Brought in to replace Bill Drake as KYA's morning man so that Drake could concentrate on programming, Nelson soon gave his station a nice surprise — he beat KSFO strongman Don Sherwood in the ratings. KSFO took notice and, when Nelson's contract at KYA came up for renewal, the Emperor headed up the dial to join The World's Greatest Radio Station's mighty air force.
“One Million Lean Gene Greens”, this funny money depicted Nelson on the front, along with the signatures of “Colonel Splendid,” and “Lt. Cavendish.” The back shows Nelson’s swank “Royal Pad,” along with his motto, “E Pluribus Nelson.”
Nelson held the morning slot Monday through Friday and 6 AM to noon on Saturday which included the weekly countdown of the KYA Top 30.
He was not just a DJ, he was a radio personality. His relaxed manner and natural humor, meant he could always make listeners laugh. It didn't matter if he was talking about last nights Giants game, a news story from the Chronicle, something from Ralph Gleason's column, the traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge, a silly commercial he saw on television last night, or the perils of having a 2 year old running around the house. Whatever it was, Gene's take on life was entertaining and uplifting every morning.
In this classic aircheck, Gene is playing records at KYA on April 6, 1965 [ LISTEN ] (34:14), and here's Gene again about one week later on April 14, 1965 [ LISTEN ] (44:37)
The Royal Commando Waltz, performed by the foul sounding Melrose Elementary School band that closed every morning's show as Nelson gave his final comments for the day.
On August 29,1966 KYA welcomed The Beatles to San Francisco for a stadium concert at Candlestick Park. The host doing introductions was Gene Nelson. An evening of Rock n Roll history at The Rock of the Bay. [ SEE CONCERT POSTER ]
There were endless jokes about "the boss" - the fictitious employer that the KYA jocks all seemingly feared - but not enough to keep Nelson from making jokes about him. There was the weekly sign on intro for his Top 30 Countdown show: "It's time now for the KYA Top 30 Countdown, based on retail record sales, listener requests, juke box play, and most important - all the songs the boss likes best."
Strangely enough, through the sale of KSFO by Golden West Broadcasting to Seattle's King Broadcasting in 1983 — a deal in which King also sold 1260/KYA to Bonneville International but retained ownership of 93.3 KYA-FM — Nelson found himself working at both stations at the same time.
He retired to Hawaii in 1994, but later returned to California, residing in the Napa area, and the latest report had him living on the island of Kauai, Hawaii.
Longtime DJ Celeste Perry, who worked with Gene Nelson at KSFO, had lunch recently with "the Emperor," and brought him the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame award he failed to pick up in 2009. The retired Nelson, she said, was "touched by the award ... he's going to show it to his grandchildren to prove to them that he 'used to be somebody'."
WHERE DID GENE WORK? Here is the list: KYA, KSFO.
Some materials found on this page were originally published by the following: 440 International, Bay Area Radio Museum.
