Site Announcements

View the results of the New Wave Outpost 20th Anniversary Top Songs Poll here:
http://www.nwoutpost.com/poll/results


Coming Soon: Top Albums Poll. Stay tuned!

Welcome to the new forum!
If you are a previously registered user, you must do the following:

1) Click on 'I forgot my password' at the login prompt
2) Enter your username and email you registered with and submit
3) You will receive an email with an activation link. Please click it and then log in using the random password provided
4) Go to your User Control Panel and click on the Profile tab
5) Click on 'Edit Account Settings' and enter your new password twice followed by the random password provided earlier. Click Submit.
6) That's it...you're back in! You may have to log in again with your new password.


If you forgot your email address, please email me (MikeP) at: mikepaulsen12@gmail.com

Note: you must now use bb code buttons in the Post form for embedded images, YouTube videos, etc.
For example, to post embedded YouTube videos: paste in the link (e.g., http://www.youtube.com/watch?XYZ1234567), highlight it and then click the YouTube button.

Vintage KROQ

New Wave/Punk music, culture, genres, memories. '80s revivalism and other relevant topics.

Postby 2merks » Sat Mar 15, 2014 5:53 am

Thank you to everyone who has posted the old KROQ recordings. Now that I have a taste, I want more. Does anyone have more early 80's, possibly late 70's recordings?
2merks
Running Up That Hill
 
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Mar 15, 2014 5:47 am
Location:

Re: Vintage KROQ

Postby Psyklist » Mon Jul 07, 2014 1:44 pm

You're not doing no Beatles weekend on my station.


Ken Roberts, the man responsible for the KROQ that we heard back in the latter '70s and into the '80s (or have all come to love after discovering archives of its airchecks), passed away on May 22, 2014. His obituary was only recently posted on the Los Angeles Times' website on July 4, 2014. The on-line article is here: http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-ken-roberts-20140705-story.html

Here is the Los Angeles Times article:

Ken Roberts dies at 73; promoter transformed KROQ-FM into a powerhouse

Image
Ken Roberts in 1985. Under his ownership in the 1970s and ’80s, KROQ-FM went from being a much-maligned renegade to one of the most influential modern rock stations in the country. (Los Angeles Times)

by Elaine Woo
July 4, 2014, 7:33 AM

Ken Roberts, a concert promoter who rescued a debt-ridden Pasadena rock music station and oversaw its rebirth as powerhouse KROQ-FM (106.7), which helped acts like Prince and Culture Club gain mainstream attention, died May 22 in New York City. He was 73.

Roberts had been ailing since a heart attack in February, said his former wife Harriette Craig, who announced his death last week.

Under his ownership in the 1970s and '80s, KROQ went from being a much-maligned renegade to one of the most influential modern rock stations in the country, with deejays like Richard Blade, Freddy Snakeskin and Jed the Fish championing alternative music in the widely emulated "ROQ of the 80s" format.

Among the many then-unknown bands the station featured were Duran Duran, the Clash, U2, R.E.M., the Go-Go's, Devo, the Police, the Pretenders, Billy Idol, Oingo Boingo and the Eurythmics, all of whom owed some of their success to a middle-aged concert promoter from Hoboken, N.J., who wanted people to hear new music.

"I don't think he quite understood the music... but he wanted to be cutting edge," Blade said this week. "Ken really believed in the freedom of radio. What Ken allowed people on air to do shaped the musical taste of Southern California and exploded across the country."

Born in Hoboken on Feb. 28, 1941, Kenneth John Roberts was entrepreneurial as a child, delivering newspapers and hiring other boys to wash neighbors' cars. He attended Seton Hall University in New Jersey and helped pay his way working as a page at NBC. His connections there helped him arrange a concert on campus featuring singer Jack Jones. He booked Della Reese next.

After graduating in 1963, he started a business coordinating college concerts featuring some of the era's most popular performers, including Harry Belafonte, Sammy Davis Jr., Andy Williams, Johnny Mathis, the Supremes and the Temptations. By the early 1970s his company was representing Frankie Valli and Sly and the Family Stone.

One of the engagements he booked for Sly Stone's band was for a KROQ-sponsored show at the Los Angeles Coliseum. When KROQ couldn't cover the costs, Roberts agreed to pay for the concert in exchange for a small ownership stake in the struggling station.

