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LISTENER MEMORIES PAGE
Here
are the memories of some KQ4 listeners who have found the site.
Brad Giles - Emailed to Larry Scott
(posted 27OCT08)
I can't thank you enough for this
site...I am one of your listeners that got 'sideswiped' by quality
jocks playing the best music the world has heard since the 1800's.
OK, that's JMHO, but after grazing through your site for three days,
I feel honored to have been a silent member of such a grand
experiment!
I was just in the right place at the right time: After
four years of military-related 'confinement' in Hawaii with my
family (whole other story...), we arrived at SEA-TAC and drove a
rental to PDX around early June 1974 for a two week stay to await
the slow-boat arrival of our pre-shipped car, and purchase a tent
trailer to prepare for the sight-seeing road trip to Kansas
(family), and finally Dallas, Texas. My parents had made
arrangements to stay with their high-school friends at their house
in Boring, Oregon. Never a more aptly named town had my 16 years
seen (on the surface). But when we arrived, the friend turned out to
be an airline pilot and had many 'toys' to keep his own teenagers
occupied, so then we didn't mind.
His 15 year-old son turned out to be as interested in
'unusual' and album-oriented rock and jazz as I was, and HE had a
'Quad' receiver in his room (!!), so naturally he turned me onto his
favorite radio station KQIV-FM 'KQ4'. His parents were lenient
enough (maybe to keep the peace while we were there, I couldn't say)
to allow him to play the radio all nite...Quietly, but who
cares...as long as the Floyd, Trower, Santana, ZZ Top, and mixed
with the occasional Muddy, Joni, and Miles (and whoever all the
one-hit-wonders were) kept playing, we were ecstatic. For me, that
became the best two weeks of that entire five week trip. That period
was probably an unconscious (on my part) introduction to Pat Metheny
who I had the good fortune to meet privately in Wichita, Kansas some
10 years later.
The only times I missed listening to you in that period
were one afternoon when we all went into Portland to check out a
two-story pizza parlor that had a live medium sized pipe organ
inside, and the last weekend when we all went down to Crater Lake
for a shakedown of the tent trailer...designed for eight, slept 12
the first two nights! The best part of that trip for my siblings and
I was seeing 20 FEET of SNOW still on the ground after four years of
sandy beaches! The rangers chased us down and chewed us out for
trash-lid sledding!
In any event, I want to thank you again for this site.
I was grossly unaware of just how tenuous your employment was at
that juncture, but am so happy to have been reminded of the station
and decided to look and see what was on the web concerning that
station's history. I will be glad to send as many viewers your way
as I can. At the risk of sounding morose, that was truly a magical
time in history, and not likely to ever be repeated. I am so glad to
have been exposed to it (even though my wife HATES my album
collection!).
Brad Giles |
Bruce Bjorkman - Emailed to Larry Scott
(posted 04 JUL 06)
Having moved to Oregon from the SF Bay Area in 1970, I came
fresh from the land of Progressive FM Rock Radio. So it was with
much jubilation that my friend Jeffery Clarke, who I worked with at
KGAY in Salem, OR. heads up I-5 and lands in Stafford high a top the
LO Elks Club with a QUAD STEREO rock FM radio station!
As a senior at Mc Nary High in Salem (class of 73), it was like
getting new life, listening to all of the coolest music and hearing
buddy "Jump Up Jeff" doing the night shift. I even got to visit a
time or two and enjoying a "sweet herbaceous" odor lingering in the
on-air studio :-).
What was important is the fact
that someone was trying to do something GROUND BREAKING in Oregon
radio, and succeeded, if yet for just a couple of years. But it was
damn good while it lasted and it is the foundation for at least one
sweet radio memory.
Bruce Bjorkman
Host of "Cooking Outdoors With Mr.
Barbecue" Saturdays on 750 KXL. |
Keith Hanson - Emailed to Larry Scott
(posted 04 JUL 06)
Thanks for the website. I was laying in bed, 2:30 a.m. (couldn't
sleep). and KQIV popped into my head for no apparent reason.
God, I never knew how much I missed real radio, 'til I Googled this
page. I won't go into a rant about it, as I imagine anyone who
remembers KQIV feels the same.
I remember (through a drug induced
haze) listening all hours of the day and night, as I worked rotating
shifts at Crown Zellerbach in Camas '72-'74, and enjoyed all the d-js,
although my favs were Jeff and Gloria.
