First put together in 1976 from what had been KGBS to go up against market Top 40 leader KHJ, Ten-Q had all the makings of exciting radio. Sure, there was no reverb, but with talent like M.G. Kelly and others whose quick wit and ‘shotgun’ approach fit well with the music of the late seventies, who needed it!
This is the first recording we’ve heard of featuring Andy Barber and he’s a perfect fit for KTNQ. A comparison of this station with KHJ during the Summer of ’78 would find Ten-Q playing a wider variety of hits, a hotter playlist with more, harder rock, while KHJ was ‘playing it safe’ staying closer to the middle of the road. And while this is not the first aircheck of Ten-Q featured on Airchexx, its one of the best in terms of sound quality.
Courtesy of BigAppleAirchecks
This was a mere 2 weeks after my birth…and Andy sounds exactly the same 33 years later.
If TenQ had been this focused from the beginning (and had brought Andy down from the Northwest sooner), they might have been a contender. But this is a year and a half in…and by September, Storer would announce plans to go Country (prompting The Real Don Steele to walk out and not be heard on L.A. radio again for 7 years).
Those plans would never come to pass because that news prompted interest from a buyer, and the station went Spanish at the end of July, 1979.
Good god, this guy is a puker.
The music is pretty solid but KFRC was a zillion times better, and “L.A.’s only rock-n-roll radio station” as their slogan?
Um … they’re playing Eruption, a disco record, and Andy Gibb. And, um … they forgot about KLOS and KMET.
Perhaps if they had jocks that sounded like people, like WHYI under Bill Tanner, they would have transitioned to KHits 97 as a focused Top 40 rocker that would have changed history by preempting Rick Dees’ rise at KIIS-FM, killed KKHR’s chances as a competitor and made KIQQ even more irrelevant than it was in the 80s.
Jake, of course you’re such a talent, we need to hear your work. A puker? Sounds like some kid with just enough buzz words to get by. KFRC is apples and oranges,Ten Q had to battle KFI & KHJ. Y100? Miami wasn’t LA, boy go back to your Rick Dees air-checks boy.
Well I really got tired of how bad the station was sounding when i was just the morning drive
jock, but then the GM and management got wise to why Record CO.$$$$, and I took on the task of Re-Inventing the NEW TEN Q, I cleaned out the Crap, Got a Real Audio Engineer and we ended up sounding like an FM Station on AM, in fact Martin Mull did the Movie FM at our Studios, so when it was released we did some sneaky Pre-view promos, it’s on my Radio Yearbook site google Radio Yearbook, also Tour de Voice.
I hired Andy Barber, Gary Cocker, Lee Baby Simms and Steve Jordan , but it was a year and half too late, but anyone who heard Ernie Anderson doing my famous term TEN Q’S ON! knows we were ON! from the Beaches to the Mountains, (HBO used that term 20 years later “HBO’S ON)
Thank You John…
Andy Barber! Legend. Proud to have worked with Andy @ KHIT 107 in Seattle. We banged out some fun morning shows together 1986-1987. But my favorite Any Barber is KING Radio Eleven in Seattle mid-late 1970’s. No matter the frequency or call letters, Andy always left it all on the air. Respect always and proud to have shared the airwaves with Andy Barber.
Eruption was never played during my programming tenure and the lame slogan was also pre me , you have some dates and facts out of order.