KOMA, 1520 on the AM dial, was a radio
phenomenon in the 1960s and 1970s. KOMA
had millions listeners in a couple of dozen Midwest and high plains states. The South Dakota Music Association has chosen
KOMA its 2014 Radio Station of the Year.
(scroll down to read more about KOMA)
WHAT
SONGS DID KOMA PLAY?
Here is a KOMA survey from August 1965 (click to expand):
WHY
KOMA MATTERED IN SOUTH DAKOTA
In the mid 1960s, South Dakota, like
most of the plains states, had very few fulltime Top 40 rock stations. Stations
like KLOH and KELO aired rock only part time and KIMM and KSDR signed off
at sunset. For many eager rock listeners, KOMA was their favorite nighttime
station. You could hear KOMA almost
anywhere in South Dakota.
In 1964, John Brown, owner of
Mid-Continent Entertainment in Lawrence, Kansas, was promoting a band called The Blue Boys, who soon became The Blue Things. According to Brown, he was tired of driving
endless miles to put up posters for gigs when he starting buying ads on KOMA. The ads worked incredibly well and led the
way for dozens of bands to advertise dances and summer tours on KOMA.
Brown’s bands, The Blue Things, The Flippers,
The Red Dogs, Spider and the Crabs, The
Rising Suns and The Young Raiders,
became regional sensations and were role models for aspiring South Dakota
musicians. At least two South Dakota bands, The
Apostles and The Bleach Boys also
advertised on KOMA.
Listening to KOMA was a common shared
experience, a place to hear new tunes and the source of information about
dances in ballrooms, armories, Legion halls, clubs and frat parties.
BRIEF
HISTORY OF KOMA
KOMA was one of a handful of US radio
stations authorized to operate at night with 50,000 watts, the maximum power
allowed by the FCC. To protect the
signals of stations from Central and South America, KOMA was required to use a highly
directional signal which covered much of the central and western US and parts
of Canada.
In 1958 KOMA was acquired by Storz Broadcasting
headed by Todd Storz, an heir to the fortune of the Storz Brewing Company in
Omaha. Storz also owned other legendary early
Top 40 rock stations like WDGY, Minneapolis; WHB, Kansas City; WTIX, New
Orleans; and WQAM, Miami.
KOMA switched from automation to live
programming in early 1964 and quickly became the most popular station in the
region. DJs who spun the hits included Dale Wehba (heard in the clip above),
Perry Murphy (the fat daddy fun frolic),
Charlie Tuna, Don McGregor, Paul Miller, John David, Chuck Dann, J. Michael
Wilson, Johnny Dark, Buddy Scott and a Brit, John Ravencroft.
Unknown to listeners, in
the late 1960s the FCC fined KOMA for over modulating its signal, a technique
that pushed its reach even farther than authorized.
TWO
OF MY EXPERIENCES WITH KOMA
When I was in ninth grade, KOMA was
saluting listeners in the many states where it was heard. I sent in a card for “South Dakota Night” and
they said my name on the air and joked that my handwriting made my name look
like “Ken Zookie.” I was amazed by how
many kids at Patrick Junior High told me they heard it. This was one of things that led me to a
career in radio.
In the fall of 1969, after I worked at
KISD, I was living near Stillwater, Oklahoma and I made a pilgrimage to the
KOMA studio and transmitter in Moore, just south of OKC. John David was my tour guide. Among the many things I saw included KOMA’s
underground production studio. KOMA was
a “conelrad” station – stations that were supposed to keep broadcasting in case
of nuclear attack. The production room
was also a bomb shelter with emergency food, water and supplies.
