KMPX (defunct)
Encyclopedia
KMPX was a San Francisco FM
radio station
which was best known in the late 1960s as the birthplace of America's freeform
progressive rock
format ("Underground radio").
music programming. Mieuli sold KHIP on July 1, 1962 to Leon Crosby, who had previously owned KHYD
in Hayward
.
Under Leon Crosby's ownership, the station began operating in multiplex stereo and the call letters were changed to KMPX (for "MultiPleX") the following month. Soon after, Crosby gained authorization by the FCC
to increase the station's power from the original 37,000 watts to 80,000 watts. The transmitter was in Marin County on Wolfback Ridge above Sausalito.
By mid-1964, KMPX was airing a middle of the road music format. As the money-strapped station struggled, by 1966 the schedule became dominated by various foreign language and other brokered programs.
music whenever a foreign language show was not scheduled. But even with this impediment and the station's high-end-of-the-dial position, word spread that "rock and roll is on FM".
A month later, Tom Donahue
, a former well-known local Top 40 disc jockey
on KYA, fledgling record label owner and concert promoter, was looking for an opportunity to do something unique on the radio. According to his then-girlfriend (and future wife) Raechel
's recollection, mentioned in Jim Ladd
's book Radio Waves, after spending a night listening to The Doors
' first album at home, Donahue wondered why radio stations weren't playing it. He soon started calling around town to local stations on the less-desirable FM dial. When he found that KMPX's phone was disconnected, he decided to approach Crosby with his plan, as he felt the station had nothing to lose. Donahue proposed to take over some of KMPX's programming and replace the brokered foreign-language shows with freeform album-based rock music
, declaring, "no jingles, no talkovers, no time and temp, no pop singles." Advertisers would come in the form of local businesses serving the local hippie
and Haight-Ashbury communities. As Donahue was a well-known and respected person in local radio, Crosby hired him.
On Friday, April 7, 1967, Donahue went on the air at KMPX for the first time, working from 8 PM to midnight, leading into Miller's show. The station's programming evolved over the weeks and months that followed, and Donahue sought out air personalities who fit what he envisioned for the format. Early staffers included Edward Bear, Dusty Street, and even future actor Howard Hesseman
. Donahue's rock music format expanded to full-time on August 6, 1967, as the last of the foreign-language program contracts expired. The station at the time employed an unheard-of all-female studio engineer staff.
The presentation of music on the station stood in stark contrast to most other stations of the day. Instead of a hit music-dominated playlist, KMPX played more album cuts, local, emerging and cutting-edge artists, and a wide mix of genres such as rock, blues
, jazz
and folk music
. Some of the music played in the Spring of 1967 included Jefferson Airplane
's album Surrealistic Pillow
, the first Grateful Dead
album
, Jimi Hendrix
's Are You Experienced
and The Beatles
' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which KMPX played uninterrupted in its entirety.
format was doing very well for KMPX, Crosby offered Tom and Raechel Donahue the opportunity to also program a station his company recently purchased in Pasadena
, KPPC-FM (106.7 FM
). The Donahues accepted, and immediately began splitting their time between northern and southern California, consulting KPPC and hosting shows on both stations. They also hired a staff for KPPC, with the most notable personality being local Top 40 disc jockey B. Mitchel Reed
.
The task of programming and operating two stations was rather time consuming, and Donahue had to occasionally miss his show on one or the other station. He also taped his shows on one station to air on the other the following day. The situation, as well as the overall casual atmosphere among the staffers, caused friction between Donahue and Crosby. When Crosby decided to institute a dress code and other forms of structure to the otherwise anarchic nature of the station staff, Donahue turned in his resignation. This led directly to a strike
by the loyal Donahue-led KMPX staff in the early hours of Monday, March 18, 1968. The KMPX staff began picketing outside the station's offices, and were soon supported in their efforts by popular bands such as the Grateful Dead and Blue Cheer, as well as the station's devoted listeners. The staff at KPPC walked out the next day.
Crosby refused to cave in to his striking staff, and brought in his own replacements, who were forced to cross angry picket lines, to continue the progressive rock format at both stations. Several popular rock bands — including The Rolling Stones
and the Grateful Dead — insisted that the station not play their music, in a show of support to the picketers. The eight week strike ended on May 13, with no resolution between the former staffers and Crosby. Instead, Metromedia
decided to switch the format of their local also-ran classical music FM station, KSFR (94.9 MHz), to freeform rock and adopt call letters KSAN, formerly used by an early San Francisco R&B station. Metromedia hired Donahue and most of the displaced KMPX staffers, who started at the station on May 21. Metromedia also hired former KPPC staffers to work at KMET in Los Angeles.
