: ""Brother John" had a unique place in Southern California
radio. Born in North Dakota, he grew up in Seattle. In 1958 John
graduated with a divinity degree from Pacific Lutheran University in
Washington and became an ordained Lutheran minister. John was one of
the first people to use rock music in religious radio programs. He
began his radio work in Minneapolis where he taped a Christian rock
show called "Silhouettes" from a church basement. He was the voice of
ABC's pro-album Love Format in 1968. In 1970, John left WABC/fm to
produce religious and socially slanted radio/tv programs. He moved to
L.A. in 1972 and eventually hosted a program called "Heaven Is in Your
Mind.""
So, Love was a unique format where every piece of music was selected to
match a mood or a message. Unfortunately, according to George, the
stations running Love were careless and would run the tapes in the
wrong order or keep repeating the wrong ones so that it seemed they
were always in reruns. KGO-FM did a good job doing it right, though.
Wish someone had the Love tapes. I think I'll hunt down George's email
and see if he does.
> Sometime in 1971, KGO-FM became
> KSFX and continued in a Progressive Rock format, but with live
> announcers.
During the time George Yahraes was running the place, he moved the
studio out of 277 Golden Gate over to 1177 Polk Street at Sutter in
order to be in the center of some major street scene, the hip Polk
Street of the 70s, pretty much ground zero for the disco music that
followed prog rock.
> Were there any memorable announcers on KSFX in its first
> attempt at Rock. Was it tightly-formatted "Rock n Stereo" like its
> then sister stations KLOS and WPLJ?
KSFX was programmed independently as I recall, and then they were moved
more toward the KLOS sound. They used the "Music Radio" jingles, which
were simply a re-tempo of the WABC (and KYA) "I'll Take Manhattan'
jingles. (Just think of the tempo change between "I'll Take Manhattan"
and "Music Radio", but sing the same tune.) Visually KSFX was
eventually promoted in the same way as KLOS.
Warren Gregoire (manufacturer of aviation headphones over in San
Leandro) would know much about this era because he was chief engineer
for KSFX/KGO-FM during that era.
David Kaye
> KOIT (a bonneville station) had reel to reel automation in those days as
> I recall [....]
Nuuupe. It's very easy to confuse. The current KOIT is not related at
all to the KOIT at 93.3 (home of Mother KOIT). That station (known as
KYA-FM until 1966 and then variously as KOIT and KYA-FM) was co-owned
with KYA 1260 from 1958 until 1982 when King Broadcasting, then owners
of 1260 and 93.3 sold 1260 to Bonneville and took over KSFO. It's
extremely confusing.
The KOIT callsign hadn't been used for years on 93.3, so when
Bonneville came to town and bought KRON-FM 96.5, they took over the
vacant callsign KOIT for 96.5.
To add further to the confusion, when Bonneville bought 1260 from King,
they named that station KOIT. So, the KOIT of Bonneville is not
related at all to the KOIT of Churchill, Avco, King, and whoever else
owned it.
David Kaye
> To add further to the confusion, [....]
Oh, and if you want even more confusion, even after the sale, the
transmitters of 1260 and 93.3 remained on Candlestick Hill (though the
93.3 xmtr is now a backup). Thus, the original KOIT (FM) aux is
co-located with the currrent KOIT (AM), though they have never operated
under the same callsign at the same time, and were not owned by the
same owners when they did.
Now let's talk about KSAN and KSOl.......
Tiernan
> Tiernan wrote:
>
>> KOIT (a bonneville station) had reel to reel automation in those days as
>> I recall [....]
>
> Nuuupe. It's very easy to confuse. The current KOIT is not related at
> all to the KOIT at 93.3 (home of Mother KOIT).
>
dt
David Kaye
> I stand corrected. Don't remember that at all. I suppose the grey cells....
>
Nope, it's just very confusing that Bonneville took the callsign and
that it has been applied to two different FMs. Anybody couuld make
that mistake.
KSAN and KSOL are even worse. KSAN has been on 1450, channel 32, 94.9,
and now 107.7; meanwhile KSOL has also been on 1450 and 107.7, as well
as 98.9, but the incarnations of KSAN and KSOL on 107.7 are not in any
way related to their use on 1450.
DavidFJackson
> And then there was Brother John Rydgren.
> Wish someone had the Love tapes.
We've got some. Not frightfully exciting, but we've got a few hours
worth.
DJ
Bay Area Radio Museum: www.BayAreaRadio.org
Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame: www.BARHOF.com
Bob Gowa
> David Kaye wrote:
> > And then there was Brother John Rydgren.
> > Wish someone had the Love tapes.
John was a wonderful, complicated guy. I knew him through my friendship
with Shadoe Stevens way back then. I was thrilled to hear him again as
the voice of KFOG when it switched to rock.
Sadly, John has passed.
Bob Gowa
J. Michael Scott
it KOIT, or KABL that had their studios at Ghirardelli Square?
I do rermember when KOIT, KABL, & KFOG (Maybe even KBAY, too) were all
"Beautfiul Music". I think also "K-REP", too, unless they were MOR...
