BACKGROUND
610 KFRC was a Top 40 radio station serving the San Francisco area with only 5,000 watts. While the power was rather low for such a legendary station, the signal really got out because of two factors. First, the station was situated along the Pacific coast and the salt water conducts RF energy very well. Second, KFRC’s dial position at 610. Radio waves at this low frequency travel further than signals at higher frequencies, especially during the day.
KFRC was able to maintain it’s high ratings well into the 1980s despite the rising popularity of FM radio. It’s been said that this was because the terrain surrounding San Francisco is mountainous and FM signals, being subjected to line of sight limitations, couldn’t get past the mountain peaks, while KFRC’s groundwave signal got around the mountains just fine. By the late 1980s, repeaters and FM translators provided better coverage of San Francisco’s FM signals, and that spelled the end for KFRC.
This aircheck is much too short!!! In superb quality, this ‘check was recorded the day after New Years’ ’78. Not looking at the calendar just now, I figure this was probably a Saturday or Sunday. It’s all music, and Marvelous Marc is counting ’em down.
This picks up in the middle of the countdown and runs through about #45 for the year. I sure wish we had the entire scope!
Not to be a smartypants, but it was actually a Monday according to the date.
I don’t know what I was more surprised of when I heard this aircheck:
A. “Knowing Me, Knowing You” from ABBA is more higher than “Dancing Queen” (if you think that’s weird, consider that KFRC snubbed them off their 1975 and ’76 top 100 {“SOS”, “Fernando”, “Mama Mia”, “I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do”})
B. Rita Coolidge’s song “We’re All Alone” is more higher than her other song “Higher and Higher” (you guessed it).
C. KFRC had waste Boston’s song “More Than a Feeling” considering that it was on their 1976 list-and in almost the same spot! (nothing new here: The station did the same thing to The Monkees song “I’m a Believer” when it placed it #10 and #11 for 1966 and ’67)
D. Mark McKay making the crushing remark by saying that you have to receive the top 100 in the mail; instead of being in the Oakland Tribune (where the top 100 list was for 1975 and 1976)-or in any Bay Area newspaper for that matter.
And for your information, the number one song of ’77 was Fleetwod Mac with “Dreams”.
How did I forget to mention that this came the day after the Oakland Raiders lost to the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship game? (it marked the seventh time in nine years that they lost the AFL/AFC championship game!)