L.A. Radio Notes: Changes for Madeleine Brand, Kennedy and El Mandril

>> Our pals at KCRW take the wraps off their new daily Madeleine Brand show, "Press Play," this Monday at noon. The show "will explore the world through the lens of Los Angeles. It will combine Madeleine’s distinct voice, intelligence and warm sense of humor with an eclectic mix of guests to offer new ideas and unique perspectives on everything from politics and science to entertainment and art," says KCRW general manager Jennifer Ferro. Listen to the pilot episode below:



>> Kennedy is out and "The Woody Show" is in at KYSR-FM "Alt 98.7." Details from RadioInfo.com:

The change is set to take place on April 21 when “The Woody Show” featuring Woody, Ravey, Menace and Greg Gory takes over the 6:00 am to 10:00 am slot currently held down by Lisa Kennedy Montgomery’s “Music in the Morning with Kennedy” show.

The station says in a statement, “The foursome are real life friends, who are having fun, raw, honest conversations about things happening in the world – they will reunite on ALT 98.7 for the first time since 2009, when they were a top-rated morning show in San Francisco. Since then, Woody and Ravey have hosted the #1 morning show in St. Louis, while Menace and Gory each anchor separate successful shows in San Francisco."

CCM+E vice president of programming Los Angeles Andrew Jeffries says, "'The Woody Show' is here to wake the market up with their unique friendship, driven by a cast of characters coming from a diverse range of backgrounds all finding a common sense of humor, love of communicating with listeners and desire to entertain."

>> The Los Angeles Times reports that "El Mandril," a.k.a. Ricardo Sanchez, has switched radio stations. He's moving to KXOS-FM (93.9).

More from the newspaper:

The station KXOS is part-owned and managed by the Mexico City broadcasting company Grupo Radio Centro.

"First I achieved the American dream of having success in the United States, and now I can achieve the Mexican dream of triumphing with the strongest radio company in Mexico," Sanchez wrote in Spanish in his Facebook message.

Until this month, the former janitor whose "El Mandril" radio nickname means the Baboon, had been affiliated with Spanish Broadcasting System's KLAX 97.9 FM, which brands itself as "La Raza."

In November, amid contentious contract negotiations and allegations of ratings manipulation, Spanish Broadcasting yanked Sanchez from its airwaves.

The Miami-based company would not comment on the situation. However, several radio sources, including Sanchez's manager, confirmed that Nielsen was investigating allegations that someone associated with Sanchez's show had contacted members of the audience panel in Los Angeles that Nielsen used to generate its local ratings.

It's Official: The Ambassador Hotel School Will Be Named After Robert Kennedy

It obviously makes sense that the high school rising from the ashes of the late, great Ambassador Hotel be named after Robert F. Kennedy. Kennedy, of course, was assassinated at the hotel in 1968, moments after giving a victory speech for winning California's presidential primary.

The historic value of the Ambassador was one of the arguments used in the attempt to save the hotel from destruction. Students might have once been able to go down to the actual pantry where RFK was shot; instead, they'll have to make do with knowing they're on the same grounds.

The Kennedy family weren't so nostalgic about the site, having put their weight behind tearing the hotel down in order to more quickly build a school.

On the bright side, there does seem to be an effort to at least pay tribute to history. The school itself has been built over the exact same footprint as the hotel -- which means it takes the same shape as seen from the street. And the LAUSD has restored the old entryway to how it once looked.



Here's the details from the L.A. Times:

he education complex at the site of the once-grand Ambassador Hotel will be named in honor of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, who was killed there by an assassin in 1968. The long-expected honor, approved by the Los Angeles Unified school board this afternoon, faced no opposition. The discussion quickly evolved into a tribute to the senator, who was cut down as he celebrated his win in the Democratic presidential primary at the storied Wilshire Boulevard hotel.

“We can now continue the legacy of Robert F. Kennedy,” said Kennedy friend Paul Schrade, who has worked with local allies for years to create a school as a fitting memorial for the senator.

The Ambassador school project has become “a symbol of hope for so many of us,” said board member Nury Martinez, who like others struggled to keep her composure.

The effort that resulted in the Kennedy complex began in the 1980s, when the school district battled over the decaying Ambassador Hotel with developer Donald Trump, who wanted to build the world’s tallest building on the site. That tug-of-war persisted for more than a decade, even after Trump ceded his interest to other developers.

I guess that's one other bright spot -- thank goodness Trump's nutty idea of building the world's tallest building on the site never got anywhere.

