As the concept of progressive rock radio exploded in the late 1960s, corporate owners sat up and took notice. But of course, when “The Man” decides to try to get hip, it doesn’t always work out.
KFMS was radio heavyweight RKO General’s attempt to capture some of the youthful energy that had driven KMPX, and then KSAN, to the front of the cultural scene in the Bay Area. The call letters were changed from KFRC-FM in November 1968.
But KFMS never achieved the freeform feel its owners sought. By mid-1970, the station’s “HITPARADE ’70” format was being touted by syndicator American Independent Radio as a way for broadcasters to hold down costs with a 24-hour-a-day automation system.
A February 1970 music chart issued by the station makes it clear: the raw-edged rock being heard on other progressive stations was largely missing from KFMS. While The Guess Who’s No Time made the chart, it was buried beneath the likes of R.B. Greaves’ Always Something There To Remind Me and Mark Lindsay’s Arizona.
By the fall of 1972, RKO General threw in the towel, switching the call letters to KKEE and moving the station to an even easier-listening format.
