Get A Job
“How did you get the job?” Over 50 years, I was fortunate to get a few jobs in radio, and I’ve enjoyed many fellow DJ’s stories about the breaks & bumps along the way. Here are mine.
Does This Man Have A Future In Radio? Yes! A Great Future!
It was early February 1964, a month before my 18th birthday, and I was walking up the creaky stairs to a space above a dentist’s office, that was the location for KPER Radio in Gilroy. (I later learned that the back stairs were worse – a rickety wooden stairway/obstacle course that took you from the parking lot, across the roof, to the on-air studio in the back). On this day I was about to apply for my first DJ job, and I was nervous. I’d seen a listing for the midday spot at the station. So, decked out in a new dress shirt and a discount store necktie, I nervously walked in, holding a 3-inch reel with my audition tape, which I had recorded at the Chris Borden School of Modern Radio Technique in San Francisco. KPER’s Program Director/General Manager was an affable 30-something guy named John Gregory. By happy coincidence he was stuck doing the midday show because the regular guy had not shown up. Serendipity! The entire hiring process took less than a minute. John played a bit of the tape, then told me to take over! Lucky thing he was so desperate. KPER was a very small AM station and I’m fairly sure nobody but John heard my first hour, and that’s a good thing! You couldn’t ask for a better learning situation though; each day entailed doing a 30-minute newscast at noon, “rip and read”, from the AP teletype machine in the hall, then something called “KPER Bandstand”, which consisted of playing pop music for five hours. The position required a Third-Class Radiotelephone License with a broadcast endorsement. The truth was, I didn’t have one yet! But I quickly took and passed the test, and the job was mine! Easy Peasy! The next job interview was even easier; the PD from KOMY in Watsonville called me and offered me summer fill-in for $2 per hour! Yes!
After those experiences, it seemed like getting into radio was a piece of cake. But I was married with a small child when KPER and I parted ways, and it was hard to move around to other towns with a wife and a baby, so the next few years were filled with other work.
In 1970 I decided to try again. I auditioned at KBAY in San Jose unsuccessfully. While saying goodbye, the PD added that I should cut my long hair if I wanted to work in the radio biz. So, I kept my hair, tried San Jose’s KSJO, where I was sure my hair wouldn’t matter. Turned down again. Then a job in Fresno dried up. To move up in AM radio back then, you needed what they called a “First”. So, I decided to go back to school and get my First-Class License. But the school was based in Dallas, and all the jobs were out of state, and I didn’t have the means to make an audition tape. As I’ve written before, my dad and I made a makeshift tape in the living room and sent it to KTEO in San Angelo Texas. A few days later the PD called and I was hired! He later told me he just wanted to see what kind of fool would drive from California to Southwest Texas for a night shift and $100 a week! Hey, that’s me!
They call Texas the Lone Star State, and I quickly discovered that I was not that lone star. But a nightly 6 ½ hour shift provided lots of paid practice, and a chance to smooth out the many “rookie” bumps. After about a year, it was time to put Texas in my rearview, and the job listings in Billboard Magazine got me back to California on the way to KDON in Salinas. That job interview was one of the strangest. I’d sent a tape earlier, and the Program Director, he offered me a weekend job over the phone. Salinas was closer to home, and Texas didn’t own a spot very deep in my heart, so I packed up the family in the old ’61 Ford and drove to Salinas hoping for a much better deal! On the appointed day I showed up, only to learn that the Program Director had been fired the day before, and nobody else at KDON knew that he’d hired me! I remember pleading with the CFO, who was running the station, saying I’d just driven 1500 miles for the job. He took pity and gave me one audition shift, an all-nighter. So that night I gave my best impression of a KDON boss jock and was given the afternoon drove spot that had been vacated by the poor fired PD who’d “hired” me.
