KBPI started at 105.9 MHz in Denver on June 21, 1965. It had studios on the 20th floor of the
Daniels & Fisher Tower in downtown Denver. The owner and general manager of the station was Bill Pierson, who named KBPI for "Bill Pierson Incorporated". The station featured a
progressive rock format. Pierson sold the station in 1974. The station continued its rock format under the new owner, Progressive Broadcasters, Incorporated. During the 1970s and 1980s, the station moved to an
album-oriented rock (AOR) sound. Its television commercials featured a blonde woman
lip synching with bits of popular
rock songs and DJ's voices, and the tagline
KBPI Rocks the Rockies! (elongated with
rolling R sounds). This catchphrase is still used in advertising and for a while the campaign was used at other rock radio stations in the United States and Canada. The "blonde woman" AKA "KBPI's Remarkable Mouth" was Kelly Harmon, sister of actor
Mark Harmon. During the 1970s, KBPI gained press for inviting people to bring their
disco records to the station office for destruction, and this was frequently broadcast live over the air to the tune of
Black Sabbath songs. This was commonplace among AOR stations who were riding the anti-Disco theme at the time. For four years, Steven B. and the Hawk ruled the Denver morning FM ratings, mixing rock music with their witty comments and routines. As they put it, "It really didn't matter what kind of music they played. Listeners tuned in to hear them." Their comedic style was highlighted by a self-deprecating sense of humor, rather than "shock jock talk". The duo ridiculed the entertainment industry, regularly parodying movie and TV stars. One of their favorite routines was an ongoing spoof of
soap operas. They created their own ongoing series, whose titles were partially taken from the real shows that aired at the time:
Edge of Guiding Days of My Children Turning Hospital. They also did commercials featuring "Whamco" products and promotions. Don Hawkins died unexpectedly in November 1994, following a routine surgery. Steven B. Williams, who had become a nationally prominent voiceover artist for television stations and networks including
Nick at Nite and moved to California, was found dead of a gunshot wound in May 2006 off
Catalina Island, and a business associate who embezzled the inheritance of Williams's father was convicted of his murder in 2011. On April 20, 1994, Chancellor Media moved KBPI to 106.7 FM, which had been the home of KAZY, its long-time rock competitor and a former sister station to
KLZ-AM-
TV. Notable DJs include Willie B., DMac, Marc Stout, Scoop, Missy, Uncle Nasty, Matt Need, Double A Ron, Dan, Tim Bourke, Eddie, Joe the Russian and B Lo.
Move to 106.7 106.7 FM signed the air on June 19, 1962, as KLZ-FM. At first it
simulcast its AM counterpart KLZ, but in the early 1970s, it started airing a rock format. In 1977, KLZ-FM changed its
call sign to
KAZY (now at 93.7
FM in
Cheyenne, Wyoming) and continued with a rock format until KBPI moved to the frequency on April 20, 1994 (105.9 would then flip to
hot AC as
KALC). Dean and Rog hosted the KBPI Morning Show from 1991 to 1996. They were known for features like "The Birthday Scam" and "Torture Tuesday", as well as other stunts. In 1996, the duo and two other station employees were charged with disorderly conduct for entering a
mosque while playing "
The Star-Spangled Banner" on a trumpet and trombone. This was in response to
Nuggets player
Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf's refusal to stand for the anthem before games. After more than twenty years with a mainstream
album rock format, KBPI shifted to
active rock in late 1995, calling its new format "The New Music Revolution". At the time, KBPI had an
alternative rock lean. A few years later, KBPI would bring back the old slogan "Rocks the Rockies". In 2007, the station was nominated for
Radio & Records Industry Achievement Award for best active rock station in a top 25 market.
Move to 107.9 On July 27, 1975, 107.9 FM first signed on as KCOL-FM. It was the
sister station to
KCOL (1410 AM). KCOL-FM aired a
beautiful music format. In 1988, the station switched to a
Top 40 format as KIMN, which were the call letters of a popular Top 40 station in Denver in past years. The station took the call letters KPAW in 1995, at first keeping its Top 40 format, then moving to
classic hits around 2000, and later to classic rock. In December 2017, iHeartMedia launched a
trimulcast of KBPI, utilizing the analog 107.9 frequency across several markets in the
Interstate 25 corridor. On December 5, the programming and call letters of classic rock KPAW, which targets Fort Collins and the
Northern Front Range, was moved to KYWY (92.9) in
Cheyenne, Wyoming (which moved its
adult contemporary format to
KOLT-FM HD2 (100.7-HD2) and translator station
K246CI (97.1) four days prior). On December 11, KBPI's programming and call letters then moved to the 107.9 frequency vacated by KPAW and co-channel Denver translator K300CP, while sister station
KDZA in
Pueblo, which also serves
Colorado Springs, flipped to a simulcast of KBPI (and switched their calls to KBPL the following month). The previous 106.7 signal, which warehoused the KYWY call letters, simulcasted KBPI for a week before flipping to
country as
KWBL on December 18, 2017. KBPL partially broke away from the trimulcast in January 2019, reintroducing local hosts in the afternoon and nighttime dayparts, and carrying a separate playlist.
K300CP history The K300CP translator launched early as 2015 in as an FM translator of
KOA (850) until November 1, 2015, when KOA was switched to the newly-acquired K231BQ (94.1). After a simulcast of
Christmas music from the HD2 subchannel of
KRFX (103.5) through the holidays, it began to translate the
sports radio format of
KDSP (760) until December 11, 2017, when it converted to a simulcast of KDHT-HD2. The translator is not owned by iHeartMedia, but the
WAY-FM Network through their Hope Media Group licensing subsidiary. ==References==