KPPC (defunct)

Not to be confused with KPCC (radio station).

KPPC-FM
Pasadena, California

Channels	Analog: 106.7 MHz
Owner	Pasadena Presbyterian Church (1924–67) Crosby-Avery Broadcasting (1968) National Science Network (1969–73)

KPPC-FM was a Pasadena, California FM radio station best known during the period 1967–1971, when it was one of the leading "underground" radio stations in the United States, presenting a freeform mixture of experimental and historical music with countercultural ideas. In contrast to the dominant Top 40 format, each KPPC disc jockey selected his own music, which would veer between genres, including rock and roll, folk music, blues and comedy.

Hosts included B. Mitchel Reed, Steven Segal (aka "The Obscene Steven Clean;" not related to the similarly named actor), Susan Carter (aka "Outrageous Nevada"), Barbara Birdfeather,^[1] Jeff Gonzer (aka "Bonzo" Gonzer), Tom Donahue, Program Director (2014 Rock Radio Hall of Fame inductee) and deejay Les Carter, novelty music historian Dr. Demento, Charles Laquidara, Ted Alvy (aka "Cosmos Topper"), Elliot Mintz (whose late-night Sunday show played everything from Baba Ram Dass lectures to listener-created recordings), blues archivist Johnny Otis and comedy troupes The Credibility Gap (featuring Harry Shearer, Richard Beebe, David L. Lander, and Michael McKean), and The Firesign Theatre. Station promos were sung by the a cappella singing group The Persuasions. Other staff members included: Don Hall,Larry Woodside,deejay and production wizard Zachary Zenor, Mississippi Fats (Joe Rogers), Sam Kopper, The Pierce Family, and Dr. Sound (Ron Johnson).

KPPC (AM) was also a Pasadena, California AM Christian radio station from 1924 until September 1996.

History

KPPC was founded by the Pasadena Presbyterian Church in 1924 (hence the PPC). Starting as an AM station, it was authorized to be on the air for 22 hours a week (6 a.m.–midnight Sundays and 7–11 p.m. Wednesdays). This was to carry the Sunday services and the Wednesday night prayer meeting. The station had 100 watts of power, and barely covered Pasadena. In 1941 the station acquired its frequency of 1240 kilocycles, where it shared time with a station in San Bernardino. In 1962, the church wanted to expand the hours and coverage, but other stations had filled in the remaining AM time allotments, so the church started KPPC-FM, on 106.7 MHz. The studios and transmitters were located in the basement of the church (which later became part of the station's claim to being "underground"), with the antenna on the roof of the Pasadena Star-News building (a newspaper) next door at 525 East Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. The FM station had terrible broadcast coverage from this location. The station distributed plans for a "Super Signal Sucker" antenna made of a broomstick and coathangers for listeners to build and get better reception. The antenna was designed by the station's chief engineer, Michael Callaghan.

In 1968, the church sold the stations to Crosby-Avery Broadcasting, and in 1969, they were sold to the National Science Network; the church retained the right to broadcast its services over both stations. In April 1970, the studios were moved out of the basement to an office building at 99 South Chester in Pasadena. In September, the transmitter was moved to Flint Peak, a mountaintop adjacent to Pasadena, and the power increased to 25,500 watts.

KPPC-FM was the first station in Los Angeles to broadcast a stereo simulcast with a television station (a one-hour program with 'Leon Russell and Friends' in collaboration with PBS station KCET), and the first to broadcast with Sansui quadraphonic sound. It was also the first FM station in Los Angeles to use two transmitters simultaneously to produce sufficient power.

The golden era of KPPC ended October 24, 1971, when the entire airstaff was fired, replaced overnight with a new line-up that reflected little of the previous freewheeling spirit. In 1973, the stations were sold to Burbank Broadcasting. Because the purchaser already had an AM station (KROQ, 1500 kHz, Burbank), KPPC AM was sold to Universal Broadcasting, a religious broadcaster. The AM station continued to carry the services of the Pasadena Presbyterian Church until its last broadcast in September 1996. The FM station eventually became the well known KROQ-FM, which is still on the air.

The KPPC call sign was assigned to an FM station in Pocatello, Idaho which changed their call sign to KEGE in early 2008 to match their name "The Edge".

