Mama’s Pride at the KSHE Crestwood studios in 1977. Courtesy of KSHE 95 - Real Rock Radio on Facebook.
KSHE-95, St. Louis’ number one rock station, is celebrating their 55th anniversary by putting together a legendary night of live music and sharing unheard stories at River City Casino. On October 7, KSHE will host More Stories from the Window, featuring some of St. Louis’ favorite disc jockeys from throughout the decades. Together, they will discuss the station’s long history, and fans will be able to talk with their favorite DJs.
“It will be a rare peek into 55 years of behind-the-scenes shenanigans that took place at a radio station most of us grew up with,” says program director Marty Linck. Mark Klose, a KSHE-95 on-air DJ, was the mastermind behind the event. The idea came from a get-together with past and present DJs where the gathered group spent their time laughing over the shenanigans that happened behind the scenes.
“At the beginning, I would tell people the stories and they’d go, ‘That’s not true!’ And, I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, it’s true!’” Klose says. After talking to his program director at the time and pitching the idea of bringing the past and present DJs together to tell stories on stage, More Stories from the Window was born.
David Grafman, Ron Stevens, Joy Grdnic, Ted Habek, Jim Singer, Radio Rich, Joe "Mama" Mason, Don Johnson, The Byrd, Carl the Intern, Katy Kruze, Mike Doran, Alan Robinson, KC Clarke, and Roy Collier are all scheduled to appear. Klose also rounded up local rock band The Rocking Chair to play some hits and invited artists from Mama’s Pride, Gypsy, Pavlov’s Dog, and El Monstero to speak about their time at KSHE-95. There will also be a photo op location at the event, where fans will be able to take pictures with the reconstructed redwood fence that decorated the front of the original KSHE building years ago.
Beyond the storytelling from the DJs, Klose is most looking forward to hearing what fans will have to say. “It’s almost like a high school reunion for every high school out there. We get together and tell stories and get pictures, and everybody has a story. Listeners will come up and say, ‘Did you remember when…’ and they just go into it! It’s like it happened yesterday.”
Tickets are now on sale for More Stories from the Window. For more information, visit kshe95.com.