Kevin Gilbert

Marc Bonilla, Nicole Sandler, Kevin Gilbert KLOS Mark & Brian Christmas Show 1990 I'll never forget how I got the news that Kevin Gilbert had died. It was May 18, 1996. I had been out late that night, and returned home to an answering machine flashing with messages. One was from Doug Buttleman, Kevin Gilbert's and Toy Matinee's manager; another from Mark Bonilla, Toy Matinee's brilliant guitarist. We'd all become good friends through the Mark & Brian Show. Both messages were of an urgent nature, asking me to call whenever I got in. I somehow already knew what [...]

By |May 12th, 2019|Tags: , , , , |Comments Off on Kevin Gilbert

Joan Baez and Dar Williams at a Starbucks Remote – 2-9-96

  When KSCA fm 101.9 launched, I did middays on the air, from 10am -3pm. About a year in, KLOS fired Chuck Moshontz, who had done news on the Mark & Brian Show for many years. One day my general manager came to me and asked what I thought about KSCA hiring Chuck, and teaming the two of us up to host our morning show. So that we did! One of the fun things we did was a series of morning show remotes from Starbucks locations all over Southern California. From John Hiatt at the Starbucks on La Cienega across [...]

By |May 5th, 2019|Tags: , , , |Comments Off on Joan Baez and Dar Williams at a Starbucks Remote – 2-9-96

JJ Cale 9-7-94

Not everyone who came into the fm 101.9 Music Hall was a household name. We broke tons of new artists, and welcomed lots of great songwriters who weren't always out front. Eric Clapton had great success covering many songs from JJ Cale. He joined me in Music Hall in September of 1994. Go back to the index for more of Nicole Sandler's classic music interviews.

By |May 5th, 2019|Tags: , , , |Comments Off on JJ Cale 9-7-94

Colin Hay (Men at Work)

Men At Work was the band of the early 80's, having sold over 30 million records worldwide. More than just a band with a string of Top 40 hits, they appealed to a much wider audience. Men At Work was led by founder/singer/songwriter/guitarist Colin Hay... Following the success of Men At Work, Colin went on to forge a new beginning as a solo singer/songwriter and most importantly, storyteller. I was fortunate enough to have interviewed him twice.  First at KSCA fm101.9 in Los Angeles on July 13, 1995. The second time was five years later -- I don't have the [...]

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Dave Matthews

As you can see from the magazine page above, The Dave Matthews Band played The Whiskey in Los Angeles in January of 1995. Their debut album for RCA, Under the Table and Dreaming had just been released, and we at KSCA were the first to play in Los Angeles to play their music, starting with the lead single, "What Would You Say?" No one had any idea just how huge they'd become, when Dave came in for his first Los Angeles radio interview with me. I don't know the exact date, but it was January of 1995... Four years later, [...]

By |March 10th, 2019|Tags: , , |Comments Off on Dave Matthews

Ben Folds Five

  Every now and then an album comes out that immediately goes into high rotation on my personal playlist. Such was the case when I heard the eponymous debut from Ben Folds Five. The poppy melodies and three-part harmonies won me over on my very first listen. When they came to play LA for the first time, they made their Los Angeles radio debut on the air with me at fm101.9. The date was  October 18, 1995     Sadly, that radio station went off the air in February of 1997, a victim of the Telecommunications Act of [...]

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Randy Newman

  I've been honored to have interviewed Randy Newman twice - and somehow didn't manage to get a picture taken with him.The first time we met, it was in the Music Hall at KSCA fm101.9 in Los Angeles. The Music Hall was actually a closed off hallway in between the on-air studio and the production room. But the sound was magic. The second time I got to sit and talk with Randy Newman was at Channel 103.1, the Triple A station that followed KSCA on the air a few years later. It was May 25, 1999. This time we invited [...]

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David Byrne

  I've been a fan of Talking Heads since the 70s. So when KSCA launched in July of 1994, and I was able to book David Byrne as our very first artist to appear for an interview and performance, I was psyched! And I got to host him. The station had only been on the air for a few days, and we hadn't yet dubbed our performance space The Music Hall. He agreed to play two songs - a new one and an old favorite. For the old favorite, he chose "Nothing But Flowers," but lamented that he didn't remember [...]

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XTC

  When I asked online if people would be interested in hearing some of my old music radio interviews, quite a few singled out XTC, one of the examples I gave, as one they'd like to hear. So here it is. Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding rarely perform live, one of the subjects I broached with them. So, they didn't perform for us. But we did play some of their songs...   Go back to the index for more of Nicole Sandler's classic music interviews.

By |February 18th, 2019|Tags: , |Comments Off on XTC

Monday Music with Randy Newman

  I've been honored to have interviewed Randy Newman twice - and somehow didn't manage to get a picture taken with him. The first time we met, it was in the Music Hall at KSCA fm101.9 in Los Angeles. The Music Hall was actually a closed off hallway in between the on-air studio and the production room. But the sound was magic. The second time I got to sit and talk with Randy Newman was at Channel 103.1, the Triple A station that followed KSCA on the air a few years later.  It was May 25, 1999. This time we [...]

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