Radio This Week Back Then #15: April 28-May 4
KACD/KBCD “Groove Radio” Los Angeles, KUBE and KPLZ-FM Seattle, KTFM San Antonio, KZFM “Hot Z95” and KQTX “Q105” Corpus Christi, KEYP "Y99" and KISX "Kiss 107.3" Tyler TX
What was on the radio this week…back then. If you enjoy these weekly audio rewinds, they take a lot of time to put together, so please do me a favor, subscribe, and share and pass it on. Thank you!
For any new subscribers, you can always find an updated index of the airchecks and the post there are included in via the Aircheck Index link on the front page.
This week:
Dance KACD 103.1/KBCD 103.1 “103.1 Groove Radio” Los Angeles, May 1 1997
Top 40 face-off: KUBE 93.3 vs KPLZ-FM 101.5 Seattle, May 1 1991
Dance top 40 KTFM 102.7 “Hot KTFM 103” San Antonio, May 2 1993
Top 40 face-off: KZFM 95.5 “Hot Z95” vs KQTX 105.5 “Q105” Corpus Christi, May 2 1993
Top 40 KISX 107.3 “All Hit Kiss 107.3” Tyler-Longview TX, April 30 1991 (plus bonus audio from its days as top 40 KEYP 99.3 “Y99”)
Aircheck: KACD 103.1/KBCD 103.1 “103.1 Groove Radio” Los Angeles, May 1 1997
If you are a lowly class A FM, it is hard to compete against full market signals in a sprawling market like Los Angeles. Over the years, many of the class A outlets in the L.A. market have combined to form co-channel simulcasts in order to expand reach. We visited the 107.1 trimulcast a few editions ago. Aside from the 107.1 signals, other combinations over the years have created simulcasts on 92.7, 93.5, 94.3, and 103.1.
For the 103.1 pair, KSRF Santa Monica and KOCM Newport Beach were each sold and combined under one owner in 1991 and began simulcasting each other as modern rock “Mars FM” in May 1991. On Monday September 14 1992, the pair flipped to smooth jazz “Jazz FM 103.1,” with the calls flipping to KAJZ/KBJZ a month later and then to KACD/KBCD June 1 1994. In April 1995, the KACD/KBCD twins flipped to hot AC “CD103.1.” In June 1996, KACD/KBCD flipped to dance “103.1 Groove Radio, LA and Orange County’s Only Pure Dance Station,” which is the era for this aircheck. In total, “Grove Radio” lasted for about 2 years. Nine format changes later (see the station profile below the audio), the 103.1 pair is currently Spanish-language Cumbia music as KDLD/KDLE “Viva 103.1”
This is a Thursday midday shift with DJ Holly Adams.
Olive/”You’re Not Alone” (Remix)
Legal ID: KACD 103.1 Santa Monica/KBCD 103.1 Newport Beach
White Town/”Your Woman”
Bob Marley & The Wailers/”Could You Be Loved”
Jamiroquai/”Virtual Insanity”
New Order/”Blue Monday”
Pulse/”The Lover That You Are”
Morcheeba/”Trigger Hippie”
Crystal Waters/”In De Ghetto”
Jocelyn Enriquez/”A Little Bit of Ecstasy”
Lipps, Inc./”Funkytown”
Profile
Face-Off: KUBE 93.3 Vs KPLZ-FM 101.5 Seattle, May 1 1991
There was something great about those 1980s era long running CHR battles. In Seattle, KUBE and KPLZ-FM became format rivals starting in 1983. In the mid-1990s, KUBE would shift to more dance and R&B product and KPLZ-FM would flip to hot AC “Star 101.5” in 1994. This week in 1991, they were both still mainstream top 40 outlets dueling it out, and we can hear how they both sounded on the same day back then.
These airchecks are from a midday Wednesday shift from both stations. Dick Orlando helms KUBE and Rick Hanson has the midday countdown on KPLZ-FM.
