In a Radio & Records interview when asked if Dex Allen was his real name, he said, "No. if you were a child of the '60s, you wanted to be a disc jockey, and your real name was Claude Turner, you'd probably change it too."
I was using the name Chip Allen on the air, which was another great, stupid name. (John) Rook wanted to create this concept of an all-night guy who was a rich California playboy who had moved to Pittsburgh. I was supposed to be that guy. He said, "I want you to be Dexter Kilbride' - swear to God. I said, 'Where did you come up with that? He said it just sounded like a real rich name. We split the difference, and went from Chip Allen to Dexter Kilbride to Dex Allen."
"Allen" was the founding partner and owner of Commonwealth Broadcasting which owned stations in Riverside-San Bernardino, Sacramento, Las Vegas, Albuquerque and other cities. He sold it in 1996, then with other investors, launched Commonwealth II in 1998, and bought 24 stations in small markets in California, Arizona, Colorado, Montana and Washington. In 2004, he sold Commonwealth II for $41,500,000, representing a 41% return to its investors, and presumably got out when the getting was still good...
I remember coming to visit my cousin in Normandy Park when we were in jr High..she was allowed to have a radio in her bedroom ( my parents couldn't afford one for me) and she kept it on the floor because it was so big. She would sit at her desk and turn the dial with her toe, going between KJR and KOL, and I thought she was so mod and groovy. Both stations played all my favorites.
41 million, huh. Once again, I ask myself why I work so hard for my paycheck, which is atom-sized compared to that kind of payout.
Posted by: sparky | November 01, 2009 at 09:17 AM