Radio AM to FM

Radio AM to FM: February 2, 2001

Cleanin' out the mailbag:

Q: I have for years listened to A Prairie Home Companion and The Thistle and Shamrock on KUSC (91.5 FM). This station, as you know, has dropped these programs. KPCC carries Prairie, but it is very weak on the West side of Palos Verdes. Do you know of any other Los Angeles stations carrying it or Thistle?" - Herb Clarkson

A: No other Los Angeles-area stations carry Prairie, but if you have good reception from San Diego you might try KPBS-FM (89.5), which airs the station Saturdays at 5 pm and Sunday mornings at 11:00. Otherwise you might try the program's web site, www.prairiehome.org, which offers the program via streaming media Saturday afternoons at 3:00.

As for Thistle, no stations in Southern California carry the program. WCAL/Minnesota does, though, and they stream it on the net Saturdays at noon and Sundays at 6 pm, Minnesota time. Go to www.wcal.org.

Q: My favorite station is KLAC (570 AM) What happened to Fran Tunno? - Bill Bollinger

Q: I used to love the morning show on KLAC (570 AM). Whatever happened to Charlie Tuna and Fran Tunno? - Lazlo Hugo Bakos

A: Tuna is on KBIG (104.3 FM) mornings; Tunno is out at KLAC because she works for the news service Metro, and KLAC's owners decided to change news services to Airwatch ... a company that happens to be owned by Clear Channel, the same one that owns KLAC.

Q: I wish to inquire if you know the whereabouts of Peter Tilden. He worked at KABC (790 AM) and would like to listen to him if he is on the air anywhere in Los Angeles or nearby. - Lou Perciach

A: He's nowhere on radio anywhere, at least for now. According to the Amazing Don Barrett (www.laradio.com), Tilden is currently writing pilots for television.

Q: Whatever happened to good oldies stations? It seems that all the stations now play the same songs over and over. - Kim Ba

A: Funny you should ask. I just happened to get a press release from The Solid Gold Time Machine Network, which recreates '60s style personality top-40 radio on the internet. According to the release, the library includes over 3000 songs from 1955 to 1971, with no song repeating more than once every 11 weeks. Also included: original jingles, reverb, and thousands of vintage commercials ... all at www.60sradio.com.

Don't have internet access? Try KOLA (99.9 FM) in San Bernardino and that distant station that comes in on the expanded band after sundown somewhere around 1660 AM. 1660 plays mostly '50s music, while KOLA's play list is far more extensive than anything local outside of KLAC.

Q: When will Michael Jackson be back on the radio? - multiple requests

A: In Los Angeles? Hard to say. He turned down an offer at KABC, said "Good, God, no!" when asked if he would consider moving to KIEV (now KRLA, 870 AM), doesn't fit with KFI (640 AM) or KLSX (97.1 FM), and I just don't see him doing sports. That doesn't leave much.

Of course, there are rumors of two more stations adopting a talk format (both would be bad moves so I'll not mention them right now) that could open up something. I'll keep you informed.

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