Summer of '73 I remember driving
to the station and getting the tour at 3a.m. one summer night.
My first hot-air balloon ride was at the Rainer concert-the people
looked like ants from the end of that rope. I also remember another
"sunbust" at delta park either later that year or early the
next.....through the fog of memories...
Kudos to a great site.
keith hanson
p.s. do you have any playlists
from the day? I remember so little of the weird - Larry Rasberry,
Capt. Beefheart, etc. |
Steve Marscham - Emailed to Larry Scott
(posted 04 JUL 06)
I was snooping around Google checking to see what happened to
various call signs from my memory (KJET, KCMU, KYYX all Seattle and
then KQIV, KISN, KVAN). I grew up in the Gresham area and was a
Freshman in high school at good old Gresham Union High when KQIV
went on the air. It was hard to receive the station in the east
Multnomah county area, but me and my friends built every kind of
antenna imaginable to pull in a better signal. None of us could
afford quad stereo gear, but read every article in Popular
Electronics that told us how to build decoders (that never seemed to
work). Since many of us never could afford FM receivers for our
cars, we listened to KVAN until it went off the air at sundown and
KQIV while we did our homework with headphones blasting music into
our ears.
KQIV promoted the local group Sand, and I still have my two LP set
“for continuous flowing sand.” We were big Robin Trower fans and I
went to the concert at the Paramount in March 1974; I remember it
was his birthday. James Dewar (rest his soul) was fantastic and the
house rocked… too bad Ray Manserak opened the show. He was pretty
drunk/high and nobody applauded to keep him from doing an encore. I
remember Robin simply stepping up the microphone… “Too Rolling
Stoned” and the place erupted.
My first exposure to fusion jazz came courtesy of KQIV, Return to
Forever with Chick Corea, Jeff Lorber Fusion, etc. WOW! KQIV was the
only station to play the whole first side of Santana’s Caravanserai,
or a side of Pink Floyd’s Meddle (usually at 2:00am and I would wake
up with nightmares… yes, the stereo stayed on all night with a
speaker pillow)
It truly was a sad day when the format changed in 1974 to funk. We
all mourned in disbelief and for a brief while it seemed we were
stuck with only KVAN. KGON picked up some of the slack, but it was
never the same. Even with BA or Gloria Johnson moving over, KGON
just wasn’t the same.
Well, enough reminiscing, my very best regards-
Steve Marschman
Native Oregonian now Tennesseean |
Greg Keller - Emailed to Larry Scott
(posted 04 JUL 06)
I took As with many trips on the internet, I started out
listening to BBC radio 1, a few clicks later and I stumbled across
your website.
WOW, what a trip down memory lane.
I graduated from high school in 1974. I have fond memories of
listening to KQ4 at night with headphones doing homework.
I wrote many "all night" papers
thanks in part to KQ4.
Hearing the station ID's again was
great. I especially remember the reverb ones and the one with Faith
and her daughter......it seems like only yesterday.
Thanks again. Any idea where
I can get an old KQIV t-shirt?
Greg Keller |
Jeff Wilson - Emailed to Larry Scott
(posted 04 JUL 06)
I took some of my energy derived from KQIV with me to the
University of
Oregon, where I worked for three years at the school's "fine arts"
radio
station, KWAX-FM.
I did a lot of board shifts playing classical music...hosted an
interview
show called "Talk of the Town", had musicians play live on the air
and did
some late night shows--the late night/after midnight block was
called
KWAX-II. I tried like mad to emulate KQIV... 8)
My only job as an announcer in commercial radio was a very short gig
on KATR
in Eugene, sometime in spring 1976, playing easy listening music
between 6
pm and sundown (gack). I volunteered at KBOO for a while and did a
Spike
Jones tribute show there in 1980 or so--corresponded with Dr.
Demento when I
did my research--he was very kind and lent me a manuscript of an
article he
had written about S. Jones for a mag called "Wax Paper."
I worked as a salesman for KEED 1450 in Eugene for about 18 months.
I was
an incredibly naïve 21 year old. Moved from there to an ad agency in
Portland...then to a cable TV firm...and that's where the excitement
of the
media ended for me. I eventually got into the steel business.
The enclosed "then" pic (b/w) of me appeared in the 1975 UO "Oregana"
yearbook.
I get a HUGE kick out of this site.
Thanks so much.