KUBE 93.3
The top 40 format dates back to St Patrick’s Day 1981, when then-KBLE-FM flipped to top 40 “New 93.” The KUBE calls came along the following year on April 2 1982. In the mid-1990s, it evolved to dance and rhythmic “Cube 93, Today’s Hit Music” and then further evolved to R&B. Today, the station is sports KJR-FM.
Riff/”My Heart Is Failing Me”
Mariah Carey/”Love Takes Time”
Legal ID: KUBE 93.3 Seattle
Hi-Five/”I Like The Way (The Kissing Game)”
Eddie Money/”Take Me Home Tonight”
Keedy/”Save Some Love”
Alias/”More Than Words Can Say”
Divinyls/”I Touch Myself”
Céline Dion/”Where Does My Heart Beat Now”
MC Hammer/”U Can’t Touch This”
Gloria Estefan/”Coming Out Of The Dark”
Michael Bolton/”Love Is A Wonderful Thing”
Profile
KPLZ-FM 101.5
This era of KPLZ-FM’s run as top 40 began in September 1983. KUBE and KPLZ-FM would face off for the next decade until KPLZ-FM shifted to hot AC “Star 101.5” in January 1994.
KPLZ-FM was in the news last month as it was one of two Seattle stations that flipped to country on the same date.
Whitney Houston/”Miracle”
Michael Bolton/”Love Is A Wonderful Thing”
Mr. Mister/”Broken Wings”
Legal ID: KPLZ 101.5 Seattle
Power Lunch Countdown
11) Luther Vandross/”Power Of Love / Love Power”
10) Tevin Campbell/”Round And Round”
9) The Rembrandts/”Just The Way It Is, Baby”
8) Mariah Carey/”I Don’t Wanna Cry”
7) Divinyls/”I Touch Myself”
6) Queensrÿche/”Silent Lucidity”
Profile
Aircheck: KTFM 102.7 “Hot 103 KTFM” San Antonio, May 2 1993
KTFM was the FM spin-off of legendary top 40 outlet KTSA 550. KTFM would continue the legacy when it moved from AC to the top 40 format in 1983 and evolved to a dance-driven CHR by the end of the 1980s. There was quite a top 40 format battle on the FM dial starting in 1984 with three combatants: KITY 92.9, KSAQ 96.1, and KTFM. In the end, KTFM outlived them all with KITY shifting to hot AC KSRR-FM “Star 93” in 1990 and KSAQ 96.1 to AOR “96 Rock” in 1991, filling the format hole after long-time rocker KISS-FM 99.5 flipped to oldies. KISS-FM would later reverse that and go back to rock and force KSAQ out of the format.
This KTFM weekend aircheck features DJ Donna Cruz.
Shai/”If I Ever Fall In Love”
Mary J Blige/”Love No Limit”
Big Mountain/”Touch My Light”
Boyz II Men/”Motownphilly”
After 7/”Truly Something Special”
Legal ID: KTFM 102.7 San Antonio
Snap!/”Rhythm Is A Dancer”
Jade/”Don’t Walk Away”
Dr. Alban/”It’s My Life”
R. Kelly & Public Announcement/”Dedicated”
Peabo Bryson & Regina Belle/”A Whole New World”
Profile
Face-Off: KZFM 95.5 “Hot Z95” Vs KQTX 105.5 “Q105” Corpus Christi, May 2 1993
The CHR format battle here wasn’t much of one. KZFM is a 100kw blowtorch and in the format since the 1970s—and still going strong today. On the other side of the face off circle, 3kw KQTX lasted all of about 8 months in the format.
KZFM 95.5 “Hot Z95”
The 95.5 signal was the first FM station to sign on the air in Corpus Christi as KCCT-FM, the sister to daytimer Spanish-language KCCT 1150, in June 1954. When KCCT signed off, the FM would stay with music and play-by-play from the minor league Corpus Christi Clippers baseball team. That did not last long: in the following month, the separate FM programming ended and the station also shutdown when the AM signed off each evening.
