All that talk about local radio made me remember one of my favorite local shows that I’ve always meant to highlight: “Color Radio” on KVMR. Host Brian Lee spins doo-wop, R&B, and rock ‘n’ roll (see the double ‘ RG?) from 4-6 pm Saturday evening on KVMR Nevada City, 89.5 on your FM dial. Lee has a great gravelly radio voice and is somewhat of a savant about the classic wax he spins. Don’t expect to hear the Beach Boys or the boys from Liverpool: you’ll hear a couple of recognizable tunes but mostly you’ll hear a solid 2 hours of great old music. A recent playlist includes the Velveteens, Big Maybelle, the Drifters, and Mickey & Sylvia.

Continue reading “Doo-wop on KVMR” »

Rachel Leibrock has a great, although brief, profile on KYDS 91.5 FM in this morning’s Bee. I do love KYDS, although the eclectic radio thing only goes so far for me. I like alternative radio because of the niche programming but it has to be that–programming. Throwing everything on the air but the Kitchen Sink (unless that is an obscure Lithuanian band, in which case it’s probably on their playlist) at a certain point just turns into The Jack or The Bob or whatever, only with substantially less BTO, which let’s face it we all need.

Leibrock highlights the station’s “45-hour audiothon” this weekend; the kids are hoping to raise a modest $2,000 for its reserve funds.

Overall it’s a good read. She must have given KYDS more than a half hour after placing a call before she ran her story!

According to the Democratic Underground and the SNR Blog, local progressive talk radio station KSAC 1240 is changing formats on Monday. Gone will be the left leaning talk radio hosts to whom apparently no one listens, and taking its place will be a whole station dedicated to gospel music. That’s right, we’re going to get some good old time religion on the AM dial.

Since the changeover is going to happen on March 31st, we assume that this isn’t an April Fool’s gaffe. Also, in in the irony column, March 31st will be observed as Cesar Chavez day. No better way to pay tribute to a noted labor leader than to dump the progressive station in favor of heavenly tunes.

The reason for the switch? Apparently KSAC was losing money and having difficulty finding advertisers. I’m not sure if this says something about the viability of liberal talk radio, or if it says something about the intelligence of liberal listeners in regard to their lack of interest in the crap that is normally hawked on talk radio (e.g. male enhancement, gold coins, balding remedies, and vegas timeshares pimped by that crazy broad from “That ’70s Show”). I’ll let you, the people, decide.

If your radio dial hasn’t quite made its way to 650 on the AM, do yourself a favor and move it there between 6am-10am Monday through Friday.

Once Shawn & Jeff left the airwaves, I quickly became a convert to the Armstrong & Getty morning drive program after hearing my friend Elizabeth start virtually every sentence with, “This morning on Armstrong & Getty they were talking about…” Continue reading “I Heart Armstrong & Getty” »

It’s on like donkey kong!

Jim Rome, the nationally syndicated sports radio host - and sports radio icon - of “The Jim Rome Show” (heard daily on KHTK 1140AM from 9 AM to 12 PM) is holding his “Smack Off” on Friday, May 4, 2007.

What is the Smack Off? According to Wikipedia:

The Smack-Off is an annual competition on The Jim Rome Show, held in mid-to-late spring and which takes up the entire program on a Friday. The contest is a way to recognize the best callers to the show, as well as a means of determining the best caller of the year. Show host Jim Rome has referred to the Smack-Off as the most important show of the entire year.

Continue reading “Rumble in The Jungle” »

By now many of you have heard of controversy that nationally syndicated (and future former) radio host Don Imus has put himself in:

The drama started when Imus referred to the Rutgers University women’s basketball team as a group of “nappy-headed hos.” The remarks were a seemingly off-the-cuff reference to the squad, which had just lost the annual NCAA women’s national championship, but Imus’ insensitivity to a group of college athletes who were coming off a remarkable season aroused public ire that seemed to increase with each passing day.

Interestingly (and why I’m writing about it here, of course), it turns out that Imus used to work as a radio host in Sacramento:

Continue reading “Imus have said something bad” »

Even if the only time you listen to Y92 is when you’re at the dentist office, you probably know who Paul Robins is — the morning DJ and former longtime on-air partner of Phil Cowan, comprising the duo Paul & Phil (AKA “The Nicest Guys in Radio.”)

Less than an hour ago, Paul left his morning drive studio to start on his 92.5 mile run around the Sacramento area to raise funds to purchase new vans for Atkinson Youth Services. He will return to his studio by 7am tomorrow to finish up tomorrow morning’s show. If he needs to be pushed in a wheelchair to get there, he will donate $5,000 out of his own pocket. He is committed to making it the entire way under his own power.
Continue reading “Paul’s Long Run” »

Via Sacramento History, a great new blog I just came across:

Today on Capital Public Radio (KXJZ/KXPR) there will be a program about Sacramento’s streetcars, the 20th anniversary of Light Rail, and upcoming plans for a streetcar line between Sacramento and West Sacramento.

I was too late to post about the radio spot but it is available online. I can’t believe it has been 20 years of Light Rail. I remember my first ride on the train and loving the swiveling areas between cars. Check out the radio program and check out that blog.

21Q’s Sam McManis beat me to the punch last week on the Lost promos for News10 starring TV’s Sawyer:

He looks into the camera with that Sawyerian smirk and says, “Don’t trust ‘The Others.’ Watch News10.”

The viewer can easily detect the barely-disguised ennui actor Josh Holloway (Sawyer) is nursing having to do promos for every ABC affiliate from here to Baltimore.

Quipped one friend of 21Q: “Yeah, Henry Gale is totally a KCRA guy.”

If you’re a “Lost” fanatic, you’ll get the reference.

Which I technically still am, but I don’t. Even with the ennui it’s still better than those Colusa Casino radio spots starring Carlos Santana.

UPDATE: Sam McManis emails:

Now, the implication by my colleague who made the Henry Gale/KCRA quip was that “The Others” aka “The Man” aka “The Establishment” would watch KCRA whereas the good guys would watch warm-and-fuzzy News10.

Yeah I don’t know why I didn’t get that. Although I like to think that Sawyer would be all over this here weblog, since he is the premiere provider of snark on the island. And thinking of him hunching over a keyboard hunting and pecking is almost as funny as when he wears glasses.

It’s not all bad news for Sacramento radio fans… Over the weekend I noticed that Flash 92.1 has undergone a rebirth and is now K-HITS 92.1, Sacramento’s Cool Oldies, filling a gap I had noticed previously. Those of you who are reading this thinking that 92.1 was “Jack” are thinking of “Bob,” which was at 92.1 way back a few months ago before it changed to Flash and then to K-HITS.

Kids: Do not plan to go into the radio industry.