{"id":4050,"date":"2025-10-14T14:58:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T14:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/4050\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T14:58:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T14:58:09","slug":"exploring-the-soulful-sounds-of-long-beachs-secret-island-daily-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/4050\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploring the soulful sounds of Long Beach\u2019s Secret Island \u2013 Daily News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Does this sound interesting? There\u2019s music, poetry and storytelling \u2013 all live, and all produced in association with the Long Beach Soul Collective and the city\u2019s own low-power community FM station KLBP (99.1 FM; online outside of Long Beach at klbp.org<\/a>).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s called \u201cLive at Secret Island,\u201d and is held every other Wednesday night at 6:30 at the underground Secret Island Tiki Bar in downtown Long Beach, 209 Pine Ave. Admission is free, though the station encourages donations for the performers.<\/p>\n

The shows are two hours long plus breaks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey start at 6:30,\u201d said station spokesman Michael Stark, \u201cwith the live show airing on KLBP from 7 to 8, followed by a short break, and then they tape the second hour for airing the following week.\u201d<\/p>\n

The idea is to highlight local talent and give an opportunity for residents to join together for an evening of entertainment and fun. Promoters encourage you to \u201cstop by for the soul music; stay for the tiki cocktails.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stark tells me that the shows only recently started, and as the summer winds down, they have gotten quite popular. Sound good? There is an Instagram page at instagram.com\/secretislandtiki<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Questions and Suggestions<\/p>\n

I received quite a few emails in response to some of the recent columns. The first comes from Doug Ford of San Dimas, who wanted to know a little more about the old mellow rock KNX-FM.<\/p>\n

\u201cRecently, I looked up KNX FM (now KCBS-FM, 93.1), specifically what they played in the late \u201970s. I remember it as more of a deep track station with album sides played on Sunday nights. What information I could find described it more as a yacht rock station. Do you have any recollection of KNX in the \u201970s and what they were playing?\u201d<\/p>\n

I do. You are right; it had a very deep playlist, much more toward album cuts than hits. Some would argue that they were deeper than even KMET (now KTWV, 94.7 FM), though the focus was more on singer-songwriters and the obvious mellow side of things. Yacht rock? No, not really. KNX-FM was more picky and formatted with album tracks carefully selected to keep the mellow mood \u2026 yes, it \u2014 along with so many other stations of the era \u2014 was the place where what is now called \u201cyacht rock\u201d got a lot of exposure \u2026 but no station, and certainly not KNX-FM, was that narrow.<\/p>\n

There was also an intelligence to KNX-FM that came through not only the music, but also the features, the most remembered perhaps being \u201cThe Odyssey File\u201d that highlighted unusual news stories and other interesting topics. The playlist could run from Billy Joel and America to The Ozark Mountain Daredevils and Kiki Dee. And very few of them were \u201chits\u201d in the traditional sense. Many times, KNX-FM did indeed help launch careers or expose new artists and sounds.<\/p>\n

Want to hear a recording of that very era for yourself? Check out this sample from Retro Radio Joe at youtube.com\/watch?v=e9hfIKWe8BA<\/a>, which is a portion of the Steve Marshall Show from late 1977. Or go to\u00a0 TheMellowSound.net and hear a superb re-creation.<\/p>\n

Oh, and those album sides? I don\u2019t believe those were on KNX-FM. That sounds much more like KMET or K-West (now Power 106).<\/p>\n

Reader Joe Huisenga of Moorpark can\u2019t help anyone in metro Los Angeles or Orange County, but he does have a suggestion on where to find oldies just a bit north.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have some good news if any readers live in or pass through Ventura County, he wrote. \u201cThere\u2019s a new oldies station playing \u201960s and \u201970s music, called FM 106.3. It comes in loud and clear in Moorpark; worth giving it a try if you are traveling on the 101 freeway in Ventura County.<\/p>\n

That must be KVYB, also known as \u201cGroovy 106.3,\u201d which plays the syndicated Scott Shannon \u201cTrue Oldies\u201d format. They also serve as the local Dodgers affiliate. The station played top-40 until last April. Hear it at groovy1063.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso, KTYD (K-Tide) 99.9 FM in Santa Barbara has been around for 50 years,\u201d he continued. \u201cThey play rock music from the \u201960s to the \u201990s. An excellent station.\u201d That would be \u201cquality rock,\u201d at KTYD.com.<\/p>\n

Chime Hart has another oldies suggestion \u2026 again not helpful for over the air, but a good find on the net. \u201cCheck out WLNG in Sag Harbor, New York,\u201d he writes. \u201cIt tries to pretend it\u2019s in the \u201950s, with lots of PAMS jingles \u2026 but it has a full-service small-town feel\u201d<\/p>\n

Wow \u2026 you\u2019re not kidding. It even has the East Coast reverb! The station is owned by a company called Bark Out Loud Dogs Media, and serves the Hamptons, Eastern Long Island, the towns of Brookhaven, and the coastlines of Connecticut and Rhode Island \u2026 and, of course, everywhere you can connect a computer, smart speaker or app. Find it at WLNG.com.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not always the \u201850s \u2026 as I tuned in just now, they were playing Tom Petty.<\/p>\n

Richard Wagoner is a San Pedro freelance columnist covering radio in Southern California. Email\u00a0rwagoner@socalradiowaves.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Originally Published: September 29, 2025 at 7:00 AM PDT<\/p>\n