Talk about a time warp..what a wonderful site.  KWFM was truly one of a
kind, because of the people who were there and the music that we could
play.

I'm a 2nd generation radio person; my dad and aunts and uncles were in
the biz in the way old days.  But moving to Tucson, it was Bob Cooke
that said "hi, you have a great voice"..dragged me into the production
room, Jim Ray said "o.k., we'll give her a shot", and 22+ years later I
can't get radio out of my system.

Thanks to Jim Hardy, who called me his "baby d.j." and gave me my first
taste of major market radio at KBPI, Denver, and Lee Dombrowski, who
wouldn't let me quit when I threw a hissy-fit!

I have tapes I need to share, being a wife and mommy to two beautiful
boys, finding time to xfer my stuff to c.d./mp3 is a challenge, but I
promise to come through!

Tim, you're great, thank you for giving us this site to share a unique
time in radio.

Margie Rye
KWFM
weekends/middays/research/production February 1982- August 1984

I came to town in 1980:  worked at KIKX, KCUB, and KCEE...listened to
KWFM.  When I heard that "we" (Behan Broadcasting) had purchased KWFM,
I was hoping for a shot at a shift.  I got one...AFTER the format had
changed.  Be careful what you wish for...

I'm still a close friend of Jane Snyder and know Perk pretty well.  I
used to hang at KWFM with Janie in the good ole days and remember
several live interviews that took place at the board.  What great
memories.  (I'm not saying anything here Janie!)  It was a tribute to
Jane that years after, when she would visit Tucson and the station
would give her courtesy air time, guys would still send her roses and
chocolates.  We remember her airtime well.  What a good time we all had
in those years.  KWFM was the only radio station worth listening to
then.  I moved here in 1972 and met Janie that first month.  What good
fortune.  Thanks Lee and everyone else for putting this together.  I
look forward to more photos and some stories.

Helen Gaus

Hey, you folks got my name all wrong!  It all started back in 1976 at
KIKX 580, .........KWFM .....  KLPX ..... KKLD .....KUPD ..... KDKB
....  England .. Guam ... and the saga continues!

Awesome Website! Thanks for a Historical tour of Radio here in Tucson.
Working with Margie and some of the others I am certain we've only
heard the tip of the iceberg when it comes to some of the stories out
there of "the ole days" Thanks again for the site.

Hey Cats and Kitties.  I love this site.  As a former radio personality
in town, I have fond memories of your station, including Sunday night
Jazz.  Tucson needs a full-time jazz station again.  Long live the
"Great American Art Form."!

KWFM was the ONLY station my big brother and I ever listened to in the
'70's and early 80's.  It was the greatest, and this web site has
brought back great memories of the station.  I remember one of the DJ's
doing a special segment where a disco record would be "put on trial"
(played) and then destroyed.  Would LOVE to hear that again!

Thanks for the memories,

Eric.

Howdy and thanks for doing such a great job on your web site!  Many
great memories came flooding back.  I was very fortunate to have worked
with folks like Brian Miller, Jim Brady, Alan Browning, Bob Cooke, Bob
Bish and many more beginning in 1976.  Oh, do we have some stories to
tell when we all get together around a pitcher of margaritas?!  

I'm even luckier to still be friends with most of them today.  Our hair
has some grey in it, there are fewer of us still around and we now all
have real jobs.  But it is a rich experience to relive the crazy days
of life at KWFM before the Empire of the Formats took over....  Before
the dark times.  We were considerably more carefree back then.  

Thanks a megawatt!

Blake Williams
VBW Productions, Inc.

Tucson really lost a great radio station when the KWFM as we knew it
left us.  Bob, we love and miss you......  Radio just ain't the same
without ya.  Can't read that from a liner card!

Robert (Foster) Napier

Man, what memories this site brings back. I started listening to KW when
I was about 15, in 1976. The many great times that I associate with
listening to this station all come flooding back, Choo Choos, the Gran
Faloon Salloon, and just hangin' out with my buds....and somebody
always had an FM radio so we could party while we listened. Thanks for
a fantastic site.

What ever happened to Streeet Pajama.  They were the best Tucson band
ever!  I have not heard Screwed Again in ages.  I remember seeing them
at The Embers, Westward Look, and I think a place on 1st Avenue called
Noni's.  That was way back in '82.  Mikey King was great and Merle was
just too cool.  If anyone remembers this great band email me at
choicekten at aol dot com.

Wow! Thanx for the memories! I was doing a search on NYC radio stations
and recalled when I first moved to Tucson back in 78 and started to
listen to KWFM. The only dj's I could immediately recall from that time
were Dave LaRussa and Karen Stern. Thankfully, I found the site and was
able to go through everything again. PS: I still have the KWFM On the
Air album in my collection!

What a blast to find this site. I was the graphic designer and part
owner of a small alternative paper in Tucson from 1978-81 (Tucson Nite
Times) and we did a lot of work with Lee & KWFM. In fact, I put
together ('designed' might be too strong...) the Dave LaRussa "Anything
that's Rock & Roll" ad seen in the web gallery. Strangely enough, I was
also the "Dan Ackroyd" that won the Blues Brothers contest (also
featured in the gallery). All of us at the paper listened to KWFM
exclusively and we worked closely with them on a number of promos. I
still have a stack of our old papers around here somewhere so I'll dig
through and see if I can find any other print nuggets for the site.
Like the family-owned FM stations, our alternative paper was one of the
independant, funky papers of that era that ultimately led to the
corporate owned "alternative" papers that came later. Great work!
Thanks!

