Ninety-three dollars for a book? Yep. That was the original price for a volume about the phenomenon that was "Boss Radio," a Top 40 format that swept the nation in the mid-'60s, and its flagship station, KHJ in "Boss Angeles." Its first program director, Ron Jacobs, published "KHJ: Inside Boss Radio" 10 years ago, and, in tribute to its dial position, put a price tag of $93 on the 455-page book. It's rich with his memos to his jocks, surveys and behind-the-scenes stories about DJs and promotional stunts, and about executing a format that was lean and mean, but also fun and innovative. Still: $93? Jacobs says he regretted the price, which was set with an exclusive, radio industry readership in mind.

Now it's out again, but in the digital age, the price is $9.30 for an e-book, at Amazon, via For anyone interested in the format, conceived by the late Bill Drake (former DJ and PD at KYA in San Francisco), and a great success on KFRC, this is a must-read.

And for fans of the first era of Top 40, there's Chuck Blore, creator of "Color Radio," which flourished from the late '50s until ... well, until Boss Radio exploded. He perfected the format in Los Angeles, at KFWB, and we heard it here on KEWB ("Channel 91"). It included strong personalities and long, leisurely, even jazzy jingles, inspired by, of all things, "West Side Story." Numerous KEWB jocks, including Gary Owens, Casey Kasem, "The Real" Don Steele and Robert W. Morgan, wound up in Los Angeles.

Blore told me it took him about 10 years to write the book, one friends have been asking about for decades. That's why it's called "Okay, Okay, I Wrote the Book." (It's self-published and available from Amazon for $19.95; Kindle edition $9.99.) Blore moved from broadcasting to advertising, but radio fans will enjoy his adventures, from DJ in Tucson to the creation of "Color Radio" in El Paso to its arrival in Los Angeles late in 1957 (within three months, it had over 40 percent of the listening audience) and to Oakland, on KEWB, in 1959.

Blore and company (Crowell-Collier) tried to hide its city of license. "The lead stories on the local news were always San Francisco stories," he recalled. "The current weather information ... was always for 'the city by the bay,' ignoring the fact that there were, indeed, two metropolitan areas by the bay. But only one, after all, was the City." Blore says his boss told him that being called the top station in San Francisco would bring in "a couple million dollars more than the No. 1 station in Oakland."

In Blore's hands, the drama of building and launching an innovative Top 40 format makes fascinating reading. Blore is modest, witty and entertaining - just what he wanted his DJs to be.

As Jacobs says, "Everyone starts with the same deck ... of records. The idea is to make what happens in between (them) as fantastic and compelling as possible." He and Blore were masters.

Letters: Charlotte writes, "Re Live 105 mornings' change, am sure I am not the only person disappointed that the station has dropped their 'only music' format and now have DJs blabbing away between songs. That's the last thing I want to listen to when I am getting ready to go to work, where I will have people blabbing away at me all day long. Other than an occasional traffic update, I don't want to hear these boobs blabbering away about celeb gossip or what I didn't watch on TV the night before. Saddest part about it is, I really like Live 105's mix of music."

Dear Charlotte: If it's any consolation, the DJs (Megan and Menace) are "blabbing" only twice an hour. Live 105 (KITS) is commercial radio, and management will do whatever it needs to increase ratings and ad revenues. If you like Live 105's blend of alt-rock and EDM, you'll find it nowhere else (on local commercial radio, anyway). Online, there are plenty of alt-rockers (check iTunes or TuneIn), and if they're Internet channels, it's likely there'll be little chatter and few or no commercials. If you have a wireless network, you can hear the streams on a speaker (think Sonos) or an Internet tuner (Logitech, among many) almost wherever you are.

I divide my listening between terrestrial and online, plus Sirius/XM in the car. Because our home A/V system is so darned sophisticated that I have difficulty accessing commercial radio stations quickly, I've grown to love my CC Gozo, an old-fashioned, round-dial radio I can take from room to room (it's even got a handle). Now, C. Crane ( is issuing CC Pocket, a hand-size radio with presets. Sweet!

Company owner Bob Crane used a photo of a girl dripping ice cream over a radio for his catalog's cover. Inside, he quoted broadcasting professor Michael C. Keith: "Radio is like ice cream; there is a flavor for everyone." And, Crane adds, radio is available to everyone - no Internet or gadgets necessary.

Extra innings: Two years ago, when the Giants won the World Series, I saluted their radio team and added "a tip of the Radio Waves cap to one of many classy Giants: Barry Zito." Zito had been left off the playoff rosters and took it like a champ. I tip my cap again, both to Zito, for turning everything - and everyone - around, and to the KNBR crew, including producer Lee Jones. I also salute the astounding A's and their radio squad (on KGMZ, "The Game").

If you heard the World Series on KNBR and wondered why it was young Dave Flemming, and not lead play-by-play man Jon Miller, who called the final out, here's your answer. With all four Giants announcers (including mainly TV guys Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper) doing radio, the broadcast booth in Detroit was crowded, and Flemming got only one inning (the 6th), with the understanding that if a game went into extras, he'd do the 10th. And so it was. But after the Giants scored a run in the top of the inning, he offered Miller the microphone for the potential final out. "He's the voice of the Giants," said Flemming, "and was working for national radio (ESPN) in 2010, so he didn't do the final call for our broadcast that year." (Kuiper did.) Flemming continued: "Jon never flinched; just said, 'No, you do it.' I got a chance to do what very few broadcasters have done. Jon gave me a moment I won't forget. And I'd like to think I made a good call."

Actually, he hit it outta here! {sbox}