Jeff Wilson |
Jeff Wilson - Emailed to Larry Scott
(posted 26 JUN 05)
Larry? As in Larry SCOTT? Possessor of some amazing pipes? The
man who introduced me to HORSLIPS?
I was an AVID KQIV listener from start to finish. I learned more
about music and radio from KQIV DJs than any radio class I took in
college--and I was CRUSHED when the station changed formats.
Regarding those who have passed on...I remember hearing years ago
that Jim LaFawn had suffered a stroke. Can't remember if it was
fatal at the time... (NOTE FROM LARRY SCOTT: Yes, Jim LaFawn
did pass away.)
KQIV went on the air just as I entered my senior year of high school
(Jackson High, just northwest of the studio). I was editor of the
school paper and thought it would be WAY cool to have KQIV as an
advertiser. Jack Malone very kindly bought some ads. Not sure Mr.
Kraus ever paid us, but so
it goes.
Very happy to find this site. Referred here by Joel Miller.
During KQIV's heyday, I frequently came up to the station to watch
the DJs do their stuff. Jeff Clarke, Larry Scott, Jim LaFawn, Faith
Landreth, Steve Spellerberg (he had at least one other last name
during his KQIV gigs...he worked there at least two different times
if memory serves), Joel Miller, Joe Collins...they were all very
kind to a naïve kid who soaked up their every set and all their
words like a sponge.
Thanks so much for promoting some GREAT radio memories.
Jeff Wilson
Age 49
Never did make it in radio
Still a radio groupie and radio wannabe
Portland area
Amateur Eric Clapton scholar |
Greg Kirkpatrick - Emailed to Larry Scott
(posted 26 APR 05)
Larry,
I was doing a search today for Portland radio, trying to find out
what happened to KISN, when I ran across the KQ4 website. I
must say, this website is incredible. I was a KVAN fan in the
early B.A. days, and liked KINK, but there was still much to be
desired when it came to sound quality and radio personality.
When KQIV was born, I instantly became one of "Quad's Children"
during my senior year in high school.
You're right, Jeff Clarke was the driving force, but there were
others. Joe Collins turned me on to Hubert Laws, and jazz in
general with his Sunday night "Jazz Horizons". And speaking of
Sunday night, there was an unforgettable one for me sometime in 74
(or could it be 75?) when you did a little "focus" on a band I never
heard before. You mention on the site your love for European
music. I have always had a special place in my heart for you,
because you turned me into a huge Rare Bird fan.
I am glad to hear you are doing well. And thank you again for
the fantastic job you have done on this site. The only thing
that was obviously missing to me is the "where are they now" for
Jeff. I remember when he first came back to Portland in 1979,
and started at KINK, which he stayed at for about 24 years.
After he left KQ4, he went to KVAN and became Fred Flak. He
was quite the character. Much of his humor seemed to be
influenced by W.C. Fields, who was my favorite comedian at that
time.
Keep up the good work and thanks again.
Best regards,
Greg Kirkpatrick |
Forsythe Blackwood - Emailed to KQ4 Website
(posted 25 FEB 05)
KUDOS on some great PDX radio history...and for helping to
re-fuel my passion for Classic Rock and Roll!
I came across your "Rockin' In Quad" webpage a few months ago
through a link on the Portland Radio Board. Let me just say
this: after poking around the site for a very quick three and
one-half hours last Christmas, I was purely amazed.
Having been born in 1984, I was not around to experience the KQIV
phenomenon first-hand, although a neighbor down the street has a
well-worn eight track tape he made of music off the station.
After hearing Airto Moreia's version of "Branches of the Rose Tree"
on the tape, this inspired me to break into my dad's record archive
and play his copy of Seeds On the Ground. (I agree with Joe Collins
from the aircheck WMA.....it is a masterpiece!)
Having been born too late to experience non-voicetracked LOCAL
radio, the tape and your Web Pages have really opened my eyes to
what many kids like myself (I am 21) refer to as "Real Radio", as
opposed to what we term "Prefab Radio" (referring to Clear Channel
and voicetracking as a whole). Sadly, the real radio seems to
be becoming increasingly hard to find (especially in our market).
Again, I congratulate you on your endeavors and for helping to
enlighten myself and everyone else I know and have referred to your
page. There are many obscure bits of radio history that
sincerely deserve to be brought out of obscurity; their stories told
to new generations who may otherwise never hear of them. Their
stories need to be told!
