KZAM (defunct)

KZAM-FM was a pioneering progressive rock station that served the Puget Sound region from 1 April 1975 to 1983, where it broadcast at 92.5 MHz. As of 2006 the signal is now home to Adult Rhythmic Top 40 KQMV (Movin' 92.5).

A leading eclectic radio station in Seattle, Washington in the 1970s, KZAM-FM was influential as one of the first stations to play many new artists, music on small labels and music in new genres, notably including "new age music" by the Windham Hill label. The music mix was exceptionally diverse yet generally accessible, and the station attracted a large and surprisingly mainstream audience. Unlike most earlier "alternative" stations that appealed almost exclusively to a very young, primarily male audience, KZAM reached a broader audience that usually had at least as many women as men, and was strongest in the 25-34 age group. KZAM's programming concepts were nationally influential, and spawned the so-called adult album alternative format. The station differed from many alternative music stations in the scope of its news and public affairs offerings and its ambitious direct involvement with its listeners in community events. When KZAM first went on the air, it's original air staff featured more women than all other Seattle radio stations combined at the time, which was a topic of some local controversy. "The Seattle Times" ran a story about the station in 1975 headlined "Female Overkill". In its later years, the station was also known for innovative television commercials.

The station was originally owned by a local group of Seattle investors led by Stuart Ballinger, a one-time Broadway actor with deep Seattle roots, and Howard Leendertsen, one of the first people to import premium Japanese-made stereo equipment into the United States in the 1960s. In 1979 it was purchased by an Ohio-based group led by Dudley White, an owner of newspapers and, starting in 1979, radio stations. The on-air sound and staff underwent some changes as a result of the change in ownership, but the station remained distinctive well into the 1980s.

Early on-air staff members included Tom Corddry (founding Program Director), Jon Kertzer (founding Music Director), Davidson Corry, Shelley Morrison, Leilani McCoy, Marian Seymour, Jeff Hanley, Jeff Heiman, Steve Suplin, Jude Noland, Dennis Fleenor (founding News Director), Lee Somerstein, Joni Balter, Nick Morrison, Jim Stutzman, Bruce Buls and Nils Von Veh. A surprising number of the original KZAM staff ended up in high tech careers after their radio careers: Corddry, Kertzer and Von Veh were at Microsoft, Morrison at RealNetworks, Corry at Attachmate, Hanley at Oracle and Heiman at PlayNetwork.

Later staffers included Larry Snyder, Dave Scott, Bruce Funkhouser, Robert L. Scott, Paul Carlson, Matt Reidy, Steve Ward and Michael Soto.

The last two minutes of KZAM's final day of broadcast in 1983 was Porky Pig stammering "That's all folks!"

KZAM-AM was KZAM-FM's sister station. From 1979 through 1981 it played exclusively punk and new wave music as the "Rock of the 80s". DJs included: Greg McClure (Spudboy), Cindi Bemel, Kerry Loewen, Michael Stein, Leroy Henry and Stephen Rabow.

The KZAM "family" has stayed in touch over the years, with major reunions about every five years.

External links

An online version of the original KZAM programming concept is streamed every day at www.kzam.net. To listen to KZAM today, click this link. [http://play.kzam.net/listen.pls]