Sam Bass has made it a habit to defy the odds.  Thirty-seven years into his on-air radio career, he says he is at the top of his game, still successfully satisfying the soft-rock needs of women between 35 and 44- years old with that rich, inimitable voice.  And he’s still broadcasting from the KYXY station in Linda Vista where he heralded the beginning of a new “eclectic” format in 1978. 

What’s even more impressive and more important, the mellow-toned mid-day personality refused to let throat cancer rob him of his career or his life.  He battled that beast in 1997, re-training his on-air voice after radiation, and never losing ground in his work, never giving up his iconic role at the station. 

To some listeners, Sam Bass is KYXY radio, which makes the New York state native proud and very grateful. 

“There are a lot more talented and hard-working people than I who are no longer in the business,” says Bass.  “I credit my long career to luck!  I found the perfect fit – this station and myself.”

Luck may be a factor, but Bass is also devoted to his craft. After years on the air, he joined Toastmasters for a decade, determined to improve his already-proficient delivery. And rather than resist change, he has always happily flowed with it, embracing new technology in the business and staying in touch with the trends his audience loves.  Perhaps what is most telling is that the radio veteran spends time each week with his program director Charlie Quinn, who expertly reviews his air checks. 

“He keeps me sharp,” explains Bass.

“He has the work ethic of someone who is hungry to achieve,” says Quinn. “He is unlike so many people I’ve met with his experience and background, who always pine for the past.  Sam is definitely living in the now and he knows that by staying current he stays relevant.  He sees a future and sees something to reach for.  That to me, and to everyone at the station, is so valuable.”

Bass brings another unique dimension to his role each day. He’s as interested in the advertising strength of radio as much as he is in the music.  He is known for his award-winning ad-lib endorsements.

“I’ve always been intrigued by advertising,” explains Bass, “ever since I read the Man in the Gray Flannel Suit in the fifth grade!  And I prefer to do ads for products and people I know. It makes it so much easier when I have a personal relationship with the client.”  

He loves working with a live audience on the station’s many remote broadcasts, and he is equally happy to represent KYXY emceeing events for charities including the March of Dimes and the American Cancer Society. “When you’re blessed to be able to do what you love, especially in a market like San Diego, you have to give back.”

From his place behind the microphone, Bass has watched five different owners make their mark on the station.  He believes he and the others he works with are in the best hands possible now.

“KYXY is one of the most together stations in San Diego, still firing on all cylinders, and still featuring live personalities or announcers around the clock.”

Bass laughs as he adds, “When we first started, we were considered trailblazers in the local industry by not sticking to a specific genre of songs. People would say, ‘they’re playing a Beatles song right after Willie Nelson!  Those guys don’t know what they’re doing!’  Now that’s the standard on most stations.” 

It’s obvious that Bass has known and enjoyed what he’s doing for a long time.  As a child, he loved the family radio for being the unifier in the house he shared with his parents and Dutch grandparents.  And he was mesmerized by radio transmitters.  His father, a television engineer, tried to talk him out of pursing a disk-jockey’s life, knowing how people come and go so quickly in the entertainment industry.  But Bass’s passion prevailed, and the people at KYXY and its loyal listeners are happy that is the case.

“My goal is to make the listener feel more positive, more happy, less afraid,” says Bass.  “I know it’s a tall order in this world, but it’s definitely worth shooting for.”

Posted under In the Spotlight

Her title is Community Affairs Director for KLNV, La Nueva106.5 and KLQV, Recuerdo 102.9, but “Goodwill Ambassador” more accurately describes the role that Mery Lopez-Gallo has carved out for herself at Univision’s two San Diego radio stations. What started out as a job translating and writing copy has grown into a phenomenal link with the public, turning radio listeners into loyal fans and giving the stations undeniable credibility among the local Hispanic population.

