You are now watching: Radio’s Kitty Kinnin Returns To The Triangle Airwaves

By Stacy Peterson, MyNC.com

RALEIGH — Radio host Kitty Kinnin is still amazed by the number of e-mails she receives every morning.

She is amazed by the memories, the well wishes and mostly, the welcome back to the Triangle.

If you listened to local rock radio in the mid-to-late ’80s and early ’90s you already know her voice.

It’s top shelf scotch with a dose of sugar; a smoky relaxed voice that is more than distinctive. You can’t mistake it.

Such was the case on a recent morning when I grew tired of political coverage on NPR and switched my truck radio dial to Raleigh’s 100.7 FM The River. See Kinnin’s Web site Here.

WRDU was named Rolling Stone's "Best Radio Station of the Year" several years in a row beginning in 1989.

I instantly knew “the voice.” There, sitting in traffic on the Beltline, my mind went back in time to the late ’80s when I listened to the old WRDU 106.1 FM when it was the classic rock king. Then, Kitty Kinnin was the voice of midday and the popular Sunday Brunch — a jazz and blues show every Sunday morning.

It turns out I was not alone. In the last couple of months, a lot of listeners have had the same reaction.

This is just one of many e-mails Kinnin has recently received:

“I wanted to drop you a note a let you know you have another fan. Don’t cuss at me, but I have been almost exclusively an XM radio listener for the past 4 or 5 years. Last week, on my way to work, I was stuck in morning traffic and decided to check out The River for a traffic update. I am a classic rock fan, so I have listened to the station periodically. Imagine my surprise when I heard your voice and thought to myself: that sounds like Kitty that used to be on WKZL years ago. Yes, I used to listen to you on that station as well! As soon as you said your name, of course my thoughts were confirmed. Well, let me tell you, at least for my morning drive each day, I will no longer be listening to XM radio, I will be listening to you!”

After a five-year stay in Wilmington and a decade after leaving WRDU, Kinnin returned to the rock radio airwaves as the morning host from 6 to 9 a.m. on 100.7 FM. And that’s not all.

She also arranged a bargain when she agreed to come back.

She brought back her Sunday Jazz and Blues Brunch from 9 a.m. to noon on Sundays. In fact, she is in control of the music she plays — which ranges from jazz to eclectic — and the content of the show. She said getting to do the show again helped entice her to return even though she had not planned on getting back into radio full-time.

“I just missed Raleigh, I really did,” Kinnin said. “I was going to come back and not really do radio. I was going to do freelance work and then this happened. It just fell in my lap. It was like fate.”

(See more from her interview in the video above.)

And it seems her personality is making a difference. The response over the last couple of months has been great.

Still, the question is “Why?”

For some, it is reviving the old spirit that existed at WRDU. There was a certain chemistry among the DJs that ran from true musical knowledge to the perfect mix of personalities. WRDU, which was known for its “Reynolds And Silva Show” in the mornings and such personalities as Tom Gongaware, Donna Reed, Gayle Rancer, Bob Walton, Tom Guild, Lizz Wall, Paul Jackson and several others, was a radio powerhouse.

WRDU launched its classic rock format in 1984 but today operates as 106.1 The Rooster — a modern country music station. WRDU was born from the old Peabody award-winning WQDR, which ironically is also now a country music station.

Kinnin says the atmosphere for radio and music was different during her WRDU days. She said people were more invested with radio then and spent longer times listening during the day. The times, she said, were also different.

Other than that, it is hard to pinpoint what led WRDU to become Rolling Stone’s people’s choice “Radio Station of the Year” for several years in the a row beginning in the late ’80s.

Tom Gongaware is now vice president and managing broker at York Simpson Underwood in Raleigh. He was on the air at WRDU with Kinnin and was a member of the “WRDU family.”

He said it was a genuine love for the music, talent and passion that led to the station’s success. He also said it was all-live radio with a great local flavor. And then it was a family; warts and all. More than one former staffer called that group a group of “rockers.” It was that simple to them.

Whatever it is, it seems to be returning in some way, at least for Kinnin’s listeners.

Gongaware said Kinnin has a wonderful combination of a great voice and personality. But there’s more, he said.

“She has just an incredible enthusiasm for the music,” he said. “You could understand that she was more than just a voice. That is the kind of stuff that an audience relates to.”

And there’s the other side as well.

“She was never known for being early to her shift,” Gongaware said, and laughed.

Bob 'The Blade' and Kitty Kinnin attend one of the infamous WRDU parties in the 1980s.

Other former members of “the family” also remember the laughs. Local radio legend “Bob the Blade” was an original when WRDU launched its classic rock format in 1984 and he worked with Kinnin for many years. In fact, they both worked at a small TV station introducing music videos for a brief period in 1984. He too is on the local airwaves again, but now as an afternoon host on 96 Rock in the Triangle.

His days in local radio are much fabled. In 2006 while on the air after WRDU’s switch to a country music format, he quit his job. He told his listeners that he couldn’t work as a country music DJ, switched the music to The Who’s “The Song Is Over” and literally walked out.

(Listen to Bob the Blade’s infamous resignation)

“I have to say, you cannot find a sweeter girl than that one; I mean it,” Bob The Blade wrote in an e-mail. “Charming and totally engaging.”

That being said, he couldn’t help having a little fun:

“Seems like Kitty hurts her foot a lot,” he wrote. “I remember once back in the ’90s, she hurt her foot again and I saw her at the station (WRDU) stumbling around with a cane, and I just cracked up when I saw her. She has a great sense of humor so it didn’t hurt her feelings; she laughed too.”

And, even better:

“I used to totally make fun of her Jazz Brunch. First off, I always called her “Brunchie” and I still do,” he wrote. “I would always ask her what was on tap for the jazz brunch on Sunday, and then I’d make a request for some Kiko Matsui or Bela Fleck & The Flecktones or someone with the first name ‘Hans’ … anybody with a weird name. If your band had a weird name, you’d hear it on the Jazz Brunch. ‘Eclectic’ she would call it … meaning ‘whatever Kitty liked.’”

He, too, thought about the question of the WRDU team’s chemistry.

“What a great question about the team chemistry back then at WRDU. I guess we were just lucky enough to all like each other, and we were all rockers so we liked the same music and that was a BIG help.”

Now on 100.7 The River, Kinnin is again becoming known for her quotes of the day, her stories that go along with the songs formatted into her show and last, but not least, her recipes. Her cooking passion has become an ongoing conversation between her and her listeners as they literally swap recipes.

You’ll likely soon see a new locally roasted coffee blend dedicated to her. The Triangle’s 8th Sin Coffee is developing the “Bad Kitty Blend,” which will include portions of the proceeds going to local women’s domestic violence causes. You might even hear some of Kinnin’s voiceover work and most likely see her back in local music venues loving the place that she still calls home. To that end, you may even see her on TV again after a successful run at an ABC affiliate in Wilmington as the host of “The Hometown Show.”

At a recent interview during her morning shift, all was quiet as she commanded a studio sound board, several computer screens, a ringing phone and other stuff that looked complicated.

It was 9 a.m. Her shift ended and she signed off once again with her signature “Ciao.”

Sure the times might have changed, but it seems Kitty Kinnin’s fans have not.

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