With new competition from the very staff that helped to create KMPX, Crosby continued with the freeform format. In 1969, Crosby's radio stations were sold to National Science Network, Inc. KMPX reduced power to 40,000 watts and moved their studios twice over the next few years. They continued with the freeform format, though they tweaked it over the next several years. Crosby eventually purchased a local television station, KEMO, channel 20.
In March 1972, KMPX dropped rock and switched to a big band/nostalgia format. They increased power back to 80,000 watts in 1975.
for $870,000, which was not consummated.
The company finally found a buyer in 1978, when Family Radio
, owner of KEAR, struck a deal to purchase the station for $1 million. In accordance with FCC
ownership guidelines at the time, Family Radio sold their station at 97.3 MHz
to CBS Inc.
for $2 million, and CBS in turn sold their lower-powered station at 98.9 MHz to a small local company, Golden Gate Radio, for $850,000. Golden Gate Radio decided to adopt the KMPX call letters and format for 98.9 MHz, at least temporarily. The three-way switch occurred on September 13, 1978. And 106.9 MHz became the new location of KEAR's religious format, until 2005, when KEAR moved to AM
frequency of 610 kHz.
After a brief stint as Free FM
talk station KIFR, 106.9 in 2007 became KFRC-FM
, playing classic top 40 hits that recalled the former glory days of KFRC-AM. Apparently that format didn't work as a business venture, because KFRC-FM then switched to simulcasting all-news KCBS-AM (740 KHz).
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
which was best known in the late 1960s as the birthplace of America's freeform
Freeform (radio format)
Freeform, or freeform radio, is a radio station programming format in which the disc jockey is given total control over what music to play, regardless of music genre or commercial interests. Freeform radio stands in contrast to most commercial radio stations, in which DJs have little or no...
progressive rock
Progressive rock (radio format)
Progressive rock is a radio station programming format that prospered in the late 1960s and 1970s, in which the disc jockeys are given wide latitude in what they may play, similar to the freeform format but with the proviso that some kind of rock music is almost always what is played...
format ("Underground radio").
History
On December 10, 1959, the station, owned by San Francisco businessman Franklin Mieuli, signed on at 106.9 MHz with the KPUP call letters.Early-mid 1960s
In July 1960, the call letters were changed to KHIP and the station aired jazzJazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
music programming. Mieuli sold KHIP on July 1, 1962 to Leon Crosby, who had previously owned KHYD
KCNL
KCNL is a radio station in San Jose, California and serves the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned by The Principle Broadcasting Network San Jose, LLC and airs a Mexican Oldies format....
in Hayward
Hayward, California
Hayward is a city located in the East Bay in Alameda County, California. With a population of 144,186, Hayward is the sixth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area and the third largest in Alameda County. Hayward was ranked as the 37th most populous municipality in California. It is included in...
.
Under Leon Crosby's ownership, the station began operating in multiplex stereo and the call letters were changed to KMPX (for "MultiPleX") the following month. Soon after, Crosby gained authorization by the FCC
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
to increase the station's power from the original 37,000 watts to 80,000 watts. The transmitter was in Marin County on Wolfback Ridge above Sausalito.
By mid-1964, KMPX was airing a middle of the road music format. As the money-strapped station struggled, by 1966 the schedule became dominated by various foreign language and other brokered programs.
The birth of freeform rock radio
Though KMPX's daytime schedule was heavy with ethnic programming, the midnight-6 AM slot was mostly open. On February 12, 1967, on-air personality Larry Miller was given the shift, where he played his preferred folk rockFolk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
music whenever a foreign language show was not scheduled. But even with this impediment and the station's high-end-of-the-dial position, word spread that "rock and roll is on FM".
A month later, Tom Donahue
Tom Donahue
Tom "Big Daddy" Donahue , was a pioneering rock and roll radio disc jockey, record producer and concert promoter....
, a former well-known local Top 40 disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
on KYA, fledgling record label owner and concert promoter, was looking for an opportunity to do something unique on the radio. According to his then-girlfriend (and future wife) Raechel
Raechel Donahue
Raechel Donahue is a rock radio pioneer generally associated with her husband Tom Donahue, who died in 1975. She was the original entertainment reporter for CNN, briefly served as VJ for Cable Music Channel and a longtime radio personality in San Francisco on KSAN and in Los Angeles on KMET,...
