IN THE SUMMER OF 1976...my family went on a day trip to Santa Rosa--the Oakland Raiders were inviting their fans to "Family Day" at training camp and KGO Radio was the sponsor. At the time, little known Ronn Owens, who had started his stint at KGO in November of the previous year, was the emcee. It was a big day for me because as a 13 year-old bright-eyed kid from Oakland, I very badly wanted to meet Ronn. I dressed in my jeans and "Rock Rich" t-shirt and finally met my idol. He was cool, nice, funny and a gentleman. I'll never forget that day.
As Ronn became entrenched in the Bay Area radio scene, I got to know him well. He took me into his life. I was friends with him when he met his future wife, Jan Black. He had me on the radio at KGO as "Rock Rich" when he did his popular "Rock Trivia" on Friday night. I had an open invitation to visit and "kibbitz", schmooze, if you will, with Ronn at the old KGO studios on Golden Gate Avenue and later on, the Embarcadero. Ronn invited me to his apartment in Cow Hollow and we frequently ate lunch on Union Street. We went to Giants and A's games. I was smitten.
I loved Ronn like a father that I never had; he was gracious with his time and made me a part of his life. I often marveled at his innate ability to be a great radio talk-show host and put KGO on the map as a destination cultural force it became. KGO was more than a radio station and Ronn was more than just a mere host. Both were larger then life. That's what made KGO such a huge institution --a major Bay Area tour de force.
Today, I lament the fact that I have lost a friend, Ronn , and KGO too. I'm often asked why my hatred for Ronn--was it personal, was there some sort of incident or fallout. Why the vendetta? I'll try to answer.
I'm saddened by Ronn's demise. I long and yearn for the "old Ronn", my buddy, my radio heart and soul. I regret getting too personal but all of it is based on frustration and anger. Anger and resentment on what I consider Ronn's sellout and actions immediately after the initial KGO massacre back in December of 2011. Ronn went on the air the day after the whole shebang and was very short and passive about what had taken place the night before. I RESENTED it. I was angry and upset and embarrassed for Ronn because I thought he could have done a whole lot better. Not just for himself but his fallen colleagues and friends. I was royally pissed. Mind you it wasn't me that was given the heave-ho but all the talk show hosts; people like the late Gene Burns; Ray Taliaferro; John Rothmann; Bill Wattenburg; all the people that made KGO the special place. Radio station? Oh good god, bigger than that.So today, I harken back to the good old days. When KGO was the place to go to when an earthquake hit the Bay Area; a town hall on the radio where people could talk, schmooze, commiserate, or like Ronn would say, "vent" and open up. God know we needed it so badly on 9/11 and during the particularly dreary days of Jonestown and the Moscone-Milk Murders. KGO, you helped get all of us through those dark and murky days. On the night of December 10, 1980, I was driving home from the Stevie Wonder concert in Oakland listening to, yeah, KGO and Russ Coughlin talk about John Lennon who was murdered just hours earlier at his home in New York. Thank God, again, for KGO.
I miss the old Ronn and old KGO. I miss Dunbar and Wygant cracking jokes during the Morning News. I miss Bill Wattenburg telling a Cal graduate "to get off your ass and quit smoking dope" rant. I miss Dr. Dean Edell and Ed Baxter and Rosie Allen. Man, we all had it so good until we didn't have it.
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Yup. I remember the night of the 1989 quake, the power was off in my area of Sunnyvale, several television stations were either off the air or just barely able to broadcast, and yet there was old reliable KGO acting as the local info clearing house and keeping us all updated. I listened for hours to the voices doing their best to keep up calm and ensuring we knew that "only" The Marina was truly impacted and some fires being handled by SFFD. Yes, those were the days when KGO stood head and shoulders above the rest and redefined what a community asset it truly was. No longer true today which is all I have to about that.
ReplyDeleteI also remember Ronn Day 1, or close to Day 1 anyway, 1975. I listened from my family's home in western Colorado, believe it or not. Ronn had a night-shift slot then. I could listen to the skip-signal from most of the 50K watt California stations broadcasting from San Francisco and LA. Ronn was vehemently opposed to the draft and the Vietnam war -- am I remembering this correctly Rich? At some point Ronn's show moved to the daytime and I couldn't listen any more, no skip in the daytime. Then I moved from Colorado to the Bay Area as part of a job transfer in the 80's, and what do you know, there's Ronn on the air still on KGO. I started right back listening to his show. Currently I don't listen as frequently, not so much b/c of any change Ronn has made, but KGO isn't that appealing to me now what with all the NeoCon talk hosts and the commercial advertisement "programs". KGO used to be the public forum for the Bay Area to voice their ideas and opinions, but alas, no longer.
