Historic Houston Radio Stations

[Guest Marty]

July 1969

Radio station list

AM stations

KILT 610

KIKK 650

KTRH 740 CBS

KTHT 790

KPRC 950 NBC

KFRD 980

KODA 1010 MBS

KENR 1070

KNUZ 1230

KXYZ 1320 ABC

KWBA 1360

KCOH 1430

KLVL 1480

KYOK 1590

FM stations

KLVL 92.5

KBNO 93.7

KLEF 94.5

KIKK 95.7

KXYZ 96.5

KFMK 98.0

KODA 99.1

KILT 100.3

KTRH 101.1

KMSC 102.1

KQUE 102.9

KRBE 104.1

KFRD 104.9

KHCB 105.7

KNRO 106.9

[Firebird65]

How many of these can you post? I had started a thread on this once, but didn't get far. I like to see the changes in call letters.

[Guest Marty]

How many of these can you post? I had started a thread on this once, but didn't get far. I like to see the changes in call letters.

That's all i got. I have several newspapers from the moon landing in 1969 , A 1983 TV Guide and a Northeast News from July 7 1981

[Firebird65]

Here's what I have, although it's in a different format than yours and isn't for one particular year. (Note: I don't have all the radio stations, just some of the more popular ones.)

1920s Radio Stations

920 AM – KPRC (since 1925)

1930s Radio Stations

920 AM – KPRC

1290 AM – KTRH (since 1930)

1440 AM – KXYZ (since 1930)

1940s Radio Stations – AM

740 AM – KTRH (switched frequencies mid 1940s)

790 AM – KTHT (switched frequencies 1948)

920 AM – KPRC (to mid 1940s)

950 AM – KPRC (switched frequencies mid 1940s)

1230 AM – KTHT (1944 to 1948)

1230 AM – KNUZ (from 1948)

1290 AM – KTRH (to mid 1940s)

1320 AM – KXYZ (switched frequencies mid 1940s)

1440 AM – KXYZ (to mid 1940s)

1940s Radio Stations – FM

98.5 FM -- KOPY

101.1 FM – KTRH

102.9 FM – KPRC

1950s Radio Stations – AM

610 AM – KLEE

610 AM – KLBS (to 1957)

610 AM – KILT (from 1957)

650 AM – KRCT

740 AM – KTRH

790 AM – KTHT

950 AM – KPRC

1230 AM – KNUZ

1320 AM – KXYZ

1950s Radio Stations – FM

98.5 FM – KFMK (from 1957)

101.1 FM – KTRH

102.9 FM – KPRC (to 1958)

102.9 FM – KHGM (from 1958)

104.1 FM – KRBE (from 1958)

[texianjoe]

I know I'm resurecting and old thread but no one mentioned KAUM. They had the oval multicolored stickers with their call letters in the middle.

And lets not forget late night Dr. Demento although I can't remember what station he was on.

joe

[bmil128]

Back in '82, I remember hearing my friends talk about the morning zoo w/ John Lander on 79Q (790AM) so after I got my own transistor AM radio for Christmas, the first day I listen to it, guess what, they are starting on FM on 93Q (92.9 FM) I did not get a portable FM radio right away though. I listened to John Lander, Mr Leonard and the rest of them for the next 7 years until he was fired in 1990. I guess it worked out ok though I as I was in full fledged adolescence by then and I switched to Stevens & Pruett until I left for college.

I looked up John Lander on the web, he's on a mix station in Boston, and he looks really old now.

[editor]

Back in '82, I remember hearing my friends talk about the morning zoo w/ John Lander on 79Q (790AM) so after I got my own transistor AM radio for Christmas, the first day I listen to it, guess what, they are starting on FM on 93Q (92.9 FM) I did not get a portable FM radio right away though. I listened to John Lander, Mr Leonard and the rest of them for the next 7 years until he was fired in 1990. I guess it worked out ok though I as I was in full fledged adolescence by then and I switched to Stevens & Pruett until I left for college.

I looked up John Lander on the web, he's on a mix station in Boston, and he looks really old now.

1982 was right about when I switched from being an AM listener to being an FM listener. It was because I got my first computer, and the interference was awful. I think people sometimes forget how long AM hung on as a dominant media force.

