Johnny was one of the “Lucky 13” KDIA powerhouse DJs, joining the station in 1969 after leaving KSOL. In time, Johnny became known in the industry as “Godfather of Soul Radio in California.”
A Fresno native, born Andrew Morris, he attended Edison High there and Polytechnic High in San Francisco. He later studied broadcasting at City College of San Francisco. But his real education began much sooner – he was already studying technical manuals by age 11 and built his first transmitter with junk parts at the age of twelve. In Fresno, Morris, then thirteen, built a radio station in his grandmother’s garage. Then at 14, he landed his first radio gig at KLIP, a station just outside of Fresno. At 16, he obtained his FCC broadcasting and engineering licenses.
In the early 1960’s, Morris landed on the Bay Area airwaves at KSOL. He became known as “Ronnie Dark”, a name given to him by fellow disc jockey and musician Sly Stone. In addition to his on-air duties, Ronnie soon became the station’s chief engineer and constructed additional on-air studios on the property.
Morris’s shift to KDIA in 1969 put him at the center of the ’70’s explosion of music from Black artists such as The Ohio Players, Bobby Womack, and Parliament-Funkadelic. He was among the Bay Area’s most popular radio personalities through the decade.
Johnny Morris died in 2018.