Today is Pat Pattee's Birthday. Dirty Dave thinks he's 70 years old.

Happy Birthday Pat, from all of us at Pdxradio!

I would roll my last record at around 11:57...at the betwitching hour the Nightwatch theme would play from the cart machine in the kisn window on 10th...Pat would be driving under the canopy off Marine Drive and ALWAYS be at the mic in time for his patter hitting the hooks of the jingle. I was so sure that he would be there I would actually walk out of the window and split. By the time the nightwatch jingle was wrapping up I would hear the preacher do his thing leading into his first 45rpm. Pat loved the vinyl and would not mess with music on carts. What gr8t times!

oh..Happy Birthday Pat. There is only ONE midnight moover~~~~groover.

Yes He is 70 Today, And Will Be At Lydia's 18330 N.E. Burnside Around 8:30. The Band Plays 50's-70's Full Bar, Food Etc...Pat Would Love To See You There!!!

The Star stations had overnight guys who were there for years and years. In Omaha we had Frank Hall at KOIL doing the "Hall night hallabaloo, and in Portland there was Pat Patee, the midnight moooover groover. Frank Hall went on to be a TV weatherman in Omaha. I know Pat was on KISN for many years. Happy Birthday Pat!
May you live a long and happy life.

Pat Got His Start At KOIL in 1959 Came to KiSN in 61-72

Jim: Actually I believe this is Pat's entire station history in order:

KDAG 550 Pat's Portland carrier current station (1958).
KCAP 1340 Helena, Montana.
KWIK 1240 Pocatello, Idaho.
KOIL 1290 Omaha, Nebraska.
KISN 910 Vancouver, Washington (1962).
KLSC 1410 Portland, Oregon (1973).
KAAR 1480 Vancouver, Washington (1983).

There's also an entire page (page 489) devoted to Pat Pattee with his picture behind the Kisn mic, in the book "Pioneer Mikes - A History of Radio & Television in Oregon" by Ron Kramer.

Happy birthday to the Preacher Man, still going strong.

Happy birthday Pat Pattee!

I want to know if anyone has a list of the night clubs he has worked at. The first I remember was a place called Slabtown in Northwest Portland in 1973. I remember seeing him for the first time. Of course he didn't work at the studios at KISN. He is short.

I went out to the transmitter on Smith Lake one night when he was on. He told me he preferred it out there because it had "soul". That upper floor had the transmitter, the board and equipment and the teletype all in the same room. There was a normal white light fixture hanging from the rafters/ceiling with maybe a 100W light bulb. It was in the middle of nowhere, you could crank up the volume and do your own thing. Cobwebs here and there. Nothing fancy. They stored the light strings from the KISN carol tree on the bottom floor at the foot of the stairs. You could drive all the way to the building, no fences or gates, and the door was open and you could just walk up. He would not know you were there because the sound was turned up and he had real headphones on. That was his domain.

I knew that when Pat Pattee was on I had better be home.

I remember his Saturday afternoon show on KLSC. What a marvelous education in 1950s music that was. The man has amazing taste

Wayne said: "He is short."

Pat Pattee was 10 FEET TALL ON THE RADIO!!

Greenway: I had the pleasure of watching Pat do one of his KLSC Shows. It was a Wonderful Experience.

Wayne...you mentioned Slabtown. I was actually the first DJ spinning tunes at Slabtown. It was in 1973 just after they became a tavern/dance club. It had been a strip joint, but when his wife and son inherited the place they tossed the strippers and put in a mixer and a couple of turntables. They didn't have any music so those of us hired to spin tunes brought our own from home. I don't remember Pat Patee working there when I did...but I didn't work every night and because I was only 19 I couldn't "loiter' when I wasn't on the job.

I knew that when Pat Pattee was on I had better be home.

Lucky you! I had to be in bed!

Pat worked at Burden's first station in Pocatello, Idaho...along with Les Parsons, before joining KOIL. When he got snowed in at KOIL's Council Bluffs, Iowa transmitter site he lobbied to return to his hometown & KISN. Pat was originally hired to do overnights, and news on the morning show 6-9am. However, that all changed rapidly with the addition of Bill Western, who landed at KISN 9am-Noon and covered AM Drive news. Within 6 weeks, Western was the Metro Morning Mayor.

pat was a short guy with the big voice Craig. The weather birdie still makes me laugh. I also remmember him Saturdays on KLSC 1410. He was great on KAAR 1480. he sure knows the music.

when will he(Pat P.) return to 910??

