Tom Campbell (radio personality)

Last updated

Tom Campbell (nicknamed Tall Tom Campbell, fl. late 20th century) is an American radio personality and commercial voiceover talent.

After serving in the United States Air Force, Campbell was hired for his first radio job, at KEEL in Shreveport, La., by Al Hart, who would later become a newscaster and radio personality in San Francisco. [1]

Campbell subsequently worked in Minneapolis, Minnesota and at WONE in Dayton, Ohio [2] before his move to KYA 1260 AM San Francisco in 1967. [3] He was known to loan his personal phonograph, record collection and even his car to individual listeners under the caveat that they simply return them, which they apparently did. His home and car phone numbers were publicly listed in the white and yellow pages of most Bay Area phone books, and he would receive calls from listeners at home. [4]

Some of his devoted listeners and regular callers included "The Queen of Darkness" and "The Queen of Lightness" of Oakland, "The Mad Bomber" of Berkeley, and "The Wizard" of San Francisco.

On September 9, 1968, Campbell pulled a notable publicity stunt on KYA, claiming that a listener to another program, the Sunday-night phone-in program known as The Action Line, had disparaged Campbell's accessibility to his fans. Campbell opened his program that evening with a phone call, during which he booked a one-way ticket to New York. Later in the program, he noted that he had been offered jobs in both New York and Chicago, and that if his listeners felt the same way about him, he would simply leave San Francisco and take a job elsewhere.

Phone calls, telegrams and petitions reportedly flooded into the station, and Campbell kept himself off the air until all of the "votes" for or against him were counted. In the end, it was announced that sufficient pro-Campbell votes had been received, and he triumphantly returned to the broadcast booth the next night.

Campbell remained at KYA until 1970, then moved to KLOK in San Jose and KNEW in Oakland. Among his best-known advertising clients were Mathew's TV & Stereo ("6400 Mission Street, Top of the hill, Daly City"), Motor Music, Goodies Speed Shops and The Comfort Zone waterbed stores. He would also make public appearances to promote local Pizza Hut restaurants before relocating to Southern California in the mid-1970s, becoming a ubiquitous commercial voiceover artist.

In March 1974, the San Mateo and San Francisco County District Attorneys charged Tom Campbell and local stereo store owner Steven Matthew David (Mathews, "Top of The Hill" Daly City) for using what the San Francisco Examiner called “bait and switch” tactics. David and Campbell advertised impossibly low prices on products that were conveniently out of stock as a way of luring customers into the store. David paid an out-of-court settlement of $80,000. [5]

Campbell also did weekly broadcasts through the Armed Forces Radio Network [6] and visited troops stationed overseas [7] and emceed concerts at Bay Area venues such as the Circle Star Theater in San Carlos, California (Tom Jones/Engelbert Humperdinck), Sandcastle nightclub in Los Altos (Zola Taylor and the Platters, The Coasters and Clyde McPhatter), and several oldies rock and roll concerts with scores of headliners.

Campbell also briefly hosted a short-lived game show in 1980, Camouflage , which was produced by Chuck Barris and taped in Hollywood. Although Campbell never hosted another game show, he was later considered for the emcee position on Sale of the Century and presided over an unsold 1985 pilot for a revival of Gambit .

Related Research Articles

Family Radio, also known by its licensee name Family Stations, Inc., is a non-profit, non-denominational, educational Christian radio network based in Franklin, Tennessee with network operations located in Alameda, California, United States. Established in 1958, Family Radio airs religious music and programming, both past and present, and is listener-supported.

KNBR is a San Francisco, California radio station, broadcasting on a clear channel from transmitting facilities in Redwood City, California. KNBR's non-directional 50,000-watt class-A signal can be heard throughout much of the western United States and as far west as the Hawaiian Islands at night. For several decades, KNBR enjoyed a long history as the flagship station of NBC's West Coast radio operations.

Don Rose, also known as "Dr. Donald D. Rose" or just "Dr. Don," was an American radio personality on KFRC AM 610 in San Francisco, California from October 1973 to 1986. Prior to joining KFRC, Rose had been a prominent broadcaster at WQXI (AM) in Atlanta, Georgia, and WFIL in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was known for his one-liners, sound effects and philanthropy.

KKSF Black Information Network radio station in San Francisco

KKSF is a commercial radio station licensed to Oakland, California. The station is owned by iHeartMedia and serves the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose media market. It operates as the Bay Area affiliate for the Black Information Network. The transmitter and twin tower array are located on Point Isabel in Richmond, on San Francisco Bay. KDIA utilizes one of KKSF's two towers during the day. KKSF operates at 20,000 watts during the day and 5,000 watts at night, using a directional antenna at all times. Because radio waves travel farther at night, KKSF must reduce its power after sunset to protect other stations on AM 910. KKSF's studios are located in San Francisco's SoMa district.

KALX Radio station at the University of California, Berkeley

KALX is an FM radio station that broadcasts from the University of California, Berkeley in Berkeley, California, United States. KALX, a community and student-run radio station licensed to the university, broadcasts in stereo with 500 watts of power. The station employs three full-time paid staff members, but is largely run by its nearly 300 volunteers, including Berkeley students and other members of the local community. The station's studios are located at Social Sciences Building on campus.

KIOI Hot adult contemporary radio station in San Francisco

KIOI is a hot adult contemporary-formatted radio station licensed to San Francisco, California and owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The radio studios and offices are in the SoMa district of San Francisco.

Greg Papa American sportscaster

Gregory Charles Papa is an American sportscaster, currently employed as the radio play-by-play announcer for the San Francisco 49ers. He has also broadcast for the Indiana Pacers, Golden State Warriors, Oakland Athletics, San Antonio Spurs, Oakland Raiders and San Francisco Giants during his career.

