Sacramento Local Music Radio Shows: Interview with Morris Knight
SacTV.com "Video of the Day" review by
Alex Cosper on April 8, 2012
Morris Knight has been a popular
afternoon radio personality at 98.1 Kiss FM in San Francisco since the late nineties. He explains how he started
out at KWOD in Sacramento in the early 90s. He talks abot how his friends all listened to
FM 102 but he saw starting at KWOD as a better
opportunity. For one thing, FM 102 was by far the most popular hit music station in town by 1990 when
Morris started at KWOD as "Morris B." He says when I arrived as Program Director his excitement for radio
grew, especially since the station shifted to alternative music. Morris was inspired by Prince to create
his own unique style of dance music, which he issues under the name Morrisson to distinguish from his
radio career.
In June 1992 Morris and I launched a local music show on KWOD called "The Sound of Sacramento." I liked
the word "sound" instead of "sounds" because "sound of sac" focused on a unified, collective local sound that
added up to an attention-drawing force on the national map. The "Seattle sound" got a lot of press and I wanted
to create a buzz about the "Sacramento sound." But many listeners and jocks called it "Sounds of Sac," which
makes sense if you don't think of society first, and instead focus more on the smaller circle of bands and friends
everyone connects with. Even though people referred to it as "Sounds of Sac" it was officially called
"The Sound of Sacramento" until I left in 1996. Then it eventually became "Sounds of Sac."
The first Sound of Sacramento shows were hosted by Morris and me. We played bands like the Deftones
and Jack, who went on to become Oleander. It was an exciting time for local music because it marked the
first time in a long time that a radio station in town opened the doors to local music. KRXQ was already
doing its local show "Local Licks" hosted by Laura Ingle, but that show was all rock bands that either
leaned hair band or blues. KWOD opened up the possibilities to any kind of music. Some of the interesting
local bands at the time were Kai Kln, Thornucopia, Sketch Olives and Greg Rageous & The Silence.
Morrisson's music has a soulful upbeat electronic sound.
The Sound of Sacramento was successful at becoming a credible reference for the music industry. The show played
several local artists before they were signed to major labels. Acts like the Deftones, Oleander, Cake, Mother Hips
and Chance the Gardener got airplay on the show before gaining airplay in other places. Both Morris and I are musicians, so of course, we threw
in our own songs from time to time. In fact, every host of the show turned out to be a musician, as was the
case with Aaron Kinney, David Conley and Kevin Seconds. Read more about Sacramento
Radio History at Playlist Research.
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