KCBS Newsradio 740
San Francisco, California

The Complete Collection

KCBS Embarcadero Center (1971 Photo)

KCBS Newsradio 74 and KCBS FM Stereo 99
prepare to move to Embarcadero Center (1971)

 

On The Air Sign (Image)

KCBS Station Identification (Circa 1949; 50 seconds)

The voice of Dean Stewart carries us through this classic station break, presumed to be from late 1949; note the station ID as “KCBS, San Jose,” which would date the recording from after April 3, 1949, when call letters were changed from KQW, but before January 1, 1951, when KCBS’ official city of license became San Francisco. (The KCBS transmitter was moved from Alviso to Novato on August 9, 1951.) Courtesy of Ken Ackerman.

“Music Till Dawn” Excerpt (Tuesday, February 20, 1962; 28 minutes)

At 4:30 a.m., Dallas Townsend wraps up a CBS News update on John Glenn’s impending launch into Earth orbit, then Ken Ackerman returns to the KCBS microphone in the Palace Hotel to host Flight 2764 of American Airlines’ “Music Till Dawn,” featuring light classical music punctuated with the program’s signature theme song, “That’s All” by Sy Mann and his orchestra.

“Spectrum 74” Excerpt (Tuesday, February 20, 1962; 15 minutes)

Scott Beach and Fred Goerner host this brief segment of KCBS’ signature weekday program, with John Glenn’s historic spaceflight at the top of the news for the afternoon. This recording begins with Dallas Townsend’s sign-off from CBS Radio’s mobile news desk at Cape Canaveral, followed by network news on the hour reported by Prescott Robinson.

McElhatton In The Morning on KCBS/74 (1963?; 25 minutes)

Presenting an archive of the popular McElhatton In The Morning feature, “It Happened This Day.” Roughly recorded over a period of weeks, presumably in 1963. Courtesy of Fred Krock.

Robin King on KCBS (September 18, 1963; 5 minutes)

The pursuit of an Ambrose Bierce short story turns into a tale of personal courtesy as Mr. King describes his encounter with a considerate Yellow Cab driver on the streets of the city. Courtesy of Ken Ackerman.

San Francisco Seals Hockey Intro (October 9, 1964; 2 minutes)

A brief fragment from the first Seals hockey broadcast of the season versus the Portland Buckaroos, featuring Roy Storey and Don Klein, complete with a fumbled opening. Typewritten notes on the tape box label, reprinted verbatim here, read “Man at Cow Palace (Klein) who was to take to go-ahead over the phone, laid the fone down and proceeded to give instructions and check level while on air. I shouted time after time to go-ahead. The[y] finally did after 45 sec of foregoing.” Both Storey and Klein were inducted into the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame in 2008. Audio courtesy of Ken Ackerman.

Hilly Rose Interviews McCartney & Harrison on KCBS (August 19, 1964?; 8 minutes)

A backstage interview with Paul McCartney and George Harrison of The Beatles, updated in 2008 with notes by Mr. Rose and clarification on the actual date of the recording. Click here for the complete exhibit. Courtesy of Ken Ackerman.

“Five-Minute Final” Excerpt (November 3, 1965; 1 minute)

A brief but timeless moment from the daily roundup of closing stocks and latest headlines on KCBS, reported by Dick Leonard. The key moment arrives quickly as Dick details how late action on the New York market brought about good gains among — well, it should have brought about good gains among the blue-chip stocks
Courtesy of Ken Ackerman.

“Spectrum 74” Excerpt (1966; 3 minutes)

Rolfe Peterson and Helen Bentley host this short excerpt from the late morning edition of the program, highlighted by the selection of a winner in the station’s “Second Honeymoon” contest.

“Starlight Salute” Excerpt (July 16, 1966; 4 minutes)

A short segment of the long-running late evening program, hosted by Craig Harrison (air name of Harrison Wooley), which led into “Music Till Dawn.” Harrison also presided over KCBS’ popular weekday “Housewives Protective League” show for many years, a role he took over from original host Ken Ackerman, who provided this clip.

John L. Wasserman on KCBS (Undated excerpt, ca. 1966; 90 seconds)

John Wasserman (1938-1979), also a noted film and music critic and “On The Town” columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, adds a personal coda to a caller’s comments about “Up With People” and the Moral Rearmament movement. Courtesy of Ken Ackerman.