Putting it very simply, Lopez-Gallo takes her job to heart, and reaches out to community members any way she can.  In her popular thirty-minute Sunday morning program, “De Viva Voz”, she presents timely and important topics that affect the well-being of her listeners. It’s a platform where the vivacious producer and host discusses issues with Hispanic leaders from both sides of the border – topics ranging from legal aid and bi-national health week to alcoholism among single moms, domestic violence, and the significance of the 2010 census. Past interviewees include Ambassador Jeffrey Davidow, former Secretary of the U.S. Army Louis Caldera, and first Latina to be appointed 41st Treasurer Rosario Marin.

Off the air, Lopez-Gallo, a former president of the Tourist Bureau in Rosarito Beach, becomes even more involved with the stations’ fans, attending countless community events each year, speaking to students at high schools and colleges and often helping to raise money for worthy causes including St. Jude’s Research Hospital.  Since 2000, she has seen Univision’s San Diego audiences donate more than $1.3-million dollars for research in annual radiothons aired on the sister stations.

“Yes, Latinos do donate money to an organization in Memphis!” she laughs. “They understand that what happens at St. Jude’s could one day benefit their own children here at Rady Children’s Hospital.”

Lopez-Gallo’s work hasn’t gone unnoticed by others in the industry. In 2008, she received KPBS’ Local Hero Award for “her commitment to community activism.”  She has won several Achievement in Radio Awards from the March of Dimes and San Diego Radio Broadcasters Association and has received a national MADD Media Award. She is especially proud to be part of a special council to the Institute of Mexicans Abroad – an honorary role, she explains, where she is the ears and eyes of Mexican officials in the San Diego-Tijuana Border Region.

Despite the recognition she’s earned, Lopez-Gallo’s greatest satisfaction comes from using her considerable influence and connections to overcome the problems of individuals. 

“The best part of my job is my ability to have a one-on-one relationship with our listeners,” she says in her very earnest manner.  “When they call us and confide in us and share their personal struggles, I love to do whatever I can to correct the situation.”

She helps in cases of domestic violence, with mothers unable to cross the border to see the children they’ve left behind in Mexico, with health and insurance issues, and with educational roadblocks.  She doesn’t hesitate to pick up the phone and call someone she knows in San Diego or Tijuana, at agencies, non-profit groups, private companies or even the offices of the Mexican Consulate.  A citizen of Mexico and the United States who has always lived between the two countries, she thrives on cutting through red tape for others and celebrates the fact that her own life is enriched by two cultures. 

“I don’t understand why more people don’t value our location to Mexico,” says the mother of two daughters.  “We are living in a wonderful place in the world that offers so many cultural opportunities. Our economies are interdependent and what happens on one side of the border will affect the other side.”

Lopez-Gallo became interested in a radio career after she married her husband, architect Eugenio Velazquez, and had her first child.  She attended the now defunct San Diego School of Broadcasting, held a brief on-air job in Tijuana, then heard about a job at what was then the Heftel radio stations on Broadway in San Diego. The stations later became the Hispanic Broadcasting Company and were purchased by Univision Radio in 2005.

“I’ve worked for three different companies in the same building with the same boss for 11 years,” says Lopez-Gallo.  The “boss” is Univision Senior Vice-President, Western Regional Manager and San Diego General Manager Peter Moore, the man who originally hired her and later asked her to find someone to host the community affairs show he planned to launch.

“I went back to him and told him I was going to host the show,” she laughs.  “He told me he would give me three months to prove myself.”

“Mery is often my representative and the face of Univision in the community,” says Moore.  “She gives so much and brings so much to her role.  She is the best community affairs person I’ve known because she pushes me and everyone else with a gentle arm.” 

At home Lopez-Gallo uses that same skill to encourage her 15 and 12-year-old daughters to help those who are less fortunate. “I have taught them that if they can’t give money to help those in need then they can go to the Blood Bank and donate there.  Parents need to have conversations with their children and take them to a blood drive.  When you’re no longer here, those things will make a difference to your kids.”  

