An ayoda on radio

  While remembering Dave Hull over these past few days, I was also recalling the station where I first heard him, Storer Broadcasting’s KGBS. As I previously mentioned, the station was a daytimer, which meant the station broadcast only from sunup to sundown. Though the station did have a 24-hour FM simulcast, it was really all about the 50,000 watt AM operation. It’s worth noting the frequency was notable as K-POP, featuring Earl McDaniel and the still-going-strong Art Laboe. But as KGBS, the station brought in “Emperor” Bob Hudson for mornings and Ron Landry for afternoons. Then it was PD Ron Martin (truly underrated in the history of LA radio) who combined the two talents to become Hudson & Landry, both the popular KGBS morning show and a nationally famous comedy team, earning four gold records and a Grammy nomination. With Landry moving to mornings, that gave the opportunity for Dave Hull to come aboard for afternoons. More on the Hullabalooer in a moment.   Mid...

The news of the passing of Dave Hull came the same day the Dodgers tied their playoff series with the Atlanta Braves with three games apiece, a great comeback for the Dodgers. The next day, the Dodgers won the National League championship, winning three games in a row after being behind 3 games to one. The Hullabalooer was a great Dodger fan. In fact, I can see his big smile from his perch in the heavens. That’s just one of the many memories I have of Dave Hull. I’ve started and restarted this posting several times already because there is so much that can be said about him. A wonderful read, contact Lisa Hull Hemstreet for purchasing info, https://www.facebook.com/lisahemstreet The Hullabalooer lived up to his nickname. You never knew what sort of goofiness you’d hear on any given day. It might be him tooting his "little horn" after another double entendre, harassing another competing DJ on the air (he actually called Jay Lawrence live on KLAC after dunking his country mus...

  Hi again! I'd mentioned I'd be offering a story about the Hullabalooer, Dave Hull this week. I'll publish that on Tuesday, I haven't forgotten. That being said, a member of the Los Angeles radio community is offering a free resource that can be very helpful in these pandemic times, I wanted to get her story out as soon as possible.  When Don Barrett did his daily columns for LARadio.com, he was always interested in those who reinvented themselves after their time on the air. Ronnie Loaiza is a good example of someone who’s on a different journey as a fitness trainer and now, a wellness coach. She now has a free online fitness summit through November 4 about personal fitness and care, more on that in a moment. Ronnie was born in New York (“my heart will always be there”) but didn’t live there for very long before eventually moving to Tampa, Florida. After graduating from the University of South Florida, she went to France intending to spend five months studying the l...

(photo found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4GrjDf9Dxs) Of course my first official blog posting would be about "Sweet" Dick Whittington. As I mentioned on LARadio.com, my first encounter with him was his time at KFI when they tried an all-comedy format (Lohman & Barkley, Mitzi McCall & Charlie Brill, Hudson & Landry -- innovative, but unfortunately and ultimately unsuccessful). I didn't know much about him, other than an article I'd seen in the L.A.Times  where he was dressed as General Douglas MacArthur and leading his audience into an invasion of Catalina Island. Having described this a few months ago at LARadio.com, I apologize for being redundant. Nonetheless, my introduction to the Whittington whackiness was in the mid-70s when Jaws  was the blockbuster movie of the year. Whittington surmised the reason sharks were so aggressive was they were sleep-deprived, irritated creatures as sharks don't sleep (they have to keep swimming so water will ...

  It was such a great ride for at least a quarter of a century, I got to be a small part of Don Barrett's effort for about 20 years. To reiterate what I said in the LARadio.com farewell column, the bar was set so high by Don Barrett that any attempt to emulate what he did would be futile if I were to try.  So why the blog here? Radio is still my favorite medium, albeit it may be more about my memories associated with the AM / FM dial than what I listen to now. Not because there aren't very talented people now on the local radio dial, it's simply very different that what I grew up with. Still, there's some stories from the past and present I want to still share and hopefully continue to do the interviews I enjoyed doing for LARadio.com. And of course, there's my annual attempt at being creative, AKA the year in review. Before I go any further, Jeffrey Leonard does a wonderful job with his "Memories of LA Radio" page on Facebook. He'll offer something mo...