The Scott Rayer Collection
Scott Rayer, 1976 
Scott Rayer, 2010 |
Scott Rayer was born at the dawn of Rock & Roll in 1954. He writes, My early days of radio listening had to do with the music. I can recall the songs played on KEWB, Oakland, in the early 1960's. But the DJs I draw a blank with. I guess I was part of the audience Bill Drake was targeting with "much more music". My interest and appreciation with music radio, and its DJs, did not germinate until the Spring of 1975 when I attended California State University, Fresno, and friends shared my interest and appreciation of popular music. One was high school friend Greg Contos, and because of my dorm room location, I made fast friends with Gary Langley across the hall. He was a Radio/TV major. My first night at the dorm I heard a good radio program of oldies. I asked what station he was listening to, and he showed me the "Cruisin' 1961" LP. After graduating in 1976 with a BA Degree in Journalism, it took me about six months to discover that newspaper work was not in the cards for me. Radio was also not for me, so I worked for a couple of record retailers for several years, including the now defunct "Tower Records" retailer. Having my fill of extreme hours, getting burned out with music, and the abysmally low wages at Tower, I shifted gears to office administrative work for the next 20 years, at several companies. In 2000, my elderly mother needed a warmer climate for her health. I was not in any committed situation at the time, so we both moved to Henderson, Nevada. The climate was agreeable with her, but she required my 24/7 care in the last years of her life. During brief stints of quiet, the home hobbies of radio and records were good outlets for stress relief. Mom passed away several years ago, and since then I've been volunteering my time and energies with friends and neighbors, and REELRADIO. |
The Repository thanks Scott Rayer for sharing!
Scoped
Unscoped
Scoped
And here’s the Finale! Big Tom Parker and Dr. Don Rose return with Hits #7 through #1. The previous newscast with John Evans completes, but the flooding just keeps on coming.
A tape change was required during the “3 minute song with a 4-minute fade” resulting in the creative edit in the unscoped presentation.
The highest-rated songs in this countdown reflect Northern California preferences. And that’s the way it should be! The Number One song is still the number one song for many baby boomers. Dr. Don offers a thank-you to KFRC, and as 610 returns to “regular programming”, we hear “everytime you go away” on the fade.
We pay license fees to stream the music in this exhibit, but you are not licensed to copy, trade or sell this recording.
The BIG 610 – KFRC 20th ANNIVERSARY COUNTDOWN
February 14-17 1986
[From notes by Contributor Scott Rayer]
This exhibit will eventually include almost all of the entire KFRC 20th Anniversary BIG 6-10, a four-day marathon starting at 6PM on Friday, February 14, 1986.
This special broadcast followed a presentation narrated by Bobby Ocean, contributed to REELRADIO by Ben Fong-Torres in December of 2001.
The Making of a Classic: 20 Years of KFRC, 1966-1986
These off-the-air recordings were made on 90-minute cassettes (45 minutes per side) and small portions of the broadcast were lost when not in attendance.
What is not on this recording is what was in store for KFRC and the talent. The music format was tanked in six months. Dr. Don left the station, and in another year, he suffered a heart attack. Jane Dornacker was killed in a helicopter crash eight months later.
In some ways, this was the beginning of the end for the station, but I know others have differing opinions.
Unscoped
And here’s the Finale! Big Tom Parker and Dr. Don Rose return with Hits #7 through #1. The previous newscast with John Evans completes, but the flooding just keeps on coming.
A tape change was required during the “3 minute song with a 4-minute fade” resulting in the creative edit in the unscoped presentation.
The highest-rated songs in this countdown reflect Northern California preferences. And that’s the way it should be! The Number One song is still the number one song for many baby boomers. Dr. Don offers a thank-you to KFRC, and as 610 returns to “regular programming”, we hear “everytime you go away” on the fade.
We pay license fees to stream the music in this exhibit, but you are not licensed to copy, trade or sell this recording.
The BIG 610 – KFRC 20th ANNIVERSARY COUNTDOWN
February 14-17 1986
[From notes by Contributor Scott Rayer]
This exhibit will eventually include almost all of the entire KFRC 20th Anniversary BIG 6-10, a four-day marathon starting at 6PM on Friday, February 14, 1986.
This special broadcast followed a presentation narrated by Bobby Ocean, contributed to REELRADIO by Ben Fong-Torres in December of 2001.