's recollection, mentioned in Jim Ladd
Jim Ladd
Jim Ladd , an American disc jockey, radio producer and writer, is one of the few notable remaining freeform rock DJs in United States commercial radio.- Radio show style :...
's book Radio Waves, after spending a night listening to The Doors
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
' first album at home, Donahue wondered why radio stations weren't playing it. He soon started calling around town to local stations on the less-desirable FM dial. When he found that KMPX's phone was disconnected, he decided to approach Crosby with his plan, as he felt the station had nothing to lose. Donahue proposed to take over some of KMPX's programming and replace the brokered foreign-language shows with freeform album-based rock music
Freeform (radio format)
Freeform, or freeform radio, is a radio station programming format in which the disc jockey is given total control over what music to play, regardless of music genre or commercial interests. Freeform radio stands in contrast to most commercial radio stations, in which DJs have little or no...
, declaring, "no jingles, no talkovers, no time and temp, no pop singles." Advertisers would come in the form of local businesses serving the local hippie
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
and Haight-Ashbury communities. As Donahue was a well-known and respected person in local radio, Crosby hired him.
On Friday, April 7, 1967, Donahue went on the air at KMPX for the first time, working from 8 PM to midnight, leading into Miller's show. The station's programming evolved over the weeks and months that followed, and Donahue sought out air personalities who fit what he envisioned for the format. Early staffers included Edward Bear, Dusty Street, and even future actor Howard Hesseman
Howard Hesseman
Howard Hesseman is an American actor best known for playing disc jockey Johnny Fever on WKRP in Cincinnati and schoolteacher Charlie Moore on Head of the Class.-Early life:...
. Donahue's rock music format expanded to full-time on August 6, 1967, as the last of the foreign-language program contracts expired. The station at the time employed an unheard-of all-female studio engineer staff.
The presentation of music on the station stood in stark contrast to most other stations of the day. Instead of a hit music-dominated playlist, KMPX played more album cuts, local, emerging and cutting-edge artists, and a wide mix of genres such as rock, blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
. Some of the music played in the Spring of 1967 included Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success....
's album Surrealistic Pillow
Surrealistic Pillow
Surrealistic Pillow is the second album by American psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane, released in February 1967.Original drummer Alexander 'Skip' Spence had left the band in mid-1966, replaced by a jazz drummer from Los Angeles, Spencer Dryden, a nephew of Charlie Chaplin. New lead vocalist...
, the first Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
album
Grateful Dead (album)
Grateful Dead is the seventh album by the Grateful Dead, released in October 1971 on Warner Bros. Records, catalogue 2WS-1935. It is their second live double album, and also known generally by the names Skull and Roses and Skull Fuck Grateful Dead is the seventh album by the Grateful Dead,...
, Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
's Are You Experienced
Are You Experienced (album)
Are You Experienced is the debut album by English/American rock band The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Released in 1967, it was the first LP for Track Records...
and The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which KMPX played uninterrupted in its entirety.
KMPX staffers go on strike
In November 1967, as the progressive rockProgressive rock (radio format)
Progressive rock is a radio station programming format that prospered in the late 1960s and 1970s, in which the disc jockeys are given wide latitude in what they may play, similar to the freeform format but with the proviso that some kind of rock music is almost always what is played...
format was doing very well for KMPX, Crosby offered Tom and Raechel Donahue the opportunity to also program a station his company recently purchased in Pasadena
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
, KPPC-FM (106.7 FM
KROQ-FM
KROQ-FM — branded 106.7 KROQ — is a commercial modern rock radio station licensed to Pasadena, California serving the Greater Los Angeles. The call sign is pronounced "kay rock." It is the flagship station of Loveline hosted by Dr...
). The Donahues accepted, and immediately began splitting their time between northern and southern California, consulting KPPC and hosting shows on both stations. They also hired a staff for KPPC, with the most notable personality being local Top 40 disc jockey B. Mitchel Reed
B. Mitchel Reed
B. Mitchel Reed was a successful American disc Jockey for both Top 40 and album-oriented rock radio, who worked in New York and Los Angeles in a career spanning 25 years.-Career:...
.
