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Who Deserves Credit for Boss Radio?Boss Radio became successful in 1965 and even though four decades have passed, there are still some who want to keep asking "who deserves credit for Boss Radio?". One answer will never satisfy everyone, but you can make up your own mind after you know the facts. Read more.  Do you remember when rock was young? We remember that rock and roll was born on July 5, 1954 when Elvis Presley recorded "That's All Right" in Memphis. Rock and roll radio stations popped up everywhere across these United States in those days. This site is a fun exploration into one particular rock and roll radio station in Los Angeles. Why? This one rock and roll radio station influenced the entire radio broadcasting industry. On May 5, 1965, a rock and roll music format called Boss Radio was launched on KHJ because the owners needed to reverse the AM station's money-losing ways.
But, you have to think that the KHJ owners at some point must have asked themselves: Does a station need to sound old-fashioned because it's old? Prior to the 1960s, KHJ did not play rock and roll music. But, in Los Angeles and elsewhere, the AM stations of the day that did play rock and roll often sounded as though they were programmed by the person who happened to be on the air at the time. Some stations chose to use playlists of the 40 most popular songs. Others placed no such limits on the number of songs played. Typically, the person on the air not only could pick the music they played, but they also enjoyed the freedom to talk as much as they wanted. Fully one third of the hour could be taken up by commercials on those stations. Music jingles on those stations often ran as long as one full minute and were embellished with lyrics that promoted the station, it's city, the person on the air, the weather, and what not.
This emphasis on a tight playlist of 30 hits, less announcer talk, fewer commercials, and short jingles that led back to more hit songs may not seem revolutionary now, but it certainly was in 1965. Or something similar. Boss Radio turned KHJ from a money loser to the number one station in Los Angeles in only a few months. The Boss Radio format then quickly spread to other California cities and eventually across the United States and into Canada. Are there secrets behind these business successes in the radio broadcasting industry?
Rock and roll music was never meant to be enjoyed passively. Quite the opposite is true. Rock and roll always has been designed to attract the active participation of its listeners. The "secret" behind the rapid success of Boss Radio is clear: Rock and roll music was only about a decade old. So, it was fresh and new. Rock and roll music in the 1960s brought its listeners together into a literal community that embraced its freshness, its influence, and its various messages about life. A radio documentary called "The History of Rock and Roll" was conceived by Bill Drake and produced and directed by Ron Jacobs for broadcast on KHJ in 1969. The documentary was updated over the years to keep pace with the fast-growing rock and roll music industry. The significance of rock and roll was explained simply and directly in the 1980 edition of "The History of Rock and Roll" like this:
And now, ladies and gentlemen, listen to this TWO MINUTE KHJ HISTORY (2:00) MP3, 947 KB If you love rock and roll radio like I do, then BossRadioForever.com will bring you much to discover and enjoy. My name is Woody Goulart. While I worked in rock and roll radio, I had a lot of luck and was in the right place at the right time. |
You can tell right away by the three call letters that KHJ was an old station.
Started in 1922 before the FCC switched to requiring AM radio stations
to have four call letters instead of just three, KHJ genuinely was one of the
oldest AM stations in Los Angeles.
The Boss Radio format offered a modern sound as an alternative on KHJ: Only the
top-selling 30 rock and roll hits made it on the air. The format allowed
on-air talent only to talk over the musical introduction of the
songs (prior to when the vocal starts). The musical jingles lasted only
a few seconds and got quickly to the point before transitioning immediately
back to another hit song. Instead of 18 minutes of commercials in any
given hour, KHJ cut that down to around 12 minutes maximum literally making room for much more music.
Yes! First and foremost, the rock and roll music of that time created a pop culture sensation that implicitly invited a buy-in from the listeners.
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What does the name Boss Radio mean? Well, it has nothing to do with an employer or supervisor. The word boss in this instance is neither a noun nor a verb. It is used here as an adjective that modifies the word radio. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, boss was slang, meaning something was exceptionally good or first rate or superior. The success of the Boss Radio name and the radio format on 93/KHJ could only have grown out of the culture of Los Angeles. |
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Radio Programming Timeline: 1940s to Boss Radio Mid 1940s to Early 1950s
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This website is dedicated to three talented men that I met in Hollywood. I am privileged to have known and worked at the same radio station with Roger Christian, Robert W. Morgan, and The Reel Don Steele (left to right, in photographs from the 1960s.) |
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