Anyone recall what KSND sounded like in the mid 80's in Eugene when it was a mainstream chr? My good friend, Dave Shakes was a then rookie PD of this station and Bwana I believe was doing mornings.

Good.

They sounded great. I was pd of a small station in Roseburg that competed against them in the 80's and early 90's. They had a repeater in Roseburg and it was tough to compete against, we held our ground in our area, but Shakes and Bwana were part of a great team.

Good to hear...he had some nice things to say about his time in Eugene.

Dave Shakes remembers Bwana Johnny
Thanks to Bwana Johnny....


One of the greatest Top 40 Jocks ever passed away yesterday. It was my privilege to

learn from Bwana when I was the PD and he was the Morning Star at KSND-FM

Eugene in 86-87. A few of the things Bwana taught me:

Smile, laugh, giggle. It's 5:30am, 45 degrees and Pacific Northwest raw outside.

But we get to play radio. This isn't working for a living, really now.

A Pith Helmet and a Hawaiian shirt can make you look like a celebrity. Even if

they don't know who you are at first, the crowd will ask and they will pay attention.

A willingness to play the clown can really pay off for a radio dj.

Get in the parade. Any parade. Be there. You call this a job?

Don't play ballads in the morning unless the thing is the #1 song in the country this week.

What are you trying to do, put us back to sleep?

Crack the mic, forget your troubles, and have some fun.

And now a story that radio-guys will appreciate. It was Thanksgiving 1986 and

I the workaholic PD realized only the day before that I had made no plans and

had no prospects for a holiday dinner. On a hunch that he too might be looking

at dining alone, I sought out Bwana. "Are you having some turkey tomorrow?" I inquired.
"Sure, sure, c'mon over and join me".
"What can I bring?" I asked.
"Bring over some bird, we'll cook it up"
"Oh" I said not understanding, "I thought you said you had some turkey already"
Bwana almost exasperated with the rookie: "Shakes, I've got the Wild Turkey,

you bring some bird and we'll have a meal!"

It may be too early to share this story, but what the heck...

Bwana was dining with an Atlantic record rep at the Top of the Hilton in Eugene (back when there was a fine restaurant on the top floor)...

These type of dinners usually involved excessive amounts of alcohol, followed by a big dinner and desert. The after-dinner story, as told to me, was the Atlantic rep challenged Bwana as to who could throw up first. (They were still seated at their table.) Don't remember who did first, but both ended up completing the challenge right at the table.

My understanding is both were banned from ever eating in that establishment again.

I worked on-air at KSND in 1983 and 1984 during it's transition from being voicetracked to live.
That period was really the rebirth of CHR after a long dry spell. The station was starting to sound pretty good. This was just before Dave Shakes.