KMKY is a radio station licensed to Oakland, California that broadcasts with 5,000 watts. It calls itself "Radio Punjab" and airs programming in Hindi and Punjabi aimed at the San Francisco Bay Area's South Asian community. It is owned by Charanjit Batth, through licensee Radio Punjab AM 1310 Inc. Its transmitter is located in Oakland near the toll plaza for the San Francisco–

KSFO is a commercial AM radio station in San Francisco, California. It is owned by Cumulus Media and airs a talk radio format. The station's studios and offices are on Battery Street in the SoMa district of San Francisco, along with five other Bay Area Cumulus stations.

KZDG is a commercial radio station licensed to serve San Francisco, California, and services the San Francisco Bay Area. Currently owned by Audacy, Inc. and operated by Factorial Broadcasting LLC under a local marketing agreement, the station broadcasts a South Asian format known as "Radio Zindagi". Its transmitter facilities are located in the nearby suburb of Belmont. In addition to a standard analog transmission, KZDG is relayed over low-power translator K257GE (99.3 FM) and is available online.

Peter B. Collins [1] is an American talk radio host, voiceover talent, entrepreneur, and media consultant based near San Francisco, California. He moved there in 1976 after growing up in the Midwest and starting on a radio talk show in Chicago. He has been a talk show host for several radio stations, and unusual for being a liberal in a genre dominated by conservatives. He also hosted a program on food and wine. From 2005 to 2009, he hosted The Peter B. Collins Show, a syndicated, progressive, radio talk show based at KRXA in Monterey, California. From 2009 to 2020 he produced his show on the internet, via listener-supported podcasts. Occasionally, Collins substitute hosted on KGO-AM in San Francisco. He retired at the end of 2020.

California Music Channel Music television channel in San Francisco, California

California Music Channel (CMC) is an American music video broadcast television network based in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is one of the longest running local music video television stations in the world. CMC has been broadcasting music videos over the air in the Bay Area since 1982. CMC has grown from an hour-long program to two 24/7 stations with digital simulcast capabilities. The live broadcasts feature on-camera disc jockeys, audience participation, and contemporary music videos. It is owned by CMC Broadcasting Company, Inc. CMC is carried as a Digital Broadcast Network on nine Northern California television stations, as well as company owned and operated KTVJ-LD Boise, Idaho.

KRTY Radio station in Los Gatos, California

KRTY is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Los Gatos, California, and serving the San Jose and Santa Clara Valley area. It is owned by Empire Broadcasting and it broadcasts a country music radio format, with a sale pending to the Educational Media Foundation. KRTY carries the nationally syndicated Country Countdown USA show on Sunday mornings and Golden State Warriors games. The radio studios and offices are on Monterey Road in San Jose.

KGMZ-FM Sports radio station in San Francisco

KGMZ-FM is a sports radio station licensed to San Francisco, California, and serving the San Francisco Bay Area. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc., and broadcasts from studious on Battery Street in the North Beach section of San Francisco. KGMZ-FM serves as the flagship station for the Golden State Warriors basketball team.

KFRC-FM All-news radio station in San Francisco

KFRC-FM is a commercial radio station in San Francisco, California, serving the San Francisco Bay Area. It currently simulcasts sister station KCBS, which carries an all-news format. The station transmits its signal from Mount Beacon atop the Marin Headlands above Sausalito, California, while studios are shared with formerly co-owned CBS O&O station KPIX-TV in downtown San Francisco.

KFRC (defunct)

610 KFRC was a radio station in San Francisco, California in the United States, which made its first broadcast on Wednesday, September 24, 1924, from studios in the Hotel Whitcomb, at 1231 Market Street. KFRC originally broadcast with 50 watts on the 270 meter wavelength, then moved to 660 kHz in April 1927. As part of nationwide frequency reallocations on November 11, 1928, KFRC was moved to 610 kHz, where the call letters remained until 2005.

KSFB Relevant Radio station in San Francisco

KSFB is an radio station licensed to San Francisco, California. It broadcasts Relevant Radio, a Roman Catholic radio format, to the San Francisco Bay Area of the United States. It was previously known as KYA (AM) until 1983, and KOIT (AM) and KXLR after that.

KYLD Radio station in San Francisco

KYLD is a commercial radio station in San Francisco, California, serving the San Francisco Bay Area and owned by San Antonio–based iHeartMedia. The station airs a Mainstream Top 40 format on its analog primary signal. The station has studios located in the SoMa district of San Francisco, and the transmitter is located atop the San Bruno Mountains.

KMEL Urban contemporary radio station in San Francisco

KMEL is an urban contemporary radio station that is licensed to San Francisco, California, and serving the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned and operated by iHeartMedia.

San Francisco Pop Festival

The KYA San Francisco International Pop Festival was held at the Alameda County Fairgrounds on Saturday October 26 and Sunday October 27, 1968.

References

  1. ↑ Inc, Nielsen Business Media (1968-07-06). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 16.
  2. ↑ "Pop Culture in Review for the Year 1968 | Mr. Pop Culture". 15 September 2020.
  3. ↑ "RADIO WAVES". SFGate. 27 August 2006. Retrieved 2016-04-14.
  4. ↑ Inc, Nielsen Business Media (1971-07-03). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 44.
  5. ↑ "Yesterday's Crimes: The TV Huckster Who Defrauded Apple". 8 April 2019.
  6. ↑ "Hans Knot's International Radio Report". www.hansknot.com. Retrieved 2016-04-14.
  7. ↑ Inc, Nielsen Business Media (1971-09-25). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 24.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.