KABL KNEW (AM)

1 kabl

1.1 genesis of kabl
1.2 kabl s format
1.3 final years
1.4 kabl reborn on internet

kabl

this station best known longtime home of kabl, successor krow , 1 of first beautiful music stations in united states, owned 1950s radio pioneer gordon mclendon.

the genesis of kabl

according longtime mclendon national program director don keyes (d. 2006), in book gordon mclendon , me, mclendon wanted own station in san francisco market, , 960 krow seemed ideal because of relatively low dial position , strong coverage of san francisco market. original plan had been launch top 40 format on krow, after mclendon , team visited market , discovered there several top 40 stations, decided there wasn t room one. result, looked kixl, beautiful-music station in dallas-fort worth, texas, market enjoying fair amount of success despite being daytime-only, , decided launch similar format on krow using kixl s formula of quarter-hour blocks of familiar musical selections (three instrumentals, arranged tempo, , 1 vocal) template. new calls kabl, in san francisco s legendary cable cars.

in may 1959, krow began stunting continuous loop of song called gila monster, theme song horror film gordon mclendon had co-produced year. based on stunt, assumed general public — , competition — krow become top 40 station along lines of mclendon s klif in dallas, waky in louisville or kilt in houston, station proceeded take surprise debuting kabl beautiful music station. kabl captured erudite listening audience disliked rock , roll , became number 1 radio station in san francisco, , remain @ or near top of ratings years afterward.

kabl s format

as kabl, station combined mixture of easy listening string , orchestra music light classics , occasional latin cocktail hour tune. kabl known presenting poetic vignettes san francisco life, harp interlude between songs, , cable car bell announce news.

licensed oakland, transmitter near east end of san francisco–oakland bay bridge, kabl noted in radio history failure identify city of license. while kabl have legally identified oakland/san francisco, instead deliberately tried identify san francisco rather oakland. notorious using slogans such kabl oakland, serving san francisco on san francisco radio dial, in air, everywhere on san francisco . raised ire of federal communications commission (fcc), resulting in fine , admonishment broadcasters licensed serve particular community, not surrounding ones.

the final years

in 1997, station switched adult standards format of traditional pop , big band music. @ 1 point, presumably inspired swing dancing/zoot suits craze of late 1990s, added nightly swing/dance show several hours in length, played music retro swing groups of period such brian setzer s , cherry poppin daddies, standard material such glenn miller s in mood . program didn t last long. carried syndicated when radio old-time radio anthology series, tending move time slot around. in 2000, briefly switched 1960s-1970s soft rock format, went older music after complaints regular audience. in fact, later-years kabl tended go , forth on including greater amounts of more modern softer pop-rock material not identified traditional adult standards - peter & gordon , dusty springfield 60s, kenny rogers , air supply turn of 80s.

on september 28, 2004, 960 dropped adult standards programming , kabl call letters. kabl subsequently reemerged @ co-owned 92.1 fm in walnut creek, california. station had limited signal beyond immediate broadcast area, however, , in july 2005, switched adult contemporary music format.

kabl reborn on internet

kabl began broadcasting internet radio station. lasted until january 31, 2007, when clear channel conmmunications discontinued kabl s streaming music. on june 1, 2007, under license clear channel, bay area radio museum launched streaming tribute kabl on internet, featured beautiful music, easy listening, adult standards, big bands, traditional pop , middle-of-the-road music, represent various musical styles presented during station s forty years on air. url used directs clear channel corporation s iheart radio website. leaves radio sausalito , kcea 2 adult standards radio stations in bay area.