KPPC (defunct)

Last updated
KPPC-FM
KPPC logo.jpg
City Pasadena, California
Frequency 106.7MHz
Owner Pasadena Presbyterian Church (1924–67)
Crosby-Avery Broadcasting (1968)
National Science Network (1969–73)

KPPC-FM was a Pasadena, California FM radio station best known during the period 1967–1971, when it was one of the leading "underground" radio stations in the United States, presenting a freeform mixture of experimental and historical music with countercultural ideas. In contrast to the dominant Top 40 format, each KPPC disc jockey selected his own music, which would veer between genres, including rock and roll, folk music, blues and comedy.

Pasadena, California City in California, United States

Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located 10 miles northeast of Downtown Los Angeles.

FM broadcasting

FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting using frequency modulation (FM) technology. Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. FM broadcasting is capable of better sound quality than AM broadcasting, the chief competing radio broadcasting technology, so it is used for most music broadcasts. Theoretically wideband AM can offer equally good sound quality, provided the reception conditions are ideal. FM radio stations use the VHF frequencies. The term "FM band" describes the frequency band in a given country which is dedicated to FM broadcasting.

Contents

Hosts included B. Mitchel Reed, Steven Segal (a.k.a. "The Obscene Steven Clean;" not related to the similarly named actor), Susan Carter (a.k.a. "Outrageous Nevada"), Barbara Birdfeather, [1] Jeff Gonzer (a.k.a. "Bonzo" Gonzer), Tom Donahue, Program Director (2014 Rock Radio Hall of Fame inductee) and DJ Les Carter, novelty music historian Dr. Demento, Charles Laquidara, Ted Alvy (a.k.a. "Cosmos Topper"), Elliot Mintz (whose late-night Sunday show played everything from Baba Ram Dass lectures to listener-created recordings), blues archivist Johnny Otis, comedy troupes The Credibility Gap (featuring Harry Shearer, Richard Beebe, David L. Lander, Michael McKean), and The Firesign Theatre. Station promos were sung by the a cappella singing group The Persuasions. Other staff members included: Don Hall, Larry Woodside, DJ and production wizard Zachary Zenor, Joe Rogers (a.k.a. Mississippi Fats), Sam Kopper, Steve Fasching (a.k.a. "Stereo Steve"), the Pierce Family, and Ron Johnson (a.k.a. "Dr. Sound").

B. Mitchel Reed was a successful American disc Jockey on both Top 40 and album-oriented rock radio stations, working in New York and Los Angeles during his 25-year career.

Tom "Big Daddy" Donahue, was an American rock and roll radio disc jockey, record producer and concert promoter.

Dr. Demento American disc jockey

Barret Eugene "Barry" Hansen, better known as Dr. Demento, is an American radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograph records to the present. Hansen created the Demento persona in 1970 while working at Los Angeles station KPPC-FM. He played "Transfusion" by Nervous Norvus on the radio, and DJ "The Obscene" Steven Clean said that Hansen had to be "demented" to play it and the name stuck. His weekly show went into syndication in 1974 and was syndicated by the Westwood One Radio Network from 1978 to 1992. Broadcast syndication of the show ended on June 6, 2010, but the show continues to be produced weekly in an online version.

KPPC (AM) was also a Pasadena, California AM Christian radio station from 1924 until September 1996.

AM broadcasting radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation

AM broadcasting is a radio broadcasting technology, which employs amplitude modulation (AM) transmissions. It was the first method developed for making audio radio transmissions, and is still used worldwide, primarily for medium wave transmissions, but also on the longwave and shortwave radio bands.

Christian radio is a category of radio formats that focus on transmitting programming with a Christian message. In the United States, where it is most established, many such broadcasters play contemporary Christian music, though many programs include talk or news programming covering economic, political or religious topics.

History

KPPC was founded by the Pasadena Presbyterian Church in 1924 (hence the PPC). Starting as an AM station, it was authorized to be on the air for 22 hours a week (6 a.m.–midnight Sundays and 7–11 p.m. Wednesdays). This was to carry the Sunday services and the Wednesday night prayer meeting. The station had 100 watts of power, and barely covered Pasadena. In 1941 the station acquired its frequency of 1240 kHz, where it shared time with a station in San Bernardino. In 1962, the church wanted to expand the hours and coverage, but other stations had filled in the remaining AM time allotments, so the church started KPPC-FM, on 106.7 MHz. The studios and transmitters were located in the basement of the church (which later became part of the station's claim to being "underground"), with the antenna on the roof of the Pasadena Star-News building (a newspaper) next door at 525 East Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. The FM station had poor broadcast coverage from that location. The station distributed plans for a "Super Signal Sucker" antenna made of a broomstick and coathangers for listeners to build and get better reception. The antenna was designed by the station's chief engineer, Michael Callaghan.