I remember as a kid I was probably 11 or 12 being awake at night in bed looking out my window at the stars and the airplanes going by and hearing Pat's theme "The Nightwatch" and "we're gonna be KISN til dawn"... Never forget it.

As I can no longer find this in the history side of the site, was 1965 the year when KISN abandoned the Smith Lake transmitter site?

910 moved from the south shore of Smith Lake to its current site on October 1, 1966.

When did they go to 5000 watts? it was a struggle to hear it at night sometimes.

Wayne, it isn't the power so much as the pattern at night. The FCC requires them to protect other stations on the same frequency and, if I recall correctly, the nighttime pattern is shaped like a goldfish. More power doesn't help the areas it protects.

Ya,

Kisn's pattern maxima goes approx WNW of the current site. Heavy suppression to the east, barely a signal at Cascade locks even daytime. Adjacent channel protections for Lebannon, Ore and near Centralia-Olympia , Wa . ( That was that KITI and KITN AM left and right channel shingaling stereo radio concept back in the 60s an experiment in left and right channel stereo on two different AM frequencies, and one of them was on 920 I think...ask Craig, he would know ). Of course you had to have two recievers to get stereo and how you would do that in a car is rather beyond me, and it was when I was 12 years old reading their billboards along HIWAY 99 touting stereo AM radio ! ??

That pattern always favored Vancouver and a good deal of Clark Co. NW Portland, Beaverton, Forest Grove and Vernonia and out toward Astoria. Also, close in East Portland, Gresham but dropped off fast by time you hit Clackamas some night you get skywave fade/in/out. And South Portland , Wilsonville and Salem, bad news nightime.

And this was one of the reasons that 1520 KYMN thought they could beat KISN. Pattern coverage in Portland, especially in south, east and central Portland and down the valley to some extent.

Mr. Randles. do you have a link to the pre and post-sunset patterns you could post? Thanks!

Wayne: KISN went 5,000 watts at the same time as the transmitter move.

Current Daytime coverage map:

http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=KTRO&service=AM&status=L&hours=D

Current Nighttime coverage map:

http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=KTRO&service=AM&status=L&hours=N

Wasn't Olympia protected by default because they had to protect Seattle? I don't think they actually protected Olympia, maybe the other way around.

One of the reasons Don Burden's Star Stations licenses were revoked by the FCC had to do with the KISN transmitter move.

Burden was trying to improve the KISN signal and the FCC didn't want to allow the move because of interference it would create. So, Burden bribed an elected official from Washington state....don't remember his name...so this guy would push the move through the FCC. Obviously that happened.

It came to light when there was an investigation prompted by Burden's broadcast of some commercials that were part of a trade in Indianapolis at WIFE, but were broadcast in Omaha at KOIL and at KISN. The affidavits indicated that they all ran on WIFE. That's what got him in trouble in the first place.

I've often wondered why there was no attempt to move KISN to a different frequency, as 910 Khz matched up somehow (I'm not an engineer) with the IF frequency in a lot of radios and created a whistle when the signal was received.

That would have made better sense because a different frequency might have better reception. Of course they couldn't use the Mighty 91 anymore.

It makes me wonder why they didn't require the interference to be resolved in 1980, after the station had been dark for a few years. Apparently, the station licence continues to be renewed despite ongoing interference.

So, flip this: http://www.sxc.hu/pic/m/m/mi/mikecco/616730_goldfish_cracker.jpg
and compare it to this:http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=KTRO&service=AM&status=L&hours=N

The FCC is not nearly as pro-active as many people think they are. Most interference issues get resolved because of complaints by other broadcasters.

I was consulting a station a few years ago and noticed a lot of bleed over from another signal at night. The owner believed the problem was coming from Mexico because what he was hearing was spanish programming interfering with what he was doing.

It turned out to be a US station with a spanish format that wasn't cutting back their power at night. Unless a complaint is filed, the FCC believes their original license process prevents problems.

In the case of 910 in Vancouver/Portland the IF whistle is created inside some radios, but there is also signal-to-signal interference due to short-spacing with other stations.

