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The March '65 KGAL lineup was:
6-10AM LEE CASEY (PD)
10AM-3PM RUSS WHITE
3-7PM JACK "CHARLIE" CHUNN
7PM-MID ME (My 1st fulltime radio job)
KGAL was 24 hours, but signed off Midnight to 5:30am.
After the first week, Lee Casey left and Jack Chunn replaced him in AM Drive and became PD. Several months later, Lee Casey became the AM Drive DJ when KWJJ went "country."
My legal name is Jerry. My first several days on-air at K-GAL,
I was Jerry Mitchell.
KGAL ran 5 minutes of news at :55, 1 minute of headlines at :30, 1 minute of sports at :45. I delivered these elements in addition to jocking.
After several days, I felt I needed to differentiate Jerry,
"the fun lovin' DJ," from my 5 minutes of attempted serious news delivery each hour. One hour I experimented using
"J.J. MITCHELL" as my "authoritative" news name.One hour I used initials instead of "Jerry" during a newscast.
Jack Chunn called immediately, and asked "..what did you call yourself in that newscast?" I told him, "J.J. Mitchell." He said, "I like it. Use it all the time."
I said, "You mean all the time when I'm doing the news." He said, "No. Use it all the time…even during your DJ show."
And that's how I became J.J. Mitchell!!!
Response was phenomenal. I was getting fan mail from all over: Harrisburg, Brownsville, Corvallis, Albany…you name it. KGAL had a tremendous signal that covered the Willamette Valley solid and came in from just south of Portland to just north of Eugene, and all the way over to the Oregon coast.
In retrospect, I was doing everything I could to create talk and notoriety.
Borrowing a page from The Real Don Steele, who I'd met at KISN's transmitter I launched, "Bridey Murphy is alive!!!"
Pure reincarnation schtick. Few got the connection, but "the buzz was on." We made people afraid not to listen!!!
I recall saying, "People ask: What does J.J. stand for? Well tonight the truth can be told. It's 'Jungle Jerry.'"
This provided an opportunity to embellish the show with
elephant stampedes and trumpeting, lion's snarling, etc.
Later, I did the same bit, saying it stood for "Jet Jerry." This time I used Indy race cars running laps in the background. Every hour of the show was a different lap.
These were just one-night goofs. However, one night under inspiration I commented, "I'd like to thank all you listeners, who heard about the accident. I really don't want to comment on it. I just want to say, thanks for your thoughts and kind words…and I'd just like to get on with the show!!!"
The phones went crazy for days. Everyone wanted to know, "What happened?" I told every one of them, "Thanks for your concern. I really appreciate it, but I really can't talk about it. Thanks for listening. Can I play something for you?"
Being young and single with no life, I'd work on stuff for my show in the production room until 2-3am. Then I'd go home and sleep until I woke up.
That meant I'd usually be eating breakfast/lunch at 3pm. Then I'd drive to KGAL and do it all over again.
Jack Chunn did afternoons, 2-7pm. Since he was PD, when I arrived I'd ask: "Is there anything you'd like me to do?"
KGAL had an expanded newscast at 5:55pm that lasted until 6:05pm. Jack asked me to help him do that cast. We did a 2 man newscast, alternating stories. It sounded great!!!
Since I was always there, Jack asked me if I wanted to do
6PM-Midnight and begin my shift following the 5:55- 6:05PM newscast. I said, "Sure."
Jack also mentioned that the station signed off at Midnight, but if I felt like staying on longer…just add some blank sheets to the log & have a good time. There were a few times, when I was "…runnin' late, feelin' great!!!"
KGAL's mid-day DJ for the first 2-3 months of my tenure was Russ White. I slept through his mid-day shift each day, but
followed him on Sunday afternoons to do a marathon show from 3-10pm!!!
KGAL magnanimously gave me Monday's off. I worked
Tuesday-Sunday. That was okay with me. After my Sunday shift, I'd pack all my dirty clothes in my V.W., then go home to visit my folks and WASH MY CLOTHES.
One Sunday, I was in the midst of one of my 5 minute
newscasts "live at :55," when Russ White walks into the
control room. He calmly flicks his cigarette lighter on, and LIGHTS MY NEWS COPY ON FIRE!!!
Without missing a beat, I concluded the story…did the weather and exited back to music. I closed the mike, and said: "What are you doing?"
He explained that I had now been officially initiated into radio with a long-standing prank. I found some solace in the fact that I "had apparently arrived."
Russ did one other thing that "freaked me out."
There were mail slots in the KGAL control room. We were all amazed at the volume of mail I was getting. To capitalize on it, Jack Chunn devised a "Valentine's Card" promotion.
Listeners were urged to send me a card, and the best creation would win something.
One Sunday I was standing in the control room looking at mail. Russ White walks up to me and comments that his toupee was bothering him.
