Dayna Steele, Pat Fant, Doug Harris, and director Mike McGuff are scheduled to appear in person for the screening’s Q&A session (Lanny Griffith was originally scheduled but can no longer make the date). Hear all the wild KLOL stories that didn’t make the film directly from the people who were there!
More about the film…
The long-awaited 101 KLOL Houston rock documentary, “Runaway Radio,” directed/produced by first-time filmmaker and Texas media blogger Mike McGuff, will be featured at Alta Arts on Wednesday, October 2, 2024.
The documentary covers the wild 34 (1970 to 2004) years of one of the country’s greatest Album Oriented Rock (AOR) stations. The film explores the many on-air personalities and behind the scenes players that made the station so popular. From the crazy station promotions, the music and the radio wars the family-owned Rusk station had with the likes of ABC’s 97 Rock KSRR.
“If any Houston radio station deserves its own documentary, it is KLOL,” said former KLOL DJ and Texas Radio Hall of Famer Dayna Steele. “I have seen the film and it brought tears to my eyes because I was taken back to that special time that couldn’t happen again.”
“Getting to work at KLOL wasn’t just an awesome radio opportunity, to work at this legendary station with its incredible portfolio of talent, but as a Native Houstonian to work at the radio station that I grew up with was a dream come true,” said former KLOL DJ, and current Houston Eagle night host, Outlaw Dave. “The response from the fans, not only on social media, but in public, coming up and talking about the excitement building for the documentary further validates my sense of how important this radio station was to this community.”
“I’ll be forever grateful that KLOL gave me my first opportunity in media,” former KLOL on-air personality and current KHOU 11 morning traffic anchor Jennifer Reyna said. “Getting to work at my mother’s favorite radio station alongside the legendary Outlaw Dave and crew made it a fun part of Houston’s radio history. It is exciting to be a part of a station with so much legacy, and I’m glad it will be documented on film.”
KLOL no doubt had a legendary air staff of big Houston radio names. In this documentary, you’ll hear stories directly from Jim Pruett, Dayna Steele, Crash, Grego, Outlaw Dave, Eddie “The Boner” aka Brian Shannon, Lanny Griffith, Colonel St. James, Keith Myles, David Sadof, Levi Booker, Jennifer Reyna and many more. AOR radio creator Lee Abrams even makes an appearance.
“As the creator of Outlaw Radio on KLOL, it was the launching pad of a rocket ride I can thankfully say is still going,” former KLOL DJ and current 95.7 The Spot all-day host GregO said. “KLOL fans will relive all the memories that made 101 great when the station ruled Houston. You will love this movie!”
Also interviewed are legendary artists like Dusty Hill (ZZ Top), Lyle Lovett, Sammy Hagar (Solo, Van Halen, Montrose, The Circle), Melissa Etheridge (singer-songwriter), Doug Pinnick (King’s X, KXM) and Carmine Appice (Ozzy Osbourne, Vanilla Fudge, Rod Stewart, King Kobra).
The AOR version of KLOL is still very much alive in the hearts of Houston and beyond. There are multiple online radio stations dedicated to the former Rock 101, as well as a Facebook group with thousands of members posting daily about the station and its music.
“The KLOL documentary shows the rest of the world why this station is still talked about to this day. It will be the last word on a Houston media legend,” said Texas Radio Hall of Famer and founding KLOL father Pat Fant. “We didn’t just play the music; we were a part of it. Our promotions became spectacles. Our on-air personalities were the host presenters of the non-stop performance that was KLOL. This is why KLOL continues to enjoy the kind of profile that only a handful of rock radio stations would ever really achieve.”
Fant now runs RFC Media which specializes in digital radio stations for brand, but he never forgets where he started as a 21-year-old in 1970 when the station signed on the air. “We didn’t just play the music, we were a part of it,” Fant added. “Our promotions became spectacles. Our on-air personalities were the host presenters of the non-stop performance that was KLOL. This is why KLOL continues to enjoy the kind of profile that only a handful of rock radio stations would ever really achieve.”
“I never take for granted that I was part of something unique, something memorable, something weirdly magical,” Steele added. “To this day, KLOL fans come up to me all over the world. My voice is the secret handshake that bonds us forever. As are many of the past KLOL voices.”
