|
| |||||
 |
|||||
|
|||||
Check here often for the latest 1240 KROY news. |
|||||
'General' John Odgen dies at age 76
[June 23, 2010] The KROY family mourned the death of former station executive John Odgen, who died June 23 at the age of 76 due to illness. John had been a member of the station's sales staff beginning in the 1970s before rising to the position of general manager of KROY and KROI (FM). Staff members fondly referred to him as "General John." Pictured below: John during his radio years.
Born in Bakersfield, John Ogden graduated in 1951 from East Bakersfield High, where he had been an outstanding athlete in basketball and track and field. He had entered the radio industry in the Bakersfield market before then-KROY General Manager Dwight Case lured him to Sacramento to join the KROY sales staff in 1965. He remained until 1969, when KROY's parent company asked him to become general manager of KMAK, its affiliated station in Fresno. He returned to Sacramento in 1976, to take the helm as general manager of KROY and KROI (FM). When sale of KROY was accompanied by personnel changes four years later, John left radio and opened his own equipment leasing business. Pictured below: John and Bonnie enjoying each other's company at their Nevada County home.
During his retirement years, John lived in Nevada County with Bonnie, his wife of 41 years (who also had worked at KROY in merchandising and promotion from 1960 to 1964). In addition to Bonnie, John's loving family members include daughters Gayle Turnage, Leah Adams-Ogden and Lynn Ogden Snyder; son Daryl Ogden; brother Jerry Ogden; sister Judy Blanton; and 12 grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews. Joan (Taber) Borba dies at age 71
[Sept. 17, 2009] Joan (Tabor) Borba, an executive secretary in the KROY business office for a decade beginning in the late 1960s, died at age 71 on Sept. 17, 2009, following a lengthy battle with illness. Joan, who loved music and had a terrific sense of humor, endeared herself to all of those fortunate enough to know her. Pictured below: Joan at a KROY reunion in October 2002.
Born Joan Smith on Aug. 21, 1938, and raised in the Amador County town of Jackson, she played saxophone in the Jackson Butte High School band, was chosen "Miss Amador County" in 1956, and attended Armstrong Business College in Berkeley. She worked most of her adult life in the television and radio industry in the Sacramento area. At KXTV, channel 10, she was secretary to program manager Dean Borba from the late 1950s to the late '60s, before joining KROY. She was an ardent Oakland Raiders fan, a member of the Valley Broadcast Legends society, and a member of the Sacramento Children's Home Guild. Pictured below: Joan at her KROY desk in February 1974.
Her first marriage, to furniture store owner Bob Taber, ended in divorce. After attending a KXTV reunion in 1984, she renewed acquaintances with Dean Borba, whom she subsequently married. Dean died several years ago. She is survived by her daughter, Kerry Taber, of Truckee; and her son Michael Taber and his wife, Leyla Taber, of Sacramento. Remembrances in Joan's name can be made to First Call Hospice; please call (916) 725-2580 for more information. 15 donors support KROY Web site
[June 24, 2009] Donations that 15 generous members of the KROY "family" made during June are underwriting Web hosting costs for continued operation of this KROY tribute Web site. They contributed to the site as a measure of their fondness for their years at KROY and their love of the many loyal listeners who made KROY a part of their lives.Here are the folks who so kindly took out their checkbooks in support of this site.
Johnny Hyde
Jim McClain
Terry Nelson
Tom Nefeldt (T. Michael Jordan)Martin Ashley (Wonder Rabbit)
'Blue Whiz' Bob Castle dies at age 58
Bill Burt (Kris Mitchell)
Barry K. Fyffe
Ken Gimblin
Mike Hamiel
Terry Klaus
Jeff March
Bonnie and John Ogden
Bob Sherwood
Dann Shively
Jim Weske (Jim West)
[March 30, 2007] Robert E. Castle, known to KROY listeners first as the "Blue Whiz" and then under his real name, Bob Castle, succumbed to illness at the age of 58. Castle died March 29 at his home in Reno after battling Parkinson's disease and heart ailments for several years.
Castle, who was born Feb. 8, 1949, in Richmond, Calif., had a radio broadcasting career that spanned more than 40 years and he was inducted into the Broadcasting Hall of Fame. Castle held down evening and afternoon-drive shifts at KROY from 1973 to 1977. He most recently worked at 105.7 KOZZ, a Reno classic rock station.
KOZZ Program Director Jim McClain, known in the 1970s as "Night Train" McClain to listeners of K108 (KXOA-FM) in Sacramento, notified KROY "alumni" of Castle's death and spoke affectionately of him.
