Radio This Week Back Then #41: October 27-November 2
KHKS "106.1 Kiss FM" D/FW's first day, as well as its former format, smooth jazz KOAI relocated to KCDU 107.5. Austin gets a new FM - modern rock KNNC 107.7. Plus, WYSP Philly and Andre Gardner.
What was on the radio this week…back then. This is a weekly visit of radio audio from this week in past years for those that enjoy radio history, those working in radio looking for promotional ideas, or stations looking to re-find lost audio of their heritage. 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! A searchable and sortable index of all the audio is located on the Aircheck Index page.
This time of year used to be popular for format changes. For the third straight week, we have several first days of new D/FW stations. The two this week revolve around smooth jazz KOAI 106.1 flipping to CHR KHKS and the KOAI intellectual property moving the following day to then rock AC KCDU 107.5. Back in 1991, Austin gained a new commercial FM when the 107.7 signal fired up the first time to launch modern rock KNNC “107.7 K-Nac.” Also in the mix is Philly’s classic rock WYSP 94.1; I included that since it features long-time Philly DJ Andre Gardner, who just exited the airwaves two weeks ago after 22 years on cross-town WMGK 102.9.
D/FW | first day of CHR KHKS 106.1 “106.1 Kiss FM” and first day of relocated smooth jazz KOAI on KCDU 107.5
Philadelphia | classic rock WYSP 94.1
Austin | first day of modern rock KNNC 107.7 “107.7 K-Nac”
Happy reading and listening.
Related: Dallas/Fort Worth, 106.1 Dallas/Fort Worth
The “Kiss” brand lived on 106.1 for the first time between September 1984 and September 1987 under the KTKS calls. When it signed on it, it had expected to take on top 40 KAFM 92.5 “92 1/2 KAFM,” but found itself instead in a three-way battle as KEGL 97.1 shifted the same week from very rock-leaning “Eagle 97” to a rebranded -broader, but still top 40/rock - “All Hit 97.1 KEGL, the Eagle.”
In early 1986, KAFM bowed out — becoming top 40 KZPW “Z92.5” (and then KZPS after KZEW 97.9 objected to the calls), but KZPS was a train wreck — from top 40 to adult top 40 to AC/jazz to classic hits/jazz by the fall. Within the CHR realm, KEGL and KTKS competed against each other for about half a year before contemporary Christian KLTY 94.9 flipped to top 40 KHYI “Y95.” This time, it was KTKS that was forced out.
In the summer of 1987, KTKS shifted to AC “Kiss 106FM.” Musically, it was on par with AC KVIL 103.7, but lacking any of KVIL’s “stationality.” In August, the AC format was brightened up a little and a with a rebrand as “106.1 Kiss FM, the Fresh One, the Rhythm of the ‘80s” and the return to the original jingle package it used 1984-1986.
Pretty much every site that has 106.1’s history leaves out the AC part. It may be since KTKS often denied anything had changed and that’s what was recorded in the trades. For example, from the 20 June 1987 edition of Billboard:
Out in Dallas, KTKS PD Kevin Metheny complains of "55 journalists calling out of the woodwork" to sound out format change rumors. The top 40 PD denies rumors of an AC move and says any changes reflect longtime plans to reposition the outlet against its two top 40 competitors.
Here is a composite of audio I recorded over that summer and you can be the judge if KTKS was still running anything remotely to a CHR format. The first half (0:00 through 2:37) is the “not too hard, not too light” “Kiss 106FM” from July-August and the August-September bright AC adjustment begins at the 2:37 mark.
KTKS finally tossed in the towel and jumped on the new age/new AC format (later referred to as “smooth jazz”) that was becoming all the rage across the country at the end of September when it became KOAI “106.1 the Oasis.” The new age format at this time was largely all instrumentals — sort of a refreshed, yuppie (how’s that for ‘80s lingo?) take on a beautiful music station. As KOAI, the legal ID was modified from Denton-Dallas-Fort Worth to add wealthy enclave Highland Park into the city list to sort of reenforce the “upwardly mobile” target audience. As a 17 year old, it didn’t do too much for me, but I did dig some of those top of the hour jingles, particularly the Shirley Bassey 1960s James Bond-esque sounding ones. Who can forget the weird, non-sensical vignettes that sometimes went along with them? So, a little bonus audio of that imaging…
Fast forward five years to 1992 and D/FW was without a mainstream top 40 outlet. In the summer of 1992, top 40 KEGL relaunched and returned to its traditional top 40/rock roots — read and hear the relaunch here. In the process, they let go the air staff, including long-time KEGL DJ Kidd Kraddick. Filling the top 40 void, KOAI dropped the smooth jazz “106.1 the Oasis” format and flipped to top 40 KHKS “106.1 Kiss FM” on Sunday, 1 November 1992. The KOAI intellectual property was immediately picked up by cross-town rock AC KCDU 107.5 (see further below).
Unlike KTKS, this “Kiss” was a winner. KHKS would add Kraddick in mornings and the station climbed to the top of the ratings. KHKS has enjoyed a long successful run ever since.
