Yes, it was some kind of machinery in the Western wear store (where we taped it). We did all we could to distance the sit-down as far from it as possible, and then hoped to be able to adjust the audio in post production -- but it was a balance of the noise level and his voice. It was that or not use the interview (not a chance!) Thanks for watching.
Yes, actually, it WAS rain! A pouring storm on the roof of the venue (I think I made reference to it at the beginning of the interview, may not have made this edit.) Good catch!
Yes, that was at the beginning of his "rise to superstardom", plus the interview was in a public place (a Western wear store). Even now, if you watch one-on-one interviews with him, he is more soft spoken in the conversation.
Thank you for the kind words. It was an honor to interview Johnny Cash. He had done a new album that had a lot of competition for airplay at the time, & didn't go anywhere. But he was so gracious & upbeat talking about it. I thought of that often when at the end of his life, he was ill & blind, he recorded "Hurt" which was a success across many genres and still 100% uniquely Johnny Cash. Because of that, a whole new generation was introduced to his music & his legacy lives on. Thank you for watching & commenting on the video.
I want to see more KQED pledge drives and promos from the late 80’s - early 90’s, including the lost KQED PSA with the call letters and translators! I’m dying to see it again since another channel uploaded it from the Sesame Street episode 2933 and 2934! If anyone has it, can you upload it? I want to bring back my childhood memories!
Yes, and the studios (final location) were in Campbell till they lost the lease on the transmitter site. That was a sad day... Legendary Country station, privileged to have worked there!
I lived right in front of the station with my family on oakland road san jose from 1979 to 1994. And we too could hear the broadcast in the big metal shed for some strange reason.
Jose, I wonder what sheds you are talking about. I lived straight across the street from the radio KEEN transmitter site at 1803 Oakland Highway, later called Old Oakland Road from 1943 thru 1964. We had two large truck sheds made with galvanized steel. Darrell Upson
@@darrellupson7037 we lived on 1137 Wayne Ave and there was a galvanized shed for the farm equipment next to the house we lived in. There were times that broadcasts could be heard from the corner of that large shed....trippy stuff
@@JoseRamirez-en4pd Jose, I don't know how this works on RU-vid but would like to send you a photo of where I lived from 1943 till 1964 with the KEEN billboard sign in the photo. Right where your address shows up in Google Earth was a ranch where my great aunt and uncle Agnus and Roy Peyton lived until the house burned down sometime in the late 50's or so. They were renting. I knew several families on Wayne Ave including the Abe's, Bowman,s, Ferrari's and some others. This was up into the early 60's so don't know if they were there when you were. I attended Orchard elementary school on Gish Rd that moved to just across Oakland Road from where you indicate you lived. My first wife taught school there for many years starting in 1968. The ranches are all gone now and there is nothing left that I remember except for two homes that were next door to us on Fox Ave. I knew the Fox's and and the Harris's that lived in those homes. If you would like I can send you two photos of our property with the KEEN sign in them but would need an email address to send them. One was taken in 1950 and the other in 1964. Darrell Upson
Hi, Darrell, if you'd like to post the photo here, I'd like to see it, too. I worked with members of the Snell and Farr families in my time at KEEN, and love the history of the stations. If unable to post the photo in the comments, then post it online and send/post the web address here and I'll download and post it if you'd like. Please let me know. Thanks. --Melissa
To me, the Oak Ridge Boys should've been the act to go up there. This was the year that my newest favorite singer took them to #1 with "Gonna Take A Lot Of River", I love to hear my late beautiful precious Steve Sanders lead that song SO much!!! (forever wishing that I had discovered him sooner) God bless you and his family always!!! Holly in East Tennessee
Thanks for the comment, Holly. Actually, I was the Music Director at KEEN, and the Oak Ridge Boys called and did a live on-air interview on my show and we talked about the record. We all loved it too, and it deserved the chart success it had. Thanks for your comment. --Melissa
My first exposure to you was on 1260 KYA in 1983 or so, Melissa, and then we met when you were on KKIS AM & FM doing middays in I think '92, and I came in to give then-PD Ken Boesen an aircheck, and you asked me how to get a hold of Steve Young because you wanted to invite him to your wedding (you told me you used to work with him at KWUN). I was at KNBA myself in '86 and '87, so a lot of what you're playing in this video brings back memories (KNBA was country too).
So did you know where Steve Young was? I was able to contact him and have kept in touch all this time. He was an incredible professional and human being -- I learned a lot from him in my early radio days. I'm sorry to say that he passed away in 2022, and the world is not as bright a place without him (God rest his soul.) Thank you for the comment.
It was a big upset when Highway 101 beat out Alabama for this award. I'm glad they did. I love Alabama, but I'm very happy Highway 101 got some much deserved recognition.
You're right about the surprise, look at their shocked expressions when their name was called. They were a wonderful group of artists/musicians and really good people. Thanks for the comment.
wow, and you're still doing this! i'm a big radio fan, love listening to radio checks from now and then, and you're amazing! from a southern cali native! you need to come here next!
