Tag Archives: KZAM



history radio

ex- KOL/KAYO DJ checks in…

2011/03/08 – 8:09 pm

Dear Jason:

I just discovered your amazing Website (I’m a slow learner and, as you will soon see, a bit too old to “surf” at the beach or on the Internet)!

My name is Martinn Mandles. I was born and raised in Tacoma, where I graduated from Stadium High School in 1958. My “Top-40 Radio Days” in Seattle were during an extended hiatus between my junior and senior years at Stanford University:

(1) from late 1961 through late 1962 on KOL following Gary Todd M-F from 9 pm to midnight for program director Jockey John Stone as “The Thriller, Seattle’s Most Eligible Bachelor and The Prince of Love, broadcasting requests and dedications from my penthouse high atop Queen Anne Hill.”

(2) from late 1962 through mid-1963 hosting the “MartyParty” on KAYO following Paul Scott M-F from 9 pm to midnight (and my favorite shift, 7 pm to midnight on Saturday) for Program Director Chris Lane.

You’ll notice that I never used my real or full name on the air, as I was working during the day in a high profile position at Boeing as a co-pilot of their experimental hydroplanes and hydrofoils.

Also in mid-1963, I made (and lost!) a small investment in a start-up FM station KZAM (99.9mHz as I recall) which was the first “100% Soul Music” broadcaster in Seattle. The names Larry Braxton, Marty Wyatt and Diamond Jack Brady come to mind as their best disc jockeys, who were especially popular on fraternity row at the University of Washington as FM was in still in its infancy on table, portable and car radios (as I’m sure you know, many AM stations also had FM transmitters, but they were then used mostly to play commercial-free “music-by-subscription” — also known as “elevator music” — in offices, hospitals, etc.).

Thank goodness I didn’t stick around, now that I’ve seen the changes in format, call letters and ownership that soon followed and continued to change thereafter — as a Top-40 DJ, and only a Top-40 DJ, I would have been off-the-air for sure!

I have MANY — and ONLY — fond memories of my “Top-40 Radio Days” in Seattle. But that’s enough (if not more than enough!) for now.

Best regards,

Martinn

** Martinn, Thanks for writing. All stories are welcome! Share them as well as any airchecks or pictures you may have. Thank you again and check back often! — Jason
see also: KZAM 1963

Share
Tags , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comment (0)
Entertainment history Music personalities radio Television

SeaTac Radio Q&A

2011/01/16 – 12:06 pm

Updates to the Seattle radio station pages at SeaTacRadio.com include more of a chronological history of 810/850 KTBI-KTAC [now KHHO].

We get letters – actually, it’s email, but here are a couple answers to some questions that have come in this week.

Whatever happened to KJZZ Radio Seattle?
I think the writer means KWJZ 98.9, which was the Smooth Jazz station [19 years] until it recently became a modern rock station. Smooth Jazz stations are disappearing like the “beautiful music” stations that preceded them.

The call letters KJZZ were used in Seattle in the early 80s. KJZZ was at 1540 AM. The call letters and jazz format replaced the Bellevue station’s “Rock of the 80s” KZAM. 1540 call letters switched to KLSY in 1983, and later KBLV.

KJZZ call letters are now in use at an FM Jazz/NPR station operated by Maricopa Community College in Mesa/Phoenix, Arizona and also on TV channel 14 in Salt Lake City.

Question: You have Tami Bennett listed as a former DJ at KWJZ, but what were the other Seattle stations she worked at?
Thanks for jogging our memory on this. We have updated the KNDD, KJAQ [formerly KYPT] & KMTT pages at SeaTacRadio.com, as Tami has also worked at those stations.

Use the search box in the menu on the top-right of this blog and SeaTacRadio.com, to find the answer to your question about the people and radio stations in the Seattle-Tacoma/Puget Sound region.

Share
Tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comment (0)
history radio

Bob Summerrise 1925-2010

2011/01/04 – 10:49 am


Bob SUMMERRISE Jr. Jan. 26, 1925 ~ Nov. 12, 2010 ‘Brother Bob’ passed from this life on Friday Nov. 12, 2010 — Born in Chicago on Jan. 26, 1925, he moved to Seattle in the early 40′s and began a successful career as a broadcaster on numerous radio stations including; KTAC, KQDE, KAYO, KZAM & KYAC. A pioneer in the field, he was one of the first African-American on-air personalities and the first with an engineering license. He married his wife Hellyne in 1954 and they raised 3 children while operating Summerises’ World of Music record shop on Jackson St. Passionate community activists, they worked tirelessly to improve the plight of the underprivileged. Bob is survived by daughter, Marsha Miles, sons, Robert III and Gregory; grandchildren, Nikki, Celita, Dylin, Robin, Robert IV, Franceska, Jai and Toussaint; nieces, Fai Mathews, Marguerite Richard and Shawn Richard-Davis and many beloved family members and friends. Father, brother, uncle and grandpa to all, ‘Papa’ will be sorely missed by those he touched. [Seattle Times]
*****************************
Bob Summerrise used to broadcast on radio station KTAC from a studio that was atop a burger joint on 6th Avenue. Seems to me that Bob also worked for a time at KTNT Tacoma. If anyone has audio from any of Bob’s radio broadcasts and would like to share it with the world here, let me know. email: radio@seatacradio.com
*****************************
Jef Jaisun writes:

As so often happens on this series of tubes we call the Internet (can’t wait til it goes solid state!), last night I stumbled on your radio site. I worked as a student dj at the original KZAM in the early Sixties. Since apparently nobody else remembers much about those days, I recently updated the station’s Wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KZAM_%28defunct%29#KZAM_in_the_1960s
Can you help me straighten out this timeline? On your page http://www.seatacradio.com/blog/?page_id=484 you write:

1958-KBVU; KFKF moved from 1330 to 1540 in 1968. Call letters changed to KBES, 1979-KZAM, 1981-KJZZ, KLSY, 1992-KBLV

I distinctly recall rocking out to a Sonny Rollins piece on KBVU, and that had to be in 1965. I’m also pretty sure the station was already on 1540.

