KSTT first took to the air on July 7, 1946, as a 250 watt daytime-only station (sunrise to sunset). Its location on the radio dial was at 750 kilocycles. The offices were located in the Davenport Hotel and its studio was the mezzanine of the hotel’s ballroom. Popular music of the day, news, and local sports was aired. Within a year, KSTT became an affiliate of the Mutual Network and could offer its programs as well.
During 1949, the FCC allowed KSTT to increase its power to 1000 watts and it could now stay on the air 24 hours a day. Its new location on the dial was 1170.
The station was sold to Fred Epstein in 1955. He continued with the mix of programs that KSTT had been airing at that time. Early in 1958, Epstein hired Ken Draper as the station’s program director. Draper convinced Epstein that the direction the station should take was rock-and-roll. It was the music of choice of a younger audience and no other station in the Quint Cities was exclusively programming that music. The announcing staff became “the Knights of the Turntable” and included Tom Elkins, Ruth Epstein, Draper, Dale Holt, and Mark Stevens.
Draper arranged for the station to host weekly dances and appearances by the deejays at restaurants, drive-in theaters, and dance halls, with many of them partially broadcast. Heavy newspaper and on-air advertising helped bring the teens out to meet their favorite announcer.
Another Draper innovation was the local pop music chart. KSTT was the first station in the area to track local record sales and compile a weekly “survey” of the 30 top-selling pop songs. The sheet was called the King’s Court Record Survey.
On January 29, 1959, the station booked the Winter Dance Party show, which starred Dion and the Belmonts, Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, and Richie Valens. It was billed as the KSTT Concert of Stars, with two shows at the Capitol Theater. Stevens and Draper emceed the concerts, and although an ice storm hit the area that evening, both shows were sold out. A few days later Holly, The Big Bopper, and Richie Valens would die in a plane crash.
As the year continued, it was highlighted by station-sponsored dances, personal appearances, remote broadcasts, promotions, and contests. KSTT’s popularity was growing and it was becoming a force to be reckoned with among Quint Cities radio stations.
One of the trends emerging in Top-40 radio was reverberation, and KSTT picked up on this trend. Chief Engineer George Stephenson added a slight echo delay on the microphone outputs, which gave the announcers a little more depth and sparkle and enhanced the term Color Radio.
The Kings Court Record Survey became the KSTT Top 30 Survey, and it changed from a large mimeographed sheet to a smaller, offset printed, bi-fold sheet. It featured photos of the on-air staff, the list of hits, and pick hit and album choices by each of the announcers.
Color Radio was certainly a hit with the listeners. But it wasn’t just the music, contests, and promotions that helped build listenership. The news department was given a greater presence, too.
The Metro News team.The cars were used by the news staff in news-gathering and for live-from-the-scene reports. They were also used at many promotional events, as they functioned as rolling billboards.
In addition to the cars, a red boat was used during warm weather months for stories on the river, and an airplane was also available to the news department.
When Ken Draper joined KSTT, the station was airing a phone-in program called Listen Ladies. It aired recipes and shared subjects related to the homemaker. Draper felt it didn’t fit the new rock format and he changed the program to a more adult, issues-oriented call-in discussion called The Phone Show.
When stories with great local impact arose, Moore’s news department would team with Draper’s Phone Show to inform listeners with additional coverage and analysis other area stations weren’t able to provide. Civil rights, segregation, federal mandates, and large-scale zoning changes were a few of the subjects covered by the team effort.
Up until more recent years, the FCC required stations to provide a certain amount of broadcast time to the public at no charge. This was usually done through religious programming on Sunday mornings, or some sort of public service programming relegated to overnight hours.
KSTT looked at public service in a different manner. Draper felt that public service and charitable causes could be used to an advantage if they were given entertainment and promotional value. Many of the causes were tied to and publicized by appearances of the announcers. The station promoted free air time for social, safety, health, and job opportunity announcements. And the announcements weren’t buried late at night, but aired during prime listening time.
