KHJ: Inside Boss Radio

A few years ago I attended an informal high school reunion. It was held at someone’s house, everyone dressed in shorts, and the menu was pot luck. We basically just invited the people we wanted to see again.  So out of a class of several hundred there were like fifteen of us.  Being a lethal cook I volunteered to provide the music. I made hour long tapes of the 60s music that was popular during our high school years. The tapes were the hit of the evening. Why? The music? No, they were the same damn songs you could hear on any oldies station. "Oh wow!  Pretty Woman.  I haven't heard that since driving over here."  No, what knocked everyone out was what I played between the songs – KHJ jingles. Even though the party goers hadn’t heard them in a million years they instantly were able to sing along.

Radio was just taken for granted back in the 60s. Imagine if you can, a world without Nanos.  Everyone listened to the radio. All day and all night. KHJ Boss Radio was the soundtrack of our lives. And I’m sure wherever you grew up if you’re of a certain age you too had a radio station you played to death. The party goers were surprised by how much they loved and listened to KHJ.

That’s where we turned to hear the new Beatles songs. That’s where we were introduced to new acts like the Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Otis Redding, and the 1910 Fruit Gum Company. That’s where we celebrated the California Myth.

KHJ was a magic radio station. Larger-than-life disc jockeys, insane promotions, and those memorable Johnny Mann singer jingles. KHJ became such a sensation that stations around the country copied its format. I think it’s safe to say that KHJ was the most influential radio station of the decade.

Ron Jacobs, the Program Director and creative genius of KHJ has written a book detailing its glory years. For radio people it’s the Holy Grail but for non-radio geeks it’s a fun nostalgic ride back to a time when everything was new and exciting and changing. There are tons of pictures, stories, first-hand accounts, and even memos. You’ll meet the Big Kahuna, the Real Don Steele, Batman, Mr. Whisper, Robert W., Humble Harv, Charlie Tuna, Jayyyyyyy Paul Huddleston, Fail Safe, and Tiny Tim.

And you’ll be able to HEAR KHJ. The book comes with CD’s that will take you right back to those times. Just like those jingles did for my classmates that night.  The only thing the book doesn't provide is baggies full of hash. 

Here’s a website you can go to order the book, read more about it, and listen to a one hour presentation of the “Best of the Boss”.

The book is KHJ: INSIDE BOSS RADIO by Ron Jacobs. It’s not just good. It’s Boss!