Post by bossradio93 on Dec 27, 2003 2:53:37 GMT -5
Ventura County radio pioneer Fred Hall dies
By Jim McLain, Ventura County Star, 12.24
Fred Hall, who helped to launch Ventura County's first radio station and turned his love of big band-era music into a nationally syndicated radio program, died Friday in Fort Bragg. He was 80.
Known for his interviews with some of the most famous musicians, bandleaders and singers of the 1930s, '40s and '50s, Hall lived in Ojai for about 40 years. He moved to the Lake Tahoe area in the late 1980s, then to Fort Bragg last year, when his health began to decline, to be near his son, Tim.
A native of Asheville, N.C., Hall was one of the original owners of KVEN-AM 1450. Besides helping to build the station's first studios in Ventura's Pierpont Bay area in 1948, he served as a disc jockey, its chief engineer and program director. Hall also singlehandedly ran KVEN's news department and for many years was the only radio reporter covering Ventura County news, Tim Hall said. He became interested in radio as a child and it quickly became his passion.
"It was the one thing that just hooked him. He loved everything about it," he said. "He was your local Walter Cronkite kind of guy."
Born May 22, 1923, Hall attended schools in the South and joined the Navy in the late 1930s. Assigned as a radar instructor, he continued to study radio and eventually was sent to the Armed Forces Radio Service and spent much of World War II broadcasting from New Caledonia.
Long a fan of swing-era music, Hall interviewed some of its most famous performers while he was with Armed Forces Radio and began amassing what would eventually become thousands of recorded interviews with people such as Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, the Andrews Sisters and Les Brown. A frequent emcee at USO shows during and after the war, Hall became friends with many of the musicians and started to become known as an authority on their music.
When the war ended, he helped to launch radio stations in the Washington, D.C., San Francisco and New Mexico areas before coming to Ventura to start KVEN, the county's first local radio station. Along with his daily music program and local news broadcasts, Hall also worked as a freelance reporter for the NBC and Mutual radio networks.
He eventually sold his interest in the station and left it in 1970 to start KOVA-FM (105.5) in Ojai, running it for about 15 years. In 1971 he began selling to other stations "Swing Thing," a KVEN show featuring some of the interviews he had done over the years. At one time he syndicated it to stations in about 70 markets, his son said.
He recorded more than 1,000 shows that are still being carried in 12 markets, including Santa Barbara.
The shows can also be heard on Tim Hall's Web site, www.swing-thing.com.
Fred Hall compiled some of his interviews into books titled "Dialogues in Swing" and "More Dialogues in Swing" during the 1980s, and a few years ago wrote a biography of pianist Dave Brubeck, titled "It's About Time."
Besides Tim Hall, Fred Hall is survived by another son, Michael, of Lake Tahoe. His wife, Gita, died in 2001, and a daughter, Jane, in the late 1980s.
At Hall's request, no services are planned, his son said.
Los Angeles Radio People-Dec. 25, 2003
By Jim McLain, Ventura County Star, 12.24
Fred Hall, who helped to launch Ventura County's first radio station and turned his love of big band-era music into a nationally syndicated radio program, died Friday in Fort Bragg. He was 80.
Known for his interviews with some of the most famous musicians, bandleaders and singers of the 1930s, '40s and '50s, Hall lived in Ojai for about 40 years. He moved to the Lake Tahoe area in the late 1980s, then to Fort Bragg last year, when his health began to decline, to be near his son, Tim.
A native of Asheville, N.C., Hall was one of the original owners of KVEN-AM 1450. Besides helping to build the station's first studios in Ventura's Pierpont Bay area in 1948, he served as a disc jockey, its chief engineer and program director. Hall also singlehandedly ran KVEN's news department and for many years was the only radio reporter covering Ventura County news, Tim Hall said. He became interested in radio as a child and it quickly became his passion.
"It was the one thing that just hooked him. He loved everything about it," he said. "He was your local Walter Cronkite kind of guy."
Born May 22, 1923, Hall attended schools in the South and joined the Navy in the late 1930s. Assigned as a radar instructor, he continued to study radio and eventually was sent to the Armed Forces Radio Service and spent much of World War II broadcasting from New Caledonia.
Long a fan of swing-era music, Hall interviewed some of its most famous performers while he was with Armed Forces Radio and began amassing what would eventually become thousands of recorded interviews with people such as Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, the Andrews Sisters and Les Brown. A frequent emcee at USO shows during and after the war, Hall became friends with many of the musicians and started to become known as an authority on their music.
When the war ended, he helped to launch radio stations in the Washington, D.C., San Francisco and New Mexico areas before coming to Ventura to start KVEN, the county's first local radio station. Along with his daily music program and local news broadcasts, Hall also worked as a freelance reporter for the NBC and Mutual radio networks.
He eventually sold his interest in the station and left it in 1970 to start KOVA-FM (105.5) in Ojai, running it for about 15 years. In 1971 he began selling to other stations "Swing Thing," a KVEN show featuring some of the interviews he had done over the years. At one time he syndicated it to stations in about 70 markets, his son said.
He recorded more than 1,000 shows that are still being carried in 12 markets, including Santa Barbara.
The shows can also be heard on Tim Hall's Web site, www.swing-thing.com.
Fred Hall compiled some of his interviews into books titled "Dialogues in Swing" and "More Dialogues in Swing" during the 1980s, and a few years ago wrote a biography of pianist Dave Brubeck, titled "It's About Time."
Besides Tim Hall, Fred Hall is survived by another son, Michael, of Lake Tahoe. His wife, Gita, died in 2001, and a daughter, Jane, in the late 1980s.
At Hall's request, no services are planned, his son said.
Los Angeles Radio People-Dec. 25, 2003