Just a few days ago, I happened to randomly run into Tom in the visitors center at my work. He was having a conversation with the receptionist when she saw me and asked me if I knew who he was, I knew exactly who he was before I even saw his face. I could tell who he was just by his hat, and his voice. She introduced us and we hit it off immediately.. We talked about music and guitars for a good 15-20 mins. It was really inspiring to see that someone so famous and iconic in both the Los Angeles and San Diego areas could be so humble and down to Earth. Señor Shotgun, you are a real one, RESPECT!!
I was fortunate enough to work with Shotz at KCBQ in the early '70s, and a kinder man you could not imagine! And more talent in his little finger than most DJ's had, ever! I remember sooo many good times we had at the "Q", and can never forget one of the most wonderful men I ever met in my life! From David "Da Snake" London with all my love!
This is in my top one percent favorite UA-cam videos! One of my radio heroes playing songs from one of my favorite eras of music. I appreciate the lessons on how to cue up records and answering the request lines! You rock, Shotgun Tom!
I dont know if today's audience could appreciate radio like this. For me this is how I will always remember good radio. I really dont knwo if it is corporate radio that is shutting this type of radio down, or if the new DJs just dont have what it takes to reach out. Todays DJs just seem to be happy with being Mr Record Player. Back in the day the DJs were interested in entertaining and interacting with the audience.
Brings back so many memories! I loved him, he had the best voice for radio! And to see all the action without computers and manual work is really amazing! He was so good at what he did. And KGB is still going strong!
I remember listening to Shotgun Tom as a kid in the eighties. What a cool guy. I once randomly walked past him when I worked at XTRA Sports/91X on Pacific Highway. He must have been there visiting with friends or management. What a talent! A well deserved star! I only wish I said more than "hi" in that hallway!
This is when you had to be a Disc Jockey! I was working at a station and when the Hard Drive crashed, NONE of the Youngsters could figure out how to operate the CD players and do a show! I had no such problem since I am an Oldie, I started when you had to Que Up the Vinyl just like Shotgun! Those were the daze. We thought they'd never end!
just came across this, amazing to see a (relatively) major market jock running their own board; I was still doing college radio up at KUSF, and our set up was almost exactly the same.
I was a listener while he was on the air at KGB, KCBQ. I was hired by KFMB-TV on Feb 1978. Privileged to have been his co-worker...even though I was Film/Tape Supervisor for KFMB-TV Channel 8 side...while he rocked the House on the Radio side of the building. Genuine in person. I miss that where DJ's were real, and, unfortunately, I saw those Corporate changes to FM Radio begin to occur in 1979. KFMB-AM 76 had DJ's w/music until 1991. The Format changed to Talk Radio due to war at Iraq.
Got to know Shotgun Tom at KCBQ in the late 70's. Got a chance to visit with him again a couple of years ago. One of the most talented and nicest people in broadcasting. Glad to see he got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Highly deserved.
I miss the classic jocks....great voices...great energy and they LOVED the music!! Today's jocks sound like choir boys and their focus is trying be funny rather than building a show around the music. I'm old school....I get it... But this is a lost Art
Back in the day when the music was on a 45, and the commercials were on cart. By the end of your shift, you were mentally spent. You had to master the two-minute bathroom break.
I grew up in Phoenix and listened to KRIZ & KRUX. Many big name jocks came thru on their way to the "big' time. Fred Winston, Jay Stone, Todd Wallace, Tom Dooley, Larry McKay, Lee Baby Sims, John Sebastian, and many more.
Great video! I remember these turntables. Looks like QRK (or similar) with at least one Rek-O-Kut tonearm. These TTs were very popular in studios across the USA. Eventually, the Technics SP-10, SP-15, and SP-25 became popular, especially on FM stations.
I was in High school when Gary Kelly was a DJ at KSEA-FM, San Diego. We were the same age. He also was DJ at KFMB FM and I was Pgm Dir Asst for KFMB-TV.
I love listening to Shot Gun. I live in Minnesota. I streamed KEARTH. Now I cannot get it on live stream. I heart radio must have pulled off the live stream network.
I won a KISS live album from Shot GUN Tom in like 1975 ish BLLLLLLLLLLL AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH I LOVE THIS GUY HE IS ON K-earth 101 in LA Alos I partied with Jim McGinnis he awesome too
Thank you to whoever posted this, I really enjoyed watching it. Its too bad there aren't more films like this of radio stations from the 1960's and early 70's like this one and the one of Clark Weber at WLS from 1969. This also shows how radio was once worth listening to unlike the pathetic joke that it is today.
