Many years ago a friend of mine insisted that there was once a station in the Bay Area with the calls KRAP. I haven't been able to find any record of a broadcast station of any kind with those calls. Does anyone have the definitve answer as to whether there ever was a KRAP?

Well its not an FM in SFO, but here is what the FCC says about KRAP;

http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/results.jsp;JSESSIONID_ULSSEARCH=F2DqLkVXgMvmdEf0199QoYWoBvBkGEZTu3QR2ALLLTQEKFRGmjf2!-1391 663926!-1552716772

Radio Service SB is Ship Compulsary Equipped;
http://wireless.fcc.gov/marine/

I recall as a kid reading that Lorenzo Milam, who started KRAB in Seattle and KBOO in Portland, originally wanted KRUD for the Portland station but the FCC wouldn't let him.

KRUD, lol! Ranks right there with KLOD. Years ago I remember hearing the story about KSEX. The owner of what eventually became KSEX kept applying for those calls and the FCC kept turning them down. They finally caved in and let them have it.

Skybill, for some reason when I do a search at the link you gave it comes back "license seach error." I'll try again tomorrow.

Try this link;

http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/searchLicense.jsp

It will take you to the main search page and you can put in any call sign you want.

krud.com has some funny radio cartoons, stories, memos etc. I thought there was a KRUD-AM in Hawaii.

http://www.krud.com/

You couldn't have something like KFCC either. The FCC finally relented.

I heard a San Francisco station got KGAY. Any truth to that rumour?

Herb

There's never officially been a KGAY in SF, but one station, "Live 105" KITS does a "KGAY" stunt every year during gay pride weekend.

>>what eventually became KSEX kept applying for those calls

That was WSEX, Arlington Heights IL, a class A (weak signal) FM in a suburb of Chicago. They were looking for a way to attract attention on the edge of a competitive, crowded market. For a time their format was listed in Broadcasting Yearbook as "Sensuous Contemporary."

One of the best/worst ones I'm aware of is the original calls for what is now KFAX, San Francisco. Bay Area radio historian, John Schneider states in his history of KJBS/KFAX, "The station came on the air on January 3 of 1925 as KFUQ, operated by the Willard Storage Battery Company in San Francisco. Within a month of going on the air, the owners changed the call letters (wouldn't you?) to KJBS... More at VOICES OUT OF THE FOG.

KRUD is a funny site. I passed the PD quiz's with flying colors......is that really how to do it in the corporate world? LOL

Herb,

A search of the FCC database shows no AM, FM or TV station holds the call sign KGAY.

In case anyone didn't know, it was in Salem for 3 or 4 decades.

So with these Female oriented formats you would think a station would flip their calls to K......

no, I can't do it, too crude. Marconi, you do it.

There WAS a KGAY in Salem, Oregon back in the 1970's

I believe our old friend Jeffrey Clarke worked for KGAY way back when!

AM Radio station in Colorado....early 90's...KGAY
I believe they took the call letters after KGAY in the Salem area was no more.

What I don't understand is why any station would want to call themselves K-Rock, but there are several in the U.S. and Canada. That, of course, is not their real call letters. But, still, who would want to be mispronounced as Crock?

Reminds me of the British comedy so frequently re-run on PBS, with the lady who married a guy whose last name was Bucket, but insists it be pronounced Bouquet.

Speaking of K-Rock/Crock, I was seated in a restaurant yesterday next to our local version's sales staff, loudly making fun of the way the commercials are done for what may well have been their biggest advertiser. Admittedly, it was light-hearted amazement that the ads work, but still.... I thought that was the cardinal rule of Radio -- never make fun of the commercials.

KOME in the south bay is apparently no more. KUMM is at the University of Minnesota. Some of the great calls, though, include KOFE, formerly in Pullman, now hanging on in St. Maries, Idaho. And KAOS rules supreme at The Evergreen State College in Olympia.

No, the cardinal rule is... "no annoying DJs means mo money for the guys in the ties"!

There used to be some call letters in the Fresno area for an AM/FM combo. KJUG, KOCK.

I remember my high school days....101.1 went by KROCK with the call letter of KRCK. This was before the change to 101 KUFO.

Here is on for you....the Steven King FM Station "KUJO" They could have a slathering at the mouth St Bernard as a mascot! LOL
The Mad Dog Station! And the people there even drink MadDog 20/20 from a dirty bowl!

KOME in the South Bay area used to make the most of their calls. Like the legendary sweeper that said, "Don't touch that dial ... it's got KOME on it..."

1270 KJUG and 106.7 KJUG-FM are in Tulare/Visalia.

KRAP and KRUD, huh?

I'm surprised Movin' didn't take one of those calls!! ;o)

There was no connection between KRCK and KUFO except the facility. They were about 5 years apart with Classical and NAC formats between them and had different owners.

Thanks....I quit listening when KRCK changed formats. Who was the owner back when it was KROCK? Seem to recall it went off the air in say....85...is that right?

I'm thinking Henry.

Which local station would currently earn the call letters KPUT?

There once was, and perhaps still is, a station near Vancouver, Canada with the calls CBUT. The French version of that station was/is CBUTT (yes, five call letters.)

Actually it's CBUT/CBUFT, and it's TV not radio.

The original Vancouver CBC affiliate was CBU, with it's french version CBUF. When CBC TV came on, their calls were CBUT (CBU Television) and the french version got an extra F.

My favorites:

WEAK in Athens, OH, with 100 Watts.
http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/finder?call=weak&x=0&y=0&sr=Y&s=C

KCUF in El Jebel, CO, not for dyslexics.
http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/finder?sr=Y&s=C&call=KCUF&x=15&y=6

KLIT in Fountain Valley, CA. "Jill FM"
http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/finder?sr=Y&s=C&call=klit&x=0&y=0

I see: "Jill" in this context is a play on "Jack." Both are related to Charlie.

There really is a KCUF? Unbelievable; how'd they ever get away with that one? Their slogan could be, "Spelled Backwards -- You Know."

And, yeah, K.O.M.E in San Jose was a real class act -- one of their promos referred to it as "The 'KOME' Spot on Your Radio Dial." Nice.

I did indeed work for KGAY in Salem in 1970 and '71 (good segue). . .was one of my first jobs in Oregon. . .serving as middays (or was it afternoons?) and music director. Even then, one of the rules of thumb, given to me by the late G.M, Les Manning, was never, ever refer to it as K-Gay -- It's K.G.A.Y. Guess what I did? Accidentally, of course.

But we were very gay in the old sense of the word, that is, extremely happy to be playing Buck Owens, Kitty Wells, Ferlin Huskey, Merle, Hank, Bob Wills and all those great stars of real Country. I wish I was back there, sometimes, but who wouldn't want to be 20 again?

I am surprised that our friends at KOOZ haven't made this list yet. http://www.ijpr.org/

KGAY was one of the stations that made radio in Oregon so great in the 1970s. Back then, it seemed like you could drive the entire state with Hank Snow or Patsy Montana keeping you company from somewhere. No matter where you were, the flavor of a rural community was present on the air.

I thought KCUP was a strange set of call letters to ask for. "K-CUP...THE BIGGEST BOOBS ON THE AM DIAL"

Littlesongs, back then Gay was an adjective meaning "carefree", "happy", or "bright and showy";

Our word has since been hijacked.

An odd assortment of carefree baseball fans and happy news junkies, KOMO sapiens have been evolving in Seattle for years.

Lest we forget, along with our own beloved KINK, WHIP 1350 AM is the Voice of Lake Norman in Mooresville, North Carolina and KBSM FM 91.7 hails from Boise State University in McCall, Idaho.