KGB-FM

KGB-FM

City of license	San Diego, California
Broadcast area	San Diego, California
Branding	101-5 KGB
Slogan	"San Diego's World Class Rock"
Frequency	101.5 MHz (also on HD Radio) 101.5-2 KGB-HD2, Classic
First air date	1972
Format	Classic rock HD2: Classic Hits
ERP	50,000 watts
HAAT	152 meters
Class	B
Facility ID	34454
Callsign meaning	K George Bowles, station manager of KGB-AM from 1928 to 1931. [1]
Owner	Clear Channel Communications
Sister stations	KHTS, KIOZ, KLSD, KMYI, KOGO, KOGO-FM
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	101kgb.com

KGB-FM (101.5 FM) is a classic rock radio station in San Diego, California. It is owned and operated by Clear Channel Communications.

History

When it first went on the air in 1972, KGB-FM had common ownership with KGB-AM, a popular San Diego radio station that first went on the air in 1922. For the early history of KGB-AM, please see the Wikipedia article on KLSD radio. KGB-FM was one of the early adopters of the FM album oriented rock format in the early 1970s, as a complement to the AM side of the house, and soon eclipsed KGB-AM as rock listeners moved to FM. KGB was named "Station of the Year" by Billboard Magazine in 1974 and Rock Station of the Year by Rolling Stone magazine in 1991. Brad Messer was the station's News Director from 1972 to 1975. News anchors during this period included Messer, Brent Seltzer, Gerry Gazlay and George Wilson. Other industry veterans who spent time at KGB-FM include; Larry Himmel, Bob Coburn, Dave Benson, Damian Bragdon, Gabriel Wisdom, Erik Thompson, Jim McInnes, Rick Liebert, Pat Martin, Larry Bruce, Bill Hergonson, Ernesto Gladden, Ted Edwards, Linda McInnes, Digby Welch, Kevin McKeown, Pam Edwards, Brian Schock, Susan Hemphill, John Leslie, Blair and Kymythy Schultz, Phil Hendrie, Jeff Prescott, Michael Berger, Sue Delany, Cookie "Chainsaw" Randolph, Dave Rickards, Shelly Dunn, Coe Lewis and Mojo Nixon.

Notable Promotions

In 1974, KGB gave the world a piece of pop culture Americana. The "KGB Chicken," an advertising mascot played by Ted Giannoulas, was hatched that year when employees of KGB-FM hired Giannoulas (then a student at San Diego State University) from off the street to wear a chicken outfit for a promotion to distribute easter eggs to children at the San Diego Zoo. The Chicken, whose antics entertained steadily larger crowds, moved on to features at concerts and sporting events (appearing at more than 520 San Diego Padres games in a row). Conflict emerged between KGB Radio and Giannoulas, and the latter was fired in 1977. Another unnamed employee was hired to don a chicken outfit at a Padres game. After a lawsuit was decided in Giannoulas's favor in June 1979, Giannoulas was allowed to continue to perform in a chicken costume (though not the same as the original costume), and his San Diego Chicken emerged from his egg at a "Grand Hatching" seen by 47,000 people as the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey played.

In 1973, KGB created an annual contest called "Homegrown," in which local singers and songwriters submitted songs about the San Diego area for inclusion on an album produced by the station. Proceeds from sale of the albums went to local charities. The contest ran through 1978, yielding seven albums named Homegrown through Homegrown 7, with copyrights from 1973 to 1979. There were two additional Homegrown albums. One was Homegrown's "Greatest Hits" in 1978 with favorites from previous albums. The other was Homegrown, "Songs for 84" with additional songs by San Diego artists about San Diego. In 1976, singer Stephen Bishop submitted his song, "On and On," but it was rejected because he submitted it on cassette tape instead of the required reel-to-reel format. The song went on to become a commercial hit.

In 1976, KGB launched the SKY SHOW and it has continued for 36 consecutive years. (Sky Show 36 is scheduled for September 2011) The Sky Show is a fireworks display, synchronized to a music soundtrack, broadcast on the radio. An artform invented by KGB and now practiced worldwide. The first SKY SHOW was fired from two locations, Fiesta Island and Chollas Lake. It created traffic jams all over the city as people watched and listened. The firing site was moved to San Diego (Jack Murphy)(Qualcomm) Stadium for reasons of crowd control. The show has become a very well attended annual event with fans viewing from both inside the stadium and outside, tailgating in the parking lot or from vantage points along Mission Valley's canyon rim. The KGB SKY SHOW also introduced the use of Rock and Roll music, multi-media, video, theatrical lighting and effects to enhance the fireworks display. It is, according to its creator Rick Leibert, a "continuing experiment blending the ancient art of fireworks with rock and roll." The Creative team for KGB SKY SHOW has been collaborating for more than 20 years. Blair Schultze has been Writer/Producer/Director of KGB SKY SHOW since 1988, and Ron Dixon has been Fireworks coordinator since 1979 and Choreographer since 1990.

KGB-FM also airs The Beatles Radio Show, hosted by Ken Dashow, on Sundays. The show features rare Beatles performances, celebrations of Beatles historic events, and much more.

Discography

• 1973 Home Grown Album
• 1974 Home Grown II
• 1975 Home Grown III
• 1976 Home Grown IV
• 1977 Home Grown V
• 1978 Home Grown Greatest Hits
• 1978 Home Grown VI
• 1979 Home Grown VII
• 1983 Home Grown '84 KGB-FM - 101

External links

• 101.5 KGB
• 101 KGB on Facebook
• 101 KGB on Twitter
• History of KGB Radio by David Leonard
• Query the FCC's FM station database for KGB
• Radio-Locator information on KGB
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for KGB
• http://www.sandiego.org/music-history
• NEW online version of San Diego Homegrown Music