While other stations are giving you more commercials right now, there’s more music on 11-KING! Andy Barber, 1977 aircheck

Andy Barber officially retired from Classic Hits 92.9 The Drive, KBEZ/Tulsa in 2020. The following audio is a scoped hour from summertime 1977, during his time spent in Seattle at 1090 KING. The photo shows Andy Barber with Andy Gibb in the KING control room, taken in 1977.

That summer brought us Star Wars in the theaters, a big film sale at the Fotomat Store, and “The Italian Stallion” (his words), Andy Barber on the KING!

Runtime: 4:39

Sam Lawson

Student engineer at pioneer Nathan Hale radio station KNH 1210 in 1970 (prior to KNHC). Also attended North Seattle Community College and L.H. Bates in Tacoma (KTOY-FM). Sam’s career began as a KJR request line operator in 1970, with his first on-air job at KRKO in 1972. In 1976 he segued to overnights at KTAC as Cory Landon, then weekends at KING. In 1978 he moved to Lewiston, Idaho for afternoons on KOZE and KRLC. Throughout the ‘80s he was an announcer and/or engineer at "the best mix and biggest variety" of Spokane radio stations; including 97KREM, KZUN, KGA, KKER (The Sam & Pam Show), KZZU, PD of KJRB, 98 KISS-FM, and the voice of KAYU-TV. In 1989 he moved to Los Angeles as Assistant Chief Engineer and weekends at KZLA/KLAC. Also engineered for KBIG, KFI, Premiere Radio Networks, CBS Radio, and others. "After avoiding any actual work for nearly 45 years, now happily retired and very appreciatively back in the great Pacific Northwest!" ---Click here for other Sam Lawson articles ---and here for Sam Lawson airchecks

8 thoughts on “While other stations are giving you more commercials right now, there’s more music on 11-KING! Andy Barber, 1977 aircheck”

Great to hear Andy in Kings heyday.

Wasn’t there a hum on the 1090 frequency (?), at least I thought I was hearing a faint hum from where I listened in Tacoma. This was during the day, while at night that and interference together made listening a challenge.

Remember when KING went to Soft Rock in 1980? Remember when they went All-News in 1982?

Jason Remington says:

June 19, 2025 at QZVX at

Maybe if KING had gone Country. They tried everything else before being sold off.

Reply
1. Sam Lawson says:
  
  June 20, 2025 at QZVX at
  
  KING also had some signal related issues that I recall. In the sixties, you could hear a Mexican station underneath their audio at night. I believe it was XERB (later XPRS) with Wolfman Jack on the same frequency, 1090. This was particularly noticeable since KING ran a talk show in the evening.
  
  Their 50,000 watt signal also never seemed as powerful as KOMO or KIRO, because of a directional pattern necessary to protect other stations on 1090.
  
  I also recall a huge wind storm in the late ‘60s that toppled one of their towers on Vashon Island. The tower was rebuilt, but it seemed that their signal never fully recovered. I have no technical knowledge about that, so it may have just been my perception as a listener.
  
  Reply
  1. Kenneth Johannessen says:
    
    June 21, 2025 at QZVX at
    
    KING definitely had signal problems at night. In the early 80s, I would drive from North Seattle to Bellevue Community College to do the 3-6 am shift on KBCS. On the way, I would try to tune in KING, only to hear that Mexican station taking over 1090.
    
    Reply

Trying to figure that bit out? Who was this Colonel?

Andy Barber, China Smith and the great MusicRadio line-up, making the most of the time alloted for “personality”. A good part of everyday was spent with the radio. These jocks were great entertainers. They kept us coming back for more.