Everything about Kroq-fm totally explained
KROQ-FM is a commercial
radio station located in
Los Angeles, California, broadcasting on 106.7
FM to the
greater Los Angeles area.
KROQ-FM airs a
modern rock music format branded as "106.7 K-Rock". The
call sign is pronounced "kay rock."
History
KPPC
Originally, 106.7 FM was
KPPC-FM, owned by the Pasadena Presbyterian Church. They broadcast religious programming with a co-owned AM station. As the church encountered difficulties operating the stations, they sold the two stations to an outside company, Crosby-Avery Broadcasting, with the church retaining the right to broadcast its services over both stations. Until 1969, the station still broadcasted from the basement of the church.
In 1967,
Tom and
Raechel Donahue created a
freeform progressive rock format at co-owned
KMPX in
San Francisco. KMPX became a big success, and in 1968, the Donahues were sent to Pasadena to introduce the format to the ailing KPPC-FM.
The following year, after a few bounced paychecks, dress code regulations and other rules changes, The Donahues and the disc jockeys at both KMPX and KPPC walked out on the stations in what was called by some at the time as "The Great Hippie Strike." The former KMPX and KPPC staffers were later hired at
Metromedia-owned
KSAN in San Francisco and
KMET in Los Angeles. KPPC hired new staffers and kept the freeform format, though they floundered for several years following the strike. In 1969, the two stations were sold to the National Science Network.
In April 1970, the studios were moved out of the church basement. In September of that year, the FM transmitter was moved to Flint Peak, a mountaintop adjacent to Pasadena, and the station's power was significantly upgraded.
KROQ-AM and KROQ-FM
Country music station
KBBQ (1500
AM) in Burbank became KROQ in September 1972, changing its format to
Top-40 and hiring established disc jockeys from other stations
1
. The new KROQ called itself the "ROQ of Los Angeles". In 1973 KROQ's owners bought the struggling KPPC-FM from National Science Network, which was forced by the
FCC to sell their stations due to compliance issues KROQ-FM and hired
Shadoe Stevens to create a new rock format described as high energy "all-cutting-edge-rock-all-the-time" and began simulcasting as "The ROQs of L.A.: Mother Rock!" (KPPC (AM) was sold to Universal Broadcasting, and remained on the air with its limited-schedule of Wednesday evening and Sunday operation until subsequent owners took the station — by then, KBLV — off the air permanently in 1996.)
The two stations were wildly successful initially with the new format, but poor money management by the general managers resulted in more bounced paychecks, and in 1974, Shadoe quit and the entire staff walked out, shutting the stations down. In 1976, the
FCC ordered KROQ to return to the airwaves or surrender the stations' licenses. With barebones equipment, KROQ returned to the airwaves, broadcasting initially from the transmitter location, followed by a penthouse suite in the Pasadena
Hilton Hotel, then across the street from the Hilton (117 S. Los Robles). At that time,
Shadoe Stevens was re-hired as a programming consultant and air personality with others like Los Angeles radio legends "The Obscene" Steven Clean and Frazer Smith. At this time
Rodney Bingenheimer also joined the station introducing many new and local bands, including
The Sex Pistols,
The Ramones and
The Runaways on his Sunday night show.
The management of KROQ once again had problems maintaining payroll, and the staffers again quit, taking all of the station's records with them. Bingenheimer was the only one who stayed. KROQ scrambled to find new air personalities. One of the new on-air talents was Jed Gould, aka
Jed the Fish, who is still with the station. Around this time, the owners pared down to one station when they sold the weak-signalled KROQ-AM, which switched to an ethnic format briefly, then went off the air in 1986 when the new owners lost their lease on the property where the transmitting towers were located.
By 1978,
new wave and
punk rock were becoming increasingly popular, and KROQ started adding more of it to their freeform format. Shadoe Stevens once again left the station and
Rick Carroll took over as Program director in late 1979 and took the new music and combined it with a
Top 40 formatic structure. Subsequently, KROQ became an even greater success. The "Rock of the Eighties" was born.
The station still mixed the new music of the
Talking Heads and
Blondie with established artists such as
The Rolling Stones,
AC/DC and
Lynyrd Skynyrd, but by 1982, the station was full-fledged
modern rock.
The station's proximity to
Hollywood and the
Los Angeles punk rock scene gave it a unique place in the development of the
new wave and
alternative rock genres, and KROQ quickly became one of the most influential radio stations in broadcast history, particularly when Carroll, as a consultant, took the "Rock of the 80s" format to other stations, including
91X in
San Diego and
The Quake in
San Francisco.
Over the years, KROQ had a unique place in the development of popular music, promoting groups as diverse as the
The Cure,
Linkin Park,
Limp Bizkit,
Coldplay,
Duran Duran,
Franz Ferdinand,
Nirvana and
The Killers.