I said, "What are you talking about? You don't wear a toupee." At this point, he says: "Wanna bet?" He then pulls the front of his rug up!!!
I swear I didn't know. It was a good piece. Shortly thereafter, Russ left for bigger and better things…never to be heard from again.
Okay…I'm working 6 hours a night "flogging the hits." For good measure, I'd do it for 7 hours on Sundays. What is a young DJ to do on his day off?
For me the answer was record hops!!! I could make the
outrageous sum of $25 by hauling a heavy control board in the back of a KGAL station wagon to an exotic location like
Harrisburg. I'd collect $25 for playing the same songs I played every other night.
I was playing stuff no other station was touching, like: an unknown English band called The Who performing "I Can't
Explain." Lebanon High School loved to do the Jerk to it!!!
One night the Lebanon High cheerleaders dropped by during my show. I asked their opinion of a new song I'd just received by mail…SATISFACTION by The Rolling Stones. They thought it was cool, and I rode it like a Vicuna saddle.
KGAL loved me. One day G.M. Chuck Searle said, "We really like what you're doing, and we want you to have a gas trade."
I asked, "What's that?" He explained that KGAL ran some
advertising for the Truax Oil company, and instead of being paid in cash…the station received fuel credit.
They gave me a $25 a month gas trade in early 1966. The scary part is, I never used $25 worth of gas in a month. Gas was only about 29 cents a gallon in those days. Much later, I figured out that I should have been using the credit to fill my heating oil tank.
Over a 16 month span, "J.J. Mitchell" was heard on KGAL:
7PM-Midnight…then 6PM-Midnight…then 3-6pm & 7-10pm …then 10am-12Noon & 3-6pm…& finally 6-10am & 2-6pm. No wonder I was getting noticed. My shift moved so much, there were probably people that thought I was always on-air.
Other KGAL DJ's during my tenure included: Jim Parcell ("The Parcell Program"), Pat O'Brien, Jim Atwood ("Woody James"), Richard King ("King Richard"), & John Law…who
Initially did weekend shifts, then 10PM-Midnight following me.
John was an interesting guy, who started promoting dances in the valley with his El Toro Productions. "Obiosha Tanaka" dropped by regularly to reason with John on KGAL.
The real dance action during my tenure was generated through EJD Enterprises. ED DOUGHERTY was a Salem High School teacher. Every few weeks, Ed would book Northwest acts into the Lebanon Armory: The SONICS, The WAILERS...virtually all of Pat O'Day's Seattle band discoveries, as well as a local BATTLE OF THE BANDS!!!
Ed signed SONNY & CHER for appearances right before they exploded nationally. They had 5 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 when K-GAL presented them at the Salem Armory.
How's this for a lineup all on one K-GAL show???
The MAMAS & PAPAS, The LOVIN' SPOONFUL, and
The SHANGRI-LAS!!! Other acts coming through included:
The BEACH BOYS, GARY LEWIS & THE PLAYBOYS, PAUL
REVERE & THE RAIDERS, THE KINGSMEN, & HERB ALPERT.
Borrowing a page from RED ROBINSON, I endeavored to
interview them all. Surprisingly, many of them did promos for my show and K-GAL #1!!! There was no such thing as a
Backstage Pass in those days. Ed Dougherty telling them
I was key to their success in the area didn't hurt!!!
My radio career got off to a good start thanks to Jack "Charlie" Chunn. Click here for a picture & more about Jack!!!
During the summer of '66, I started another bizarre promotion. I asked listener's help in creating the "World's Largest Bottle Cap Collection."
Twist-off caps did not yet exist. Bottle openers were required to pop the top off soft drinks and beer. There was a layer of cork on the inner top of each bottle cap that helped seal the caps, which had crimped edges.
I began soliciting listeners to save their bottle caps and donate them to my cause. What cause was that?
When I got a ton of bottle caps, I was going to pry the cork out
of each cap…and strap all the pieces of cork together and float down the river to Eugene. Seemed like a great plan, because
K-GAL's Eugene sister station, KEED, wanted me to join them for PM Drive. I was planning on doing this, while remaining in AM Drive at KGAL. It was a 1 hour drive between the stations.
K-Double-E-D moved from "Channel 105" as a daytimer to their fulltime 1450 frequency in August, 1966. I was part of the
original 24 hour lineup.
This was KEED's original 24 hour lineup:
6-10AM "IRISH" JIM O'NEIL
10AM-2PM PAT O'BRIEN
2-7PM J.J. MITCHELL
7PM-MID JOHN MICHAEL
MID-6AM JOHNNY LUND
I'd worked with Pat O'Brien at KGAL. When he left to program KPRB - Redmond, I cut station imaging production for him.
Capitalizing on the "British Invasion," Englishman John
Michael was hired for nights. TOM MOORE was part-time,
handling vacation-fill and weekends.
