Las Vegas Radio History

The origin of the L.V. Jazz Society’s slogan “Think Jazz” was on KLAV

“Think Jazz” became the mantra of Monk Montgomery, and the slogan of the Las Vegas Jazz Society which Monk Founded in 1975.  That slogan came about on the spur of the moment and unexpectedly.  Monk hosted a three hour jazz program on Sunday nights on KLAV from 8-11pm, “The Reality of Jazz” which was also the title of one of his albums. 

I remember the very first show, for which I ran the board and introduced Monk and provided someone for him to talk to and play off of.  The show wasn’t scripted; we just played it by ear and basically winged it.  When it came time to end the show, Monk said his goodbyes and then I closed the show with the sponsored billboard-The Tender Trap jazz club.  I also ran without a script, and right before I gave the legal ID I needed a few seconds to fill before we hit the top of the hour CBS news.  So I simply said, “until next time…think jazz.” 

Not an especially profound statement… but Monk was blown away by it.  “I like it!” he said.  He was pretty excited, and we closed every show thereafter with “think jazz.”  So a simple couple of words I came up with on the spur of the moment would become a mantra for Monk and the slogan for the Jazz Society which he founded.

Radio Bits & Bytes: 1989 Before the “The Point” there was “The Key”

As early as 1975 a construction permit was issued for 93.1 mHz on the FM band for proposed station KEEC issued to Quality Broadcasting, Inc. a group whose principals included Las Vegas attorney Pat Cleary and wife Diane.  The station would not sign on until 1980 with the call letters KUDO and an adult contemporary format.  In the mid 1980s the station was purchased by principals of Lorimar Productions, later Unicom Broadcasting took control, their owners included the Molasky Family:  Father Irwin, and sons Steven, Alan, and Andrew.  Around 1987 the format flipped to “New Age” music, or “New Adult Contemporary” with new call letters KEYV and the slogan “The Key”.

That format lasted until around 1992 when it became the market’s first Adult Album Alternative or “AAA” format, featuring artists from Cowboy Junkies to The Cure while keeping “The Key” moniker.   The format was short-lived, as Broadcast Associates entered into a Sales Marketing Agreement with intent to purchase the station–they took control in 1993 and the format flipped to “Hit Kickin’ Country Y-93.”  Lotus would flip 97.1 to “The Point” that year to the AAA format. 

The station’s Wikkipedia entry is fairly accurate: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KPLV - except they omitted the call letters KEYV from the lineup of call letter changes over the years, this is because the FCC call letter database does not list them.  Starting with the 1977 CP of KEEC, 1980 KUDO, 1987 KEYV, 1996 KBGO, 1998 KQOL, and 2006 KPLV.

Radio Bits & Bytes: 1969

Here’s look at a few station management teams in Vegas in 1969:

KTOO-AM 1280.  At that time was a 5,000 watt daytimer broadcasting from 154 Water Street in Henderson, their city of license.
General Manager:  Duke Hoover - Known as “Sweet Duke Hoover” as a TV host
Program Director:  Ralph Trent
Promotions Director:  G.L. Vitto - known on TV for his wacky sportscasts on KSHO-TV 13
News Director:  Tru Truman
Chief Engineer:  David Rogers

KLUC-AM 1050 - KLUC was at 1050, a 500-watt daytimer which simulcast on the FM at 98.5 with 5.78 kilowatts, transmitting on the grounds of the Frontier Hotel. 
Owner/General Manager:  Mike Gold
Commercial Mgr:  Mike Kelley
Program Director:  Steven Gold - Would become president of Broadcast Associates & KFMS
News Director:  Ralph Menard - best known as the voice of KVVU TV-5, Henderson Laaaaas Vegas
Chief Engineer:  Jim Flint - Became GM of KLVM-FM 94.1 when it signed on in 1971, later on KDWN as “The Old Professor”

KVEG-AM 970 had their home in the Castaways Hotel and simulcast on FM at 92.3 with the call letters KULA.  The KVEG call letters have been recycled many times,  among others used by 1410 AM when it was owned by Broadcast Associates, 840 AM when they signed on, and are presently assigned to 97.5 FM licensed to Mesquite. 
General Manager: Bat Henderson
Sales Manager:  Hal Blu
Program Director:  Johnny Gunn

Radio Bits & Bytes: Automation-1960 Style!

As I work on this website about broadcasting history in Las Vegas there are many stories I’ve been told by people I’ve worked with over the years. This one comes from Gordon Atterberry, who was KLAV’s chief engineer in the early 1970s.

Gordie took me out to the KLAV transmitter site which used to be behind Montgomery Wards on East Charleston, a site which had quite a bit of radio history–it was the first location of Vegas’ first radio station KENO-AM in 1940. Collecting dust in the corner of the building was a long box which looked very much like a jukebox, with the Seeberg logo on the front. There was no coin slot in this ‘jukebox’ though, for it had a similar function but different application: it was KLAV’s automation equipment from circa 1960.

“King KLAS” was the station’s slogan Gordie said, reflecting the call letters of the station at the time. Sometime in the late 50s the station went top-40 and had pretty good success, taking on KENO and KRAM who were the market leaders..they even beat them in the ratings, Gordie said. Then new owners came in and decided to automate it, get rid of the disc jokeys and installed a jukebox to play all the records. But in 1960 radio without live people wasn’t accepted, the ratings tanked and the owners ended up losing the station and had to sell.

I haven’t found any more evidence to back up Gordie’s story about what was possibly the first automated station in Las Vegas, and the first of many “Top 40″ wars which would come. But the dusty relic which looked like a jukebox did offer some proof that decades ago, a trend which would later become widespread in the industry had beginnings in Las Vegas around 1960.

Radio Bits & Bytes: 1970 Housecleaning

1956:  KENO-AM 1460 was listed at the address “810 W. Keno Lane” which was adjacent to the El Rancho Vegas and behind the Frontier Hotel. Earlier entries in the annual broadcasting yearbooks simply had them on “The Strip.”  It was on West Keno Lane that radio pioneer Max Kelch built new studios for Las Vegas’ first radio station, and appropriately the street on which it was located was named for the station.  This name would remain for years until a hotel neighbor would petition to change it (after all we had Sahara, Flamingo, and Tropicana Avenues.)   Today Circus Circus Drive is the name of what was once Keno Lane and where early Las Vegas broadcasting history was made.

1970 KLUC House Cleaning: Lots of changes for the station in this period, a change on their AM from 1050 to 1140 with a power increase from 500 to 10,000 watts, and a new broadcast facility.  In preparation for the move they announced they were cleaning out all the old LPs they no longer needed, and anyone could just come by the studios on Industrial Road and help themselves.  The soon-to-be vacated Industrial Arts building housed a famous studio, on the first floor of the complex nearby the 2nd floor radio studios:  United Recording run by Billy Porter.  Billy was Elvis Presley’s sound engineer and The King laid down some vocal tracks at the facility.  The final mixdown of “Suspicious Minds” (with the fade out and in at the end) was performed at those studios, as was “The Age of Aquarius” and many other popular songs.  KLUC cleaned out their old albums (I have a few of them) and moved to brand-new studios on West Hacienda– KLUC had left the building.