Notice the style. Certainly not the quick pace heard at competitors 93 KHJ and KTNQ Ten-Q. But then, KFI, in 1978, was hardly a Top 40 station. This was a contemporary station that skewed older, mixing a generous dose of 60s and 70s oldies into the mix, along with a slower pace with personalities that were more likely to talk to you instead of shout. The morning show here is loaded with talk, and plenty of format elements to keep working adults tuned in. Marv Howard does news (it, like the music, is scoped, unfortunately). Bruce Wayne does KFI “Eye In The Sky” traffic. There’s a generous dose of sports. All tied together with a few records just for good measure.
Strangely enough, KFI eventually won the AM Radio Wars, maintaining a music format long into the 1980s, in fact, by 1984 it was a high-energy CHR station, touting its then-new C-Quam AM Stereo signal and calling itself “The Amazing AM” – with stiff competition in the format from FM competitors. KHJ and KTNQ were long gone by 1984, and we have other KFI airchecks right here at airchexx.com just to prove how good it sounded.
Listen now to a great slice of history. Lohman & Barkley on 64 KFI.
“Strangely enough?” Don’t judge an entire radio station on one daypart. KFI absolutely was a Top 40 station.
Actually, it was the perfect formula. Take one of the best PDs in the country, John Rook (WLS, WCFL), keep the morning team that’s been at KFI since 1968 and is the only daypart with a strong audience, and then hire brilliant jocks (Charlie Fox, Eric Chase, Jackson Armstrong, Big Ron O’
Brien) and do a big, classy Top 40 on a 50,000 watt clear channel station.
Before this, the joke was that KFI could turn off the transmitter when Lohman and Barkley weren’t on and the ratings wouldn’t change.
KTNQ went Spanish in July of 1979. KHJ went Country in October of 1980. KFI was going strong for a while after that, though they really were AC after 1983.
Love the use of the Entertainment network label on Marv Howard’s newscast.
Glad to know so many people fondly remember Lohman and Barkley. I produced their radio show on KFI for a few years in the 1970s and they hold a special place in my heart. They were so talented and funny…and they were great guys. Miss them to this day.
I moved to Hollywood from the Midwest in 1977 and lived there for 6 years, and I adored Lohman and Barkley. They were an immediate revelation to me, nearly as memorable as the girls, the palm trees and the beautiful weather. In particular I recall “Light of My Life”, their wonderful take-off on soap operas, but they had so many marvelously funny and inventive routines, that I always felt the music got in the way somehow, despite that fact it was truly good music. And as long as they were performing the commercials, such as those inventive spots for Longo Toyota, a listener was still incredibly entertained. I used to drive down Sunset Blvd to the Santa Monica beach on many early mornings, and they would always accompany me, either on my car or transistor radios. L & B were wonderful talents, and their humor was never mean, vindictive, or profane, just enormously funny, and I’ve never forgotten them.
Do you remember a pretty dirty but very funny record I thiink they did called trick or treat and also the weather report. Thankyou. Gary M
I am so happy to hear and know that there are so many fans of Lohman and Barkley. My name is Kim Lohman and my father was Al Lohman. I’m currently in the process of producing a documentary about them so that they can be inducted into the Radio/TV Hall of Fame. Stay tuned. I have a FB page for them. Please visit and like it. 🙂 Thank you!!
Kimberly, was it your dad or barkley (or both?) who recorded the infamous, “Trick or Treat” skit? Had it on tape back in the ’60s but long since gone. Was one of the funniest bits I’ve ever heard! Would love to find it for my collection! Loved those guys!
KFI AM radio at its zenith…Loman and Barkley, Kelly, Eric Chase, Charlie Fox…
My bad “Lohman”….
Remember all those Longo Toyota commercials? One of their funnier bits.
“They will wheel and deal, like they have never whealt and dealt, before.”