Link to full "Radio Waves" interview with Dr. Demento: https://bit.ly/3NTWfba

Radio July 15

If you grew up in Southern California in the 1970s, you likely listened to the legendary KMET (now KTWV, 94.7 FM). And if you listened to KMET, you likely listened to one of the most famous programs to ever originate from album-rock radio, Dr. Demento.

Born Barret Eugene “Barry” Hansen, Dr. Demento wasn’t heard only on KMET. In fact, his show launched on KPPC (now KROQ, 106.7 FM) after a time in 1970 playing some of his personal record recollection as a guest on Steven Segal, known on the air as The Obscene Steven Clean, on KMET and later KPPC (now KROQ, 106.7 FM). Those personal records included unusual recordings, novelty songs and just strange and unusual songs dating back to the earliest 78 RPM records.

It was Segal who gave Hansen the name "Dr. Demento.”

“I had no warning of this,” Hansen says, explaining that it came about roughly the third time he was a guest in hour-long expanded segments that began in October. “He just decided he’d start calling me Dr. Demento.” And the rest, as they say, is history.

He got his own two-hour shift on KPPC at the end on 1970; He moved to KMET in 1971, where for four hours he’d play his version of hits ... from artists such as Spike Jones, Jimmy Durante, Ray Stevens, Stan Freberg, Tom Lehrer, Nervous Norvus, and of course “Weird Al” Yankovic.

He remained at KMET until the station changed formats in early 1987. After that he could be heard on KLSX (now KNX-FM, 97.1 FM) and later KSCA (101.9 FM), where it remained until 1997. The show was also syndicated nationally in a two-hour format from 1974 to about 2010, when it became available only on the internet.

But it was at KMET where he truly shined. The first three hours of the program included various records, not always funny but always interesting, the last hour devoted to the “top-10” where you’d hear such classic recordings as “Star Drek,” “Pencil-Neck Geek,” “Dead Puppies,” “Shaving Cream,” “Fish Heads,” and many more.

Hansen was instrumental in bringing teen-ager Yankovic to a national audience when he played “Belvedere Crusin” on his show in 1976.

As mentioned, Hansen still makes his show available on the internet with new programs weekly at https://www.drdemento.com. He participates in the official Facebook fan page for the show at https://www.facebook.com/groups/drdemento. It is on Facebook where I asked his legions of fans for their memories of the show and the good Doctor himself.

“Found the good Dr. late at night by accident when I was about 12/13 years old. Right around the time Weird All came out with My Bologna. Was hooked on both of them immediately (my local radio station played Ray Stevens, so I was big into the comedy stuff with nothing on other than that)” — Ginger Boyles

“When I was 7 or 8 years old, I had an uncle that sent my family a few cassette tapes of the Dr. Demento Show that he had taped for us (it wasn't on any of the stations in our area at the time). No one else in my family was interested, so they quickly became mine. The first tape I listened to was the show that first aired Weird Al's 'Another Rides the Bus'. I was instantly hooked. Those tapes quickly became what I listened to whenever I could.

“Looking back, I've realized that I had been listening to a radio show that showed me that I wasn't the only weird person around. It was okay to not fit into the normal mold of society. Shortly after, a local station started airing the show. Not only did his show entertain with it's rich history of parody and novelty music, but I know it influenced my sense of humor in my formative years. A large amount of credit (or blame) is due to Dr. Demento and his efforts in shaping me into who I am today, someone who is comfortable with being a little off kilter.” — Joshua Hesselgrave

“Sunday nights at midnight....difficult for a jr high girl sometimes...but the desire to possibly hear ‘Fish Heads’ or ‘Dead Puppies!’” — Holly Hammond

“I helped run a coffee house in Allendale, NJ called The Grotto in the mid to late 1970s. We had live music, but when the Doctor came on the radio, that stopped and it was time to get demented!” — Seth Bogdanove

“Before Dr. Dememto would get to the Top Ten Countdown, he would play records and songs that had a theme running thru them. I remember once he played several versions of ‘Hot Rod Lincoln’ ... he pointed out words and lines were changed in the different versions. And even played a song that could have been the genesis of the song.” — Robert Stone II

“I did a fake stupid hillbilly voice to request a song because I thought it would improve my chances - it did and I got a t-shirt” — Beaux Peterson

“I ...

