Talent: GENE WEED
Station: KFWB Los Angeles
Date: March 10, 1968
Time: 16:01

A great station deserves a great farewell. And that's exactly what happened when Gene Weed signed off the music era of KFWB March 10, 1968. You can hear that below, but first a little bit of history.

KFWB was launched in 1925 by Warner Brothers founder Sam Warner. The call-letters stand for Four Warner Brothers, honouring brothers Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack - all of whom were involved in the station. Both Ronald Reagan and Bing Crosby launched their radio careers at KFWB; it was the first to broadcast the annual Rose Parade in Pasadena, California. The station made waves in 1946 when it imported well-known New York deejays Maurice Hart and Martin Block to do disc jockey shows.

In 1958, program director Chuck Blore transformed the station into Colour Radio 98, with high-energy, fast-paced round-the-clock deejay shows presented by the Seven Swingin' Gentlemen. The tight format featured lively jingles. And while it limited announcers to 6-8 minutes of talk an hour, personalities still shone through. KFWB became one of the most listened to stations in the U.S., and soon the format swept into other top markets around the country.

By 1968, KFWB had fallen to third place among pop stations in Los Angeles, behind KHJ and KRLA and time was ripe for a change. On March 11, 1968, KFWB switched to all news, a successful format that continues on the station to this day. Gene Weed, who at been at KFWB since the early days of Colour Radio, said farewell to the station's music format the night before with a nice send-off. Among the highlights: Weed's reciting of the station's 50 presenters during its 10 years as a pop music station. For a look at KFWB lineups from 1958 to 1968, click here.

Hear Gene Weed's KFWB sign-off here. 
 

(The Don Shuttleworth Collection)

More goodbye airchecks here!