Chances are if the licensee tries to do something about it they will lose their night-time license and possibly have to move the transmitter site, so they're letting it ride as is and hoping no one complains.

When the station first signed on the air in 1939, it was on 880KHz.

Mark Hatfield was Gov of Oregon (running for senate)
Lugar was Mayor of Indianapolis (running for senate)
Those are your 2 answers why the FCC had it out for Don W Burden. Thanks to Paul Oscar Anderson bringing it out when Don screwed him for walking across the street to KGAR with an iron clad non-compete contract. Film at 11

Now there's some film I'd love to see.

If anybody got the dough to underwrite it, I'd make a film about him.

Semoochie, KITN 920 Olympia was a 1000W daytimer until the mid '70s I believe, So KISN certainly wasn't protecting them. They were protecting KIXI Seattle, at the time at 910. KISN might also have had to deal with KXLY 920 Spokane.

I do know that when KITN got DA night power, their signal to the east was so tight they couldn't be heard in Lacey, less than 5 miles from the transmitter. BTW I don't think I've ever heard of this elswhere, but KITN had two legal ID's , "Lacey/Olympia" for the day, and "Olympia" for night.

Now back to your regularly scheduled posts.

K-GAL at 920 in Lebanon was on KISN's backdoor, too.

And, don't forget the longtime KNEW-910 in Oakland which could often be heard along with Salt Lake City in the fringe areas of KISN's nighttime pattern.

If I remember, POA was fired by KISN in 1966. He later claimed that the firing was politically motivated. The claim was that the station supported Hatfield and POA wanted Lugar. That was what started the ball rolling.

Mark Hatfield was the guy who pulled the strings for Burden and had his own political and legal problems because of it. The other problem was that a station was essentially prohibited from taking a political position by....guess what....the Fairness Doctrine. The same Fairness Doctrine that some misguided politicans want to bring back. There is nothing Fair about the Fairness Doctrine. All it does is stifle free speech in violation of the Constitution.

I agree with you on that one! Some politicians want to use it to restrict some radio stations.

Bob Duncan.

I have a picture somewhere from a KISN promotional piece featuring...you guessed it...
Don Burden & Mark Hatfield.

However, it was news coverage favoring another politico that got Burden into trouble.

If my memory serves me correctly, the issues were not just confined to news coverage imbalances, in contradiction to rules required by the Fairness Doctrine, but extended to station editorials and even free spots for one candidate, but not the other. I think Burden repeated himself with KOIL in Omaha. Even in today's light, such behaviour with spots might be challenged, even though I am certain it has probably happened in the last few years. News coverage and editorial opinion are certainly, and will probably remain, off limits to regulation.

That photo was in the Kisn Goodguys Gazette which was handed out at the Kisn Teenage Fair.
Whitey Coker had just returned from Viet Nam as the 1st radio guy to go into the bush...even though Whitey saw more action in Nam Hotels than in the bush!!!!!!! Great stories about the BUSH!

Whitey told the story of a GI who recognized his KISN jacket. it was quite a story.

KISN problems - Actually there were 32 charges the FCC brought against Star Stations - Don;s company that onwned KOIL AM-FM - WIFE AM-FM and KISn AM -- Charged in 1966-1967 (They added more as time went on) It took them 10 years to pull the plug on all 5 Sep 1976 -- Burden made more money from in those 10 years then paying the lawyers...Interesting facts: He was required to have ALL 32 charges read on the air at certain a couple of times - Hey Auditioned the air staff for the fastest readers (Bobby Noonan Afternoons won the Portland presentation)-- I have a lot of great memories - Tom Micheals hired me at 16 my first job ever..so I am certainly not trashing them - they had great people -- In the 3 years I worked there we had 7 (seven) program directors -- Does anybody remember the last song Dave "Records" Stone played ont he original KISN in Sep 1976?? At just before midnight he played a perfect song that matched the mood -- Diana Ross & Supremes -- "Someday will be together" -- Then the plug was pulled...

Tom: Welcome aboard! I'd be interested to know the names of all 7 KISN PD's in that period. If possible, could you list them in order and give the year and month they began? Thanks! Here's what I know from this period:

Roger W. Morgan - by October 1972.
Chuck Martin - by September 1973.
Jim Rose - by November 1974.
Bill Stevens - by December 1975.