Keep up the superlatively great work!
Sincerely,
Forsythe "Fox" Blackwood
(P.S. I wish KQIV was still on the air.......I can't STAND Lite Rock
anymore!) |
Ken Soesbe - Emailed to KQ4 Website
(posted 12 DEC 04)
Hi Team, what a great website! Just had a chance to look it
over a bit.Some say quad is dead, but nothing can be further from
the truth. There is a large demand for vintage quad gear, and the
stuff that's in good shape goes for high dollar.
I still listen to a discreet quad setup every day. The list is as
follows: Sansui QRX 7500 with built-in CD-4 demodulator, 260 watts
pumping to four 100-watt Sansui speakers one in each corner. It
will knock your hat in the creek. I play my collection of quad
vinyl on a Pioneer PL55DX direct-drive turntable with a discreet
CD-4 cartridge.
I bought this stuff all new in the 70s and it's still going
strong. People have no clue how good a properly set up quad system
sounds. I listen to everything from Deep Purple to Joe
Walsh in quad. "Rocky Mountain Way" sounds awesome!
Look forward to seeing more good stuff on the site.
Regards,
Ken Soesbe
PS. If you ever want a demonstration give a call and bring some
earplugs. I attached a picture of my receiver.
for a larger view of Ken's receiver |
Anonymous - Posted on KQ4 Blog
(posted 11 DEC 04)
It's all coming back now. KQ4 was "MY" station.
I was a loyal listener as were most of my friends at that time. This
site has reminded me of names long buried in the passing of so many
years. It is wonderful to hear the names once again. The folks at
KQ4 were my friends though I never met any of them in person.
The strongest memory I have is the day I tuned in and the station
had switched to a soul format. Don't get me wrong. I'm a huge Motown
fan. James Brown, Wilson Pickett, Sam and Dave, Otis.... I could go
on and on. But I remember the outrage, the confusion, the chagrin.
"What the f*** happened to my KQ4?" It was truly like a part
of me had been cut out.
I have not thought about KQ4 in a very long time but I saw
the little spot in the paper today and had to check out this site.
I'll be checking in from time to time to see what others recall
about our old friend.
It's true. There is no friend like an old friend.
Anonymous |
Nancy LaBonte - Email sent to Faith at KQ4 Website
(posted 10 DEC 04)
What a blast to find you again!
Do you remember the
local folk-rock band Road Sweet Road with Jay, Nancy, and
Silky? We got to know you when we were playing the White Eagle.
You were an icon, woman and one great lady.
I'll check back from time to time. Those were the days.
Best Wishes,
Nancy LaBonte |
Roger Hunter -
Emailed to website
(posted 19 OCT 04)
Thanks for the web site.
I have a number of hours of air checks that I still treasure. Q4
was the station that all others are compared to.
Went to school in Portland in 72-74. and you made life very
enjoyable. “It’s only money” looped over and over are still
great, and the segue of side 2 of “Abbey Road” up to the point of
“she came in through the bathroom window” going into Joe Cocker’s
version still amazes me. And I got it on tape.
Have Q4 posters up in my garage as a reminder – especially
“All Quad’s Childern Listen”.
A toast to the
greatest,
Roger Hunter
Prairie Grove, Arkansas
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Mike Welch - Emailed to Larry Scott
(posted 19 OCT 04)
Hello Larry:
I am amazed!!! Great friend Jeffery Clark sent me a link to your
site.
GREAT to see this stuff again. My name is Mike Welch, (I'm sure you
don't remember me), I was probably one of KQIV's biggest fans. Jeff
and I became good friends,(and still keep in touch) as well as
"Faith", and others.
Those were great days. Jeff seems to kinda "shrug it off." But I
love the fact that you are producing this site. Somewhere I still
have a shoebox full of cassettes, and I know there's some old
air-checks of you, and Jeff in there. I would love to help.
I was so pumped at knowing you guys, I ended up majoring in
Communications. I made it as far as "interning" at KGON, for Gloria
Johnson, and PD (name removed). Once I realized the industry
was full of (name removed), I gave it up.
But you and Jeff had a huge impact in my life, and remember it like
yesterday. I will look for those tapes, and would love to
offer any help.
Thanks for the memories.
Mike Welch |
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More
memories to come as we get them..... |
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Webmaster
& KQ4 Jock / sometime
Spiritual
Advisor, Historian & KQ4