A couple of weeks into the new gig, a young driver hit me
"head on" in a residential area.. Her vehicle was heavy…built like a Sherman Tank. Mine was a V.W. My right leg was "shattered," leaving me in a full-length cast for 9 months.
6 weeks after the accident, I moved to "nights" with my
orthopedic surgeon's blessing and with a $25 a month raise!!!
I was told John Michael "is leaving."
Tom Moore became my news guy, since I had to keep my leg elevated during my shift. Tom amused himself between
newscasts by cutting zany tracks for my show in many
different character voices.
One night my ace newsman…always quick to sniff out a major news story…says, "Quick…let's do a BULLETIN." A bulletin interrupted even a record in its midst.
The Bulletin was: "Kendall Ford, which is located across the alley from us here at K-Double-E-D IS ON FIRE!!!"
We were in a prime location to keep the market updated on the fire…until our power was knocked out, and the Fire
Department made us evacuate our 14th & Charnelton studio.
Keep in mind: It's pitch black…there's no power…and I'm on crutches descending stairs in the dark with a full length cast. "Never a dull moment in show biz!!!" Kendall Ford burned to the ground, but they never failed to send me a monthly bill for my '67 Mustang that replaced my totaled V.W. Beetle.
Remember John Michael…the English Jock? One night, he calls me from WMEX - Boston. John and his G.M., Max
Richmond, attempt to double-team me into moving to Boston to jock there. I suspected they both were drinking heavily!!!
I had tons of medical bills. Accident litigation was looming. With court appearance a real possibility, I deferred. Besides, I never dreamed of working anywhere outside of the northwest.
WMEX hired LARRY LUJACK from KJR. Lujack left Boston at warp speed for Chicago, where he had a 25-30 year career.
Several weeks later, I got a call from BILL WESTERN back at KYMN in Portland. He said he'd been driving up the freeway and liked what I was doing. He hinted that there was something going on within the company that might interest me. (KIMN - Denver was owned by the company.)
Advised of my accident plight, Western said, "It will be in
Portland! Can Jack Merker and I come see you tomorrow?"
When we met, they painted a glowing picture. Merker was
returning to KIMN as Program Director. GARY TODD, former KIMN morning drive man, was coming to Portland for
mornings and would be the PD.
Western would do PM Drive. ( Bill had worked 6-9am, 3-7pm, & for a time was the "10 to Noon Buffoon" at KISN. He was also America's first "Fly Jock," doing 6-10am at KAYO - Seattle and 3-7pm at KGON - Portland daily!!! Bill returned to 1520am when it became KYMN as "Terry Southern" 6-10am, before he could legally resume his "Bill Western" identity.)
I was hired for nights at the new KYMN. The plan was to launch the NEW KYMN with MORE MUSIC, Contests, Jingles, and fun. I would do nights. Other DJs were recruited from around the country. Year #1 promotion budget: $1 million!!!
I gave notice at KEED. They were less than thrilled, but
understood it was a career opportunity. KYMN paid for my move to Portland. Before leaving KEED, I'd driven to Portland for the weekend to look for a place to live.
I didn't get back to KEED until about 6:30PM. Even though I commonly didn't get to work until that time, they had freaked out. Worried that I wasn't going to show up, they brought in a part-timer to do my shift and told me I was finished.
I moved to Portland. It's November 1966, the weekend before KYMN is to launch as a Top 40. I get a call from Gary Todd to meet him at the corporate apartment on Harrison Street in downtown Portland.
I walk through the door to A BOMB BEING DROPPED!!!
KEN PALMER was the owner of KIMN & KYMN. His partner was the Coca-Cola distributor in Denver. Palmer worked a deal out with his partner. Palmer was to own 100% of KIMN, and the partner would now own 100% of KYMN.
No sooner had that happened than J. ELROY McCAW arrives on the scene from Seattle. (The McCaw family more recently became major players in the cellular business.) At the time, McCaw owned KIXI AM/FM in Seattle.
McCaw asked KYMN's owner, "How much money do you want for KYMN?" The owner picked a sky-high figure out of thin air, and McCaw responded by handing him a $100,000 earnest money check.
After all our work, KYMN's return to Top 40 was snatched right before the launch BY MONEY!!! And that's the story of how 1520AM became KYXI!!!
No problem. I was on payroll until I found another job with comparable pay. I didn't even have to make any calls!!!
The first call I got was from KEED. Now keep in mind, I felt I had been treated rather shabbily, not even being allowed to say goodbye to my audience.
KEED's G.M. said, "Hey kid, why don't you come back for some more seasoning?" I told him, "I'll think about it, but I think I already got a heavy dose of KEED seasoning."