Pasadena Presbyterian Church Church in the United States

Pasadena Presbyterian is the first church in Pasadena, California, United States, it was established in 1875. It is located at 585 East Colorado Boulevard.The Modern-style sanctuary was designed by architect John Gougeon of Gougeon-Woodman, completed in 1976.

Church service In Protestant denominations of Christianity, a meeting the primary purpose of which is the worship of God

A church service is a formalized period of Christian communal worship, often held in a church building. It often but not exclusively occurs on Sunday, or Saturday in the case of those churches practicing seventh-day Sabbatarianism. The church service is the gathering together of Christians to be taught the 'Word of God' and encouraged in their faith. Technically, the "church" in "church service" refers to the gathering of the faithful rather than to the building in which it takes place. In most Christian traditions, services are presided over by clergy wherever possible.

Prayer invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with a deity

Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship, typically a deity, through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity, or a deified ancestor. More generally, prayer can also have the purpose of thanksgiving or praise, and in comparative religion is closely associated with more abstract forms of meditation and with charms or spells.

In 1968, the church sold the stations to Crosby-Avery Broadcasting, and in 1969, they were sold to the National Science Network; the church retained the right to broadcast its services over both stations. In April 1970, the studios were moved out of the basement to an office building at 99 South Chester in Pasadena. In September, the transmitter was moved to Flint Peak, a mountaintop adjacent to Pasadena, and the power increased to 25,500 watts.

KPPC-FM was the first station in Los Angeles to broadcast a stereo simulcast with a television station (a one-hour program with 'Leon Russell and Friends' in collaboration with PBS station KCET), and the first to broadcast with Sansui quadraphonic sound. It was also the first FM station in Los Angeles to use two transmitters simultaneously to produce sufficient power.[ citation needed ]

Simulcast is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time. For example, Absolute Radio is simulcast on both AM and on satellite radio. Likewise, the BBC's Prom concerts were formerly simulcast on both BBC Radio 3 and BBC Television. Another application is the transmission of the original-language soundtrack of movies or TV series over local or Internet radio, with the television broadcast having been dubbed into a local language.

KCET, virtual and UHF digital channel 28, is a non-commercial educational, independent television station licensed to Los Angeles, California, United States. Owned by the Public Media Group of Southern California, it is the sister station to Huntington Beach, California-licensed Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member station KOCE-TV. KCET's studios are located at The Pointe in Burbank, and its transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson in the San Gabriel Mountains.

Sansui Electric company

Sansui Electric Co., Ltd. is a Japanese manufacturer of audio and video equipment. Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, it is part of Grande Holdings, a Chinese Hong Kong-based conglomerate, which also owns Japanese brands Akai and Nakamichi.

The golden era of KPPC ended October 24, 1971, when the entire airstaff was fired, replaced overnight with a new line-up that reflected little of the previous freewheeling spirit. In 1973, the stations were sold to Burbank Broadcasting. Because the purchaser already had an AM station (KROQ, 1500 kHz, Burbank), KPPC AM was sold to Universal Broadcasting, a religious broadcaster. The AM station continued to carry the services of the Pasadena Presbyterian Church until its last broadcast in September 1996. The FM station eventually became the well known KROQ-FM, which is still on the air.

The KPPC call sign was assigned to an FM station in Pocatello, Idaho which changed their call sign to KEGE in early 2008 to match their name "The Edge".

The KPPC call sign would later be used by a station in the Amarillo, Texas area; that station has since become KBEX.

There is a tribute to the original KPPC-FM currently[ when? ] on Live365 called "KPPC.FM revisited".

KPPC was inducted into the Rock Radio Hall of Fame in 2014 in the "Legends of Rock Radio-Stations" category.

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "DJ Barbara Birdfeather dies at 69". Variety. April 30, 2009.

Further reading

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