RAISING A GLASS TO THE MEMORY OF KLOL.
It’s been 13 years since Houston rockers and metal heads lost Rock 101 KLOL, an FM station that cultivated a rabidly loyal following of listeners. Sure, there still are “rock” stations in Houston, but nothing can compete with the legacy left behind by KLOL, its voices and the sense of community it fostered. This weekend, the spirit of KLOL will be reborn at the Main Street watering hole Moving Sidewalk via a limited-edition drink menu featuring cocktails named after prominent people and songs connected to the KLOL listener experience. You will still hear grumblings about the demise of KLOL from local rockers who say that on the day it switched to a Spanish music station — 2004 — they a virtual rallying on the FM radio their own table the Houston radio if you will. passion for KLOL, started in 1970 by playing the Who’s “I’m Free,” hasn’t faded in these 13 years since its death. Some fans even commissioned tattoos of the station’s “Runaway Radio” logo. That image of an oldschool radio with arms and feet covered in sneakers has become a hieroglyphic, of sorts, signifying a part of Houston music history that hasn’t been replaced. The drink menu at this weekend’s memorial event was inspired in part by Moving Sidewalk co-owner Alex Gregg’s own memories of the KLOL playlists. Think of the drink menu as a love letter to ringing ears,
ROCK ’N’ ROLL FAITHFUL CAN CELEBRATE THE MEMORY OF ROCK 101 KLOL WITH SPECIALTY DRINKS HONORING THE STATION AND ITS ON-AIR PERSONALITIES
tattered jean jackets stinking of beer and weed, and our poor parents who could only stand by in horror.
But not Gregg’s parents, his home often locked into classic rock and the KLOL signal.
“It was always around and on as a kid,” Gregg says. “My mom was more of a Z-107.5 gal, but we would cycle in 101 regularly.”
It was a summertime construction job at the age of 14 that converted Gregg completely. Surrounded by burly, bearded, manly men who all seemed to either drive Dodge Rams or Harleys, the boombox on the jobsite never strayed from Rock 101.
“That summer, I learned the value of hard work and dedication, as well as the importance of ZZ Top, Ozzy, Sabbath, Van Halen and the like,” Gregg says. “This would have been my introduction to metal and heavy music in general.” A lot of love and a great, gritty Spotify soundtrack has gone into creating Gregg’s new drink menu, which had its soft debut late last week. “We have worked on this as a team for the last two months because we don’t just throw drinks out there,” Gregg says. “Our submission and approval process is kind of tenuous, and we work through these drinks again and again.” In addition to grand cocktails named after KLOL DJ Dayna Steele and various FCC fines, there are also shots named after the some of the last songs played on the station, including Alice in Chains’ “Rooster,” Jethro Tull’s “Aqualung” and Metallica’s “Sad But True.”
Gregg’s personal favorite is probably the gin-soaked Crash Collins cocktail, named after the late deejay that Billy Gibbons exalted for the way he took full advantage of KLOL’s free-form format in the early days. Crash received his nickname from program director Jim Pruett, who passed away in the fall of 2016. Collins had dabbled in drag racing in the early ’60s, and Pruett, logically, thought “Crash” had a better ring to it than “Dennis.” Collins passed away in late 2011, a year after being inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame. One of the KLOL voices that followed in Collins’ footsteps was Outlaw Dave Andrews. The drink dedicated to him is called Outlaw Dave’s Bounty Hunter Buck, featuring Jim Beam, lemon, Bärenjäger, bitters and ginger beer. He’s bringing a small museum of vintage KLOL items to the bar — including a Runaway Radio neon sign, a staff jacket, various autographed guitars and staff publicity photos. Other former staffers making appearances Sunday night will be Dayna Steele, Colonel St. James and Lanny Griffith, along with Jim Pruett’s family members. So why does Andrews think that KLOL has remained in the minds of the Houston community? “I would first say it was our community involvement, but it’s probably the outlaw antics that the station is best remembered for.”