The KPPC call sign would later be used by a station in the Amarillo, Texas area; that station has since become KBEX.

There is a tribute to the original KPPC-FM currently on Live365 called "KPPC.FM revisited".

KPPC was inducted into the Rock Radio Hall of Fame in 2014 in the "Legends of Rock Radio-Stations" category.

References

↑ "DJ Barbara Birdfeather dies at 69". Variety. April 30, 2009.

External links

Radio stations in the Los Angeles, California market

By FM frequency	87.7¹ 88.1 88.5 88.7 88.7 88.9 88.9 89.3 89.9 90.1 90.3 90.7 91.3 91.5 91.9 92.3 92.7 93.1 93.5 93.9 94.3 94.7 95.5 95.9 96.3 96.7 97.1 97.9 98.3 98.7 99.5 100.3 101.1 101.9 102.3 102.7 103.1 103.5 103.9 104.3 105.1 105.5 105.9 106.7 107.1 107.5 Orange County 88.5 88.9 90.1 92.7 94.3 95.9 96.7 103.1 106.3 107.9

By AM frequency	570 590 600 640² 670 710 740 760 790 830 870 900 930 980 1020 1070² 1110 1150 1190 1220 1230 1240 1260 1280 1290 1300 1330 1350 1370 1410 1430 1440 1460 1480 1500 1510 1540 1560 1570 1580 1600 1650 1670 Orange County 830 1190 1480

NOAA Weather Radio frequency	162.400 162.450 162.525 162.550

Digital radio	640 980 1070 88.1-1 88.1-2 88.1-3 88.5-1 88.5-2 89.3-1 89.9-1 89.9-2 91.5-1 92.3-1 92.3-2 92.3-3 93.1-1 93.1-2 93.9-1 94.7-1 94.7-2 95.5-1 95.5-2 96.7-1 97.1-1 97.1-2 98.7-1 98.7-2 100.3-1 100.3-2 101.1-1 101.1-2 102.7-1 102.7-2 103.1-1 103.5-1 103.5-2 104.3-1 104.3-2 105.1-1 105.1-2 105.1-3 105.9-1 105.9-2 106.7-1 106.7-2 107.1-1 107.5-1 107.5-2 107.5-3 107.9-1

By callsign	KABC KAMP-FM KAHZ KALI KALI-FM KAZN KBIG KBPK KBRT KBUE KBUA KCAA KCAL KCBS-FM KCRW KCSN KDAY KDIS KDLD KDLE KEIB KEZY KFI KFMB KFNY KFRN KFSH-FM KFWB KGBN KHJ KHPY KHTS KIEV KIIS-FM KIRN KISL KJLH KKDD KKGO KKJZ KKLA-FM KLAA KLAC KLAX-FM KLOS KLTX KLVE KMPC KMRB KMZT KNX² KOGO KOST KPCC KPFK KPRO KPWR KRCD KRCV KRLA KROQ-FM KRRL KRTH KSAK KSBR KSCA KSPA KSPC KSPN KSSE KSWD KTDD KTIE KTLW KTNQ KTWV KTYM KUCI KUSC KVNR KWIZ KWKW KWO37 KWRM KWVE-FM KXLU KXOL-FM KXOS KXSC KYLA KYPA KYSR WWG21 WNG584 WZ2505

Defunct	KACD/KBCD KACE KEDG KFAC KIBB KIIS KIQQ KJLH KKBT KKDJ KKHR KMET KMJR/KNJR KMPC KNAC KNHS KNOB KNX-FM KODJ KPPC KQLZ KRBV KSKQ KSKQ-FM KUTE KWST-FM KFSG KZAB/KZBA KZLA-FM KIEV KPOL KTZN KXED KXMG KYMS

Satellite radio local traffic/weather XM Channel 222 Sirius Channel 150 Nearby radio markets Bakersfield High Desert/Eastern Sierra Oxnard–Ventura Riverside/San Bernardino San Diego Santa Barbara Victor Valley See also List of radio stations in California ¹ Audio for TV channel 6 (KSFV-CA/Religious) ² Clear-channel stations with extended nighttime coverage.

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KPPC (defunct)

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links