Getting hired in San Francisco, my ultimate goal, wasn’t quite as crazy, but also not easy. After being rejected in Long Beach, Seattle and San Jose again, I heard about an opening at KCBS-FM, which was secretly shifting to an Oldies format. The new Program Director there, Bill Keffury, was a DJ I had listened to in high school, and he called one day, saying he liked my tape. I thought I was in! Then the excruciating, lengthy CBS Radio hiring process began. That entailed driving back from Salinas for several interviews at One Embarcadero Center with Bill and the General Manager and others, followed by a vague “We’ll let you know.” That situation took a long uncertain time to resolve itself, and I’d just about given up, when Bill Keffury finally called again. I was hired! Hey, San Francisco, open your Golden Gate!
They say it’s easier to get a job when you have a job, and that’s turned out to be true for me. Once I was ensconced in the morning job at KCBS-FM, overseeing News and Public Affairs, offers came. KIOI’s legendary owner James Gabbert called, and I turned him down because I’d heard he was quick to fire people. But a short time later, when CBS refused to let me take a spot on a local TV show, I called Jim back. He hired me with a handshake, and I moved a couple of blocks closer to North Beach. Jim also fired me several times (I was right!) and later rehired me. It’s funny now. Back in the 70’s with small kids, not so much.
After Jim sold KIOI for a bazillion dollars in 1980, the new owners and PD took a dislike to me. My boss was Rob Sisco, and soon KIOI began setting DJs free. First to go was the legendary Jim Lange, who told Sisco his demo was older than Rob was. Getting fired after Gentleman Jim Lange at least put me in great company. Depressed, I went home, and the phone rang as I came through the door. KYA wanted me! I’ve always considered myself a journeyman, but the luck of getting noticed has played a big part in my career. After three years, I was unceremoniously shown the door at KYA/KSFO and that’s when getting a job really became problematic. Program Directors would politely take my calls, but nobody wanted me. One guy unkindly said he knew my work and wasn’t interested. That hurt, but it forced me to reflect on my work and improve. After taking a break from the chaos and reassessing the situation, I called KNEW, the Oakland Country station. Edith, the PD’s secretary, clearly believed her job was to provide a wall to keep DJs from bothering her boss. I sent several tapes but couldn’t break through the wall of Edith. So, I called a friend who knew the PD, and he helped me get an interview with Bobby Guerra. Bobby is a great radio guy, and he offered me weekends. At the time I was very happy to take the shifts. Over time, I moved up at KNEW, and in 1994 the company added a new station, KBGG, or “BIG 98”. I did afternoon drive there before being fired by Bob Hamilton to make way for the legendary boss jock John Mack Flanagan. Being replaced by the iconic Mack was no insult. I had just met the KFRC program director, Brian Thomas, a week before leaving KBGG, and he hired me to do weekends and fill in. Brian and GM Will Schutte and the awesome talents of KFRC made me feel very welcome, but after a couple of years doing part-time, I heard about a Sacramento station looking for a morning DJ. KHYL was then called COOL101, a popular Oldies station in need of a lift. The month-long Clear Channel hiring process there was more difficult than KCBS-FM, but together with the talented Jen Steele & Jim Raposa, we brought the ratings way up. When Clear Channel fired the entire staff three years later, I called KFRC from the parking lot and Brian gave me my old job back. KFRC made me feel welcome again, and working with the likes of Bobby Ocean and Sue Hall was truly a thrill.
My two luckiest hires happened when I wasn’t really trying; I was emceeing a charity event in Monterey when Candid Camera’s Peter Funt, who was in the audience, asked if I wanted to do be the announcer for his upcoming Candid Camera “50th Anniversary Special! That led to ten years with the show, and through Candid Camera I reconnected with family and friends who saw my name in the credits. Because KBAY top boss Joe Armaio saw me on Candid Camera, in 2004 I scored the morning spot with Lissa Kreisler in San Jose, at KBAY! My hair was much shorter & grayer than when KBAY turned me down in 1970. Serendipity!
Sam & Lissa At KBAY
I’m intentionally leaving out most of the embarrassing job interviews where I was humbled and denied, just like many of my radio industry pals. But there were plenty along the way. That’ll make for another story someday.
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