Thank you for the kind words, Tyrone. Always glad to hear someone is a "big radio fan" (me, too!) Actually, I'm from SoCal (the OC) but fell in love with the SF Bay Area in college and wanted to stay. (A couple of "near misses" with gigs in LA and Orange County a while back, but they didn't work out.) But appreciate your comment and keep checking out the airchecks (thank goodness for RU-vid!)
Excellent! Melissa, thanks for sharing this interview with Dan Seals! I love all of the music that Dan Seals has given us to remember him. Thank you Dan, and Rest in Peace Dan Seals...
+Ron Wells Thank you, Ron. Yes, he did leave a legacy of great music -- sometimes when you hear one of his songs on the radio, it's hard to believe he is really gone. We were lucky to have him when he was here, and gone too soon.
+Synchronicity.co Tanks for asking: it was a childhood nickname (given to him by his brother Jim Seals) because Dan could affect a British accent and was fixated on the Beatles. (No wonder we liked him!)
Thank you for letting me know, Sharon, that's great to hear. I'll never forget seeing him perform at Alabama's "June Jam" in Ft. Payne, AL in 1988. It was muggy hot, but nobody cared when he was onstage. He was mesmerizing... If you see him (and Illa), please say "Hey!" from Melissa McConnell. Thanks, again.
Rita Solis Radius Merci beaucoup, Rita! Yes, he was so talented, but also the sweetest man you could know. He is missed a lot, but thankfully his music lives on. Thanks again for writing and watching. And greetings from the U.S of A!
Me, too, Kennygrhm1. He is still performing (with his wife, Illa) on occasion. (There are videos on RU-vid like this one: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-HIQfrp7_BQo.html.)
Thank you for the kind words. SF had the best of the Evening Magazine shows, and Richard Hart was so good at what he did, he made it easy to follow his lead. We did all the segments in one take, made a quick trip to the radio station to get a little footage there and they headed back to SF -- went by so fast. I was thrilled to be asked to co-host, and appreciate you watching (again).
Hi Melissa, we never met but I lived next door to the radio KEEN radio transmitter from the day it went on the air till June 1963 when I graduated from college and moved to Santa Cruz to my first real job. My dad owned and operated a trucking company, Upson Trucking, directly across the street on the Oakland Highway, later called Old Oakland Road. We could hear the audio from radio KEEN in our light switches and inside the metal sheds the trucks were parked in. I used to visit the station occasionally and the DJ's would let me come in during the broadcasts. Once when I was in high school I had an amateur radio license and unbeknowst to me at a certain frequency I was broadcasting on my voice was going out over KEEN's signal. Mr. Martiin, the chief engineer, got ahold of me by tracking me down from my callsign, WA6LCM (now W6ADZ), to ask me to stop broadcasing until he could fix the problem; He did and all was fine after that. I met Mr. George Mardekian, not sure if I spelled that right, one day while he was waiting for his chauffer to pick him up out in front of the transmitter building. He chatted with me about his book "Song of America" and gave me a pen with his name on it. I didn't know what a significant person he was at the time. Hope you doing well. Just thought I would share this with you. Darrell Upson, now retired in Reno, NV.
What a fantastic story, Darrell -- thank you! (LOVED the signal in the electrical wiring, etc., too!) It was a privilege to have been a part of one of America's Greatest Radio Stations in my career -- a part of so many people's lives. I so appreciate your taking the time to share your story. Hoping you are well and enjoying Radio in Reno, too.
Darrell, being that close to powerful radio-frequency emission would probably resonate your truck sheds enough so you could actually hear the station aurally and perhaps light switches as well although it never happened to me. You truck sheds most likely, indeed had a slight affect on the overall signal-strength output of the station by attenuating , that is, grounding a portion of the signal before it could become radiated into the air. Not you or your sheds fault, just the physical arrangement and proximity. Example: If you were to walk under a high-tension power line tower holding a florescent light tube, it would most likely light up from the spurious emission from the overhead power lines. Kids do this for fun sometimes, but not recommended.
@@GereDJ2 Wow, after all these years I am surprised to see your response. Yes, the truck sheds were about 200 feet from the towers and were just sheets of galvanized steel so there was some rectification where they overlapped and touched. The station was running 5,000 watts at the time. One of my amateur radio antennas was a 65 foot vertical and one time I connected it to a 60 watt light bulb in series with a variable inductor and it lit up brightly when tuned to resonance at 1370 kHz, flashing with the audio modulation. If I can figure out how to send you a photograph I have a photo of the property showing the radio KEEN billboard sign right across the street.
@@MelissaMcConnellDJ Hi Melissa. I just now saw your response to my message 7 years ago. Those were fun years, 1943 thru 1964 when I lived across the street from KEEN radio transmitter. Cottonseed Clark and Black Jack Wayne some of the DJ's. They usually broadcast from a studio at a Hotel in San Jose at that time. They also spent a lot of time at a place called Napredak Hall nearby. I know I spelled that wrong. Hope you are doing well. Darrell