He did not realize what he had gotten himself into until he attended a meeting in 1974 with the other owners---a motley group that included a doctor, a couple of dairymen, a Sacramento lobbyist, a secretary and several other small investors. Roberts, with his background in concert booking, turned out to be the most experienced as far as radio was concerned. By the end of the meeting he was elected president.

He soon learned that KROQ's finances were in shambles after a year of programming without commercials, a gimmick intended to build audience. He took the station off the air for two years while he dug it out of $7 million of debt.

The station resumed broadcasting in 1976 but its troubles were far from over. The Federal Communications Commission had ordered the station to surrender its license, which made it vulnerable to rivals trying to take it over. Roberts paid them to drop their bids and bought out his partners until he was sole owner.

In 1979 he hired Rick Carroll as program director. Carroll, who died in 1989, was widely credited with refining KROQ's new-music signature, but Roberts kept him on track.

Snakeskin, who joined KROQ in 1980 and now handles the vintage KROQ playlist on the station's digital channel, recalled that Carroll had proposed a weekend of Beatles music to draw in more listeners but "Ken set him straight. Ken said, 'You're not doing no Beatles weekend on my station.' He could see this new kind of music was catching on."

KROQ's ratings soared in the 1980s, leading the FCC to award the license to Roberts in 1985. A year later he sold the station to Infinity Broadcasting for a record $45 million. KROQ, at 106.7 FM, is now owned by CBS.

Divorced in 1981, Roberts had no children.

In 1991 he returned to the radio business with his purchase of stations in Santa Monica and Newport Beach that shared the frequency 103.1. With Snakeskin as program director, a techno-rock format was simulcast on both outlets as MARS-FM. But it failed to find an audience and after a year switched to smooth jazz.

A risk taker who made and lost fortunes, Roberts had to give up his 112-acre Mandeville Canyon ranch in 2012 after defaulting on a loan from a Connecticut hedge fund. Once listed for $45 million, it was sold at auction for $12 million.

His turnaround of KROQ remained his most notable success.

"We were this tiny little station in Pasadena with a crappy signal playing music the other stations wouldn't touch with a barge pole," Blade said. "We all came together under Ken Roberts."
Psyklist
Running Up That Hill
 
Posts: 12
Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2010 2:33 pm
Location:

Re: Vintage KROQ

Postby Frau_Blucher » Wed Jul 09, 2014 9:28 am

Thanks for the news, sad or no.
Frau_Blucher
Room at the Top
 
Posts: 10195
Joined: Wed May 21, 2003 1:37 pm
Location:

Re: Vintage KROQ

Postby ESP » Thu Aug 18, 2016 6:14 pm

It's been a while. Roqqer, any chance you could post up some more KROQ tapes? I really enjoy listening to these.
ESP
Switchin' to Glide
 
Posts: 17
Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2009 11:25 am
Location: USA

Re: Vintage KROQ

Postby Psyklist » Fri Aug 19, 2016 2:29 am

ESP wrote:It's been a while. Roqqer, any chance you could post up some more KROQ tapes? I really enjoy listening to these.


Not sure if you've checked out the following links before. They are still valid as of Aug. 31, 2019.

8 airchecks from the spring of 1988(?) and one from 7/26/82 (this one has been listed on nwoutpost before). I think all 9 airchecks total 7 hours or so:
http://www.djcraig.net/80sradio

8 hours of KROQ's countdown show from 12/31/83, from Ron "Boogiemonster" Gerber's "Crap from the Past" show on KFAI-Minneapolis. DJs on it are Jed the Fish, Katie Manor, and Rodney Bingenheimer:
"Crap From The Past - Bonus: KROQ/Los Angeles, Top 106 Of 1983 Countdown"
http://www.archive.org/details/cftp-kroq-1983-12-31
Last edited by Psyklist on Sun Sep 01, 2019 2:32 am, edited 2 times in total.
Psyklist
Running Up That Hill
 
Posts: 12
Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2010 2:33 pm
Location:

Re: Vintage KROQ

Postby ESP » Fri Aug 19, 2016 3:19 am

Already had all of those, but didn't know there were FLACs of the 1983 countdown. I'll be downloading those since I only have the MP3s. Thanks for the links.
ESP
Switchin' to Glide
 
Posts: 17
Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2009 11:25 am
Location: USA

Re: Vintage KROQ

Postby Psyklist » Tue Mar 24, 2020 3:38 am

The "www.djcraig.net/80sradio" link in my 8/19/16 post isn't valid anymore, although the http://www.djcraig.net site still exists. I can't see those nine airchecks on the current website, but they are still on the host server. Below are the direct links to the airchecks. Better listen to them while they're still accessible! (The "Crap from the Past" link is still alive---see below.)

