News from Our Archives

Russ David – Legacy

​Russ David will always be associated with his long-running music show, “Playhouse Party,” which was heard on KSD for 16 years and WEW an additional 10 years.

​But his career spanned much more. He worked briefly in the music department at KMOX and was a studio musician and program host on KSD prior to Playhouse Party. His live network music show on NBC originated from the KSD studios.

​Russ attended the St. Louis University School of Commerce for a couple years at the insistence of his parents but then left to become a professional musician.

​During his stint at KSD he hosted Alpen Brau Time, and he wrote all the scores and conducted the orchestra for the acclaimed Land We Live In program. He also served as music director for KSD even after most of the live music shows were dropped.

Bud Connell – Legacy

​Bud Connell’s name is not well-known among St. Louis radio listeners, but his influence was certainly felt. He came to KXOK in July 1961after working in other major markets. Storz Broadcasting brought him in to program its largest property, which was drawing only 4% of the market’s listeners.

Within three months he had changed the sound of KXOK with new announcers and a completely new image. By the time the November-December 1961 ratings were published, KXOK was tops in the market. In the mid-1960s, Pulse, Inc. placed KXOK in the top five stations in the country for its high ratings.

His influence was felt throughout the station, from his creation of the “Johnny Rabbitt” character popularized by deejay Don Pietromonaco, to his conception and organization of the station’s many contests and promotions. In 1966 the station was host for the Beatles’ concert at Busch Stadium.

It is a tribute to Connell that his staffers all credit him for the station’s success through the decade of the 60s.

Ed Ceries – Legacy

​Ed Ceries was a man who followed his dream. After working as an engineer for 20 years with the Pulitzer stations, KSD and KSD-TV, he invested his life savings and his considerable engineering efforts in building his own FM station, which he called KSHE.

​He literally built some of the equipment himself, and on February 11, 1961, the station signed on from the basement of the Ceries’ home in suburban Crestwood. The station called itself “The Lady of FM,” and had a classical music format. For awhile, all the announcers were women.

​Most of the basement was used for the station operations, with the Associated Press teletype installed next to the clothes washer. The record library room doubled as an administrative office where Mrs. Ceries also did her ironing.

​Listener loyalty was strong. At times they would come to the station with copies of classical selections they thought were better than the ones being played on KSHE. Unfortunately for Ed Ceries, advertisers were not convinced FM radio, particularly classical music on FM radio, had much of an audience.

​After a year-and-a-half, the format was adjusted to contain about 90% middle-of-the-road music and 10% classical, with nine daily news broadcasts. In 1964, the station was sold to Century Broadcasting.