ReplyDeleteCongrats Rich, You have finally written something worth reading and with only one grammatical error.Well Done
ReplyDeleteYup. Jan Black's journal on KCBS. Good show and Jan had a beautiful radio voice. I remember puffing on weed listening to Joe Dolan ranting against the Viet Nam war. He was a conservative, a patriot. Not the tea party hypocrites of today. Thank god, I, at least, have the memories of golden KGO. Like Paul Simon said "preserve your memories, they're all that's left you".
ReplyDeleteI miss the old days, too. Now we're stuck with cackling Bernie supporters who seem to be wrong more often than they're right. Such is life.
ReplyDeleteMy listening days only go back to 1988, and enjoyed most of their lineup for years, sans the Dr.Laura years. My faves were Ronn back in his prime, Bernie, Ray, Gene, Chris Clark, Shawn Nix, Dr.Dean and still enjoying John and Pat.
ReplyDeleteNicely written. I took KGO off my listening list the day after the massacre - I couldn't believe what they had done to 'our' station. After years of being a daily listener, I haven't since that day. KCBS' gain.
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ReplyDeleteI feel the same way about KFRC. What a travesty. Someone would be doing us a favor if they brought that station back once the Entercom/CBS dust settles.
As what? Every revival of the "old" KFRC has failed. Dr. Don is dead, as are Rick Shaw, Big Tom Parker and Shana. John Mack Flanagan is getting hospice care.
DeleteIIRC, 103.7 HD2 is a rehash of KFRC, complete with sounders...either 103.7 or 98.1, forget which...no DJs, though...
DeleteKGO was the kitchen table, the cracker barrel, the town hall. It was the place to turn to connect with your community and to commiserate, problem solve, grieve. I will never forget the day Duane Garrett jumped off the Golden Gate and how the staff pulled together to help us process the loss. The massacre of December 2011 undid all of that. They killed off a top-rated station and turned it into a laughing stock. Now they have the opportunity to reclaim some of their past luster but continue to make unforced errors like shunning Rothmann and Thurston in favor of reruns of some nameless blatherer.
ReplyDeleteSo sad and so unnecessary.
As much as I wish the old KGO could exist today, that ship has sailed as the Internet has overtaken talk radio. Message boards, blogs, Facebook, etc. Cheaper, less labor intensive, and more ad potential to operate a Facebook page than a talk radio format with not just the host but producer, call screener, board op, etc. Older listeners may not like it, but I feel it's the new reality.
ReplyDeleteOddly enough I was watching "The Day the Series Stopped" 30 for 30 documentary about the 89 quake, last night. On one hand, if the quake happened this era, I think Twitter instead of radio would be the "community bulletin board". On the other hand, people can lose their mobile networks but still can use a battery power radio.
Andrew, have you ever been through a large earthquake like the 1989 Loma Prieta? Nothing works. Electricity is in short supply. Telephone service is limited. And I can guarantee that cellular technology will not work. What cell sites that will be able to operate will be so overloaded by traffic that they'll not be able to function. A word to the local broadcast engineers: Don't depend on your Comrex Access to work during the next big quake. I suggest that if you have an old Marti RPU xmtr and receiver gathering dust at your transmitter site, that you get it fixed and capable of broadcasting. The next Earthquake that strikes will be covered by radio stations that have wireless radio-telephony capability and that does not mean cell phones!
DeleteInteresting blog Rich. I have listened to KGO since 96. I can understand your disappointment in Ronn, but if he was as nice as your blog suggest, I don't understand your vendetta against him now. From reading your blog I don't find he did anything personally to you. Rather is was his reaction to all the firings in Dec. 2011, that turned you against him. I agree his reaction was weak, and I was disappointed. However, I still listen to Ronn, because there is no one else I care to listen to at the time in the morning. I understand you critic of Ronn and his show, that is fair. However, if he was as nice to you as you say for as long as your blog suggest, I think your vendetta against him on a personal is misguided. Especially if he was as nice to you as long as your blog suggests, it seems a little overreacting, since he, again according to your comments here, did not do anything personally to you. We are all flawed human beings, we all make mistakes, but you have to look at someone in totality, not just one incident. Frankly, your vendetta against Ron, does not seem healthy, against Cumulus yes, but eventually we have to let go of anger and resentment, I learned that from my divorce, and when we do, we are better for it.
ReplyDeleteRonn is gutless and classless. The older he gets the more you see his true colors.