For now, a big portion of San Diego’s Hispanic community is paying attention to what Univision and its Community Affairs Director have to say because they have demonstrated their understanding and caring.  Lopez-Gallo says she has hopes of expanding her role as a radio producer and possibly creating an immigration show.

“It makes me so sad when I hear people say that Mexicans want to take advantage of resources in this country,” she says.  “The people I come across want nothing more than to stay here and learn how to navigate our systems so they can be self-sufficient.  I want to help them make that happen.”

Given her track record, there’s no question Lopez-Gallo will accomplish all that she hopes to, on the air and off.

Posted under In the Spotlight

California is one of 41 states that allows taxpayers to make a voluntary contribution to a range of causes when completing and filing their yearly state tax return. Since 1984, California’s tax check-off program has raised over $89 million and provided critical funding to public health, social service, and environmental protection programs.

The California Society of Certified Public Accountants (CalCPA) signed on as the new title sponsor for the campaign in 2010.

California taxpayers and tax preparers have embraced the tax check-off program.  The tax-deductible contributions, which average $12 per taxpayer, have added up to make a significant difference in the health and well-being of Californians, especially those in need.  Last year’s total giving was up 23% vs 2008, and up 21% in total number of donors. The check-off line item appears under “contributions” on the California state tax return.

Checkoff California Funds

• Alzheimer’s Disease/Related Disorders Fund
• California Fund for Senior Citizens
• Rare and Endangered Species Preservation Program
• State Children’s Trust Fund for the Prevention of Child Abuse
• California Breast Cancer Research Fund
• California Firefighters’ Memorial Fund
• Emergency Food for Families Fund
• California Military Family Relief Fund
• California Sea Otter Fund
• ALS/Lou Gehrig’s Disease Research Fund

 For more information, please go to www.checkoffcalifornia.org

Posted under In the Spotlight

When Jesse Lozano walks into the Clear Channel Radio office in San Diego on a January morning, he is greeted with hugs, handshakes and smiles. His radio family genuinely misses him now that he divides his air time between San Diego’s Channel 93.3 and Los Angeles’ KIIS FM 102.7. He holds down the afternoon drive slot at the California stations and one in Phoenix, too. It’s a career the Escondido native could only dream of in 1999, when he was a 19-year-old intern at 93.3, sorting CD’s, stapling papers and washing and driving the company van. He had a gift for speaking in front of crowds and entertaining throughout his school years. When he arrived at the station while a student at Palomar College, he knew he had found what he wanted to do.

But Lozano never missed a beat – on air or off. In addition to his weekday show, he has a weekend show that’s syndicated in 80 markets. He says there are two things that have made him a success. ”The first thing is my daughter. The second is my theory that all you have to do is work harder than the person at work who’s working the hardest. That way you sit at the top of everyone’s list.”

While he’s made a name for himself on the airways as Boy Toy Jesse, his title of Dad is the one he values most. Seven-year-old Savannah has spent nearly half of her life growing up in radio stations, at first as a baby sleeping under the audio board while her father was on air, and now, often sitting next to him in the studio, knowing like a pro when she has to be quiet while he does his cut-ins.

In the newer age of radio where Lozano has found success, his daughter is a very visible part of his career. His four hours on the air each day, for which he is paid, are augmented with a web page that is dominated by photos and links to videos he writes, shoots and stars in. There are parodies, a single dad diary and a blog with Savannah. He does them all on his own time. His audience follows him on Facebook, YouTube, and Myspace. And every day, seven thousand fans check in to see what he’s saying on Twitter. But it’s in the videos that Lozano’s thoroughly likable personality and positive energy come shining through. He’s naturally cool, but he’s g-rated. He’s hilarious, but always respectful. He has the look and moves of a rock star, but he has the heart of a down to earth dad.

“I do not know why I’m making these videos,” says Lozano. ”But I just want my daughter to have a lawn in the backyard, and this is how I’m going to make that happen. I don’t necessarily know what’s going to come of it, but I know that the reaction and feedback is always complimentary and positive.”