Radio Waves: July 8. 2022

Will electric cars kill terrestrial radio?

That’s the question posed in a article posted at consumer guide.com (read it at https://bit.ly/3nuTrGK), which talks about a very real problem affecting radio in general, AM in particular.

The problem is that the motors and electronics in electric cars create interference that is very close in frequency to that of stations in the AM band. And in some cases, most notably more expensive models from high-end manufacturers, the “fix” is to leave AM out of the radio altogether.

And as electric cars get more popular — or mandated as in California — it could lead to the demise of America’s oldest broadcasting band, at least while traveling. In most of the country, in-car listening is a huge portion of overall listening to radio.

As explained in the story, “Electromagnetic frequencies generated by EV motors happen to be comparable in wavelength to AM radio signals. The competing signals clash, effectively cancelling each other, as if they were opposing forces. As EV motors grow more powerful, AM static tends to increase.”

It’s not a new problem. Indeed, many cars and trucks have fought radio interference for decades, even in cars with gasoline engines.. Ignition systems, electric motors driving cooling fans, windows and even the heating system can cause interference. But in the past, manufacturers were able to add shielding, ground systems, or even noise suppressors.

In reality, this can be done today, and perhaps might be a legal requirement: FCC rules require that no consumer component cause interference to radio reception, and must accept interference from broadcast radio transmission. But to my knowledge, the rule has not been enforced with any regularity in years. Indeed, LED lights, cable boxes, fluorescent lights, and computers and more all cause interference, and I haven’t heard of any product being pulled off the market for doing so.

Manufacturers have tried to find solutions, but those solutions add cost and weight to the cars .... Something the manufacturers are loathe to do. In the end, it’s easier just to leave it out.

FM is not totally immune either, as it too has challenges being received in a moving car. For now it’s primarily AM, though, and the manufacturers removing it from the dashboards of at least some of their all-electric cars include BMW, Tesla, Porsche, Volvo, and Audi. Interestingly, models from more common brands such as those from Toyota, Ford, and General Motors have kept AM in their electric models. This may change when Cadillac releases new models in the future.

One solution is to put everything on the web, but that creates its own issues: not every station streams their signals on the internet, it costs stations to do so, and it costs consumers when they have to subscribe to either an in-car internet service or use their cell phones to provide a signal. Once internet access is universal, however, some say this may be the future and put AM and FM stations on par for sound quality and distance reception. (I’ll have a story on this in the future).

But in the meantime, I can’t help but think that much of this has to do with programming. If AM listening was more popular, consumers would demand that AM not only be included, but would sound good. Like the early days of automobiles and broadcasting, solutions would be found. That they are not, and people are still buying Teslas proves there is a problem.

In other words, and to repeat what I have been saying for years, if AM stations gave a reason to listen, people would, and demand that their station could be heard while driving.

Related: if AM can be removed from the dash, is FM at risk as well? Absolutely. As the mobile dashboard becomes more of an all-encompassing entertainment system with access to various online music and podcast services, some observers do indeed see a day when cars don’t have a radio at all.

I don’t see it that way, and in fact, I think solutions will be found to allow both AM and FM to continue to be found in the dash, especially as more manufacturers market electric cars. I may be wrong, but I think there are some simple solutions — or at least solutions that, once found, can be spread as a common design feature.

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Radio: July 22, 2022

I didn’t get one, but perhaps you did: SiriusXM sent a mass promotional email extolling the virtues of its subscription satellite radio service, with the basic point being the headline: why waste your time with AM/FM radio?

