The Real Don Steele, 1020 KTNQ Los Angeles | 1978

1020 AM Los Angeles Dave Sebastian The Real Don Steele Charlie Tuna Jackson Armstrong M.G. Kelly KFVD KPOP KTNQ KGBS

Courtesy of Big Apple Airchecks! For the finest in aircheck trading, be sure to go to //bigappleairchecks.com!

Recorded with a small table mic in front of a radio speaker, this may not sound broadcast quality, but fans of the last great AM Top 40 station in L.A. will immediately recognize a friendly voice who was seemingly beloved by all… The Real Don Steele!

As usual, there are some quite knowledgeable visitors out there who know lots more than I about the history of KTNQ. Ten-Q’s main competitors in the late 70s were KHJ and KFI, both on the AM dial.

The Real Don Steele first became wildly popular at KHJ as part of the first generation of the station which Consultant Bill Drake dubbed, “Boss Radio” in 1965. He was wildly popular on Ten-Q, and worked at other Los Angeles area stations, including Oldies KRTH “K-Earth 101”. The Real Don Steele passed away on August 5, 1997 of lung cancer.

Listen to the excitement on this tape! The callers are seemingly in a frenzy, all for winning “WAM!”… Walking around Money. Listen as Steele gives away a hundred dollars on the air a few times. The aircheck is tightly scoped, or perhaps I’d say, CHOPPED. But the mastering makes this sound as good as what you hear, because straight off the tape, the recording is difficult to listen to. Hopefully, your ears won’t bleed trying to enjoy this ear candy.



Aircheck #1,370 since May 2, 2002!

Don’t forget to LIKE us on Facebook!