Fans of top 40 and of the San Francisco radio scene will be interested to learn that Don Sainte-Johnn has issued a memoir.
It’s called “San Francisco’s Last Top 40 Disc Jockey.” The title refers to his tenure at KFRC, where he said he was the last working top 40 disc jockey before the format disappeared from that market.
According to Sainte-Johnn, the book is about “live breaks, control-room decisions, audience responsibility, mentorship and the pressures of performing without a safety net.”
“The book explores the moment when personality-driven top 40 radio gave way to more tightly formatted playlists and corporate consolidation, fundamentally changing how radio sounded and operated.” It also delves into shifts including automation and algorithm-driven music selection.
He said that as stations abandoned the top 40 identity in favor of CHR, KFRC emerged as the last major holdout in San Francisco.
“Rather than nostalgia, the book offers an insider’s account of how the shift toward automated and formatted programming gained momentum in the late 1980s and early 1990s, marking a new chapter in American radio.”
His radio career included stops in Sacramento, Calif., San Diego, Chicago, San Francisco, St. Louis and Yuma, Ariz. He has worked on the air as well as in production, programming and operations and he is an inductee of the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame.
Today he is a consultant, writer and teacher.
The book is available in paperback and ebook formats via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other retailers.
[Do you receive the Radio World SmartBrief newsletter each weekday morning? We invite you to sign up here.]