Hi Craig..

I'll have to think a little more - but off the top..

Tom Michaels was PD June 1971 (He was actually PD for 3 times while I was there - left in Feb 2004)
He left to Join Michael O'Brien at KPAM-FM on Council Crest in Feb 2004 I went too as Chris McKay (G Michael McKay at KISN) At the time I was doing 12-6am - the third person to take
Pat Pattee's place...He was great!

One PD hired Chuck Martin as afternoons - He went on to be Star Stations NationalPD -- I can see his face - not his name though..

I have some KISN radio info I'll look up and see if I can remember his name-- He was the guy who was responsible for the "Explosion logo's" -- I heard our GM at the time - Steve Shepherd ask "It sounds like our station is blowing up" -- The explosions effects were used to get listners to "Call in and win"...I may have some air checks let me look...

Tom: Thanks for your help. My KISN information in this period is a bit vague.

I have an AKA DJ Listing and will add your names. Did you use any others in Portland besides the three mentioned above?

When did you start on KISN midnight to 6 (month/year)?

Who were the 1st & 2nd DJ's to take Pat Pattee's place?

Was Bobby Noonan one of the PD's or Dick Simms?

Could you post a KISN DJ line-up you remember with the year & month?

shotgun Buzz Kelly replaced Pat.

I was working at KPAM FM around 1974, and Pat was doing a Saturday afternoon show on KLSC AM 1410. While I was on the air, Pat would come in and ask me if I could help him bring in some records. While I put on "Funeral For A Friend", I would go out to Pat's car and bring in boxes of 45's downstairs to the KLSC studio so he could do his show. I was just so thrilled that I was helping Pat Patee, I could care less about the show going on the FM. Yeah, professionalism at it's finest...

JJ Jordan (from WRKO)was PD around '72, and went on to become Star Stations Nat'l PD. Stephen Weber...can't remember his on-air name...handled the "Nightwatch" shift at the very end.

Thanks Robin!

Craig:

Regarding the lost KISN years..

Pat Pattee after him was LA Marsh for a while in ’72. Then Chris ___ (Not sure of last name)… I was there Sept-Oct ’72 until Feb ’73. I left at the same time as Tom Michaels to go to KPAM where Mike O’Brien was..

Bobby Noonan was a PD at KISN in ’72-’73..not sure when.. and as mentioned previously JJ Jordan… I believe WRKO Boston… Chuck Martin was from another New England state..

Pat Pattee was great.. When you walked through the KISN lobby he had one of the Best pictures hanging up.. I spent a lot of time in the lobby, when I was hired at 16 My job was answering the KISN request lines. I usually worked until 11pm on some weeknights. Some calls would come in requesting songs for his show.. 50’s classic’s
And so on..

I don’t think management new how popular he was… calls came in for him long after he left.. Management should have realized the guy was a class act and let him alone…

CHUCKER MARTIN BECAME PD AT KHJ...ALSO DID A STINT AT THE BIG 610. HE WAS VERY DIALED IN AT RKO. WE ALSO WORKED TOGETHER AT WMYQ IN MIAMI.
WHAT A ROCKER THAT WAS...I DON'T EVER REMEMBER PLAYING A SLOW SONG. GARY ALLYN WAS PD FROM KCBQ DAYS. IT WAS ALSO OWNED BY THE SAME GROUP. LEE BABY SIMMS FOLLOWED ME. HE WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST EVER. FUN DAYS.

Steve Weber ....what ever happened to him I wonder...I worked with him at Christian KGRV in Roseburg in the late 80s and early 90s...

Thanks Stoner!

Steve Weber(Chuck Weber at KISN)was doing morning drive at KACI The Dalles for a few years but I don't remember when. I think he mentioned previously working at KUJ Walla Walla but am not sure.

the above post is correct...L.A Marsh...then Buzzy...then Weber....

Ok, let me see if I have the midnight to 6am DJ order right. This after Pat Pattee left KISN:

L.A. Marsh, Shotgun Buzz Kelly, G Michael McKay & Chuck Weber.

Another question: When was Pat let go from KISN? While trying to figure this out myself by using Kisn survey's, I've found something that doesn't fit.