... ahhhh, VINTAGE of this LEGENDARY ICONIC Gentleman = sooooo sweeeeet to savor the tones and 'message' of goooood which is purely natural for that greatly_kind soul = Linda is a precious lady and we alllllll cherish them both ! 07-31-2012 mPj @ BurbHills
This is such a great video. Does anyone know if Bill Drake still consulted the station at this time? I'm a bit surprised that the songs weren't recorded on carts by that time. Thanks for sharing this super blast from the past.
I’d also point out that KGB seemed to use a lot of retail stock copy 45’s as on air plays instead of promos that I’m sure the station was serviced with at some point when the song was new.
He packed a lot of songs into a short period. At 1:23 it's two-thirty, and at 5:30 it's three-ten. Or did I lost time somewhere? I won $1000 from the Shotgun by being the 10th caller when they played the right song on Thousand-Dollar Thursday, back in '92, I think it was. Can't remember the station, but the song was "When a Man Loves a Woman" by Michael Bolton. I've always had a soft place in my wallet for both since.
Yeah! And depending on how much money you wanted to waste, you could buy those turntables for less money if they said “QRK” on them. If you wanted to blow unnecessary dough, you could pay a LOT more and get ‘em with “RCA” on them. Exact same turntable as the “QRK”, but if you were trying to impress someone, the little piece of plastic stuck onto them said “RCA” and they cost around $150 MORE!
LOL, Buffum's and BankAmericard! Still remember the day the KGB chicken got kicked off my high school campus (thanks Mr. Eiler) for being disruptive to the educational process of La Jolla High School!
WOW! Is all I can say. "Just playin' the hits the best I know how". It's ashame radio isn't that exciting anymore. It's not that it can't be, it's just that corperations don't care about that end of it anymore. Money is the bottom line. Programing quality, talent and excitement has been forgotten. We could all re learn from watching this.
He's done his share of "bouncing," all right. First, he was at KKIS in 1966 as Radio Ray Farrell. Then onto the Drake minor leagues as Johnny Scott at 13 KYNO in Fresno. From there, it was on to the big time in San Diego (where "Bobby Ocean" was born) at KGB and KCBQ before Drake put him on KFRC in '72. Next stop was 4 yrs @ KHJ in '75, then back up to the Bay Area for mornings on K101 before returning to KFRC, eventually on afternoons until the Magic 61 era began in Aug '86.
This type of radio died around early to mid 90's when corporate began worrying more about saving money and less on product. Plus monopolies hurt it and the blessing and curse of Voice Tracking computer softwear that makes it to easy for a dj to record talk breaks over and out of songs as if live. They can do it & ship their voice tracks to radio stations in other parts of the US. It saves money because you don't have to hire a dj you just pay the one you have a lil xtra $ to track another city
Wow...nice Sennheiser Mic with windscreen & 3 TT....not bad for a 70's AM station. The jocks all smoked where I worked so the windscreen was a nicotine trap! Nice simple to use Collins Board. Like the remote start buttons submerged under counter. Cue record to audio and typically go back 1/4 or 1/2 depending on your TT....nothing worse than a "wow" if you cued it too close. Cart machine in front for easy view and load. I did not see a countdown timer....probably a good thing.Running a loud board was the sign of a good jock....you get the processing and compression up back then and more punch to soft songs (like the New Seekers one he played), especially if you were doing a talk over. I hated jocks who potted down the music when you they did the into, that's what the old timers did at MOR stations.
No, but if you were in your 40's in the 70's (we all were in our rearly teens and twentys) and you potted down the music when you talked over an intro, yea that would classify you as an old timer, more of a radio announcer than a DJ......STK was a young guy in this era .@@RegisWilkins
+ventende I remember it in the 70s, but not all 45s were recorded to cart. It was usually only the "hot rotation" that was transferred; the others remained on vinyl. Remember, though, that many stations never moved vinyl to cart, especially the FM album-oriented stations. They remained ALL vinyl until CDs took over in the 1980s.
Thank you for your very kind words.
Just a few days ago, I happened to randomly run into Tom in the visitors center at my work. He was having a conversation with the receptionist when she saw me and asked me if I knew who he was, I knew exactly who he was before I even saw his face. I could tell who he was just by his hat, and his voice. She introduced us and we hit it off immediately.. We talked about music and guitars for a good 15-20 mins. It was really inspiring to see that someone so famous and iconic in both the Los Angeles and San Diego areas could be so humble and down to Earth. Señor Shotgun, you are a real one, RESPECT!!