[Subdude]

I know I'm resurecting and old thread but no one mentioned KAUM. They had the oval multicolored stickers with their call letters in the middle.

And lets not forget late night Dr. Demento although I can't remember what station he was on.

joe

Man, I haven't thought of Dr Demento in years! That was a funny show!

[Mark F. Barnes]

Man, I haven't thought of Dr Demento in years! That was a funny show!

Dr. Demento a.k.a. Barret Eugene Hansen

[enviromain]

I see your Avitar is Holder's Pest Control. My brother was in Pack 321 Boy Scouts with Dale Holder's (owner) son. They used to live in a large house on the corner of Wateka Drive and Troulon Drive in Sharpstown. Did you know that Dale Holder has a tatoo of that "roach" image on his arm?

[Subdude]

I see your Avitar is Holder's Pest Control. My brother was in Pack 321 Boy Scouts with Dale Holder's (owner) son. They used to live in a large house on the corner of Wateka Drive and Troulon Drive in Sharpstown. Did you know that Dale Holder has a tatoo of that "roach" image on his arm?

Well, I'm hoping Bubba will return someday in all his neon glory.

[57Tbird]

I see your Avitar is Holder's Pest Control. My brother was in Pack 321 Boy Scouts with Dale Holder's (owner) son. They used to live in a large house on the corner of Wateka Drive and Troulon Drive in Sharpstown. Did you know that Dale Holder has a tatoo of that "roach" image on his arm?

I went to school with Leo Holder, who owned Holder's at one time. Is Dale his son?

-----------

Edit: I just confirmed that Dale is one of Leo's four children.

[djrage]

Anybody remember the old breakdance station 1590 A.M. about 1981 to 1983? Now it's a Disney channel.

KYOK "1590 Raps"

[FreakyDude]

Speaking of KNUZ.....

I found this picture at http://www.scarletdukes.com/st/tmhou_venues1.html

My oldest brother used to go to the Catacombs Club for concerts on occasion. It seems like that's where all the action was back in the day. I wasn't old enough to go to concerts yet. It seems like that's where Joe Cocker played for a night.

[brucesw]

FEZ1964 should be posting here soon about the paperback edition of his book. I've been in touch with Chris and hope to meet him soon.

In the meantime I've launched a blog on Houston radio history, the Houston Radio History blog.

Chris' work covers from ca. 1904 to 1930, mine will cover from 1921 to ca. 1975 or 80, eventually. In the time frame we both have researched, he found some things I didn't and I found some things he didn't.

[editor]

FEZ1964 should be posting here soon about the paperback edition of his book. I've been in touch with Chris and hope to meet him soon.

In the meantime I've launched a blog on Houston radio history, the Houston Radio History blog.

Chris' work covers from ca. 1904 to 1930, mine will cover from 1921 to ca. 1975 or 80, eventually. In the time frame we both have researched, he found some things I didn't and I found some things he didn't.

Good to hear. I really should enable the blog feature on HAIF. I bet some people might find it useful.

[brucesw]

That's usually the case with the very old stations. For a long time the Department of Commerce (and later the FCC) didn't allow custom call signs, so people made up slogans to fit their stations. I found this out while doing some research on Pennsylvania radio history. Unless the call signs managed to spell out an offending word, they were issued sequentially. Even today, they're issued sequentially unless the applicant requests specific letters, which is how a college in western Pennsylvania ended up (briefly) with WFUC. The students fought tooth-and-nail to keep it, but the administration had it changed.

Vanity calls were apparently always possible, it's just that most operators didn't see that as an important issue to think about. The Detroit Police Dept. requested and received KOP as calls in March or April of 1922. Given the geographical location, they should not even have had a K as first letter. Later that year the NYPD got WLAW.

Here in Houston at least, stations were often referred to in the papers by the name of the owner rather than the call letters, such as the Hurlburt Still Station, the Alfred P. Daniel station, the Iris theater station, etc.

I always heard:

Kome(Come) To the Rice Hotel

When the Houston Chronicle announced in December, 1929, that a new station would soon be on the air it stated the calls requested were KTRH, to stand for 'K - The Rice Hotel.' Studios were located on the 6th floor, overlooking Texas and Main, for 40 years. The station actually was owned by and licensed to the hotel.

The slogans Kome to the Rice Hotel, You're Keyed to the Rice Hotel, Keep Tuned Right Here and, currently, Keep the Resume Handy, all came into use later.