Obviously directed toward listeners, the ad caused quite a reaction ... on the part of radio observers. Radio Ink (radioink.com) featured a column on July 13th asking the question - “Are you just going to take this?” And Fred Jacobs penned a column the same day in a blog at Jacobs Media’s website (jacobsmedia.com) with the headline “Memo to Radio: The Gloves Are Off.”

But while the gloves are indeed off, they are off only at SiriusXM. The huge major players in radio today — iHeart, Cumulus, and Audacy — are definitely going to do nothing but take it. Which is precisely the problem: radio, in and of itself a marketing device if there ever was one, sucks at marketing. Sorry for the bad language.

It wasn’t always this way. At one time, stations would place station music charts in retail and record stores, publish newsletters and mini-magazines of interest to listeners, place ads in newspapers, on billboards and on buses and bus benches, host free or low-cost concerts, run live broadcasts at local venues, and even give station swag away as prizes. I still have my KIIS-FM (102.7) travel brush from at least 20 years ago. The idea was that station promotions would hopefully get you to sample the station. For the most part, it worked.

When was the last time you saw an ad — or anything else — for any station in town? Considering the prevalence of pushbuttons on the radios working against the idea of just tuning around, how does any station expect listeners to find them?

Which is a shame, as many stations, as much as even I can complain, do indeed put out a good product. KIIS-FM, as but one example, sounds better today than it has in years. Much of it has to do with an abundance of good new music, but the station itself does sound good even in the important part: between the records. Likewise, content on Alt 98.7 is superb, with the best morning show in town (The Woody Show) and a great afternoon show (Booker and Stryker).

KROQ (106.7 FM) finally seems to be getting on the right track and sounds great right now as well, as does My FM (KBIG, 104.3 FM) and KOST (103.5 FM). Go Country (KKGO, 105.1 FM) always sounds good, and these are just a few.

Not that everything is perfect. The commercial loads are still too large and commercial breaks too long. Some stations still make the mistake of running commercial-free hours, which just adds even more commercials to the load in other hours. That needs to be fixed, and owners need to realize that an ad would be more effective as one of a short break than one of many. As KHJ (930 AM) management understood in the early days of Boss Radio top-40, it is better to run fewer ads and charge more, than to run more ads and discount too much.

But getting back to the point: if you didn’t already listen to the stations you listen to, would you even know about them? What they play? The personalities? The hosts on talk stations? Of course not. Radio has done a terrible job of promoting itself, and it has only gotten worse under the large corporate ownership model that began years ago.

Ironically, it is the small stations across the country that still do it right. The large corporate owners seem to have forgotten what marketing is all about. And having a nationwide contest with a key word of the day to enter on a website is notgoing to change things. It’s dull, and it doesn’t bring in new listeners. For me, competing against listeners from 700 stations around the country is a turn-off.

So will radio fix this? I doubt it. At least not until the big corporate clusters are broken up. It doesn’t matter what content you have if no one knows it’s there.

Reality Radio

If you’ve ever watched “reality TV” you know that the word “reality” is more of a joke than anything else. The same goes “Ryan’s Roses” that still runs on the KIIS-FM morning Ryan Seacrest program in spite of it being exposed as a fraud right here at least twice. Perhaps like the television reality programs, it’s “just entertainment,” so no one really cares. But I think on the radio, many people actually believe it's happening.

I’ve covered this before: it is absolutely, totally, 100% illegal to record or air a telephone conversation without the permission of all involved. So when you hear people caught in a love triangle fighting on the air, you’re hearing a script read by actors. There is nothing real about Ryan’s Roses; if there was, the station would lose its license and the owner would have to pay a huge fine.

There are services that provide the scripts and actors for stati...

Homework assignment: A great commentary by Ken Levine "RIP Terrestrial Radio.....and good riddance"

Radio Waves: August 26, 2022

Naming a great format ... poorly

What do you do when you have critical acclaim, devoted listeners, a lousy signal and little marketing? You change your name, from a rather forgettable “Independent 88.5 FM” to the even more forgettable “88.5 FM, The SoCal Sound.”.