I was fortunate enough to work with Shotz at KCBQ in the early '70s, and a kinder man you could not imagine! And more talent in his little finger than most DJ's had, ever! I remember sooo many good times we had at the "Q", and can never forget one of the most wonderful men I ever met in my life! From David "Da Snake" London with all my love!
Santee, correct?
This is in my top one percent favorite UA-cam videos! One of my radio heroes playing songs from one of my favorite eras of music. I appreciate the lessons on how to cue up records and answering the request lines! You rock, Shotgun Tom!
I graduated from San Diego High School in 1972, I remember Shotgun and Bobby Ocean as djs on 1-36 KGB.
Grew up in San Diego, went to Madison high in the 70s and listened to Tom for many years. An ICON!
Grew up listening to Shotgun Tom Kelly on KCBQ! What a blast from the past. Thanks to whoever posted this...it was a walk down memory lane.
My husband won a 6-pack of Coke from Shotgun Tom at Seaworld, summer of 72! Friggin sweet.
I dont know if today's audience could appreciate radio like this. For me this is how I will always remember good radio.
I really dont knwo if it is corporate radio that is shutting this type of radio down, or if the new DJs just dont have what it takes to reach out. Todays DJs just seem to be happy with being Mr Record Player. Back in the day the DJs were interested in entertaining and interacting with the audience.
Brings back so many memories! I loved him, he had the best voice for radio! And to see all the action without computers and manual work is really amazing! He was so good at what he did. And KGB is still going strong!
Five Decades of Great radio Thanks SHOTGUN!
I remember listening to Shotgun Tom as a kid in the eighties. What a cool guy. I once randomly walked past him when I worked at XTRA Sports/91X on Pacific Highway. He must have been there visiting with friends or management. What a talent! A well deserved star! I only wish I said more than "hi" in that hallway!
He was kind enough to come to my elementary school in the Southbay back in 77’. Definitely a San Diego Legend!!!
Wow, Walker Scott. That brings back childhood memories!
This is when you had to be a Disc Jockey! I was working at a station and when the Hard Drive crashed, NONE of the Youngsters could figure out how to operate the CD players and do a show! I had no such problem since I am an Oldie, I started when you had to Que Up the Vinyl just like Shotgun! Those were the daze. We thought they'd never end!
just came across this, amazing to see a (relatively) major market jock running their own board; I was still doing college radio up at KUSF, and our set up was almost exactly the same.
THESE WERE OUR BEST DAYS IN SD!
Such an amazing and historic piece of radio history. I watch this all the time!
I was a listener while he was on the air at KGB, KCBQ. I was hired by KFMB-TV on Feb 1978. Privileged to have been his co-worker...even though I was Film/Tape Supervisor for KFMB-TV Channel 8 side...while he rocked the House on the Radio side of the building. Genuine in person. I miss that where DJ's were real, and, unfortunately, I saw those Corporate changes to FM Radio begin to occur in 1979.
KFMB-AM 76 had DJ's w/music until 1991. The Format changed to Talk Radio due to war at Iraq.
Got to know Shotgun Tom at KCBQ in the late 70's. Got a chance to visit with him again a couple of years ago. One of the most talented and nicest people in broadcasting. Glad to see he got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Highly deserved.
Ahhh... the days of "cue burn." I can't believe I miss them!
I miss the classic jocks....great voices...great energy and they LOVED the music!! Today's jocks sound like choir boys and their focus is trying be funny rather than building a show around the music. I'm old school....I get it...
But this is a lost Art
I love your fantastic train ride in your Dad's engine!! What a thrill!! Adore you all!!
The old Pacific Highway studios. Classic KGB! Way better than Clearchannel.
One of my favorite DJs growing up in Santee in the 70's.
Beautiful!!! Oh I how I wish I could have worked in radio back then
I remember him doing the KUSI Kids Club back on the 80's here in San Diego.
Back in the day when the music was on a 45, and the commercials were on cart. By the end of your shift, you were mentally spent. You had to master the two-minute bathroom break.
I Had the honor of meeting Tom in Phoenix AZ last month for the KRIZ Reunion what a talent! He was at KRIZ Phoenix,AZ back in 1972. What a nice Guy.
I grew up in Phoenix and listened to KRIZ & KRUX. Many big name jocks came thru on their way to the "big' time. Fred Winston, Jay Stone, Todd Wallace, Tom Dooley, Larry McKay, Lee Baby Sims, John Sebastian, and many more.
so many memories: the QRK turntables, the RCA board and those old gates cart machines. i can even smell the pot in the control room!
