It was in early 1958 that St. Louis, MO-based Balaban Broadcasting made application to the FCC to purchase KGKO. The company owned several broadcasting properties including prestigious WIL radio station in St. Louis; WRIT, Milwaukee; WICS-TV, Springfield, IL and WTVO-TV, Rockford, IL. The company was headed by movie mogul Barney Balaban, who was later president of Paramount Pictures.
It was on July 14, 1958 that Balaban purchased KGKO from Lakewood Broadcasting Company and the station became another property in the Balaban group ownership. The KGKO call letters were dissolved and the FCC approved new call letters for the station. Balaban paid Lakewood Broadcasters $450,000 for the station. KBOX was born.
Dan Ingram in September, 1959.
"John was a master manipulator. He would tell (national sales manager) Stan Kaplan a different story than he would tell me about the same event or person. He inspired passionate loyalties, particularly among women who worked for him, and, it seemed to me, they would do anything he asked. Irene Runnels was certainly one of these."
"He would micromanage the smallest details, right down to whether two commercials should have run in the same half-hour, and yet he would delegate some big operational change to me or someone else, write a memo delegating the change, and leave town during the change."
"I'd say he was an expert at keeping people off balance and he did it as a matter of course. If he called a meeting, everybody would gather, and he would enter last and sit down, shooting his cuffs and looking around at everybody without saying anything. You froze--with the prospect that he might fire a question--slowly and directly--at you in the hushed room of his loyal followers."
"John Box was truly impressive--and mysterious--and larger than life."
Previously, the KBOX calls had been used for most of the 1950s at an unrelated Modesto, California station.
KBOX was established in a building at 9900 McCree Road, near White Rock Lake, or about a mile from the famous Dallas landmark, Flagpole Hill. The building sat on the crest of a small hill and was accessed by a long, tree-lined driveway that extended from McCree to the radio station parking lot. The studios were to the east of the juncture of McCree, Audelia Road and Mockingbird Lane (later Forestridge.) During the early 1960s, the location would be referred to as “Radio Park” and all mail-in promotions were posted to the address, “KBOX, Radio Park, Dallas 18, Texas.”
On the right, above the two turntables, were four Gates cartridge machines from which commercials were played. Remote buttons mounted on the desktop in front of the DJ were used to activate the four cart machines.
Directly in front of the announcer, and resting on top of the control board, was a ring binder notebook that contained live spot announcements, and to the left of that was a bulletin board onto which material for other live announcements by the DJ could be attached.
Located behind the DJ, to the left, was a large Lazy Susan wire cartridge rack that contained the station’s spot announcements that had been prerecorded for playback on the air.
The KBOX prerecorded jingles and news intro and outros were permanently situated into the 10-stack MacKenzie unit that was location across the room behind the DJ as he faced the control board.
The MacKenzie Repeater played an integral part in KBOX’s on-air sound. The machines were used by many Top 40 radio stations in the late 1950s and the early 1960s before the continuous loop cart machines became standard equipment.
The unit at KBOX was activated with remote control buttons that also were mounted on the control board desk in front of the DJ. The news outro also could be started with a remote control button in the newsroom as the newsman segued out of his newscast back to the DJ-controlled music in the control room.
The MacKenzie unit was used by KBOX in the late 50s and early 60s in assembling heavily-produced, live on-air newscasts that featured dramatic music beds, downsweeps, tones and beeps and other sound effects over the incessant, continual sound of live newsroom teletype machines as the fast-paced newscast was delivered by the newsman.
The MacKenzie unit employed tape that was installed in a metal magazine that rested on a deck that was secured with thumbscrews. Loosening the screw allowed the deck gate to swing open for access to the tape contained inside.
It utilized one-quarter inch magnetic tape in continuous loops. The “cueing” of individual cuts on each loop was accomplished by placing adhesive foil strips on the tape. The foil strips stopped the tape when it was finished playing, thus “cueing” it and readying it at the beginning for the next air play.
