Carpenter Passes

I met Craig Carpenter when he was the program director of the former KEZY-FM (95.9) in Anaheim. Carpenter had taken the former top-40 station and turned it into one of my absolute favorite stations of the era, in this case 1999-2000.

What made The Mix 95.9 FM so special is that it broke all the rules of radio, including the rules of then-owner Jacor, which would later merge into Clear Channel. I wondered aloud at the time about how this station even existed under Jacor ownership, as it was so much better than every other station in the company.

Carpenter replaced Ron Price who launched the format and the Mix name. At first it was just a typical “mix” station – “the best hits of yesterday and today.” Yawn. Carpenter opened up the playlist to include the best of what I call pop alternative and top-40, with core artists including Blink 182, Third Eye Blind and Lit, along with more traditional top-40 fare of the time. 

He also had his air staff open up, have fun, and interface constantly with listeners, and basically allowed them to shine. The precursor to social media — texting and communication through the station website — was direct and instantaneous, with listeners “speaking” with personalities in real time electronically, long before other stations did so.

The result was absolutely the best station in Southern California at the time, a shooting star that died when Clear Channel bought the company and had to sell it in 2000 due to being over the ownership limit of the time. But the time it shined proved how good radio can be when you let a programmer do the job unshackled. Truth be told, I don’t think Jacor even paid attention to the station, being such a small station in a small market, even if it was in the shadow of Los Angeles.

It was not Carpenter’s first stint at the station. He was a DJ there twice; he often used the name ”Craig Sea.” Other stations on his resume include KROQ (106.7 FM), the original KNX-FM/KKHR (93.1 FM), KMET (now KTWV, 94.7 FM) and KLAA (830 AM). Most recently he was hosting a wonderful almost free-form Lunch Box Radio Show on low-power KOCI (101.5 FM) in Newport Beach.

I had not seen Carpenter in a few years, the last time being when we met at the KOCI studios. Always positive, he exuded radio. He loved radio, and it showed. So it hit me like a ton of bricks to find that he passed away June 1st after a time fighting cancer. Craig Powers broke the news on Facebook.

“I went to my friend Craig Carpenter‘s Facebook page just to check in on him to see how he’s doing,” he posted. “I’m reading a bunch of posts that say rest in peace.

“He was my favorite DJ at KFXM (now KTIE, 590 AM in San Bernardino) back in the day; I ended up working with him there and then hiring him at KEZY/Anaheim. We also both worked at top 40 KKHR Hit Radio 93 in Los Angeles. 

“Craig always had a great smile and positive attitude! I used to do an imitation of his days at KEZY and he always laughed! I’ll miss you Craig, you did a great job on Southern California radio!”

Carpenter, who passed away just shy of his 74th birthday — he was born June 10, 1952 —  is survived by his daughter Jeanne; sons Jason, Matt and Alex; brother Kent; and sister Sheila.

Memories

Reader Jim Calloway sent a nice letter highlighting his memories of legendary sportscaster Jim Healy. “I was a big fan,” he wrote. “I would listen on the way home from work; if I was at home, I’d listen during dinner.” 

But his better half was not necessarily in agreement. “My wife barely tolerated the recorded sound effects,  especially the big belch he played whenever he spoke of food served at sports banquets or restaurants. She would look at me with daggers in her eyes … as if I did it. I thought all the bleeped out words from Tommy Lasorda’s interviews with reporters — especially after a loss — were priceless radio.

“I still miss my time with Healy every day,” he concluded.

Ken Cave wrote in to share a memory of one of my favorite all-time personalities, Wink Martindale.

“Around 1960 or ’61, I would listen every morning to Wink Martindale on I think KRLA,” he wrote. “When he played a record you liked, if you were the first person to call in (which was normally impossible) you would win the song on a 45 RPM single. Amazingly, one morning the song “Rhythm of the Rain” by the Cascades came on, so I dialed the number … and Wink Martindale answered! 

“I was in shock being about eleven years old. My mom even heard me on the radio! Anyway I received the 45 in the mail, and of course I have it to this day.”

Martindale, who passed away at the age of 91 back in April of 2025, was one of the absolute nicest people I have ever met, in or out of radio. What a great memory!

(The following was not in the version published by the newspaper but is here as an editorial/opinion)

Not the Only One

When Bob Pittman — CEO of iHeart — was chosen as one of the inductees for the 2026 class of the Radio Hall of Fame, I was shocked. In my opinion, Pittman is absolutely underserving of the honor, as one of the primary architects of the destruction of radio. To name him is a stain on the Hall of Fame, the Chicago Museum of Broadcast Communications that sponsors it, and cheapens every honoree dating back to its inception.

I am not alone in thinking that way. Big Jay Sorensen, on his facebook page, posted an Open Letter to the Radio Hall of Fame (see it at https://www.facebook.com/BigJaySorensen)

The letter was forwarded to me by numerous people in the industry, and reads, in part,

“It should be a great honor to be a part of such a prestigious group of those who make up your organization. It should be based on what people have done to further the cause of the radio industry, not by who can generate the most ticket sales and sell the most tables at the October event in Chicago.

“Bob Pittman, is a rich and powerful executive who has ended countless careers, and altered radio in ways many feel is immensely counter-productive. His company, iHeart Media is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.” 

Exactly. Pittman is one of the last people who should get an award. My dead dog Sparky did more to build radio than did Pittman. Sorensen concludes: “Think about your legacy and the reputation that you have spent years building. Don’t hurt it with questionable decisions that can haunt your organization for years to come.”