Not more than 20 minutes later, I got a call from the General Manager of KASH, ROD LOUDEN. Louden, a KPOJ DJ in the early 50's, offered me the Program Director position at KASH with the understanding that I would do 7PM-Midnight.
The offer was for the same money KYMN was paying me, plus KASH would pay for the move back to Eugene.
My trepidation: I had made fun "…of that other station by the garbage dump" earlier when I was at KEED. We felt justified in our superior attitude toward KASH, which I characterized as being at 1600…right next to the "Police calls."
I barely got through the door at KASH, when I learned that KYMN's AMD/PD GARY TODD was coming aboard as the morning man & Operations Manager at KASH.
Rod Louden said, "Tiger…we're gonna bury KEED." I liked the sentiment, and enjoyed a collaborative relationship with Gary in the battle that ensued.
The lineup at KASH in January of 1967 was:
6-10AM GARY TODD (Ops. Mgr.)
10AM-2PM JEFF BAXTER
2-7PM RICHARD W. ROBBIN
7PM-MID J.J. MITCHELL "Mighty Mitchell" (PD)
MID-6AM WILLIAM "King" WILLIAMS
Jeff Baxter was soon replaced by ELMER GARY. Williams, a James Brown freak, doubled as the Chief Engineer. Robbin came to KASH from a short stint at KISN in PM Drive. I believe KISN gave him the "W.," and this preceded the arrival of KISN's myriad Roger W. Morgans. Rich became much better known as RICH "BROTHER" ROBBIN at KCBQ.
All this time, I'm still dealing with a full-length cast on my right leg. I had to negotiate a long outdoor flight of stairs at KASH daily in the afternoon and after midnight.
One night I stepped on a patch of ice and slid down 20 steps on my cast. Very Scary!!! No harm done, but the orthopedic surgeon had to patch my cast the next day. He patched that sucker for 9 months, never removing it once.
In April 1967, my accident litigation was settled out-of-court. All medical expenses were paid, and almost immediately I get a phone call from KOL - Seattle.
I sent the requested KASH aircheck tape of my show to
Rhett Hamilton Walker I, KOL's PD. Immediately, he got back on the phone and offered me the 9PM-Midnight shift.
KOL was owned by Goodson & Toddman, the quiz show kings. I was hired to replace Danny Holiday, who was going on "active duty" in our armed forces…not a place for any disc jockey.
When Rhett hired me, he said: "There's just one thing. There's already a J.J. (Valley) in Seattle, so think of a different name to use." I go into shock. Rhett says, "No problem, just get back to me with what you want to use."
I ponder it for days. I finally call him back to talk about the name selection. I believe I was thinking "Sunny" Mitchell.
When I bring the subject up, Rhett says: "You're Robin Mitchell…didn't I tell you. I've already ordered the jingle from the Johnny Mann Singers." End of story.
And that's how I became Robin Mitchell.
Rhett Walker was from Australia…some say New Zealand.
At any rate, Robin is a very common name back there.
I always figured I should do a morning show with that name. It would be Robin Mitchell, with one hour featuring an "Early Bird Wakeup Club." Yes, I'm always looking for an excuse to spend the station's promotion money.
I hit the air at KOL in May of 1967. KOL's GM was Bob Cooper. Sales Manager was Bill Walker. KOL put me up in the
Sheraton, while I looked for a place to live.
The KOL "MAGNIFICENT 7" in May 1967 were:
6-9AM LEE PERKINS
9-Noon BUZZ BARR
12-3PM TOM CONNORS
3-6PM RHETT HAMILTON WALKER I "RHW-1" (PD)
6-9PM DEX ALLEN
9-MID ROBIN MITCHELL
MID-6AM GREG CONNORS
20/20 News: BILL MUNSON
DON HUGHES
LOGAN STEWARTLOGAN STEWART
Traffic: KOL SKY SPY (airborne reporter)
Wow!!! Only a 3 hour airshift. I was used to pulling as many as 7 hours straight on-air.
BOSS FORMATICS were not unfamiliar, as I learned about KHJ Los Angeles' launch in Billboard Magazine shortly after joining KGAL. K-GAL was on 920AM, and KHJ was 930AM. I found that KGAL's gigantic towers sucked KHJ's signal in like a local after I signed off at night. And I could hear Johnny Williams,
KISN's 3-7pm DJ in 1961-62 doing the overnight show. The KISN afternoon man that followed Johnny was the remarkable
Real Don Steele, and he was the afternoon guy on KHJ, too!!!
Roger Christian was one of the original KHJ Boss Jocks.
On the first day of Boss Radio, KHJ played the following
KHJ BOSS JOCK ANTHEM hourly!!!
Roger co-wrote the music track with the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson. You probably know it better as "Little Deuce Coupe."
Notice Johnny Williams using practically the same line Johnny Dark did with KISN in late '61.
KISN DJ PROMO JINGLE FROM '61
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