Can't see this email? Click Here. The Rock Of Seattle - EST in 1971 There are many heritage and influential Rock stations across America, but one station has consistently featured top notch Morning shows, iconic market personalities and great Rock for almost 50 years. KISW has been rocking and representing Seattle since 1971 and is still strong and relevant today. Seattle’s consistently top-rated Male and adult radio station. As the station celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2021, beginning in February of next year, the next Rock Focus for All Access will feature this great Rock station from the Northwest. Until then, let’s take a quick look at the station’s origin and early history as well as thoughts on KISW from three of its most prominent staffers of the past and present…Dave Richards, Ryan Castle and the legendary Cathy Faulkner. KISW - The Early Years and Ownership According to our friends at Wikipedia, “On January 18, 1950, KISW first signed on the air. The station's founder and first owner was Ellwood W. Lippincott, who programmed a classical music format. At first, the station was powered at 2,100 watts, a fraction of its current output. From 1954 to 1956, the station was managed by Harvey Manning.” Ellwood W. Lippincott 1950-1969 - Lippincott was a resident of Centralia, Washington, and worked as an electrical engineer for Weyerhaeuser. During the week, Lippincott's job required him to travel about 3,200 miles a month maintaining Weyerhaeuser's radio equipment from the Canada–US border to southern Oregon. Lippincott would spend his weekends managing the station. KISW was his labor of love. Under Lippincott's ownership, KISW operated out of a small studio on the northwest corner of NE 92nd Street and Roosevelt Way NE in north Seattle. The building was demolished and replaced with townhouses in 2007. In 1969, the station was purchased by Kaye-Smith, a partnership of famed actor/comedian Danny Kaye and businessman Lester Smith, and minority owner Frank Sinatra. Kaye-Smith 1969–1982 Kaye-Smith owned several radio stations including KJR, the dominant AM Top 40 station in Seattle during the 1960s and 1970s. Together, they also owned Seattle's Kaye-Smith studios (where records by Heart, Steve Miller and Bachman–Turner Overdrive were recorded), Concerts West (with Pat O'Day, a booking and promotion company that handled Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Bad Company, Eagles, Paul McCartney and others); and were original owners of the Seattle Mariners baseball team. With the purchase of KISW, Kaye-Smith decided to switch the station to a format more compatible with KJR. In 1971, KISW became a progressive rock (or "underground") station, similar to the sound pioneered by Tom Donahue at KMPX and KSAN in San Francisco. KOL-FM was also experimenting with free- form rock at night. Over time, KISW moved to a more formatted album oriented rock (AOR) sound, by playing the best -selling albums from the top rock acts. Alexander Broadcasting Company 1982-1987 - In 1982, Danny Kaye sold his interest in the company to Lester Smith’s company and the new corporation was called Alexander Broadcasting In 1987, Nationwide Communications, a subsidiary of Nationwide Insurance, acquired KISW. Nationwide Communications, Inc. 1987–1996 - Nationwide Communications originally established itself in the Radio business in 1947, but by 1997, Nationwide had sold off its radio stations. The station was bought by Entercom Communications in 1996 and the company still owns the station to this day. Entercom Communications Co. 1996 – present - Entercom operates five stations in Seattle and is the market's leading operator in terms of revenue. Entercom's Seattle holdings regularly draw more than 20% of all radio listening in the Seattle/Tacoma market. Entercom SVP/Director of Rock Brands Dave Richards Dave Richards grew up in New York City and as a kid who loved Rock, he grew up on iconic rock stations like WNEW, WPLJ, and WLIR. Richards said, “I loved the radio stations that were bigger than life, whose personalities were awe inspiring – in NYC, WABC, and WNBC – while I wasn’t a pop radio guy, the personalities on those stations were great, and bigger than the music. Richards went to college for two years in Boston, and WBCN opened his eyes to what Rock radio should be. “Everything on that station from the music, to the personalities, to the production was incredible. I thought the same about WMMR in Philly when I went to college there at Temple University.” After Temple, Richards started his career in radio working