In the early 50s, KSTT moved from the Davenport Hotel to new offices and a studio on Harrison Street above Griggs Music Co. In early 1961, more space was needed, especially for a growing news department and for production capabilities. The new home would be on the fourth floor at 736 Federal Street, in the Eagle Signal Building. Besides business offices, there were now three studios, and each was equipped to allow the operation of every piece of equipment from any one of the other studios. Along with that move came a branding change.
With listenership up, it would seem a new “direction” for the station wasn’t needed. After all, Mark Stevens had over 15,000 members in his fan club. But the change was responding to its gathering force in the media marketplace and to emphasize each segment of its broadcast day.
KSTT was no longer Color Radio; it was now known as the Sound of Accent. There was Accent on News, Accent on Information, Accent on Public Service, and, of course, Accent on Music. And with the change, KSTT became a primary network affiliate of the ABC Radio Network and could offer the resources of that operation, including ABC news reporting.
Personnel changes included the return of Jim Watt from the general manager’s chair at another station Fred Epstein owned in Algona, Iowa. Watt not only called the action on University of Iowa football broadcasts, but became the station’s sales promotion director. Lou Gutenberger returned as the morning drive announcer and Bill Vancil was hired to take Pat Downey’s place. The announcing lineup was now Lou Gutenberger, Ruth Epstein, Ken Draper, Bill Vancil, Mark Stevens, and Gordon Vann.
And even though the brand and some of the personnel changed, KSTT’s emphasis was still on the younger audience, the promotions, the contests, and the personal appearances.
In early 1962, KSTT lost the services of Ken Draper. He had accepted an offer from Westinghouse Broadcasting to become program director at several of their larger market stations. Draper wasn’t really looking leave Davenport, but the offer was one he couldn’t refuse. Draper said of the other Quint Cities outlets (WHBF – of all stations) had sent a tape of Draper to Westinghouse, basically to get him hired away from the station.
With Draper’s departure, the Phone Show received a new name and new hosts. Fred Epstein and Draper had discussed who would host the show if Draper ever left. Draper told Epstein, “Why don’t you do it. You don’t have anything to do anyway.” They decided that the show would work with two people, and the Phone Show became Conversation with Ruth and Fred. The Epsteins made the show a little more controversial, concentrating on politics, race relations, and later, the Vietnam conflict.
A few months later, Mark Stevens took his irreverent humor and sharp wit to Texas, where he spent many years as half of Houston’s top deejay duo. Jim Watt took over as program director, and Jim Austin (on-air as J.A.) and Larry Cooper were added to the deejay staff.
In early 1963, Jim Watt was appointed station manager and Bill Vancil became the program director. Lee Shannon, Lyle Wood, and Clark Anthony joined the announcing staff. In late 1963, the station was one the move again. A one-time street car barn at 1111 East River Drive was leased and turned into the new home – some would say the iconic home – of KSTT.
One unique feature of the building was the on-air studio’s large picture windows. People driving east on River Drive, or parked in the lot west of the building, could watch the deejay at work and see what a radio studio really looked like.
With the actual move to the River Drive studios at the close of the year, Bill Vancil changed the focus of the station’s self-promotional efforts. Gone was the Sound of Accent. Lee Shannon, Lou Gutenberger, Bill Vancil, Larry Cooper, J.A., and Clark Anthony were now known as the Good Guys, and KSTT was now The Home of the Good Guys.
January 1964 was a watershed moment for the music industry – the Beatles broke their first song on the US pop charts and began the British Invasion of artists and songs onto the airwaves. These groups did nothing but fan the flames of KSTT’s popularity. While other Quint Cities stations played some Beatles songs, KSTT played every Beatle release. During May, survey show host Larry Cooper had a highly-promoted phone interview with the Beatles.
