I don’t know what I was thinking…listening back now, 37 years ago…to this hour loop of K-15 audio and promos. Why did I start it with Tom Petty???!!! Jesus, what was I thinking? I was in a hurry, just splicing tape clips together in no particular order. OK…there were a few clunkers here but what a great memory maker…the energy!! Thank you Tommy Vascocu….just playing now: The Brainz, “Money Changes Everything,”…into “Roxanne” (before it was a mega hit here)….into Kate Bush….be still my heart!
The day time station (KDJQ) had been pulling low ratings playing country and the management thought they would try a version of “Rock of The 80’s” format that a station, KJAQ in Seattle, was getting some attention with their listeners. Not much to lose in any case. They wanted me to make an audio tape of the music I was telling them about so they could hear the playlist was bouncing around in my head. I had a trunk full of British 45’s that I brought back from the UK a few months earlier, and with some KDKB vinyl, I put together a library, a playlist and this tape of musical clips that they liked so much they decided to play it continuously for a couple of days before the official sign on. No breaks or commercials, just run it and see what the listeners think, (we did have some positive calls too!) In the spirit of the sound of the ocean waves that KDKB ran for days before signing on in 1971.
The last few minutes are various artist station promos that you may remember hearing during our short, 6 month run in 1980. In the end we were playing so many more bands and singers, many of them from Arizona. And then there were the DJ’s; Captain Jack, The Bone Mama, Surfin’ Casey. The live shows and concerts…the bucket T K-15 roadster…”God Save The Queen”…shooting The Plasmatics video in the hot summer desert….Billy Clone & The Same… : > ) I trust that you will have as much fun as I have had trying to remember all the songs you will hear. The long song at the end is a local Pop favorite of mine titled “Pick It Up” by Burns, Spiro and Burns. I know you will appreciate Captain Jack’s “Night Waves” too. We sure jammed a lot of music into the daylight hours in the Valley of the Sun. Thanks for listening…
Keep Rockin’!
Johnny D.