Wednesday, September 7, 2011

KGO Radio, 1980


KGO Radio Logo.jpg
KGO Radio: 1980

5-9 AM: "Morning News" with Jim Dunbar and Ted Wygant

9-Noon: Owen Spann

Noon News: Ted Wygant

1-4 PM: Jim Eason

4-6 PM "Afternoon News" with Ed Baxter and Jan Black

6- 9 PM: Ronn Owens

9- Midnight: Russ Coughlan

Midnight-5 AM: Ray Taliaferro

**For those of you who think I pick on KGO a lot, remember, at one time this radio powerhouse was #1 for over 32 years. It was a unique station. There were those hosts like Jim Eason, (whose politics were to the right of Attila the Hun), but Eason's style made for appointment radio...The late Owen Spann was a marvel in the morning. He could talk politics and food, even sports and celebrity. Spann was an industry giant...as was Coughlin, who came from KGO-TV and was an ABC exec in NY. Won't soon forget the night John Lennon died, (I was 18 at the time, Dec. 8, 1980)--it was one of Coughlan's finest moments on radio as he took calls and told stories on a particularly tragic night. Coughlan helped ease the pain...The "Morning News" highlighted the great Jim Dunbar, (now what a broadcaster!), and Ted Wygant. Dunbar/Wygant were great newsmen, more importantly, their chemistry was genuine and non-manufactured. Wygant's laugh? Off the chart. And boy, could they both tell a tale.

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15 comments:

  1. Agreed. KGO ruled the airways back then. I didn't like Eason's politics, but I still liked him enough to tune in when I was in the car. Strangely, i have no recall of listening to Coughlin at all, though I remember all the others.

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  2. I was listening to Coughlin the night he had a stroke..

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  3. I still can not believe you are 49 years old...

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  4. It was the 8th on our side of the pond and the 9th on their side, which of course, was John's favorite number. I remember Coughlin juggling both TV & Radio for KGO. He was definitely part of the station's highest peak top to bottom. How we long for those days!

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  5. Eason didn't go all right-wing until he moved over to KSFO. He was more middle-of-the-road and Libertarian while on KGO. Great folksy humor.

    Of that 1980 lineup I only miss Wygant and Dunbar.

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  6. I engineered for those guys in the 80's. First class. At that time, KGO had station announcers: Bob Trebor, Larry Doyle and Jay Snyder. Can't listen to their crap today. And would someone please choke Mike Amatori. 41 minutes of Owens and 19 minutes of Amatori? Puh-leeez.

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  7. Russ Coughlin was a great, warm human being. He had a way of relating to everyone. Here's a sample
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fDFwrzbt1I

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  8. Bob Trebor was excellent at doing the station ID for KGO. No one did it better.
    Similar to Bob Lazsich(spelling?)at KNBR back in the day.

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  9. @12:52 I disagree, Amatori is fine. The one who should be choked is the annoying septic tank guy after he says: "Hollaaaaaar Playa!". Has anyone heard that one? He then says: "Yeah, sometimes we are too hip for our own good". WTF!? KGO hip!? "We need to taaaaaalk about it"

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  10. Trebor also did several talk shows per week. He was into UFO's, time travel, & conspiracy topics 20 years before Coast to Coast debuted. Amatori has a dated idea of what's clever, he's a bore.

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  11. I don't remember Eason being right-wing when he was on KGO. Melanie Morgan seemed pretty normal when she was on KGO, too.

    I stopped listening to KGO around the time Wygant left. That's when I discovered KQED.

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  12. Speaking of the old time anchors talk,Do you remember ch5 had kind of a mousey round glasses guy named Mike(Warren)? Who at a local awards show held up his Emmy and announced "I'm going to New York"..as in a "you losers!" bragaddacio?
    He was long before Rickey Henderson told the world "Today,i'm the Greatest!"...same modesty.

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  13. I remember my mom walking around the house in the morning with her transistor radio listening to the Morning News and Owen Span. I grew up on KGO, even listening to it in high school while most people were listening to music (though I did listen to my share of Zeppelin).

    Eaosn was definitely to the right but it wasn't until his last year or two he started in with the slurs like: Demorats, etc. Never did hear him on KSFO.

    Station is unlistenable now. Which is too bad, because I still ilke Gene, Gil and Rothman.

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  14. Taliferro. Oh my Lord, four decades and can't rid ofhim. Like toe nail fungus.

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