Jay Hoker is the former owner of Hoker Broadcasting, which operated KCFX/Kansas City.
I believe KCFX in KC was the first major market to station to air the Classic Rock format. East Lansing was the first station. Fred Jacobs, Bill Newman (Hoker Broadcasting’s GM), and myself spent many hours discussing what Classic Rock should sound like. I can tell you this, we had a very heated argument at one of KC’s famous BBQ diners trying to define the format and what it should sound like.
We had already tentatively designed our FOX logo, which we ended up selling to many other markets that wanted to convert to Classic Rock. In the end, we decided that to really define the new format it would be about the music that we would not play (i.e. Elvis, Beatles, Elton John, etc.). In a very short time after the new format went on the air KCFX was dominant in the 25-54 male demos. Working with Fred Jacobs was a kick…
Those were the best of times, not to mention my working relationship with Paul Jacobs in Detroit and Dallas. Although I’m involved in several non-radio projects – a consultant for a Hispanic TV network, land investment and development – I have come full circle. I have discovered and currently manage a rock band called Glass Closet. I guess we all return to our roots.