[brucesw]

Good to hear. I really should enable the blog feature on HAIF. I bet some people might find it useful.

I just added a link to this forum in my History links.

[FilioScotia]

Studios were located on the 6th floor, overlooking Texas and Main, for 40 years. The station actually was owned by and licensed to the hotel.

Actually, KTRH was on the fifth -- and top -- floor of the Rice Hotel Garage, overlooking Texas and Travis. I suspect that the parking garage was attached to the hotel as an afterthought in the 1920s as more and more guests were able to afford automobiles.

For the public to get to KTRH, you had to go into the Rice lobby, take the elevator to the 5th floor, and follow a long winding hallway around until it went through the outside wall of the main hotel structure into the top floor of the parking garage, which had been built out as office space specially designed for a radio station. I went there a few times in the early 60s to visit friends who worked there, and that was the way I had to go. I think KTRH had a private elevator to the ground floor of the parking garage, so reporters and other employes could come and go quickly.

The station moved to that awful looking fortress style building on Lovett in Montrose sometime around 1970.

They called that monstrosity Fort Rusk, because KTRH was owned by the Rusk Corporation. It was founded by Jesse Jones, who died in the 1950s and passed the company to his nephew John Jones Jr. I had the pleasure of knowing John Jones when I worked at KTRH in the 1970s and again in the late 80s, when he was in his final years. He was a cordial and funny guy who loved to sit in the coffee lounge and shoot the bull about the old days. His son John "Jay" Jones III now runs Rusk Corp, and he's the one who sold KTRH-KLOL in the mid 90s after his father died.

[nm5k]

Vanity calls were apparently always possible, it's just that most operators didn't see that as an important issue to think about. The Detroit Police Dept. requested and received KOP as calls in March or April of 1922. Given the geographical location, they should not even have had a K as first letter. Later that year the NYPD got WLAW.

I think it would still be legal though, although breaking the usual W/K "line" that they used back then.

In the U.S., A, K, N, W, are all "usable" for any part of the country. Splitting the calls was probably

more an internal FCC, or Dept. Of Commerce thang... I'm trying to remember when the FCC took

things over.. I could look it up.

My call "NM5K" is a vanity call. And like the other stations, I had my choice of A,K,N,W, but...

I was limited to what was available and not already taken. I would have preferred KM5K, but it

was already taken. So I settled for NM5K. I later had the chance to get an old call, W5MK, but I blew

it and forgot to file for it when it came available. I had to wait two years after the original owner

died, and then file, but when it came up, I forgot about it. I'm still kicking myself... That was an

old call, quite possibly going back to the 20's, or maybe even the teens, as "5MK".

The original owner was a guy in Bellaire. My vanity call was an actual sequential call when it first

came out in about 1980 or so. I'm the 2nd owner. My old call was WD5CJL, which was a sequential

call from 1977. My new call has my initials... The M and the K...

Here in Houston at least, stations were often referred to in the papers by the name of the owner rather than the call letters, such as the Hurlburt Still Station, the Alfred P. Daniel station, the Iris theater station, etc.

When the Houston Chronicle announced in Deascember, 1929, that a new station would soon be on the air it stated the calls requested were KTRH, to stand for 'K - The Rice Hotel.' Studios were located on the 6th floor, overlooking Texas and Main, for 40 years. The station actually was owned by and licensed to the hotel.

The slogans Kome to the Rice Hotel, You're Keyed to the Rice Hotel, Keep Tuned Right Here and, currently, Keep the Resume Handy, all came into use later.

I oughta do a research on the Houston Amateur radio history to add to what you all have..

It predates the commercial radio. There were Houston ham stations going in the teens for sure.

The addresses and names/calls can be found in old call books, QST magazines, etc.

IE: I had a copy of the first QST "1915" somewhere, and I think it had a short station list.

But I haven't been able to find it yet.. I have 100's of old QST's going back to the 30's.

The reproduction of the first QST was included in a 1955 40th year annv. issue..

The first ham calls were usually made up by the user... Then they started using the area

numbers to establish some order around the country, and then the commerce dept. stepped in

and started licensing. Then a bit later the FCC was established. Thats when the A,K,N,W kicked

in. IE: A ham call of "5MK" became "W5MK", when the fcc took over.