Tom Brooks stated in an earlier post that he was doing Midnight to 6 from October 1972 to February 1973. I have the "Kisn 1972 Souvenir Program" from December with pictures of the "The Big 91 Jocks". Pat is missing from the photo but on the back is the DJ line-up which says "A Mountain of Rock For 1973" with "PAT PATTEE" listed as "MIDNIGHT 6:00 A.M."

I thought it was 1974. Perhaps, someone in the know...

Craig--

I was one year off on date -- I was Mid-6am October 73--Feb 1974 (Graduated Benson High in June '73 from High School--was doing weekends)....

I am not sure the exact date Pattee left - Had to be sometime early '73 or late '72..

Ok Tom that pins it down better.

I'd sure like to know the date Pat was shown the door. I'm sure the story was never published. In hindsight, this was one of many historic Kisn moments.

1972 was the year. in 73 he was playing the hits at slabtown in n.w. portland

Jim: Pat could have worked on Kisn until say February '73 or so and still done his Slabtown shows later.

I heard his 10th anniversary show and it seemed quite a while after that but I was still fairly young so it's hard to say how much time had transpired.

Pat arrived from Omaha very early in 1962, making the 10 year anniversary show Jan-Feb '72.

It may have been 1973 because KLSC started in December 1973 on 1410 and the Preacher had his Saturday show by then. I never missed it and remember he had a big band special.

Interesting Wayne. However, '72 would have been the 10th anniversary....but then radio has been known to exercize "poetic license." A decade anniversary seems more dramatic than admitting that it was missed opting for 11 instead.

Maybe Pat arrived in February or March of 62...I know he shows up on an April 62 Fab 50...and that means the first couple of months of 73 would still qualify in the 10 year celebration.

KKB...Steve (the Chucker) Webber and his wife Penny live in Southern Oregon I think. I get emails from him once in a while. Great guy. I spent some great late nights with him at the old KISN transmitter off Sandy Blvd back in '76. Good times.

A KISN survey exists that shows Pat Pattee on the cover with a header saying: "A Ten Year Overnight Success".

If I ever dig it up, I'll post the date.

Skep: that would be great!

KISN had Chucker Martin AND Chucker Weber?

If I remember right Pat started on KISN in late 61 which would have made his 10 year show in late 71. I think he left in 73 sometime. He has mentioned that he was there for 13 and a half years. Unless that includes his time when KISN was KVAN in the fifties it doesn't add up to me.

My notes from website construction are in storage, but here are pages for the era:
http://www.rma1.com/Chrono/1959-61/index.html http://www.rma1.com/Chrono/1962-63/index.html

By fall '61, Les Parsons joined KISN as Production Director & PD when Hal Raymond left for KAYO. Les had worked at Burden's Pocatello station KWIK with Pat Pattee. I recall Pat telling me, he was hired to replace Johnny Dark
(Byron Swanson) on Nightwatch, and was to cover 6-9am News. In fact, he did this for a couple of days when Jack Par was mornings, 6-9am.

But within days, Bill Western, another Burden alumni from KICN-Denver arrived in Portland for 9am-Noon, replacing Bob Stevens. Western took over covering 6-9am news, leaving Pattee to cover news Mid-1am for Tom Murphy, and during his Nightwatch shift 1-6am.

That means Pattee did arrive...late November 61. When Bill Western was moved to 6-9am, simultaneously Roger Hart was brought aboard for 9am-Noon and News coverage 6-9am...Roger mentioned this as part of his gig upon being hired.

Simultaneous, with Roger Hart's arrival KISN ran a "You Gotta Have Heart" on-air campaign to tie-in his arrival with Valentines Day.

The bottom of the 1961 page details much of this, with the 1962-63 page...near the top...features a Fab 50 showing Pattee, Western, & Hart.

Les Parsons arrived for production prior to the beginning of the Christmas Sales Season...which in those days kicked in at Thanksgiving...so Les was probably at KISN by 11/15. I believe Bob Stevens..who had been covering 6-9am news...was out within a week after that...coinciding with the arrival/need for Pattee to cover AMD News...which was supplanted by the arrival of Western.

The Western move to 6-9am and Roger Hart 9am-noon...and the "You gotta have heart" campaign was probably first week in February...which would preceed Valentine's Day on 2/14.

