Santa Rosa’s KVRE and KVRE-FM are fondly remembered as examples of locally-owned, locally-focused radio stations that blazed their own paths. Between 1965 and 1978, the stations were owned by Ed LaFrance and Bill Colclough. The Bay Area Radio Museum and Hall of Fame is pleased to share images and memories of those years, provided by Ed LaFrance.
Among his memories about the application for KVRE-FM: “We had to provide an environmental impact report on the proposed installation of the towers – this was a brand new thing at the time, and there was very little guidance. Bill Colcough and I went to Straw Hat Pizza near the Farmers Lane studio, got a carafe of wine, and set about writing up answers to a 20-question survey as ‘knowledgeably’ as we could. We submitted it, and it was accepted.”
KVRE carried The Secret Adventures of the Tooth Fairy, a syndicated series from Chickenman creator Dick Orkin. Listeners could get a “Tooth Ranger” membership card, and LaFrance recalls, “At one point, we did a promotional stunt in which we drove a convertible down Mendocino Avenue in Santa Rosa, with John Bigby dressed in a purple ‘Molar Marauder’ outfit sitting in the back and tossing toothbrushes to spectators, many of whom had no idea what it was all about.
Listen to KVRE jingles and bumpers
Like many radio stations of the era, KVRE put out “music surveys”. Ed LaFrance remembers, “There was a period of time when we produced these hit sheets, distributed them to record stores as freebies for the public. People could pick them up and collect them or do whatever they wanted with them. It was a promotional piece for the station. We only did it for a couple of years.”
