KSFO - History

History

KSFO went on the air in 1925 as KTAB. In its heyday, starting in 1955, it played MOR and jazz music, sports, and, particularly memorably, rebroadcast antique radio shows at particular times of the year. At the time, the station was owned by Gene Autry's Golden West Broadcasters and called itself "the world's greatest radio station." KSFO's signature jingle, "The Sound of the City" (words and music composed by Johnny Mann was sung a cappella by 8 studio singers at the United Western Recorders studio in Hollywood), became legendary in San Francisco — reportedly requested by listeners as much as any popular song on the station's playlist — and was subsequently adopted by other like-formatted stations around the country. Memorable broadcasters of KSFO's history include Russ Hodges, Lon Simmons, Don Sherwood, Jeff Skov, Aaron Edwards, Jim Lange, John Gilliland, Gene Nelson, Dan Sorkin and Jim Eason. The station's history included stints as the flagship station for both San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics baseball (at different times) and San Francisco 49ers, University of California and Stanford University football. A history of KSFO in the heyday of Don Sherwood (1950s and 1960s) can be found in Laurie Harper's biography, "Don Sherwood — The World's Greatest Disk Jockey."

The station's news department earned national and international journalism awards for coverage of the Peoples Temple massacre in Jonestown, Guyana and the assassinations of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk by former Supervisor Dan White. Newscasters, sportscasters, and DJs from KSFO played an annual softball game to benefit the Police Athletic League; the No-Stars' arch-rivals were Reno Barsocchini's VIPs.