*This is NOT fiction: early in his Bay Area radio career, the late Ralph Barbieri, was doing a weekend overnight talk show on KGO Radio. One night a few months into his stint, Barbieri couldn't get his card key to work at the old, old KGO studios on Golden Gate Ave. Mickey Luckoff, the KGO GM and VP, fired Barbieri and in classic/cruel Mickey way, didn't tell Barbieri and allowed him to be humiliated. Only later on in his career, The Razor got redemption and the last laugh.
*John Rothmann ridicuously was (again) talking about the Covid-19 variant and how it would impact Christmas plans, all legit and warranted and justified until (on Friday) he began giving listeners updates on Santa's path, via NORAD. KGO Radio now wonders why its ratings are TANKING and why Rothmann can't be taken seriously anymore. No wonder he has an infatuation with Trump and Trump callers.
*There's a rumor threatened Lee Hammer if he (Rothmann) couldn't host KGO shows all day soon. Hammer threatended Rothmann locked up in a KGO conference room with a C Crane radio and Chris Merrill. Rothmann retreated.
*Insert joke dept.: KGO ran a "best of Nikki Medoro" show the other morning.
*I simply said Noelle Bellow and Reyna Harvey were dependably OK and suitable for KRON's morning news--I DID NOT say they were candidates for Peabody awards. Even I'm not that stupid.
*If I had my way, it would be Don Sanchez who didn't retire and was still at Circle7 as opposed to David Louie for a variety of reasons.
*Yeah, the all-sports (alleged) FM radio station 95.7FM-The Game had contest winners come in and host various shows--and the ratings were superior over the regulars--there is a God.
*There was a time when the Chronicle had a pretty god staple of columnists--Caen, McCabe, Hoppe, Nachman, etc.--now can you name one?
*The bar outside the Chron--M and M (now shuttered) would have been hoppin on a day like today--suds, martinis, good vibe and all, even on a rainy Christmas--but damn, the times now and state of life.
*The Oakland version of the M and M: Kings X on Piedmont Ave near the cemetary. Also shuttered.
*Good soldier award to KGO lead anchor, Dan Ashley, who actually WORKED Christmas Eve and did so SOLO--and by golly, what a clean and crisp newscast 5, 6 and 11. Not that Ashley was lifting heavy machinery mind you, but you get what I mean.
*Merry Christmas, now PLEASE DONATE to 415 Media.
I heard Rothmann most of the week and why does he feel he has to kiss everyone's ass at the end of the of his show? his wonderfull producer, his wonderfull enigener,the beloved kim mccaliser, it sounds totally phony..on friday he told jan wall to give a kiss to her husband, gave his love to pat thurston and niki medoro and even three cheers to his wife for no reason.. and i got tired of listening about how his holiday plans were disrupted, once was fine, but he kept repeating it all week
ReplyDeleteWhat is wrong with being nice to people. So much rancor and mean spiritedness these days, it is refreshing and uplifting to hear some being polite have a little decorum. So perhaps it's a little tedious, but it is probably less than 5 minutes of his show. It is Christmas, get in the spirit.
DeleteYeah, he did the same thing with his colonoscopy...
ReplyDeletehaha, thats a new one, i missed that show, but i have heard him also name drop his doctor often, he name drops everybody under the sun..
Delete"One night a few months into his stink..." LOL
ReplyDeleteI heard part of John's show on friday on my car radio while I was out and about. He had the author of a very interesting book about San Francisco's golden age of department stores and how they disappeared. I loved all the detail about I.Magnin and other wonderful places that so many of us loved. I know that my Christmas celebration has never been the same since Blum's went out of business. I adored Blum's cinnamon bumps in the tourquoise tin with fun art, now all gone. Christmas is a time for nostalgia. I remember the real KGO doing Christmas shows which included Santa, the elf Mondrian, and other characters( on air staff in vocal disguise) asking young callers what they wanted for Christmas...It was lots of fun.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of nostalgia Christine, I remember when you weren’t a thin skinned little baby and could have a conversation without calling people names. Merry Christmas!
DeleteYou are full of it Craft. You lied to Micky Luckoff and got him to fire people and then turned off their key card when you didn’t have the balls to speak to them! Ho ho Ho my foot!
DeleteHappy Christmas Ms Craft. I bet you had your normal Christmas corn dog for dinner!i miss your show. I so enjoyed listening to you as I bathed my my hot tub in Marin. You really know how to make radio great again. I love trump as much as you! God bless. And to all a good night.
DeleteYes, Christine, Yes. My favorites were mailing in fake theater play announcements and Jim Eason would read them on the air.
DeleteMerry Christmas, Christine, Stan, Roberta, Hank and Beetlejuice, I love you all.
Oe Amazing Grace… ��
You must have been high to like those cinabons. They stunk!
DeleteDear Nick...
Deletethey weren't "cinabons", they were Blum's cinnamon bumps, a hard candy in a stylish tin with fun art. They were legendary and given as gifts all over the world. Of course, you didn't know about them. As for the above assertion I ever had anything to do with any firing or key cards at KGO, that's just not true. You thought I had that power?
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DeleteChristine please go away! You're so gross.
DeleteMake me, coward. Are you such a masochist that you have to read the postings of someone you don't know, but think is gross? May I suggest some mental health therapy or better glasses, so you can avoid what you hate so.
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DeleteI agree with Christine, John has always done the Santa Claus show, even back when KGO had great ratings. I get it is not everyone's cup of tea, I'm not that interested myself, but John has many listeners and at times get calls from children, it is one hour, give it rest Rich, and show some generosity of spirit, it is after all Christmas.
DeleteI guess I'm not into Christmas this year. KCBS has their anchors doing little holiday greetings... just give me the news...
ReplyDelete- I need a refresher. Maybe Rich in a future column can reshare his criticisms of David Louie, the only KGO-TV personality remaining from the Van Amburg years. I can't remember RL taking Louie to task like he has done with Loooze, Woodrow, Ming, Trixie, and Turd Tom.
ReplyDelete- I don't remember when M & M shuttered, but I do remember that Kings X shuttered in the mid-2010s, just as most of its best personalities were leaving us too soon; one of them, Britannica Ben, I worked with for 15 years (after over 7 decades in the East Bay - Oakland, then mostly Pleasanton - his last years were in Napa to 2019). I believe that an Asian eatery is there now. Spotted it nearly 3 Mondays ago.
RE; Johnson. That had to be more than 25 years ago. I remember her, but if I remember right...she worked at KRON not KGO (ABC7).
ReplyDeleteRegretfully missed "Best of Nikki Medoro" programming you refer to. Would have enjoyed the dead air silence.
ReplyDeleteThere's a reason why The King's X was on the same street as a cemetery, judging by the regulars.
ReplyDeleteI tuned in to KGO at 11 pm Christmas Eve and was also impressed with Dan Ashley's presence. He is just so solid, professional, and dependable. Is he a secret love child of Walter Cronkite?
ReplyDeleteIs this the real " Christine Craft " exchanging pleasantries !?!
ReplyDeleteDon’t know if it’s the real Christine Craft but whoever she is certainly doesn’t act like a lady.
DeleteShe brags about not acting like a lady. Not sure what she means but she curses like a salary and has some adult content in her posts. I like it because she keeps it real.
ReplyDelete