Post by bossradio93 on Mar 22, 2004 14:51:06 GMT -5
(March 16, 2004) Chuck Niles, a Southern California jazz dj legend, died last night at Santa Monica Hospital of complications from a stroke. He was 76. He had suffered a stroke February 26 and never regained consciousness.
It would be hard to think about the world of jazz radio for the past half-century and not mention Chuck in the next sentence. He started at KFOX in 1956, moving to KNOB from 1957-65, KBCA, 1965-79 (he was pd); KKGO, 1979-90; and since 1990, he was with Long Beach’s KLON, which became KKJZ*.
Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1927, Chuck began with an early interest in jazz and for almost five decades, he was one of the premier djs in Southern California. On the air he was frequently mistaken for a black man because of his soulful delivery. Leonard Feather, the respected music critic for the LA Times, described Chuck as "the city's perennially eloquent voice."
Chuck became interested in jazz while studying with the same clarinet instructor as woodwind specialist Phil Woods. His actor father, who played trombone, influenced Chuck. His mother was a pianist. He played alto sax when he was 11 years old and played his first gig when he was 14 at a hotel, which actually was a brothel. He continued playing in school bands and spent the late 1940s playing the New England dance circuit.
Chuck got his start in radio in 1950 at WTXL in Springfield. He studied at the American International College, and after serving in World War II, he got his bachelor's degree in psychology and sociology. His first trip to California didn't last long and Chuck drove to Florida, where he says a "guy pumping gas" turned out to be a bass player who mentioned an opening at a Daytona Beach radio station, according to a profile in the LA Times. Chuck did a tv sports broadcast every night and a daily radio show in West Palm Beach. He admitted that, "I was a big fish in a small pond, but I wanted to find a bigger pond."
His next trip to Southern California resulted in a job as the afternoon movie host on KHJ/Channel 9, and he worked part-time at KFOX, where he met Jim Gosa and the legendary "Sleepy" Stein. One of his acting roles was in Teenage Zombies. "I didn’t have any lines, but I played a sort of Frankenstein character." He started the Jazz KNOB with Gosa and Stein while doing summer stock acting. In 1965 he went to KBCA and was pd for a long stretch. The station eventually became KKGO in 1979. In the early 1980s, Chuck hosted a series of jazz concerts. He received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1998. In the summer of 2001, Chuck successfully underwent heart bypass surgery.
KABC's Doug McIntyre said this morning: "Chuck Niles was the music."
Los Angeles Radio People-Mar. 16, 2004
*KLON became KKJZ in August 2002.
It would be hard to think about the world of jazz radio for the past half-century and not mention Chuck in the next sentence. He started at KFOX in 1956, moving to KNOB from 1957-65, KBCA, 1965-79 (he was pd); KKGO, 1979-90; and since 1990, he was with Long Beach’s KLON, which became KKJZ*.
Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1927, Chuck began with an early interest in jazz and for almost five decades, he was one of the premier djs in Southern California. On the air he was frequently mistaken for a black man because of his soulful delivery. Leonard Feather, the respected music critic for the LA Times, described Chuck as "the city's perennially eloquent voice."
Chuck became interested in jazz while studying with the same clarinet instructor as woodwind specialist Phil Woods. His actor father, who played trombone, influenced Chuck. His mother was a pianist. He played alto sax when he was 11 years old and played his first gig when he was 14 at a hotel, which actually was a brothel. He continued playing in school bands and spent the late 1940s playing the New England dance circuit.
Chuck got his start in radio in 1950 at WTXL in Springfield. He studied at the American International College, and after serving in World War II, he got his bachelor's degree in psychology and sociology. His first trip to California didn't last long and Chuck drove to Florida, where he says a "guy pumping gas" turned out to be a bass player who mentioned an opening at a Daytona Beach radio station, according to a profile in the LA Times. Chuck did a tv sports broadcast every night and a daily radio show in West Palm Beach. He admitted that, "I was a big fish in a small pond, but I wanted to find a bigger pond."
His next trip to Southern California resulted in a job as the afternoon movie host on KHJ/Channel 9, and he worked part-time at KFOX, where he met Jim Gosa and the legendary "Sleepy" Stein. One of his acting roles was in Teenage Zombies. "I didn’t have any lines, but I played a sort of Frankenstein character." He started the Jazz KNOB with Gosa and Stein while doing summer stock acting. In 1965 he went to KBCA and was pd for a long stretch. The station eventually became KKGO in 1979. In the early 1980s, Chuck hosted a series of jazz concerts. He received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1998. In the summer of 2001, Chuck successfully underwent heart bypass surgery.
KABC's Doug McIntyre said this morning: "Chuck Niles was the music."
Los Angeles Radio People-Mar. 16, 2004
*KLON became KKJZ in August 2002.