10 Questions with ... Rick Balis

1) What was your first job in radio, and what led you to a career in radio in the first place?

In 1976, close to the beginning of my first semester at the University of Illinois, I went to a radio station open house. I was curious. I had never been in a radio station. The station was "Progressive Rock" WPGU. It was in one of the dorms on campus. I started work there that very first semester, trying my hand at whatever I was given the opportunity to get into. All my "breaks" came in the area of news/sports. I ended up the News Dir. Three years later, overseeing a surprisingly large news staff and doing a two-hour talk show. At that time, I thought I might get into news as a career. That, ultimately, did not happen.

During that year as News Dir., I got a call from someone that worked at WPGU, but had returned home to the St. Louis metro area and was doing odd jobs at KSHE in St. Louis. He said that he overheard there was a news position open at KSHE and he wanted to give me a heads-up in case I was interested. I hadn't heard of KSHE, but thought it was worth my time to look into the opening.

"News position?" I thought. They were looking for someone to do weekday morning news by selecting AP wire news stories and as an intro to each story, play a clip from a related song! Huh? Okay, I get it. Play a line from "Money" by Pink Floyd before a story on the economy and so on. What? "News position?"

I started at KSHE a handful of weeks later. And, yes, I'd play songs like "Smoke on the Water" before a news story having to do with a barge that had caught fire on the Mississippi River right by the Arch. Geez. "News position?" I became a jack-of-all-trades doing the "news," commercial production and weekend all night disc-jockeying.

After starting at KSHE in late August of '76, I was doing afternoon drive just four months later. "What the?" I never aspired to be a disc jockey. So, there I was making $600 per month doing what I thought was wacky news and spinning songs by some band called Supertramp. "Yeah, I saw this coming" I thought.

Rick Balis looking his best on-air at KSHE studios in late '70s

2) How long have you been at KSHE and what makes this station so unique?

Since my start at KSHE in 1976, I have taken a couple "sabbaticals"... programmed the Loop in Chicago and KSD in St. Louis. Out of the last 41 years, I've had something to do with KSHE 36 or 37 years. I got into programming in 1981.

The first thing that makes KSHE unique is that we were one of the first stations in the world to play rock on the FM band, back in 1967. We are, indeed, the longest lasting FM Rock station.

Something else makes KSHE very unique and is key to longevity. I'll cover that when answering your question #10 below. Yes, that's a "tease," as we all say in the business. Now, let's see if the tease gets you to sit through my rambling on while answering questions #3 through #9 before answering #10. :)

KSHE and the St. Louis Blues both celebrating 50 years in 2017!

3) KSHE is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Give us a little history on how the station started rocking back in 1967?

A guy by the name of Ron Elz was the PD, at the time, and he felt that KSHE might be just the right station to take the lead in introducing a lot of the new rock music that was being produced, but not played on the air anywhere. The station had been playing drama and fine arts features, as well as classical and "time tested" lighter music since it signed on the air as "The Lady of FM" in 1961. The first rock song played was "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane.

In 2008, while she was in town promoting her artwork, we told Grace Slick that "White Rabbit" was our first song. Her reaction: "It takes a lot of cajones to have that as a first song, because at the time, it was completely off-the-wall in the sense that it's a Spanish march talking about drugs and Alice in Wonderland. What kind of a looney tune is going to write a song like that? And, what kind of looney tune is going to play a song like that?" (Laughter)

The above quote from Grace is on video in the KSHE Real Rock Virtual Museum.

More on the museum coming up in this column.

KSHE's original jocks back in 1967!

4) A huge part of the KSHE 95 story is the "Sweetmeat" mascot. How did this iconic station mascot come about?

I'm sure that many of those reading this column are huge fans of the band Blodwyn Pig. It's no secret to those fans that the artwork of the 1969 Blodwyn Pig album "Ahead Rings Out" has a striking resemblance to Sweetmeat. Hmmm. What came first?

KSHE's Sweatmeat 50th Anniversary logo

5) Lots of KSHE 95's incredible history is documented in the KSHE Real Rock Museum. Can you give us the scoop on this?

The launch of the KSHE Real Rock Museum, on January 9th of this year, was like lighting the fuse to our year-long 50th Birthday Celebration. We have never had a more explosive year of events, contests, concerts, special imaging and special programming. The museum has been a focal point of the celebration. Under the heading of "a picture is like a thousand words"...

Ken, I really hope your readers spend some time exploring the Real Rock Museum. There is nothing like it anywhere! A visit to the Hall of Fame Wing with awesome videos for each inductee is a "must"! Here's the link to the museum entrance.

6) I'm sure with 50 years of Rock history, there are a few choice stories to report. Any great "Rock Star" stories you care to share?

Man. How could I possibly select just one or two stories? Now, that's tough, but the first thing that comes to mind is a story from 1974. KSHE invited St. Louis rock fans out to Forest Park for a "Kite Fly". There were contests for the largest kite, the "coolest" kite, etc. And Kiss performed.