The unique playback machine was invented by Louis G. MacKenzie, and it allowed early-day Top 40 radio stations to air heavily-produced newscasts that became a trademark of the fast-paced rock-n-roll programming of that era and used until the standard cart machine with continuous loop was invented. But even after the cart machine was developed, purchased and installed at KBOX, the station continued to depend upon its MacKenzie unit.
Through the front doors, visitors entered into a reception area that led directly ahead to the sales manager’s office. To the right front, on the northeast side of the building, was the office of the general manager, and adjacent to it, on the back, northwest end of the building, was the program director’s office. Bob Whitney explains: "The KBOX reception desk was right inside the front door and behind it, a small office where Irene (Runnels) ran things. We had a manager, but Irene was the real administrator and had a secret kind of power because--everyone knew--she was John Box's eyes and ears." Indeed, Irene had a certain pull with the boss, and it has been rumored that the relationship may have gone deeper than many thought...but this is unproven conjecture at this point! Irene lived a mere three blocks from the station, and was a regular hostess of station parties and get-togethers.
From the reception area, to the left, a long hallway bisected the building and other areas of the radio station were accessed from this centralized hallway. To the left, along the front (or east) side of the building, were a snack and break room, separate restrooms for men and women, the newsroom and the control room in the southeast corner of the building. Bob Whitney explains: "To the left of the air studio was the world's smallest news studio, looking through the glass at the jock. In the hall were a coffee urn and the EMT--an eight-foot long box about 14 inches wide and about five feet tall--along the right wall. This was our reverb unit. It had been installed by John, and a similar unit was installed in (our) St. Louis (station.)"
Four windows in the newsroom faced the parking lot and the windows in the control room and the production room, at the south end of the building, allowed views of an open field.
Along the back, west side of the building, from the sales manager’s office, were the traffic manager’s office, storage room, the music library and the production room, in the southwest corner of the building, across the hall from the control room. Windows in the offices of the traffic manager faced west toward the juncture of McCree/Audelia/Forestridge.
Windows on the north side of the building allowed a view of another part of the KBOX property including the driveway that linked McCree Road to the parking lot. The exterior appearance of the building was further complimented by a variety of trees and shrubbery.
On the outside west wall at the north end of the building, the “KBOX” call letters were mounted white letters that were clearly visible to motorists and passerbys.
On the opposite side of the parking lot, across from the studios, was a walkway that led to the transmitter building and large, open field bordered by McCree and Aldwick drives, and on which were located the station’s four towers. Tower one was closer to the transmitter and studio buildings, tower two was further northeast and nearer to McCree Road, and towers three and four were situated near Aldwick Drive, which bordered the KBOX property on the east.
The biggest change Balaban made after it took control of the radio station involved the format. The all-new KBOX became a Top 40 station that quickly became one of the leaders in the genre of the era that featured fast-paced rock-n-roll music interspersed with cleverly-produced PAMS jingles and on-the-hour and half-hour newscasts (later scheduled at :25 and :55 past the hour) delivered staccato-style and showcased with sound effects that were coordinated, in part, with KBOX’s MacKenzie repeater. Another major change at the station was the level of talent. Bob Whitney explains: "John brought a number of his Phoenix gang with him to St. Louis and Dallas. Rob Robbins and Johnny McKinney in Dallas, Jack Carney and Dick Clayton, I believe, to St. Louis. My job was to change these guys or get rid of them while John remained the good guy. They resisted a lot because John's approach had been what we later would call 'personality MOR' (with some early rock,) and what was now needed in all three markets (it was thought) was free-wheeling, high-energy Top 40 represented by jocks like my 'hooligans': Big Dan (Ingram,) Jerry Clemmons, Pat Hughes, Johnny Borders, Roger Barkley and Chuck Benson, along with our promotional approach."
The DJs in the KBOX control room sat at a desk in front of a nine-channel Gates control board. There were three large Gates turntables, two on the right and one on the left. The turntables were started and stopped with remote control toggle switched that were nothing more than standard household light switches that had been secured onto the side of the cabinets onto which the turntables were mounted. The switches were at waist level as the DJ sat in the chair in front of the control board.
