Rock radio vet Paul Marshall’s arrival in Phoenix one year ago as PD signaled a new era for one of Rock radio’s most enduring and beloved brands and preceded the 40th Anniversary of the station’s existence. In those four decades KDKB has cemented itself as THE rock station of the southwest, and has seen many radio and music legends cross its threshold. We caught up with Paul as he prepares for another special 40th anniversary celebratory event and got the inside scoop on what they’re planning, where they’ve been, and where the station is heading.
By Mike Bacon
Paul Marshall’s passion for radio began in 1986 doing college radio just outside of Boston. Being an avid listener to such local stations as WBCN, WAAF, WGIR, andWHJY, his path to the mic quickly accelerated and landed him with his first paying gigsWZLX and WHEB. From there Neanderpaul, as his listeners affectionately know him, blazes a career path through WAAF, WMFS/Memphis WCKW/New Orleans,WEGE/Columbus, KRXQ/Sacramento, WBCN/Boston, KQRC/Kansas City and now his current radio home as PD/PM Drive host at Rock heritage stalwart KDKB/Phoenix.
His arrival one year ago marked his first stint in the hot seat as programmer – a seat he never really aspired to occupy but now fills out (and appreciates) quite nicely, thank you very much.
His arrival also coincided with the 40th Anniversary of one of Rock radio’s most enduring and beloved brands. In those four decades KDKB has cemented itself as THE rock station of the southwest, and has seen many radio and music legends cross its threshold.
We caught up with Paul as he prepares for another special 40th anniversary celebratory event and got the inside scoop on what they’re planning, where they’ve been, and where the station is heading.
KDKB is celebrating its 40th Anniversary this year. What was it like to come into to a station with that vast amount of heritage and sit in the PD chair in such a prestigious year?
The station was founded in 1971 by two Philly guys, Dwight Tindle and Eric Hauenstein, that loved what was happening at their hometown station, WMMR. Being extreme music enthusiasts (having both attended Woodstock separately), they wanted to create their own WMMR in the desert. They originally went to Colorado and discovered that there was a radio station out of Boulder that was already supplying Progressive Rock radio to the market, so they ended up here in Phoenix where there was an AM radio station KCAC that they bought which was an AC station, and something called Command Radio (KMND). After going back to Philadelphia and securing a loan (from a bank that no longer exists), KDKB was born.
They bought the radio station, set it up inside of a Safeway and basically took over the format in the market and changed what was going on here. At the time, Phoenix was a much smaller town than it is today, but the impact is cultural here. The arrival of KDKB is prominently featured in a PBS documentary about the history of the city. The station changed the radio landscape in the American Southwest. It’s pretty humbling to be sitting here in a building with the kind of history that it has.
It’s still vibrant and alive. There’s still passion for this radio station 40 years on. I imagine you’ll see that same kind of passion at WMMR, WRIF and all the great radio stations that have been around that long.
How has the station evolved over the past several years and since your arrival a year ago?
There has been some inconsistency. We had a great heritage morning show leave us. Around the same time I got here we hiredSludge, who was at Q101/Chicago and came in from Richmond. We’re building a brand new morning show at the same time we’re celebrating our 40th anniversary. The station has been stabilized. Over the last 5-10 years, a lot of radio stations have gone through an identity crisis with PPM and repositioning themselves to exist in that landscape. The good part about KDKB is that we’ve had the heritage so we can still play the Rolling Stones and Stone Sour and not have it sound out of place. We’ve really solidified that heritage of being Phoenix’s original Rock station. Before us there were none and after us there were a whole bunch.
Aside from mornings we have a market veteran in Ruby Cheeks in middays. She’s a total pro, one of the best in the business and has been holding down middays for nine years. She has been the foundation when there has been so much change in other dayparts. I am now sitting in afternoon drive, which is a beautiful place to be, considering some of the people that have been here like Doc Ellis and Eddie Webb… hell, Jessica Hahn worked at this radio station. This is the radio station that exploited Jessica Hahn back in the day when all others could have. And ya know what, I want to invite Jessica back for the alumni party we’re having in August. She has an open invitation.
We have a relatively inexperienced night guy in Mike Gaube who just has pipes from god and is getting better and better. We all fully understand and respect the history of this station in this market and want to bring it forward another 40 years.
