The St. Valentines Day Massacre
February 14th, 1987
Los Angeles, CA
One of the greatest rock stations to ever exist was LA's KMET. It had launched in 1968 as a true maverick station. The DJ's played what they wanted to, and were not restricted by the demands of genres or program directors. KMET ruled Los Angeles radio throughout the seventies. But in the 80's, new ownership brought new rules, and the station began to drop in the ratings. They were forced to play the hits, which made them just like every other station.
On February 6th of 1987, the entire on air staff at KMET were fired. The station played, for the next eight days, a stream of rock music without DJ's, interrupted only by an ominous countdown of days, then hours. The final minutes of KMET...which I sat listening to intently...played Elton John's "Funeral For A Friend", Springsteen's "Born To Run", and finally, the medley at the end of Abbey Road. Which is how one of the greatest FM radio stations in history...died.
At noon, as the song "The End" finished, KMET became KTWV. The Wave. The Wave was suddenly an adult contemporary and smooth jazz station. There were no DJ's, only little short plays of actors voicing supposedly real life situations. The station became a model for the plastic radio stations everywhere that catered to adults who didn't quite rock any more. It was strange, weird, and awful. It was also sad. It was the end of an era.
The Wave exists to this day, pumping out modern faceless muzak to middle aged adults who see music as nothing more than background noise.
And the very first song played on KTWV, 94.7FM, The Wave, was "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" by Sting, from The Dream Of The Blue Turtles. Never forgotten. And never quite forgiven. _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
The St. Valentines Day Massacre
February 14th, 1987
Los Angeles, CA
One of the greatest rock stations to ever exist was LA's KMET. It had launched in 1968 as a true maverick station. The DJ's played what they wanted to, and were not restricted by the demands of genres or program directors. KMET ruled Los Angeles radio throughout the seventies. But in the 80's, new ownership brought new rules, and the station began to drop in the ratings. They were forced to play the hits, which made them just like every other station.
On February 6th of 1987, the entire on air staff at KMET were fired. The station played, for the next eight days, a stream of rock music without DJ's, interrupted only by an ominous countdown of days, then hours. The final minutes of KMET...which I sat listening to intently...played Elton John's "Funeral For A Friend", Springsteen's "Born To Run", and finally, the medley at the end of Abbey Road. Which is how one of the greatest FM radio stations in history...died.
At noon, as the song "The End" finished, KMET became KTWV. The Wave. The Wave was suddenly an adult contemporary and smooth jazz station. There were no DJ's, only little short plays of actors voicing supposedly real life situations. The station became a model for the plastic radio stations everywhere that catered to adults who didn't quite rock any more. It was strange, weird, and awful. It was also sad. It was the end of an era.
The Wave exists to this day, pumping out modern faceless muzak to middle aged adults who see music as nothing more than background noise.
And the very first song played on KTWV, 94.7FM, The Wave, was "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" by Sting, from The Dream Of The Blue Turtles. Never forgotten. And never quite forgiven.
Thanks Romanelli!
You can't mention KMET without KSAN (1968-1980) (and before that KMPX-1967-1968) both stations pioneered by Tom Donahue. There are many archives of KSAN radio shows online. KSAN story ended with playlists and a format change (Country!)
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Liedzeit
pedro1976
Purplepash
neilgee
Romanelli