"In 1974 I was driving into Sacramento to help build K-108. I decided to check out the number one station and the number one night guy. I dialed up 1240 KROY and heard a crazy person bouncing off the walls. His name...The Blue Whiz," McClain wrote. "Bob was a true character."
After becoming ill, Castle was able to work only work part-time.
"He was always welcome at KOZZ, and it was a joy to have him around the station. Plus, he sounded good, even to the last," McClain said.
Castle loved being a grandfather and enjoyed winter sports activities, and camping and hiking in the Lake Tahoe wilderness during the warmer months. Castle leaves behind four children: Tim, Chris, Ryan and Danielle; and six grandchildren: Marcial, Tristan, Estevan, Riley, Kyndal and Hayden.
Terry Nelson, Bob "The Blue Whiz" Castle (center, wearing his KROY windbreaker jacket) and Barry K. Fyffe enjoying each others' company at a KROY reunion in October 2002.
Mike Hamiel appointed regional editor for Golf Today
[March 27, 2007] Mike Hamiel, a former KROY sales representative, has been appointed regional editor and advertising sales representative for Golf Today magazine.
"I write golf course reviews and other sundry golf anecdotes. You can read my review of Stanford GC in April's edition on-line," Hamiel said. "The publisher claims 300,000 readers, which is about the same number of listeners that KROY had." The magazine's circulation encompasses California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah. The 20-year-old magazine is available at golf courses and golf shops throughout the four-state region.
"Former KROY jock Barry Salberg [known to listeners as Shane and Barry Cannon] is an occasional contributor, and I might add, a damn fine writer who could write for a national golf magazine any day of the week," Hamiel said. Dwight Case receives Broadcasters' Foundation Broadcast Pioneer Award
[May 11, 2006] Former KROY General Manager Dwight Case was among four veteran broadcasters to be honored with 2006 Broadcast Pioneer Awards from the Broadcasters' Foundation Board of Directors. The award was presented to Dwight at the Broadcasters' Foundation Breakfast during the annual National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Convention in Las Vegas, Nev. In addition to Dwight, the 2006 honorees included John Conomikes, Hearst Corp. director and former president and CEO of Hearst Argyle Television; Gary Fries, president of the Radio Advertising Bureau; and K. James Yager, CEO of Barrington Broadcasting. Richard A. Foreman, president and CEO of Richard A. Foreman Associates, received the 2006 Chairman's Award. The awards were presented April 26 at The Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas.
After masterfully guiding KROY througout much of the 1960s and into the early 1970s, Dwight joined RKO Radio, of which he rose to president. AP names Dave Williams and Vicky Moore 'best anchor team'
[Feb. 2, 2006] Dave Williams and Vicky Moore, weekday morning co-anchors on KNX radio (1070 AM) in Los Angeles, have won Mark Twain awards from the Associated Press Television-Radio Association of California and Nevada (APTRA). They won for "Best Anchor Team," and their morning-drive program additionally was among the finalists in the category of "Best News Broadcasts" longer than 15 minutes. Williams and Moore each will receive an 11-inch trophy of marble and pewter in the likeness of author Mark Twain at a ceremony on March 25 at Disneyland's Paradise Pier Hotel in Anaheim. Williams was a KROY personality from 1970 to 1973. You can listen to Dave and Vicky live on weekday mornings through the KNX Web site. KROY's Brian Davis scores top ratings in L.A. as Bryan Simmons
[Jan. 22, 2006] Former KROY disc jockey Brian Davis, now known to radio listeners in Los Angeles as Bryan Simmons, has achieved top Arbitron ratings for the fall survey period among the target audience group for his station, KOST (103.5 FM).You can listen to Simmons' program through the KOST Web site. Martin Ashley leaves Wonder Rabbit and radio behind
- Simmons' program was ranked No.1 in the afternoon drive time slot among people from 25 to 54 years of age. His 5.0 audience share—up sharply from a 3.7 rating in the summer ratings—is a commandingly high rating in the intensely competitive Los Angeles market.
- The latest ratings, released in mid-January, also ranked Simmons' program No. 1, with a 6.5 share (compared to 5.5 last summer), among women aged 25 to 54.
- He ranks No. 1 among all women 18 years and older with a 6.5 share (up from 5.0 last summer).
- In addition, he scored a 58 percent increase in listenership among all listeners age 12 and over, with a 5.4 share (up from 3.4 during the summer).
[June 29, 2005] Martin Ashley, affectionately remembered by KROY listeners as the "Wonder Rabbit," has more than left the building. After a career spanning 37 years in radio, he's left the broadcasting industry to accept a position offered to him at the state Capitol. Ashley is now working down the hall from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, in the Capitol Radio Studio of the California State Senate and Assembly. He is working under direction of former KROY program director Bob Brulte—who was known as Bob West to KROY listeners. Bob Brulte is former state Sen. Jim Brulte's brother. The Radio Services unit records interviews, "sound bites" and commentaries by legislators, and produces audio feeds for radio and television stations.