KSHE air personality Mark Klose had the job of delivering the band to the concert site. He drove a white panel van with no windows in the back and no seats. The entire band, in costume, sat on the floor in the back. When Mark arrived at the park and drove across a grass field, it was apparently like a bull ride for all the buckaroos in the back. Quite a visual, isn't it? Well, they arrived to the stage area safely, maybe a bit of smudged make-up, nonetheless mission accomplished. But, then, the Kiss Tour Manager approached Mark to talk about power needs for the show.

The guy from Kiss said that for the PA and stage show, the band would need 125,000 watts of power. At this point, Mark pointed to four Honda gas generators which were capable of knocking out 18 horsepower total. You could imagine the response from the Tour Manager was filled with a string of colorful terms that wouldn't fly in this column. By the time Kiss hit the stage to perform in front of 40,000 rabid rock fans, three of the four generators had burnt up. Let history show that the first performance by Kiss in St. Louis was powered by Hondas best 4½ HP generator.

Here are some photos from that "Kite Fly".

Rick Balis with The Police in 1979ish!

Rick Balis with Rush in 2015!

7) Beyond the rock stars, what are some of the best KSHE 95 on-air personality stories you can share, including your own?

KSHE air personality John "UMan" Ulett started work at KSHE in May of 1976. John has never strayed. Today, he is the host of the KSHE Morning Rock Show, which means in May of 2018 he'll celebrate his 42nd year on the air at KSHE. Amazing!

Rick Balis and the KSHE Real Rock Army mid-80s

8) Now let's talk about the music. What special music features is KSHE 95 doing on the air to celebrate 50 years of Rock?

We pulled out all the stops on November 7th. (The actual birth date of the radio station), From 6a-6p we presented "Where It All Began." The details are below.

• "KSHE CLASSICS" 6-10a
  (Favorite St. Louis rock from the KSHE archives / Classic Station Imaging / Messages from air personalities from throughout the decades / Messages from rock's greats)
• "AMERICAN WOMAN" 10- 11a
  (A show originally hosted by our beloved "Rocktogenarian" Ruth Hutchinson / Focus on the SHE in KSHE with music from female rock artists throughout the decades)
• "THE 60'S AT K-SHE" 11a-noon
  (Bob Dylan, Beatles, Beach Boys and...)
• "THE LUNCH SHOW WITH DESSERT" Noon - 1p
  (A long-standing feature from yesteryear / Rock exclusively from two of KSHE's quintessential artists)
• "JUST 1967" 1-3p
  (What a great year for rock music releases!)
• "THE ALBUM OF THE WEEK" 3-5p followed by more of "THE 60'S AT K-SHE"
  (Back in the day this AOW feature aired Friday nights at 8p. The selected album played in its entirety and followed up with more rock greats from the "groovy" 1960s)
• "HANDS ACROSS THE WATER" 5-6p
  (Another station feature from the history books ... British Invasion rock smashes)

9) Are there any special 50th Anniversary concerts in the mix as well? What Rock bands are helping you celebrate?

The two "biggies" were "The KSHE Pig Roast" on July 2nd featuring Michael Stanley and the Resonators, Don Felder, Styx and REO ... and "The KSHE 50th Birthday Concert" on September 30th featuring Collective Soul, ZZ Top and Sammy Hagar.

Rick Balis with Sammy Hagar in 2016!

10) Finally, surviving and even thriving over a 50 year period is quite an accomplishment. What would you ultimately attribute KSHE's successful 50-year run to?

No doubt here ... our unique and absolutely priceless relationships with our listeners. Early listeners turned their kids on to KSHE and they turned their kids on to KSHE! We've gone through so much together with a common passion for rock music.

For the last four years, listeners have gone to our website to sign up for a chance to be a "KSHE Listener of the Day." Many of the entries include KSHE memories and emotions that are very, very touching. I'll close here by sharing a few excerpts from those entries...

Tom loves the longevity of KSHE and how KSHE has complemented all of the big events in his life -- school, girlfriends, pilot's license, marriage, kids, everything! Tom appreciates good rock 'n' roll and the role KSHE has played in the "St. Louis Connection" with bands like REO, Head East, Bob Seger, Sammy Hagar, Poco and plenty more.

Elise has been listening to KSHE since she was a little kid, riding in her dad's truck. She's been listening every day since! Elise loves how KSHE plays both classic rock and some of the newer rock. She also loves the culture of KSHE, how it's been on the air for so long and has such a devoted fan base.

Melissa began listening to KSHE when she was a child. KSHE was the only station her dad would let her listen to. One of her earliest childhood memories is rocking out to Fleetwood Mac's Rumors in the backseat of her mom's car. Melissa says she listens to KSHE all day, every day, and her daughter Izzy knows not to touch her radio - it stays on KSHE!

Here's to making new memories. Happy Holidays! :)

Rick Balis

KSHE listeners display their love for the station in many ways

KSHE listeners display their love for the station in many ways

KSHE on The Berlin Wall