KSTT was well-known for its contests. One of the major contests that year ran for 15 weeks and consisted of guessing mystery sounds. A new sound was heard each week and prizes included men’s and women’s wardrobes, jewelry, and even a mink stole. The grand prize was a Volkswagen Micro Bus, dubbed the KSTT Picnic Wagon.
Bi-weekly weekend live broadcasts and dances from the Bel-Aire Drive-In Theater and Lake Canyada brought hundreds of teens out to see their favorite announcers, win prizes, and dance. And KSTT would be heard blaring from car radios as guys and gals drove “the ones” – the one way streets in Davenport and Rock Island – to show off their cars and themselves. The station was on a roll that just wouldn’t stop.
News director Bob Moore left in the fall, destined for bigger and better venues that included WCFL in Chicago, VP of News and chief White House correspondent for Mutual Broadcasting, and special assistant at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington.
THE KSTT BASKETBALL TEAM
Bill Vancil, Lou Gutenberger, Gordon Vann, Gene Lewis, Pete Hronek, Larry Cooper, and Jim Watt.Several times each week, the Good Guys would play various teams like high school faculties, Jaycees, the DeMolay, even the Chicago Bears, and allow them to charge admission and raise money for charity. That first year team consisted of general manager Jim Watt; Vancil; announcers Lou Gutenberger, Larry Cooper, and Gordon Vann; news director Gene Lewis; and salesmen Dan Olson, Pete Hronek, and Steve Borota. While there were elements of comedy and fun, the Good Guys did play to win, and sometimes did.
Another promotion from 1965 was a concept that Fred Epstein would name “the most popular station promotion ever at KSTT.” An NBC television program called “Hullabaloo” began airing that spring. The show featured top recording stars, backed by elaborate production and mini-skirted dancers. One of those dancers was in a “cage” surrounded by hundreds of flashing lights.
Cyndi Saldivar Smith (left) and Debbie Foley at the KSTT reunion in 1979.Every Tuesday night during the summer of ’65, the Col was home to Good Guy A-Go-Go. The station did a half-hour live remote prior to the start of the dance to help build the audience. Contests, prize giveaways, appearances by the Good Guys, a local band, and of course, the go-go girls attracted huge audiences each week. (During the several-year run of Good Guy A-Go-Go, the dance set an attendance record for the Col that to this day is still unbroken. 3,000+) Good Guy A-Go-Go was a definite hit – for both the teens and the station!
As 1966 started, there were some changes in deejays and news personnel. Larry Cooper, who had been splitting his time between news and the Survey Show, became the news director. Bob Henry took over the Survey Show, and Jeff Blake became the newest Good Guy heard in the 10:30-midnight airshift.
Good Guy A-Go-Go returned during the summer of ’66 for another hit season. The Go-Go girls now consisted of Cyndi Saldivar, Debbie Foley, Jan Ramsay, and Caryl Seiberling. The X-Ls became the featured live band. Once again, the Col Ballroom was the place to be on Tuesday nights.
During the summer of 1966, KSTT, added a feature which played off the popularity of airing golden oldies hits called the Instant Flashback. The concept was simple: the audience would hear a listener request an oldie, and the song was played immediately after the request. The mechanics of this were just a little more involved. When the Instant Flashback phone line was opened for calls, the deejay would record thelistener requesting the song. He would then have time to look for the record and pull it from the record library, cue it up, then play back the recorded request followed immediately by the song. Since the request might have been recorded the previous half-hour, it wasn’t always instant, but the whole feature was very popular with KSTT’s listeners.
In early 1967, Bob Henry began recording weekly hour-long shows to send to the Armed Forces Radio Network for playback to the troops in Southeast Asia. Relatives, wives, and friends would call, and Henry would include their greetings within the program content. It proved very popular and brought a bit of home to the young Quint Cities men serving overseas.
A feature no one has forgotten began airing… “Chickenman.” Originally produced by Chicago’s WCFL, the series featured two-to-three-minute comedy adventures. The station aired itin conjunction with several sponsors, with Chickenman creating local tie-ins. KSTT was the second station in the country to air the series, which ended up being heard on over 1,500 stations and is the longest running radio series in history.
