CLINTON ST. QUARTERLY Someone once asked rock ’n’ roll’s founding dee jay, Allen Freed, why he bothered to listen to the cuts he was playing. Why not just wait for the cue? Freed replied that you can’t fool the kids. Well, the kids have grown up and after years of benign neglect from Top 40, chainsaw FM, mellow corporate concept stations and the like, somebody’s listening once again... KKSN at 91AM. KKSN has all the earmarks of great radio. It demands your attention, envelopes your day and you want it to be part of your friend’s day. The KKSN platter pushers are bound to tickle your fancy with a memorable line, a funny bit or a set inspired in rock ’n’ roll heaven. It might be Kathy Sullivan quietly crooning over Ry Cooder, Tod Tolsis questioning the Schludwiller boys or Bob Simmons with a R & B tribute to Emancipation Day. There’s always something to ooh and aah about to friends, and that’s half the fun of radio. This oasis has appeared in, of all places, the wasteland of commercial AM radio thanks to careful — sometimes brilliant — calculating by managing partners Bill Failing and Bob Simmons. The failure of the original KISN in 1973 can be compared to the loss of a precious gem, and like Tolkien’s golems, Failing and Simmons went in search of the precious. Five years ago they undertook their odyssey with the support of Vancouver, W ashington’s Sally Peterson and Pete Stark, a Walnut Creek, California Congressman. After spending $5O-$75,OOO in legal fees, the group ended up in a FTC competitive hearing with four other corporations. In an inspired stroke they merged with two of their competitors, and in the process they showed the FTC assets in excess of a half-million dollars. Once they secured the airways at 91 AM Bill and Bob were given carte blanche since the financial backers were not radio people. Their next move was to decide on a format. They were looking at a market with three Top 40 stations and four country and westerns. Jazz and classical represented too small an audience for their big (5,000 watt) signal. For awhile they considered progressive country-western — the gotten STRUTTIN' ON BOURBON ST. SWAYIN' IN THE CHOIR By Atty Fitzpatrick likes of the Byrds, Bob Wills, Leo Kotke, Baez, the Beatles, etc. — which they thought would be lively enough to counteract the loss of fidelity that AM radio entails. But they decided that the country audience in P-town was too loyal to KWJJ and afflicted with a winnebago consciousness that is typical of conservative countrypolitan stations. They finally found a gap-in the marketing grid and went for it. After considerable market research, they uncovered a groundswell of hostility among 25-35 year olds directed at “ the same old records,” “ clowns that aren’t funny,” and “ intelligence insulted and FM sounding like AM.” They opted for the idea of “ concept radio,” a dearly-departed programming approach of the late Sixties and early Seventies that has been replaced with the “ consistent sound.” According to Simmons, a station like KGW surveys every song it plays to make sure i t ’s instantly recognizable. KKSN watches the trade papers to see what’s moving on the charts, but it is not nearly as structured. To assure the success of the return to concept programming, the KKSN management sought DJs who have been involved in similar situations in the past. Both Simmons and Failing were veterans: Bob was an FM pioneer of KOME in San Jose and the unredoubtable KSAN in San Francisco, and Bill managed several Bay Area rock bands. Together they rescued Kathy Sullivan from Gillroy, California and KFAT, sprung Bill Buchanan from KSAN, bussed Dave Harper of KZEL up from Eugene, and imported former Melody Maker correspondent Todd Tolsis. They also interested hometowners Les Friedman of the late KVAN and Rock O’Day O’Shea of KEX. For their news department they saved Gina Tuttle from KXL’s beautiful music and lassoed Dave Smith, news director at Spokane’s KREM. All of these seasoned jocks welcomed the chance to work and play for a station that favors a DJs freedom of choice. For KKSN to cut the nut, it must reach 10% of either one of two markets: the 800,000 18-44 year olds or the 320,000 25-34 year olds who live in the metropolitan area. That is a lot of bodies, but KKSN is convinced that the unique blend of oldies, new tunes, mainstream jazz and rhythm and blues will pull in the listeners. In an arena where massmarketing is the key to success such free-thinking would seem like a paradox, but it just may be the secret to KKSN’s success. The paradox goes even deeper. By the management’s account, the station tries to reach as many women as men — a rarity in the rock radio game — and plays a lot of music by Black artists. Portland’s Black population is at most 5% of the market. According to Simmons, KKSN’s policy runs against “ radio superstition” that you can’t play Black music in a white town. On June 19th, Simmons told of a holiday called the teenth which is celebrated in the backwaters of the . old South as Emancipation Day, the day Lincoln freed the slaves. He proceeded to play a set of gospel and rhythm ’n’ blues that would have had ’em struttin on Bourbon Street and swayin in the choir. Whether or not such inspiration will make sense in the marketplace, it makes for great radio. The best. July 17-19 Freestyle 20-23 Nu Shooz 24-26 Seafood M 27-30 Alost 31-Aug. 2 Wheatfield 3-5 Harper Band 6-9 Street Corner Band 10-11 Michael Lotz 12-16 Buckarama Days... St. Champagne — $1 cover every night 17-19 Harper Band 20-23 Paul deLay 24-27 Balloons 28-30 Seafood Mama 31-Sept. 3 Michael Lotz 4-7 Island 16-18 Central Nervous System 25-27 Wheatfield Tuesday Nights Dollar Nights $1 Cover and Pitchers Even-numbered Mondays: music and poetry Happy hour 3-7 daily phone 227-4573 I.D. required July 17-19 27 Malchicks Junior Cadillac Nothin' Could be lackin' 28-30 Dr. Corn's Electric when you're out there Bluegrass Remedy Cadillacin' Sept. 2 Malchicks 23-26 Sleazy Pieces 4-6 Seafood Mama at Artquake Debut of the Decade 9 The Odds 29 Freestyle 10-13 Sleazy Pieces 30-Aug. 2 Slowtrain 16 Malchicks 5 Malchicks 17 The Odds 6 The Odds 18-20 Johnny & the Distractions 7-9 Seafood Mama 23 The Odds 12 The Odds 24-27 Carl Smith & the Natural 13 KKSN Mighty 91 Nite Gas Co. Big Band is Back with The Odds 30 Malchicks 14-16 Johnny & the Distractions Oct. 1-4 Jr. Cadillac 19 Malchicks Nothin' could be lackin' 20-23 26 Trigger's Revenge Thf Odds when you're out there Cadillacin' specials SUNDAYS MONDAYS SLOWTRAIN PAUL deLAY a ll w ine 2 fo r 1 2 fo r 1 on tap refreshments TUESDAYS G rea t Rock 'n' Roll MONDAY-FRIDAY 4-6 pm Happy Hour 2 for 1 on all refreshments and free pool SACKS FRONT AVENUE, SW FRONT AND YAMHILL —i 39
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc4NTAz