Radio Waves
Whew, that was close. KPFA, the pioneering listenersupported station based in Berkeley since 1949, faced sudden death early this year because its parent company, the Pacifica Foundation, fell drastically behind on rent for the transmission tower for its New York sister station, WBAI.
How drastic? Try $1.8 million. Sudden death? A judge in New York ruled that Empire State Realty Trust, the landlord, could seize Pacifica’s assets on Jan. 8. Those assets include KPFA, its flagship station.
The station, which program host Sasha Lilley calls “a priceless resource for radicals, progressives and visionary artists,” prepared to shut down.
But at the last minute, Pacifica got a $2 million bridge loan to pay off the legal judgment. As The Chronicle’s Sam Whiting reported, a dozen supporters came up with the money for a short-term loan. “The plans,” said Bill Crosier, until two weeks ago the interim executive director of the Pacifica Foundation, “are to repay it with another, longer-term loan.”
If that effort fails, Pacifica, which also owns stations in Washington, Los Angeles and Houston, may be able to raise funds by selling off properties. It has four mortgage-free buildings, two of them in Berkeley.
But, with about $8 million in total debt, Pacifica will have to do more, possibly including swapping some of its more powerful transmitters (including WBAI’s) to other stations for cash. KPFA, Crosier said, is probably safe. “KPFA is the most successful station financially. It would be irresponsible to mess with that.”
Matthew Lasar, KPFA historian and author of the book “Uneasy Listening: Pacifica Radio’s Civil War,” is uncertain about its future. “This cliffhanger has gotten so complex and weird,” he said, “that I’m afraid to predict what will happen next.”
On the KPFA news program “Against the Grain,” co-host Lilley said the Pacifica national board is “in paralysis.” One guest, Sherry Gendelman, a lawyer and former executive director of Pacifica, told me, “Given its gothic governance structure ... the future is not great. After its last series of civil wars, (the board) adopted bylaws that are bankrupting it.” Pacifica, she said, is burdened with oversize (26-member) and constantly changing boards that require expensive elections.
“There’s a shipwreck,” Pacifica historian Iain Boal told Lilley. “To salvage it, we have to change the governance structure.” On the road again: Sirius XM continues to add interesting new faces, voices and programs. I’m already hooked on free-form-sounding channels the Loft and Deep Tracks, whose DJs include Jim Ladd in Los Angeles, as well as Siriusly Sinatra, Soul Town and channels devoted to various artists, from Elvis and the Beatles to Tom Petty and Pitbull. Sirius XM recently added Ricky Gervais (weekly on the Comedy Greats channel).
Now, “Big Steve” Parish has joined the Grateful Dead channel with a weekly program. Parish was a roadie with the Dead for more than 20 years, then became manager of the Jerry Garcia Band for another long run. In recent years, he’s worked with Moonalice, telling rock and road stories before introducing the band onstage.
He published a memoir, “Home Before Daylight,” but swears he has plenty to talk about in his show, which is a blend of stories, ranging from drug busts with the Dead and scuba diving in Hawaii with Garcia, to music, by the Dead and its many friends.
“When I sit and think about it,” Parish said, “I go year by year, moment by moment; it’s incredible there are so many poignant moments with Jerry, so many poignant moments with all of us. There’s so many characters on the scene, from drug dealers to bikers, gangsters, pranksters ... Roger (McNamee, Moonalice’s founder) has given me the chance to tell my stories live. But it’s an intimate thing that radio has.”
Parish will be on the Dead’s Channel 23 three times a week, including Fridays at 10 p.m.
Fun fact: According to the lunar calendar, it’s the Year of the Dog, and celebrities born in Years of the Dog include Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and — yep — Donald Trump.
Nevertheless, the Chinese New Year Parade will take place Saturday, Feb. 24, and for the 22nd year, I’ll be coanchoring the broadcast on KTVU and streaming on KTVU.com from 6 to 8 p.m. For the 18th year, Julie Haener will co-anchor, relative newbie Claudine Wong is our on-the-street interviewer, and, as usual, they will do most of the work.
And today (Feb. 18), I’ll chat with Sir Bob Geldof after a screening of his latest film, “A Fanatic Heart,” about poet W.B. Yeats, at the Vogue Theatre, part of Ruthe Stein’s Mostly British Film Festival.
I last saw Geldof in 1986 — in London, where KFOG’s morning show encamped for a week at Capital Radio’s studios while a parade of rock artists came by for convivial (and promotional) chats. KFOG hired me to help conduct the interviews. It’ll be fun to ask Sir Bob what he’s been up to these past 32 years ...