MK

[brucesw]

Actually, KTRH was on the fifth -- and top -- floor of the Rice Hotel Garage, overlooking Texas and Travis. I suspect that the parking garage was attached to the hotel as an afterthought in the 1920s as more and more guests were able to afford automobiles.

The special section in the Chron for the launch of KTRH in March, 1930, stated the studios were on the 6th floor of the hotel, next to the elevators. The facilities were probably quite nice, since that was an era when radio shows often had live audiences. The transmitter facility at Deepwater also had a well-appointed waiting room.

I recall another story in the early 30s describing the studios overlooking Main and Texas.

I've never been to the Rice, but that doesn't sound like it was in the garage originally.

There used to be a picture on the Sloane Gallery website of a dj in the KTRH studios that had to have been taken after 1934 and perhaps as late as the mid-40s; the studio does not look like the ones described a few years earlier.

I oughta do a research on the Houston Amateur radio history to add to what you all have..

It predates the commercial radio. There were Houston ham stations going in the teens for sure.

The addresses and names/calls can be found in old call books, QST magazines, etc.

IE: I had a copy of the first QST "1915" somewhere, and I think it had a short station list.

But I haven't been able to find it yet.. I have 100's of old QST's going back to the 30's.

The reproduction of the first QST was included in a 1955 40th year annv. issue..

The first ham calls were usually made up by the user... Then they started using the area

numbers to establish some order around the country, and then the commerce dept. stepped in

and started licensing. Then a bit later the FCC was established. Thats when the A,K,N,W kicked

in. IE: A ham call of "5MK" became "W5MK", when the fcc took over.

MK

In his book Varela acknowledges a ham operator for getting him interested in the history of radio in Houston; there's more on that era than I will have on my blog for many moons to come . I've only looked into those few who had Special Amateur licenses as I discuss in the Pre-Broadcast era article.

[FilioScotia]

The special section in the Chron for the launch of KTRH in March, 1930, stated the studios were on the 6th floor of the hotel, next to the elevators. I've never been to the Rice, but that doesn't sound like it was in the garage originally.

You are correct. KTRH's original studios were where you say they were, on the 6th floor of the hotel. I'm willing to bet it was in a couple of adjoining hotel rooms, meaning they probably didn't have a lot of space or room to grow.

At some point -- probably when the parking garage was built in the early 30s -- the station had outgrown that space, so the owners decided to move it into a suite of offices on the top floor of the garage, where it operated until it moved out of the hotel to Montrose sometime around 1970.

[brucesw]

I'm willing to bet it was in a couple of adjoining hotel rooms, meaning they probably didn't have a lot of space or room to grow.

At some point -- probably when the parking garage was built in the early 30s -- the station had outgrown that space, so the owners decided to move it into a suite of offices on the top floor of the garage, where it operated until it moved out of the hotel to Montrose sometime around 1970.

As for the first point, not very likely; this was after all The Rice and Jesse Jones. Jones had taken control of the Chronicle from Jack Foster and wanted the radio station to expand his influence over Houston and likely would've wanted it to be a showcase. But here's the description from the Chronicle special section, judge for yourself:

"On entering the studios the visitor finds himself in the long reception room, tastefully furnished to harmonize with the attractive decorations of the other rooms of the suite. On the right are Studios A and B, the first the ensemble studio, and the latter the concert studio. Between these two studios is located the monitor room where a complicated instrument board controls the broadcasting from the studios, from pickups at remote points, and from wire circuits of the Columbia system.....All the offices and studios have glass curtain windows opening into the reception area, permitting studio visitors to watch the artists as they broadcast."

I've never seen any discussion of it but I think part of the reason radio stations located at hotels was the availability of ballrooms for large audiences and orchestras to provide programming. The Rice had at least 3 orchestras I've seen mentioned in this era, the Rice Hotel Orchestra, the Rice Hotel Cafeteria Orchestra, and the Rice Hotel Roof Orchestra, but I don't know how much they were used on the air. These might have been only 10 or 12 pieces. When KTUE, later KXYZ, moved into the Texas State Hotel in late 1929 it announced an ambitious schedule of programming which would feature Paul Houge and the Rice Hotel Orchestra, Julien Paul Blitz and the Texas State Hotel Orchestra, Louis Conner and the Lamar Hotel Orchestra, the Texas State Hotel Trio and other local music groups.