DeleteRemember when the Hard Rock Cafe was THE place to be, and you thought their t-shirts were the coolest things in the world? Remember when Arsenio Hall was the king of late night tv and you wouldn't dream of missing a single episode? Or how about the days you never thought you'd pay 2 bucks for a bottle of WATER? Get it, things change. KGO changed a long time ago and you and your readers are beyond obsessed with it. Yeah, KGO was great. It isn't great anymore. The end.
ReplyDeleteAmen to that. BUT - in my opinion, KGO is still pretty good, and following the thoughts of you and others, times change. We have blogs, vlogs, podcasts and satellite, and lots of talent to entertain us. Life is change. So is radio. Deal.
DeleteYou have some poor tastes 10:34am, except the KGO part...but, it didn't change "a long time ago". The massacre is still fresh in people's minds, it was a bit over 5 years ago, that's a blink of an eye.
DeleteAnd 12:35pm you are nuts to think "it's pretty good". "Lots of talent" ? Man you are ill.
Ronn was my go to when I got to the office. KGO was on in the background while I did my work. I, too, was turned off by his reaction to his fellow hosts' firing and change of format. I still listened though. What did it for me was the "up to 30" he decided to have, nearly a year later in November. People, like us, decided to ask him about the format change. His attitude, and reaction was telling. He barked at his listeners. How dare they call him, or his station out. When confronted with his declaration that the station had to do something to combat falling ratings, a caller calmly asked, how are the ratings now? (hint - they were worse, and getting lower by the minute). He shut it down, threw up his skirt, and left the conversation.
ReplyDeleteContrast that with Tom Tolbert, who addressed the termination of Ralph, almost immediately, and still brings him up to this day. That's class. That's courageous. That's my evening drive, and I'm not that into sports.
The perfect storm. A bad decision by Cumulus, and Ronn exposed for who/what was really behind the mic. An empty suit.
I worked at KGO during the eighties. It was a throwback to early radio with staff announcers (Bob Trebor, Larry Doyle and Jay Snyder) who would come into the studio at :59 and under a melodic bed, give the local weather before the hourly ABC News. It was a professional place with top talent: Owen Spann, Jim Eason, Art Finley, Jazzbeau Collins, Dr. Joy Brown, Russ Coughlin, Ray Taliaferro, John Hamilton and Ronn Owens. The news staff was stellar: Jim Dunbar and Ted Wygant in the morning with Carl Haberly and Dick Leonard; noon news with Ted Wygant and the afternoon news with Ed Baxter and Jan Black with reporters Greg Edmonds, Pat Davis in Sacramento and so many more. Leo Ciolino was a fixture at the place. Monty Stickles, Red Rush and Joe Starkey made up the sports team. We covered 49er games, broadcast the Pope's visit to Candlestick live and had live remotes with Bernie Ward and his Holy Donut Sunday. It was a great place to work and everyone was proud of KGO-810 as it was known then. It was not uncommon for KGO to get a 10.0 in the quarterly ratings. By the way, it was a union shop. Ah, the memories!
ReplyDeleteDick Leonard had one the best sign-offs to his reports.
DeleteHe delivered this stories in a rapid fire succession.
if i could listen to 1980's KGO replays all over again it would be radio heaven!
DeleteI used to listen to KGO a lot back in the late 70s and 80s. The likes of Jim Eason, Jim Dunbar, Al Collins, Owen Spann and many others. Miss those days.
ReplyDeleteGood job Rich. Usually critical regarding your personal and immature rants, but this column was well thought out and I appreciate that you shared the reasons for the way you feel like you do.
ReplyDeleteRonn watches way too much Fox News these days. Hey Ronn, read a book!
ReplyDelete"However, I still listen to Ronn, because there is no one else I care to listen to at the time in the morning."
ReplyDeleteUh huh. So you prefer to listen to endless commercials and mattress man over Dennis Prager.
Fucking idiot.
Great writing Rich.
ReplyDeleteIf I ever win a multi-million dollar lottery I will buy KGO and get it back to something like it use to be. I know it won't be exactly the same but something the bay area could be proud of.
The Bay Area has reached another tipping point on it's move to be more like L.A. From now on, everything will have been better in the past. It''s called "progress."
ReplyDeleteRadio format changes are rarely called "progress" since they're experimental. Sadly bad data and a lack of great gut feeling lead to many failures, KGO's was one of the saddest.
DeleteThere is still one station I've found that operates at the level of the old KGO, and that is LBC in London. Intelligent, professional hosts discussing a wide variety of topics with a wide range of guests and callers. As in the old days of KGO, political leaders regularly come on to discuss policy. They have many younger callers. Oh, and LBC is the #1 commercial station in London with a growing audience. So it can still be done, at least there. www.lbc.co.uk
ReplyDeleteGee, sounds like you threw away a worthwhile friendship.
ReplyDelete