Dave Tucker explains how KBOX's famous reverb effect was achieved: "It was called the 'Fisher Space Expander,' operated by a foot pedal under the control board desk. When I got there, I noticed this pedal pushed up under the desk, and someone recalled that it was once used for a reverb unit. I started playing around with it, found that it still worked perfectly, and worked it into my show. It soon became a regular part of the KBOX sound again!"
Programming a Top 40 station in the same town as formidable competitor KLIF was no easy task. KBOX had to carve its own niche to grab listeners away from KLIF. Longtime KBOX fan and historian Gary McBrayer explains: “Starting with a 2 share in July of 1958, by the spring of 1960, KBOX’s audience had grown to shares of 25 and 26, just behind KLIF’s now 28 to 30 shares. KBOX billed itself as ‘The Dallas Tiger’ and ‘the most exciting station in the nation,” and it sure sounded like it. The station used every gimmick and sound effect in the book. It ran the melody, ‘We’re from Big D, my oh yes!’ behind the jocks anytime the mic was open.”
The KBOX Good Guys L-R: Jack West (Schell,) Ken Scott, Sam Pate, Ron Rice, Ron Jenkins (McAlister,) and Bill WardGary McBrayer shares his impressions of KBOX as a dedicated listener: "I vividly remember the first time I heard 'Wonderful K-Box in Dallas.' My family had recently moved back to Texas after a three-year hiatus on Long Island, and I had just received my first 'All-Transistor' radio as a birthday gift. Anxious to try it out, I started at the right side of the dial and never made it past the first station. There he was at 1480 on the dial, Dan Ingram! I had never heard anyone like him before on the radio. He made everything else on the air sound like it was being broadcast at slow speed. From the music, to the commercials, to the contests, to the jingles, to Dan's one-liners, over, under and around everything, it was incredible. I was mesmerized.
"'Wonderful K-Box' became my constant companion in 1959. From the Ingram Mess in the morning, to the Benson Blast after school, and the Night Creature, Bil Holley, in the evening, 1480, 'Tiger Radio,' and the Silver Dollar Survey were always on. I went on a tour of the Radio Park studios and met my heroes Pat Hughes, Chuck Benson and Bill Holley. Life was good!
"At that time, the station was a bundle of fast-paced, high-energy entertainment. The contests and promotions were constant...the Secret Household Object, Lucky License Plate, Kid's Club, Name it and Claim It, the Two Million Dollar Dallas Dream, the Battle of the Bands at Yello-Belly Drag Strip, the Community Club Awards...all promoted around the PAMS jingles using the 'Wonderful K-Box in Dallas' logo, time tones, reverb and echo.
"The station had an iconoclastic sound and spirit all its own. Sure, some of my friends still listened to KLIF, but I couldn't imagine why."
By late 1961 and early 1962, several of the station's major personalities had moved on. Dan Ingram had given way to the 'Morning Mayor,' Jerry Clemmons, who in turn gave way to Tom Murphy. The 'Round Mound of Sound,' Chuck Dunaway, was now in afternoon drive, replacing Chuck Benson, and Jack O'Day had replaced the 'Night Creature' in the evening.
"I can't exactly say when I felt the station began to lose some of its flair and forward momentum," says Gary McBrayer, "but have always pointed to the departure of Chuck Dunaway to the arch-enemy, KLIF, as the beginning. By 1961, KLIF seemed to wake up to the fact that the little 5,000-watter north of White Rock Lake was a very serious competitor. KLIF began using the PAMS jingle packages, and, with the pairing of Charlie Brown and Irving Harrigan in the morning, the 'Weird Beard,' Russ Knight, in the evening, and now Chuck Dunaway in the afternoons, KLIF had a powerful roster of talent. K-Box still had some great personalities: 'Super Cooper' middays, Ken Dowe (later to become McLendon's national PD) and Gary Mack (who, in 1965, became an original KHJ-Los Angeles 'Boss Jock') in the afternoons, Tom Murphy and 'Emperor' Bill Ward in the morning, Bobby 'Wild Child' Brock in the evening, and 'The West Side Story All Night' with Jack West (later a popular personality under his real name, Jack Schell, at KVIL.) However, the station seemed to lose some of its on-air edge and spirit.