Promotion is everything and Fred Epstein came up with an unusual way to keep KSTT in the eyes of the Quint Cities. While on vacation in France, he purchased an addition to the station’s rolling stock – a real French bus. Over 40 years old, it looked similar to an old trolley car. It was used for publicity, was seen in several parades, used as a limousine in a station contest, and occasionally used as a remote studio.
In August of 1967, whenever money was given as a prize, it was awarded by the KSTT Money Men. A rather unique promotion was initiated by the station and McDonald’s restaurants with the purchase of thousands of green, Styrofoam balls dubbed Money Balls. Visitors to McDonald’s would obtain one (or more) and place it on their car’s radio antenna. Deejays and yours truly would drive around in Big Red and follow a vehicle displaying the Money Ball. We’d go on the air via two-way radio, describe the car and its location, and if the driver heard the announcement and pulled over to wait for us, we’d have a cash prize for them.
After an excited young driver ran into Big Red (honest, it wasn’t my fault), an unidentifiable car was used. Listeners on their car radios never knew when or where they might get stopped. With over 30,000 Money Balls given away, it was a great promotion, but one that couldn’t be used in today’s world.
Late that year, Jeff Blake resigned to take a job in finance and Bill Vancil had accepted a program director position at WEAM in Washington, D.C. After a short time, Bill decided he preferred the Quad-Cities to the nation’s capitol and returned to pursue a career path similar to Jeff Blake’s. To fill Vancil’s position of program director, KSTT hired Bobby Rich to his first program director post. Rich tightened up production, created more features, contests, and station promotions to liven the sound and find an even larger audience for the station.
Bobby Rich kept the Home of the Good Guys branding for the station, but also added the concept that KSTT would be the Full Time Fun station. Each week brought a new contest, occasionally with several contests running at the same time. Whenever there was a special holiday coming up on the calendar, a contest relating to that holiday was sure to start.
Rich also began initiating programming targeted specifically for the weekends, called “Wonderful Weekend.” Listeners would call the station all day Saturday with their requests for oldies. On Sunday, they would hear the then-current Top-40 songs played back-to-back with the hits of the previous year. Throughout each weekend, there was a chance to win a prize every hour. The result of this programming rewarded audience loyalty and made sure KSTT’s audience stayed tune to the station all weekend long.
 |  |
Along with these changes, the playlist of songs used on the various deejays’ programs was lengthened. The KSTT Top 30 Survey was now known as the Super 40 Survey. By April, some familiar voices had departed KSTT. Gone were Lee Shannon, Bob Henry, and Lou Gutenberger. John Novak was now heard in the mornings, followed by Fred and Ruth, J.P. Lamont, Bobby Rich, Mark Mathew, and Clark Anthony.
Spring also brought something new to the station’s fleet of vehicles – the Thing Ray. Rich found an old flatbed truck that he had painted red, lettered, and adorned with many attention-getting accessories. The Thing Ray was used to declare the presence of the Good Guys at various sites and promotions around the Quint Cities, with the personalities passing out giveaways and running contests from the truck.
During Easter break of 1968, the station hosted the final Good Guy A-Go-Go. With the day’s music, fashion, and culture being influenced by the “hippie” movement, it was time to update this venerable promotion. It still holds the attendance record at the Coliseum Ballroom in Davenport (over 3,000)
In updating Good Guy A-Go-Go, Bobby Rich took its best features, built upon the concept, and created the KSTT Psychedelic Circus. He updated the flashing lights, added a San Francisco-style light show, and added a new band. Instead of using just one host, all the Good Guys were the hosts for the night. The new Psych Circus kicked off the summer of ’68 at the Col Ballroom and was again a super hit for area teens.