Concrete Bob wrote:
> If anyone would have information on this subject, it would definately
> be here !!!!
>
> In August 1968 KOIT (93.3 FM) became San Francisco's third Progressive
> Rock station. From what little I've read about the station, I
> understand it was fully-automated. It also was known as "Mother Radio"
> (or something like that). Does anyone remember "Mother KOIT?" How
> long did the station last? What format did the station shift to? Were
> there any live personalities at all during its "Mother KOIT" period?
> How deep was the selection of music?
Wonder who the consultant was...
J. Michael Scott
Concrete Bob wrote:
> If anyone would have information on this subject, it would definately
> be here !!!!
>
>
> Was it tightly-formatted "Rock n Stereo" like its
> then sister stations KLOS and WPLJ? I believe KSFX flipped to Top 40
> on Memorial Day weekend in 1973 (if I remember Richard Gosset mentioned
> it in May 1982 before 103.7 became KGO-FM again).
I do remeber that KSFX had the same "Rocki'n-in-stereo" logo & design
that the LA station had. I recall a John Lenneon marathon that had
really short, but incredibly annoying promos aired on KGO-TV, which
utilized an edit from "Cold Turkey". These were run during the
late-nights & during "In Concert".
I was too much of a top-40 kid back then to pay attention.
Steven
J. Michael Scott wrote:
> Damn! I must've been listeing to the Big 610, or Surf 16 (KLIV). Was
> it KOIT, or KABL that had their studios at Ghirardelli Square?
Vague memory leads me to say KABL, but I don't think they were either
there in the summer of '82 or else I couldn't tour while I was there. I
didn't have a radio on that school trip, only a stereo cassette player
that the girl I traveled around with ate most of my batteries and had
that Jessica Simpson glazed look listening 20+ years before she knew
what tuna is.
Tiernan
for his studio few years back. Ended up taking it to Village Recorders
and hiring a producer to run it to launch one of his recent ventures.
Rhythm Radio.....think I still have the demos.....good music.
dt
Tiernan
> Damn! I must've been listeing to the Big 610, or Surf 16 (KLIV). Was
> it KOIT, or KABL that had their studios at Ghirardelli Square?
>
> I do rermember when KOIT, KABL, & KFOG (Maybe even KBAY, too) were all
> "Beautfiul Music". I think also "K-REP", too, unless they were MOR...
>
>
in there one day just as the foghorn sounded. I miss that liner!
dt
David Kaye
> Damn! I must've been listeing to the Big 610, or Surf 16 (KLIV). Was
> it KOIT, or KABL that had their studios at Ghirardelli Square?
"From Ghirardelli Square, this is K-FOG (oooooooo---oomph). K-F-O-G San
Francisco, 104-5 Kaiser Broadcasting."
KABL operated from the transmitter with tapes brought in by courier
from the office and production studio at 632 Commercial in downtown SF.
I don't think KABL could even go on the air from Commercial. At the
time I knew a courier who delivered to KABL and I did some PSA
production at Commercial. ("Hello Kable listeners, this is David Kaye
from the Amercian Red Cross[....])
The 93.3 KOIT used to use the slogan "KOIT tower of stereo", but that
was a just a slogan. 96.5 KOIT never mentioned an address.
Tree
matter what the hour. The Shaffer system had several decks with window
tapes. It was a special 3M tape with an overcoating to reduce wear so
it would have long life. At intervals (30 sec to 3 minutes) the oxide
was removed with xylene to produce a window. The tapes could go ff or
rwd and the windows would be counted and logic plus sensing would cue
the selected window. These tapes were used for the hits and spots and
promos with conventional 25 hz tapes used for oldies. KGO-FM had a
similar system. Because of optical sensing of the window tapes, a flash
photo would put all those decks into high speed wind.
I believe when KGO-FM was sold it initially became KLOK-FM During the
Republican convention in 1964 when Goldwater was nominated, KGO-FM
broadcast a subcarrier that was 2X horizontal sync and it was used to
lock the network cameras in the field.
Roy
David Kaye
> The talent at 93.3 was Bill Kefury (sp?) and you got his voice no
> matter what the hour.
Close, Keffury. That was in the "KOIT Tower of Stereo" days, when they
first separated programming from KYA (per FCC dictum).
> Because of optical sensing of the window tapes, a flash
> photo would put all those decks into high speed wind.
A couple days before our class from CSM took a tour of KYA/KOIT,
someone on another tour had taken a flash photo which set off exactly
that situation. We were told in no uncertain terms that we were not to
take any photos, not even with existing light. They didn't want to
take any chances.
Todd Hawley
> John was a wonderful, complicated guy. I knew him through my friendship
> with Shadoe Stevens way back then. I was thrilled to hear him again as
> the voice of KFOG when it switched to rock.
Ah I wondered if that was him when I heard those station ID's. I
remember him at KRLA around '72 or '73 doing Heaven Is In Your Mind, as
well as doing occasional fill-in work at the station. I seem to recall
him being involved with the original KROQ when Shadoe was there.
> Sadly, John has passed.
That is sad news.
-th