********According to Broadcast yearbooks, 1958-KBVU on 1540; KFKF moved from 1330 to 1540 in 1968 where KBVU had been [two seperate frequencies, two seperate stations up until that time.]. Yes, you heard Sonny Rollins on KBVU in 1965, at the time, the KFKF call letters were at 1330, KBVU was 1540. KFKF abandoned 1330 in 1968, purchasing 1540 KBVU. [Jason Remington]

Jef Jaisun continues…

Also, my records indicate that KBES-AM was renamed KZAM in 1975, when Ballinger’s group bought the AM and FM stations from Kemper Freeman. In 1979 or thereabouts it was re-christened “KZAM – Rock of the Eighties.”

Love reading your stuff. Golden Age of Radio for sure.

Best,

Jef Jaisun
KZAM ’62
KRAB ’73
& others

*************** Yes, you are correct, sir! Updates have been made — In rechecking the yearbook for 75-76, KBES-AM was renamed KZAM in 1975. [Jason Remington]

We welcome your input! This is a work in progress and we seek the best information, especially from those of you that participated in broadcasting at the stations during those years.

Share
Tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comment (0)
advertising Entertainment history Music radio

KZAM 1963

2010/11/25 – 2:47 pm


Monte Strohl, Larry Braxton, KZAM

Share
Tags , , , , | Comment (0)
Entertainment Internet Radio New Media radio

On The Air – FM Music tops PPM rankings

2010/07/24 – 1:01 pm

The most recent People Meter ratings show Star 101.5 KPLZ back in the #1 spot, for the first time since 1989! Music stations KJR FM/Oldies, KRWM FM/Adult Contemporary, KZOK FM/Classic Rock, KBKS FM/Pop-Hip Hop, KMPS FM/Country, KJAQ FM/Top 40-Classic Rock, KKWF FM/Country & KCMS FM/Chrisitian [all music stations] took the top positions for listener ownership overall.
Stewart Ballinger, avid golfer and former owner/partner in KIXI Mercer Island & KFKF Bellevue, died this week. Ballinger changed the KFKF format from beautiful music to rock and roll. KFKF, as the new KZAM, was the first Seattle station to hire female deejays. Ballinger was 95.
Dr Demento takes his radio show exclusively to the Internet this fall. Demento will move his syndicated series from terrestrial channels to an Internet stream which will allow him flexibilty to play tunes that would otherwise be censored by radio stations now carrying the program.
KGY FM/Olympia, has yet to fully develop their website. The station plays a mix of Oldies & current Top 40 tunes with local deejays slaving over hot CD players and music servers. [It would have been much easier just to say "hot turntables", but those days are long gone]. “The Sound” carries hourly news reports from CBS along with local news.

Share
Tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comment (0)
radio

Old Call Letters – Where Are They Now?

2010/05/16 – 7:29 pm

As stations are bought and sold, many of the great call letter combinations are replaced with what might best represent the new on-air product, or so most new owners believe. Actually, we have lost most of the three-letter call signs due to this misguided theory. You can’t get those call signs back.
The four letter call signs come and go. These end up in other markets occasionally. Looking back at the list of Seattle area stations that have changed formats and ownership over the last 50 years, here is a sampling of those changes.
“Where Have All The Good Songs Gone?” KUUU – the oldies station in Seattle at 1590, once had the KSND call letters. Now, both sets of call letters are gone, as are those that followed at the 1590 position, KJET. KSND is the call sign now at a regional Mexican station in Monmouth, OR. KUUU, also known as U92, is a Rhythmic Top 40 radio station broadcasting to the Salt Lake City-Ogden-Provo, Utah areas. KJET call letters are used on 105.7 FM in Aberdeen, WA., these days.
The old progressive rocker in Seattle, KZAM, disappeared years ago. Those call letters were last seen at an FM country station in Ganado, TX.
KRPM Tacoma, played country music at 106.1, where KBKS FM now blasts out Hip Hop.

Audio MP3

The KRPM sign now hangs at the New Magic 107.5 in Billings, MT.. a soft rock station.
Long ago, stereo debuted in the Pacific Northwest at 106.1 on KLAY, with the music of Mantovani and 101 Strings. KLAY can be heard at 1180 AM, from studios in Lakewood, WA., with mostly talk show and barter programming.
Like KJET and KLAY, many of the call signs are snatched up by local broadcasters for stations in nearby communities. KBRD FM in Tacoma was a Beautiful Music station, similar to the old KLAY format of the early 60s. When Entercom brought the Mountain format to that FM frequency, the call letters changed to KMTT. The KBRD call letters ended up down the road in Lacey, WA on an AM station that programmed Big Band music. The station streams on the Internet and plays an eclectic mix of jazz, Big Band and Swing music from the WWII era.
There is a slew of old Tacoma call letters on the eastside of Washington these days.

Audio MP3

Thomas Read snagged KTBI, KTAC, KTW (once 1250 in Seattle) KGDN (remember that at 630 in Seattle) and a few of the old call signs from Eastern Washington that were shucked off in station sales or format changes, KSPO (good one!) and KYAK.

Share
Tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comment (1)