Old Walla Walla Radio Remembered Part 30 KISS 101 Appears

Rock music was readily available in Walla Walla when KISS 101 launched in 1986.  Tom Hodgins, a local man known for his radio work, set up the new station with a studio at the top of the Whitman Tower, the city's tallest building and most famous landmark.
Unlike when KUJ switched to pop music, about a decade earlier, stations like KIOK, KSXT, and K-Lite already played music geared toward teens and young adults.
The station was personality oriented.  The picture above features morning crew members Big Jim Schwartz, along with his co-host Shannon, who helped me with info on the station.
 Lyn Daniels, a Spokane native who started at KUJ, would eventually join the staff.  Daniels would go on to become well known in Spokane country music.  Former Tri Cities DJ Chris Bartels also worked there.
In the late 1980s, about the time I was leaving Walla Walla, Burl Barer would take the morning shift, at first working with Shannon and then with another co-host.  Burl gave the station a little bit of a Seattle twist and did some great adlib commercials for B. Barer And Sons, the family business.
A big thank you to Tom Hodgins and Shannon for contributing to this article.