From Steamy to Strange

Intern with a blue dress, blue dress, blue dress. . . .

The person of the year on radio was someone whose voice we didn’t even really get to hear until last month. But try to imagine 1998 on the airwaves without Monica Lewinsky. It’s not a pleasant thought. We had a year with nothing to talk about in 1997--O.J. wound down, there were no elections, and no home-run chase or NBA lockout.

Ewwwww. Gives you the creeps just thinking about it. Let’s hope we never have to go through anything like that again. But meanwhile, let’s recap the highlights and low lights of the radio year in the Southland, keeping in mind they are often just a matter of opinion, or political affiliation.

Heal Thyself: Just in case they ran out of things to talk about, a couple of talk stars provided plenty to chatter about themselves. Foremost was Dr. Laura Schlessinger, whose “youthful indiscretion” (to borrow Henry Hyde’s term for his own dalliance) was seen by millions on the Internet, where former talk-show host Bill Ballance posted photos of Dr. Laura in the flesh, taken during an affair they had 20 years ago. The radio moralist found herself having to take some of her own medicine, which, to her credit, she did, noting that she was now suffering the consequences of bad choices.

Meanwhile, Art Bell starred in his own escapade worthy of the conspiracy-theory paranoia he spins nightly, going into hiding for several days while claiming that there was a grave threat against himself and his family. Amid accusations that it was a publicity stunt, Bell insisted that it was not and that the public would be shocked when the truth was revealed. We’re still waiting.

It’s a Business Thing: “Bigger is smaller” sounds like a slogan from “1984,” but it’s the reality of radio’s brave new world. Predictions that the mergers and consolidations of 1997 would mean more selective “narrowcasting,” with stations targeting more and more specific audiences, came true in 1998. Instead of individual stations competing for a wide spectrum of listeners, now we have ownership groups using several stations in the market to reach across demographic lines.

This year we saw Disney-owned KABC-AM (790) and KDIS-AM (710) dump their sports programming so they could focus entirely on their talk and kids programming, respectively. Meanwhile, Jacor took over KACD-FM (103.1), dumping the failed groove music format in favor of adult alternative a la what KSCA-FM (94.3) aired before going regional Mexican. Where KSCA had trouble sustaining as a solitary entity, Jacor adds KACD and its 30- to 40-something demos to its L.A. stable of male-appeal sports-talk KXTA-AM (1150) and youth-pop giant KIIS-FM (102.3).

And do we need another talk station? The folks at CBS think so, switching KRLA-AM (1110), with a rock and soul heritage going back to the ‘60s heyday, to chat. It didn’t hurt that they were able to bring over such name figures as Don Imus--who never made a dent in the L.A. market with his New York-based show on KLAC-AM (570)--along with Dr. Toni Grant, G. Gordon Liddy and, most significantly, former KABC mainstay Michael Jackson. But more than that, this gives CBS an L.A. presence that spans the adult talk audience, a younger talk crowd for KLSX-FM (97.1), the youth or modern-rock leader KROQ-FM (106.7)--while keeping the oldies fans via the better-sounding, more powerful and higher-rated KRTH-FM (101.1). That pretty much covers all the bases for advertisers.

On the other end of the scale, KBLT-FM (104.3)--the “pirate” station operating in the Silver Lake area--finally got nailed by the FCC. Sure, it was an illegal venture, but in an age when the only legal way to get on the air seems to be a mega-corporation, it’s good that someone is trying to remind us that the airwaves officially belong to us all.

Megawatt: The corporate mergers weren’t the only mega entities out there. After floundering as dance-music B100.3, KIBB-FM was switched to KCMG-FM--Mega100--sporting a rock and R&B; oldies playlist with a Latino-appeal twist. What seemed like an interesting experiment quickly grew--as evidenced by the station bumper stickers that sprouted on cars all over the region--into a legitimate phenomenon. It didn’t just impact L.A. (contributing to the downfall of heritage oldies station KRLA-AM (1110) but soon picked up in a number of other markets around the country.