Gary continues: "One of K-Box's lowest points during the 1963-64 period was its late response to Beatlemania and the British Invasion phenomena sweeping the country. While the station played the music, it never seemed to jump on the promotional bandwagon the way its competitor KLIF did. Like many stations around the country, it brought in a British voice on staff for a few months, but KBOX never became identified as 'The Beatles Station' (no 'K-Beatle-O-X here!) and KLIF all but stole the Beatles' live appearance in Dallas in September of 1964. The group was supposed to be introduced by a team of jocks from both stations, but instead, Charlie and Harrigan and Jimmy Rabbitt ran onto the stage and announced, 'KLIF is proud to present The Beatles!' Suddenly, the most important appearance by a rock-n-roll band in Dallas' history had become KLIF's event."
"Not until the arrival of the 'Jolley Green Giant,' Frank Jolle, in January of 1965, did K-Box seem to regain some of its fight. Jolle was a crazy man at night, and the kids loved it. He and Jimmy Rabbitt were major competitors for the evening audience, and, at least in my school, it was Jolle that everyone seemed to talk about and listen to. With the arrival of Dan Patrick, the former Charlie Brown of KLIF in 1964-65, and Joe Long, doing news with 'the voice of God,' both in morning drive, did KBOX seem to regain its old form by January, 1966."
Former KBOX jock Dave Tucker recalls Frank Jolle's popularity with listeners: "There was a tree at the back corner of the KBOX property, and this became a hangout for station 'groupies'...many of them young girls, who would gather under the tree, radios blaring with KBOX, and were in view of the windows on the west side of the building...so the jocks were well-aware of them. Frank Jolle seemed to have the most groupies, attracting a small crowd under the tree every evening."
And KLIF was in transition at the time. Gary McBrayer continues: "KBOX also benefited from a series of changes at KLIF. Ron Chapman (Irving Harrigan) left the station in May, 1965 for WFAA-Channel 8 [Chapman hosted "Sump'n Else," "The Group and Harrigan"/"The Group and Chapman" and a local game show, "Away We Go," for WFAA between 1965-68.] After a series of various Charlie and Harrigans, the station tried to rekindle the magic of the original with the return of the first Charlie Brown, Jack Woods, but the Dan Patrick/Joe Long combination at KBOX beat the latest C&H reincarnation. Ken Dowe, who had returned to Dallas to do afternoon drive at KLIF in 1964, left for Cincinnati, and, with Jimmy Rabbitt moved to afternoon drive, Frank Jolle owned the evenings. With Ron Rice (and later Dave Tucker) and Bill Ward in middays, and the return of Bill Holley (the former 'Night Creature,') KBOX had a very powerful lineup.
"The station became more aggressive with its promotions. It co-promoted concerts by Herman's Hermits, the Mamas and Papas, and Paul Revere and the Raiders. Their promotion of the Hermits concert was so successful that pictures from the group's studio appearance at Radio Park appeared on the back of the group's 'On Tour' release in 1965. The 'Good Guys,' as the KBOX jocks were now known, did regular appearances at K-Box-sponsored weekend dances and charity basketball games. In 1966, the station promoted its own oldies collection, 'The KBOX Dusty Discs,' and produced a very slick weekly 'Forty From the Top' record survey.
However, the changes at KBOX weren't enough. Gary continues: "The owners wanted more, and as PD Bill Ward stated in Billboard Magazine, it was a drag being viewed as the #2 rocker in town. In an effort to make the station more attractive for a potential buyer, the station pondered changing to a country and western format."
