Found on an old tape we received back in 2004, here’s our first look at the legendary, if not forgotten 136 KRUX. While serving the Phoenix market, this relatively low-powered station owned the market with its 5,000 watt transmitter in Glendale all throughout the 60s and early 70s. The station remained a Top 40 giant until 1981 when it flipped to Big Band.
This is interesting for a couple of reasons. First, there’s a LIVE overnight guy… Jay Stone (surely not the guy from 99X New York?!). You judge his performance. We give kudos to the PD for using his overnight shift as a training ground :). Other jocks featured on this aircheck are Todd Wallace and Phil Davis.
KRUX at the time of this broadcast is formatted by (or perhaps I should say consulted by) Bill Drake. The Drake format is alive and well here, with that great Bill Drake legal ID…”And Now, Ladies and Gentlemen…!!”. Drake’s trademarked format is all over this station from the jingles down to the jock patter.
One more, very interesting feature, about four minutes into this ‘check, you’ll hear one Logan Stuart doing commentary on the day’s news. It’s here that we were able to pin down the date of this aircheck, since Logan mentions it at the end of his commentary. And listen for KRUX “Traffic Watch”. Wow! Never heard traffic done like that before!
This may be short, but I think you’ll enjoy listening to a Top 40 legend that is long gone but hopefully not forgotten by all. A Drake station, too!
*Sigh*
You were doing so well with the descriptions for so long….
Since when is 5,000 watts “relatively low powered”? Especially when the competition (KRIZ) is 1,000 at 1230?
EVERYBODY had a live overnight guy in 1971. And Jay wasn’t. The first thing out of his mouth is “from now until midnight”. That means he wasn’t working overnights.
That is NOT Bill Drake’s voice on the stagers. Not even close. They bought the jingles from AIR (American Independent Radio), period.
And the speed is a good 4% slow on Jay’s segment.
Calradio – You’re always so critical. Okay, so you know because you were there. I get it. But let me explain where I’m coming from. 5,000 watts is relatively low powered when compared with 50k, which that station managed to get later on. Yes, EVERYBODY had a live overnight guy. I should have re-worded it to say kudos to PD’s who back in the day had the overnight shift available to train jocks. And, okay, I missed the post – the aircheck was so heavily edited that I mistook the first jock for the overnight jock.
You have to admit, that SOUNDS like Bill Drake. This is a technicality. Important, yes. But still, come on- I described what I heard. I don’t know everything about every station that was ever on the air.
While I respect your opinions and critiques, I could just as easily have kept my ego from being bruised and simply not approved your comment. So, take that as recognition by me that I respect your corrections. How about not kicking my ass in the dirt on my own site when I goof and emailing me instead? Then I can get it right, fix it, and give you the credit on the site for being the source of information? It would be nice if we could work together instead of you trying to publicly embarrass me.
Because, Steve…I WASN’T there in 1971. Everything I wrote came from a couple minutes worth of online research. In fact, there isn’t a thing I’ve written in a comment on this site that you couldn’t have…if you’d spent the time and effort.
And if doing that (seriously, we’re talking 5 minutes, maybe 10)is too much and you don’t know, say so. Don’t make stuff up. And you have (remember KCBQ’s “Keep On Truckin'” contest being a teaser for Truckin’ Tom Kent…who was 15, nowhere near San Diego and not in radio yet?).
And that sounds like Bill Drake only in that it’s a carbon-based life form saying words Bill Drake is famous for saying over the same music bed.
PS: KRUX didn’t own the market. It was a back-and-forth battle with KRIZ. KRIZ quit first only because Doubleday sold it to Family Life Radio. When they did that, it was #1 in the Arbitron…amazing for a 1kw at 1230 on the AM dial in 1978.
I know it was different on the East Coast and in the Midwest with 50,000 watters like WABC, WLS and WCFL, but out West, the typical large market Top 40 was a 5,000 watt station (KFWB, KHJ, KGB, KFRC). In smaller markets, there were 1,000 watt winners (KROY, Sacramento).
Finally, Drake never so much as breathed on KRUX. It wasn’t a consulting client of his, it was what was known as a “Fake Drake”…in this case, running a jingle and ID series that Drake himself had ditched on his own stations more than six months earlier.
The stations Bill Drake consulted: KYNO, Fresno (where he had been PD); KSTN, Stockton; KGB, San Diego; KHJ, Los Angeles; KFRC, San Francisco; WRKO, Boston; CKLW, Windsor-Detroit; WHBQ, Memphis; WOR-FM, New York; KAKC, Tulsa and WUBE, Cincinatti. KHJ, KFRC, WRKO, CKLW, WHBQ and WOR-FM were RKO owned. The rest weren’t.
