"AIRCHECK OF THE
WEEK
Edition #1347
Week of May 18, 2025
|
Talent: THE REAL DON
STEELE
Station: KHJ Los Angeles
Date: May 30, 1969
Time: 55:43 (UNSCOPED)
25:23 (SCOPED)
"I've never stopped. I've never changed. I
never did anything else."
- The Real Don Steele, as
told to the Los Angeles Times in 1993
Back when radio was Boss,
Don Steele made it Real.
Donald S. Revert,
better known by his air-name The Real Don Steele,
was one of Top 40 radio's brightest stars for well over three
decades before cancer took his life. The native of Hollywood,
California, honed his jocking skills at several other stations,
including KOIL Omaha, KISN Portland,
Oregon, and KEWB San Francisco, before
arriving at KHJ Los Angeles for the
launch of Boss Radio in the spring of 1965.
Interviewed by Don
Barrett for his book Los Angeles Radio
People, Steele said the launch of Boss Radio was
"like a mushroom cloud that went up - heavy on the
mushroom." That sense of humour was part of a memorable act
that carried Steele through eight years as the afternoon drive
jock on KHJ.
Born into show business -
his mother played piano at silent movies and his father was a
driver for entertainers - Steele was a natural showman with a
masterful sense of timing well-suited for the fast-paced Top 40
format.
After leaving KHJ in
mid-1973, Steele went to success at Los Angeles stations KIQQ, KTNQ, KRLA and KODJ/KCBS-FM.
From 1988 to 1993, he hosted the syndicated oldies show Live
From the '60's, which was run in over 300 markets.
Steele even has a Canadian connection - in 1967 he was host of a
radio show called CBC's Action
Set.
Steele
also starred on the small and big screen. The Real Don
Steele Show was the leading rock 'n' roll TV dance show
in southern California from 1968 to 1975. His film credits
include Death Race 2000, Rock & Roll High
School, Grand Theft Auto and Eating
Raoul.
Steele's last radio stop
began in 1992 at K-EARTH 101, where he
was reunited with original KHJ Boss Radio morning man Robert
W. Morgan. Steele died at age 61 on August 5, 1997.
NOTE: His widow Shaune
Steele
tells us that Don
Revert's middle name was actually Steele.
She says his mother chose it because it sounded more
"show-biz."
Enjoy The Real Don Steele on KHJ
(UNSCOPED) here. 
Enjoy The Real Don Steele on KHJ
(SCOPED) here.
(The Tom Howard Collection)
More 1969 airchecks here!
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(KHJ Chart from May 22,
1968/Courtesy Tom Howard)
"Zap ... you're Morganized!"
Millions of Los Angelenos woke up to
those words during Robert W. Morgan's time
at KHJ in the '60s and early '70s. It
was the cornerstone of a long and successful career that made
Morgan one of radio's biggest stars. He was named Billboard Air
Personality of the Year, got a star on the Hollywood
Walk of Fame and is a member of the National Broadcasters Hall of
Fame and the Radio Hall of Fame. His narration of the 48-Hour
History of Rock and Roll in 1969 is considered a classic.
Born July 23, 1937 in Galion, Ohio,
Morgan got his start at WWST at
Wooster College. Originally he thought about becoming a lawyer,
but the radio bug bit him early and he worked at California
stations like KACY Oxnard, KMBY Monterey, KMAK Fresno
and KROY Sacramento under the air name Bob
Morgan. He started using Robert W. Morgan at KEWB Oakland
in 1964.
Morgan was one of the original Boss Jocks
when 93/KHJ began its Top 40 Drake
format in April, 1965. His morning show commanded sensational
ratings, and his "Morganization" of listeners on the
air became the stuff of legend. His sharp wit and smooth delivery
would provide southern Californians with more than a few
"Good Morgans" over the years.
After
five-and-a-half years at KHJ, Morgan left
the Los Angeles station in October 1970. He then moved to WIND Chicago
but returned to KHJ in January 1972. Morgan then left KHJ for
the second and last time in June 1973. After a six-month
non-compete hiatus, Morgan moved to the FM dial in December 1973
for a stint at L.A.'s K-100. In October
1975, he achieved a long-standing dream when he started at
full-service KMPC in Los Angeles.
Originally Morgan worked weekends and swing, but in August 1979
he succeeded KMPC veteran Dick
Whittinghill in the morning spot.
Morgan left KMPC in
1982 for three years at Magic 106 (KMGG),
returning to KMPC for seven more years
beginning in 1985. In August 1992, Morgan moved into mornings at
oldies-formatted K-EARTH (KRTH),
playing many of the songs his listeners had first enjoyed so many
years ago at KHJ. In May 1997, Morgan
announced he was taking time off to fight lung cancer. He died -
at the age of 60 - on May 22, 1998.
Morgan, who hosted numerous television
shows and was a top voiceover talent, was also an avid bass
fisherman, chess player, collector of Americana and a fan of the
vocal group The Four Freshmen. But we
remember him as one of the greatest jocks in the history of Top
40 radio.
Enjoy Robert W. Morgan on KHJ
(UNSCOPED) here.
Enjoy Robert W. Morgan on KHJ
(SCOPED) here.
(The Tom Howard Collection)
More 1968 airchecks here!
Rock Radio
Scrapbook pays
music licensing fees to the
Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of
Canada (License 22-F)
|
RETURN TO ROCK RADIO SCRAPBOOK