It’s more than radio fans that are paying attention to Lozano. He helps teach a class on radio to homeless teenagers at a drop-in school in Los Angeles. He helps raise money and toys for Rady’s Children’s Hospital in San Diego each year. And he has a website called singledad.com. It’s filled with advice, support and videos for many fathers who, like Lozano, take the responsibility of raising their children very seriously.

“You would be surprised there are so many people in the world who are shocked that I am the way I am with my daughter,” says Lozano.  “A lot of guys have ruined the way people think about dads – especially single dads – and because of that thought process, the good guys pay for it. I don’t have a leg to stand on in court. I’m not going to change the legal system, but I’m going to let other guys know out there that we’re here for them.”

Lozano still considers San Diego his home. He returns once a week to do his show and stay in touch with those at Channel 93.3 and to see his parents who still live in Escondido. He works six days a week to accomplish all he does, and he doesn’t complain about it. ”Radio is so easy for me because I live the lifestyle. I listen to and love the artists I play, and I watch American Idol.” He also has respect for the people who pay his salary – the advertisers on his show. He recently paid a visit to Toyota of Chula Vista. ”They told me that I was the first deejay who had come to see them. They were appreciative, and so am I.”

Despite the fact that his face and his voice touch the lives of so many people each day, Lozano is very humble about his on air role. He says the PPM rating system keeps him in line. ”PPM is an immediate smack to the ego. You find out in real time whether you’re as awesome as you think you are – or not! I’ve learned that the less I speak, the higher my ratings are. People really want to hear their favorite music, not me blah, blahing.”

That’s debatable. Lozano recently filled in for the Australian top 40 countdown show that has 100 percent coverage of the Australian market. And he’s talking to television producers about a single dad reality show. He may soon be appearing locally on Fox television with American Idol updates, and every year he introduces and interviews the top stars in the music industry – usually with Savannah accompanying him on stage, or sitting on his lap.

“She definitely has a crazy perspective of the world. And she’s not allowed to talk about it at school because I don’t want her make the other kids jealous. But it’s my hope that she’ll grow up thinking, ‘Wow, I can do something with my life that’s really fun. My dad loved going to work and he had so much fun and we had the best times together.’ I hope she maintains that perspective in whatever she tackles in life.”

Posted under In the Spotlight

On the back of Mark Jagger’s laptop in the studio at MAGIC 92.5 is a sticky note that says “I love you.”  He doesn’t remember when he put it there, but it’s intended to be read by the woman at the microphone across from him.  That would be Kristi, his wife, friend and radio-partner on the station’s MAGIC Mornings with Jagger & Kristi show.  The duo is obviously good together because according to Arbitron PPM surveys, they are consistently rated one of the top morning shows in San Diego. But what’s even more important to the couple is the fact that they’re still very happy to spend almost every day of their career and private lives together after a fifteen year relationship and twelve years of marriage.

“We have an unspoken agreement,” says Kristi.  “Mark gets up at 3:00 in the morning and after he’s showered, he wakes me up.  Then we both do what we have to do to get out of the house by 4:30.  We drive here (to the Finest City Broadcasting studios near Mission Valley) walk into the station and at 5:00 go on the air.  We don’t speak until we get into the studio.  It’s how we’ve learned to cope with this schedule.”

But once they’re on the air, it’s a much different story. The two radio veterans glide through their four-hour show with enthusiasm, finesse and genuine warmth that has earned them the devotion of a growing radio audience. 

“I love it,” says Jagger, whose first radio job was in St. Louis, his native city.  “It’s definitely a connection that we have with our audience that makes this worthwhile.  If we weren’t doing this, I would miss that the most. And what I’ve learned after working in many markets throughout the country, if something happens in San Diego and you ask for help from listeners, they will always pull through.  It’s not like that everywhere.  Every year we do a fundraiser for Children’s Hospital and a food drive for the food bank and every year we’re blown away by the generosity we see.  San Diegans are so good about rallying around those who are in need.”

