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by Alex Cosper see also American Radio History STATION HISTORY: KABC KBBQ KBIG KBLA KDAY KEZY KFAC KFOX KFWB KGBS KGFJ KGIL KHJ KIEV KIIS KIQQ KKBT KKDJ KLAC KLOS KLSX KMET KMPC KNAC KNX KOST KPOL KPPC KPWR KQLZ KRLA KROQ KRTH KSRF KTNQ KTWV KUTE KWST KZLA XPRS The KRLA call letters entered the market in 1959 when Canadian millionaire Jack Kent Cooke's Eleven-Ten Broadcasting purchased the station. The 1110 AM frequency was originally held by KPAS, which launched in 1942. Three years later the call letters changed to KXLA in which air personalities included Tennessee Ernie Ford, Cal Worthington and Jim Hawthorne. During the rise of the British Invasion of 1964, KRLA was the first Southern California station to play The Beatles. The KRLA call letters ended up on the album cover in 1977 for Beatles At The Hollywood Bowl, shown on concert tickets. Some of the station's most legendary personalities include Wink Martindale, Dick Biondi, Emperor Bob Hudson, Casey Kasem, Art Laboe and Shadoe Stevens. KRLA continued to play current hits through the mid-seventies, when it started to feature more oldies in the mix. Station billboards promoted "Elvis-to-Elton." The format shifted completely to oldies in 1984. It stopped playing eighties music and mainly focused on the sixties at first. During the 90s the programming began to include more r&b classics such as doo-wop and Motown hits. The station went jockless on November 10, 1998 except for morning host Huggy Boy. He did his final show on the 27th and then the station stopped playing music after the 29th, becoming a talk station. It also became the play-by-play broadcaster for the Los Angeles Kings and the California Angels. Station owner Infinity sold KRLA in 2000 to Disney to comply with FCC ownership limits. It became ESPN Radio as KSPN in December, four months before Disney completed the acquisition. In 2003 Disney reshuffled its stations in the Los Angeles market, as Radio Disney station KDIS moved to 1110 AM and KSPN migrated to 710 AM. The KRLA call letters reappeared in the market on January 1, 2001 at Salem Media Group's 870 AM as "The Answer." KRLA Personnel 1959-1959 Hal Goodwin 1959-1962 Jimmy O'Neill, also 1984-1985, 1990-1993 1959-1963 Frosty Bruce Harris 1959-1960 Perry Allen 1959-1970 Richard Beebe, also 1981-1985, 1991-1994 1960-1960 Roger Christian 1960-1963 Sam Riddle 1960-1961 Wink Martindale 1961-1961 Ed Perry 1962-1964 Ted Quillin 1962-1976 Sie Holliday 1963-1963 Dick Biondi, also 1965-1967 1963-1966 Emperor Bob Hudson 1963-1969 Dave Hull 1963-1969 Casey Kasem 1963-1968 Cecil Tuck 1964-1964 Bobby "Boris" Pickett 1964-1964 Carson Schreiber 1964-1967 Charlie O'Donnell 1964-1967 Jim Steck 1964-1965 Adam DeMarais, also 1968-1969, 1988-1991 1964-1965 Gary Mack 1964-1969 Lew Irwin 1965-1967 Mel Hall 1965-1967 Bill Slater 1965-1970 Cliff Hill Gilliland 1965-1970 Harry Shearer 1965-1968 Johnny Hayes, also 1971-1992 1966-1966 Jon Silvius, also 1969-1974 1966-1970 Thom Beck, also 1974-1976 1967-1969 Reb Foster, also 1973, 1982-1983, 1985-1987 1968-1968 Len Chandler 1969-1969 Mike Ambrose 1969-1972 Jay Stevens, also 1986-1987 1969-1970 Jimmy Rabbitt 1969-1972 Russ O'Hara, also 1993 1969-1971 Leo McElroy 1969-1971 Dick Sainte (PD) 1970-1971 Jim Meeker 1970-1971 Paul Oscar Anderson 1970-1973 Shadoe Stevens (PD) 1971-1972 B. Mitchell Reed 1971-1972 Mikel Hunter 1971-1972 Bill Browning 1971-1972 Ed Ziel 1971-1972 Gene Thayer 1971-1972 Dave Diamond 1972-1973 Lee "Baby" Simms, also 1975 1972-1973 China Smith 1972-1974 Roger Aldi 1972-1973 Christopher Ames 1974-1976 Matthew (Doc) Frail aka Lee Simms 1975-1975 Robert Lewis 1975-1975 Les Perry, also 1983-1984 1976-1977 Sherman Cohen, also 1980-1982 PD 1976-1977 Tom Greenleight 1976-1983 Jack Roth 1978-1978 Birdie Bush 1978-1982 Bob Forward (GM) 1978-1982 Laura Gross 1980-1981 Manny Pacheco, also 1985-1989, 1993-1998 1981-1983 Mario Machado, also 1985-1987 1981-1985 Jane Platt 1983-1983 Sonny Melendrez 1983-1985 Jim Pewter (PD) 1984-1993 Val Valentine 1984-1987 Wolfman Jack 1985-1989 Real Don Steele 1986-1990 Charlie Tuna 1986-1986 Mark Denis 1987-1990 Shaune McNamara 1999-2000 Jamie Osborn |
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