KFXM

It was 1961, and KFXM was broadcasting from the transmitter building that was literally located out in a cow pasture. Howard Tullis and his partner John Hearne, owners of KFXM owned a considerable amout of property around the transmitter building and three massive towers.

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The Holiday Inn corporation was looking at the property and specifically the south-western portion of the property to build a hotel complex.

This property was adjacent to the 215 Freeway or highway that was the main road to Las Vegas through Cajon Pass. The southern portion of the property was at the edge of the Santa Ana River.

Being the master negotiator, Howard Tullis saw the opportunity to make a deal where he would make a considerable amount of money and get new studios and offices built as part of the Holiday Inn complex. A deal was struck and everyone got their respective plans made up to create a very unique facility. KFXM would occupy the western side of the Holiday Inn and building began.

In building a radio station and recording (production) studios, there are many special considerations. The chief engineer for the radio station must be involved in all aspects of construction. As an example the windows between rooms are double pane and they are installed in a very special way. The angle of the glass is a "V" with the bottom of the glass set as an example at say 4 1/2" apart and the top set at 6".

This diverts the sound waves in such a way that you esentially sound proof one room from another. There had to be acoustic sound dampening tiles installed on the walls to again reduce or eliminate outside noise. The ceilings were higher than normal and the electrical system had to be engineered to reduce or almost eliminate ground hum. This meant that the conduits and all the wiring had to be installed very carefully. Once you get a 60 cycle hum on the audio cables, finding the source of the problem is very difficult. That hum ends up in the amplifiers, the sound board, speakers and anything else to do with audio.

Most people who visited KFXM to see the DJ on the air could peer through the tinted glass a see the radio show inside. This was very innovative for the times as most radio stations had studios that were unaccesable to the public. Up above window number 11 there was a two-way speaker mounted up under the overhand. The DJ had the ability to talk with fans and carry on a conversation.

Jack Fleming March 12, 1961.

The newly built Holiday Inn at 666 Fairway Drive located on the San Bernardino and Colton borders became the new home to KFXM 590 AM.

Built in a traditional square, the Western side of the complex was occupied by the studios and sales offices which were now under one roof. Most thought having everyone under one roof was a good idea, but some would strongly disagree.

Along with the new building came new employees including several new announcers or DJ's as they preferred to be called. Most of the new DJ's were very young, late teens to early twenties.With the new image of the new studios/offices came the desire to create a new on air image. The station had new competition from newcomer KMEN 129 accross town and it was in 1961-62 that KFXM started to re-invent itself. Al Anthony had come on board as a new Program Director and Co-General Manager with Bob Bunnell.

Dick Lyons in the KFXM studios c.1967.

Bunnell started hirinng new radio advertising sales "executives" to go out and sell radio spots. One of those new people was Al Barnett, an adventerous type of guy who's hobbies included raising and keeping exotic animals.

One day Al Barnett came in the station and said he was getting a baby bengal tiger. Everyone was a little doubtful and thought Al was pulling their leg. A short time later, Al showed up at the station with the new baby bengal tiger. After a lot of amazement, eventually the tiger cub was named "Jocko."

Al Anthony and a few others thought about a new promotional idea for KFXM after using the Tiger promotion at KFXM's sister station KAFY in Bakersfield. The artwork was drawn by someone who worked with Howard Tullis and his advertising agency at 6000 Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles (Hollywood).Why not use the tiger cub as a mascot and call KFXM "Tiger Radio"?

The rest was history and the tiger cub and Tiger Radio was a hit. Bill Earl was correct when he recognized that the KFXM logo tiger was penned or named "Ed Grrrr." So when you see the KFXM tune sheets and any other graphic that is festooned with the famous Tiger, you can now say you know how it all started and the Tiger's name is Ed Grrrrr.

WHO WORKED AT KFXM? Here is the list: Al Anthony, Jon Badeaux, Johnny Bishop, Bobby Blue, Bruce Chandler, Roger Christian, Danny Dare, Mark Denis, Jack Fleming, Larry Lujack, Ed Mann, Gary Marshall, Chris McKay, John McKay, Michael Moore, Craig Powers, Ed Thomas, Bob Thurgaland, and Jesse Torrero.