OK, I am teasing ... a bit. But I am old school – I like call letters, or variations of call letters. KHJ? KEZY? Ten-Q? KIIS-FM? K-WEST? KMET? KFI? KRLA? KOST 103? K-Earth? KROQ? Love them all.

The Sound? Alt 98.7? Tolerated because the formats were/are great. Very listenable. And The Sound at least tried to match the name to the calls, though KSWD would hardly make someone think of “the sound,” so maybe they could have tried just a little bit harder.

My FM? Hate it ... hate it. The format just can’t make up for such a lame name, which has nothing to do with the KBIG call letters. I have a similar issue with Jack-FM. And of course now there is the new “88.5 FM, The SoCal Sound.” It just doesn’t work for me.

What’s my problem with it? No passion. Sounds weird. Too long. And yet, they actually have great call letters, though it is complicated with a two-station simulcast that tries to increase signal coverage. Personally, I’d just use KCSN (the simulcast station from Saddleback college, KSBR, is “OK” but definitely not as strong a brand. Maybe combine the two with the K and S that appear in both ad call it KS88, The SoCal Sound.” Much better overall, at least in my opinion. Less clutter.

By now you’re asking – why do I like real call letters? Simple ... like sports franchises, they belong to the city in which they live. There’s only one Dodgers. One Lakers. One KHJ. And one KIIS-FM. On the other hand, you can have an “alt” or a “my” in every city. And there are.

But this is not meant to take away from the 88.5 format – it’s an excellent adult album alternative (AAA) format that, like much of commercial LA radio skews too much into the oldies, but is immensely satisfying and can’t be found locally anywhere else on the dial. In spite of the name, go listen, either over the air, via an app, or at the website https://www.885fm.org. You’ll be glad you did.

Just ignore the name. Or maybe just tolerate it.

Wake-Up Call

I did an early semester lesson at San Pedro High recently, using sone geometry and statistics classes to demonstrate how surveys work and how data can be collected. Off the cuff, I asked six classes of students, all in grades 10 through 12, to write down their favorite radio station or favorite way to hear music.

There were 112 responses. Want to know how many radio stations were chosen? Four, with a total of six votes: KIIS-FM (102.7) garnered three, with KRRL (Real 92.3 FM), KKLA (99.5 FM), and K-Jazz (88.1 FM) earning one vote each.

On the other hand, 66 choose Spotify, 29 chose Apple Music, and the remaining votes were split among other online streaming services or apps.

That’s frightening, if you are a station owner or manager. Less than four percent of those surveyed chose a radio station as their favorite way to listen to music. In years past it would have been closer to 90.

But because the question regarded their “favorite” way to listen to music, a followup question became necessary to truly determine of their is an issue. That question is: What percentage of your music listening time is spent on streaming (Spotify, Apple, YouTube, etc), what percent on SiriusXM, and what percent on AM or FM radio? Certainly streaming may be big as a first choice, but traditional radio has to be a close second, right?

Um ... no. Just slightly more than 21 percent of the students surveyed listen to radio at all, and, and of those, over half said they listen to radio only about 10% of the time. On the other hand, fewer than 2.6 percent said that of streaming services, and fully 36 percent of respondents said they listen to streaming services at least 90% of the time.

I realize this is in no way a scientific, peer-reviewed, fully vetted survey using random sampling. But it surprised me, coming from a generation that grew up with the radio as one of our closest friends. Whether it was the top-40 days listening to Robert W. Morgan, Charlie Tuna, or Bobby Ocean, or the later days of Shana, Rita Wilde, Joe Benson, Jeff Gonzer, Jim Ladd or even Dr. Demento, radio was such a huge part of my life that I cannot imagine life without it. Yet many teens do just fine without AM or FM.

