Biography
Bobby Dale, born Robert Dale Bastiansen, presented an improbable silhouette in rock & roll circles with his bald crown, heavy black frames, and tailored business suit. Even so, his unrestrained enthusiasm, inventive outlook, flair for spontaneous performance, and command of an eclectic span of popular music held audiences captive across more than thirty years on the air. He launched his professional life in 1959 at a Glendive, MO station before rising to prominence among California broadcasters, where he helmed programs on Los Angeles outlets KFWB, KRLA, and KGBS as well as San Francisco stations KEWB, KFRC, KSFO, KSAN, KKCY, and KOFY.
Following a stint at KOIL in Omaha—where he succeeded Gary Owens of Laugh-In renown—and another at KDWB in Minneapolis, Dale arrived in California in 1961 to cover for the striking deejay B. Mitchell Reed. After a short run hosting overnight hours at KFWB’s sister station KEWB, he joined the staff of Los Angeles-based KEWB, later noting that “I played the Rolling Stones like the others were playing the Beatles.”
Dale sustained his curiosity across a wide musical spectrum, presiding over an MOR program at KSFO during the late ’60s and again between 1971 and 1975. A close associate of Tom Donahue, the originator of free-form FM radio, he claimed responsibility for guiding Donahue through his initial LSD experience. He remained active in broadcasting into the early ’90s, moving between outlets that included weekend shifts at KSAN in the mid-’70s, a big-band program at KTIM in the early ’80s, and hosting duties for KKCY’s The City.
Declining health prompted semi-retirement in the early ’90s. Although he continued occasional appearances on KSAN’s Jive Radio and on University of San Francisco station KUSF, his strongest period had passed. When he lost his voice in 1992 and prepared for nodule surgery, physicians discovered diabetes, cardiac complications, and cirrhosis of the liver. Despite abandoning tobacco and alcohol, he never regained his former stature. In his final years Dale worked part-time as a crossing guard at a San Rafael pre-school and volunteered at a homeless shelter. He died of liver cancer on January 17, 2001, three days before a benefit concert was staged in San Rafael.
Following a stint at KOIL in Omaha—where he succeeded Gary Owens of Laugh-In renown—and another at KDWB in Minneapolis, Dale arrived in California in 1961 to cover for the striking deejay B. Mitchell Reed. After a short run hosting overnight hours at KFWB’s sister station KEWB, he joined the staff of Los Angeles-based KEWB, later noting that “I played the Rolling Stones like the others were playing the Beatles.”
Dale sustained his curiosity across a wide musical spectrum, presiding over an MOR program at KSFO during the late ’60s and again between 1971 and 1975. A close associate of Tom Donahue, the originator of free-form FM radio, he claimed responsibility for guiding Donahue through his initial LSD experience. He remained active in broadcasting into the early ’90s, moving between outlets that included weekend shifts at KSAN in the mid-’70s, a big-band program at KTIM in the early ’80s, and hosting duties for KKCY’s The City.
Declining health prompted semi-retirement in the early ’90s. Although he continued occasional appearances on KSAN’s Jive Radio and on University of San Francisco station KUSF, his strongest period had passed. When he lost his voice in 1992 and prepared for nodule surgery, physicians discovered diabetes, cardiac complications, and cirrhosis of the liver. Despite abandoning tobacco and alcohol, he never regained his former stature. In his final years Dale worked part-time as a crossing guard at a San Rafael pre-school and volunteered at a homeless shelter. He died of liver cancer on January 17, 2001, three days before a benefit concert was staged in San Rafael.
Albums