John Gilliland

[
frame|http://www.library.unt.edu/resolveuid/2778cba10090c91e58ce2854519b940a The John Gilliland Collection] .]

John Sanford Gilliland, Jr. (October 18, 1935 – July 27, 1998) was a radio broadcaster and documentarian best known for the Pop Chronicles music documentaries and as one of the original members of The Credibility Gap. He was born and died in his hometown of Quanah, Texas. He worked for a number of radio stations in Texas and California including KOGO in San Diego (1961-1965), KRLA in Los Angeles (1965-1970), and KSFO (AM) in San Francisco (1971-1978).

Career

Texas Radio

His radio career began in 1952 with KOLJ in his native Quanah, Texas. While attending Texas Christian University, he worked as a disc jockey at KCULdn in Fort Worth. His shows were "The House of Wax" and "The Man on the Beat." From 1959-1961 he worked for KLIF in Dallas.http://www.library.unt.edu/resolveuid/7a5374195de3ddcf2e5c31dc9d61d923] He also worked at KILTdn in Houston.http://www.arsc-audio.org/conference/2008/pdf/2008-abstracts.pdf]

California Radio

At the news department of KOGO in San Diego, Gilliland used the pseudonyms of John Land and Johnny Land.

At KRLA radio in Los Angeles County, Gilliland was one of the original members of The Credibility Gap which mixed topical humor along with their news broadcasts. Fellow founding member Richard Beebe said of him that "Even though John was an integral part of the ‘Gap,’ working on the ‘Pop Chronicles’ was always number one for him. It seemed like he was always working on it. John was a very talented guy and a lot of fun." [http://www.laradio.com/july98.htm] This radio documentary, "The Pop Chronicles", covering popular music of the 1950s and 1960s, was also originally broadcast on KRLA and later broadcast on many other stations. [http://www.sfradiomuseum.com/audio/ksfo/1972/Trib_Pop-Chronicles-Article-1_1972.pdf] [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/50111827?tab=details#tabs]

At KSFO in San Francisco, he hosted rebroadcasts of his "Pop Chronicles", an old-time radio hour, "Mystery Theater", "The Comedy Hour", and "The Great LPs". While working there he also produced and broadcast, beginning in 1972, "The Pop Chronicles 40’s," about the popular music of the 1940s. [http://www.sfradiomuseum.com/audio/ksfo/1972/ksfo_pop-chronicles_5-nov-1972.shtml]

Retirement

Gilland left KSFO in 1978 and returned to his native Texas. He edited and in 1994 published "Pop Chronicles: the 40's" as a four-cassette audiobook. [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/31611854?tab=details#tabs] During his retirement hs did some work for KREB in Houston and KXIC in Quanah. He died in 1998. In 2003, Gilliland's sister donated the Pop Chronicles tapes to the University of North Texas Music Library where they form [http://www.library.unt.edu/MUSIC/gilliland/ The John Gilliland Collection] .

Discography

*1968 - "An Album Of Political Pornography", with Lew Irwin and The Credibility Gap (Blue Thumb)
*1994 - "Pop Chronicles the 40's: The Lively Story of Pop Music in the 40's" (Soundelux) ISBN 978-1559351478

References

Online sources

* [http://www.library.unt.edu/resolveuid/7a5374195de3ddcf2e5c31dc9d61d923 Biography] at [http://www.library.unt.edu/resolveuid/f1262bb14451d36f67e88e8e68db8016 The John Gilliland Collection] at the University of North Texas Music Library
* [http://www.laradio.com/whereg.htm Los Angeles Radio People, G]
* [http://www.laradio.com/july98.htm Obituary] from http://www.laradio.com
* [http://www.sfradiomuseum.com/audio/ksfo/1972/ksfo_pop-chronicles_5-nov-1972.shtml The Pop Chronicles Presents The Forties] originally broadcast November 5, 1972, from the Bay Area Radio Museum

Other Sources

Gilliland, John. "On Chronicling Pop." in "Los Angeles radio people : Volume 2, 1957-1997", by Don Barrett. Imprint Valencia, CA : db Marketing, c1997. (The pages in this book are not numbered, but Gilliland's essay is located between the E and F entries.)