But KBOX's Top 40 presence was indeed noticed by others: Nighttime personality Frank Jolle, who served as music director for most of the mid-1960s, was selected Music Director of the Year for 1966 by Billboard Magazine.
NEWSROOM
Equipment in the newsroom included a Gates control board, a microphone, and Magnacorders onto which news story actualities were recorded and then played back during newscasts, and a two-way radio in which to communicate with KBOX Mobile News Units which were in the field covering live, developing news stories. Teletype machines delivering the latest in national and world news were nearby and could be quickly accessed by the newsman on duty.
Remote control buttons on the newsroom desk enabled the newsman to activate the KBOX news intro and outro tapes, particularly the news closing, which he could start at will, thus making the transition from the newsroom back to music from the control room tighter.
The news intro and outro tapes were permanently mounted into the 10-stack MacKenzie repeater and the AM control room, as were the jingles that were played by the DJs.
In addition to the sound effects used to produce the news, along with the sound of the live teletype machines running in the background, KBOX news stories for years were separated by a “beep-beep-beep” sound that was accomplished with a teletype key that was geared to a single frequency oscillation, and activated by the newsman for a bridge and separator as he segued from story to story throughout the newscast.
Gary McBrayer explains some of the intricacies of the KBOX news product: “One of the most memorable signatures of the station was its ‘Action Central News, alive at :55.’ Every story was read as if the fate of the world was hanging on a thread. The entire newscast was scored with dramatic sound effects, buzzers and music. At the end of the newscast, after the “electronic weather,’ a very British-sounding announcer would come on and say, ‘At the tone, KBOX muuuuusic.’”
The KBOX news department operated mobile news units that could be driven to remote locations by newsmen who would report back live on the air about developing house fires, liquor store robberies, murders and assaults.
Bill Ward with a KBOX Mobile Unit, 1965.The dramatic, highly-produced newscasts that were a signature of KBOX in the late 1950s and the early 1960s, were tempered a bit and brought to a more conservative level (as far as use of sound effects and music in the news were concerned) in to the mid-1960s.
Legendary Dallas radio newsman Joe Long, news director at KLIF, eventually moved to KBOX as news director through the latter part of the 1960s and into the 1970s.
Blessed with a deep, rich voice, Long commanded the respect of colleagues and radio listeners as well, drawn to his news reports with the same enthusiasm that attracted them to KBOX’s unique, Top 40 programming. Joe recorded KBOX’s news intro and closing that were used at length during the late 1960s. Recorded over a melodramatic news jingle, when listeners heard the words: “F-Y-I…For your information…here is KBOX News…” they listened intently. Another KBOX newsman who was a standard fixture at the station was Glenn Sims, whose radio news voice and delivery style also commanded the attention of listeners.
KBOX, unlike most AM stations, didn't clamor to be the flagship of a local high school, college or professional team. However, for one season in 1960, KBOX was the original flagship station for the NFL's new franchise team, the Dallas Cowboys. Frank Glieber held announcing duties. This arrangement only lasted one year, however, as KLIF won the broadcast rights in 1961. They carried the Cowboys games on 1190 until the 1972 season, when KRLD took them over.
The winds of change were in the air in the summer of 1966 at KBOX. It had been mentioned that perhaps a change in format would enhance and increase KBOX’s audience numbers. Bill Ward was program director at the station at the time and was one of those who came to the conclusion that the Top 40 format was wrong for the station, and that a format change should be considered. He favored country music.
John Box had left Balaban earlier and Irene Runnels had remained as general manager. Box was replaced at KBOX by a Balaban investor, Leo Letterer, who took charge of the station. Letterer came to KBOX from the Atlanta Brewing Company and he brought no broadcasting experience to the position.
Letterer met first with Runnels, who told him she opposed a format change. She very much wanted the station to remain Top 40. Consultant Bill Hudson of Nashville, TN was brought in by Balaban to help Runnels with the conversion. A new program director, Jack Gardiner, came on board to craft a country music format for KBOX.
It was inevitable. A legendary Top 40 broadcasting era in Dallas radio history was about to come to an end.
