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
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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
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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 [...]

By |May 5th, 2019|Tags: , , , |Comments Off on Colin Hay (Men at Work)
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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
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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 [...]

By |March 10th, 2019|Tags: , , |Comments Off on Ben Folds Five
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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 [...]

By |March 10th, 2019|Tags: , , , |Comments Off on Randy Newman
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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 [...]

By |March 10th, 2019|Tags: , , , |Comments Off on David Byrne
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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 [...]

By |February 11th, 2019|Tags: , , , |Comments Off on Monday Music with Randy Newman
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2-4-19 Monday Music – It Was 22 Years Ago Today

My favorite radio station of all time signed on the air July 4 weekend of 1994. It was KSCA - fm 101.9, Southern California's Album Alternative, which later adopted the easier-to-say slogan LA's Finest Rock. Unfortunately, all good things come to an end, as did this once-in-a-lifetime station, which signed off the air 22 years ago tonight. Scroll down below for some of the media attention the end of our little radio station garnered. One of our listeners archived much of our website as  it stood on that final day.  Yes, we were cutting edge. Ours was one of the [...]

By |February 4th, 2019|Tags: , |Comments Off on 2-4-19 Monday Music – It Was 22 Years Ago Today
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While I’m On Hiatus….

While I'm out, please explore the archives. There's close to 10 years of full shows, lots of interviews and some musical treats too. And it's all free. Well, on the honor system, anyway.  Since I'm trying to heal and hope to escape from politics while I'm on the mend, I thought I'd share some of the highlights of my career so you can escape the ugliness of this political season too. On The Nicole Sandler Show stream, I'm playing back dozens of my favorite interviews with musicians and rock stars from my many years in music radio.  Although I can't [...]

By |August 28th, 2016|Tags: , , , , |Comments Off on While I’m On Hiatus….
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