By ’67, the FM stations (except in New York) were running Drake’s syndicated HitParade and/or Solid Gold automated formats.
In ’72 and ’73, Drake consulted KRTH in Los Angeles when it switched from KHJ-FM.
From 1973-1977, Drake was part owner and oversaw programming of KIQQ-FM in Los Angeles.
In 1982, Drake consulted nostalgia KMPC, Los Angeles, using his updated “HitParade” format as a template.
And in 1992, Drake consulted KRTH again. This time bringing Morgan and Steele with him.
Again, not knowledge…Google.
And finally…I’m not a consultant for your site. I’m a customer. A reader. I have a right to expect the basics to be right. If (okay, when) TIME magazine blows the core facts of a story, I’m not going to send them a below-the-radar, off-the-record e-mail asking if I can help. I’m going to send a letter to the editor and if they have any integrity at all, they’ll publish it or one very much like it from one of the other disappointed readers.
You asked me to do this once before in a private e-mail, Steve, and I said no. Because, as I explained then, the stuff I’m complaining about and the stuff I call you on isn’t rocket science. The correct answers are available through the same machine that the wrong stuff gets typed on.
Hey here’s change, thanks for posting such a great aircheck. I was 15 when Todd Wallace was morning man and pd at KRUX. I still live in Phoenix, AZ. I later got into radio and worked in Phoenix for 10 years. I had the pleasure of meeting Todd Wallace at the KRUX reunion, which, by the way is available to watch in part on youtube.com. It brings back great memories. I have to agree with the poster. Close enough without splitting hairs.
I worked at KRUX doing afternnons from 76-78. I personally knew Todd and Jay Stone occassionally (for kicks) did the overnights on weekends using an alias “Leo Garbonza”. A great talent who passed on too soon! Anyone remember Richard Ruiz…he was my PD and morning guy! The good ‘ole days of KRUX…a great radio station.
Thanks so much for posting this aircheck!
As a lifelong Phoenix resident, it is very much appreciated!
As a young child, I remember KRUX & KRIZ really battling it out.
Please, more Phoenix airchecks!!
I first began visiting Phoenix in the summer of 1971 and moved there with my parents in the summer of the following year. This is certainly what I remember hearing KRUX sounding like at the time.
A history note. KRUX did top 40 until 1975, switched to NBC’s All News Network feed that year (anybody remember that flop?), and returned to top 40 in the late fall of 1976 when the all news service imploded. My understanding is that, despite its return, the station was never able to get the ratings it had before its 1975 format switch–though KRIZ threw in the towel in 1978, FM was coming in strong with both KUPD (since 1974 with 1kW from South Mountain) and KOPA (since the spring of 1978) grabbing away the top 40 audience. KRUX ultimately threw in the towel on the top 40 format in February of 1981.
if that isnt bill drake ill eat my shirt
just kidding lol
Good, Jim, because I was about to ask for your address.
The voice on the TOH stager was KRUX jock Jay Stone. At the time he also did the stagers for co-owned KTKT Tucson.
It was drake condulted by Todd and Jay stole the Drake playbook right down to the logs.
Krux never increased power to 50kw, and KRUX used the Johnny Mann singers like KHJ and KFRC , AIR was Drakes Topanga Canyon stufios that produced Hit Parade 69 and eventually Solid Gold Rock and Roll, i worked there as the second Bob Shannon. , please get your fscts right.
John:
They may not have had the call letters KRUX at the time, but 1360 in Phoenix did increase power to 50,000 watts daytime, 1,000 watts night.
AIR was Drake’s Topanga Canyon studios as you say, but in 1971, they sold the Johnny Mann jingles to non-RKO stations nationwide. I was one of the PDs who was sent a demo and a sales pitch. I don’t know how long that arrangement lasted before Johnny started selling them direct.
So…facts straight.
That was “Jay Stone / Jeff Colson” doing the Top-Of-Hour ID’s…. NOT the “All-Night Guy”, the 3-6PM-Drive guy, except when he did 6p-12m Sunday Nights…. Sounding a lot like DRAKE !!! Later “Stone” did Promos for NY to LA…. Worked as PD at Magic-91 in San Diego, KUPD-FM/AM-Phx / KZZP-Phx and in San Francisco in the mid ’80’s.
