My Radio Inspiration

bobby ocean kgbAs a kid I wanted to be a disk jockey. There was something about having anonymity and fame simultaneously that appealed to teenage Geoff. My chance came in 1969. I stayed in radio 11 years.

There were many inspirations: Dan Ingram and Brucie on WABC, Murray the K on WINS, Joey Reynolds, Danny Nevereth and Bud Ballou on WKBW, Shadoe Stevens, J.J. Jeffrey and Dale Dorman on WRKO.

I’m not sure any of them had the same impact as this single aircheck from KGB in San Diego. It was a station I’d never heard live.

This was the late sixties and the “Drake format” was taking hold. All of a sudden disk jockeys were given structure and rules. What should have held them back actually made them more “boss.” KGB was the perfect example.

The aircheck was assembled in the hopes of winning the annual Gavin Awards Station of the Year. I’m not sure who actually won, but this presentation is so indelibly etched in my psyche I can still recite it word-for word.

If you make it to the end, you’ll hear a ridiculous amount of 1968 dollars being given away!

5 thoughts on “My Radio Inspiration”

  1. Ever read Richard Neer’s (WFAN) book “FM”, about the beginning days of FM radio and WNEW in New York? Fascinating stuff. I’ve always wanted to be a DJ and still do to this day.

  2. Geoff…
    Thank you, thank you, thank you. I was a dorky kid of 17 from Middletown when the jet landed in San Diego back in 1967 for four (I think) weeks of Navy Boot Camp at the Naval Training Center on Rosecrans Blvd. Being raised on Top 40 radio, I noticed something very different playing from the radios in all of the barracks. It was 136 KGB. When I wasn’t doing boot camp stuff, I was listening to KGB on my little portable radio. I was mesmerized by KGB, and soon enough I found KHJ coming in through the static. I was even more mesmerized.

    Your aircheck brings back memories, Geoff, and good ones at that. Thanks.
    Mike in Enfield

  3. The only places to hear music and airchecks like this anymore are on the pirate bands, 6955kHz, etc., when you can catch them.

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