The Story behind KBCO's Beginnings

November 7, 1976: I was attending a Neil Young and Crazy Horse concert at Balch Fieldhouse on the CU Campus in Boulder. I noticed a young man wearing a KADE t-shirt. I approached him and introduced myself. He was Nick Frazer, a DJ and news reporter on KADE. We had a nice chat; he told me that the owner of his station was buying an FM station and would be needing a program director.

I had been doing mornings at Denver’s 105.9 KBPI, one of the city's last bastions of free-form progressive rock music. We played from a breadth and depth of music that was in the spirit of the underground radio movement of the late 60s and early 70s. Our main competitor, KAZY 106.7, adopted Lee Abram’s “Superstars format” in September, and KBPI reacted by tightening the playlist from unlimited titles to just 165 songs. And with that, the veteran airstaff – Jeff Pollack, Tom Trunnell, Larry Bruce, Bob Reid and me – found ourselves replaced by a new, younger crew that wouldn’t object to playing the same songs several times a day.

I ruminated about how all the great FM rock stations of the '70s were disappearing from the Denver airwaves. All that was left was KFML on a tiny AM daytime signal, and KADE, another daytime signal in Boulder. KTCL 93.3 from Fort Collins was fun and KILO in Colorado Springs could rock our world, but their signals were hard to get in Denver. 

I had an idea – create a radio station that reflects the feeling of Colorado. There was a big roots music movement underway – with bands and musicians like Stephen Stills, Firefall, Dan Fogelberg and others settling in the hills of Colorado. The name I came up with for the station was Coloradio (Color Radio) using the call-letters KOLO.

At Nick’s suggestion, I made an appointment with the station owner, Bob Greenlee, and presented my idea, complete with a tape of what the station would sound like. He liked what I had to say, right after the holidays, I started my employment at the station.

While we waited for FCC approval for the purchase of 97.3, I spent my days contacting record companies and ordering music for the new station and doing airshifts on KADE. Boxes and crates of records started showing up. KADE’s Program Director, Randy Morrison and I would retire to his home and unpack the boxes and listen to music hours on end. Besides reviewing albums by some of our local musicians, we went deep into catalogs of artists like Bob Dylan, Richard Thompson, Poco and others searching out songs that would fit the concept of Coloradio.

Days turned into weeks and months as we waited for the approval to turn the station on. And in the process, it became clear that the name Coloradio, while cute, was going to get old quickly, just as a novelty song is cute the first few times you hear it, but becomes an irritant after repeated listens. A different identity was chosen, one that would have lasting power: KBCO – the BCO standing for Boulder Colorado.

On June 2, 1977 at high noon, getting the green light from the FCC, the transmitter atop Lee Hill in Boulder was turned up to 250 watts and the station began transmitting. The first song was one that had just showed up in the morning mail. A brand new radio station needed a brand new song to launch. It was by one of our core artists, James Taylor – “Handy Man.”

What a thrill it was to be on the air that day! It’s exhilarating to hear the fruits of our labor become a reality. Driving home that night listening to the new BCO was certainly a memory I’ll carry with me always. I didn’t want to go to sleep.

When we first started, we had a small, dedicated staff. All of us were handsomely paid $3/hour for our efforts. Honestly, I would have paid to do the job. It was so much fun. I found myself working on the air at all times – daytime, nighttime, weekends – I just wanted to be playing the great music. It wasn’t until the Fall that I settled into the morning show, where I stayed for 16 years.

Here now for your listening enjoyment is KBCO from that first summer we were on the air. Less than two months old. It’s the evening and, yes, that hippie talking between the songs is me. I’ve chopped the middles out of the songs, but left the commercials so that you can hear the essence of Boulder in 1977. 

KBCO July 1977 - click here to listen

Through the years, KBCO grew to become the number one radio station in Denver. The transmitting power continually increased and when the station constructed its new tower on Eldorado Mountain, the power was raised to 100,000 watts giving it one of the strongest FM signals in Denver. And like those beginning days of a small dedicated staff, KBCO today finds itself with a small dedicated staff, hopefully making a little more than $3 an hour.

The Opposite is Also True

One of the best parts of life is hearing words of wisdom from people who see the world from a fresh perspective - from a different camera angle. 

Bill Ward, President of Golden West Broadcasters was just one of those true rebels. One of his gems of wisdom – “The Opposite is Also True.”

A magnet has two poles – both which have magnetic attraction. One pole isn’t better than the other; they just both exist. In the same way there are always two sides to every dilemma; two solutions to every situation. Neither is more correct than the other. They both work.

When we in programming at KSCA in Los Angeles wanted to do anything that smacked of traditional radio rules, Bill’s guidance was, “The Opposite is Also True.”

The great radio programmers through the years have taken this rebellious attitude. In the '70s, programming genius Buzz Bennett at 13Q Pittsburgh stripped away all station jingles and produced elements, and had the deejays stop talking over intros of songs – just the opposite of what other stations were doing at the time. 

Because of that, 13Q stood out in the radio world of sameness and was tremendously successful. It was truly inspired radio. It brought balance to what was being offered on the radio in Pittsburgh.

Today, radio has once again fallen into an imbalance. Virtually every music station is cutting down on deejay chatter. Most radio stations have the DJs record every break before it airs, even when they’re in the studio for a “live” show. The reasoning? The announcer will have the chance to redo it to keep it concise. The result: live spontaneity is lost.

The balance is off. 

There’s nothing wrong with stations that want to follow these radio rules and be very music-intensive and fast-paced. 

But the opposite is also true.

Where are the music radio stations where the DJs actually have interesting things to say? A place where you actually hear their enthusiasm about the music they’re playing. 

When you think back to memories of something you heard on the radio, it most likely has to do with something that was said.

To keep the radio industry inviting to creative people, there needs to be a creative outlet for them. It’s time to restore the balance and create radio stations where stories unfold, personalities develop and listeners are personally involved and connected to their radio station. Just this alone will invigorate radio and keep it thriving.

I miss Bill Ward, sitting in his presence and hearing him expound on his latest tangent. There were always nuggets of wisdom in everything he said. Bill had a very positive influence on creating great radio by reminding us that the opposite is also true.

Dennis Constantine