Bill Ward today still remembers it being an emotional issue, understandably, especially for Irene. But he still maintains that he was looking at the issue from a practical standpoint.
“The Top 40 formula just simply was not working for us and I felt that we should try something else,” Ward said, noting at the time the DFW radio market had no full-time country station. “KPCN in Grand Prairie was a daytime-only operation and was the only station in the market that was playing country music, and I believe we made the right decision then, and I believe today that we made the right decision…it was just simply a matter of practicality.”
Allan Peck describes other aspects of the change in format: "In 1967, country music was showing nationwide growth, and KBOX changed the format to country. For many years, KBOX was THE highest-rated country station in the US."
The KBOX news department remained with the same staff following the format change, but virtually all of the DJ staff, except for Bill and Ron Rice, departed immediately. Nighttime disc jockey Frank Jolle relocated to WKBW in Buffalo, NY, then returned to Dallas soon thereafter to jock at KVIL. Dave Tucker describes the meeting between Balaban's consultant and the Top 40 jocks, in preparation for the looming format change: "The consultant told us that our image as disc jockeys under the new format would be that of 'country boy come-to-town.' I could tell by the expression on the others' faces that few were interested in staying on."
Balaban operated KBOX for eight months after the country music format was adopted. The station was acquired by Group One Broadcasting of Texas on August 1, 1967.
January 24, 1967 will remain burned into the memories of thousands of diehard KBOX Top 40 listeners. It was on that day when the pop music ended at KBOX and a legendary era in Dallas broadcasting history came to a close. For those loyal fans who loved KBOX for its unique, Top 40 sound and its special meaning to them individually, it was a day of emotional culture shock. There was shock, dismay, sadness.
Gary McBrayer explains about the final hours: "The final, live on-air jock at K-Box as a Top 40 station was Bill Holley, the same 'Night Creature' from 1959. I visited Bill at the station that final night. He handed me my own souvenirs from K-Box as a Top 40 station--practically the entire collection of "Forty from the Top" survey 45 RPM records. He had to play mostly 'Dusty Discs' during the final hour of the show, as I had walked out of the station with most of the current playlist 10 minutes earlier! His final record, 'Hillbilly Heaven' by Tex Ritter, was a not-too-subtle editorial of what he thought of the format change to take place the next day. The final 'on-tape' Top 40 jock was Dan Patrick."
It was shortly before noon that day when prerecorded DJ Dan Patrick played the last Top 40 song ever broadcast on KBOX. Donovan’s “Sunshine Superman” was started at 11:53AM and led into Glenn Sims’ newscast at 11:55.
At high noon came the station ID, “K-B-O-X, Dallas.”
September 1975KBOX-FM signed on at 100.3 mHz on December 25, 1965. Balaban had applied for the license in 1962, but didn’t get the station on the air until nearly four years later. Longtime host of KRLD’s “Music Till Dawn,” Hugh Lampman, helped put the station together and was an original employee. KBOX-FM was kept separate from KBOX-AM, and had studios located briefly at McCree, then relocated in 1966 to the penthouse of a luxury high-rise condominium complex at 6211 W. Northwest Highway #2906, about 5 miles from the AM studios. The FM’s transmitter was located atop the high-rise. It was formatted with “Beautiful Music,” and never simulcasted the AM side’s programming. It was carefully identified as “K-B-O-X” and never “K-Box.” The station broadcasted from 6AM to midnight. In 1969, the AM studios at 9900 McCree were enlarged to accommodate the FM station, and the transmitter was relocated to Cedar Hill.
The separation of the AM and FM stations was further enhanced by a call letter change in 1973 to KTLC ("Tender Loving Care,") and then to KMEZ ("EZ-100") in 1976. KBOX aired its last broadcast Nov. 14, 1982, as sister KBOX-AM would assume the FM's call letters and format and become KMEZ-AM. The Highland Hills subdivision has replaced all traces of the building and its four lofty transmission towers.
