KMPC – Wink Martindale Show – August 21, 1979 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
Okay, so now you’re heading in the direction of the big Three-Oh! Your life has changed. You have responsibilities. Maybe you got married – maybe you have a kid – or two kids. Maybe you have a mortgage and a job you’re not so crazy about. Maybe a few grey hairs have popped up and the eyes are little baggier than they used to be. And hangovers last a little longer than before.
Big deal. That’s not going to stop you from pulling your perfectly restored Chevy Camaro SS-350 out of the garage and heading down to Van Nuys Boulevard most weekends. Because that’s what you’ve done since you first got your learners permit in high school. That’s what you do every weekend. Maybe your wife thinks you’re crazy, but some of the guys on your block give you high-fives when you drive by. They wish they could go – they stopped. They envy you.
You don’t have an FM radio in the car – don’t even have an 8-track stereo. Just an AM radio. Wink Martindale is on KMPC. You remember him from KRLA and KFWB when you were in High School – you listened to him every day. Maybe the music’s changed. More Disco and easy listening, but he still gets some goodies in, like Jessie Belvin. He reminds you what it used to be like. You roll up your windows, tuning out The Clash and tuning out the world. Sometimes its hard. Everything has changed around you – it’s not slow anymore. You wonder if it ever will be that way again. Friday night’s just getting started.
As a reminder of what Pop Music radio was like in 1979, here is an hour’s worth of Wink Martindale from KMPC in L.A.. The station went from Station To The Stars, to Easy Pop to Music Of Your Life and then all-talk. But in its heyday it was one of the most popular stations in Los Angeles. Wink Martindale was a solid fixture in L.A. Pop Culture – a TV personality and game-show host. KMPC wasn’t top 40, it always went after that older demographic between 30-55.
But it had personality – lots of personality.
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