On January 20th, 2001, there was a gathering in San Rafael to honor and show our gratitude for one of the great San Francisco DJs, Bobby Dale. Bobby had liver cancer and two months to live, or so we were all told.
He died three days before the event. Some, who had traveled here from outside the state to attend “The Final tears,” as Bobby humorously dubbed the event, discovered this only upon arrival.
But the party held together. With no official host, Ben Fong-Torres led us through an open mic session and several airchecks. It was a Big Chill scene if ever there was one, casted with many of the City’s earlier era mega-names: Tom Rounds, Richard Gossett, Ron Lyons, Bonnie Simmons, Norman Davis …naming only a few.
I was given one of the airchecks by its producer, longtime Bay Area personality and tech whiz, Joe Collins, currently operating very successfully out of Fresno. It showcases Bobby at KFWB, KEWB, KFRC, and KSFO.
[A longer version of the Bobby Dale/KEWB aircheck, a portion of which is included here, is available in The Don Kent Collection.]