So, as of 3/24/20, the following links are alive:

• 8 airchecks from the spring of 1988(?) and one from 7/26/82 (this one has been listed on nwoutpost before). All nine airchecks total approx. 7.5 hours:
KROQ Archival Recording #1 (0:42:17): http://djcraig.net/01%20KROQ%201%20A.mp3
KROQ Archival Recording #2 (0:47:34): http://djcraig.net/01%20KROQ%201%20B.mp3
KROQ Archival Recording #3 (0:46:21): http://djcraig.net/01%20kroq%202%20side%201.mp3
KROQ Archival Recording #4 (0:33:34): http://djcraig.net/02%20kroq%202%20side%202.mp3
KROQ Archival Recording #5 (0:44:46): http://djcraig.net/01%20kroq3side1.mp3
KROQ Archival Recording #6 (0:46:33): http://djcraig.net/01%20kroq3side2.mp3
KROQ Archival Recording #7 (0:46:18): http://djcraig.net/01%20kroq4side01.mp3
KROQ Archival Recording #8 (1:19:42): http://djcraig.net/01%20kroq4side2.mp3
KROQ July 26, 1982 (1:01:14): http://www.djcraig.net/08%20KROQ%20-%20July%2026%201982.mp3

• 8 hours of KROQ's countdown show from 12/31/83, from Ron "Boogiemonster" Gerber's "Crap from the Past" show on KFAI-Minneapolis. DJs on it are Jed the Fish, Katie Manor, and Rodney Bingenheimer:
"Crap From The Past - Bonus: KROQ/Los Angeles, Top 106 Of 1983 Countdown": http://www.archive.org/details/cftp-kroq-1983-12-31
Psyklist
Running Up That Hill
 
Posts: 12
Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2010 2:33 pm
Location:

Re: Vintage KROQ

Postby q89747 » Sat Apr 11, 2020 4:15 pm

Psyklist wrote:The "www.djcraig.net/80sradio" link in my 8/19/16 post isn't valid anymore, although the http://www.djcraig.net site still exists. I can't see those nine airchecks on the current website, but they are still on the host server. Below are the direct links to the airchecks. Better listen to them while they're still accessible! (The "Crap from the Past" link is still alive---see below.)

So, as of 3/24/20, the following links are alive:

• 8 airchecks from the spring of 1988(?) and one from 7/26/82 (this one has been listed on nwoutpost before). All nine airchecks total approx. 7.5 hours:
KROQ Archival Recording #1 (0:42:17): http://djcraig.net/01%20KROQ%201%20A.mp3
KROQ Archival Recording #2 (0:47:34): http://djcraig.net/01%20KROQ%201%20B.mp3
KROQ Archival Recording #3 (0:46:21): http://djcraig.net/01%20kroq%202%20side%201.mp3
KROQ Archival Recording #4 (0:33:34): http://djcraig.net/02%20kroq%202%20side%202.mp3
KROQ Archival Recording #5 (0:44:46): http://djcraig.net/01%20kroq3side1.mp3
KROQ Archival Recording #6 (0:46:33): http://djcraig.net/01%20kroq3side2.mp3
KROQ Archival Recording #7 (0:46:18): http://djcraig.net/01%20kroq4side01.mp3
KROQ Archival Recording #8 (1:19:42): http://djcraig.net/01%20kroq4side2.mp3
KROQ July 26, 1982 (1:01:14): http://www.djcraig.net/08%20KROQ%20-%20July%2026%201982.mp3