Musically, as you said, KDKB can draw from a great many eras of Rock and Roll and embrace them all under the same umbrella…
We’re a mainstream Rock station, and mainstream mass acceptance, which means we draw the best from the heritage Rock world that you would expect, and we’re selective about that. We’re not a Classic Rock station, although we made those songs classic in this market. We were the place that Buckingham and Nicks were when they announced they were joining Fleetwood Mac. We were the place that broke Bruce Springsteen in the western United States. Alice Cooper has a working keycard to get in this radio station. So, of course, we have the equity to do play those records, but we also draw from the best of the Triple A world. We’ll play some Alternative stuff, from Sublime to Modern English. That’s the beauty of being a 40-year-old radio station: all of it came from us here first, so we can take what we want and play the best of the best. In the PPM world, that’s the recipe for success. Find the hits, play the hits, and play them again.
What are some of the things the station is doing to celebrate its 40th?
Every concert that comes through Phoenix is part of the 93.3 KDKB 40th Anniversary Concert Series. We can brand everything that makes sense for this radio station as part of that concert series, and thankfully the guys at Bud Light have stepped up as sponsors, so we’re able to generate revenue from that.
Back in the ‘70s, Rock stations all had a mascot, WMMR was the monkey, WMMSwas the buzzard, at WAAF it was the giraffe, we had the KDKB Carrot. Don’t ask me why. I think it was one of the original owners favorite vegetables, and they called it 24-carat Rock. So we have a giant radio mascot that looks like Jabba the Radio Guy that we brought back and put on t-shirts, and they have been flying out the door. We’re doing specific runs of different mascot-like imagery and merchandise we’ve had over the years as part of the celebration.
As far as anniversary concerts, we’re doing several different shows on several different levels. We just had Motley Crue (who are celebrating their 30th anniversary) andPoison (celebrating their 25th) and the New York Dolls (who are celebrating their 40th) all in for a show that went really well. We gave away a ton of tickets on the air and it was a blast.
We have an entire history section up on our web site (www.KDKB.com) and posting audio vignettes of every year that KDKB has been on the air. Long time staffer D McBnarrates the presentation, highlighting things such as the station’s 1976 Peabody Award (which I’m told is a rare thing for a Rock station), and all the best moments of the station’s 40-year history. We have a line set up where listeners can reach out share their best memories on voicemail and we will put them into our imaging throughout the day.
What’s planned for August, the actual anniversary month?
August was the month the station was launched and we’re setting up an alumni week where we’ve invited former staff members to come in and share their memories and do tandem shows with the current airstaff. They can all talk about what KDKB meant to them, their careers and their history. It’s amazing how many people that used to work here still have passion for the radio station. There are a lot of places you go and work and it’s just a job, but there are certain places that stick out. Former staffers still keep in touch and check in on the station and the things we are doing today. They will all be invited back to a party in August as well, the 40th Anniversary Alumni Reunion Show, with Phoenix natives The Tubes on hand to perform.
On a day-in and day-out basis, what are some of the things KDKB does that you’d consider benchmark?
It’s always very fluid. Every on-air feature, requests, lunch shows, and all the typical things you’d hear on a good Rock station, work very well. We actually do have requests and we open the phone lines up to listeners to put music on the air. Sludge is establishing his presence here and he’s done the Sludge-a-thon charity marathon broadcast that he has done in other markets, and the Show Us Your Cans Food Drive is coming soon.
We’ve really tried to do some community based things, and do them as they arise. Recently a transformer blew out locally and knocked out power to like 100,000 people, and as a result, police officers were sent out in the 116-degree heat for traffic duty. So I sent our guy out with cases and cases of water to distribute to all the officers just to say thanks. The radio station has always had big community involvement, and not being owned by a big corporation has afforded us the opportunity to be flexible and actionable very quickly.
One of the mistakes we make in radio, is we can’t dictate what the audience wants. We have to listen to what they want, and then serve them. And that’s one of beauties of radio, is that we have the ability to be instantly interactive. It was the first social network.
What are your thoughts on stations developing their brand across multiple media platforms and competing for attention with a multitude of consumer entertainment options?
Well you have to fish where the fish are. That’s just reality. We’re really no longer just a radio station; we’re a content station. Everything we do has to be tied into our Web site, Facebook page, Twitter. All of those things are marketing tools to be taken advantage of, especially in challenging economic times. Listening to radio is a choice, and you must choose to accommodate them by reaching them the way they wish to be reached. Whether it’s streaming, mobile apps, or social networks, you have to deliver meaningful content and get your message out there. Our job is to be heard. There are those that say the ROI of streaming your signal is minimal. That’s an Arbitron vs. the industry question that is handled by somebody with a much higher pay grade than me. I still think the two most important things in radio are what comes out of your speakers, and making people aware of what comes out of your speakers. Everything after that is gravy. If you have a great product, let people know you have a great product and use whatever avenue out there to spread that message. We’re carnival barkers. We’re ringleaders. We invite people in the door.
[eQB Content by Mike Bacon]