Jagger and Kristi are a team in every sense of the word, picking up on cues from one another, calming the other when one is frazzled, and treating each other with a respect that is palpable.  They first met while working for a San Francisco station in the early 1990s.  When their jobs there ended, they moved to San Diego.  After years of popularity in the afternoon drive slot, they made a strategic decision to go to mornings. They were thrilled to come to work for their friend and former employer, then-program director Rick Thomas. 
 
And they saw morning drive time as the most secure spot for talent on the air waves as the radio industry evolves in a fiercely competitive market.

“I mourn the loss of opportunity for those who are just coming into the business,” says Kristi. “We’ve worked with so many talented people over the years who were working behind the scenes and got their first chance to go on air in the overnight spot. Now that isn’t available at most stations, and staffs are pared down to the minimum. There are no more pools of raw talent. It’s much more of a business than in the early days.”

Still, the radio couple keeps their show from sounding at all business-like. They’re spontaneous and relaxed and their positive state of mind comes across the air waves. For the most part, it’s family-oriented material. But one of the more popular elements of Magic Mornings is the segment called “War of the Roses” which Jagger and Kristi admit is controversial. That’s because at the request of a suspecting spouse or significant other, the show’s producer calls the person in question, pretending to be from a new flower shop that’s offering to send a free dozen roses to whomever he or she wishes. When the suspected cheater names someone other than the loved one who called in, he or she is busted on the air.

“People sometimes call us the goody two shoes couple for doing that, “ says Kristi. “But it’s really about entertaining radio. And I love doing the segment. You wouldn’t believe these people who are caught in the act and then try to shift the blame on their partner.”

Jagger says for him, it’s an uncomfortable thing to do. “But when they start yelling at one another, you can tell that some of these people just love the drama,” he explains.

The environment is another passion of Jagger and Kristi’s. Their website touts carbon-shreading.  Just as Jagger finishes saying, “Kristi is SERIOUS about being eco-friendly” Kristi jumps in and proves what he says is true.

“We have no choice.  We have to be more conscious about our actions.  Now so much of what I buy is from recycled material. Once you start, it’s hard to stop.  I think of it like collecting one dollar from a thousand people.  It adds up!  So when individuals do their part, it makes a difference.  If just one person in a home could recycle for the whole family, we’d all be better off.  You would be amazed at how much money you can save with light bulbs, and watching how much gas and water you use, and on HG front loaders!”

The couple recently added solar power to their home and is proud to have the company that did the work, groSolar, advertise on their show.  They’re also excited about a campaign they’ve helped put together for Toyota of El Cajon which has built a state-of-the-art, “green” dealership.

 As much as they love their work, whenever they can, they shut the door to the studio on a Friday morning after their show and don’t look back.  But quite often, there are those additional weekend duties that see them at station events throughout San Diego.  They say it’s always energizing to see their fans in person and are amazed at the intensity they show.

“They greet us as if we’re old friends,” says Kristi.  “After all these years, I’m still astounded at the power of radio to create such a strong relationship between us and our audience. They want to give us a hug.  And it’s usually a really big hug that you would give a family member.”

“It’s kind of like being in a club,” Jagger explains.  “They all feel like they are our friends because we’re in the same club, playing the music that’s been the soundtrack to their lives for so long.  Our “Old School” format evokes many great memories for so many people.  It’s positive and it’s a ton of fun.”

From the looks of things, Jagger and Kristi find joy in every aspect of their lives – on and off the air.  And when they’re asked how they can manage to make it all work, day in and day out, Jagger quickly answers, “I’m always in control.”

Kristi ignores the comment and says, “We don’t analyze it.  We just do it.  If we do have a disagreement about something, it’s usually work-related and we use it as fodder on the air.  At some point, we always realize that it was pretty stupid to begin with.”

Posted under In the Spotlight, Radio