In 1957, the FM was spun off from the AM, and in June 1957, it became KDMC playing “fine music” (“light classics and classical music” and jazz). In 1960, it changed calls to KMFM running easy listening during the day and classical at night.
In financial trouble, in 1962, KMFM was handed over to community college Del Mar College and became a student-run operation, until August 1964, when it went silent after being sold. It returned to the air in December 1964 as KZFM, according to a Corpus Christi Times article, with “‘adult’ music, news, and ‘interesting short features.’”
On the 4th of July 1970, KZFM flipped from “easy rock” to AOR. It would move to top 40 in the late 1970s, and soon overtake top 40 KEYS 1440 as the format leader. KZFM started using the “Z95” branding in February 1983. With the 1990s, it shifted to a dance and rhythmic lean as “Hot Z95,” and has maintained that for more than 30 years now.
Whitney Houston/”I Have Nothing”
Bad Boys Blue/”I Totally Miss You”
Color Me Badd/”I Wanna Sex You Up”
Boyz II Men/”End Of The Road”
AB Logic/”Get Up (Move Boy Move)
Jade/”Don’t Walk Away”
Peabo Bryson & Regina Belle/”A Whole New World”
Snow/”Informer”
PM Dawn/”Looking Through Patient Eyes”
SWV/”Weak”
UB40/”Red Red Wine”
Legal ID: KZFM 95.5 Corpus Christi
Naughty By Nature/”Hip Hop Hooray”
Profile
KQTX 105.5 “Q105”
It seems like most markets have at least one “cursed” signal that keeps flipping formats or has other problems. In 44 years on the air, the 105.5 signal in Corpus Christi has had — by my count — 16 formats, making for a format change every 2.75 years on average. And given it’s a small signal in a sub-top 100 market without much in the way of history documented, I may have missed some changes pulling from my old notes of running 100000watts.com back in the day combined with hunting through industry rags and local newspaper articles. So, I’m not even sure if I have its complete history…but it is far more complete than any other on-line site or archive I could find.
The station signed on in December 1979 as KITE. In April 1982, it flipped from beautiful music to top 40 “the Kite” and had a pretty decent and fondly remembered run. In the summer of 1987, it rebranded as “Power 105” and would take on the KJKC call letters. And then, starting in 1990, all Hell broke loose…
In the spring of 1990, the top 40 was relaunched yet again as KISQ “105.5 Kiss FM.” It didn’t go so well as the July 13 1990 edition of Radio & Records had this flash in its “Street Talk” section:
“The entire airstaff — including PD Tod Tucker and morning man Steve Barnes — of CHR KISQ/Corpus Christi, TX has walked out over philosophical differences with Chitex Communications owner Dan Donovan. ST hears the new KISQ OM/PD is Rick Davis, who exited the station only two short weeks ago.”
The following month, August 1990, KISQ flipped to running the Satellite Music Network (SMN)’s Pure Gold 1950s-1970s oldies format. That lasted a few months as KISQ would then flip to SMN’s Classic Rock satellite format in February 1991 as “Classic Rock 105” and then picking up the KCGR calls. Three format changes in one year…
KCGR would flip satellite feeds…switching to Unistar’s Adult Rock & Roll format in January 1992.
In October 1992, classic rock KCGR flipped back to top 40 as “Q105” and picked up the KQTX calls on November 1 1992. That finally gets us to this aircheck of that format on May 1 1993, but despite only being 6 months old at the time of the aircheck, KQTX was about a month away from its next format as it flipped to the satellite CD Country format from Jones Radio Networks in June 1993. Six more format changes, listed in the station profile below, is how you get from 1993 to its present day format as rhythmic top 40 KLHB “Wild 105.5.”
“Jeff Spicoli” is the DJ for this Sunday night aircheck of Q105. I guess naming yourself after a 1980s movie character perhaps explains the surprising amount of 1980s retro material on this 90 minute cassette I recorded back then.
