L-A Radio: Gene 'Bean' Baxter Signs-Off This Week At KROQ

Kevin and Bean

For three decades KROQ 106.7 FM’s “The Kevin & Bean Show” has woken up radio listeners in Southern California and followed them through mostly horrendous weekday traffic as they commute to work or school from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Hosts Kevin Ryder and Gene “Bean” Baxter have shared music and other entertainment news, conducted thousands of on-air interviews with musicians, comedians and actors, played games, taken listener calls and presented live musical performances in intimate venues throughout Southern California.

Gene 'Bean' Baxter

Back in March, Baxter announced that he’d be leaving the show before the year ended. He’s not planning to retire from radio completely, but he and his wife Donna had decided to move to the U.K. before 2019 came to an end.

Baxter’s final day on-air will be Thursday, Nov.  7, reports the LA Daily News.

“The last show, I’ll have some feels, there’s no question about that,” Baxter said following the station’s last “Kevin & Bean’s Breakfast with Green Day” show in Los Angeles on Oct. 28.

“But honestly, we haven’t scheduled anything. I think we’d like to incorporate some listener phone calls, but I don’t want a surprise and I’m not much into goodbyes either, to tell you the truth. I’m into forward momentum and I’m excited about what the show and station are going to be doing in 2020 and you don’t need to stop and think about me. Just move on to the next thing.”

In 2015, “The Kevin & Bean Show,” which the pair lovingly refer to as “the little dog and pony show,” was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters’ Broadcasting Hall of Fame. On Nov. 8, Ryder and Baxter will be inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame.

“The Kevin & Bean Show” debuted on Jan. 2, 1990 and for 18 years Baxter has been doing the show remotely from his home in Seattle and more recently, New Orleans. That distance, both Baxter and Ryder insist, was pretty much key to keeping their relationship solid for 30 years. Baxter has already hugged his all-time-favorite person and interviewee, “Weird Al” Yankovic, to tell him goodbye and he’s been thinking back on all of the legendary interviews he and Ryder have done on the show, including chats with Johnny Cash, Bob Hope and Milton Berle.

As for what Baxter will do next, he said until he finds a gig in the U.K. that will accept his “stupid American accent,” he’s going to dive into a few new hobbies he has been interested in.