Over summer, Jeff Blake and Bill Vancil were back at KSTT. Vancil returned to the airwaves from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., and Blake rejoined the news department. And while the programming department was creating some exciting promotions and contests, the news department wound up creating some of its own excitement.
Earlier in the year, Congress created civil rights legislation and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. That legislation stated no one could discriminate by race, color, or national origin when selling a house or renting an apartment. Action Center News chose to see if landlords were complying with the new law.
Wes Sidney, an African-American member of the news staff, went to an upscale apartment complex in Davenport and tried to rent an apartment. He was told there were no vacancies. News Director Morry Alter then went to the same apartment complex and was shown several units that could be immediately rented. The results of the test, aired in a series of reports during prime newscasts, brought attention to the fact that area landlords weren’t complying with the law.
That test and the news reports also brought attention to the station in another manner. Because of those newscasts, a local savings and loan firm cancelled an advertising contract with the station worth $15,000. In 1968, that was no small sum of money. To his credit, Fred Epstein stood behind the reporting. Epstein wanted to let it go, but General Manager Jim Watt confronted the bankers and shamed them into reinstating their contract. Within three weeks the commercials were back.
Dick Clark surprises Miss Teenage Quint Cities, Lori Rhea, arriving unannounced in the basement of her home.Rich convinced him to come to the Rhea home to surprise her. He did surprise her and her entire gathering when Rich brought Clark down the stairs to the Rhea’s rec room to wish her good luck at the national competition. Rich stated, “Dick was terrific to do that, and he gave me a fabulous hour long co-host that afternoon on my show. It’s still one of my truly great radio moments. Having Dick Clark show up at her house was probably one of Lori Rhea’s best memories, too. Well, maybe second best, as she won the title of Miss Teenage America that year.
Audience participation in contests is a sure ratings winner, and Bobby Rich kept creating contests to keep the audience tuned to KSTT. One of the bigger contests was aimed at creating a “KSTT Superstar.” Listeners were invited to send in their names and the special talent they possessed. The winner of the contest would appear in conjunction with a KSTT-sponsored concert by the Fifth Dimension, do his or her own record show on the station, and receive several weeks’ worth of humorous publicity.
The winner of the contest was Frank Harkin. His talent was singing and this didn’t go unnoticed by Rich. He and Bill Vancil wrote a song using the Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby” as background, and along with Harkin, recorded it at a Davenport recording studio. The song was given airplay on KSTT to publicize both Harkin and the Fifth Dimension concert. In addition, Harkin was the subject of many gag promotions and, in general, was made into a superstar.
The Good Guys lounging on the news cruiser "Big Red" in front of a station billboard (circa 1968-69) Left to right: John Novak, Bobby Rich, Bill Vancil, and Clark Anthony.
KSTT began 1970 in the same manner it had in many previous years – number one in the ratings among all listeners 18-49 years of age. While many of the programming ideas begun in the ‘60s carried over into the new year, there were a few minor changes.
The station dropped its affiliation with the ABC Contemporary Network. Since most of the network offerings were used for news rather than programming, most listeners probably didn’t notice the change. The news department was no longer called Action Center News, but became known as KSTT Metro News. With new sounders and formatted introductions, Metro News emphasized a broader daily coverage throughout the entire listening region and added more evening newscasts.
Bobby Rich continued to use the weekends in the station’s Full Time Fun concept. While other stations used Sunday nights to satisfy the FCC requirements for public service, Rich programmed 10 p.m. to midnight for entertainment. Sunday-Sunday featured something different each week: specific-period oldies, programs devoted to music by one featured artist or group, and an occasional feature where listeners could call and ask questions about broadcasting in general and KSTT in particular.
