It’s midnight on a Friday and we’re driving up
La Cienega through oil derrick field ‘neighborhoods’ wondering if a
mugging is going to be on the evening’s agenda.
Then, suddenly we see the antenna
superstructures. Giant stick pyramids like some kid’s 4th
grade toothpick sculpture of the Watt’s Towers climb up from the hills
on the out-skirts, east of Culver City. The flashing light on top is
so that aircraft don’t hit it. We’re there. KABC Radio 790.
That flashing
blow-torch lights up millions of antennae across the country every
night. You see, am travels at night. Bouncing off of the
earth’s ionosphere, the big waves of amplitude modulated radiation -
AM - cross the desert, the rockies and prairie all the way to
Chicago. No problem. As a kid I listened to WLS, Chicago every night
on my maritime issue am receiver. My best friend had a little
hand-held ‘transistor’ radio that did the same - and farther! How
exotic those midwestern accents sounded to boys in Fountain Valley,
CA…
Since those ‘70’s
days of ‘Machine Gun Kelly’ and ‘Charlie Tuna’ on KHJ and KEZY, am
radio has gone from playing Jim Croce and novelty tunes to generally
presenting slightly hard hitting and less-than controversial ‘talk
personalities’.
But in LA, where
West Coast rock-n-roll radio germinated in the late 40’s, a new sound
is playing on the am dial, blasting the ‘Best-of-the-West’ eastward.
The funniest thing, is that it took a New York writer to do it. Each
weeknight, Doug McIntyre pilots ‘Flight 790 - Red Eye Radio’ from his
airstrip high atop the glowing bully pulpit out-back of KABC’s
broadcast facilities.
Bringing a
surprisingly fresh assortment of live performing local musicians
(“Someone’s got to have ‘em on or you’ll never hear it”, he says) and
historic names in popular music, along with the more traditional am
fare of ‘Enron-esque’ political grousing, McIntyre has his way with
the microphone. We, of course, saw it for ourselves when my partner
was the Treat Du Jour …something akin to this:
“You’re listening
to Red-Eye Radio on Flight 790…We’re speaking with and listening live
to the great Jimmie Maddin and his band performing and talking about
the time when Rock-N-Roll went from horns and jazz, to guitars and
country. There’s quite a scene here in the studio, we’ve got a
tuxedo, a Zuit-suit, several shades of denim, and I’m wearing a
thong”.
Out from NYC, the blond 43 year-old loquacious
one sports cool skinny black rectangular glasses and talks about his
fiance’. He smokes a lot and likes it when club owner’s let him. He
has more energy than you. He’s better looking than you. He’s as smart
as your dad. No, smarter. But he digs the stuff you do, too. Kind of
like if the science champion in your junior high turned out to really
be living a double life as the star quarterback with underground music
connections at the high school across town.
He’s a working writer of television programming
and film scripts. He’s a political conservative with a soft spot for
the little guy.
Living in California for the last 10 years,
McIntyre obviously want’s to do something important and different in
radio. His personality and approach to a discussion disarm you and it
all happens regardless of the subject or issue. But there is something
more going on; he’s helping legends of music that corporate media has
forgotten along with local guys trying to come up. You’d think that
the major labels would grasp the money making possibilities, but of
course, they haven’t. McIntyre sees the stories and knowledge that
these individuals possess as a valuable resource for his audience.
On our recent visit there were four generations
in attendance - and an equal number represented by listeners calling
in to speak with McIntyre and guest.
Taking his
subject a bit off-guard with queries related to the ‘Real’ Hollywood
of old, McIntyre and Maddin chat about the music, strippers, gangsters
and personalities that comprised the LA landscape of post-war
entertainment - the Nightclub. As McIntyre casually opens the phone
line, one of Maddin’s original band members
??????????????? calls in with
some previously unknown history about (Katzman?
Bolger producer) spills forth and McIntyre coaxes it all out
along the way. If he is ignorant of a subject, he let’s his interview
guest educate him with humility - and his listeners get a chance to
learn something new in the process.
Then it’s time
for a ‘live-copy’ message about delicious chocolate dipped
strawberries delivered in time for the Valentine’s day rituals. His
voice doesn’t actually change, but your ears are suddenly met by the
round-est, ‘AM whole-tone’ enunciation ever delivered by a native of
the Hudson river. The berries sound yummy. We want to order some.
His studio team
includes a producer who likes a cigar (he smokes a stick on his way in
to work and does the ‘Baretta’ no-flame-chew on one when he’s inside),
and a board engineer who jumps up and down in his chair like Jack
Nicholson at a Laker game when watching history unfold across the
glass between live copy announcements.
If you get lost
in the labyrinth of offices and halls at KABC they will cheerfully
retrieve the bewildered and lead them back to safety. If the
musician’s don’t bring enough gear, they can turn an AM broadcast rig
into music studio in about 45 seconds. They know what radio is
supposed to sound like.
McIntyre is doing
something important. Between the talk subjects he’s spinning 78’s,
essentially. It’s just that the singer on the historic record is
performing live in the studio. Each night, between the staff-produced
intro at the top, and the strains of Jimmie Maddin’s recording of
‘Time Is Running Out’ at the end of his show, he’s doing it. McIntyre
is turning corporate broadcasting back to the future, back to a place
where quality and intelligence counts and programming ‘is not just for
filling between commercials anymore’.
AM’s Red-Eye
Radio Flight 790’s got a seat waiting for you - there’s no substitute
flight or alternate airline so you’d better not miss it.
TO BE CONTINUED.....
READ Volume#5