In the 16 weeks or so of this exercise of digitzing bunches of cassettes in boxes in my closet, I have become reacquainted with some pretty terrible songs I had long forgotten — or repressed. As I’ve said before in several previous editions, the pop music catalog of the early 1990s was pretty awful and the top 40 format struggled nationally — the number of commercial top 40 outlets in the US dropped by half between 1990 (892 outlets) and 1994 (492 outlets, based on counts from digging out my old M Street Journal yearly directories I used to contribute to back then). Q105 may have found the worst 1990s song yet — Juicemaster’s “Jan’s Theme.” A hip hop mash up of “The Brady Bunch” theme is just as terrible as you think it would be…
Snow/”Informer”
Legal ID: KQTX 105.5 Portland TX-Corpus Christi
Go West/”Faithful” (Remix)
Snap!/”Rhythm Is A Dancer”
Juicemaster/”Jan’s Theme (The Brady Bunch Song)”
Stereo MCs/”Connected”
PM Dawn/”Set Adrift On Memory Bliss”
REM/”The One I Love”
DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince/”Ring My Bell”
En Vogue/”My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It)”
Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg/”Nuthin’ But A “G” Thang”
Lisa Lisa & The Cult Jam/”Head To Toe”
Wang Chung/”Everybody Have Fun Tonight”
Camouflage/”The Great Commandment”
Baltimora/”Tarzan Boy”
Regina/”Baby Love”
Spin Doctors/”Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong”
Kajagoogoo/”Too Shy”
10,000 Maniacs/”Candy Everybody Wants”
Legal ID: KQTX 105.5 Portland TX-Corpus Christi
Jon Secada/”Just Another Day”
Def Leppard/”Tonight”
Van Halen/”I’ll Wait”
Whitney Houston/”I Have Nothing”
A Flock Of Seagulls/”I Ran”
Aerosmith/”Livin’ On The Edge”
Sunscreem/”Love U More”
Profile
Aircheck: KISX 107.3 “All Hit Kiss 107.3” Tyler/Longview TX, April 30 1991
KISX’s history traces back to July 8 1982, when it signed on the air as a class A on 99.3 as AC KFML. It changed calls to KEYP-FM on January 9 1984 and flipped to top 40 “Y99” later that year.
I do not have much audio of the old KEYP other than driving down Interstate 20 over the Memorial Day weekend in 1988 on a road trip. So, here is that bonus audio of how Y99 sounded then:
When the FCC created the brand new C2 class (FM stations up to 492’ 50kw or equivalent), KEYP-FM was one of the early stations to get a permit for an upgrade — from 99.3A to 107.3C2. The calls were changed from KEYP-FM to KISX on November 13 1988, but the actual move to 107.3 did not occur until February 21 1990 when the stronger 107.3 facility signed on the air as classic hits “Classic Hits Kiss 107.”
FCC ownership rules at the time limited owners to only 1 AM and 1 FM in a market. To get around that, lease and time brokerage arrangements began popping up. In December 1991, Broadcasters Unlimited, the owners of country KNUE 101.5 Tyler took over the programming of KISX and flipped it to top 40 “All Hit Kiss 107.3,” which is the era this aircheck comes from (a reference to the LMA is in this aircheck audio).
Like many CHRs at the time, KISX would shift to hot AC “Mix 107.3” in 1992. It would go on to being back the “Kiss” brand twice after that (see the station profile below).
Rick Evans and Jesse St James are the DJs on this aircheck.
Keedy/”Save Some Love”
Amy Grant/”Baby, Baby”
Cheap Trick/”The Flame”
Londonbeat/”I’ve Been Thinking About You”
Michael Bolton/”Love Is A Wonderful Thing”
Legal ID: KISX 107.3 Whitehouse-Tyler-Longview
T’Pau/”Heart And Soul”
The Triplets/”You Don’t Have To Go Home Tonight”
Surface/”The First Time”
INXS/”Bitter Tears”
Stevie B/”Because I Love You (The Postman Song)”
Céline Dion/”(If There Was) Any Other Way”
Extreme/”More Than Words”
Profile
As always, the logos and other intellectual property belong to the stations. The recordings were made from over the air broadcasts.