Nothin’ But the Blues on the Radio and Internet
I am thrilled to submit a feature about Radio Stations and favorite radio personalities. More on that later.
By Ricky Richardson | Contributing Writer
Los Angeles, CA- I am thrilled to submit a feature about Radio Stations and favorite radio personalities. More on that later.
I can recall several juke joints that my parents and neighbors used to frequent on historic Central Avenue in Tampa, Florida, between the 1920s through the early 1970s, give a take a year or so. Many of the prominent jazz and blues musicians performed at the local venues when they were in town.
The clubs located on Central Avenue back in the day were, Watts Sanderson’s Blues Room, the Cotton Club, and the Apollo- named after their counterparts in New York’s Harlem neighborhood, Club Chiffon, Charlie Moon’s Pool Hall, Johnny Gray’s Bar, and the Pyramid Hotel, later named Roger’s Hotel.
Several nationally known entertainers including Ella Fitzgerald, Cal Calloway, B.B. King, Ray Charles, Julian “Cannonball” and Nathaniel “Nat” Adderley, Hank Ballad, James Brown, Ruth Brown, Asa Harris, and Hudson Whittaker (better known as Tampa Red) performed at the above-mentioned venues. (Source: Tampa Bay History Center and Tampa Bay Times NIE, Newspaper in Education)
I was too young to appreciate or know any of the stellar artists performing on Central Avenue back in the day.
I was also exposed to blues and jazz throughout the neighborhood that I grew up in. It was common to hear the sounds of blues and jazz emanating from the windows of my neighbors from their private collection of LPs.
I said all of this to say, that most readers of the Blues magazines have a similar story of how they came to appreciate and listen to the blues. Blues programming on the radio and streaming services is a constant for most listeners.
In Los Angeles, we are fortunate to have one of a handful of stations that play jazz, blues, and Latin jazz 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
I’m cognizant of the fact that I’m writing for a blues-loving audience. Credit Dan Jacobson, Publisher, of Southland Blues E-Weekly for creating and hosting the first Blues program on Long Beach public radio station KLON FM 88.1 in 1977. The show was called “Blues After Hours” It was first heard on Wednesday nights and later on Sunday nights over KLON from 1977-1980. Dan Jacobson played music from his own extensive Blues collection.
Bernie Pearl became the host of the blues program on KLON in 1980. Bernie renamed the show “Nothin’ But the Blues,” and kept the blues going on the radio for many years.
There have been several hosts of “Nothin’ But the Blues,” which is currently called KKJZ. Doug Macleod, Ken Poston, and Bubba Jackson are a few program hosts who come to mind.
Drum roll, please… “Nothin’ But the Blues” is hosted by Gary “The Wagman” Wagner. The show is broadcast every Saturday from 2:00 PM until 6:00 PM, and Sunday, from 2:00 PM until 7:00 PM. (Pacific Standard Time). We are fortunate to get extra, bonus hours of the blues when a holiday falls on a Monday. Gary calls it “Blue Monday.” KKJZ (88.1 MHz FM, KJAZZ) is a non-commercial public radio station in Southern California.
It should be noted that Gary “the Wagman” Wagner has the honor of being voted among the top five local radio personalities in Los Angeles two years in a row in a Los Angeles Times readers poll. This should be applauded, considering that Gary “the Wagman” Wagner has proven to the music industry that the blues, indigenous to America, is commercially viable locally and globally.
The Blues Foundation announced Wagner as the winner of the “Keeping the Blues Alive Award,” in the category of public radio. The award was presented on November 4, 2014. Each year, The Blues Foundation presents the Keeping the Blues Alive (KBA) Awards to individuals and organizations who have significantly contributed to the Blues world. The Keeping the Blues Alive Award is awarded to non-performers strictly based on merit by a select panel of Blues professionals.
Wagner entered radio broadcasting in 1965 at the age of 15. In 1979, while working at the progressive rock station WJKL in Elgin, Ill., he interviewed musician Muddy Waters and became a fan of the musical genre of American blues.
Wagner started working at the Long Beach radio station KLON in 1992. He resigned in 2001 for several years. Wagner returned as host of “Nothin’ But the Blues” in 2009 and has been in the broadcast booth of this highly rated program ever since.
Wagner personally selects each song played on each show and does not use a pre-programmed computerized playlist. Listeners love that “The Wagman” follows a free-flow radio style that highlights his knowledge of early blues, contemporary blues, blues rock, and independent blues. In a statement, “The Wagman” summed up his style “The space between songs is where I live. The thing that makes it magic is not knowing what’s going to happen next. That means I have to figure out what to do next. That’s the magic of being live.”
Gary “the Wagman” Wagner plays records and CDs from his extensive collections. The collection keeps growing as a result of the latest releases by nationally known artists as well as CDs received from independent artists. Gary “the Wagman” Wagner stated, “ALSO: I play music from unsigned Blues artists.” Send CDs for consideration to: Gary Wagner KJAZZ Radio 1500 Cotner Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90025
I listen to every CD I get!
I invite you to tune into “Nothin’ But the Blues.” Listeners in Los Angeles can tune into the show on KKJZ FM 88.1, and globally, wherever you are streaming live on https://jazzandblues.org.
Some of the highlights that you will hear on “Nothin’ But the Blues” are:
Early Blues- 3:00 PM
Blue Spotlight- 4:00 PM
Live at Five- 5:00 PM
Indie Hour- 6:00 PM
Tuning into and listening to “Nothin’ But the Blues” is a resolution that you can easily maintain. Did you know that “The blues is a fact of life” stated the late great Willie Dixon. Buddy Guy sang the lyrics “The Blues is alright.” You have it on good authority.