Shotgun Tom is the best.
He makes oldies new again.
George Vreeland Hill
I worked with Shotgun Tom at KRIZ in early '73. A great guy.
I grew up in Phoenix, AZ, but don't remember hearing him. I know about the life of a D.J. He really seems like a genuinely great guy.
Boy do I miss the days of cueing records.....Take a call,grab a soda take a pee and be back for your break all in 2:32 seconds....Those were the days
He gave me $1000. I was the tenth caller on thousand dollar Thursday back in 1992 or 93. Got to brrrr-ahhhh him after I won, and I meant every word.
This is simply f***ing amazing. A fantastic time capsule find!
2:45 "One Thirty-six KGB!" I haven't heard that call for about 53 years...
Great video! I remember these turntables. Looks like QRK (or similar) with at least one Rek-O-Kut tonearm. These TTs were very popular in studios across the USA. Eventually, the Technics SP-10, SP-15, and SP-25 became popular, especially on FM stations.
Russco’s were also common. Many of those old decks still used wooden tonearms. The motor was the size of a washing machine motor lol.
I was in High school when Gary Kelly was a DJ at KSEA-FM, San Diego. We were the same age. He also was DJ at KFMB FM and I was Pgm Dir Asst for KFMB-TV.
I love listening to Shot Gun. I live in Minnesota. I streamed KEARTH. Now I cannot get it on live stream. I heart radio must have pulled off the live stream network.
Amtrak Traveler911 He's not on kearth anymore. I heard him on xm sirius channel 6. It was a weekend
He's on Sirius XM- Mon. Tues.Thurs. & Fri on 60s on 6.
60’s on 6 he’s on the afternoon til 9pm
They've played Roundabout-Yes and Family Affair-Sly and the Family and Bj Thomas in the same commercial radio station!!!
I won a KISS live album from Shot GUN Tom
in like 1975 ish
BLLLLLLLLLLL AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
I LOVE THIS GUY HE IS ON K-earth 101 in LA
Alos I partied with Jim McGinnis
he awesome too
Did you really? I signed a contract with this band years ago but my name was changed by a hacker and I can't remove my membership
Thank you to whoever posted this, I really enjoyed watching it. Its too bad there aren't more films like this of radio stations from the 1960's and early 70's like this one and the one of Clark Weber at WLS from 1969. This also shows how radio was once worth listening to unlike the pathetic joke that it is today.
It’s NOT film. It’s cheesy home videotape.
... ahhhh, VINTAGE of this LEGENDARY ICONIC Gentleman = sooooo sweeeeet to savor the tones and 'message' of goooood which is purely natural for that greatly_kind soul = Linda is a precious lady and we alllllll cherish them both ! 07-31-2012 mPj @ BurbHills
No wonder I always seem to find promo 45s with cue burn lol.
This is such a great video. Does anyone know if Bill Drake still consulted the station at this time? I'm a bit surprised that the songs weren't recorded on carts by that time. Thanks for sharing this super blast from the past.
I’d also point out that KGB seemed to use a lot of retail stock copy 45’s as on air plays instead of promos that I’m sure the station was serviced with at some point when the song was new.
The Cinnamon Cinder... (then Straita Head Sound...)
Talking of the Dooby Brothers record, "...we gotta get it on AGAIN..." Yeah, over playing the top-10, that's what radio has always done! LOL
An amazing talent ... to this day.
GD LEGEND!!!
Roll dat vinyl baby and push dem carts! :)
Shotgun Tom Kelly is the best top 40 jox.
I think Bobby Ocean was still there when this was shot. Drake would soon move him up to KFRC.
He packed a lot of songs into a short period. At 1:23 it's two-thirty, and at 5:30 it's three-ten. Or did I lost time somewhere?
I won $1000 from the Shotgun by being the 10th caller when they played the right song on Thousand-Dollar Thursday, back in '92, I think it was. Can't remember the station, but the song was "When a Man Loves a Woman" by Michael Bolton. I've always had a soft place in my wallet for both since.
Dig those headphones.
Typical disc jockey's car: at least 10 years old, and you can even start and drive it every now and then!
Love those old QRK 12C turntables! I liked the Sparta GT-12 design better, but QRK was more durable.
