The Rick Thomas Collection

Rick Thomas at KFIA
Both pictures of Rick Thomas were taken at KFIA, Carmichael (Sacramento.)

Daryl E. "Rick" Thomas grew up in in the cities of Vacaville and Fairfield, in the northern central part of California's Solano County. As with just about every other kid growing up in Solano County in the 60s and 70s, the radio station of choice was KFRC. Then Rick discovered AM broadcast DXing, picking up such distant stations as KFI, KOA Denver, WCAU Philadelphia, and scads of others across the country, including none other than WNBC, New York, with a QSL card to prove it!

By 1981, Rick's focus turned to local stations, like 1280 KJOY, Stockton, and 95.3 KUIC, Vacaville. It was around this time as well that he decided on radio as a career path. The Summer of 1984 saw Rick's entry into the world of professional radio for a year on KUIC. After a year in college on the East Coast, Rick came back out west, landing at Vallejo's KNBA in the Summer of '86. In 1987, it was back to KUIC for weekend and fill-in work. Rick's next stop was KWG-AM/KSGO-FM in Stockton, doing almost every shift imaginable on both stations over three years there. For a while, Rick was a part-time news anchor and traffic reporter for Metro Networks, Sacramento. Then it was evenings, and most recently afternoons, at KFIA.

The Repository thanks Rick Thomas for sharing!

Don Rose KKIS Concord CA January 5 1987 (0:08:13)

… I knew I’d say that sooner or later, you caught me …

[Description by contributor Rick Thomas]
With KFRC and Magic 61 now behind him, Dr. Don Rose makes a fresh go of it on KKIS AM & FM in nearby Concord, just across the Bay and over the East Bay
hills.

As with probably most any maiden broadcast, there are a few bugs to iron out in the form of missed cues, microphones left on, and Dr. Don himself introducing a Bruce Hornsby record as “Roger Hornsby” and such, but once the Doctor’s crew (his son Jay running the board) bring things to an even keel, the ship is steady as she goes, with Dr. Don the consummate professional through it all.

We begin this exhibit with longtime Bay Area newsman Brian Cooley ending his 6am newscast with a handoff to the Doctor to make more Bay Area radio history.

[Dr. Don Rose passed away March 30, 2005]

The Last 48 Minutes of 1260 KYA 12-12-1983 (0:24:02)

… I don’t want to become lugubrious …

[Description by contributor Rick Thomas] The night of December 12, 1983 was indeed the end of an era in Bay Area radio. With over 57 years under its belt, the legendary 1260 KYA, at one time a Bay Area Top 40 pioneer and trendsetter, a station that had even billed itself in the early 80s as “The Station You Grew Up With,” and reminded listeners often that “1260 Takes You To The 60s,” had been sold for the last time. At midnight, the KYA call letters would leave the AM band, never to return. King Broadcasting bought the 560 license and frequency from Gene Autry’s Golden West Broadcasters, and sold the 1260 license to Bonneville Media, who changed the call letters to KOIT, and began simulcasting 96.5 KOIT-FM’s light rock format. We pick things up at about 11:12pm, with J. Parker Antrum reciting the call letters into a classic KYA PAMS jingle with a segue into the Marvelettes’ “Please Mr. Postman.” From there, Antrum and Paula Kelly make a party of sorts out of it, running EVERY KYA jingle they can find BACK-TO-BACK, including the two-minute, forty-second “KYA Anthem,” followed by sentiments sprinkled here and there among appropriate “goodbye”-themed records. There are brief appearances by such KYA luminaries as General Manager Fred Shoemaker, Program Director Ken Dennis, and fellow DJ Sam Van Zandt.

The Rick Thomas Collection

Don Rose KKIS Concord CA January 5 1987 (0:08:13)

The Last 48 Minutes of 1260 KYA 12-12-1983 (0:24:02)

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