The Making of a Classic: 20 Years of KFRC, 1966-1986
These off-the-air recordings were made on 90-minute cassettes (45 minutes per side) and small portions of the broadcast were lost when not in attendance.
What is not on this recording is what was in store for KFRC and the talent. The music format was tanked in six months. Dr. Don left the station, and in another year, he suffered a heart attack. Jane Dornacker was killed in a helicopter crash eight months later.
In some ways, this was the beginning of the end for the station, but I know others have differing opinions.
Unscoped
Excellence! That’s what is demonstrated in this second part of Jackson Armstrong (1945-2008) on the legendary KFRC, every break is perfect, Jackson hits every post, nothing is broken, it’s technically 100% perfect!
KFRC is looking for KFRC stickers anywhere we can see it. Jackson is giving away tickets to the State Fair and has several Sacramento winners. He teases Bill Lee, who follows him later that evening. A radio station with Jack Armstrong followed by Bill Lee? Yes, it was that good, once…
Scoped
Unscoped
Scoped
Richard Sands, a first-day veteran of Mike Joseph’s HOT HITS on KITS, is heard here and there and all over the City By The Bay, with a very tight HOT HITS playlist on August 13, 1983. The number of local references, in nearly every break, is impressive! And this format never disappoints – there are LOTS of jingles, and reverb on the microphone!
Incredible spots of the era from Dick Orkin (Gap) and Coors (Killian’s Irish Red), plus a goofy, complicated Family Fortune contest that made contributor Scott Rayer wonder “what’s in it for the guy making the phone calls in the first place?”
This format was SO hot that two power titles repeated within this 90-minute recording. It’s not clear if this was a special countdown, or regular format. Those titles were edited for the second presentation. One song was restored in the middle, where a tape change was required.
HOT HITS had been on KITS since February 18, 1983, which was allegedly the first day of the format. Scott Rayer has also contributed an aircheck of Richard Sands on that date, to be presented later.
Unscoped
Richard Sands, a first-day veteran of Mike Joseph’s HOT HITS on KITS, is heard here and there and all over the City By The Bay, with a very tight HOT HITS playlist on August 13, 1983. The number of local references, in nearly every break, is impressive! And this format never disappoints – there are LOTS of jingles, and reverb on the microphone!
Incredible spots of the era from Dick Orkin (Gap) and Coors (Killian’s Irish Red), plus a goofy, complicated Family Fortune contest that made contributor Scott Rayer wonder “what’s in it for the guy making the phone calls in the first place?”
This format was SO hot that two power titles repeated within this 90-minute recording. It’s not clear if this was a special countdown, or regular format. Those titles were edited for the second presentation. One song was restored in the middle, where a tape change was required.
HOT HITS had been on KITS since February 18, 1983, which was allegedly the first day of the format. Scott Rayer has also contributed an aircheck of Richard Sands on that date, to be presented later.
Scoped
Big Tom Parker and Dr. Don Rose return with Hits #19 through #8. There are two incomplete newscasts from John Evans, but the out-of-control flooding continues to be the news of the moment.
An anonymous caller stumps Dr. Don on the date of an aircheck, and Big Tom and the Doctor discuss the five Program Directors in charge during their employment. Both offer stories about Michael Spears, and Rose calls Les Garland “the easiest-going guy in America”. The unscoped version includes a custom KFRC enhancement for Jefferson Starship.
Second best pull quote from Tom Parker is a response to Dr. Don:
“What you don’t ask them, they can’t say no to.”
We pay license fees to stream the music in this exhibit, but you are not licensed to copy, trade or sell this recording.
The BIG 610 – KFRC 20th ANNIVERSARY COUNTDOWN
February 14-17 1986
[From notes by Contributor Scott Rayer]
This exhibit will eventually include almost all of the entire KFRC 20th Anniversary BIG 6-10, a four-day marathon starting at 6PM on Friday, February 14, 1986.
This special broadcast followed a presentation narrated by Bobby Ocean, contributed to REELRADIO by Ben Fong-Torres in December of 2001.
The Making of a Classic: 20 Years of KFRC, 1966-1986
These off-the-air recordings were made on 90-minute cassettes (45 minutes per side) and small portions of the broadcast were lost when not in attendance.
What is not on this recording is what was in store for KFRC and the talent. The music format was tanked in six months. Dr. Don left the station, and in another year, he suffered a heart attack. Jane Dornacker was killed in a helicopter crash eight months later.
In some ways, this was the beginning of the end for the station, but I know others have differing opinions.