Jon Badeaux Biography
Employment Dates(KFXM/KDUO): |
Nov. 1964 to June 1965 and Sept. 1965 to Sept. 1966 |
|---|---|
Time Slots while at Station: |
1st Time I did News, 2nd Time 11pm-5:30am 12 noon-3pm |
Stations prior to KFXM/KDUO: |
KFXM was my 1st Station. I Worked at Sister Station KAFY in Bakersfield between the two times I worked at KFXM. |
Stations right after KFXM/KDUO: |
K/men-San Bernardino, CA |
All other Stations after KFXM: |
KWIZ/Santa Ana-Anaheim, CA, KHJ/Los Angeles, KDAY/Los Angeles, CA, Clear Channel/Corporate Director of Traffic, Entercom/Kansas City/Director of Traffic, KMSP-TV,WFTC-TV, Fox Sports North/Minneapolis, MN as Director of Traffic, KMGH-TV Denver, CO/Director of Traffic. |
Current Employment: |
Director of Traffic for a Broadcasting Group, Jackson, Mississippi. I also produce a Webcast called, "The Soundtrack of Your Life" Links: http://www.live365.com/stations/jonbado?play and at http://wm5.spacialnet.com/LIFE-FM34866 |
Born: |
San Bernardino, California. |
Birthday: |
August 3rd |
Education: |
Pacific High School, San Bernardino, California. |
Hobbies: |
Computers, Music and Webcasting. |
Favorite song(s) of all time? |
"Lightning Strikes Again" by Lou Christie. |
Favorite artists of all time? |
The Turtles |
Some Interesting KFXM Stories from the Early 1960's
I have a lot of KFXM stories, and a large percentage
of them was when I was a kid. I lived a block away from Highland Avenue.
Lyle's Record Store (no, not Kilgore) was having a remote from their
new location, just around the block from me. As we drove by, all the
traffic was driving real slow, everyone was looking inside the store.
All the car radios were tuned to KFXM. It was like a sight from American
Graffitti.
We went into the store and I saw two turntables, a mixer and a microphone. The DJ (Ron Gardner, not to be confused with Ron Garner who came later) took a liking to my family. He invited us to the station. At that time is was in the older transmitter building.
Lyle Kilgore, Thick Black Hair and Wearing a Hawaiian Shirt
Lyle Kilgore was there when we got to the station following Ron's car. I remember Lyle vividly from that night. Dark, thick black hair wearing an Hawaiian shirt. When he saw Ron, his words were, "She's all yours!"
At 9pm, Ron started "Lucky Lager Dance Time." It ran at the very same time on stations across the country with pre-planned music logs and commercials. But it was always a locally hosted show.
At that time, the studio was in a fairly small booth. The main area in front of the transmitter had old equipment that had previously been the studio. Later, Lyle Kilgore built a new studio in the transmitter room and turned the former studio into the news booth.
John Quimby fell Out of his Chair in Hysterics
I remember a very funny story and I simply can't remember the name of the person. He had a marvelous sense of humor and had to use crutches to get around due to some kind of paralysis in his legs.(Editor's Note: The man he is describing was John P. Quimby, KFXM Newsman, San Bernardino City Councilman and later a powerful California State Assemblyman). One night, he started the news and the DJ went to the men's room. The newsman accidentally leaned back in the chair and fell to the floor. He couldn't get up. As the DJ returned, the newsman was laughing so hard it made the DJ laugh. All the Inland Empire could hear on 590 was two people laughing hysterically.
When I was in high school I used to walk 14 miles each way from my home to the transmitter site. I would ask Lyle or whoever was on the air if I could go through the trash in the garage. (Yes, the building had a two car garage attached in back.) All the jingles and commercials were on ET -- electrical transcriptions. These were actually records that were made on a lathe at the studio in the California Hotel on 5th and E Streets. I would take a bunch of these (they weighed a lot because the center was metal) and take them home. I would play DJ with these.
I wish I had saved some of those old ETs. I always figured I could someday come back and have access long enough to get a few. When I heard the building had burned down, I was heart broken. For me, there were a lot of wonderful memories in there. To me, that's where radio started.
In my senior year of high school I landed the job of afternoon/night newscaster. By then, KFXM was in the Holiday Inn. I would do "news alive at 55" on KFXM, then turn my chair around and do top of the hour news on KDUO. I worked from noon until midnight.
Tullis came in, cleaned house and brought in Al Anthony
Howard Tullis was famous for coming in and cleaning house... firing everyone and bringing in all new people. One day, the news director (Bill Elliott) told me NOT to come in that day... but to come in the following day. What Bill did was save my job. Tullis had come in and fired everyone. He brought in Al Anthony as PD. When I came in the next day, the entire staff was new.
When I was a jock working 11pm to 5:30a, the last thing I had to do was the news at :55 for Don Elliot. I was so tired by then, I always recorded the 5:55am news sometime around 3am. One day, Don exposed his wicked sense of humor by unplugging the tape recorder in the news room. When the news intro ran, I started the machine but it was dead. I knew what he had done so it was fixed pretty fast.
When
I was doing 12n-3p, I loved bugging Al Anthony (who worked 9a-noon).
One day, my feet hurt so I kicked off my shoes. He saw me and... being
the buttoned-down guy he was (and probably still is)... he wasn't very
happy about it. So I made a point to always take my shoes off. He would
always say, "Wear your shoes, Beatnik!"
We ran a lot of Preparation H commercials as barter for an old jingle package from Pepper-Tanner. (The "Woody Woodpecker" jingles). I always made some kind of comment going into or out of the spot. Al barged in one day in the middle of the spot and said, "Don't you dare say ANYTHING regarding this commercial ever again!" So I segued into a song and said, "KFXM, with PILES of hits!"
Norine Dixon would write on Your Mail, "Opened in Error!"
Our bookkeeper, Norine Dixon, was a sweetheart. Especially because she always had a big box of candy in her office. But she had one trait that drove people crazy. She opened everyone's personal mail. Then she'd write on the envelop, "Opened in error."
I had a friend at KMEN and asked him to send me an envelop with the KMEN logo on it to my home. On a piece of paper, i wrote, "Norine Dixon is way too nosy and shouldn't open mail that isn't hers." I put it in the KMEN envelop and addressed it to me at KFXM. A few days later, without saying anything, Norine walked in and threw it in my face. I heard she stopped opening personal mail but that was never confirmed.
The National Orange Show was always fun for me as a kid. So when KFXM set up a "Dunk Tank" one year, I was thrilled to take part. Al couldn't resist pushing the plunger every time he walked by me. But I loved it.
I Pulled the Plug on K/men's Remote Broadcast Mobile Home
That same year, KMEN was broadcasting live from a mobile home. I walked around it from a distance so I wouldn't be seen. Then, I went to the blind side of the mobile home, pulled the power plug and took off. Later that day, Al called me into his office and asked why I did it. By then, I was certain Al was psychic. But, no... just smart enough to put two and two together.
Worked with Legends; Lyle Kilgore, Gary Price and Huddleston
Later in my career I worked
with a lot of former KFXM-squad people. Lyle Kilgore, Gary Price, J.
Paul Huddleston to name a few. It was really interesting to have been "a little kid" around
them, then work side by side with them as an adult. Two of the three
mentioned above still thought of me as "that kid."