Classic Cool Radio debuts on 650 AM in Houston

650 AM KIKK has been a lot of formats lately.

When I first started paying attention to it again it was a business format.  The people behind that format have since jumped to another signal. Next it was a guy talk kind of format so CBS could please Howard Stern (that didn't work out).  Next it became a CNN retransmission.  TV news on the radio, how can that be a format winner?  But I guess people still listen.

Now the station seems to be changing again...sort of.  Now at 4pm Monday through Friday longtime Houston radio personality Ronnie Renfrow and crew will take over the microphone for Classic Cool:

The new year brings a new format to Houston radio.  Beginning Monday, January 5, 2009, “Classic Cool” will reunite Houston listeners with the Rat Pack, Harry Connick Jr., Diana Krall, Michael Buble, and Norah Jones.  Hosts Ronnie Renfrow and Tom Richards will join listeners for the drive home beginning at 4pm, Monday through Friday.

Longtime Houston radio personality Ronnie Renfrow and his Classic Cool team have created a format that is unique not only to Houston, but to the national radio scene as well.

“This is by far the biggest programming void in radio.  The artists of Classic Cool are selling millions of CD’s annually, but listeners have had nowhere to go on the dial – until now,” Renfrow said.

“This is definitely not a nostalgia format,” Renfrow stressed.  “Classic Cool is far removed from that approach in that we will feature new music from contemporary artists who are all over the Billboard charts.”

Classic Cool will present a blend of singers, classic jazz, Latin, and blues.  Stars of the show include Frank Sinatra, Michael Buble, Ella Fitzgerald, Harry Connick Jr., Gloria Estefan, Tony Bennett, Diana Krall, and B.B. King, to name just a few.

The format’s web site – classiccool.com - is the first of its kind, exploring music both new and vintage.  Visitors to the site can register to win rare and valuable prizes, including musical collectibles.  Listeners will also be able to participate in online exchanges with the hosts, who are experts on the artists and the music.  Additionally, the web site will be a resource for information on live music performances in Houston. READ MORE

My guess is that the Classic Cool team is buying airtime on the station from CBS and selling the ad time.  I believe Renfrow and crew already had Swinging 650 on the weekends for a while which is a similar theme.

Good luck to this new format, sounds inventive to say the least.

More blog coverage
- Cool Out on Your Commute
- Houston Radio Gets Classic Cool

Texas Radio Hall Of Fame 2021 class

The Texas Radio Hall of Fame has announced the names of the 20 broadcasters joining its Class of 2021 inductees.  

The inductees are (in alphabetical order):

Randy Carroll, KAJA/San Antonio

Mac Daniels, KBOX/Dallas, KPLX/Dallas, KASE/Austin, KSCS/Dallas

Don Day, WBAP/Dallas, KSCS/Dallas, KTFW/Fort Worth

Joel Folger

Ron Foster, KIKK/Houston, KSCS/Dallas

Roger Gray

Dale Hansen WFAA 8

Jamie Hildreth

Judy Lakin, KOKE/Austin, KKBQ/Houston

Rich Lord

Johnny Marks

Bill Mayne, KASE/Austin, KSCS/Dallas, WBAP/Dallas

Charlie Ochs, KIKK/Houston

Jammin’ Jimmy Olson

Greg “Grego” Onofrio 101 KLOL and KKHH Houston

Ronnie Renfrow

Randy Schell, KKBQ/Houston

Marc Sherman

"Cactus Jack" Talley, KKBQ/Houston

Bill Zak

"After a spirited season of balloting, our voting members have selected twenty broadcast professionals to join the group of Lone Star veterans who have distinguished themselves in the radio industry," said Doug Harris, Executive Director of the Texas Radio Hall of Fame. "This list of inductees represents award-winning sellers, programmers, on-air talent, and production aces along with masterful ratings and revenue generators across the industry, representing a variety of formats."

Theinduction ceremony will be held on Saturday, November 6, 2021, at the Texas Museum of Broadcasting and Communications in Kilgore, Texas.

Tickets for the event go on sale on August 23 at www.trhof.net.

