Stories from Sam – “Tom Benner”

 I first met Tom Benner at a crucial time in my career. I had been fired from KSFO, and it seemed that I’d run out of stations. In 12 years, I’d gone from KCBS-FM to KIOI, KYA, and KSFO, and was, as they say, “on the beach”. Then KNEW PD Bob Guerra gave me another chance – vacation and weekend fill-in. After a dozen years of successful radio and TV spots, opportunities had dried up – nobody would take my call, and the one meeting that I was offered was aborted before it began – my reputation had apparently preceded me, and it seemed like KNEW was the Last Chance Texaco – a gift not to be squandered. So, I gratefully took the job at the top Country music AM in the Bay Area, happy and humbled.

Country Radio is unique in a couple of ways; first, if you don’t like country music you never hear some amazing DJ talents, and second, the DJs in the format are generally friendlier. First shifts for me were invariably overnights – midnight to 6, so I didn’t get to meet too many people at first. Then I met Tom – a gregarious, talented professional who could make people laugh without trying.  Even though we were competitors, I was drawn to his style and hustle. I could identify, since I’d been hustling for DJ work my entire career, in a field where your radio peers are also your competition. I learned a lot from Tom.

Sam, Tom & The Judds

Tom Benner had done his share of radio travel – from a little FM in Thousand Oaks, to Alaska, to Ventura, Concord and Las Vegas, with a couple of stops in the East Bay at KWUN, KKIS, before landing at KNEW in 1981. By the time we met, Tom was Production Director at KNEW-KSAN, also doing part-time DJ work, and for a while, I would follow in Tom’s footsteps. When KNEW needed an evening DJ in 1985, I naturally applied. I had been a morning and afternoon DJ on some pretty good stations: KCBS-FM, KIOI and KYA, so I thought I was a “shoo-in”. I was not. The PD explained that everyone wanted the job, but nobody was pitching what they might do with it. Except for Tom, who told the PD what he planned and why he believed it would get good ratings. A kind of theater of the mind show that Tom called “Benner’s Basement”. And he was right! Tom got the job and after some heavy lobbying, I got Tom’s old job in production, working with the iconic KSAN engineer, Ed Ely, as well as part-time DJ work. “Benner’s Basement introduced listeners to characters like “Eddy Van Ness, “San Francisco Private Investigator, shady used car dealer “Kurt Sparhawk” (If you don’t want to buy it, don’t let them build it!”) and with a spot-on Ronald Reagan impression, “Ramblin’ Ronnie’s Random Reality”, and a lot more.

A couple of years later Tom was moved to afternoon drive, then to KSAN mornings, and I finally got a shot at being a full-time DJ at KNEW. Almost every time Tom moved up, so did I. Along the way, we had many conversations about what made good radio, and I learned a lot about entertaining listeners. Like a good pitcher who shows another pitcher a trick with the ball, Tom passed on little things that made me a better broadcaster. After a while, Tom’s career took him away from our stations, and down that long, lonesome radio trail. Tom, who lived in Benicia, drove 65 miles to San Jose every morning to wake country music fans up at KRTY Radio. That’s dedication! In 1992, I would see him again – I was still doing middays at KNEW and Tom was again hired to bring Benner’s Basement back to KNEW mornings! But instead of Benner’s Basement, it was “Breakfast with Benner” and featured a more polished Tom after all the years entertaining people on other stations. That’s when my learning curve improved once again, picking up on how he handled phones and listeners.

A sad sidenote: Tom was the one to tell me that my father was hospitalized and after a rush to San Jose, I learned my dad had died that morning. I’m sure there’s a sad country song in that story, but I’ll leave it to others to write.

Our careers took different turns in the 90’s. Tom stayed with KNEW, and I moved over to KBBG “Big 98” and then KFRC. In1988 KSFO invited Tom to join their morning show on “Hot Talk” 560 KSFO with Melanie Morgan and Lee Rogers, as “Officer Vic”. He had just what that political talk show needed; a sense of humor. And a guitar! After that, except for an occasional round of golf, we went our separate ways. Tom was Officer Vic on KSFO for over a decade and later moved up to KSRO in Santa Rosa to reunite with Melanie Morgan, while I moved to KBAY in San Jose for a memorable ten-year run with the iconic Lissa Kreisler.

To this day, if I mention KNEW, someone mentions Benner’s Basement! That concept, which was similar to the great Al Jazzbeaux Collins’ fantastic “Purple Grotto” had legs!    And listeners! And fans! And it got me thinking about the fun people missed out on, simply because they didn’t listen to a certain radio format. When I left KNEW after ten years to join the eighties format called “BIG 98”, I was surprised when people welcomed me, saying that they thought I’d died or left the Bay Area! That was another valuable lesson! Country music has a specific audience, and if you weren’t into it, you missed some big fun! I believe that Benner’s Basement would have been a huge hit on a pop music station. People just didn’t know about this guy who loved radio and the theater of the mind that radio made possible.

There are so many stories about radio’s heroic DJs: people who live to make people smile and care and in doing so improve our lives. Tom’s is only one of those hidden gems. I’ll keep looking and listening — and reporting — on the ones who’ve faded into the radio ozone.

You can still hear some of Tom Benner’s best at www.tombenner.com.

Benner’s Broadcast Archive is here: https://soundcloud.com/tom_benner