John Gilliland facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
John Gilliland
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"John Gilliland at KSFO, c. 1971" Courtesy of The John Gilliland Collection.
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| Born |
John Sanford Gilliland Jr.
October 18, 1935 |
| Died | July 27, 1998 (aged 62) |
| Career | |
| Show | The Pop Chronicles |
| Station(s) | KRLA 1110 |
| Show | The Credibility Gap |
| Station(s) | KSFO |
John Sanford Gilliland Jr. (born October 18, 1935 – died July 27, 1998) was an American radio host. He was also a documentarian, which means he made factual films or shows. John Gilliland was famous for his music documentaries called Pop Chronicles. He was also one of the first members of a comedy group called The Credibility Gap.
He was born and died in his hometown of Quanah, Texas. He worked at many radio stations in Texas and California. Some of these included KOGO in San Diego, KRLA 1110 in Los Angeles, and KSFO (AM) in San Francisco.
Contents
John Gilliland's Radio Career
Starting in Texas Radio
John Gilliland started his radio career in 1952. His first job was at KOLJ in his hometown of Quanah, Texas. While he was a student at Texas Christian University, he worked as a disc jockey (DJ) at KCUL in Fort Worth. A DJ plays music and talks on the radio.
His shows were called The House of Wax and The Man on the Beat. From 1959 to 1961, he worked for KLIF in Dallas. He also worked at KILT in Houston.
Working in California Radio
John Gilliland moved to California for his radio career. At the news department of KOGO in San Diego, he used different names. He was known as John Land and Johnny Land.
In 1965, Gilliland joined the news team at KRLA radio in Los Angeles County. Here, he became one of the first members of The Credibility Gap. This group mixed funny comments about current events with their news reports.
The Pop Chronicles Series
John Gilliland spent over two years researching his radio documentary, The Pop Chronicles. He interviewed many famous musicians for this special show. It covered popular music from the 1950s and 1960s.
The show first aired on KRLA 1110. Later, it was broadcast on many other radio stations. Today, you can listen to The Pop Chronicles online.
Time at KSFO Radio
In 1971, John Gilliland started working at KSFO in San Francisco. He hosted shows every weeknight from 7 p.m. to midnight. KSFO hired him because many people watched TV at night instead of listening to the radio.
His five-hour show included music and entertainment. He continued hosting until 1978. His shows often included replays of his Pop Chronicles. He also had an "old-time radio" hour, which played classic radio shows. Other segments were Mystery Theater, The Comedy Hour, and The Great LPs.
While at KSFO, he also created and broadcast The Pop Chronicles 40s. This series, which started in 1972, was all about popular music from the 1940s. Jerry Gordon took over his time slot at KSFO after he left.
Retirement and Legacy
John Gilliland left KSFO in 1978 and moved back to his home state of Texas. In 1994, he edited and published Pop Chronicles: the 40s as an audiobook with four cassette tapes. This was later re-released as The Big Band Chronicles.
During his retirement, he hosted a late-night show on KREB in Houston. He also did some work for KIXC in Quanah. He passed away in 1998.
In 2003, John Gilliland's sister gave the Pop Chronicles tapes to the University of North Texas Music Library. These tapes are now part of The John Gilliland Collection. Later, about 700 of his reel-to-reel tapes of old radio shows were also added to the collection.
Discography
- 1994: Pop Chronicles the 40s: The Lively Story of Pop Music in the 40s (Mind's Eye) ISBN: 978-1-55935-147-8. .
See also
In Spanish: John Gilliland para niños
