It’s been a little over a hundred years since the first commercial radio broadcast when Pittsburgh’s KDKA broadcast the results of the Harding-Cox presidential election in 1920. In 1938, Orson Welles directed and narrated an adaptation of H.G. Wells’s novel The War of the Worlds in a live broadcast that caused mass panic when the public believed it was real and the country was under attack by aliens. Since then, radio has come a long way. In fact, over the years, music streaming apps like Spotify and Tidal have replaced the good old days of listening to the radio. Before MTV, Generation X perfected the science of waiting by the radio, sometimes for hours, with a cassette tape, ready to push record when they finally played your favorite song. Houston entertainment blogger Mike McGuff grew up listening to local progressive rock radio station 101 KLOL, which was founded in 1970 by Pat Fant, the station’s first program director and DJ. McGuff was awarded two Lone Star Emmy Awards during his journalism career before deciding to become a filmmaker.
Dusty Hill, ZZ Top Bassist and Singer in documentary RUNAWAY RADIO. Photo courtesy of Dark Star Pictures.
McGuff’s directorial debut, the documentary Runaway Radio, chronicles the evolution of the trailblazing KLOL from the 1970s to one of several Album Oriented Rock (AOR) stations in later years. Runaway Radio tells the extraordinary true story behind the unconventional KLOL and features archival footage and commentary from former DJs and employees of the station, as well as rock and roll legends like Melissa Etheridge, Lyle Lovett, ZZ Top’s Dusty Hill, Sammy Hagar, and many more. In the early years of KLOL, DJs played whatever they wanted and several of the on-air personalities became local celebrities, known for their antics on and off the air.
Sammy Hagar, Solo Artist, Van Halen in documentary RUNAWAY RADIO. Photo courtesy of Dark Star Pictures.
Runaway Radio begins with founder and original program director Pat Fant explaining, “the cultural changes always make the music change,” pointing out that things like the summer of love, the Vietnam War, and Charles Manson all had a profound effect on music at the time. The sociopolitical climate of the country, and the world, has always affected entertainment, especially music and movies. The documentary includes enthusiastic early promotional segments for KLOL featuring young rockers like Ozzy Osbourne and Billy Idol.
A photo from documentary RUNAWAY RADIO. Photo courtesy of Dark Star Pictures.
While several rock icons share fond memories of the early days of the radio station, some of the most fascinating profiles in Runaway Radio are of the DJs, who were not just famous for their on-air styles, but also for their wild personalities behind-the-scenes. Some were known for partying while on the air and there are stories about the amount of alcohol and drugs in the studio, including an incident when someone left a line of cocaine on a record, causing it to skip on-air. “Outlaw” Dave Andrews was the afternoon host during the heyday of KLOL in the ‘80s and ‘90s. DJ Dayna Steele became known as “The First Lady of Rock ‘n Roll” after joining the station and was considered to be one of the top female disc jockeys in the country. Mark Stevens and Jim Pruett hosted the Stevens and Pruett show, an adult-oriented show with a focus on comedy and were considered “shock jocks” long before other hosts like Howard Stern used the term.
Greg “Grego” Onofrio, KLOL DJ in documentary RUNAWAY RADIO. Photo courtesy of Dark Star Pictures.
Runaway Radio is a highly enjoyable, nostalgic look back at the history of the wildly popular radio station KLOL, as well as the metamorphosis of the radio industry and rock and roll music. This documentary makes it clear, through candid interviews with both rock stars and former employees, that a lot of heart and soul went into making KLOL the most influential radio station in Houston.
Available on VOD and digital February 27th, 2024.
For more information, head to the official Runaway Radio website.
Final score: 3.5 out of 5.
Leave a Reply