Monday, January 7, 2008

KLOL AND BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

There were few rock acts passing through Houston in concert that were not sponsored by KLOL FM.
The phrase "KLOL Presents" was at the beginning of more concert ads on the station than I can remember.

Some of the notables were The Rolling Stones, Led Zepplin, The Who, Genesis, and the list goes on. KLOL and its Houston audience were also the springboard for several artists going on to successful careers.

Bruse Springsteen and his band immediately come to mind as a breakout act in Houston. He was treated just like any other musician passing through any other city as he and his group toured the rest of the USA. But, this was not the case when he came to Houston. He was shocked and surprised by the reception he received every time he went to KLOL and by the reception of the City of Houston as a result of our talking him up and playing his music prominently on KLOL.
He was treated like a star when he was in the Bayou City. It wasn't like this anywhere in the Country...nowhere.

KLOL sponsored most of his early concerts at the venerable "Liberty Hall" concert hall. It was a small club, but it was standing room only when he played there in his earliest pre-stardom days.

His manager, Mike Appel sent Springteen music to us that other radio stations didn't have, such as a reel to reel demo copy of "The Fever," and his Christmas song "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." The fever really took off because of KLOL airplay. One of his shows broadcast on KLOL became a bootleg album classic. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed played an eight song broadcast show on KLOL FM, on the afternoon of 09 Mar 1974 at KLOL's studios Studios in Houston, TX. The late Ed Beauchamp was the KLOL personality who was overseeing the broadcast. The performance included an acoustic "SOMETHING YOU GOT." There was also a lengthy interview of Bruce by Ed. The complete broadcast is available in superb quality on several bootlegs, including:
· The Lost Radio Show (Kiss The Stone Records)
· The Lost Radio Show (Red Line / Post Script)
· The Lost Radio Show (Whoopy Cat Records)
· The Lost Radio Show Remastered (Pablo Records)

No comments: