Sam’s Birthdays
March 6, 1946. That was the day that my voice was first thrust on the world – crying, cranky and loud. It seems that being a personality on TV and radio was always my destiny, from that noisy day one. Since it’s my 80th recounting the milestones – or birthstones of my life makes sense. Let’s go back to 1956 for a trip to busy downtown San Jose with my mother.
For my 10th birthday, Mom took me downtown to buy my very first record. Sherman-Clay was the local music store. They sold pianos and records and rented musical instruments. I had been reading about this guy, “Elvis the pelvis” as the local Mercury News called him, and my 10th birthday present on March 6, 1956, was Elvis Presley’s hit, “Heartbreak Hotel”. My family had recently purchased a Hi-Fi record player – stereo wasn’t available yet, and I proceeded to wear out that 45! Mom had to be sick of hearing it, but she encouraged me to listen to the radio and learn about music. I was hooked on rock! Dad joined a record of the month club. Between the club and the radio in the kitchen, I was exposed to lots of music.
By the time I was 17 (also a very good year), I was attending broadcasting classes in San Francisco, and a month before my 18th birthday I landed my first job in radio. I was the midday DJ on KPER in Gilroy. The pay was good, the boss was kind, but my continued employment rested on my getting an FCC First-Class license. Well, I failed the test in my first two attempts, and the boss kindly told me he had to let me go. After a brief summer relief stint at KOMY in Watsonville, my DJ career was on hiatus for the foreseeable future. On my 20th birthday I attended San Jose State at night and mad a living blacksmithing during the day at a historic shop that made farm implements and other steel tools.
Several birthdays passed before I got back to radio.
I finally earned my First-Class License in 1970, and I spent my 25th birthday on the air as “The Night Creature” on a country music station in West Texas, where the program director told me he hired me to see who was crazy enough to drive to San Angelo for a job. That was me. So, for the princely sum of $100 a week I played country songs from 6PM to 12:30 AM (allowing West Texas listeners a half-hour to make it home after the bars closed. San Angelo was a friendly town, and my son Justin was born there. And soon, the reality was born that I had to get busy with my career or go back to blacksmithing if I wanted to keep him in Gerbers Baby Food and diapers! My secret plan was to get a bit of “seasoning” and polish my style far away from California. Before my 30th birthday, with Texas in the rear-view and a fascinating boss-jock year with some incredible talent at Top 40 KDON in Salinas, I had learned a bit about how to be a good DJ and managed to talk my way to San Francisco!
I spent my 30th birthday there in 1976. Back in the fall of 1972 I had accepted a fantastic job at KCBS-FM as morning personality and Public Affairs Director. Looking back, I regret leaving that position. I had been offered a job on KGO-TV’s top morning show, “AM San Francisco.” But CBS would not allow me to moonlight, so I had to decide. I quit KCBS-FM, took another radio job at KIOI FM and grabbed that TV spot doing weekly movie reviews on “AM San Francisco”. My 30th year was one of turmoil and change, but despite the changes my career took off and I survived. Not all birthdays are happy ones though. Shortly after my 35th birthday I was fired from KIOI by new management and hired by the oldies station, KYA. Back on track!
The 80’s were a crazy time to be alive in San Francisco, and many substances were available to temporarily brighten one’s mood. I partook to the point that the management at KYA/KSFO gave me a warning and shortly after showed me the proverbial door. My mood There I was, 38 years old and an oldie that was no longer a goodie. So after a month of getting wasted and feeling sorry for myself I checked into a rehab facility in Oakland to get straight. That was my home for five challenging and difficult weeks, but I was determined to clean up and get back into the game. Actually, I was technically sill in the game – Channel 20 hired me to create and host a 5-minute feature that aired daily, and I recorded on Monday. So I took BART into SF and a bus to TV 20 Studios and that evening went back to the facility to watch myself! Life was challenging for me that year, but I came out sober. This April I will celebrate 42 years of sobriety.