Whewwww....a long recreation...but I believe we can be sure that Pattee first appeared on KISN by Thanksgiving '61 at the latest.

Robin: Thanks, that's great detailing! However Roger Hart reported to me in 2001 that he began on KISN April 1, 1962. Bill Western began at KISN January 29, 1962.

Imagine running a full station promotion for the midday personality at this point in time!

I'd revisit Roger with these facts. Remind him of the "You gotta have heart" campaign. It may jog his memory. I was certain it took place before valentine's day.

I thought Bill Western moving to 6-9am & Roger covering news and anchoring 9-Noon were concurrent. However, through the years, I do recall Steve Brown filling in airshifts and news coverage. It's possible he covered AM Drive news and did the airshow until the slot was filled.

By this time, Brown was Star National PD. It would have been him that shifted Johnny Williams and Bill Western from Denver. Anchored from Portland, he could have hired Roger to fill the position he was covering short-term.

See if that rings a bell with Roger.

Robin: Yes, I'll E-Mail Roger and we'll get this pinned down.
Stay Tuned....

As all the radio afficianados know, Roger Hart was previously known as Roger Ferrier when doing the night shift at KEX.

Roger contacted me, and I'm sure he is correct:

"..I went on the air at KISN on April Fools day, 1962, transitioning from Ferrier to Hart over the next couple of weeks...Ferrier-hart, to Hart. Steve Brown's idea, which has worked well over the years. The 'You gotta have Hart' bit came later."

I guess this means Jack Par didn't leave until around March 62, when Bill Western would become Morning Mayor...and there would be a need for a new 9-Noon Buffoon, who could cover morning show news.

I'm thinking Steve Brown was probably on site to handle the transition, since Les Parsons was new as PD/Production. At this point, he would reach out to Roger Ferrier and perhaps cover AM Drive news himself until Roger's arrival.

Robin, here is Rogers reply:

Craig, You're correct! I began on April 1st, 1962, anchoring news for Bill Western 6-9a, then on air 9-noon. I left sometime in the fall for a few months [doing Salem, KKEY and KGON, before returning to Kisn.

I remember being on the air at KGON when President Kennedy was assasinated. We went from pop to easy listening in a big hurry. I also had PR&R scheduled in Roseburg the next night, and the Roseburg promotor wanted us to do the date and we did. Small audience. A teenaged Dave Leiken was there.

The 'You gotta Have Hart" Fab 50's promotion was the week of February 9-15th, 1964, after I'd returned. Robin has the air dates correct in his website. It's those funny little details that elude us. Must be the clouds of our minds.

Take care my friend, and thanks to you and Robin for keeping the history alive...for those that care.

Roger

Here's a KISN March of Dimes promo from 1972 featuring all the jocks.

http://www.divshare.com/download/6510417-a97

Steve: I put together a jock line-up from the names mentioned from your March of Dimes promo but wasn't sure about what shift Pat Riley worked. I have another line-up from 1972 so I think this is the way it was.

Roger W. Morgan, 6-10am.
Tom Michaels, 10-Noon.
Dick Jenkins, Noon-3.
Pat Riley, 3-7pm.
David Stone, 7-Midnight.
Pat Pattee, Midnight-6.
G. Michael McKay, weekends.

During early 1973 KISN was running promotions announcing the 'return of Michael O'Brien in 2 weeks' or something like that. Just before he was supposed to start, the promotions ended and O'Brien never appeared on KISN.

Anybody remember this? And what was up with that?

That sounds like about the same time he was expected to start at KPAM(a large coup for them at the time!)and ended up back on KISN instead. It seems like he said something to me about it being a bigger station so he felt more comfortable with the situation. I don't recall the exact wording but that was the general idea.

I believe Michael O'Brien was suppose to return to KISN, but ended up going to KPAM (97.1FM) as PD/Morning Man. O'brien was PD when I joined KPAM in 1974.

Michael O'Brien was PD and AM Drive at KPAM-FM for years. I believe he went to Calgary from KISN, then was wooed back by KISN...but in the 11th hour Wally Rossman put a deal together with him. The KPAM deal included the morning show, MOB's PDship, and a percentage of KPAM's equity increase during his tenure.

Wally fired Michael, then sold KPAM to Bob Duffy (who owned Christal Rep Firm). Michael had to take Wally to court to get his equity share...and he won!!!