The trick is: can it be reversed? I think so. But I think it’s going to come from the small-time owners. The idea is so simple even a child could figure it out: play what kids want to hear, cut the commercials down to make each spot worth more and not drive away listeners, and get into their lives through promotions, live broadcasts, s...

 Radio:  January 21, 2022

While most of the hosts — the non-students — of 22 West Media’s award-winning Mornings on the Beach, heard on 22 West Media (88.1 HD3 and 22westmedia.com) weekdays from 8-9 a.m., left the program in December, the search for replacements began slowly.

The program is produced on the campus of California State University, Long Beach, and apparently it’s hard to recruit students to host a program on a student-run radio station when said students are off for Winter Break, especially when the latest surge in covid cases has kept the campus closed down more than normal.

But station manager Danny Lemos told me that the search for radio’s next stars has begun in earnest. He calls it The Next Big Broadcast Star Search,” which will be conducted virtually. CSULB students  — applicants must be currently registered at the University — with a 'more than average” interest in radio and broadcasting are encouraged to apply through the 22 West Media web page.

Lemos says that sample audio or video files can be uploaded at the time of the application submission. “We are looking for students with a strong interest in broadcasting and a positive attitude to lead the show, learn radio skills, and have a ton of fun!” Questions about the process can be directed to [email protected].

The rest of the story

Last week’s tribute to former DJ Billy Pearl, who passed away two weeks ago, included a couple minor inaccuracies. As it turns out, Pearl was indeed hired by one programmer and fired by another, but it was Gary Cagle who hired and Charlie Van Dyke who fired. Insiders tell me that it was Pearl himself who brought his tenure to an end 

with a bad attitude … and not a change in station direction. Writing at http://kenlevine.blogspot.com, Pearl’s former college roommate Ken Levine said:

“Apparently he made his displeasure known inside the building to the point where he was let go after maybe one year.  And think about it, for a station to fire one of their absolute best and most popular performers, he must’ve driven them scooters.”

Doesn’t take away from his talent, but it does explain the short tenure at KHJ. And reminds us to appreciate our blessings.

Cornucopia of Radio History

I’ve mentioned MixCloud.Com before, a few times at least. Recently the postings are so superb that I have to mention it again.

MixCloud’s Retro Radio Joe (mixcloud.com/retroradiojoe) and Radio Maven 77 (mixcloud.com/rob-frankel) have both been posting material that is a virtual history of top-40, freeform FM and album oriented radio so varied, I honestly have no clue where the material came from. Recent additions include:

• Dusty Street on KROQ (106.7 FM) from 1984. This was still KROQ’s new wave infancy, as it was quickly becoming the place to find new music. Street is one of the originals, and this is a great listen.

• KKDJ’s (now KIIS, 102.7 FM) Rewind ’73 Year in Review with Charlie Tuna. I’ve heard this before, but it is still a great listen. Music and news of 1973, as Watergate and the end of the Vietnam War dominate the newscasts

• Dave Diamond on KBLA (formerly at 1500 AM) from 1965. KBLA was a creative force that had the talent and music … all out lacked was a signal and a budget to truly compete. Diamond is always amazing and this is him in a more relaxed post-KHJ vibe.

• Charlie Tuna on KHJ (930 AM) from 1972. Tuna is one of the best DJs ever, no matter the format. He did top-40, oldies, country, and more. Here he is in his early element, absolutely flawless.

• JJ Jackson from KLOS (95.5 FM) in 1978. Jackson was smooth, smart, and loved music. Here he is long before his MTV VJ gig, using the on-air style only he could do.

B. Mitchel Reed on KLOS from 1981. Reed is one of the early freeform DJs heard here playing album rock. 

Bob Crane on KNX (1070 AM) from 1964. Crane was immensely popular on the radio, with a friendly personality that served him well when he transitioned to television’s Hogan’s Heroes. Here is hosts one of the most popular morning shows ever heard on KNX.

There’s much, much more, including Jack Snyder, ...