• 8 hours of KROQ's countdown show from 12/31/83, from Ron "Boogiemonster" Gerber's "Crap from the Past" show on KFAI-Minneapolis. DJs on it are Jed the Fish, Katie Manor, and Rodney Bingenheimer:
"Crap From The Past - Bonus: KROQ/Los Angeles, Top 106 Of 1983 Countdown": http://www.archive.org/details/cftp-kroq-1983-12-31


I don't know anything about the clip from 1982, but I can shed light on the items 1 through 8 because they came from me originally. I recorded a lot of KROQ off the air late 1987 through summer 1988, my total collection amounting to about 15 90-minute tapes. I went through this original collection and transferred what I thought were the most interesting bits to new 90-minute tapes. These I mailed to DJ Craig, who was kind enough to take my tapes, convert them to mp3 and upload them to the NWO for everyone to enjoy because at the time I didn't have a way to convert them to mp3 myself.
q89747
Personal Jesus
 
Posts: 339
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2009 3:15 pm
Location: USA

Re: Vintage KROQ

Postby DJ Craig » Mon Apr 13, 2020 9:08 pm

q89747 wrote:
Psyklist wrote:The "www.djcraig.net/80sradio" link in my 8/19/16 post isn't valid anymore, although the http://www.djcraig.net site still exists. I can't see those nine airchecks on the current website, but they are still on the host server. Below are the direct links to the airchecks. Better listen to them while they're still accessible! (The "Crap from the Past" link is still alive---see below.)

So, as of 3/24/20, the following links are alive:

• 8 airchecks from the spring of 1988(?) and one from 7/26/82 (this one has been listed on nwoutpost before). All nine airchecks total approx. 7.5 hours:
KROQ Archival Recording #1 (0:42:17): http://djcraig.net/01%20KROQ%201%20A.mp3
KROQ Archival Recording #2 (0:47:34): http://djcraig.net/01%20KROQ%201%20B.mp3
KROQ Archival Recording #3 (0:46:21): http://djcraig.net/01%20kroq%202%20side%201.mp3
KROQ Archival Recording #4 (0:33:34): http://djcraig.net/02%20kroq%202%20side%202.mp3
KROQ Archival Recording #5 (0:44:46): http://djcraig.net/01%20kroq3side1.mp3
KROQ Archival Recording #6 (0:46:33): http://djcraig.net/01%20kroq3side2.mp3
KROQ Archival Recording #7 (0:46:18): http://djcraig.net/01%20kroq4side01.mp3
KROQ Archival Recording #8 (1:19:42): http://djcraig.net/01%20kroq4side2.mp3
KROQ July 26, 1982 (1:01:14): http://www.djcraig.net/08%20KROQ%20-%20July%2026%201982.mp3

• 8 hours of KROQ's countdown show from 12/31/83, from Ron "Boogiemonster" Gerber's "Crap from the Past" show on KFAI-Minneapolis. DJs on it are Jed the Fish, Katie Manor, and Rodney Bingenheimer:
"Crap From The Past - Bonus: KROQ/Los Angeles, Top 106 Of 1983 Countdown": http://www.archive.org/details/cftp-kroq-1983-12-31


I don't know anything about the clip from 1982, but I can shed light on the items 1 through 8 because they came from me originally. I recorded a lot of KROQ off the air late 1987 through summer 1988, my total collection amounting to about 15 90-minute tapes. I went through this original collection and transferred what I thought were the most interesting bits to new 90-minute tapes. These I mailed to DJ Craig, who was kind enough to take my tapes, convert them to mp3 and upload them to the NWO for everyone to enjoy because at the time I didn't have a way to convert them to mp3 myself.



Yes, those pages are still up and running and thanks again for providing the source material!

They can be accessed here:
https://djcraig.net/80sradio.html
DJ Craig
Running Up That Hill
 
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Feb 15, 2019 3:16 pm

Re: Vintage KROQ

Postby q89747 » Mon Mar 13, 2023 3:47 pm

q89747
Personal Jesus
 
Posts: 339
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2009 3:15 pm
Location: USA

Re: Vintage KROQ

Postby q89747 » Sun Oct 22, 2023 8:06 pm

q89747
Personal Jesus
 
Posts: 339
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2009 3:15 pm
Location: USA

Previous

Return to General New Wave & '80s Discussions

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Majestic-12 [Bot] and 26 guests