As for the reasons for the move, I have no idea but knowing when it happened would provide a clue. As more and more network programming became available, stations had to fill less time with their own, decreasing the need for local studio space. Then, many years later, shows consisted of recordings rather than live musical performances and live studio audiences were much less common, meaning less space had to be provided to accomodate them.

In other words the move might have been because less room was needed and there was no longer a need for the radio station to be a showcase for the general public to visit.

[FilioScotia]

As for the reasons for the move, I have no idea but knowing when it happened would provide a clue. As more and more network programming became available, stations had to fill less time with their own, decreasing the need for local studio space. The move might have been because less room was needed and there was no longer a need for the radio station to be a showcase for the general public to visit.

Thanks Bruce. One of the things I love about this website is the way I learn something practically every day.

So KTRH started with all the space in the world, but moved to smaller quarters later because it didn't need all that space anymore. That's certainly very different from most other stations' experience when they start out, but as you point out, this was Jesse Jones' baby after all.

I'm wondering whatever has happened to all that open space on the sixth floor. Is it still there? Or did the hotel turn it into more rooms?

May I ask where you find all that archived information on such short notice? Do you live in the Houston Chronicle morgue? Just kidding. I'm very impressed.

[Fez1964]

I invite those interested in Houston history and radio broadcasting to get a copy of my self-published book, Kotton, Port Rail Center: A History of Early Radio in Houston.

As Brucesw has stated before in a previous reply, the book covers the inception of radio communication, Houston's first amateur radio operators and the first broadcasting scene they invented before 1930.

I discuss the origins of stations KPRC (Kotton, Port, Rail Center) and KTRH (Kome to The Rice Hotel) as well as the city's first broadcasting stations that no longer exist.

Here is a copy of the book cover: http://proofs.selfpublishing.com/proofs/proof_919_4053.pdf

[Don Julio]

I invite those interested in Houston history and radio broadcasting to get a copy of my self-published book, Kotton, Port Rail Center: A History of Early Radio in Houston.

As Brucesw has stated before in a previous reply, the book covers the inception of radio communication, Houston's first amateur radio operators and the first broadcasting scene they invented before 1930.

I discuss the origins of stations KPRC (Kotton, Port, Rail Center) and KTRH (Kome to The Rice Hotel) as well as the city's first broadcasting stations that no longer exist.

Here is a copy of the book cover: http://proofs.selfpublishing.com/proofs/proof_919_4053.pdf

How/Where can we get a copy of this book?

[Fez1964]

How/Where can we get a copy of this book?

I can mail a book to you for $21.00.

Email me your address and I can send you one.

I understand that the Vistors' Bureau in City Hall has copies available for 16.95.

[brucesw]

KPRC turns 82 years old today, May 9. KLVL-AM (1480) turned 57 on Saturday. Cinco de Mayo. Brief accounts here.

[Vertigo58]

There is one station I really miss.

The one that used to play the big band music and other long gone 50 and 60's music.

It finally disappeared about 5 years ago I think? I heard the voice of one of the last dj's the other day in a commercial. I am certain it was on FM then got kicked down to AM as ratings dropped?

Even though I am in mid 40's my mom whom is now 85 taught us kids how to apppreciate the older better music at an early age.

This station would play everything from Sinatra, Glen Miller, Petula Clark, Beatles, Johnny Mathis, etc. I mean all the coolest music ever!

Now I have to go out and buy CD's since Houston dropped the ball again and lost this fantastic station.

Name that radio station? Now one name comes to mind Paul Berlin!

[gnu]

There is one station I really miss.

The one that used to play the big band music and other long gone 50 and 60's music.

I finally disappeared about 5 years ago I think? I heard the voice of one of the last dj's the other day in a commercial. I am certain it was on FM then got kicked down to AM as ratings dropped?

Even though I am in mid 40's my mom whom is now 85 taught us apppreciate the older better music at an early age.

This station would play everything from Sinatra, Glen Miller, Petula Clark, Beatles, Johnny Mathis, etc. I mean all the coolest music ever!

Now I have to go out and buy CD's since Houston dropped the ball again and lost this fantastic station.

Name that radio station? Now one name comes to mind Paul Berlin!

KQUE