KLIV

If you grew up in or near the Southbay, 1590/KLIV was probably your station of choice for Top 40 music.

Some of the great personalities at KLIV included John McLeod, Dave Sholin, Bob Ray, Jack Hayes, Ross Macgowan, Ralph Koal, Scott St. James, Ray Morgan, Mac McGregor and the inimitable Captain Mikey (Mikel Hunter Herrington) — as well as for promoting concerts at the San Jose Civic Auditorium and other local venues.

KLIV got its start in September 1946 as a 1000-watt daytime-only station known as KSJO. Its sister station, KSJO-FM (92.3), made its debut in December 1946 from shared facilities in the Austin Field-designed studios at the corner of Story Road and Lucretia Avenue in rural San Jose. In 1947, KSJO-AM added nighttime service at 500 watts.

Mad Mel on June 4, 1960. [ LISTEN ] (9:58). This aircheck dating from the last week of December 1966 through the first week of January 1967, it begins with a fragment of Grant Plummer, followed by several chunks of KLIV program director Herrington in his Captain Mikey guise. [ LISTEN ] (21:37). Tis unscoped aircheck finds DJ Gary Seger playing records in the KLIV studio on November 5, 1967. [ LISTEN ]. (49:35)

TOP: Nighttime DJ Ross McGowan. Music Livrary Survey, October 15th 1971, Another survey dated March 15th 1972, Back of the survey above.

GARY SEGER
November 5, 1967
[ Part 1 ] [ Part 2 ]
Gary Seger and John Lester [ Part 3 ]

The original owners of KSJO sold the AM to Cal-Radio, Inc., owned by Riley R. Gibson, on June 1, 1960, at which time it became KLIV. (The FM retained the KSJO call letters.) In 1961, KLIV’s daytime power was boosted to 5,000 watts; nighttime power was raised to the same level in 1969.

On July 1, 1967, the station was sold for $974,000 by Cal-Radio to Empire Broadcasting, owned by two former Rochester, N.Y., radio executives, Robert S. (Bob) Kieve and James M. Trayhern, Jr.

The new owners inherited a program director who became a legend: Mikel Hunter Herrington, who had converted staid KLIV from a mere Top 40 also-ran to a solid contender against KYA, KEWB and KFRC.

Positioning KLIV as a “surfer station” — emphasizing the music of the Beach Boys, Jan & Dean, the Surfaris and other stars of the genre — and tying in promotions (such as providing listeners with hot dogs, buns and soft drinks for weekend caravans over Highway 17 to the beach at Santa Cruz), Herrington, who took to the air as “Captain Mikey,” helped the station successfully compete for the ears of youthful listeners and the dollars of prominent local advertisers, such as Goodies Speed Shop and Courtesy Chevrolet.

Gary Seger, KLIV on November 5th 1967 [ LISTEN ] (49:49). The Jim Powers Show on August 19, 1973. [ Hour 1 ] Then there's more Jim Powers to the close of his show, and into Bob Ray opening his program toward the end of this clip, also dated August 19, 1973. [ Hour 2 ].

Devised by Herrington as the station’s mascot, Norman was also the star of the KLIV 20/20 Music Surveys, available at record shops and variety stores throughout the Southbay. Following Herrington’s departure - he later pioneered album-oriented rock formats at San Jose’s KOME and Los Angeles’ KMET.

KLIV studio building c.1975

KLIV battled through the 1970s with variations on Top 40, Rock and even Disco-flavored formats, then switched to the syndicated “Music Of Your Life” Adult Standards format in May 1981. Early in 1991, KLIV moved to an all-news format, mixing local coverage with network audio from CNN Headline News.

(Bob Kieve was inducted into the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame in 2007; Herrington followed him in a year later. KLIV was honored by the Bay Area Radio Museum and Hall of Fame as its 2017 Legendary Station Award recipient.)

At a time when KYA, KFRC and KEWB garnered much attention in the Bay Area, KLIV meanwhile attracted its fair share of dedicated listeners.