'Turn Up The Radio' A Must For Radio, Music Fans

SF-Based Media writer Ben Fong-Torres says he originally ignored Harvey Kubernik’s latest book “Turn Up the Radio! Rock, Pop, and Roll in Los Angeles 1956-1972.”

But, according to Fong-Torres the 311-page behemoth-with-a-beat has continued to gain praise.

He writes the book is a must-have if  you’re a radio and music fan, and relate to those years in the title. And although L.A. is the heart of rock ’n’ roll — and Top 40 radio, San Francisco is where DJs like Casey Kasem, Gary Owens, “The Real” Don Steele, Robert W. Morgan and DJ-turned-talk-host Michael Jackson, among others, polished their act before going to Hollywood. And when, in 1969, underground radio surfaced in Los Angeles, it was co-produced by Tom Donahue, creator of the format-free format here, at KMPX.

According to Fong-Torres, Kubernik, a music journalist for 30 years (he’s also produced records and scouted talent), grew up amid the emerging scene and knew everyone. In elementary school in the mid-’50s, he discovered the R&B DJ Hunter Hancock and was hooked. “Radio would become my soul salvation,” he writes. Recounting his youthful wanderings, he’s like a pop Zelig. “I danced on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand. … The Mamas and the Papas and Bob Lind were the in-studio guests. … That same week, I met (gospel singer) J.W. Alexander and Bobby Womack at the Frigate record shop. … I first saw the Beach Boys perform at a Culver City record store appearance in 1962.”

Kubernik is like the music super fan who saved all his Top 40 surveys and concert tickets, posters and celebrity photos, and found a perfect repository: this book. A bonus: he includes interviews, of both stars and behind-the-scenesters — record producers, engineers and songwriters, as well as his beloved pop stars and DJs.