KROQ’S APRIL IS PLAYBOY’S MARCH HARE

The great thing about radio is that it makes you use your imagination. When it comes to figuring out your favorite rock deejay’s appearance, you’re on your own--they supply the voice, your imagination does the rest.

But the March issue of Playboy puts the names together with the faces, and in most cases, a whole lot more. It features a 10-page spread on “Lady D.J.s,” which includes an appearance by KROQ-FM’s April Whitney, one of the station’s most popular jocks, who recently replaced Dusty Street in KROQ’s pivotal 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. air slot.

Now before you rush out to the newsstand . . . unlike most of the women featured, Whitney doesn’t appear naked. However, she is pictured in a seductive pose, reclining on a bed in pink lingerie with a Brian Ferry compact disc at her side--and it’s clear that she left her underwear at home. “The idea was to get ‘em to come back for more, don’t you think?” she asked playfully.

“Actually they did take more revealing pictures, but I always had my clothes on. That was a mutual agreement, because I want to pursue an acting career and I didn’t want to be typed as someone who would pose nude. Actually, some people were a little disappointed--they thought I looked like Little Bo Peep.”

Whitney, 25, said she saw an ad last summer soliciting women for the magazine feature. “Playboy wanted swim-suit shots, so I sent one in,” she said. “Then they asked for more, so my husband, who’s a professional photographer, locked us up in the house and took some more pictures, this time without the bathing suit.”

Playboy then did a more elaborate photo session, where Whitney said she was treated “like a Queen.” Whitney said that she’s received “complete” support from her station management, adding that her mother told her “she’d do the same thing if she were my age.” She also took great delight in noting that the current Playboy radio ads, which mention her by name, have been running on rival rock station KMET-FM.

“I was worried that a lot of kooks might come out of the woodwork on this,” she said. “But so far the only really weird call came from a guy in Dallas, without any credentials, who wanted to send me a plane ticket to go down there, allegedly with some of the other girls in the spread, to do some more photos.

“I don’t think I’ll be doing that. I’d be worried that I’d get off the plane and never be seen from again.”

Whitney said her husband was initially “real tickled” about her appearance, but now has become a little more protective. “He made sure there was someone with me when I left the station at night, and so now we have a security guard here to make sure everything goes smoothly.”

Whitney hopes the appearance will spark more legitimate career opportunities--she’s already taped a pilot as host of a cable TV program. “But if you told me last year that I’d get to move to our early evening slot and pose in Playboy, I’d say that it would be like giving a girl two wishes and having them both come true.”