In 1986, KROQ was purchased at a then record $45 million by Infinity Broadcasting, which merged with
CBS in 1997, and is now owned by
CBS Radio.
KROQ today
Originally located at 117 S. Los Robles Avenue in
Pasadena, California, the station moved to 3500 W. Olive Avenue in
Burbank, California in 1987 as part of the purchase agreement and to be closer to the music industry. In 2002, the station was moved to a facility at 5901 Venice Blvd. in
Los Angeles, California to consolidate operations with
Jack-FM.
Unlike most other (Class B, but with grandfathered greater than B facilities) FM stations in Los Angeles whose transmitters are atop
Mount Wilson, KROQ's (Class B) transmitter is located on Tongva Peak (which replaced Flint Peak in
Glendale at an altitude of 2500 ft), which results in somewhat weaker signal coverage.
KROQ-HD
In 2004, KROQ began broadcasting in
HD Radio for a higher quality broadcast. On February 20th, 2006, KROQ added streaming music from the radio station to their website.
KROQ-HD2
On
June 9,
2006, KROQ launched an HD sub-carrier, KROQ HD Channel 2, which now replicates the original Roq of the Eighties format. This somewhat justified the dropping of the long-running Flashback Lunch, until then nearly the sole remnant of the new wave and '90s modern rock days.
Personalities
The early success of the radio station can be attributed to the station's almost anarchic beginnings, playing music that wasn't being aired anywhere else. The personalities and their willingness to explore and take risks led to the station's success among the young and burgeoning punk and new wave scene of the late-1970s and early-1980s.
Rodney on the Roq was the original new music guru, while
Richard Blade, Freddy Snakeskin, Dusty Street and
Jed the Fish championed the burgeoning UK music scene. The promotion of the
Poorman from local surf reporter to full-time air personality reflected KROQ's tradition of occasionally giving airshifts to fans of the radio station. The music and a freewheeling approach appealed to listeners dissatisfied with more traditional local rock stations
KMET or
KLOS and Top-40 pop stations like
KIIS-FM. Thus the need for the term "alternative."
Awards
In 2007, the station was nominated for the top 25 markets Alternative station of the year award by
Radio & Records magazine.
Other nominees included
WBCN in Boston, Massachusetts,
KTBZ-FM in Houston, Texas,
KITS, in San Francisco,
KNDD in Seattle, Washington, and
WWDC in Washington, DC.
Present
Past
Thomas "Guide" Gaither Was broadcasting his late night rock show almost every night following love-line and could also be heard on the weekends during the afternoon from 1992 - 1996. Thomas was influenced by the afterhours house scene in Los Angeles and would sometimes bring its style in to the studio and on to the air. Thomas left The World Famous Kroq in May of 1996 and would go on to produce small independent films before leaving the industry in 1997. (1992-1996)
Shadoe Stevens was the first personality and founding program director (1973-1980)
Michael Ritto aka "Mike Raphone" (1978-1979) Mid-day host on AM and FM, "The KROQ Lunch Special" program; guests included The Police, Oingo Boingo, The Tubes, Frank Zappa. Produced Rodney’s Sunday Night Show, "Rodney on the Roq", and also worked as production director (wrote and produced the commercials and many of the station ID’s)
Lee Albert provided legal perspective on "Loveline" (1986-1989)
Roberto Angotti host of Reggae Revolution (1989)
Raymond Banister aka Raymondo (1980-2000, but left his airshift in the mid-1990s) He is now at Magic 99.1 KTMG in Arizona. (External Link)
Dave Baxter aka Big Dave the KROQ Van Driver (1989-1993)
Richard Blade (1982-2000)
Jack Blades (Weekends)
Adam Carolla Loveline, "Mr Birchum" on the morning show (1995-2005)
Christy Carter (1996 - 2001)
Carson Daly (1996)
Dr. Demento (1970-71)
Gia DeSantis (1994-1995)
Raechel Donahue (1984-86)
Eddie X (1985)
Mike Evans (1980-82, 1984-89)
Sam Freeze (1979-85)
John Frost (1987-99)
Don Fujiyama "Don Kohihuluhulu" also drove van before Dave (1984-1989)
Ken Fusion (Ken Schneider) (1982-90)
Mark Goodman (1990s)
Mike Halloran (mid-1980s)
Tami Heide (1991-2004)
J. J. Jackson (1987)
Wayne Jobson "Native Wayne" host of Reggae Revolution (mid-1990s)
Christopher "Van" Johnson (1986-91)
Brent Kahlen (1978)
Kennedy (1991-92)
Jimmy Kimmel "Jimmy the Sports Guy" on the morning show (1994-99)
Frank Martin was Director of Engineering and on air as "Jim Panzee" as a fill in personality and "Johnny Flannelmouth" on "Newsrag" (1980-1984)
Lewis Largent became Music Director (1986-93)
John Logic (1982-86)
Alan K.Lohr -(1979-81)= Hosted the "International Experience" an Import show with Guests such as Genesis, Robert Fripp and Oingo Boingo. Also Hosted "Rock & Roll Profile" Guests included; Journey, Blue Oyster Cult, Peter Gabriel, The Babys (John Waite) and local musicians in Los Angeles & Orange County. Only Show of it's kind on Los Angeles Radio at that time.
Katy Manor (1983-89)
"Spacin'" Scott Mason (1979-2000), now Director or Engineering; West Coast at CBS Radio
Mr. Hand (1991)
Cindy Paulos (1979)
Jimmy Rabbit AKA Eddy Payne (1972-73, 1976-78)
Riki Rachtman Loveline (1993-96)
Sam Riddle (1970s)
Robert Roll "Three Guys from Hollywood" "NEWSRAG" (External Link) (1981-85)
Shana (1980)
Lee Baby Sims (1960s/1970s)
China Smith (1973-74)
Frazer Smith (1976-80)
Matt "Money" Smith "KROQ Sports Guy" (1994-2005)
Freddy Snakeskin (1980-90, 1992-94)
Tazy Phyllipz (1993-1995) (Promotions Asst. & occasional "Man On The Street" for K&B when Frank Murphy was the producer).
"The Obscene" Steven Clean (1976-1980)
Sly Stone (1970s)
Dusty Street (1979-86, 1987-89)
Swedish Egil (Egil Aalvik) (1983-90)
Jim Trenton ("The Poorman") (1982-93)
Gia DeSantis (1993-1995) (Was also host of "Request Video")
"Insane" Darryl Wayne (Darryl Wayne Wampler) (1976-81)
Pat Welsh also General Manager (1979-84)
Denise Westwood (1980-82)
Ian Whitcomb (Weekends - early 1980s)
April Whitney (1978-87, 1990-94)
Larry Woodside (1980-81)
Bobby Logan (1980-81) (wrote, performed comedy for Larry Woodside's morning show)
Michael Dare (1981-85)
The Young Marquis and Stanley (1977-83) http://theyoungmarquis.com (External Link)
Zeke Piestrup | Zeke (??-??)
Mark Silverman (1986-90) Did prank calls and impersonations on the Richard and Poorman Morning Drive show.
Cassandra Peterson "Elvira Mistress of the KROQ" (1982-83)
Artie "The Pain" Garcia (The Van Man)(2006)
Jack Koff (At Night)
Concerts and communities
KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas, first aired in December 1990
Top 106.7 Countdowns, first aired in December 1980 - on New Year's Eve every year, they do top 106.7 songs for the year
The Monsters of KROQ, June 18th, 1988 KROQ sponsored the 101st and final show of Depeche Mode's Music for the Masses Tour, which also included Wire, Thomas Dolby and OMD. The show sold out, with 80,000 people filling the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
KROQ Weenie Roast, first aired in June 1993
KROQ LA Invasion, first aired in August 2001
KROQ-related albums
Rodney on the ROQ, Vol. 1 a classic punk compilation from KROQ's Rodney Bingenheimer.
Rodney on the ROQ, Vol. 2 more good punk from KROQ's Rodney Bingenheimer.
Rodney on the ROQ, Vol. 3 even more punk from KROQ's Rodney Bingenheimer.
2005 KROQ New Music, a collection of new singles that were premiered in 2004.
2003 KROQ New Music, a collection of new singles that were premiered in 2002.
At KROQ, a CD-single by Morrissey.
On KROQ's Loveline, CD by Hagfish
The Best of KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas, a compilation of concerts recorded at the Acoustic Christmas.
Kevin & Bean's Super Christmas (2006)
Kevin & Bean's Christmastime In The 909 (2004)
(2003)
(2002)
(2001)
(2000)
(1999)
1998 KROQ New Music CD (1998)
(1998)
(1997)
(1996)
(1995)
(1994)
(1993)
(1992)
(1991)
(1990)
Kroqing in Pasadena, a single from XTC (198?)
Richard Blade's Flashback Favorites (1993)
Richard Blade's Flashback Favorites, Vol. 2 (1994)
Richard Blade's Flashback Favorites, Vol. 3 (1994)
Richard Blade's Flashback Favorites, Vol. 4 (1994)
Richard Blade's Flashback Favorites, Vol. 5 (1994)
Richard Blade's Flashback Favorites, Vol. 6 (1994)Further Information
Get more info on 'Kroq-fm'.
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