 

1971          Newsradio 74 with Clancy Cassell and Don Mozley (April 12, 1971; 42 minutes) Audio presentation onlyJS

Clarence “Clancy” Cassell anchors part one of this prime example of the all-news format on KCBS, with local and national reports, a CBS Radio cooking segment featuring Mike Roy and Dennis Bracken, “File 74” (Report #28) with Fred Wilcox, as well as financial news with Ray Hutchinson.
At noon (about 26 minutes into the recording), Don Mozley takes over the anchor desk, leading into Douglas Edwards and the CBS network news, followed by local reports by Al Helmso and George McManus, an editorial by KCBS news director Jim Simon, and sports with Don Klein. This broadcast takes place at about the time KCBS moved from the Palace Hotel to its new studios on the 32nd floor of One Embarcadero Center.

1972          Ken Ackerman Interviews Tony Bennett (1972; 6 minutes) Audio presentation onlyKA

Raw, unedited tape from an on-location interview with Tony Bennett prior to his show in the Venetian Room at San Francisco’s Fairmont Hotel.

1984          The KCBS Nighttime Magazine (Tuesday, May 8, 1984; 32 minutes) Audio presentation onlyFK

Chet Casselman (Photo)In this seven p.m. segment, Chet Casselman (photo, right) interviews the legendary voice artist Paul Frees (1920-1986), who is heard by phone from his home in Tiburon. Later, Chet talks with veteran Motorola engineer Andy Affrunti, author of “A Personal Journal: 50 Years at Motorola.” A business news update with Don Wiegandt and local spot ads by Al Hart and Tom Campbell also highlight the broadcast.
Casselman, who was most noted for his work at KSFO locally, also worked at KMPC in Los Angeles and KFBK in Sacramento. A founding member of Broadcast Legends, he passed away in 2004 from cancer at the age of 79.

1987          KCBS News In Review (February 16-20, 1987; 25 minutes) Audio presentation onlyFK

Frank Knight (air name of Frank Dale Leber) wraps up the week’s top news headlines in five segments — one for each day of the week — with reporting assistance from the KCBS news team and the CBS Radio network. This recording, direct from the original production tape reel, was part of Mr. Knight’s personal archive.

1988         The 20th Anniversary of KCBS Newsradio 74 (1988; 22 minutes) Audio presentation only

A series of flashback promos used to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of KCBS as Newsradio 74. Among the voices heard in the recordings are the station’s Al Hart, Dave McElhatton, Bob Melrose, Don Mozley, Stan Bunger, Barbara Taylor, Don Klein, Hal Ramey, Jerry Wilcox, Steve Little, Diane Callas, George Harris and Buddy Nelson, as well as CBS News notables Walter Cronkite, Charles Kuralt, Dan Rather and Ed Bradley. The series concludes with a special message from KCBS general manager Ray Barnett.

1993         The 25th Anniversary of KCBS Newsradio 740 (Thursday, May 20, 1993; 50 minutes) Audio presentation only

To celebrate its silver anniversary as Newsradio 74, KCBS welcomes the legendary Dave McElhatton back to the morning news desk, joining current anchors Al Hart and Lois Melkonian for a special commemorative broadcast. Also heard are Bill Lynch with CBS network news on the hour, Steve Bitker with sports, Ron Lyons on traffic, Don Wiegandt with financial news, and a commentary by Charles Osgood.

1997: KCBS All News 74 Signs Off For The Night… (1997; 1 minute)

The familiar voices of Ron Reynolds and Charles Osgood help put KCBS to bed for the evening. Through the 1990s, KCBS would routinely shut down overnight on Sundays (actually early Monday mornings) to perform maintenance on the station’s transmitter at Black Point, Novato.

 

Presentation includes text articleAudio presentation only — Exhibit includes text and audio. Audio presentation only — Audio presentation only.
Fair-to-poor audio quality — Fair-to-poor audio quality. Edited (scoped) aircheck — Edited (scoped) aircheck.
FK — Courtesy of Frank D. Leber.
JS
 — Courtesy of John Schneider.
KA
 — Courtesy of Ken Ackerman.

 Special thanks to Rose Leber for the donation of
original recordings from the estate of her husband,
Frank D. Leber (Frank Knight of KCBS)

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Linda Crowe
Linda Crowe
24 April 2021 4:10 PM

I was hopiing to hear part of Mcelhatton In The Morning” but the only thing that played was moreof the John Glenn re-entry and “Spectrum 74” reports. Please, be more careful when labeling these segments.

Jim Fewel
Jim Fewel
23 September 2022 8:14 PM

It looks like there’s a mistake. Spectrum 74 is in there twice the second time it’s under the heading. McElhatton In The Morning on KCBS/74 (1963?; 25 minutes)

Stacia
Stacia
29 January 2024 6:18 PM

Dean Stewart was my great, great uncle. It is nice to hear his voice again.

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