Kennedy Takes Over Mornings at 98.7 KYSR

Former MTV VJ and Fox Reality Channel "Reality Remix" host Kennedy (real name: Lisa Kennedy Montgomery) is taking over mornings at alternative rock station KYSR-FM (98.7). She'll be paired with Darren Rose, who will provide entertainment tidbits and news.

The morning show will still be music-intensive; 98.7 (the station formerly known as "Star 98.7") has been all music in the mornings since shutting down its Ozomatli experiment last year.

98.7 has actually been surprisingly competitive vs. KROQ in dayparts outside of mornings, where KROQ is still dominant, thanks to "Kevin & Bean."

Kennedy has already been working at KYSR parent Clear Channel; she's also regularly heard on KFI-AM with host Brian Suits.

Retro Friday: A Very Special Christmas

OK, one more Christmas-related video... and then we'll see you next week. From the magic of YouTube: A clip from what appears to be a 1988 Christmas special dedicated to the Special Olympics -- the organization founded by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, hence the appearance of so many Kennedys (including Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger). Marvel at this performance of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," featuring Schwarzenegger, Mike Tyson (yes, Mike Tyson), Randy Travis and others.

And with that, we say, Happy Holidays!

Retro Friday: Camelot, Part I

A vintage newsreel from 1960, when another young president-elect captured the excitement of the American people.

Remembering Bobby Kennedy at the Ambassador Site

It wasn't much, but I guess it has been 40 years. Nonetheless, at least a few people last week visited the Robert Kennedy Memorial Parkway (that's the stretch of Wilshire in front of the Ambassador) to recognize the 40th anniversary of Robert Kennedy's assassination at the Ambassador Hotel.

Above, a large portrait of RFK was hung on the chainlink fence outside the Ambassador construction site, while candles were illuminated underneath. Sadly, there was no remembrance inside the hotel, or the pantry where RFK was shot. That, of course, as you're well aware, is because of the LAUSD's move over the past few years to tear down the storied but long-vacant hotel.

RFK Assassination: It Was 40 Years Ago Today

Sadly, the Ambassador Hotel, where Bobby Kennedy was shot in the early hours of June 5, 1968, no longer stands. And as Patt Morrison writes, that's a shame:

Imagine studying American history within the very walls where Richard Nixon wrote the "Checkers" speech that saved his political bacon.

But the Kennedy family pretty much wanted the place razed and the ground sown with salt. Coupled with the LAUSD's desperate need for classrooms, it was adios, Ambassador. The first of the three new schools on the property is supposed to open 15 months from now.

So where is the pantry now?

After the preservationists' lawsuits and the environmental impact reports, the LAUSD agreed to pluck it out and maintain it intact. But the LAUSD's senior project manager, John Kuprenas, told me that an engineer said no way. "Hold the bus," is what Kuprenas told me the engineer said. "This plan looks kind of iffy." The fear was that if the district "tried to take it out in a mass, it'd all completely crumble," Kuprenas said.

So the pantry exists today not even as a kit to be eventually reassembled but in sample pieces -- 2-foot-diameter cores of floor, walls and ceiling, along with doors, electrical panels and the biggest piece, the ice machine behind which Sirhan Sirhan stood, waiting to open fire. It's all on 30 pallets, shrink-wrapped and stored in a secure, undisclosed location, waiting for a special commission and the school board to decide what historical institution might deserve them.

Except for some recycled steel, the rest of the pantry, along with most of the Ambassador Hotel, went to a landfill.

Morrison swings it to now, noting that the Universal fire got more press attention than the Ambassador pantry destruction.

Meanwhile, for an as-it-happened piece of history, check out the live coverage of the RFK shooting, archived from 1968. I first posted this a few months ago, and mentioned at the time how a YouTube user named JFK1963 has posted, in chronological order, nine videos from CBS News that chronicle the assassination of Bobby Kennedy on June 5, 1968. It's chilling to watch the videos in order, as if you're watching coverage of the event live -- starting with RFK's victory speech at the Ambassador Hotel, having just won the California primary.

Retro Friday: Martin Luther King Jr., 1968

Forty years ago, April 4: Martin Luther King Jr. is gunned down in Memphis. Here, Walter Cronkite informs a stunned America of the tragic news. Below, Robert Kennedy Jr. breaks the news during a speech in Indianapolis. RFK, of course, would meet a similar fate justa few months later.

Retro Friday: RFK Edition

A YouTube user named JFK1963 has posted, in chronological order, nine videos from CBS News that chronicle the assassination of Bobby Kennedy on June 5, 1968. It's chilling to watch the videos in order, as if you're watching coverage of the event live -- starting with RFK's victory speech at the Ambassador Hotel, having just won the California primary (above).

