The First Female DJ in Los Angeles

In the November 12th, 1977 issue of Billboard you will find the feature "Women Emerging as Format DJs." It's an important reference article in the history of radio, and one of those rare occasions where women DJs get multiple pages of ink in a trade magazine. Unfortunately it's author is unaccredited. 

"At one point in the history of modern radio a female air personality was almost unheard of, and this is quite an interesting psychological aspect of the medium since early radio featured some excellent female entertainers such as Jinx Falkenberg, Jane Ace, Jane Webb, Harriet Nelson, June Foray, Janet Waldo, Molly Jordan (of Fibber McGee & Molly fame) Lillian Randolph, and Alice Reinhart for example." 

This week I'm looking into just one of those DJs histories. Cherie Sannes worked as a registered nurse for six years before she went into broadcasting. None of these primary sources cite her original surname. Originally from Ohio, she got the surname Sannes from her first husband, a doctor at Carmel Community Hospital where she worked as a nurse. In 1975 she began hosting a weekend public-service interview show on 101.7 KLRB-FM. More here.

Monterey Peninsula Herald - August 1974

KLRB (FM102) was a progressive, free-form FM station in the same vein as 106.7 KPPC in Pasadena and 106.9 KMPX-FM in San Francisco. The station originally signed on in 1971. The Monterey Peninsula Herald reported that Cherie joined the staff in October 1973, as "a registered nurse with no broadcasting background."  In May 1983 it flipped to country and the call letters changed...to KWST but Cherie was already long gone. Several of the staffers went on to work at KMBY, like Cherie.

Cherie moved to the Top-40 station 1240 KMBY-AM in 1975 and there she became “Cherie the Midnight Lady” where she worked overnights. One of her listeners was Sonny Melendez of KMPC. He invited her up to Los Angeles to audition on his show. The Billboard article confuses this story a bit but she did not get an offer from 710 KMPC-AM. But perhaps it gave her higher aspirations. When she was told that KFMB in San Diego was looking for a new female voice she flew down to do a live audition for B-100 Program Director Bobby Rich. Cherie became their first female DJ. [SOURCE]

 

100.7 KFMB-FM had only dropped it's Easy Listening format in 1975. In the late 1960s their slogan was"Music Only For A Woman."  [I can't imagine actually saying that into a microphone.]  Suffice it to say that it's Rock format was a huge change. KFMB was competing directly with 1170 KCBQ-AM. In 1975 the B100 original line up was Rob Landree, Dave Conley, Rocketman (aka Scott Wright), Willie B Goode, Jimi Fox, Gary Kelley, Kevin Anderson, Phil Flowers and Billy Martin. Terri Lynn was the news person and the only woman on the air staff. A year later Fox departed taking some staff with him and the playlist was reformulated with more Top-40.  When Cherie was hired about then and the new line up was Gene Knight, Gary Kelley, Danny Wilde, Christopher Lance, Cherie Sannes, Jimmy Rogers, Glen McCartney and Uncle Fred Stemen. [SOURCE] 

In the Fall 1977 Arbitron ratings, KFMB became the first FM station to be number 1 in a major market. At the time of that "Women Emerging" Billboard article in 1977, Cherie was doing a 2:00 - 6:00 weekday shift and a 7-11 shift on Saturdays. The article also made a point to say she was the oldest DJ on the station at 30 years old. So we know she was born around 1977 and is around 79 today. [The authors need to reveal this detail is how I the piece was written by a man.] 

 

Less than a year later, in 1978 Cherie joined Brian Berne and Brother John Rydgren at 101.1 KRTH (K-Earth) in Los Angeles as their first female jock. R&R announced it in their December 8 issue [SOURCE] with one economical sentence: "Cherie Sannes has joined the staff at KRTH/Los Angeles from B100/San Diego."  Their she worked nights and hosted Spotlight, a celebrity interview program. Air staff at the time included Shotgun Tom Kelley who also tenured at KFMB. She stayed with K-Earth for five years, her longest run at any one station. (Alex Cosper lists Cherie at KHJ in 1979 - 1982. This is because 101.1 KRTH was KHJ-FM from 1943–1972.) [SOURCE]

 

The peak of her popularity was probably at KRTH. Ed Harrison wrote a half-page feature on her for Billboard in June of 1981. In an interview quoted in that article she considered the importance of her role as a feminist trailblazer. she said: 

"Things have changed today to a certain degree, and women deejays are much less of a novelty. My KLRB experience was an exciting opportunity to change attitudes about women disk jockeys. ... Five years ago, we had few female role models and therefore many women, including myself, found it frustrating, but rewarding, to be the so-called 'pioneers' in a traditionally male-dominated field..."

According to most sources, Cherie left KRTH in about 1982. The Carmel Pine Cone [SOURCE] describes her moving directly to "Power 106" KPWR but this is not exactly accurate. Omitted is her short tenure at KOST doing weekends. This is noted in the Dec 4th, 1982 issue of Billboard. Cherie also was at 105.9 before it was KPWR, when it was still KMGG (Magic 106). Billboard reports in February of 1983 that she was working weekends and performing additional duties as their promotion director.

Power 106 didn't exist until 1986 when KMGG flipped from traditional Top-40 to a very 80s dance-forward, almost proto-CHR format complete with with shock jocks. Their playlist concluded disco, dance, urban and Top-40 hits and their new calls were KPWR. The station is still KPWR today but Cherie left the station around that time, probably as part of a staffing shake up. 

After KMGG Cherie left radio to work in healthcare management. She had been the first female DJ in two metros and at least 3 different stations. How does anyone follow up an iconic career like that? She became Cherie Stock when she remarried in 2008. Her husband Bob Stock was a former news anchor at KSBW-TV. She retired in 2009 and took up painting. Good for her. More here and here.