This audio is from the morning of the first day of KHKS. Pop songs that are now over 30 years old tend to be property of AC and classic hits outlets these days, so old CHR airchecks can often sound “soft” in that lens. In this case, KHKS launched heavily day-parted — fairly adult leaning during the day and teen-oriented in the evenings. As well, the top 40 format in the early 1990s was going through a bad spell — not a lot great music product and many station defections to hot AC.
Related: Dallas/Fort Worth, 107.5 Dallas/Fort Worth
Over the summer, I put up the audio of the beginning days of rock AC KCDU “CD107.5” at the beginning of July 1991. As noted in that newsletter, KCDU did not make it 18 months as smooth jazz KOAI’s flip to top 40 KHKS was a golden opportunity to take on the KOAI intellectual property, a higher rated station than KCDU was.
This audio is from its first day, Monday, 2 November 1992, a day after 106.1 flipped from KOAI to KHKS. On this date, the format and brand started on 107.5 as “Smooth Jazz 107.5 the Oasis.” The calls are still KCDU on this aircheck as the KOAI call sign change occurred several days later on the 6th.
No song log here…instrumental smooth jazz is not my jam so all the songs are unfamiliar to me and apps like Shazam are not very robust with identifying some of these songs…
Presently, 107.5 is the home to regional Mexican KMVK “La Grande 107.5.”
For the last 13 years, 94.1 in Philly has been home to sports WIP-FM. Sports talk has been pretty good for it — in the new October 2024 Nielsen monthly PPM ratings released a few days ago, WIP-FM had the best rating ever for the 94.1 facility.
For the four decades prior to WIP-FM, the station was WYSP and outside a couple of years, for most of its time with those calls, it ran some variant of rock. WYSP shifted to classic rock in 1986 and ran with that until the mid-1990s, when it returned to rock.
This aircheck comes from that classic rock era. The aircheck has a couple of Philly radio institutions on it. Most of the aircheck is long-time Philly DJ Andre Gardner, who just departed classic rock WMGK 102.9 two weeks ago after 22 years on the air there. (Gardner worked a little bit at the previously mentioned KEGL D/FW before returning to Philly). The aircheck also features the beginning of late night DJ Robin Lee’s shift; Lee had over 30 years in the radio business before retiring.
This aircheck marks the first day the 107.7 facility signed on the air in the Austin market. It signed on as KNNC “107.7 K-Nac,” a 6 kw class A rimshot from the north (it’s now a class C3 rimshot presently). KNNC was Austin’s first commercial modern rock outlet. It got a competitor later when the former KGID-FM 101.7 Giddings re-engineered from a class A to a class C1 on 101.5 to move into the market as modern rock KROX “101X.” The two fought it out until KNNC flipped to classic hits KAHK “the Hawk.” Presently, it is Spanish AC KLJA “Amor 107.7.”
On its first day, Thursday 31 October 1991, the local Austin American-Statesman previewed the new KNNC:
A new, alternative rock radio station debuts in the Austin market today. KNNC-FM is bringing the sounds of Depeche Mode, the Talking Heads, U2, the Cure, REM and other bands popular with the college crowd to 107.7 FM.
The station, to be called "Kay-knack," will have "a kind of pop/AOR (album-oriented rock) hybrid feel," said Richard Rees, general manager. "We'll play a lot of up-and-coming bands, bands that have sold well here or done well in concert but aren't getting any airplay — bands like Jane's Addiction, Big Audio Dynamite, Siouxsie and the Banshees."
While the station will provide a musical alternative, it will not be the same alternative as “adult alternative" KGSR-FM [107.1]. "If anything, we'll complement each other," Rees said, "but there will be very limited cross-over." Both stations might play Suzanne Vega and Indigo Girls, Rees said, but "we will not be acoustic-sounding like KGSR. We're an alternative rock format, but not adult alternative. We'll be more commercial than a college station, but will play a lot of the same songs. We're really going after the college audience, and the young professionals.
"This is a niche format," Rees said. "We're not looking to be No. 1. We play a specific kind of music, and a specific kind of audience will seek us out and stay with us."
Rees said he expects the station to be profitable, even without drawing huge numbers of listeners, by keeping the operation lean. He was formerly successful with the same format in Salt Lake City, he said.
The format will be fine-tuned to fit the Austin market, Rees said. "We want to have a local feel. We want to get involved in the local scene and play local artists. Nobody should expect a lot right out front. We need a better feel of what is a very progressive local scene." The local connection will be fostered by hiring local disc jockeys - including Jay Michaels, formerly of [top 40] KHFI-FM; Ray Saggern, a DJ at the Back Room; and Wammo, a local street DJ, - and by listening to listeners, Rees said. "We have to feel our way into it. We're starting off with what we know best. As the market dictates, we'll react to it."
The studios and transmitter of the Class A, 6,000-watt station are in Georgetown. Rees expects the signal to fade in some parts of town, but predicts general coverage of the Austin area.
The launch of KNNC gave Austin four commercial FMs playing some form of rock — long-time rocker KLBJ-FM 93.7 “FM94,” classic rock-leaning KPEZ 102.3 “Z102,” AAA KGSR 107.7, and KNNC. The 22 November 1991 Radio & Records profiled them and put together sample hours of the four.
As always, the logos and other intellectual property belong to the stations. The recordings were made from over the air broadcasts.