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Roger Christian, Robert W. Morgan, The Real Don Steele

This site is dedicated to three men who were heard on Los Angeles radio:

Roger Christian

I first met Roger Christian in 1972 when I went to work at K100-FM at the corner of Sunset and Cahuenga in Hollywood. This was before Bill Drake and Gene Chenault arrived. At that time, the station was called K100-FM, and Roger’s amazingly smooth and mellow voice was just perfect for the soft-rock format. I considered him to be the first LA radio celebrity I ever met that I thought was worth spending any time with. He was one of the original seven Boss Jocks on 93/KHJ, but before that he was well known on LA radio because he was on the air at two legendary AM rock and roll stations, KFWB in Hollywood and also KRLA in Pasadena.

He was into cars--very fast cars. With Brian Wilson he wrote car songs like “Shut Down” and “Little Duece Coupe” that The Beach Boys recorded in the early 1960s. He also cowrote “Deadman’s Curve” for Jan and Dean.

My most vivid memory of Roger Christian involved a very fast car. One day in 1973 he drove me in his beloved Jaguar from his home up on Mulholland Drive down to the K100-FM studios on Sunset Boulevard. If ever there were a land speed record for traveling down Cahuenga Boulevard, it should’ve belonged to Roger Christian for that trip! I expected if the past predicted the future that he would one day go out in a blaze of glory behind the wheel. But that’s not what happened. At the age of 57, he died in 1991 following a period of illness.

Roger Christian was one of the most unforgettable people I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. He was grounded and unimpressed with himself—unlike most celebrities you might meet. There was a confidence that he radiated, but he was not pushy nor demanding. Below is a sample of his work on K100-FM.

He had produced and narrated a documentary for Capitol Records about The Beatles in the 1960s, so of course I asked him to narrate an updated music documentary about The Beatles that I wrote and produced in 1973 for K100-FM. The excerpt you will hear contains the famous “turn me on, dead man” line from The White Album and some of the most memorable music ever played backwards:

Roger Christian (1:01, MP3, 483 KB)

Robert W. Morgan

My interaction with the most amazing morning man in radio was during the time when K100-FM was programmed by the Drake-Chenault team. Morgan was more like one would imagine a celebrity would be. He knew what he wanted and he wasn’t afraid to demand it of everyone.

To get on his bad side was hugely unpleasant, so you avoided that condition at all costs. His intelligent sense of humor was one of the most endearing aspects of his personality, both on and off the air. Celebrate his full life (1937-1998) at an amazing tribute site: http://www.reelradio.com/morgan/home.htm

The Real Don Steele

I also worked with Steele at K100-FM when it was first programmed by the Drake-Chenault team. Suffice to say that I never met anyone like him before or since. To describe him as “unique” would be an understatement. Although his on-air persona was one of high energy and drive, I was pleasantly surprised that in all his interactions with me, he was neither aggressive nor arrogant. This man had a vibe that is difficult to put into words. He gave off a sense or spirit of generous vitality and excitement.

He was totally LA—a wild ride at high speed without seatbelts. Anyone who ever heard his Friday afternoon sign-offs will never forget the experience. I was lucky to have worked with him in Hollywood at K100-FM. He would ask in his sign-offs, “What do we know and believe?” I know and believe that he will best be remembered as cranking up the volume and the excitement in our lives, if only for a little while. He was with us from 1936-1997, but his sprit will live forever—never to be silenced. There is much to remember about him online here: http://www.therealdonsteele.com/

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You can contact the author if you modify this text to make it a working email address:
 wg (at) woodygoulart (dot) com or visit woodygoulart.com.

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