Dave ‘DrDave’ Wilmont – KENO/ KRIZ / KUPD / Magic-91/ KLUC-FM / KLAV-PD / KRUX listener ’70-’72
One more thing, KRUX was 5,000 watts Day (NOT 50,000) 1,000 Directional Night!!! NEVER a 50KW station, NOT on 1360-AM !!!!
Dave ‘DrDave’ Wilmont – KENO/ KRIZ / KUPD / Magic-91/ KLUC-FM / KLAV-PD / KRUX listener ’70-’72
Hi again….. Jay Stone (Phoenix) KRIZ AirCheck; Sounding much like he did when working with Todd Wallace:
//drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B0GI-DNTJUNfT0N4UmpyaUlDR2M&usp=sharing
BTW THIS Jay Stone used the name BEFORE the NYC “Jay Stone” used it; they were friends form the early ’60’s and both passed away within a year of each other….
Anyone old ‘nuf to remember KRUX at 1340 running 250 watts? After pumping up the audio they rcvd a FCC violation for “splattering.” Wish I had a tape of that time.
And I’m pretty sure that when KRUX got out of the 1340 graveyard and moved to 1360, they were for quite a while 5 kw-D, 500 w-N, DA-N. The night pattern was pretty much crap in east Phoenix and Scottsdale. And while KRIZ (1230) did have 1 kw-D (eventually), it was only 250 w-N.
A few quick comments:
1) The 50kW on 1360 did not come until long after KRUX’s demise. If memory serves, that was a more recent development that came about when Clear Channel owned the station.
2) How well KRUX’s day or night time signal got into eastern Phoenix depended very much on where you lived. I lived at approximately 7th Street and Glendale Avenue (northeast Phoenix back in the day) and never had a problem with the station’s signal day or night. That said, I traveled a lot with my radio in those days, and I do remember signal fade once one left Phoenix and entered Paradise Valley or went southeastwards towards Tempe, Chandler, and Mesa.
3) Finally, the first commenter was correct, though I wasn’t thrilled with his demeanor–KRUX was never actually consulted by Drake. However, both it and its sister station in Tucson, KTKT, used a lot of the old Drake jingles long after Drake stations had stopped using them. As a transplant from Los Angeles who went to the state’s school for the deaf and blind (I am the latter), it was nice to hear those jingles in Phoenix and Tucson–they reminded me of a home and past to which I’d never return.
I worked later on for KRUX’s sister station, KTKT-Tucson. Both stations were owned by Lotus. The FCC also had overlap rules back then, so both KRUX and KTKT had to transmit in directional patterns to avoid overlaps! Rule was, if you could receive one, then you shouldn’t be able to receive the other. One of the weird Ownership rules in place in the 70s, although I don’t know how long that rule was in place.
Looking for a dub of the Johnny Mann Drake style KTKT and KRUX jingles. It would also be very very cool to have dub of the Jay Stone voiced stagers and liners used at both stations during that same era. I have tons of KTKT and some KRUX to offer in trade.
Hi there, to everyone who work at KRUX. I want to say thank you for such a wonderful station you brought into my home on my favorite little AM radio back in the late 60s through the 70s! I didn’t know the late Jay Stone we all know had pass away quite a few years ago. I just found out in recent years. Does anyone here know what Jay died from? Does anyone know who might still own Jay’s voice on cart tape labeled ” KUPD SWEEPER? ”
Vince F.
I Lived in Phx at the time and Yes, there was a running battle between KRUX & KRIZ….Now as for the comments about KRUX going
from 5kw to 50kw…UH? anyone in radio who has at least a 3rd phone should remember 1360 is a regional frequency – max power 5kw….I dont know what the confusion is about that, but when I lived in the valley – KRUX was 5kw-D 1-KW directional night. KRIZ and their main studios along 24th st just north of Sky Harbor airport was 1kw-D 250-N (that changed to 1kw-U) after the FCC revised the “local channel rules in 1981″…and finally I remember when KUPD made the jump to 100KW from the tower site on
south mountain…That was mid ’75 and marked the beginning of the end of Top 40 AM radio in the valley….
Tom, stuff changes. The FCC approved an upgrade for 1360 in Glendale, Arizona to 50,000 watts daytime/1,000 watts night in 1998. //transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/amq?call=KPXQ
Why do I remember hearing this jingle…..”KRUX, fourteen eighty” (1480). All I’ve seen on this page is mention of a 1360 location on the dial…………
Just remembered where I thought heard the KRUX 1480 before…………………I didn’t. I was mistaken. The 1480 was from KYOS, a station in Merced, California that I listened to before I moved to AZ in 1970. I apologize for confusing anyone else besides me.