Summer Jams

Some end of summer radio fun is on the horizon, with various stations putting together special events both on and off the air.

KUSC (91.5 FM) is asking listeners to help build the 2025 edition of “Classical California’s Ultimate 101.” Listeners can vote for their top-10 favorite classical music pieces at KUSC.org, which will then be tabulated for airing during the week of September 15th. Voting ends just before midnight on August 22.

KCRW (89.9 FM) is continuing its annual Summer Nights series; upcoming events include a “smarty party” at the Wende Museum in Culver City August 8th at 8 p.m.; participating in the Long Beach Taste of Downtown at the Pike Outlets on August 16th at 6 p.m.; and a celebration of Chinatown at Central Plaza on North Broadway on August 23rd starting at 8 p.m. Check out details at events.KCRW.com

LAist KPPC (89.3 FM) invites you to “Go Fact Yourself” with Steven Tobolowsky, Aparna Nancherla joining hosts J. Keith and Helen with some surprise guests on a special edition of Go Fact Yourself Live, August 9th at The Crawford in Pasadena The trivia show starts at 7 p.m. and is among numerous special events found at LAist.com.

San Pedro low power station KCLA (100.7 FM or online at kcla.fm) is having “meet and greets” every first Thursday of the month corresponding with the area’s ongoing First Thursday art and food walk. The station invites you to go by and say “hi” across from the Warner Grand on 6th Street.

And finally, SoCalSound (KCSN, 88.5 FM) is planning a “Benefest concert” with performers to be announced next week. I suppose this isn’t officially a summer event since it will take place in November, but summer does last a bit longer in Southern California!

Changes at KMZT

Classical music remains during the day, but KMZT (1260 AM) has started playing “Smooth Jazz” every evening starting at 8 p.m. Classical then returns every morning at 6:00.

As part of the changes, using an HD Radio you can hear the smooth jazz 24/7 on 105.1 HD4, and what has come to be known as “yacht rock,” light rock from the likes of Christopher Cross, America, Toto, Rupert Holmes and Hall and Oats, on 105.1 HD3 starting soon, if not already. This means traditional oldies and classic country are now MIA. No word on if the formats will be available on line, but I expect that to happen in the near future.

Readers Respond …

“I just read your article about KEZY radio and thought I would share some of my memories and experiences with the station.

“Around 1963-64 my buddies and I would go to the Disneyland hotel to ride the Monorail around the park in the last car of the ‘train.’ It was a roundtrip ride as they did not let you out in the park; I believe it cost 50 cents. We also would walk by the KEZY radio station “window” where the DJ was playing records.  

“There was a window, which was probably fairly thick, that was right on an outside walkway on what I recall was the west side of the hotel lobby/stores. The turntable was right next to the window and the DJ would be facing the window when flipping the records. We would hold up paper with record requests and he would play them!  Good times.” — Bruce Ramm

“I was about 13 years old in 1963 living in Placerville California, 425 miles north of Los Angeles. I had my little transistor radio on the Mighty 690 from Tijuana, Mexico; the 50,000 watts of radio power with Wolfman Jack howling was amazing and exciting for a young boy! It was about 7:30 at night when I could pick it up for about an hour.

“It was so fun listening to the Wolfman howling, talking to the girls who would call in.  He would say things like ‘Hey baby what are you doing over there?’ in his Wolfman drawl! Thank you Richard” — Art Murphy, Moreno Valley, CA

Those were the days when listeners truly connected with the DJs. Great that the station could be heard from that distance … that’s what makes AM radio great!

If you have any memories of listening to Wolfman — or anyone else — please send an email or letter. I’d love to hear your radio memories.

Richard Wagoner is a San Pedro freelance columnist covering radio in Southern California. Email rwagoner@socalradiowaves.com