klol ftw

Ken Hoffman on the Runaway hit KLOL doc that's finally ready to rock

Dayna Steele Rock 101 KLOL Houston Runaway Radio

Rock radio empress Dayna Steele stars in the new documentary.

Photo courtesy of Mike McGuff and Dayna Steele

Longtime media blogger Mike McGuff’s documentary about the rise, dominance, and demise of Houston’s hardest rocking radio station — KLOL-FM — finally has a release date.

Runaway Radio will be available to rent or purchase on most video streaming services including iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, YouTube, and cable/satellite services starting Tuesday, February 27. There will also be a special screening at 6:30 pm and 9 pm Saturday, March 2 at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Katy, followed by a Q&A with McGuff hosted by CultureMap contributor Craig Hlavaty.

I had first written about McGuff’s documentary back in 2019. Nice to see it ready to screen now.

runaway radio KLOL dusty hill McGuff spoke to dearly departed icons like ZZ Top's Dusty Hill.Photo courtesy of Mike McGuff

The KLOL Era

KLOL dominated the hard rock format in Houston during the 1980s and early 1990s. It was one of the highest-rated, album-oriented stations in the U.S.

The station’s disc jockeys became celebrities in Houston, led by wild and wooly morning “shock jocks” Mark Stevens and Jim Pruett, who were Hudson and Harrigan on a country station in a previous radio lifetime. Other on-air stars included Outlaw Dave Andrews, Brian “The Boner” Shannon, and the pioneering rock radio empress, Dayna Steele.

Disc jockeys were allowed to pick the songs they played — something absolutely unheard of in today’s ultra-pre-programmed radio lineups.

Risque, raunchy, always rockin'

The station became known for its outlandish and sexy promotions targeted to its mainly male audience inspired by marketing director Doug Harris. I once asked beloved Houston jeweler I.W. Marks why he devoted so much of the store’s advertising budget to KLOL. He said: “Most of that station’s listeners are young men. Young men buy engagement rings. I sell engagement rings.”

Part of KLOL’s success was based on the station’s personal relationship with music stars like Sammy Hagar, Lyle Lovett, Melissa Etheridge, Carmine Appice, and Dug Pinnick, who regularly appeared live with KLOL’s disc jockeys.

runaway radio KLOL sammy hagar Rock legends like Sammy Hagar were friends of the station. Photo courtesy of Mike McGuff

But, nothing in media lasts forever, and KLOL’s stronghold on Houston radio ratings faded by the late 1990s.In 2004, management swapped its rock playlist in favor of Mega 101 FM, a Latin pop music format.

A Runaway hit for true Houstonians

Here’s a conversation I recently had with the Runaway Radio director Mike McGuff.

CultureMap: What motivated you to do this project?

Mike McGuff: I always wanted to direct a documentary, and as a media blogger, I kept hearing Houston listeners talk about Rock 101 KLOL years after it went off the air. You take the wild disc jockeys, the major rock acts associated with the station — and its proclivity for stunning visuals — and you get a pretty compelling documentary that will excite Houstonians and anyone who grew up on rock radio across the country.

CM: When did you start and finish this documentary?

MM: I started at the end of 2010 and finished in 2022. It would have come out much sooner but the global pandemic delayed that.

CM: Who was your favorite KLOL personality and why?

MM: I liked most of the personalities, but one of my favorites was Dayna Steele. As a music fanatic, I appreciated how she always knew what was happening with the artists KLOL played. How did she know so much? Well, she actually knew many of the artists personally! As a result, Steele's section of the film got one of the biggest responses when we screened it for test audiences and film festivals.

CM: How did you react when KLOL was taken off the air and replaced by a Latin pop music format?

MM: I wasn't surprised, because the station fell on some hard times in the end, but I always thought it could recover. Ultimately, I was upset that it was gone. Just think, if Clear Channel had changed 93.7 The Arrow's format, I would have never made a documentary.

CM: What was the secret ingredient that made KLOL so successful? Why did it ultimately fail? Could a revamped KLOL work today?

MM: KLOL's secret ingredient was the personalities and the station's involvement in the community. Through the course of production, I realized that KLOL was the internet, before the internet. It kept you updated on the latest music and lifestyle trends of someone who was into that music.

Many KLOL staffers interviewed in the film blame the Telecommunications Act of 1996 for the station's ultimate demise. That act let companies own many radio stations in one market. KLOL suffered as a result. When I started the doc, I thought KLOL could come back, but I don't think so these days. The way people consume media has changed so much since then.

CM: What are you listening to on radio these days?

MM: I mostly listen to streaming with SiriusXM mixed in, but as far as Houston radio, I like 95.7 The Spot, KKHH, and Oldies 107.5 HD2 KGLK.

Now, let me tell you about an experience I had with KLOL morning hosts Mark Stevens and Jim Pruitt, both of who have passed away.

