We Didn’T Make His Day
One brief quote caught our eye in the Aug. 5 TV Guide interview with Clint Eastwood.
“I was born in the Depression,” said Eastwood. “It was a tough era. People didn’t have any money. We traveled from San Francisco to Sacramento to Spokane and down to Pacific Palisades.”
Spokane? Eastwood almost makes it sound like he lived here.
Well, guess what. He did.
Right there in the 1932 Spokane City Directory is a listing for Eastwood’s family: Clinton Eastwood (wife Ruth), 623 E. 19th Ave.
According to “Clint Eastwood: A Biography,” by Richard Schickel, Eastwood’s parents moved to Spokane from California when little Clint, born in 1930, was just a toddler.
His father Clinton needed a job after the Depression hit, so his brother-in-law, Melvin Runner, offered him a job in his Spokane refrigeration business.
They stayed in Spokane for a little more than a year, but it was not a particularly happy year.
Schickel quotes mother Ruth as saying, “Working for one’s wife’s brother is not the most wonderful thing in the world.”
So they moved down to Oakland, and then Los Angeles, looking for some work.
We’d love to report that Spokane was a formative experience for the future Oscar-winner, but we can’t.
According to Schickel, Eastwood has no memories of his life here.
That’s all right. We can still claim him as ours, just a little bit.
The Zoo’s No. 1
KZZU-FM (92.9, The Zoo) has won the quarterly Abritron radio ratings for the seventh time in eight quarters.
The Zoo was briefly deposed by KDRK-FM (Cat Country, 93.7) last quarter, but now it is back on top by a bigger margin then ever.
There are several reasons why The Zoo has been dominating the Spokane market for nearly two years. For one thing, the cyclical world of pop music is at a high point, with Britney Spears and ‘N Sync whipping up a frenzy among listeners. More important than that, though, this is a smart, well-run radio station with a hugely popular morning team, The Breakfast Boys (see below).
The other big surprise here is that KHTQ-FM (Rock 94 and a Half) catapulted itself all the way from ninth to second place.
How did that happen?
According to the station’s Jeff Downz, it’s because of the local on-air talent, including morning man Gary Allen, and a lot of people who came over from the lamented Rock 106: “Krazy Aunt” Karla Stevens, Geoff Scott, Ken Richards, Tripp Rogers and Downz.
Also, he says, “Our music is picked by our listeners, not some research company that has no clue about the Spokane market.”
Both KZZU-FM and KHTQ-FM are part of the KXLY Broadcast Group. Dave Sposito, Zoo Breakfast Boy and new KXLY-AM talk host, reports that the mood is pretty happy over at that shop, since they own four of the top six stations.
Here are the spring ratings, for all listeners 12 and over, quarter-hour shares, copyright The Arbitron Co.:
1. KZZU-FM, contemporary hits, 10.4.
2. KHTQ-FM, rock, 7.4.
3. KKZX-FM, classic rock, 6.4.
4. KDRK-FM, country, 6.3.
5. (tie) KXLY-AM, news-talk, 5.8.
5. (tie) KXLY-FM, adult contemporary, 5.8.
7. KAEP-FM, adult alternative, 5.7.
8. (tie) KISC-FM, adult contemporary, 5.5.
8. (tie) KEYF-FM, oldies, 5.5.
10. KAQQ-AM, nostalgia, 5.2.
11. KNFR-FM, country, 5.
12. KGA-AM, news-talk, 4.1.
13. KTSL-FM, Christian, 3.3.
14. KWHK-FM, classic rock, 2.2.
15. KCDA-FM, hot adult contemporary, 2.
16. KEZE-FM, hot adult contemporary, 1.9.
17. KJRB-AM, sports-talk, 1.6.
18. (tie) KAZZ-FM, nostalgia, 0.9.
18. (tie) KSPO-FM, Christian, 0.9.
20. (tie) KVNI-AM, news, country, 0.5.
20. (tie) KSBN-AM, business news, 0.5.
20. (tie) KXLI-AM, all news, 0.5.
Breakfast treat
KZZU-FM’s Breakfast Boys - Sposito and Ken Hopkins, along with Molly Allen - were also the No. 1 morning team in town by a wide margin.
They were followed by KXLY-AM’s Bud Nameck and Mark Peterson, who have developed a solid and informative morning news show. Close behind were KHTQ-FM’s “Twice As Much Morning Show” with Gary Allen; KKZX’s Radio Men, Jim Arnold and C. Foster Kane; and KDRK-FM’s Jay Daniels and Kevin James, all of whom are longtime Spokane radio favorites.
By the way, Sposito’s new morning talk gig on KXLY-AM is not reflected in this ratings period, nor is Rick Miller’s new job at KGA-AM.
Will Moen win?
Brandon Moen, the 21-year-old EWU student who taped a segment of ABC’s “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” two weeks ago, is back in Cheney.
You’ll have to wait until the air date, Tuesday at 8 p.m., in order to find out whether he got onto the “hot seat,” and if so, how much money he won.
All we can say is: It might be rewarding to watch the show. Feel free to infer whatever you wish from that statement.