Here’s a gem from late 1957 or early 1958. Pop star Johnny Mathis, just a few years removed from his days as a star athlete at San Francisco State College, has stopped by the studios of KOBY, the Bay Area’s first Top-40 station. Click here to view the photo at full resolution.
We know the album came out in November 1957 and reached Billboard Magazine’s Best Selling Pop LPs chart in late December. We can’t be sure of the date of his KOBY visit; in 1957 the station’s studios were in the basement of the Bellevue Hotel at the corner of Geary and Taylor streets in San Francisco. This space had been used as a recording studio. In 1958, the station moved to new digs at 340 Mason Street.
The air talent posing with Mathis is listed on the back of the photo: left to right we see Ted Rogers, Bobby Beers, Jim Wayne, Ken Williams, and Ted Cooper.
In the fall of 1957, newspaper radio listings show Rogers was on the air from 9 to 11 AM, Beers had the late show beginning at 11 PM, Wayne was heard from 11 AM to 1 PM, and Cooper was on from 1 to 2:30 PM. Williams’ name appears in an August 1958 reference as a member of the KOBY DJ staff but his time slot isn’t noted.
Our thanks to Jana Olvera for sharing this photo from her collection.