for such stalwart rock stations as WMMR/Philadelphia, and WZZO/Allentown, PA, and eventually moving on to Marketing Director at WBAB/Long Island. His first PD gig was at WWRX/Providence and then he moved on to become Station Manager at KISW’s crosstown rival KZOK/Seattle. He eventually became Station Manager at WRCX/Chicago as well as Alternative sister station Q101. Richards landed at KISW in 2002, because “I love Seattle, and I believe in the way Entercom does radio.” Now, 18 years later Richards believes the history of KISW was always the same - bigger than life. “When I was across the street in the early 90s, I was a little jealous of what they were able to, as well as the station that was born out of the KISW defectors in the 80s, KXRX. Brilliant Radio. What Castle and I have done with KISW is just a testament of what KISW always has always been. Not just a Rock station, but Seattle’s most entertaining radio station.” The KISW PDs Lee Michaels 1971 - 1972 Bill Bartlett 1978 Beau Phillips PD 1978-1986 GM 1987 - 1992 Jon Robbins 1987 - 1988 Gary Bryan 1988 Sky Daniels 1988 - 1989 Steve Young 1989 - 1996 Cathy Faulkner interim 1996 Nationwide to Entercom Transition Clark Ryan 1997 - 2000 John Sebastian 2000 - 2001 Dave Richards 2002 - Present Ryan Castle 2003 - Present     KISW OM/MD/Middays Ryan Castle Ryan Castle grew up just north of Seattle in Everett, Washington. His first radio job was in 1994 at KATS/KIT and KXXS in Yakima. “I did weekends of rock in the morning, country in the afternoon and a Mariners game in the evening or some other combo of the three,” said Castle. “I also briefly did a classic-country show on Sunday mornings."  Castle moved on to KAZR/Des Moines, IA from 1996-1999, starting off doing overnights and eventually became the afternoon guy and creative director. In the Spring 1999 he moved to Minneapolis for the APD job at KXXR until the summer of 2001. “I also had brief stint as PD at WRLR in Birmingham, Alabama,” remembers Castle. “From there I spent a year at WLZR where I did afternoons and worked as Saga’s Active Rock Imaging Specialist. In 2002 I moved to Miami as APD/Afternoons at WZTA. I came home to KISW as APD/Mid Days in October of 2003.” Castle’s current position at KISW is Operations Manager and he’s the Brand Manager for Entercom’s Classic Rock KGON, Portland as well. Former KISW APD/MD Cathy Faulkner Cathy Faulkner was born and raised in Seattle and has enjoyed her role as a longtime presence for her hometown rock station KISW. “I started by interviewing Steve Slaton for a 9th grade English project and then was invited to be his intern at KISW back in 1981. I was age 15! My Mom and Dad drove me to the station, and I got paid in records and concert tickets, which was really cool at school.” Faulkner started on -air doing weekend overnights a few years later and eventually started a full-time air shift (10p-2a) in 1987 after the station’s mass-staff exit to KXRX. “In the late 80’s I added Metal Director (Host of Metal Shop) and programming assistant duties, and in September 1990 I added Assistant Music Director duties as well.” A year later, in perhaps a twist of fate, she became Music Director and moved to the 7p-10p timeslot on KISW… on the same day DGC records released Nirvana’s 2nd album “Nevermind.” (twist of fate also as Steve Slaton left KISW as MD / afternoons to Join Richards at KZOK). “Needless to say - I had an amazing birds eye view as Seattle’s music scene exploded globally,” said Faulkner. In 1996 she became the Interim PD/MD during the transition from Nationwide ownership to Entercom. In July 1998 she became APD/MD under Clark Ryan and did 8p-12m weeknights at the Met Park studio (aka spam cans). Faulkner left the station in 2000 for personal reasons. “I left KISW in July 2000 to do voiceovers from home full time while helping to care for my mother who was in the late stages of Alzheimer’s. She passed in 2005.” For a few years after that, she also worked at K-Rock Seattle (CBS – now Jack FM) and nights at KJR-FM. Then in 2018, Faulkner returned to her beloved KISW. “I started doing some mid-day and event fill-in as needed at KISW. It was nice to be back in the building. In August 2019 I returned to nights at KISW for four months while Taryn Daly was on maternity leave.” Key Music Directors: Steve Slaton 1980 - 92ish Mike Jones   Cathy Faulkner 1992 - July 2000 Kylee Brooks 2002 - 2003 Jolene 2005 - 2015 Ryan Castle 03-05, 15-Present     Key Morning/Afternoon shows: 1978-mid '80s – “Those Dudes” John Langan & Mike West- Mornings (They were hired away by KMET, worked