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Portland Radio History
Listen to Authentic Portland Radio of the past
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 Archive #12
KYTE AM 970 started off as a high-energy teen oriented
station when it debuted on the Portland airwaves in the late 1970's. No one could
match the excitement boogieman Ron Leonard brought forth on the air while
spinning the disco hits.
Applause to Scott Young (ex-Kyte production whiz) for the
sounds.
AM 970 KYTE Ron Leonard, March 1978 (15:55)
Archive #11
In the early 1980's KEX debuted a nighttime talk
show in Portland called "Northwest at Night". Take a
listen as host Ed Anderson fields a call from a bonafide loony-tune
listener. Thanks to Bob Swanson, KEX mid-day host
(1966-1996)
Ed Anderson, Northwest at night on KEX, early 1980's
(4:06)
Archive #10
Arthur Godfrey was an American icon in radio and television broadcasting
during the middle of the 20th century. Godfrey’s relaxing, casual style of his
national CBS radio show is very evident from this June 1971 clip on host
station KOIN AM/FM. Sports announcer, Bill Schonley is
featured with his Portland TrailBlazer basketball tribute, Rip City.
Thanks to Bob Swanson, KEX mid-day host (1966-96) and
Rip-City author for this.
Arthur Godfrey show, KOIN radio, June 1971
(12:30)
Archive #9
Return to those thrilling days of yesteryear – November 27, 1967 at Kisn
Radio 91. Portland’s number one radio station features Roger
W. Morgan laying down hot new sounds by the "Who"
while Kisn traffic control laments backed up Banfield traffic all the way to the Minnesota
freeway. With the holiday season approaching, the Kisn Carol Tree is
heralded as an "electronic marvel". Kudos to Gary Pfeifer for
the KISN sounds.
KISN Radio 91, 11/27/67,
part one (17:33) and part two (19:14)
Archive #8
An institution on Portland's airwaves, Barney Keep broadcast the
morning show on KEX for an amazing 35 years, from 1944
to his final farewell, Valentines day 1979. Listen to dignitaries Governor Tom
McCall, Senator Bob Packwood, and Mayor Neil Goldschmidt
offer up emotional good-byes to Sweet Lovable Old
Barney on his last day, at Portland's old Civic theater.
Barney Keep -- last day on KEX, Feb. 14, 1979, part one
(10:18)
Barney Keep -- tries to say goodbye, part two
(8:15)
A special thanks to Bob Swanson for the KEX memorabilia.
Archive #7
KGW AM 620 broadcasts during the Columbus Day storm in
October 1962. Jack Capell, Wes Lynch and the entire KGW staff find
they're the only radio station on the air to keep Portland informed about the storm.
This broadcast, with scary music, originally aired one week after the storm.
Radio restorer Tony Cerasin,
http://nostalgiasounds.com provided the recording.
KGW Radio 6-2-0 1962, Part one (14:58)
KGW Radio six-two-oh 1962, Part two
(14:37)
Archive
#6
KYTE AM 970 from 1978 (10:09)
Pat Clarke handles screaming teens and the Bee Gees during the disco era
of 1978.
High-five's to Pat Clarke for this auto-biographical submission.
Archive #5-a
KISN 91 part one from August 1968 (20:04)
Kisn good-guy Roger W. Morgan glides thru a rainy summer afternoon with
traffic condition "yellow".
Olympia beer provides the refreshment as KISN 20-20 news reports on the
Vietnam war. Many thanks to Gary Pfeifer for the KISN sounds.
Archive #5-b
KISN 91 part two from August 1968 (21:17)
"Serving the Oregon territory from Vancouver". KISN
radio's Roger W. Morgan serves up a wide variety of songs and sponsors
for the young and old alike.
Archive
#4-a
Joe Allen on AM 1520 KYMN, part one (4:02)
Joe reads the "Kymometer" and presents "Dual of the Discs".
October and 1964 the year as Portland had two hot top-40 stations to choose from: KISN
and KYMN.
Archive
#4-b
Joe Allen on AM 1520 KYMN, part two
(11:02)
Thanks to Randy Painter of Eugene for these treasures.
Archive
#3: 
Counting down the Big 33 on the big "K" on the West Coast.
Russ Conrad on KEX radio 1190 (9:16)
Russ spins the hit parade on December 13, 1958.
Thanks to Dan Gulino for the contribution.
Archive
#2-a:
Super 62 K-G-W. It's 1976 with Super Jock Bob Anthony.
Part 1 (5:15)
KGW, the last station in Portland to achieve huge double digit ratings with its
mass appeal format catering to everyone. "KGW was great!" -- Marla
Deardorff, Molalla, Oregon
Archive
#2-b:
Super 62 K-G-W. Bob Anthony 1976. Part 2 (4:36)
It's the era of President Ford, the gas crunch, and the Captain and Tennille.
Where is Bob today? He works at "Air-1", a Christian satellite music network.
Thanks to Michael Grimaldi and John Windus for the KGW airchecks.
Archive
#1
Portland Radio 1981 (RealAudio stereo, 4:22),
featuring Terry Donahue at KB101, Dick Sheetz at KGON, Todd Tolces at
KKSN AM 910, Glynn Shannon at 62 KGW, Alan Lawson at KINK, and Hal
Owen at KYXI NewRadio 1520.
If you have any tapes of historical interest to contribute to the Portland
radio aircheck archive, let us know at comment@pdxradio.com
Portland radio in the 60's up close
Portland native and
legendary radio broadcaster, Robin Mitchell, has a terrific web
site devoted to radio in the Pacific Northwest.
Robin’s
first person accounts and sound clips are captivating in bringing back the
dynamics
of Portland and Seattle radio from the 1960’s.
Check
out this fascinating treasure trove of historical lore at
http://www.rma1.com/
For Pictures of Portland radio from the past
See Portland Radio Historysee
and
Portland's Radio Days (from pdxhistory.com)
and
Tom's
historic photo archive
Portland Radio slogans, calls and frequencies
Craig Adams, all night jock at KKSN-FM has compiled a neat history of
Portland
Radio Slogans with call letter meanings and frequencies. The compilation
stretches back to 1922 tracing the origins of Portland Radio.
Learn what station had the slogan, "three chimes mean good times". Hint, it was
the first commercial FM west of the Mississippi. Find out what station today uses
the slogan, "A volcanic explosion of country and country rock".
It's all in Portland Radio Slogans. 145 call letters, 24 pages at $10. Write
Craig Adams to order: P.O. Box 25296, Portland, OR 97298
KGW radio tower site
The
Port of Portland
reclaimed the KGW AM tower site near Delta Park in the year 2000.
Their penance for doing so is a beautiful multimedia web site
showing the history of KGW radio. The web site is
http://www.radiotowersite.com/rt_welcome.asp.
Portland's first Album rocker
KVAN AM 1480, with it's album rock incarnation, hit the air
during the summer of love 1967. Former employees and listeners held a
"mono-maniac"
reunion in 1997. Check out the
preserved
KVAN web page for historical pictures and vignettes.
Oregon Historical Society
Has a history of Portland exhibit with a few radio clips to hear. The museum is located at
12th and Park downtown.
What do you know?
Know any good information about the history of Portland Radio?
Drop us a line at: comment@pdxradio.com |
Additional
Portland radio history, fun, facts and trivia in
