Being able to play esoteric media formats occasionally has its advantages. Take, for example, two cases of 1/4" tapes that were loaned to me to determine if they were, in fact, blank NOS. Both cartons were Sony originals, right down to the cardstock "pull" tab to help ease a starter tape out. All reels were A-side out, tails secure, bagged with logo forward just as they left the factory. But out of those 24 tapes, emerged a bit of a time capsule.

Two were marked "K101 San Francisco Radio Station". Of course, first we had to work our way through an LP dub of the soundtrack "How The West Was Won". While the other tape had an hour-plus musical program entirely in Japanese before we got to the good stuff.

Whoever recorded these did it right. 7-1/2 IPS. Crystal clear tuner lock, in stereo. And levels set about perfectly.

Tape 1: Side A - 14 Min, MP3

Tape 1: Side B - 47 Min, MP3

Tape 2: Side A - 12 Min, MP3

Tape 2: Side B - 47 Min, MP3

Some Choice Spots & Commercials:

Fall Into The Gap

Station ID

Datsun Dealers, Small Car Experts!

Hibernia Bank...Very Catchy Jingle

Living History? A snapshot of the Bay Area, coming over the airwaves, November 1971.
 

K-101: Like many stations, they're still around, but a totally different format, different location, under different ownership, with no semblance to what you hear above. In these early years, they were a top-40 station, playing some rather deep cuts. Passing internet comments back the "anything goes" philosophy that made them so unique; in fact, they had a Sunday night call-in program literally called "Anything Goes". And as a bit of trivia, they were also the first radio station to align and advertise their frequency with their call letters: KIOI, Stereo 101.

And they broke ground in other ways, being one of the early FM stations to broadcast shows in quadraphonic! Some of those broadcasts have been preserved, and are linked below. And having a quad system, I need to give these a shot. Even in stereo, the separation is excellent.

By the way, the photos on this page are from the Nick Dewolf archive, and were taken in August, 1971. More of his talented work can be found here.