Yeah! And depending on how much money you wanted to waste, you could buy those turntables for less money if they said “QRK” on them. If you wanted to blow unnecessary dough, you could pay a LOT more and get ‘em with “RCA” on them. Exact same turntable as the “QRK”, but if you were trying to impress someone, the little piece of plastic stuck onto them said “RCA” and they cost around $150 MORE!
And notice the MONO Gates “YARD” board in front of Tom. Man, Gates sold a couple of THOUSAND of those! Even KHJ had one!
Pooh Wow that was one of the 1st Audio Boards I worked on An RCA ! We're talking tubes baby tubes not transistors
No it's not it's a Collins
LOL, Buffum's and BankAmericard! Still remember the day the KGB chicken got kicked off my high school campus (thanks Mr. Eiler) for being disruptive to the educational process of La Jolla High School!
No engineer, even back in '72?
Ha! 1:12 Tony Pepper used to give the news here in Boston.
WOW! Is all I can say. "Just playin' the hits the best I know how". It's ashame radio isn't that exciting anymore. It's not that it can't be, it's just that corperations don't care about that end of it anymore. Money is the bottom line. Programing quality, talent and excitement has been forgotten. We could all re learn from watching this.
He's done his share of "bouncing," all right. First, he was at KKIS in 1966 as Radio Ray Farrell. Then onto the Drake minor leagues as Johnny Scott at 13 KYNO in Fresno. From there, it was on to the big time in San Diego (where "Bobby Ocean" was born) at KGB and KCBQ before Drake put him on KFRC in '72. Next stop was 4 yrs @ KHJ in '75, then back up to the Bay Area for mornings on K101 before returning to KFRC, eventually on afternoons until the Magic 61 era began in Aug '86.
wannawatchu66
Got your bossjocks mixed up. This is the Shotgun, not Osh. Two classic KGB alums however.
@@kirkmoore4515 Actually, I didn't. I was having a conversation with someone about Ocean, not Tom.
Wow, the freeways and roads are in such pristine condition. what happened?
This type of radio died around early to mid 90's when corporate began worrying more about saving money and less on product. Plus monopolies hurt it and the blessing and curse of Voice Tracking computer softwear that makes it to easy for a dj to record talk breaks over and out of songs as if live. They can do it & ship their voice tracks to radio stations in other parts of the US. It saves money because you don't have to hire a dj you just pay the one you have a lil xtra $ to track another city
Wow...nice Sennheiser Mic with windscreen & 3 TT....not bad for a 70's AM station. The jocks all smoked where I worked so the windscreen was a nicotine trap! Nice simple to use Collins Board. Like the remote start buttons submerged under counter. Cue record to audio and typically go back 1/4 or 1/2 depending on your TT....nothing worse than a "wow" if you cued it too close. Cart machine in front for easy view and load. I did not see a countdown timer....probably a good thing.Running a loud board was the sign of a good jock....you get the processing and compression up back then and more punch to soft songs (like the New Seekers one he played), especially if you were doing a talk over. I hated jocks who potted down the music when you they did the into, that's what the old timers did at MOR stations.
old timers...lets see that would be you?
No, but if you were in your 40's in the 70's (we all were in our rearly teens and twentys) and you potted down the music when you talked over an intro, yea that would classify you as an old timer, more of a radio announcer than a DJ......STK was a young guy in this era
.@@RegisWilkins
Viva la William B. Ogden Radio Operational School!!
"Camera car-Linda Irwin". Would that have been his wife?
The only thing better than real Bill Drake radio is real Drake radio WITH VIDEO!
First 4 break: name, song, call letters, time. BFD!
What's the name of the song with the saxophone?
When did they start recording all the singles from vinyl over to cart format?
+ventende I remember it in the 70s, but not all 45s were recorded to cart. It was usually only the "hot rotation" that was transferred; the others remained on vinyl. Remember, though, that many stations never moved vinyl to cart, especially the FM album-oriented stations. They remained ALL vinyl until CDs took over in the 1980s.
You gotta be kidding me
Name of the instrumental. In the intro. I have to know.
Neil Diamond- Missa/African Suite
What's the name of the song during intro?
ua-cam.com/video/WMuhlcmAr8I/v-deo.html
Was he going down the 94 out of El Cajon??
Lemon Grove down the 94 past College Grove
"136"??? What was it on 1360Khz? If not, what's the "136" signify?
Bobby Best Yes, it was on 1360 AM. What's now called KLSD (formerly liberal talk, now sports-talk) is the same station.
Best station to listen to in the late 1960s. Missed it so much when we moved to the east coast, fall 1969.