KUTE - History of The KUTE Callsign

History of The KUTE Callsign

KUTE 102 (101.9 MHz) was a radio station in Los Angeles, California, United States, whose format history included R&B, Disco, Urban Contemporary and Urban Adult Contemporary.

In the 1960s the station, whose original call letters were KLYX, played middle of the road music from a transmitter and studio atop Flint Peak, just west of the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA. The studio was later moved to Glendale, CA with the transmitter remote controlled. An AP teletype was prominent in the studio's storefront window, with a five-minute "rip and read" newscast on the hour by the duty DJ. Eventually the transmitter was moved to Mt. Wilson with greatly reduced power. By 1972, KLYX would become a R&B station under new owners Inner City Broadcasting Corporation.

In 1978, KLYX became a Disco station and adopted the new calls KUTE. During the late 1970s and by the early 1980s it became one of the original stations in the United States to launch a format that would later become a staple for Urban contemporary, playing the latest Funk, R&B and New wave music, featuring local DJs such as "Humble Harve", Brian Roberts and "Lucky Pierre." KUTE 102 was also the starting point for many successful radio careers including veteran PD Rick Thomas who was hired in 1982 to do weekends on air by then PD Lucky Pierre. During this time, mornings were hosted by Brian Roberts, afternoon drive by Charlie Fox and evenings with Joe Greene. Weekends also featured Ed Mann, Buster Jones, Scott Lockwood and Strawberry Jan Marie. At 2:00 a.m. on Sunday mornings, KUTE 102 would host an hour of disco/dance mixes, usually pre-mixed vinyl albums specially created for DJs. KUTE 102 was one of the first radio stations to air a "mega-mix" when the "Michael Jackson Mega-Mix" debuted in the summer of 1983, hot on the heels of the enormous success of Jackson's Thriller album earlier in the year. DJ Mario Flores later hosted a disco dance dj 12" specialty show Sunday mornings from 2:00am to 3:00am featuring 15 minute disco mixes, mixed by well known dj's around the U.S. The mixes changed in 1983 when electro funk began to dominate the station.

KUTE was very successful in this format until in late 1983, when it became a template for Urban Adult Contemporary stations today, changing its format to what is now called "The Quiet Storm" format. KUTE 102's Urban Adult Contemporary format would last until 1987, when the station was sold to Gene Autry's Golden West Broadcasting, who would later replace it with an eclectic Rock format.

About 1965, the Glendale studio moved to the newest LA high-rise the Occidental Center Building and every half hour the duty announcer would say: " High atop the 30th floor of the Occidental Center Building in downtown Los Angeles, this is KUTE-FM 1-oh-1 point 9". One of the best features during those years was the soothing sounds of "London By Night" hosted by the mellifluous Bob London (Martin Willer) who later moved to KNX radio. The station was owned and operated by Bob Adams. It played middle-of-the road instrumental music that was very popular for background music in homes, offices, stores and elevators. The announcer operated 3 turntables, capable of all speeds including 16rpm to play electrical transcriptions for commercials. The station later acquired a Sony reel-to-reel tape recorder to play spots. The duty microphone was an old circular carbon mic, the kind that FDR used for the fireside chats. The announcers worked an 8 hour shift alone. The transmitter was remoted to the studio and would be turned on at 8am until sign-off at midnight. The peak power was supposedly 82,000 watts. The station could be received past Tijuana Mexico until an Oceanside CA station started broadcasting on the same frequency as KUDE FM.