KSCO RESPONDS TO OUTCRY AGAINST MICHAEL SAVAGE

By Brad Kava, SJ Mercury News - Ear (column); Friday, March 16, 2001

Contact Brad Kava at bkava@sjmercury.com or (408) 920-5040; fax (408) 271-3786.

It took two days, but Los Angeles syndicated comedian Phil Hendrie knocked white supremacist Michael Savage (a.k.a. Michael Weiner) out of the box in Santa Cruz, at upstart radio station KSCO-AM (1080).

This commercial station, in an art-deco building just under those big radio towers you see by the ocean between Santa Cruz and Capitola along Portola Drive, is a throwback.

Its owner, Michael Zwerling, is a radio-loving iconoclast who bought the station 10 years ago to keep Rush Limbaugh on the air in an ultra-liberal market.

KSCO offers an eclectic group of talk shows, including Laura Schlessinger, Art Bell, local host Rosemary Chalmers, Bill Graff and veterinarian Joel Wallach's health tips for humans in a show titled "Dead Doctors Don't Lie."

Zwerling himself does a "Crossfire"-like show Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon. There's also a show for the cerebral called "The Thinking Machine," hosted by Bob Bishop ("Mr. Logic"), a former Apple programmer who deals with esoteric scientific puzzles and issues.

Two weeks ago, Zwerling replaced Hendrie's 4-7 p.m. syndicated drive-time show with Savage's (which originates at KSFO in San Francisco), and the phones went crazy.

"I've never heard such an outcry," says Chalmers, the morning host who has been with the station since its inception. "The comment line was totally jammed. I was astonished and gladdened."

The outcry was enough to make Zwerling reconsider. He kept Savage on his 1,000-watt sister station KOMY-AM (1340) but put Hendrie back on the 10,000-watt signal at 1080, which can be heard in Santa Clara Valley.

"People need the de-stress factor when they are coming home from work," says Chalmers.

Both shows are nothing if not iconoclastic. Hendrie, whose show also can be picked up in some areas by tuning to his Los Angeles station at 640-AM, is the funniest -- and most bizarre -- thing on radio. His mix of satire and aw-shucks talk comes off like a long "Saturday Night Live" sendup, only it takes some thinking to figure out what is real.

Each time I've written about him, new listeners have called and e-mailed to thank me.

I've never said anything good about Savage, but I'm about to. He is iconoclastic and makes for fascinating radio -- if only to hear what a hatemonger thinks. Listening to his show is like watching old Nazi films, just to get a clue into a poisoned mind.

The basic theme of his show, "The Savage Nation," is that white males are getting a raw deal and that immigrants are ruining the country. It's the age-old theme of hatred.

Savage, who started at KSFO, now reaches 175 markets, thanks to the same syndicator who brought the world the late-night radio show by wacky, woman-hating religious cultist Roy Masters, one of Savage's friends and guests. Savage's listeners include liberals who like to see what the other side thinks and get some laughs from his mispronunciations and misstatements.

In his early days at KGO, he tried to hype his self-produced health books, written under the name Michael Weiner, as if they were written by another person. That was nipped in the bud by management, but it speaks volumes about his credibility.

The good news is that, if you want fantasy without the malicious bent, Hendrie is on at the same time.

Advice from Vibemaster

When he isn't carrying his work briefcase, KARA-FM (105.7) ad salesman Mark Fenichel carries one packed with harmonicas. The air-selling musician is a member of a funny, rootsy trio called Felonious Smith, which plays regularly at area festivals and bookstores. Catch it free Saturday at Borders Books and Music in Palo Alto (456 University Ave.) from 8-10 p.m. It will perform at the same time March 24 at the Los Gatos Borders (50 University Ave.).

Previous Article - Return to Index - Next Article