KMET (FM)
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KMET was a
History
As with many FM stations at the time, KMET featured an automated format (with female voices and middle-of-the-road music). The origin of KMET's
The KPPC format was only mildly successful. After leaving KROQ AM/FM, Shadoe Stevens was hired by General Manager L. David Moorhead in 1974 to create something new for the struggling format KMET had put in place. With a staff that included B. Mitchell Reed, Stevens, Jimmy Rabbitt,[3] Brother John, and Mary ("The Burner") Turner, Stevens introduced a new rock format that retained some of Donahue's progressive freedom but gave it energy and consistency that featured programming and high production values similar to those that had been integrated at KROQ. Stevens also designed a futuristic billboard campaign called "Hollywood as seen from Mulholland Drive in the year 2525."
Artist Neon Park did ads for KMET as well as the famous billboards. With this new programming design and branded marketing, in 1975 KMET became the number one radio station in Los Angeles.http://www.shadoe.com/kroq-kmet-fm.html[citation needed]
KMET's station identification jingle, "A Little Bit of Heaven, Ninety-Four Point Seven - KMET - Tweedle-Dee" was originally written by Shadoe Stevens and the song was sung by the Pointer Sisters during an interview on his show. This ID "jingle" came to be emblematic for KMET.
Stevens left in 1975 to begin a production company and the station's programing was taken over by Sam Bellamy. Ms. Bellamy, who had been hired from Billboard Magazine, had been Stevens' assistant for most of the time he programmed the station.[citation needed]
At the time, the studios of KMET and its local AM counterpart,
KMET stood in direct contrast to other music stations of the era. KMET and other progressive-rock stations played more
KMET often mixed counterculture comedy skits by the Firesign Theatre and the Credibility Gap with the music. The Credibility Gap broadcast satirical skits during Pasadena's Tournament of Roses Parade in the 1970s.[4] Another KMET staple at the time was Dr. Demento, whose variety show began on KPPC-FM. The Dr. Demento Show moved to KMET-FM in 1972 and soon became the most listened-to Sunday evening radio program in Los Angeles.[citation needed] Following Dr. Demento on Sunday nights, Mike Harrison hosted a phone-in talk show called Harrison's Mike.[citation needed]
KMET aired live concerts that went on to become seminal recordings. David Bowie's show at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on 20 October 1972 during the Ziggy Stardust Tour was aired by KMET. Bootlegs of the broadcast were widely distributed, even in chain record stores, before it gained a semi-official release in 1994 and then an official release in 2008. According to author David Buckley, possessing a copy of the bootleg was the test of a "proper Bowie fan".
On July 7, 1978, KMET aired
KMET was a member of a group of progressive-rock stations that emerged across the country in the late 1960s and early 1970s, along with
]The 1978 movie
The progressive format thrived on KMET throughout the 1970s and into the early 1980s, at one time becoming one of the most successful FM stations in the country.[
KMET is also notable for broadcasting the program The Mighty METal Hour, which was hosted by Jim Ladd on Friday nights from 10PM to midnight,.
Metromedia fired the entire KMET on-air staff on February 9, 1987, signing off its album rock format at Noon on February 14, 1987, with The Beatles' "Golden Slumbers Medley" (Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight / The End). KMET was replaced by the
Tributes
On June 21, 2009, Los Angeles radio station KSWD ("The Sound 100.3") announced that on July 10, 2009, it would do a one-day revival of KMET complete with the original airchecks and many of the on-air staff from the station's heyday.[8] The Sound had another KMET reunion from November 1 to 3, 2013.[9]
KMET was inducted into the Rock Radio Hall of Fame in the "Legends of Rock Radio-Stations" category in 2014.[citation needed]
On-air staff]
- Billy Jugs
- Richard Beebe
- Sam Bellamy
- Barbara Birdfeather (1969–1971)[10]
- Bobby Blue
- Damion Bragdon, aka "Damion" [11]
- Lynda Clayton
- Bob Coburn (Rockline)
- Al "Jazzbo" Collins (1966)
- Sky Daniels
- Dr. Demento
- Raechel Donahue
- Tom Donahue
- Cynthia Fox
- Tom "Uncle T" Gamache
- Jeff Gonzer
- Bob Griffith
- Mike Harrison
- Patrick 'Paraquat' Kelley
- Richard Kimball
- Frank DeSantis
- E.J. Knight
- Jim Ladd
- John Langan
- Pat Martin (broadcaster)
- Brad Messer
- L. David Moorhead. General mgr.
- Deirdre O'Donoghue (Breakfast with the Beatles) (1983-?)
- Thom O'Hare
- Martin Perlich
- David Perry
- Jim Pewter (1970–1973)
- Jimmy Rabbitt
- B. Mitchel Reed
- Billy Pearl
- William (Rosko) Mercer
- Rick Scarry
- Brent Seltzer
- Shana
- Lee 'Baby' Simms
- China Smith
- Frazer Smith
- Freddy Zermeno
- Jack Snyder
- Shadoe Stevens
- Bill Todd
- Ron Middag
- Mary Turner
- Gabriel Wisdom
- Ace Young (1971–1983 and 1985–1987)
- Rick Lewis of The Lewis and floorwax show
- Steven Clean (1973-1975)
References
- ^ "Media reports. . " (PDF). Broadcasting. May 2, 1966. p. 62. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
- ^ "New wave" (PDF). Broadcasting. February 23, 1987. p. 58. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
- ^ http://www.jimmyrabbitt.com/rabbittbio.htm Jimmy Rabbitt biography
- ^ http://rateyourmusic.com/artist/the_credibility_gap Credibility Gap Biography
- ISBN 0312077866.
- ^ "KMET 94.7 Jim Ladd Mighty Metal Hour Radio Vol. 2 | #314221998".
- ^ "KMET Drops AOR After 19 Years, Dismisses Airstaff" (PDF). Radio & Records. February 13, 1987. p. 1. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
- ^ "KMET returning for a day - SGVTribune.com". Archived from the original on 2009-07-20. Retrieved 2009-06-24.
- ^ Wagoner, Richard (October 30, 2013). "KMET returns with its old uniquely L.A. sound for the weekend". Press-Telegram. Retrieved November 1, 2013.
- ^ https://www.variety.com/article/VR1118003038.html?categoryid=23&cs=1[dead link]
- ^ "Home".
External links
- ^ "Media reports. . " (PDF). Broadcasting. May 2, 1966. p. 62. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
- ^ "New wave" (PDF). Broadcasting. February 23, 1987. p. 58. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
- ^ http://www.jimmyrabbitt.com/rabbittbio.htm Jimmy Rabbitt biography
- ^ http://rateyourmusic.com/artist/the_credibility_gap Credibility Gap Biography
- ISBN 0312077866.
- ^ "KMET 94.7 Jim Ladd Mighty Metal Hour Radio Vol. 2 | #314221998".
- ^ "KMET Drops AOR After 19 Years, Dismisses Airstaff" (PDF). Radio & Records. February 13, 1987. p. 1. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
- ^ "KMET returning for a day - SGVTribune.com". Archived from the original on 2009-07-20. Retrieved 2009-06-24.
- ^ Wagoner, Richard (October 30, 2013). "KMET returns with its old uniquely L.A. sound for the weekend". Press-Telegram. Retrieved November 1, 2013.
- ^ https://www.variety.com/article/VR1118003038.html?categoryid=23&cs=1[dead link]
- ^ "Home".