Years ago I wrote a book – pretty good for someone who barely has the patience to read one. The editor of the Houston Chronicle — my big boss, by the way — was instrumental is getting my book published. I made a few appearances on local radio stations to push the book.

They went okay, except for the day I went on the Stevens and Pruitt Show. First thing they asked me was, “That editor you work for, he’s a real a-hole, right?” They meant it as a joke because my editor and his wife happened to be buddies with Stevens and his wife.

But...the audience didn’t know that. Now I’m sputtering, “No, he’s a pretty good guy.” And I’m sounding like a butt smoocher.

My spot with the Stevens and Pruitt Show lasted about 10 minutes and centered around if any of my female co-workers were “hot” and similar topics. I couldn’t answer a question like that. The only thing hot that morning was the seat I was sitting on.

I’m not sure we ever got around to mentioning that I had a book out. Fun time.

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Runaway Radio will be available to rent or purchase on multiple platforms on Tuesday, February 27. The film will screen at 6:30 pm and 9 pm at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema (2707 Commercial Center Blvd., Suite K-100) in Katy. For Alamo Drafthouse screening tickets, visit the event site.

Do you have a favorite KLOL memory or DJ? Share them with Ken at ken@culturemap.com or on Twitter. Check out the Mike McGuff blog here.

pet protection

What Texas pet owners need to know about the dangerous New World screwworm

Photo by Helena Jankovičová Kováčová/Pexels

Make sure these guys are up on their flea and tick meds.

Two New World screwworm cases in dogs are among more than 30 confirmed instances in Texas and New Mexico, prompting warnings Wednesday, July 8 from veterinarians and humane societies that pet owners need to remain vigilant to protect their animals.

The parasite reappeared in cattle in the U.S. in June, more than 50 years after it had been largely eradicated from the country. The pest is actually the larvae of the New World screwworm fly. It eats live flesh and fluids rather than dead material, as the larvae of most fly species do.

Here is what to know about the parasite, the threat it poses to pets and how to protect them:

Screwworm fly larvae can infest any mammal
The fly's migration north from Panama starting in 2024, and through Mexico in 2025, has agriculture officials warning that it poses a threat to the $113 billion U.S. cattle industry, but the larvae can hatch and breed in any mammal, including wildlife, dogs, cats and occasionally humans.

The problem develops when a female fly lays its eggs in open wounds and mucus. After the eggs hatch, the larvae feed for about a week before maturing, dropping to the ground and continuing to develop into an adult fly.

The American Veterinary Medical Association says newborn animals and animals with open wounds or who have undergone surgery or other medical procedures recently are especially vulnerable. Even a tick bite can host an infestation, Aaron Grady, executive director of the Houston Humane Society shelter, said during a webinar on the screwworm.

Screwworm fly The goal is to stop these flies from successfully breeding.Photo by U.S. Department of Agriculture

Infestation signs include restlessness and bad smell
Animal health experts say pet owners in areas where the screwworm is present — southern and southwestern Texas and southeastern New Mexico so far — should watch their animals closely and examine them for wounds, cuts and bites regularly.

Pet owners should look for any maggots or movement in a wound. Other signs include a foul smell and restlessness or anxiety in an animal, or an animal “hyper-fixating on looking or chewing in a certain area of the body," said Melissa Stansell, a veterinarian at the shelter Austin Pets Alive!

Any one of those is reason enough to go to a veterinarian. The affected animal is likely in a great deal of pain, and that can cause death from shock. The larvae also can cause death if they move into vital organs or by causing infections that turn deadly.

Flea, tick medications can stop an infestation
Humane society officials and veterinarians said shelters across Texas are trying to prevent infestations in animals by giving them prescription flea and tick medications. They recommend that pet owners do the same.

“It will kill the larvae as they ingest the blood and tissue,” Stansell said. “The chemical compositions of those products are what kill the actual larval stages of these flies.”

Veterinarians also can treat infestations and animals can recover if pet owners contact them quickly. Stansell said the treatment could include antibiotics.

“It is only fatal if left untreated,” she said.

An effort to eradicate the fly again is underway
The New World screwworm fly is a tropical species and decades ago would disappear each year when colder weather arrived with the fall or winter.

But state and U.S. Department of Agriculture officials aren't waiting for the weather to turn. They've returned to an eradication method that worked decades ago, breeding sterile male flies and releasing them into the wild. The female New World screwworm fly mates once in her monthslong life, and if her partner is sterile, her eggs won't hatch — causing the population in an area to drop and then disappear.

For years, the only factory breeding sterile flies in the Western Hemisphere was in Panama, but the USDA invested $21 million to convert a site in southern Mexico from breeding fruit flies to recently start breeding screwworm flies. The agency also plans to spend $750 million on a new fly factory in Texas, set to open next year.

screwworm fly pets