Paul Berlin, Houston radio legend, passes away

Paul Berlin will be remembered as one of Houston's greatest broadcasters

From Andy Waldrop
The Celebration of Life Memorial Service for Paul Berlin will be held 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, July 25, 2017 at South Main Baptist Church, 4100 Main St., Houston, Texas 77002. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Shriner's Hospital for Children at www.shrinershospitalsforchildren.org.
It was Paul's explicit request that his Memorial Service be open to "All of Heavenly Houston." His favorite advise to his peers: "Be informative, Be entertaining...or be quiet."

Paul Berlin interviewed in Dan Lovett's Houston radio documentary

When you think of the greats in Houston radio history, one of the first names to enter your mind has to be Paul Berlin.

Unfortunately, the news has been spreading around social media that Berlin has passed away. I believe he would have been around 86.

"He was a gentleman with the sunniest personality," former 740 KTRH reporter Tracee Evans told mikemcguff.com. "I looked forward to seeing him walk in the building when I was at Clear Channel. He was a walking smile."

Brent Clanton has told me this Saturday night from 6pm-8pm on KSEV 700, the last station Berlin still played songs from the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s on the weekends, broadcasting greats Scott Arthur, Walter Hammock and Ronnie Renfrow will air a special tribute to the Houston radio legend. (LISTEN HERE: Archived Berlin KSEV broadcasts)

UPDATE: The Texas Radio Hall of Fame will be streaming the KSEV broadcast tonight on its Facebook Group.

Berlin played everything from early rock n roll to big band on Houston stations such as:
- 1230 AM KNUZ
- 102.9 KQUE
- 700 KSEV
- 790 KBME
- Then back to 700 KSEV

So many great articles have been written about Berlin's life through the years, I am linking to some of the best, so you can reminisce about this fantastic broadcaster:

Paul Berlin says goodbye to loyal listeners
December 17, 2004
Louis B. Parks

At one time Berlin was the highest-paid disc jockey in the Houston area. He was offered a job at New York station WABC at $50,000 a year, a $10,000 raise, with the chance of doing TV, but he turned it down.

"I said, 'I've got three little boys. I'm making $40,000 right now, and I'm promoting rock 'n' roll shows. But most of all, I'm happy.' What price do you put on happiness?"

Berlin and Nezzie, his wife of 52 years, had five sons in all.

He's been a nominee for radio's Marconi Award. His face and voice are seen and heard in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. He's in the Texas Radio Hall of Fame. He's proud of the accolades, sure, but adds, "I can take a kick in the butt, too, for screwing up. I've done that." READ MORE

Paul Berlin has entertained listeners for 65 years
March 22, 2013
By David Barron

He also promoted concerts, beginning with big bands at the Plantation Ballroom on South Main, and owned two nightclubs, the Dome Shadows near the Astrodome and a short-lived location on Richmond. His acts ranged from the Tommy Dorsey, Count Basie and Artie Shaw big bands to Nat "King" Cole, Frankie Avalon, Chubby Checker, the Dave Clark Five and Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.

Perhaps the biggest one, alas, got away in 1964. Berlin said he had just booked a show for Sonny and Cher when he received a call asking if he was interested in bringing the Beatles to Houston on that same date.

"I said I couldn't do it, and I asked them please not to bring the Beatles in on that date, because they would kill Sonny and Cher," Berlin said. "So they booked them in Denver."

Berlin tried to get the Beatles a year later, but KNUZ management insisted that promoters guarantee the Fab Four would show up without sending replacements. The promoter refused, and the Beatles' Aug. 14, 1965, shows at the Sam Houston Coliseum were sponsored by KILT. READ THE REST

HOUSTON BROADCASTERS REMEMBER PAUL BERLIN (email or post your memory)

Michael Garfield KPRC 950
"Sad loss. A legend indeed. Story time: when I started at Clear Channel in 2002 the KPRC studio shared a window with KBME Oldies. Paul was always doing his thing on-air while I was on the other side of the glass just learning radio. Talk about intimidating...staring at the legend whilst he stared back at me. He couldn't have been nicer. Always said "Hey, baby, what's shakin'? You're doing a great job. A superstar!" His stories were amazing. Nevah gonna be anyone like him. RIP, Pablo."