Long-awaited documentary on KLOL closer to completion with release of trailer

Jim Pruett, left, and Mark Stevens of KLOL, July 1986. Jim Pruett, left, and Mark Stevens of KLOL, July 1986. Photo: Craig Hartley, Houston Post Photo: Craig Hartley, Houston Post Image 1 of / 26 Caption Close Long-awaited documentary on KLOL closer to completion with release of trailer 1 / 26 Back to Gallery

Longtime readers of blogger and Houston media insider Mike McGuff know that he's been working on a documentary that tells the story of rock station KLOL.

On Tuesday, McGuff unveiled the first trailer on the long-awaited documentary, 15 years to the day since KLOL switched formats and became Mega 101.

According the documentary's Indiegogo page, the film "follows the station’s rise -- taking in good times of the 1970s, 80s, 90s and 2000s to its demise, examining the outside forces that ultimately pushed it off the air." Familiar names like Grego, Dayna Steele, Outlaw Dave, Lanny Griffith, Colonel St. James and the late Jim Pruett are just some of the KLOL insiders featured.

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At the same time, it's more than a tale about an FM station in Houston.

"While the documentary is on the surface about KLOL, it also mirrors the story of Houston," McGuff said in an email to Chron.com. "For example, when Houston's population boomed in the early 1980s, KLOL had to adjust its sound for all the new listeners and shed its one-time 'Radio Montrose' moniker.

"I want to tell the behind-the-scenes stories people might not know like the epic battle with 97 Rock. And by talking to the people who worked there and other radio experts, I think we have the answer as to why the station just suddenly went off the air 15 years ago today."

So what was the appeal of KLOL?

"KLOL was ... a station that pushed the boundaries on every level," McGuff said. "Many would argue that to its listeners, KLOL was the internet in the pre-digital era. The on air staff like Stevens and Pruett were masters of comedy, knew how to tackle the taboo subjects of the time while the DJs gave us the soundtrack of our youth. And just as it walked the line, KLOL was also was very involved in the helping the community, which Houston clearly has not forgotten all these years later."

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McGuff, who has been working on the documentary on and off since 2010, says it is pretty much finished as far as editing is concerned, but funds are still needed to complete some final touches regarding the audio and paying off production costs.

He is aiming for a 2020 release, 50 years after KLOL first went on the air and took over the 101.1 spot from KTRH-FM.

J.R. Gonzales, a third-generation Houstonian, covers local history with an eye toward the people and events that have mostly been forgotten to time. Follow him through Bayou City History on Facebook and Twitter. He can be reached at 713-362-6163 or john.gonzales@chron.com.