Below, the cheers from the crowd have turned into screams, as word spreads that Kennedy has been shot and volunteers ask if there are doctors in the house. Other videos show reporters on scene and anchors back in New York (including Mike Wallace) trying to make sense of it all. Click on one of the videos to find the whole collection at YouTube.

The Virtual Ambassador Hotel

In marketing the new Emilio Estevez-helmed "Bobby" -- about Robert Kennedy's final moments -- the producers have wisely realized that the Ambassador Hotel is one of the film's major characters.

Sadly, it's the Ambassador's final role. The hotel, which has appeared in countless films, was demolished right after "Bobby" finished shooting -- making Estevez the last filmmaker to roam the classic hotel's halls.

The Weinstein Co., which is releasing the film, has added a cool Ambassador-themed section to the "Bobby" website, located at ambassador.bobby-the-movie.com. The site includes a computer-generated 360-degree view of the Ambassador lobby, as well as a guestbook and New York Times front pages leading up to the death of Bobby Kennedy.

The filmmakers have also launched a Flickr group (at www.flickr.com/groups/bobbythemovie), where people can upload shots they may have of the Ambassador. (Photo credits: (c) Weinstein Company/courtesy Everett Collection)

Ambassador Pantry in Limbo

The LAUSD still isn't sure what to do with artifacts collected from the Ambassador Hotel's now-demolished pantry, where Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in 1968. The Kennedy family wants the pieces to be destroyed. The pantry itself was supposed to be preserved -- but was too damaged, supposedly, to be saved. And for now, remnants of the crime scene sit in containers.

The LA Times picks up on the story:

The two unmarked metal bins sitting in a storage lot in Los Angeles' garment district hold artifacts from one of the most shocking events in modern American history: equipment and fixtures from the pantry where Robert F. Kennedy was fatally wounded June 5, 1968.

The 29 items from the now-demolished Ambassador Hotel, including chandelier lights, wainscoting and the ice machine behind which assassin Sirhan Sirhan may have hid, face an uncertain fate.

Are they really the stuff of history? Do they enhance national memory? And what is to be done with them as school officials prepare to build a campus on the former hotel site?

As with anything connected to assassinations and the Kennedys, answers do not come easily.

Some preservationists contend the collection should be used in a re-creation of the pantry at the school. Some historians want the artifacts given to a museum or library for permanent safekeeping. The Kennedy family wants all of them destroyed and kept out of the hands of ghoulish collectors.

By the way, if you haven't checked out Robert Peate's heartbreaking collection of shots from the Ambassador's last days, do so. It's at his site, www,nlphotos.com. 

One Last RFK Tribute at the Ambassador

One of the cool things about launching The Ambassador's Last Stand has been hearing from people across the country who have fond or personal memories of the hotel -- even, for some, after it had already been shut down.

I recently received a letter and some pictures from Brent Lyons of Illinois, who visited L.A. in June 1998 upon the 30th anniversary of Bobby Kennedy's assassination.

He writes:

On the morning of June 5, 1998, I purchased two sets of white flowers. I decided to try to put the flowers on the property of the Ambassador Hotel. So from Wilshire Boulevard, I walked up the drive to the parking lot and asked the parking lot attendant, who was at his booth, if I could go on the Ambassador grounds and put my flowers down. To my amazement, the parking lot attendant said to me nicely, "Go ahead."

I walked from the parking lot area to the front of the Cocoanut Grove entrance. I then put one set of white flowers on the lawn and took pictures... I noticed that the front doors of the Cocoanut Grove were open, and I decided to go inside. (You will notice, in my pictures, that there were vans and people were unloading them for making films at the Ambassador. I laid down the second set of white flowers on the floor in the Cocoanut Grove.

I felt lucky enough for this experience, and left the Ambassador grounds without a hassle.

Thanks Brent -- and for everyone else, please keep sending in your memories. Check out The Ambassador's Last Stand for more.

Kennedy Cop-Out

The Kennedy family has no interest in helping save the historic Ambassador Hotel, according to stories in today's L.A. Times and Daily News.

The clan's position helps the cause of superintendant Roy Romer, who is pushing a compromise plan that saves some of the hotel -- including the hotel pantry where Robert Kennedy was assassinated -- but replaces most of the landmark structure with a new school building.

According to the papers, the LAUSD board members were already aware of the Kennedy family position: In an interview Thursday, Romer said the "feelings of the Kennedys are very important to me. I have thought about that before, and I will continue to think about it."

But Romer added that his job was to find a plan that would pass board muster, avoid lawsuits and get a school built while still acknowledging the historic value of the site.

"I know the community is divided, and I have tried to find a compromise," Romer said. "I have got to get this school built, because the children are going to be hurt if I don't."