My 40th year was a special year. KNEW/KSAN Program Director Bob Guerra hired me soon after I left rehab, and I will be eternally grateful to him for taking a chance on me at that time. KNEW/KSAN turned out to be a wonderful experience. They wanted a DJ who could do weekends and fill-in and production, so I fibbed that I knew how to do it. My other angel among many at KNEW/KSAN was Ed Ely. He and P.J. Ballard were holdovers from the time when KSAN had gone country. Ed taught me production with patience that I won’t forget, and I happily did the job until I got the midday spot a few years later. Doing production was character-building. I relished the chance to learn to do the demanding work of radio.
Things went smoothly there until my 50th birthday. As we know very well, radio is about change, and when I was forty-eight, KNEW had gone through a couple of ownership changes and a format change: KNEW became KBGG – “Big 98,1 – the BIGGEST hits of the 80’s!” and I got the afternoon spot. I was happy to get back to playing rock again! However, in retrospect, I was not a good fit – BIG 98 fired me two days after my 50th birthday.
KFRC to the rescue! Over the next ten years, I was rocking the Oldies again and meeting and working with my radio heroes like Sue Hall, Ron Parker, Sylvia “Cha Cha” Chacon and Bobby “Wuddaguy” Ocean! It was great fun and General Manager Will Schutte could not have been a cooler boss. I left KFRC in 1998 for a morning show in Sacramento. Another Oldies station, COOL 101 was a Clear Channel station at the time and after taking our ratings from number nine to number three in our demographic, we were let go along with the entire airstaff except for the legendary talent, Donn Sainte Johnn. So – back to KFRC, where I met the affable Joe Armaio, who was the General Manager at KBAY in San Jose.
During this time, I had also accepted the announcer position at Candid Camera on CBS-TV. I was juggling fill-in and voice tracking at KFRC, while tracking for three radio stations in Tennessee and Indiana, and making rather good money with commercial endorsements. Joe Armaio called one day and offered me a sweet spot on KBAY in San Jose, my hometown! Joe and program director Jim Murphy teamed me with the superbly talented and “perfect-for-a-morning-show cheery” Lissa Kreisler! For the next ten years we rocked the ratings, doing so well that a new owner restructured our contracts to make sure we did not get too rich! Still, I got to spend my 60th and 70th birthdays at the top of the San Jose ratings! We had excellent help: the South Bay Legend, Dana Jang was our PD for most of those years, followed by Ronnie Stanton, an Australian who has lit up radio stations worldwide. By our twelfth year together, I was ready to quit the 3AM wakeups and daily commute to San Jose from Walnut Creek, but I was still having too much fun to retire.
In the summer of my 70th year I experienced some health issues and spent much time with specialists, testing, enduring biopsies and being shuttled from one doctor to another. Finally, after two years, the diagnosis came – cancer. Prostate had led to lung cancer. My oncologist told me that to live longer, the best thing was to retire and relax. Naturally, I was okay to chill, but Lissa still had gas in her tank. Sadly, my leaving prompted management to look for a replacement for both of us. “That’s radio!” So, on December16th, 2016, Lissa and I said our goodbyes to those wonderful listeners, and I bid a fond farewell to my career. There was a going-away party for us, but after 30 years brightening mornings for the commuters of the South Bay, I knew that the party belonged to Lissa and rightfully so.
And there I was, 71 years old and unemployed! What to do? There were offers, but I chose to follow doctor’s orders. Along the way, my oncologist started me on an unusual chemo treatment that has added years to my life and my health, and I am paying it forward! Every week, I deliver Meals on Wheels in Walnut Creek and volunteer at the wonderful California Historical Radio Society Museum in Alameda. Oh and I also write a story from time to time!
Eighty birthdays are a bunch, but it’s been a fantastic ride – so far – and I’ve been more than happy to celebrate every one of those birthdays- even the bad ones. “So far, so good”! Thanks for “listening”!!
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