A Mockery: Forget “All Things Considered.” Forget Rush Limbaugh. The best, most balanced portrayals of Zippergate came on Harry Shearer’s Sunday morning “Le Show” on KCRW-FM (89.9) in his “Clintonsomething” looks inside the Washington back rooms. They also happen to be, far and away, the funniest. As the events veered into uncharted waters of absurdity, Shearer rose to the challenge without fail of showing the, um, heroes of the exploits as we would all like to believe they really are. His James Carville characterization gets better and better (having a part-time residence in New Orleans is paying off), but if you’ve never heard his phone calls between “Newtie” Gingrich and his smokers’ cough-racked mom, you’ve got no business owning a radio.

Honorable mention to Stephanie Miller, who, though an unabashed liberal Clinton supporter, has no qualms about mocking the president as a sex-crazed frat boy on her KABC-AM (790) evening show. You’ll never hear Limbaugh let the Republican leadership have it like that. Miller’s parodies of the Lewinsky affair as an old sitcom (“Three’s Company,” for example) were priceless.

Overheard: Last spring at a forum on talk radio at the Museum of Television and Radio in Beverly Hills, the panel was asked what’s missing from Los Angeles radio. Michael Jackson immediately piped up: “Me. Daily.”

And so it has happened. The silver-toned veteran, the dean of Los Angeles hosts, returns to the airwaves Jan. 4.

The Mustard’s Off the Hot Dog: Is anyone missing the NBA? Didn’t think so--but it could prove a l-o-n-g winter without Chick Hearn. Maybe a network will hire him to do play-by-play commentary on the impeachment trial. Or maybe we could just get Major League Baseball to start spring training early so Vin Scully can fill the void.

Speaking of Baseball: He’s rarely missed a Dodger game since the club moved west, and that dedication has been rewarded with a spot in the baseball Hall of Fame and a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.

Scully? Well, yeah, him too. But we were referring to Jaime Jarrin, the Dodgers’ veteran Spanish-language broadcaster, who was voted into the broadcast wing of the baseball shrine in February, then presented with a Hollywood star in September.

Jarrin is only the second Spanish-language broadcaster to be recognized by the hall and the second to be honored on the Walk of Fame. But that’s not all he got. Most National League clubs also honored Jarrin during off-field ceremonies last season and presented him with gifts--the Marlins and Diamondbacks, for example, gave him a team jersey.

Jarrin kept the uniforms but was quick to share the credit.

“This . . . is a recognition of the Spanish-speaking people, the fans who have supported the game,” he said. “I take it not because of me, but because of them.”

Hey, maybe he’ll let us borrow one of the jerseys.

Tuckered Out: Nick Vidal, one of the afternoon Baka Boyz on KPWR-FM (105.9) came a few hours short of his goal of 54 consecutive hours in an attempt to set a world’s record for live, on-air music mixing. Wonder what the record is for listening?

Now That’s What We Call Oldies: You love the classics, right? Elvis, Little Richard, Pope Gregory . . . Pope Gregory? If that’s your taste, 830 AM was the place to listen recently. Having been bought by the Catholic Family Network, the frequency was filled with Gregorian chants for a stretch this fall before the new owner’s regular programming was inaugurated. Heck (excuse our French), it sounded better than most of the stuff on the air these days.

Overheard II: Dr. Toni Grant, back on the air at the now talk-oriented KRLA, has been using as a tag line, “I’m a real psychologist.” Gee, she couldn’t be taking a knock at Dr. Laura, whose degree is in chemistry, not counseling, now could she?

Welcome: Nic Harcourt took over KCRW’s noted “Morning Becomes Eclectic” from Chris Douridas--who after a decade decided to turn full-time to the record-business work he’d been taking on--with a winningly comfortable manner.

Goodbye: L.A. lost a true institution with the passing of Robert W. Morgan after a battle with lung cancer earlier this year. For his fans, getting up in the Morgan will never be the same without him.

Times staff writers Judy Michaelson and Kevin Baxter contributed to this story.