San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Introducing the Hall of Fame class of 2018
The 13th Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame inductions take place Oct. 13. Honorees include, as Legendary Station of the Year, R&B pioneer KDIA, “The Lucky 13.”
And, sure enough, the event has been struck by misfortune. Former KDIA DJ Johnny Morris, scheduled to travel from Los Angeles to accept the honor on behalf of KDIA alumni, died Sept. 1 of cancer. Said David F. Jackson of the Bay Area Radio Museum, Morris, who also worked on KSOL, should have been inducted himself years ago.
Here, with assistance from Jackson, are sketches of eight of the inductees. Fred Krock (being enshrined in the engineer category), Jude Heller (specialty: marketing and promotions), and KDIA were profiled in previous columns. Program host: Scott Beach — A true Renaissance man, Beach was an announcer on KCBS, KKHI and KSFO. Born in Oregon, he also was an actor (”American Graffiti,” “The Right Stuff,” “Mrs. Doubtfire”), a founder of the improv comedy troupe the Committee, “Lord Mayor” of the Renaissance Faire and a man-about-town, often seen at the Washington Square Bar & Grill. He died in 1996 at age 65.
Program host: M. Dung (Michael Slavko) — He was “Dung Boy” and “M. Dung,” spinning oldies on KFOG’s “Sunday Night Idiot Show.” Shifting to mornings, the Michigan native became the slightly moderated “M.” He sputtered self-invented phrases like “Eye!,” “Oh-dea!” and “Ay-way!” He would move on to other stations and online ventures before dying in June 2017 at age 59. The best tribute to him is at BAMmagazine.com. Buh-DAH!
News: Jon Bristow —A solid, steady reporter and anchor at KGO from 1989 to 2016, Bristow was co-anchoring morning newscasts after Ed Baxter’s retirement in 2011. He was among those let go when management moved from mostly news to mostly talk. He soon landed at KCBS. He joins an ever-growing list of San Francisco State University alumni in the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame.
Talk show host: Gene Burns — Burns arrived at KGO in 1995 and enjoyed a 16-year run as a weeknight host, adding “Dining Around With Gene Burns” on weekends. Let go by KGO in 2011, the New York native signed on with KKSF in January 2012 but suffered a stroke and died in May 2013 at age 72. Said reporter Jennifer Hodges, “He was kind, generous and wicked smart.”
Sports: Greg Papa —A product of Syracuse University, Papa, a walking sports encyclopedia, was the radio voice of the Raiders until his recent dismissal by the team. He hosts an afternoon show on KGMZ (“The Game”) with Bonta Hill. Papa also has called A’s and Giants baseball, Warriors basketball, Cal football and basketball, and hosts Giants and Warriors broadcasts on NBC Sports Bay Area.
Management: Gordon Zlot — Zlot is being recognized for his nearly 50 years as owner of Redwood Empire Stereocasters in Sonoma County, which operates KZST, KJZY, KTRY and KWVF. As independently owned stations disappear from radio, Zlot and his team continue to produce that rarest and most valuable of broadcast commodities: live, local programming tailored directly to the community it serves.
Pioneer: Floyd Farr —A Utah schoolteacher, Farr found that working in radio during the Great Depression could earn him a better living. He moved to San Francisco, where he rose to chief announcer for KPO and the NBC Red Network on the West Coast. In 1947, Farr became a co-founder of KEEN (1370 AM) in San Jose, also serving as its first general manager. He died in 1974. Don Sherwood Award: Legend: Chris Edwards — The People’s Choice is Edwards, who came to San Francisco in 1968 to join Top 40 KYA, calling himself “Big Fat Chrissie.” With what DJ Gary Mora called “his upbeat personality,” Edwards moved into sales in 1980. On weekends, he continued to DJ on shows like the Saturday night “Chris Edwards Time Machine” on K101 and KSFO/KYA-FM. He died in January 2014 at 74. Don Sherwood Award: Brian Sussman will not be inducted but will be honored for topping the public voting for “most popular personality in Bay Area radio.” First known as a meteorologist on KPIX, Sussman moved to radio in 2000, guest hosting on KSFO and landing a fulltime job the following year. When Lee Rodgers departed in 2010, Sussman became the lead voice of the morning show.
The inductions will take place at a Broadcast Legends luncheon at the Basque Cultural Center in South San Francisco, with Terry McGovern serving as master of ceremonies. For ticket info, go to www.broadcastlegends.com.
Rockin’ the Roxie: I’ve been hearing about this Cameron Crowe movie, “Almost Famous,” for a long time. I read somewhere that I’m a real-life character in it. Crazy. I’ll get to see it on Oct. 12 at the Roxie in the Mission. The real Penny Lane, rock “Band-Aid” extraordinaire, will join me in a post-screening chat moderated by rock writer Adrian Spinelli. The evening is coproduced by Spoke Art Gallery, which is creating a poster for the event. Go to Roxie.com for showtime and ticket info.