Today at 5:00 PM PT, LA's FM Talk station KLSX will be flipping over to a new music format.http://www.ocregister.com/
Am I surprised? No, not really. Am I sad? Yeah. I'm a bit nostalgic when it comes to that station. After all, it's where I met my husband. And - in turn - most of the friends who are in my life today. Without that job, my life would be a lot different than it is now. And for that I am grateful.
Twelve years ago I had a show on KLSX with a co-host named J.D. It was my first talk radio job in Los Angeles (I was previously with Mitch Albom in Detroit), and it was an exciting time for me. I had just moved to LA and was knocking around to a lot of auditions, comedy open mics, and hosting gigs at the Ice House - while temping by day - to try to make ends meet until my big "break" arrived.
I won't get into all of the minutiae here, but our show was cancelled when the station was sold to CBS and Tom Leykis came aboard. I rode out my contract overnights in the 1am to 3am slot (LOVED IT!) and got my first taste of what it was like to lose a job in radio. I was heartbroken. I especially loved my overnight gig. It was quiet, no one else around, and I had this great cast of characters who listened to my show each night. Perhaps my favorite part of coming to work each night was my board op, "James The Engineer." He was the Yang to my Yin. The Type B to my Type A. His voice was as deep as they come, and he LOVED to play funk music. We jammed every night and truly loved what we were doing.
After the station changed programming hands, I never quite got into it. It became a misogynistic gathering place for every gross guy in town. Titty humor. Fart jokes. And rarely a stitch of what I'd call thought-provoking radio. I always felt that they could have found a happy medium between AM Talk Radio and the brand of talk they were peddling. There is a middle ground for hip and smart people who just want to get a little news with a little humor every day. But they never quite mastered that. I'm not saying that's why it failed. But it obviously wasn't drawing the numbers it should have been drawing and I blame that on the "Tom Leykis" mentality and those who promoted it. They needed to take a lesson from people like John & Ken on KFI. Masters of talk. They are the perfect example of a show that can "do" talk radio without being stiff, conservative and stodgy. They rile up the masses better than anyone. I am truly a fan.
All of that aside, as I listened to the Adam Carolla show this morning, I got a bit sad. KLSX was where I started out here in LA. And it's yet another chapter closed. Will I be listening to "Amp Radio?" Most likely not. I'm a Jack, KLOS and KFI fan myself. But I wish it luck in this rocky land of radio in 2009.
And to Howard Stern I say "THANK YOU!" For if it wasn't for your movie premiere back in 1997 - and J.D. and I introducing Slash's Blues Ball - I wouldn't be Lisa Goich-Andreadis today.
Farewell.
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