KPFKed

The stalwart, politically confused, formerly radical radio station KPFK (90.7), an eclectic old standard in LA (despite that other station's boast), can now add another adjective to its resume': contentious. Since November of last year, station Program Director Kathy Lo has put several long-running shows out to pasture: Andrea Enthal's 12 O'Clock Rock, Hamilton Cloud's Spectrum, and, just last Friday, "Reverend Dan" Buhier's Music for Nimrods. The cancellations have incited accusations from both sides, and if some former staffers-specifically, the three longtime KPFK DJs who were unceremoniously dismissed-had their way, the public radio station would have several more (and markedly more colored) modifiers surrounding its name.

Lo probably didn’t know what she was in for two months ago  when she let  'Enthal go and killed her Saturday night radio show 12 O’Clock Rock; rather than leave quietly, the still-fuming 'Enthal has been protesting loudly, accusing Lo and her people of "running that station like a reign of terror" And also accusing them of discrimination: 'Enthal says she was called into Lo’s office and told by her boss that she was "too old." Lo vehemently denies the accusation and says that 'Enthal was pushed out "as matter of policy"; specifically, because the DJ had arranged for her own substitutes when she was absent-a move for which Lo says Enthal had been previously been reprimanded
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Now other long term programmers who got the ax are also beginning to protest Cloud-who played a blend of African music, blues, jars, and hiphop - is still smarting from being labeled a relic back in January, when they took his show off the air. They said that they wanted something younger and 'more street,' "he says. "I got a message on my machine that said tonight was the last night. It was that cut and dried." Cloud, who hosted the show alongside Paul Hall, Greg Thomason, and Seth Turner (who owns a record store in South Central-how much more "street” can you get?), adds that no one ever talked to him or waned him. "They just said, 'Boom! We're going to change.' It seemed like a very callous way to treat people who had put in a lot of time and energy. When you're a volunteer and don't get paid, you don't have legal recourse; if it had been a normal employment situation, that would be grounds to sue."

This, after Cloud put in 10 years of unpaid service. (Lo denies that age was an issue and says that ever since Spectrum was taken off the air, she had been talking to Cloud about setting him up with another show.) 'Enthal had even more reason to complain after manning the boards for 18 years with 12 O’clock Rock. The show served up a mix of punk, paisley underground, and indie rock from such locales as Yugoslavia, New Zealand, Japan, and Brazil; it also focused on the kind of local acts (like the Minutemen) that KROQ generally misses. 'Enthal is 45, but her ever-changing tastes never branded her a dinosaur.

Nevertheless, 'Enthal says that she was called into Lo's office and told that they didn’t like the idea of a middle-aged programmer doing a cool music show. ("It didn't happen," counters Lo, "Everyone I work with is older than l am. It's false”) Weeks later; 'Enthal was fired by telephone - the official reason being that she, a volunteer, refused to fill in for another programmer at a moment's notice. A source who worked at the station at that time said that before the firing, Lo claimed to be weary of "all her shit")

Just recently, and maybe most sadly, "Reverend Dan" Buhler's popular Music For Nimrods was killed. The post-midnight show was an oddball mix of freaky lounge music, scroungy punk rock, hard to find exotica, and fetish culture. (Buhler describes it as “rebellious music from every era - with a lot of transgenderism thrown in.") The official reason for his dismissal: On October 24, the evening that wrapped-up a successful KPFK fund drive, Buhler's guests, a bunch of transsexual rock and roll playing porno stars - were smoking cigarettes and accidentally a spilled a glass of Diet Coke and/or wine in the control room.  KPFK has a hard-and-fast rule regarding bringing liquids into the room, which is filled with electronic equipment.

"It a against station policy," Lo says. "It's against FCC law to have alcohol around. You can lose your license for that"

But 'Enthal thinks that was an excuse. Buhler, who was also fired from his salaried job at the radio station as a freeway traffic reporter,  [sic : Buhler was “Traffic Manager” which has nothing to do with either freeways or reporting] was surprised by the reaction and wasn't even allowed to explain or say goodbye to the fervent fans, his "drunks and people who work the graveyard shift"

"I've seen shows suspended for something like that" Buhler says "Suspend me, whatever.
But they took my show off the air and I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye to my audience." 'Enthal's take on the situation is that KPFK is attempting to sweep the station clean of all the old DJs. "When they take off a program for somebody spilling," she asks, "is this a punishment in interest of listenership? No. Who they end up punishing is their listeners. These individuals are not serving any community. They're serving themselves."

Cloud presumes that KPFK’s plugging for a more homogenous, more upscale KCRW-type audience. "But there's already a KCRW," he adds, and he's got a point. Do we really need another? Though by staid commercial-radio standards, KCRW seems like the Timothy Leary of LA radio, and theirs is ultimately a comfortable kind of "eclecticism," generally erring on the side of safe programming. At its best KPFK is the opposite. "When I started," says Buhler, "'KPFK was very ragged around the edges, a little loose. There's definitely been an attempt to slick-up the station."

But Lo says that it's all a part of the business of running a radio station: "It's the nature of programming, it's the nature of the business...and news and information is the thrust of the station, not the overnight music programming....We have no interest in becoming KCRW."
 

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