Monday, September 29, 2014

Bye Bye Bay Area Radio

 Too bad.

Intelligent, cranky, smartest man in the world, pain-in-the-ass, compelling broadcaster.

Infinitely listenable too.

{Bill Wattenburg}

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23 comments:

  1. He's taking a dirt nap?

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  2. He is still on KSCO 1080 (http://bit.ly/KSCOarea) & KPAY 1290 (http://bit.ly/KPAYarea). He says he may take a break and be back in the SF area again soon in about a month or so. Listen: http://bit.ly/DrBill92814 !

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  3. I remember years ago calling his show and getting into a big argument with him on the air about hunting wild animals. I think he was defending trophy hunters, or had had one on his show. In any case, I took exception and he really came down hard on me. But I was proud because I got in a good verbal shot. I didn't care for any of his self-righteousness or his goofy political stances, (he was kind of a nut who thought he was smarter than everyone else in the room!) , but he WAS smart, and I will also admit that his shows were sometimes very interesting. Certainly a different kind of radio character who made his mark here back in the 1980s and 90s.

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  4. He's my favorite "pain in the ass". He is also,in real life, a very compassionate fellow. When my house was destroyed in a fire, years back, Bill offered to bring one of his motor homes down to my place for me and my father, as we rebuilt.I'll never forget his thoughtfulness.

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    1. Christine,

      I have always heard about gracious acts from Dr. Bill He is a superb guy.
      Q: Is his last show still on line for anyone to download?

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  5. Why can't KGO bring him back in his old time slot? There are so many former listeners as well as boomers in the Bay Area that would love Dr. Bill as a throwback to the old KGO. Do that many "younger demographic" even tune in to hear Karel and the other chick? I would think Dr. Bill would draw just as many listeners as them if not more. I always liked Dr. Bill, never cared for the Sulu sounding guy that came after him. Oh my!

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  6. I always thought his program was among the more interesting ones on KGO. It was different, touching on unusual topics in a unique way. In fact, I often made it a point to catch both his show and an equally interesting show from Ray T when they were both on next to each other. While Ray's show dealt with more common topics, it was his presentation that set him apart from the more mundane shows.

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  7. I always found him to be utterly predictable and repetitive.

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  8. I thought he was an arrogant jackass who could put Sheldon Cooper to shame for know-it-all-ness. When he came on KGOne, the radio went off.

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  9. I hardly ever agreed politically with Dr. Bill but regularly listened to his show and always learned something incredibly useful. That's the biggest loss at the "new" KGO - the loss of useful information and exchange of informed knowledge.

    Hey Dr. Bill - I still steam my sponges in the microwave to kill the germs and think of you every time there is a huge fire in California just as you predicted years ago!

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    1. Love that sponge trick...the steam also loosens up any gunk stuck to the inside of your microwave, usually you can just wipe it off with a towel! (Although, with how little sponges cost I often ask my self why I just don't toss it when it gets ugly!)

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    2. You don't have to wait to steam them until they are ugly. If you do it regularly, they don't get ugly so fast. It saves resources - Americans need to learn to how to maintain a less throw away life style.

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  10. I remember Dr. Bill upbraiding some guy who called in years ago who was working on a home improvement project. The guy wanted to know if steam under pressure could be used to warp wood. He wanted to some bend into a handrail for a staircase. Bill explained that it was possible to use steam under pressure for that purpose. So this guy tells Bill he plans to do that. When Wattenburg asked him what he was going to use to hold the steam, the guy replied "glass coca-cola bottles". Wattenburg went onto to explain that the guy was the biggest idiot in town and that he was creating a bomb that would shatter and the shrapnel created by the exploding glass would likely kill him. The guy was trying to warp the wood on the cheap and didn't want to spend the money to do the job right (kind of like people who run radio stations - always on the cheap).

    Anyway, Dr. Bill always an interesting listen and I'll be looking forward to hearing him on his new station.

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  11. He may be the record holder for saying nincompoop most times in radio history. He was very entertaining talking science and solving mathematical problems and puzzles etc. After 9/11 and the Iraq war he became an insufferable fool. I was hoping Ray T would knock his ass out during their famous near tussle at an all star debate. Remember that? Haha! They suspended the debates for a while after that incident. Mattress man couldn't take the criticism from Bernie Ward. Those were fun times.

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  12. I call Dr. Bill and asked what would happen if a spaceman went outside the spaceship without a spacesuit.

    The question pissed the Doc off so bad, that the producer had to hit the big yellow "dump" button on the Doctor..


    ....Never did get an answer.....

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  13. On occasion my friends and I would call in to Dr. Bill and try to get him to lose it on the air. Since his show was on late we'd usually be well lubricated and propose a reasonable topic for the call screener and then just go off in a completely different direction. One night, it must have been a slow night, we got through four times and would start the conversation in a civil manner and then blurt out or work the term "sperm chiclets" into the conversation. He'd start answering a question and then BAM "sperm chiclet" and he's dump the call with an ever more annoyed comment after each one. I've got this recorded somewhere, I'll have to dig it out.
    Dr. Bill was also in the Dead Pool. He played Nolan Kennard a local media personality killed by a remote controlled car carrying a bomb. That scene was filmed in Sea Cliff outside of what is now Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett's house. One of two he owns in the area.

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  14. I remember many times he followed Karel's show and was so incensed at something The Entertainer said that he spent the first half-hour of his own program reaming him. (One time Karel insinuated that John McCain was a Manchurian Candidate who couldn't be trusted.)

    I've also heard (unconfirmed, but from multiple sources) that the two of them were being driven somewhere and Dr. Bill came thisclose to punching him out.

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  15. He kept saying that his departure was the result of a "format change". No details.

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  16. The "smartest man in the world" spent years denying climate change.

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    1. He did at first ("oh yeah, how do you explain the ice age?,the earth has been warming ever since!") but over the past few years has admitted that human activity may have effected the planet's climate.

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  17. 1:26...that's just not true. He absolutely did not deny climate change. He questioned the ready assertion that all climate change was due to human activity. He illustrated that point with references to major climate shifts which have occurred within the boundaries of recorded human history.

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  18. He was a caricature of the PhD who thought he knew a lot about a lot, but did not.

    Some of his advice regarding automobile repairs and maintenance was dead wrong. I felt sorry for any listener who took the advice. But, to call and contradict him was just to invite a Taliaferroing. I cannot recall any time that he actually acknowledged being corrected by a better informed caller. Fun radio, but not solid science.

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  19. So why did KKSF drop his show?

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