More on KPCC Hosts

In his April 10 Counterpunch article (“KPCC’s New Management Doesn’t Get L.A.”), Robert Adels wrote that “KPCC gave the boot to its only minority broadcaster, Daniel A. Castro,” host of “The Sancho Show.” Not so. KPCC also booted Bill Gardner, longtime host of Friday night’s “R&B; Time Capsule” and “Rhapsody in Black.”

Bill Gardner is not only black. He grew up in South-Central Los Angeles in the ‘40s and ‘50s and was able to bring a unique perspective on this city’s black music to a broader Los Angeles market. Historians have finally gotten around to acknowledging the importance of Central Avenue and the local postwar black music scene, and Bill Gardner deserves a part of that. I can’t think of one other radio program that packs so much vital, exciting, fun and culturally important music into three hours. Dinah Washington, Nat Cole, T-Bone Walker, Jesse Belvin, Big Jay McNeely, Clyde McPhatter, the Moonglows, Bo Diddley, Savannah Churchill, Muddy Waters and so many more--they were staples of Bill’s program.

I recently listened to KPCC on Friday night and was so bored by the listless replacement program that I can’t even tell you what it was. Lucky for us, though, Bill Gardner’s “Rhapsody in Black” has found a new home at KPFK-FM (90.7), every Friday night from 10 to midnight, starting on April 21.

JIM DAWSON

Hollywood