I know this, because Wally went out of his way to tell Verl Wheeler (KB101's GM) what a rotten guy Michael was...when I was hiring him to do mornings at KB101.

I never had any problems with MOB.

I liked KB101 a lot. they would play a mix of older and newer music. I don't think that would work with the new music of today.

Thanks Robin, for the insight. I remember being quite disappointed that particular morning -- but with the pulled promotions, knew something was up. I also believe it was Tom Michaels filling in that morning slot the day O'Brien was supposed return.

No doubt Burden was pissed.

The question here is which time was it? He came back to town the first time in 1970. That's when I started calling him every morning. My memory tells me I was in college when he was supposed to start at KPAM but ended up at KISN. That would jive with the 1973 mention. It would have made more sense in 1970 however. If the latter is the case, it looks like he was supposed to go to each of the stations at different times and ended up at the other. As an aside, when I was in the eighth grade, a girl in my class, using her real name, called in to Michael O'Brien one morning as the "weather hummer". She did a pretty convincing job of convincing him that she was a housewife.

Just acquired a zerox copy of the Kisn newspaper, "The Bugle" courtesy of Dave "Record" Stone. Here's the jock line-up:

KISN, May 1966 "Good Guy" Line-up:
Paul Oscar Anderson, 6-9am. "P.O.A."
Buzz Barr, 9-Noon "Housewives-helper" (Program Director).
Don Kennedy, Noon-3.
Jim Hunter, 3-7pm [aka Roger W. Morgan] (Music Director).
Joe Light, 7pm-1am.
Pat Pattee, 1-6am.
Tom Michaels, Weekends.
Whitey Coker, News Director.
Steve Shepard, General Manager.

Was Drew Harold the real name of Jim Hunter? He said there was another deejay by that name hence the change to Bobby Noonan. It would be fun if Drew would post on here. He would have memories of the preacher.

Real name: Drew Herold....Dr. Drew for many years in Boise, after KISN.

"Bobby Noonan" was a Steve Brown invention. It was also Brown who added "The Real" in front of Don Steele.

If my memory serves when MOB came back from Calgary supposedly to return to KISN the Friday before he was to be back on the air he sent a telegram to Burden saying something to the effect of "Sorry, can't boogie with KISN, got an offer I can't refuse". On Monday he was on KPAM and there was a newspaper ad in the Oregonian with MOB laying on a rug in front of a fire with his back to the camera. It was captioned "Michael O'Brian's back!" Stoner may be able to fill in some blanks...but when Burden took MOB to court over his defection I think they settled when MOB whispered to Burden that he would spill the beans on contest rigging and the slanting of the news.

Jim Hunter later became Roger W. Morgan...and was the only one of 3 or 4 that stuck with it.
Even I was a RWM for 2 weeks at Kisn until the GM called me up to the office to say that the REAL RWM would be coming from Koil to Portland...so go down and find yourself a new jingle from the production room! What great radio times they were. Roger is now living in the Virgin Islands running a radio station. I was proud to work for Roger at KYA in SF.

O'brien was the darling of Kisn...and he was a great morning host...no question. But when he went to Kpam the money was good, but the show suffered. It was never the same as when he did the show from 10th & Burnside. He sounded distracted on Kpam. Yes...that is the story I was told (Bill C. post).....O'brien knew the whole scope of how the wheels turned at Star Stations. He would of made Paul Oscar Anderson look like a Boy Scout leader!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyone that worked there for more than a few months can tell terrific stories. There was only one Don W Burden.

Stoner...remember the time Don arrived unannounced and caught me visiting you on the air? I thought I was going to be shot for carrying a can of cola in the hall! You're right, there was only one Don W. Burden, and he was a piece of work!!

Drew mentioned that there were two Jim Hunters on the radio and maybe the other one became Roger W. Morgan. this was at the KISN reunion of 1988. Drew is quite a storyteller.

Bill....Yeah...the radio cab would pull up and Don would come rushing to the door. Only his inside mole knew when the big ball buster was arriving...His MOLES were always the GM's asst.
In every market he made sure his inside was the GM's gal...I won't expand this, but you can imagine the picture here. It was like MASH at Star Stations. I do remember that night. One night we had lit up a joint....and the he drove up...I think it was JJ Jordan and me...maybe Buz Kelly...spraying massive amounts of Lysol in the room...He went to Steve Shepards office and then came down into the booth...."Smells like S**** in here"........That was it. A pass from the radio Gods.

