Gene Chenault: A rock radio legend retrospective, by Sean Conrad

By Sean Conrad, Guest Blogger

Gene Chenault and wife Suzy.

Rock radio legend Gene “Pappy” Chenault died on Feb. 23 at the age of 90. Gene, along with programmer Bill Drake, fathered 60’s & 70’s Top 40 Radio as we know it today. In 1962, when Gene was being beaten by the competition at KYNO Radio in Fresno, he made contact with up-and-coming programmer Drake to go on and destroy any radio station that happened to be in their path. With the success they achieved at KYNO, they cut a deal with the struggling RKO Radio Group and went on to duplicate that success with a format called Boss Radio at their stations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Boston and Detroit. This team effort by Gene and Bill was poetry in motion, as we used to say back in the day.

Elton John with Sean Conrad in Fresno.

As Bill gave the listener a reason for listening, Gene kept the sales department in check, making commercial air time a valuable commodity by simply limiting the amount. By decreasing the number of commercials in any given hour, and at the same time, raising the unit costs, the station attracted huge audience numbers, made truckloads of money and dominated the ratings in any market they entered.

When Gene and Bill came on the scene, most all radio stations in America had no restrictions on the number of commercials they aired per hour, nor any time limits on their disc jockeys. They could talk as long as they wished, and playing music was only an afterthought. In Fresno, Bill Drake along with input from an assembled team of other hot programming talent, cleaned up KYNO’s sound. They emphasized playing more music and instructing the on-air talent: “If you can’t say it in 10 seconds or less, don’t say it at all.”

As time went by and they attracted talented disc jockeys such as Robert W. Morgan and Charlie Van Dyke to their stations, these restrictions were loosened up to allow their personalities to shine through. And, yes, it is true most of the format ideas were written out on cocktail napkins at Cedar Lanes Bowling Alley a few blocks away from KYNO in Fresno! Inside this bowling alley was a top quality restaurant and great adult beverages that allowed the flow of ideas to fall onto the napkins. What also made it on to those napkins were great contest and promotion ideas that added the missing ingredient to an exciting radio station.

One of the greatest ideas they ever conceived was “the KYNO Millionaire.” Drake would dress someone in a tuxedo, send him around town in a limo, stopping people on the street and handing them cold hard cash. Of course, periodically, the jock on the air would tip people off as to where this friendly gentleman might show up. More than once, huge crowds of people could be seen standing around waiting to see that limo pull up.

Late in the evening, the Drake-Chenault boys would converge on the windowless restaurant with its crushed red velvet wallpaper and black leather half moon-shaped tables. After a few pops, the ideas would start to flow, and many times before they knew it, it was closing time. The next day, changes would take place on their airwaves in an  almost imperceptible manner that would go right over the heads of the competition. In no time, it became too late for their competitors to react, and almost immediately, KYNO dominated the ratings.

Car Giveaway

It was only in the middle ‘70s when underground FM radio came on the scene that KYNO’s ratings started decreasing. Even though they were no longer pulling 40s and 50s in the ratings, they still stayed No. 1 for many, many years.

In 1970, after the original Drake-Chenault crew had moved on to the big cities to work their magic, I was hired out of Detroit as a disc jockey. When my program director, Harry Miller, moved on to be a San Diego jock, I cautiously approached Gene with the idea that I would make a great team leader for his pride and joy KYNO. Pappy arranged for me to fly to the home office in Canoga Park and go through interviews with national PD Bill Watson and national music director Bernie Torres. I passed the stringent test and for the next three years, made sure KYNO stayed number one.

We became a testing ground for new ideas and experimental music additions to the playlists in the RKO chain. With very little risk, a new idea or record could be implemented at KYNO, and if it passed the test there, they’d take it to the majors. I had a great time during those years, assisting Drake and his boys as they tweaked the KYNO format from the confines of a suite at the Fresno Hilton. They’d all come swooping in to town for brainstorming sessions, and of course, after a long hard day of concentration on the format, we’d all wind up at Cedar Lanes for a trip down memory lane.

When an old friend emailed me yesterday that Gene had passed away, I thought back on how my personal life was such a mess when I was his PD between 1970 and 1973. Gene always forgave me and was my biggest fan. I busted my ass for him, and he rewarded me not only financially but with the emotional support I desperately needed in my troubled 20s. He treated me like a son. The world of radio—and my world— was a better place because of . I will miss him.

I am now going to go have a Tanqueray with a twist, Gene’s favorite, and count my blessings for having known him.

Sean Conrad (aka Ron Copeland) spent 30 years in radio as a disc jockey and program director at 22 radio stations in 15 cities between 1960 and 1990.

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