Over the summer, the music, contests, and Summer Fun Patrol continued as in the past. But in September, Rich created a promotion that caused great commotion. Called the Big Switch, it was set up as if KSTT was going to change its programming format. Production spots had listeners believe that the station was going to switch to country, classical, or even big-band music. Rich even ran promos including listeners’ speculation as to what was going to happen. In reality, the promotion was used to call attention to several minor format changes that included new jingles and an identity adjustment. The identity adjustment was a play on words. KSTT was now the station “KS…TT with Love.” But the Home of the Good Guys didn’t disappear; the Good Guys just “kissed” the listeners with 1170 love. The kissed-with-loveidentity opened up more opportunities for promotions and contests. Listeners applied the KS…TT window sticker to their vehicles and were asked to “spread the love” for chances to win prizes.
March 1971 brought an end to “Conversation with Ruth and Fred.” The show ran for 13 years; first known as “The Phone Show” hosted by Ken Draper, and since 1962, with Ruth and Fred Epstein. The program had covered a lot of ground over the years, bringing many issues to the forefront. The show got many potholes filled, but did much more than that. The Epstein’s had introduced some liberal points of view into the area’s normally conservative character, which perhaps got people to open their minds and at least consider those ideas. Fred noted, “I was especially proud of the work that I, Ruth, and the station did in the civil rights movement.” The modern-issue talk shows that proliferate on AM stations today are really nothing but extensions of what the Epstein’s began in 1962.
In June of 1972, Bobby Rich decided it was time for something new and left the station. Over the years, he brought higher ratings to stations wherever he stopped, and he has become a legend in the broadcast industry. Former KSTT sales manager Dan Olson noted, “During Bobby’s tenure at KSTT, ratings were incredible. Listeners really appreciated his talent, the talent he brought to the station, and what he did on the air.”
KSTT was still dominant in the ratings, but some of the familiar began to change. It seems nothing is forever and the station phased out the Good Guy identity. It hadn’t been used much in the previous few months, yet for 10 years KSTT and the Good Guys were synonymous. It had all started with the move to River Drive and the picture-window studio. It wasn’t just a radio studio. It was the Home of the Good Guys.
Back L-R: Mike Keneally, Jim O'Hara, Alan St. John & Spike O'Dell, Front: Michelle Coleman, Jay Gregory, Greg Garron, '74.But “Good Guy” radio was on its way to becoming a bit of nostalgia. Still, the station led the ratings. The news department still made headlines. One of its biggest stories was literally in its back yard; the Robin Hood Flour grain elevator blew up just two blocks away. Reporters ran back and forth all day and evening with reports.
And, a new announcer took KSTT by storm. Hired as the morning personality, Spike O’Dell quickly became one of the most popular in KSTT history. Listeners took to his humor, his infectious laughter, and the fact that he was “one of them.”
Program director Jim O’Hara created a new audio and visual identity for the station, as it would now be known as “Someplace Special.” The new visual identity incorporated the use of a rainbow in the KSTT logo, and rainbow stickers were everywhere. KSTT’s ratings were still at the top with great music and contests. But there was something else on the horizon for radio listeners – the emergence of FM and its better sound in stereo. Over time, more local stations were ramping up their FM frequencies with popular music. New FM stations began to appear as well, and KSTT’s audience began to be siphoned away. Over the course of the next 15 years, FM had succeeded in killing off KSTT.
By March of 1993, those illustrious call letters disappeared. Soon they were picked up by a station in sunny California and became an adult pop station. The west coast station uses the call letters sparingly, mostly calling itself “Coast FM.”
KSTT 1170 gave listeners many years of great music, personalities, news, sports, events, promotions, and contests. In addition, the Good Guys were helping listeners create memories, timeless recollections of where they were, what they were doing, or whom they were with as they heard a particular song, announcer, news report, contest, or jingle. Booty Bottles, Big Red, the Good Guys, Good Guy A-Go-Go, Remember When, and Someplace Special – all hold unique places in listener's minds.
It is doubtful that KSTT’s owners had any idea of what a legend “their” station would become in the history of local broadcasting. To them, it was a business, earning a living. To the thousands of listeners, it was entertainment, information, and memories.
Some materials found on this page were originally published by the following: Puget Sound Radio, KSTT Good Guys.