Ashley said his departure from radio followed considerable reflection about the broadcasting industry.
"Over the past decade I have had seemingly endless discussions regarding the changes to radio broadcasting," said Ashley. "Some changes have been good, but many have been—in my opinion—bad changes. And just like outgrowing the fun and excitement of your first bicycle, the 'business' of radio has overtaken the fun and excitement for many folks like me—dedicated, career-minded, lifelong professionals. Corporate bean-counters, localism issues, radio becoming a commodity, as well as 'do more with less' corporate attitudes have diluted what radio once meant to me. The time has come for me to move on and leave my once-proud profession to others."
We can only guess who will be the first legislator to walk into the Radio Services office and say, "Eat a banana, Wonder Rabbit." Bryan Simmons returns to KOST Los Angeles
[June 15, 2004] Bryan Simmons, whose voice was the first one heard when Los Angeles FM station KOST shifted to a "soft" adult contemporary format in 1982 — and who remained with the station for 19 years before joining LA's KBIG — has returned to KOST. Simmons replaced long-time personality Carolyn Gracie, and the transition took place in a highly unusual environment — before an admiring crowd during a live remote broadcast from Universal Studios. Simmons returned to the KOST afternoon-drive helm on June 14, 2004, after spending about two and a half years at KBIG hosting a weeknight dance music show called "Boogie Nights" as well as weekend afternoon air shifts.
Sacramento listeners knew Simmons under different names. When he made his debut on KROI (FM) in 1976, he was known as Brian Mason. He shifted over to KROY (AM) in 1977 as Brian Davis, a name he retained when he moved to KZAP in 1979. He used the same name at KXOA from 1980 to 1982, but changed the spelling of his first name to Bryan. He's been Bryan Simmons since making the move to Los Angeles in 1982.
"I'll miss KBIG as it was the closest in format to my days in Sacramento radio, but it'll be nice to have my weekends off again," acknowledged Simmons.Anita Garner's "Glory Road" dramatizes her life
with her '50s rockabilly gospel family
[Jan. 24, 2004] Anita Garner—known to KROY listeners in the late 1960s as "Lovely 'Nita"—has written "The Glory Road," a vibrant play about the Jones family of Pentecostal evangelists and gospel singers who toured the Deep South in the 1950s. The drama is enriched by a musical score chronicling the then-emerging rockabilly music phenomenon. "Salvation," Anita explains, "was offered with a honky tonk beat." The story line is especially compelling because it is an autobiographical account that documents and dramatizes Anita's own childhood experiences.
Traveling and appearing at tent revivals and churches in the South, and singing gospel songs on radio broadcasts, the Jones troupe members were part of a vanishing breed whose old-fashioned preaching constituted family entertainment in those dwindling days of a simpler era, before television so dramatically changed the American way of life. Through their travels, Brother Ray and Sister Fern Jones try to mold their children, Leslie Ray and 'Nita Faye, into evangelists—"but both children resist the family business," explains Anita.
Actual musical recordings that Anita's family made during that era form the play's soundtrack. She describes the play as "ultimately a universal story about family and the deals they make to keep from coming apart." Following three initial readings of "The Glory Road" in Los Angeles, the script is now undergoing writing refinements under supervision of a noted theatrical director in preparation for a more stellar theatrical premiere. Visit Anita's beautifully crafted Web site for more information about the play.
Anita, previously an on-air personality for KBIG in Los Angeles and host of a nationally syndicated radio program, now is the female voice for PBS television outlet KCET in L.A. and continues to do commercial voice-over work.Dave Williams moves to KNX
[Jan. 24, 2004] Former KROY personality Dave Williams is now morning drive host on Los Angeles news powerhouse KNX (1070 AM). He presides from 5 to 9 am weekdays over the morning news team, which includes news anchor Vicky Moore, sportscaster Randy Kerdoon, business news specialist Bob McCormick and traffic reporter Jim Thornton. KNX, the signal of which is among the most potent in Southern California, is the oldest station in the region, dating to Sept. 10, 1920. The 50,000-watt station covers most of Southern California, and is heard throughout the West at night and in the predawn hours. Williams joined the station in December after working at co-owned KFWB, another L.A. news station since August 2002. He also spent a year as morning co-host at KABC Los Angeles, following a 15-year stint as morning news anchor at KFBK Sacramento. Dave made his debut on KROY in 1970, when he was hired by Bob Sherwood, and he remained with the station for three years until he shifted to KRTH in Los Angeles.Mike Scheuble (1936-2003) fondly remembered
[Oct. 30, 2003] Mike Scheuble, one of the most inventively productive media salespeople who ever worked in the Sacramento market, died July 8 of cancer at the age of 66. Scheuble, a KROY sales manager who endeared himself to station management as well as on-air personnel, was instrumental in concocting some of the zaniest as well as the most brilliant KROY promotional events.
