The mid-1970s was a strange time for radio.
FM still had not become the dominant band, but it was making inroads and many AM stations didn’t know how to react. This led to some grave mistakes. Think KHJ’s (930 AM) foray into an album rock/disco hybrid format called “Position 93,” considered by many to be the beginning of the end for the station that previously set the standard for top-40 radio.
But some tremendously creative attempts actually worked.
KTNQ (1020 AM) — Ten-Q — was among the successes. It essentially picked up where KHJ dropped the ball. As KHJ became more mellow, Ten-Q was exciting, with high-energy personalities, some of whom came from KHJ itself.
Programmed initially by Jimi Fox and later John Driscoll, Ten-Q came out of KGBS, which had gone through a few formats over the years. The official launch was December 26, 1976, when the call letters changed and an on-air party hit the airwaves featuring all the new DJs taking short shifts to introduce the new format.
The playlist was wide open and included more rock than traditional top-40 stations, along with disco and even a little punk. Truth be told, the playlist was not that much different than KHJ’s, but it was definitely more adventurous and had a better flow. What truly set Ten-Q apart from all the others, though, was the on-air presentation: DJs were encouraged to be out front and fun. While KHJ tried to be more like the FM album rockers with a subdued sound, Ten-Q was hot.
Personalities included Fox, Willie B. Goode, Rich Brother Robbin, Driscoll, Dave Conley, Beaver Cleaver, Tony Evans, Nancy Plum, Joe Nasty and more; one of the most exciting members of the airstaff was “The Real” Don Steele, who had been missing in action for a time. Later came Charlie Tuna for mornings and Machine Gun Kelly for evenings right after being fired from the same shift at KHJ … basically for being too exciting for the new Position 93 format.
It was fast. It was fun. It was an instant success. Pretty much every teen and young adult who had not migrated to FM’s album rockers was glued to Ten-Q. Alas, it didn’t last … the station was sold in July of 1979 and flipped to Spanish at the end of the month. The spirit lived on for a short time on KHTZ (now KNX-FM, 97.1), but that station mellowed out shortly later and ironically opened the door for KHJ’s big top-40 comeback.
It’s hard to imagine that a station that existed for such a short time made such an impact, but it really did. Ten-Q was the station to listen to during those few years, and it remains one of the best examples of AM top-40 radio’s final years of dominance.
I bring all of this up because of an exciting new website that Fox and some of his friends put together. MyTen-Qradio.com features a comprehensive history and timeline of the station, including trivia and, most importantly, airchecks of the station during its run.
Audio chapters include the debut (including the final song just prior to the official launch: Elton John’s “Funeral For a Friend” in reference to KHJ), reflections, contest histories, and “best of” segments for many of the personalities. Five years in the making, it’s still under construction with more content to be released at a later date.
Fox describes the project on his Facebook page:
“For some time, associates and friends have encouraged me to write about my Ten-Q Radio journey. After much thought, I determined a different approach was necessary. So, five-plus years ago, I began working on the “My Ten-Q Radio” project. It has been compiled in two installments, each containing seventeen chapters. I launched a website/YouTube channel (recently) with the first installment. The second installment will be posted soon.”
Interestingly, he purposely made this a money-losing labor of love. “As you navigate the website and view the individual chapters on the YouTube channel,’ he writes, “you will find no advertisements. From the outset, I did not wish to generate any income from this project. I wanted this to be a gift to all, especially to an industry and LA that has been incredibly kind to me. Enjoy!”
One thing I find somewhat ironic. When Ten-Q was on the air, it was known to speed up the songs slightly to make the station sound more upbeat. The recordings on the site, however, seem to run slightly slow. I fixed it by changing the playback speed on my computer.
I will admit, I am biased. This is my type of radio: fun, exciting, bigger than life. It is the reason I stayed with AM radio far longer than almost all of my friends. Of course, the basic elements involved in Ten-Q are what made so many other stations wildly popular … KHJ, KEZY (now KGBN, 1190 AM), KFI (640 AM) under programmer John Rook, The Mighty 690 (now XEWW, 690 AM) and later KIIS-FM (102.7 FM). True top-40 radio, featuring music of all genres backed by solid DJs and amazing production.
Take a tour for yourself and let me know what you think. Is it what you remember? If you never heard it, what are your thoughts? Think a young person would listen to such a format today?
In the meantime, you’ll know what I’m doing … listening to Ten-Q!
Richard Wagoner is a San Pedro freelance columnist covering radio in Southern California. Email rwagoner@socalradiowaves.com