KALX day/time
Tue. 03:50 AM PST

Great Moments/People in KALX History

our brushes with fame and infamy

• In the early 80's, KALX and KFJC went back and forth seeing who could play more versions of the classic party tune "Louie, Louie". This fun rivalry culminated in Maximum Louie Louie where KFJC played 823 versions of the song over the course of 63 hours. The best versions were later released as a compilation by Rhino Records titled "The Best of Louie, Louie"
   
• Last Will interviewed the band Green Day on KALX back in 1989. It was the first of many appearances by Green Day on KALX. Our intrepid researchers found Part 1 and Part 2 of the interview posted on YouTube.
   
• In the 1970's, Don Joyce of Negativland was a music DJ at KALX before moving over to his long running show on KPFA.
   
• When the KALX studios used to be on Bowditch St., Ike Turner dropped in one evening asking for an interview. Of course, we obliged!
   
• In the late 1980's and early 1990's, Public Enemy were frequent guests on KALX.
   
• Ana Marie Cox of wonkette.com fame produced a public affairs show on zines at KALX while she was a Cal graduate student. Before Wonkette, she was Executive Producer of Suck.com, another legendary website.
   
• Dr. Frank of the Mr. T Experience (aka Frank Portman author of the excellent teen lit book King Dork) used to be a DJ at KALX.
   
• Jill Cunniff, a founding member of the band Luscious Jackson, was a substitute DJ at KALX in the mid-80's.
   
• Drew Daniel of the amazing duo Matmos including their work with Bjork on her albums Vespertine and Medulla, was a regular DJ on KALX for many years.
   
• Dax Pierson of the band Subtle (wikipedia entry) was a volunteer and DJ on KALX in the early 2000's.
   
• Commercial radio DJ Audio Vidya from LIVE-105 (back when it was good) was a DJ at KALX from 1980-1984 while she was a student at UC Berkeley.
   
• Rickey Vincent published a book entitled Funk: The Music, The People, and The Rhythm of The One used to be a DJ at KALX before becoming a regular on KPFA.
   
• Brian Edge published a book entitled 924 Gilman: The Story So Far... used to be a DJ at KALX.
   
• Jeff Chang is the author of two books: Can't Stop Won't Stop :: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation and Total Chaos :: The Art and Aesthetics of Hip-Hop used to be a DJ at KALX from 1985-1989.
   
• Ben Chesluk published a book entitled Money Jungle used to be a DJ at KALX in the early 1990's.
   
• After leaving KALX and working for a major record label, David Katznelson founded Birdman Records.
   
• Billy Jam is now a DJ on WFMU and is the founder of Hip-Hop Slam Records.
   
• After leaving KALX , Davey D made a big splash in the Bay Area as a DJ on KMEL. He's currently a Hip-hop historian and journalist.
   
• Madeline Brand is a noted NPR journalist who now hosts the daily NPR program Day to Day.
   
• Lawerence Livermore of Lookout Records and Maximum Rock'n'Roll (MRR) DJed at KALX for a while in the early 90's before heading off to fame and fortune with writing gigs in Punk Planet and Hit List.