San Francisco Radio 1960s - Playlist Research (2024)

Prior to the rise of freeform radio, which was the seed to album rock radio, fans of more guitar-oriented rock bands grew up listening to AM pop stations that mixed in rock and roll. By the mid-sixties KLIV (1590 AM) in San Jose was playing a lot of regional garage and surf bands along with British Invasion groups. San Jose had a blossoming suburban garage band scene that included bands who went on to have national hits such as the Count Five and Syndicate of Sound. KLIV leaned more basic rock and roll than psychedelic. In 1965 KNBR-AM briefly experimented with a rock-based format.

During this era a revolution was brewing on FM, as independent pop station KPEN (101.3) successfully ushered in FM stereo and received national recognition for doing so. KPEN, which changed call letters in late 1968 to KIOI, began experimenting with rock music as well. Up until that time it had been the top rated FM in the market. It eventually moved toward adult contemporary and regained momentum. Part of the station's success story was that it was the most powerful radio signal (at 125,000 watts) in the market. Certain radio companies such as ABC tried to protect their AM properties against the emergence of FM by filing a petition with the FCC in 1963, proposing to limit the power of FM stations, but KPEN owner Jim Gabbert and partners prevailed and were allowed to keep their wattage, although the FCC set a limit at that time of 50,000 watts, except for stations already transmitting at higher power.

Toward the end of the sixties listeners who did not want to follow pop radio's turn to repetitive "bubble gum music" with less emphasis on community information and commentary, were served by the emergence of KMPX. An early freeform pioneer who steered KMPX toward full-time freeform programming in 1967 was Program Director Tom Donahue, who did an evening show with his wife, Raechel. While freeform radio had developed in other places around the country for years, it was Tom and Raechel who defined the wave of freeform radio that would represent the progressive community from the late sixties through most of the seventies.

The KMPX story defined the evolution of early freeform radio. Owner Leon Crosby sold block time to different groups to air their programs in 1967. Although most of the shows were foreign language, in February Larry Miller began doing an overnight freeform music show. Tom Donahue arrived to do his 8p-12m show in April and became Program Director. Tom had worked on the air at several top 40 stations around the country including crosstown KYA. He had grown tired of the high energy of top 40and its gravitation toward light information. So he offered a more surreal mix of album tracks outside the pop charts withmore insightful as well as off the wall air personalities.

Then on May 21, 1968, following an employee strike, Donahue moved his staff to crosstown KSAN (94.9), which changed from classical to freeform, becoming Jive 95. In the early seventies, KSAN rose to number one in the 18-34 demographic. It developed a cult following for many years. KSAN was owned by MetroMedia, the same company that owned freeform rocker KMET in Los Angeles at that time. MetroMedia also bought KEWB and changed it into KNEW. After many stations around the country had looked to the Donahues for inspiration, Tom died in 1975 of a heart attack in his forties. Gradually KSAN became more structured until inevitably taking the shape of the more streamlined album rock format. Raechel has written books and played in movies and television shows. In May 2005 Raechel reflects, "KMPX was the root, KSAN was the flower. Since then, the bloom has pretty much been crushed beneath the boot of corporate radio."

Both KSAN and KSJO went on to become legendary rock stations throughout the seventies, but KSAN flippedto country music in November 1981 while KSJO survived as rock until flipping to Spanish in October 2004. A rock station that left the market but commanded a strong following in the eighties was KRQR (The Rocker). KSJO/San Jose debuted in 1968 as a freeform rock station, the same year that KZAP in Sacramento went freeform. Until 1971, KZAP could be heard all over the Bay at the 98.5 frequency. Then came KOME, which took the frequency, covering most of the South Bay, East Bay and parts of San Francisco. Both KOME and KSJO leaned more toward straight ahead rock and roll party music than the emerging psychedelic music. Other Bay Area stations including KGO-FM and KSFX attempted experimental programming with rock music following KSAN's popularity in the late sixties.