Monday, December 18, 2006
1970s KMEN Tyrone The Frog
When Chuck "Huckleberry" Clemons came back to K/men in the 1970s, he brought Tyrone The Frog with him. Unfortunely Huckleberry didn't stay long and headed back to San Diego where Tyrone became the San Diego chicken. Tyrone stayed at K/MEN on the morning show, and even had a KMEN record put out about him. One side was "I'm In Love With A Big Blue Frog" ( was Tyrone Blue?) The flip side had morning show bits. I think this was 1974 or 1975.
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Yes. it was 1974. I had the pleasure of working with Chuck at KMEN then. He was great. After he left Nick Fanady took over the morning show. I was lucky enough to fill in for him when he went on vacation. It was a lot of fun to do that shift. Jonny Bruce
Cleman's flog character DID NOT inspire the KGB Chicken. The KGB Chicken came about when the Ron Jacobs-programmed KGB-AM & FM split apart...the FM continuing with free-form "underground" AOR programming, while the AM went off into a more chicken rock (pun NOT intended) Top 40 programming. Billboards in San Diego showed a chicken head (lloked like a mask) with two eggs...the psychedelic one represented the FM, the plainer one represented the AM. The KGB Chicken came out of that billboard promotion. Clemans had nothing to do with the KGB Chicken. Jim Price ("Jim Wayne" on KEWB) best known from KDEO, usually is given credit for that guy-in-a-chicken-suit promotion.
From one of the KMEN anniversary shows many years ago (25th Anniversary?) Huckleberry was on KMEN and was claiming the frog had became the San Diego chicken. I don't have that aircheck, but he was making the claim.
You seem to have a much more factual history then his claim. If you're out there Huckleberry, tell us your side of the story!
Retired DJs are such fibbers.
Jim Price created the KGB chicken after the "twin eggs" billboard campaign.
Yes, Clemans was a jock on the spun-off KGB-AM, but Clemans did not come up with the "twin eggs" idea (FM=psychedelic, AM=plain), and it was THAT billboard campaign that created the KGB chicken.
MAYBE the I.E.'s K-Frog radio was inspired by Cleman's "Tyrone."
My friend Randy Sherwood who passed away a few years ago and worked at the station would get into the costume and play Tyrone at many events.
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