The task of programming and operating two stations was rather time consuming, and Donahue had to occasionally miss his show on one or the other station. He also taped his shows on one station to air on the other the following day. The situation, as well as the overall casual atmosphere among the staffers, caused friction between Donahue and Crosby. When Crosby decided to institute a dress code and other forms of structure to the otherwise anarchic nature of the station staff, Donahue turned in his resignation. This led directly to a strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
by the loyal Donahue-led KMPX staff in the early hours of Monday, March 18, 1968. The KMPX staff began picketing outside the station's offices, and were soon supported in their efforts by popular bands such as the Grateful Dead and Blue Cheer, as well as the station's devoted listeners. The staff at KPPC walked out the next day.
Crosby refused to cave in to his striking staff, and brought in his own replacements, who were forced to cross angry picket lines, to continue the progressive rock format at both stations. Several popular rock bands — including The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
and the Grateful Dead — insisted that the station not play their music, in a show of support to the picketers. The eight week strike ended on May 13, with no resolution between the former staffers and Crosby. Instead, Metromedia
Metromedia
Metromedia was a media company that owned radio and television stations in the United States from 1956 to 1986 and owned Orion Pictures from 1986-1997.- Overview :...
decided to switch the format of their local also-ran classical music FM station, KSFR (94.9 MHz), to freeform rock and adopt call letters KSAN, formerly used by an early San Francisco R&B station. Metromedia hired Donahue and most of the displaced KMPX staffers, who started at the station on May 21. Metromedia also hired former KPPC staffers to work at KMET in Los Angeles.
With new competition from the very staff that helped to create KMPX, Crosby continued with the freeform format. In 1969, Crosby's radio stations were sold to National Science Network, Inc. KMPX reduced power to 40,000 watts and moved their studios twice over the next few years. They continued with the freeform format, though they tweaked it over the next several years. Crosby eventually purchased a local television station, KEMO, channel 20.
In March 1972, KMPX dropped rock and switched to a big band/nostalgia format. They increased power back to 80,000 watts in 1975.
Three-way station swap
When the owner of National Science Network died, his estate explored various opportunities to sell the station, including one offer from film director Francis Ford CoppolaFrancis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
for $870,000, which was not consummated.
The company finally found a buyer in 1978, when Family Radio
Family Radio
Family Radio, also known by its licensee name Family Stations Inc., is a Christian radio network based in Oakland, California, USA, founded by Lloyd Lindquist, Richard H. Palmquist and Harold Camping...
, owner of KEAR, struck a deal to purchase the station for $1 million. In accordance with FCC
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
ownership guidelines at the time, Family Radio sold their station at 97.3 MHz
KLLC
KLLC is a commercial radio station located in San Francisco, California, broadcasting to the San Francisco Bay Area. KLLC airs an Adult Top 40 music format same as KZZO in Sacramento and on 97.3 HD-2 is Chill With Alice, a Chill format channel...
to CBS Inc.
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
for $2 million, and CBS in turn sold their lower-powered station at 98.9 MHz to a small local company, Golden Gate Radio, for $850,000. Golden Gate Radio decided to adopt the KMPX call letters and format for 98.9 MHz, at least temporarily. The three-way switch occurred on September 13, 1978. And 106.9 MHz became the new location of KEAR's religious format, until 2005, when KEAR moved to AM
AM broadcasting
AM broadcasting is the process of radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation. AM was the first method of impressing sound on a radio signal and is still widely used today. Commercial and public AM broadcasting is carried out in the medium wave band world wide, and on long wave and short wave...
frequency of 610 kHz.
After a brief stint as Free FM
Free FM
Free FM was a short-lived, mostly-talk-radio format and brand name for eleven FM CBS Radio stations in the United States, and was created because of Howard Stern's departure to Sirius Satellite Radio in January 2006. Free FM was given its name to highlight that its stations broadcast free-to-air,...
talk station KIFR, 106.9 in 2007 became KFRC-FM
KFRC-FM
KFRC-FM is a commercial radio station in San Francisco, California, serving the San Francisco Bay Area. It simulcasts sister station KCBS, which carries an all-news format...
, playing classic top 40 hits that recalled the former glory days of KFRC-AM. Apparently that format didn't work as a business venture, because KFRC-FM then switched to simulcasting all-news KCBS-AM (740 KHz).
External links
- A Brief History of 106.9 FM In San Francisco
- KMPX page on jive95.com
- A Brief History of Freeform Radio from WFMUWFMUWFMU is a listener-supported, independent community radio station headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey, United States, broadcasting at 91.1 MHz FM, presenting a freeform radio format...
- Ralph Gleason reviews highest-rated DJ at KMPX-FM
- Grateful Dead Live at KMPX Radio Show on April 1, 1967 from the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...