Longtime Southern California radio host Christine Martindale retires from KKGO
After 13 years at Go Country 105 (KKGO, 105.1 FM), the host told listeners she’d be signing off.
Go Country 105 (KKGO, 105.1 FM) said goodbye to afternoon drive host Christine Martindale last Friday; Martindale left by her own accord after 13 years with the station. Prior to that, she had been heard for 12 years playing soft hits on KOST (103.5 FM).
“Just in case you haven’t heard… I’m retiring! It feels a little surreal and incredibly sweet. After so many wonderful years behind the mic, I’m stepping into a new chapter filled with family, adventure and a whole lot of gratitude. Thank you to everyone who has been part of this journey. Your kindness, your support, and your friendship have meant more to me than I can ever put into words. I’ll carry these memories with me always. I’m going to miss you. Here’s to living your dreams and more. God bless you,” she shared on a Facebook post.
Adam Bookbinder will move into her afternoon drive slot (2-7 p.m.) from his previous midday shift, and his previous time (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.) will be filled by Lisa Osborn, who spent much of her previous career in satellite, providing news and entertainment reports on various local stations, doing voice-over work, and even a bit of podcasting — including being the founding producer of the true-crime podcast “Behind The Crime Scene.”
Locally, you may have heard her as the longtime emcee for the Marina del Rey Holiday Boat Parade; she was honored by the Department of Beaches and Harbors as Los Angeles County Volunteer of the Year in 2009.
Bruce Scott stays with mornings, and the syndicated Backstage Country runs weekday evenings.
Along with the staff changes and reshuffles, station owner Saul Levine says to expect more classic country within the broadcast day, focusing on the ‘90s and ‘00s, with an extra emphasis on female artists that Levine feels don’t get enough respect. Personally, I’d go back even further to find special “OMG” songs that listeners have not heard for a while, highlighting them similar to what Chuck Martin used to do with the hourly “Time Machine” song on KHJ (930 AM) and K-WEST (now KPWR, 105.9 FM).
The focus of the station will stay with current music.
SoCal Sound
KCSN (88.5 FM) — aka The SoCal Sound — got some well-deserved love from “LA in a Minute” podcast host Evan Lovett, with a special feature on the station. See it at youtu.be/xG9zjPtMcu4?si=ldVxYEAbnI4BIk_N or hear it on your favorite podcast player.
Lovett gets into a little history of the station, including the association with Go Country 105’s Levine. It’s a short segment, but a fun one, as are all of the “In a Minute” features. Levett has long been one of my favorite podcasters, having originally discovered him on TikTok.
Letter Bag
Barron from Torrance sent a quick note regarding the music he hears on KRTH: “It still is a trip hearing Sublime and KROQ-style rock of the ’80s and ’90s music on K-Earth 101.”
Absolutely, and of course, it is the lament I hear occasionally from those who remember the station playing oldies from the 1950s and ‘60s when it launched in 1972. I like to point out that the oldest songs played in 1972 were from 1954 or so, roughly 18 years old at the time. Music from 1980 today is from 46 years ago … and KRTH goes even further back at times.
That’s how the station has remained relevant and viable, changing with the times and attracting a younger — not young, of course, but younger — audience over the years. The station is consistently among the top-rated stations in town.
Of course, I liked it best when it played current music and oldies as they did in the 1980s, in the years when they played Bruce Springsteen’s “Pink Cadillac” and Lighthouse’s “One Fine Morning” in the same hour.
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Reader Paul Keck wrote from New York with a special request regarding Family Radio: “I am trying to get some titles and album names for the classical guitar solos that were played before and after their programs, and hope you can help.”
Family Radio is a non-profit listener-supported Christian radio network based in Oakland, California, and is heard locally on KFRN (1280 AM) out of Long Beach. I sent a message over to the network, but have not heard back yet. I thought perhaps one of you smart, informed folks might know the answer. If so, send a note and I’ll forward it to Paul.
The State of the Art
I gave up my home HD Radio tuner at least a year ago, opting instead for an older tuner from Carver that receives AM stereo. There are no local AM stations broadcasting in analog stereo, of course. However, none I’d listen to locally are HD either (KMZT 1260 AM reaches me, but the HD signal won’t decode), and the Carver tuner I am now using makes analog AM sound great. In fact, the AM signal for KNX (at 1070 AM) sounds much better than the FM simulcast (at 97.1).
Similarly, my new Chevy Traverse lacks an HD tuner, so I no longer use HD at all. And I don’t miss it; the apps that carry programming are more reliable reception-wise, and all but a small handful of stations are available via apps or smart speakers.
So how does that leave HD Radio itself? I honestly don’t know. If I — a self-proclaimed radio geek — don’t miss it, what are others doing? Do you listen? You would think by now that if HD Radio were a true success, we’d have more stations showing up in the local ratings. Since that isn’t happening, it would appear that HD Radio is a bust.
Prove me wrong…