Somebody's got to write a book, or do a movie about Burden and his empire. It would be fascinating.

I used to go to Yesterday's Records which was run by Bob Galuci Sp and he had a KISN survey from 1971. the deejays were Michael Obrien 6-10, Tom Michaels 10-noon, JJ Jordan, 12-3, I can't remember who did 3-7pm but Chuck Martin was 7-12PM and Pat Pattee did 12-6. It didn't say who did weekends.

me

You know, one could write a pretty good book about KISN and the adventures of Don W Burden gleaned from the information already in the pdxradio.com archives and perhaps interviews of key individuals.

To make the book a more profitable venture however, one would have to include all of Burden's empire -- in order have a bigger sales market. A large section on the Real Don Steele would expand the potential market a bit.

With Burden being dead, there's no risk of being sued as dead people have no privacy rights and can't be defamed.

So, who's up for the task?

Stoner: Wayne said the survey was from 1971. You didn't start until 72.

I think he was busy counting to 3 in 1971.

Semoochie: The reason I know the year Stoner began on The Mighty 91 is because he just sent me a bunch of Good Guy information including a copy of the Kisn announcement of Stoner being added to weekends, which was dated June 1, 1972.

My reference was vague. I hope someone "got it". It might sound rude if they didn't.

I started doing remotes in 71. O'brien was doing 3-4 a week. Other advertisers wanted remotes but since he was doing Westmans Stereo..so did Tom Peterson...etc etc....So I was doing some fill in thanks to Tom Michaels who hired me...and then came JJ Jordan from Boston who gave me the break. I was also working at KGAL in Lebanon at the time.....It is a shame that kids can't cut their teeth like we did. I can only hope that these Wall St thugs start selling off-back to independent or smaller chain owners. This could happen. All of the big 3 are in serious trouble.
Clear Channel is running OUT of its line of credit. This was a big story in the Wall St Journal yesterday. Radio needs owners who really care about the mnedium. Theres no question that guys like Dove & McDonald LOVE radio...but they are stuck with who they work for...Not their fault at all.

Bobby Noonan (Drew Harold) did 3-7pm I wonder if the Stoner did weekends in 71. or maybe one of the goodguys was him in disguise.

Wayne: Stoner did use another air name but it was in 1972 when he was the 2nd Roger W. Morgan. KISN had 4 separate RWM periods.

Not only was my reference vague but it occurred to me that I probably had the wrong year. It was more like 1967 or 8 but I'm not sure how long he counted to 3.

I was wondering if Stoner might have been Bobby Noonan in 1971 as well. Maybe a second reincarnation of that.

He's never mentioned it to me and I collect that kind of information.

There was only one Bobby Noonan at Kisn.

While radio reminiscing with Roger Hart via E-Mail, he mentioned while working for KKEY in 1987 he was also playing jazz over at KKUL with Ray Horn, Ted Hallock & Pat Pattee. Up to now on this thread it was thought Pat's last radio gig was on KAAR. So let's review Pat Pattee's station bio:

KDAG 550 Pat's Portland carrier current station (1958).
KCAP 1340 Helena, Montana.
KWIK 1240 Pocatello, Idaho.
KOIL 1290 Omaha, Nebraska.
KISN 910 Vancouver, Washington (1962).
KLSC 1410 Portland, Oregon (1973).
KAAR 1480 Vancouver, Washington (1983).
KKUL 1410 Portland, Oregon (1987).

KKUL was such a truly cool station in it's short lived time. I wish we had it back today. Those jazz cats were the best.

I was surprised to hear him on KKUL because he was an oldies fan.

As I recall, Pat is VERY into Big Bands and featured them along with Oldies in the clubs.

his real love is the blues

Happy Birthday...Preacher!

http://stumptownblogger.typepad.com/stumptownblogger/
couple of photos of the great Pat "mover groover" Pattee.
A survey thats classic and a photo in the booth during the last broadcast that Pat has done (with me) at Kisn.

I have been looking for a big band show that Pat did on KLSC in 1974. I had it for years until the tape broke.It would have been during the rose festival