for a week, then were let go, and broke up. Langan returned with John Rody in 1987; West partnered with Crow for afternoons at KISW, then KXRX, then KMTT) 1978-mid '80s – Gary Crow/Bob Hovanes - Afternoons 1987 – Robin/Maynard - Mornings Mid '80s – Crow & West - Afternoons 1987-88 – Two White Dudes: John Langan / John Rody with producer Mike Bell - Mornings 1988 – John Lisle and Mike Bell - Mornings 1987-1992 – Steve Slaton - Afternoons - Music Director/APD for KISW 70’s/80s 1992-Jan. 1997 – Jon Ballard - Afternoons Aug 1989-Aug 2000 – Bob & Sean (Sean Donahue -Son of Tom Donahue-Deceased) morphed into Twisted Radio (Bob Rivers, Spike O’Neil & Joe Bryant) - Mornings May 2001 - 2004 – Howard Stern - Mornings Nov. 2004 to present – Shea Morning Experience > Now BJ & Migs- Mornings Nov. 2004 to present – The Men's Room - Afternoons     What does KISW mean to you? Dave Richards “It’s Seattle’s radio station. While the personalities and the music has evolved over the years, not to mention the city itself – KISW has remained the first and last word in Rock, but has entertained this great city with the most outstanding personalities, events and community outreach. We’re lucky to live in one of – if not thee greatest music city in the world. We live in one of the most vital business hubs in America. We know KISW is an institution, and we continue to raise our own bar each day.” Ryan Castle “KISW is about entertainment. Big personalities, great shows tied together with the great rock music. I grew up on KISW. It’s a big part of why I got into music, and why I wanted to work in radio. I knew this was where I was going to work when I was 10. It just took me 15 years to get here.” Cathy Faulkner "If you take the old-school music concept of people getting together, hanging out – there was always that one person that brought the cool records, or cassette and introduced you to awesome music. For the listeners of Seattle – KISW was that person in the room. A Rock n’ Roll institution from day one. The philosophy at the station was a “Party looking for a place to happen.” We weren’t just good at ‘radio,’ we were fans and listeners as well. Being really good at our job – KISW was not music in the background, but instead an active participant in the houses, cars, and work of Seattle and the surrounding area. Ask anyone at Microsoft back in the day. Personally, I listened to KJR until about 1977, then switched to FM. KISW was IT! Radio done well can introduce new bands, events, and humor as well as surf and sway culture: be bigger than life. Over 50 years – though the players may change, and at times may ebb/flow – it always impressed me how the philosophy of KISW (way back at the beginning) remained and is very much true and relevant today. I knew I wanted to work at KISW when I was 12. Once I got in the door at age 15 – I was told repeatedly that NO-ONE starts at KISW so I best go (with their blessing) and get my chops elsewhere. One drawback of starting at age 15 is that my mentors (in some way) will always see me as that young girl so I knew that if I left, it was near impossible that I would have the opportunity to return. So… I chose to stay and work (while finishing high school and college locally) and wait to seize the next opportunity. Needless to say that it worked out well for me. Getting to work with a cross-section of KISW’s amazing cast of characters over the years while developing musical relationships with artists, management and local figures were definite perks for this rock fan. I had the distinct privilege of being part of one of the most amazing musical revolutions of the modern day. And…I still get to visit from time to time. KISW will always be a special place in my world." Coming In February 2021: The Rock Focus- Part One: KISW/Seattle -50 Years Of Rock Radio History   Go to AllAccess.com and click on Net News now; check back again several times daily for full details and additional breaking news. Net News is updated hourly and as it happens. The news comes to you first on AllAccess.com. You are receiving the email because you have subscribed to this list. If you would like to be removed, please click here and you will be removed immediately! All Access Music Group - P. O. Box 6587 - Malibu, CA 90264 Redistribution or repurposing of this email or its contents by any third party –- with the exception of authorized content providers involved in construction of this email -- is strictly prohibited and in violation of the AllAccess.com Terms Of Service Agreement, without express written permission by AllAccess.com.