Hello, Goodbye: KFRC Dies Again

Not much more to say beyond what Ben Fong-Torres broke in this email blast to a few friends this afternoon:

"We expect this music to live forever..."

Just heard that liner on KFRC ... it's 1:47, and -- I'm sure you've heard -- KFRC is just about gone.

If you haven't heard: CBS Radio just announced that KFRC is being replaced with the programming on KCBS; at a meeting this morning, KFRC staffers were told the station is over as of today. Since then, it's been just music, liners & commercials. Dave Sholin, Celeste Perry, Sue Hall, Jay Coffey, Dean Goss (fill-in/weekender)-- all gone.

CBS is saying they'll keep the KFRC call letters on FM and run KFRC music online and on the HD-2 channel linked to 106.9. Up to now, it'd been the opposite. KFRC was on HD-1, KCBS on HD-2.

I'm sure you both know who to call for details. I'm running just a tiny item in my next col. (still nearly 2 weeks away), bec. of coverage of the radio hall of fame inductions...

Oh -- needless to say, my show, Backstage, is out the rear door. 52 shows, 100 or so hours (there were some repeats); absolute fun.

That's what radio is: fun and heartaches.

cheers,
ben

Damn. I had just commented to Ben about what a great show "Backstage" is (was). This past weekend's program was phenomenal. How can you beat Leo Sayer doing karaoke to his own "When I Need You" in your living room?

It's funny how much I listened to KFRC this past weekend, digging my old buddy John Mack Flanagan doing the Beatles shows, and Big Tom Parker playing back-to-back hits.

Oh, well. If you need a good 1960s Oldies fix, give a listen to the radio museum's Classic KYA. Since old-fashioned radio is being killed off by its caretakers, you might as well invest in a WiFi set and join the future.

Radio is dead. Long live radio.

Comments? Get on board at Radio-Info.com.

Peter Laufer Fired By KPFA

Snipped from the Jive 95 newsgroup:

On Nov 16, 2007, at 12:44 PM, Peter Laufer wrote:

Welcome to mob rule at KPFA, and the wild and weird world of radio.

KPFA just fired me as host of their Sunday morning current affairs program (example shows can be heard at www.peterlaufer.com).

Reason?

"Intangible," says (interim, as she is always identified) program director Sasha Lilley, adding, "it's just not right for Sunday." She cited "overwhelming negative audience feedback."

There has been an active campaign against me by a group of KPFA activists who were miffed from the day I was hired because I am not a "person of color" and because of my "mainstream" credentials.

"I really like what you do on the air," she told me when she fired me via telephone. "You are certainly a team player and I have really admired that during your tenure here, as I have admired what you have brought to the airwaves."

The firing came two days after I moderated a benefit for KPFA in Berkeley that raised thousands of dollars, where the hundreds in the audience broke into hoots and hollers of applause when I introduced myself from the stage as the anchor of the KPFA Sunday show.

Incredibly, Lilley offered to tell the public that I was leaving "to go on to bigger and better things." I told her she better tell the public she fired me, because that was what I was telling the public.

"Free speech radio," the KPFA bumper sticker says. I guess that means the freedom to lie to the audience about why a staff employee is no longer on the air. And that's the way it is. What's the frequency Kenneth? Onward.

UPDATE: Laufer was profiled by Ben Fong-Torres in "Radio Waves" this past weekend in the Chronicle's Sunday Datebook. Ben is occasionally victimized by the early deadline (a week-and-a-half before the paper lands on your doorstep)...

KFRC Gets "Backstage" With Ben Fong-Torres

Bulking up its weekend bill of fare, Classic Hits KFRC (106.9) is debuting "Backstage," a new two-hour program starring everybody's favorite "Radio Waves" columnist, Ben Fong-Torres.

Ben tells me "I'll recount past interviews and adventures, play some excloo sound bites from my chats with the likes of Marvin Gaye, Paul McCartney and Jim Morrison, come up with themes and sub-themes for each show, toss in some short subjects, and shout 'K-F-R-C!' at every opportunity. Gonna be fun."

"Backstage" runs each Sunday morning from 7 to 9 a.m., and again from 7 to 9 p.m.

"If we do it right, it'll sound pretty much like a KFRC show, only with more music info between records," Ben says. "I'm kicking off with ‘Light My Fire,’ but, before that, I have Ray Manzarek explaining how the intro came into his head — from his classical music lessons as a kid — and with music not usually heard on the station, like ‘Joltin' Joe DiMaggio’ by Les Brown and his orchestra, or ‘Memo from Turner’ by Mick Jagger."

And yes, rest assured that "Radio Waves" will continue under B-FT's able stewardship.