Bobby Dale

With his bald head, thick black glasses, and business suit, Bobby Dale (born: Robert Dale Bastiansen) looked as far from the world of rock & roll as possible. Yet, with his unbridled passion, imaginative vision, gift for improvisation, and knowledge of a diverse range of popular music, Dale kept listeners glued to their radios for more than three decades. Having started his career in 1959 on a Glendive, MO radio station, he went on to become one of California's top deejays, hosting shows on KFWB, KRLA, and KGBS in Los Angeles, and KEWB, KFRC, KSFO, KSAN, KKCY, and KOFY in San Francisco.

After working at KOIL in Omaha, where he replaced Gary Owens of Laugh-In fame, and KDWB in Minneapolis, Dale went to California in 1961, to fill in for striking deejay B. Mitchell Reed. After briefly hosting an overnight show for KFWB's sister station, KEWB, he accepted a position with Los Angeles-based KEWB, where, he later recalled, "I played the Rolling Stones like the others were playing the Beatles."

Dale maintained interest in a diverse range of music. He hosted a show for MOR station KSFO in the late '60s and then, again, from 1971 until 1975. A close friend of Tom Donohue, the father of free-form FM radio, he took credit for introducing Donohue to his first LSD trip. Continuing to work in radio until the early '90s, Dale continued to bounce from station to station. He hosted weekend shows for KSAN in the mid-'70s, and a big band-oriented show for KTIM in the early '80s. He also served as host for KKCY show The City.

Failing health resulted in Dale's semi-retirement in the early '90s. Although he made numerous appearances on the KSAN show Jive Radio and on University of San Francisco station KUSF, his best days were behind him. Losing his voice, in 1992, he was being prepared to undergo nodule surgery when he was diagnosed with diabetes, a heart problem, and cirrhosis of the liver. Although he quit smoking and drinking alcohol, he was unable to recapture his earlier glory. In the last years of his life, Dale worked part-time as a crossing guard at a pre-school in San Rafael and volunteered at a shelter for the homeless. He succumbed to liver cancer on January 17, 2001, three days before a benefit concert was held in San Rafael.