I started listening to KWFM in 1972 as a snot-nosed 12-year-old. It was
a revelation. No hype, album sides, DJs that sounded like real people.
It was like anti-radio. My only complaint is that I once requested
Black Sabbath and was told you had burned all their albums. You
weenies! It was probably Brady I talked to on the phone. Most
memorable: KWFM used to play new albums in their entirety on Sunday
nights. One evening in 1975 I heard Patti Smith's *Horses*. I had never
heard anything like it before (and probably never will again). A sublime
moment.

I was also looking around for Meighan and Riopelle music not too
recently (within past year) and dropped by PDQ records on Grant in
Tucson. Browsing through the old vinyl sections, I found several copies
of their albums; picked out all the ones I was missing. You might have
similar luck at Bookmans too, they have used records. I wish they had
recorded more material.
Good luck,
Francisco

I listened to KWFM from the time I was 12 years old (1973).   The
station opened my mind to so many types of music.  It wasn't just rock
being played, but a free, open format.  Bruce Springsteen's version of
"Fever" was a song often played and the one that sticks in my mind as
being an example of the quality of music airing at that time.

I arrived in Tucson in 1980...never got a chance to work on this
frequency when it was that format...I loved the station and, when it
was on the air, listened to it more than those I was working at.

(Street Pajama)
I need a copy of "I'd Rather Smoke Butts Than Kiss Them"!!!...

Bill Cashman (producer of the ON THE AIR) album told me about this site
and I'm sure glad... it's disturbing how much I'd forgotten, but this
site refreshes the memory! The names, images, playlists... the whole
era was a hoot and a half! How cool it was that one station would play
Alice Cooper and Pure Prairie League then John Couger and then Charlie
Daniels in the same hour..... that does'nt happen much anymore..... and
bless everyone at KWFM for the way they supported the local
musicians...... and to all who experienced the CHOO CHOO's, STUMBLE INN
era, isn't it nice to still be alive!!! 

new e-mail and website ....stop by sometime

Hey, awesome site.  I was too young to be able to enjoy this station,
but I wish to God I had been there!!  I wondered if anyone knew where
to find a copy of Bob Meighan's albums, or anything by Rock Doctor?  If
anyone knows, let me know at: kurt@cfa.arizona.edu
Thanks again,
Kurt

Lived (and just 're-lived') through a lot of this history and memories.
I was girlfriend/wife (now 'ex') of DJ David Slavin (mid 70s). Listened
in many nights (he worked midnight - 6 am slot). Like so many have said
before, thanks for the memories! Interesting to see old articles and
photos, my how we have all changed!!! 

How fun! KWFM was MY station! How I loved listening to Bob Cooke on
Saturdays - he had the silliest sense of humor! I recall one year when
Mikey King (of Street Pajama) sent Bob a Christmas card to "the second
funniest person in Tucson". Ah, the good ol' days!

KWFM. One of the true original community based radio stations. Real
People, Good music, support of talent and local involvement in the arts
and music scene. A lot of stations now claim to be "Community radio"
when all they are is just a soap box for a political agenda. They need
to take a look at one of the great true community radio stations, KWFM.


I miss KWFM dearly. Times change and when they do some of the best
parts of life become a cherished memory.

I remember with great fondness KWFM.  There has NEVER been a rock radio
station anywhere I have travelled that has rivaled the variety and
quality of KWFM.  I sure wish the DJ's were still on the air now,
spinning tunes just like they did back in the '70's. What a blast that
would be!

This is an awesome site and great resource to the community.  Thanks for
all your effort!

I was in junior high ( Flowing Wells ) when I tuned in....Lots of great
memories!

From my recollection, in the beginning, KWFM was a mono station that was
on the air 12 hours per day. I believe the broadcast day began with the
tolling of the church bells from the song "Black Sabbath" from Black
Sabbath's first album. The broadcast day ended with a very
psychedelic/energy charged (or was it the "white lightning") version of
"Let's Get Together" by H.P. Lovecraft. Is this correct, or was I
hallucinating?

I thought I'd been taken back to Washington, D.C., when I first heard
Bob Cooke on KW. He reminded me of Cerph, an amazing radio talent at an
amazing station back in DC's Maryland suburbs (WHFS-FM in "Beth -ezzzzz-
daah" Maryland.) He even sounded like Cerph. And, like Cerph, Cooke cost
me a hell of a lot of money. I'd listen to his show and just have to buy
a new "album," something I'd just heard on his show.

Of course, he wasn't the only talent on KW. I just connected more with
him because he reminded me of Cerph and WHFS. The KW staff was
amazing.

I don't want to be an old fart, but I truly feel bad for my kids and
the other younger people who never got to experience radio "made" by
people with great ears and not some tin-eared MBA with software and a
pile of data. Don't get me started.

I'm thinking if Global Warming raises sea level enough the KW survivors
can set up a pirate radio station in the deep water just outside the Ajo
Reef in the Dire Straits of Bob Cooke. Maybe we can hire Margie as
Captain of Music. And yes, there should be plank walking and keel
hauling every afternoon during drive time. Request lines will be open.

Kelly-
You're absolutely right.
I too remember some of those days.
(Before shit got weird)
Wonderful memories tho.
Signed- A fellow stoner

P.S.__ I believe one of the first engineers KWFM had now owns a few
radio stations around these parts -
www.kcdx.com for inquiring minds.

Hey, come on over and take a look at the great new KTKT tribute web
site!
Relive the great old days of Tucson radio at www.ktkt99.com!