Dave McQueen Signs Off At KCBS Tonight

Dave McQueen, one of the best newsmen we'll ever hear, retires after his late-night shift at All News KCBS (740/106.9) tonight. KCBS has been running a tribute piece by Mike Sugerman as their cover story today, and his friends and colleagues will hold a retirement party for him tonight.

McQueen (photo, right) came to the Bay Area forty years ago from Texas as the news anchor at KSAN during its nascent days as "The Jive 95." He had a deep, solid, authoritarian voice -- a "network voice" -- which belied his appearance: Dave McQueen was a full-on long-haired hippie.

He also worked at KFRC, KNEW, KKCY and KKSF. McQueen's last shift tonight (through early Saturday morning) has him on from 9 to 11 PM, then again from 2 to 5 AM, according to the KCBS program schedule.

UPDATE (6/27/2009 5 AM): As I fully expected, Dave McQueen -- who declined to be interviewed for Mike Sugerman's tribute piece -- signed off his final broadcast on KCBS in simple, by-the-book fashion: he mentioned the features that were coming up in the next hour, and then, after the top-of-the-hour time signal, he intoned "five o'clock."

The KCBS audio tribute to McQueen may be streamed at the station's website.

PHOTO SOURCE: Dave McQueen, circa 1973, from Jive95.com.