Former KROY Program Director Johnny Hyde remembers Scheuble fondly.
"I can't begin to tell you the number of times when Mike would come back to the station with a cockamamie deal that would frustrate the hell out of me. But then, with that Scheuble smile, we would put it together in a fashion that didn't run the listeners to KGMS. In exchange, Mike would make sure that you could get your car washed at Gus Stathos' Magic Minute Car Wash. In fairness, much of what we did wouldn't have been possible without Mike. He helped to create the cash flow that kept us going."
Scheuble honed his penchant for practical jokes while still a student at Van Nuys High School, from which he graduated in 1955. "I didn't have a hot car but was in a club called the Jesters," he reminisced in 2001. "We used to go down Van Nuys Boulevard at Halloween throwing pumpkins out of the back of [my friend] Scott's truck as the cops slid through pumpkin slush chasing us." Scheuble's classmates included actors Robert Redford, Natalie Wood and Diane Baker, and baseball pitcher Don Drysdale—who played second base in high school.
Scheuble began his radio career at KBVM in the Southern California desert town of Lancaster. "That station was so broke they repossessed the "Casy"—the portable toilet," joked Scheuble, who went on to KAFY in Bakersfield, working as a disc jockey and engineer before shifting to sales. While in Bakersfield, Scheuble met his wife, Donna. When Mike joined KROY in 1962, the couple moved to Sacramento, where they raised their twin daughters, Greta and Karen, and a son, Christopher. Scheuble remained at KROY until 1973, when he became general manager of RKO General's WAXY in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Following a KROY reunion in Sacramento in October 2002, Scheuble wrote, "The thrill of seeing so many of the people I worked with over the years at KROY was overwhelming. To see [John] Hawkins, [John] Ogden and Dwight [Case] together and remember when KROY was the loser in Sacramento and to know that we were part of the effort that made KROY one of the greatest stations on the coast was humbling. Even more so, walking around the room and talking with the people that an entire city rallied around. Going from last to first was a thrill, but we had such a good time doing it!
"I know all of us have moved to other stations, but the magic of KROY has never been rekindled," Scheuble continued. "Those were magic years powered by magic talented people, and to relive it for the evening was be memorable. Someone said the evening was so short, there just wasn't enough time, but there were so many great people—even Les Thompson [of KXOA], who was a classmate at Van Nuys High! Thanx for the new memories."
When doctors first discovered in 1997 that a cancerous tumor was pressing against Scheuble's aorta, they told him he could expect to live for only six months. He set about establishing print brokerage businesses—Media Plus Advertising and Hispanic Advertising Network in Vacaville—for the benefit of his family members, which deeply impressed former KROY Program Director Bob Sherwood.
"From my own perspective, Mike was the only internal person I ever banned from the control room because I couldn't do my show when he was haranguing me to increase the spot-load during the holiday season. Any holiday—Labor Day, Arbor Day, Duke Snider's birthday, Russ Solomon's Bar Mitzvah, Lodi's Grape Festival, the opening of pheasant season, Millard Fillmore's anniversary," Sherwood reverentially ribbed. "And when I'd stubbornly refuse to yield, on occasion, he'd employ the ultimate 'closer'—a meeting with [General Manager] Dwight Case and me at Christie's Elbo Room [a popular watering hole of the day]. "In that environment I generally ceded an increased spot load, plus assumed the national debt of Bolivia, promised that all jocks would do a freebie appearance at Weinstock's and did 6-to-9 on Sunday night as penance," Sherwood joked.
"More recently, I lit a candle at St. Patrick's," he added solemnly. "Michael, we miss you."
Although radiation bombardment and chemotherapy had suppressed the malignancy for more than five years, development of lethal abnormalities in Mike's thyroid remained undetected until early 2003. He continued working, however, until the day before his final trip to the hospital. Donna vividly remembers that when he awoke on his final day at home, Mike gently patted her and said, "Hey, babe, it's been a really good ride. Call 911." During his last hour of life, Mike authorized medical donation of his eyes.
"We had one whale of a good time," said Donna, to whom Mike had remained married for nearly 42 years. "We spent a lot of good years together."
Donna can be reached by e-mail at mediapls@pacbell.net.
Check here often for the latest 1240 KROY news.
