People - Page 92 of 93 - Colorado Radio Archive

Kevin Hayes

Kevin Hayes is a Southern Colorado radio personality on the revived KDZA classic-hits service. If you tune in to KDZA on the drive home from work in Pueblo or Colorado Springs, that’s Kevin.

Coming to KDZA

KDZA’s profile of Kevin says his voice has been heard on the air across the nation, and that he now brings the best music to finish your day on KDZA.

Where is he now?

As of October 2026, KDZA’s schedule lists Kevin on weekday afternoons from 3 to 7 p.m. and Saturday mornings from 9 a.m. to noon.

Sources

September 25, 2026

Coba Hoban is a Colorado Springs radio personality who has been on a lot of Springs dials. If you’ve listened to mornings or middays in the Pikes Peak region over the past twenty years, you’ve likely heard her.

Springs stations

Coba’s Southern Colorado work has included KCCY, KVUU, KRXP, KATC and KKMG. In August 2006 she and Darren McKee were the co-hosts of KVUU’s morning show as Craig Coffey got ready to leave. By 2011 the Colorado Broadcasters Association’s radio awards listed “Mornings with Steve and Coba” for KRXP, and trade coverage later documented her work at KKMG and KATC.

Where is she now?

In November 2024 Coba joined KDZA‘s 9 a.m. to noon weekday lineup as the station introduced its classic-hits format in Colorado Springs. As of October 2026, KDZA’s official schedule still lists her in that slot, with a show focused on local happenings in the Pikes Peak region.

Sources

September 25, 2026

Michael Galer

Michael M. Galer owned KDZA in the second half of the 1970s and helped launch its FM sister station. If you grew up on Pueblo radio in the late 70s, you were listening to a station he bought from a very different line of work.

A Boston business writer buys KDZA

Trade reports described Michael as a Boston-area business writer, realtor and documentary-film producer when he bought KDZA and its FM construction permit from Roger Brandt in 1975 for $410,000.

Launching KZLO

Under his ownership, the 100.7 FM facility signed on as KZLO in 1976. Directories of the time list KDZA and KZLO together, with Michael as general manager. He later looked at more FM ownership opportunities.

Tony Spicola

Vintage KDZA says that during a period of rapid growth Michael sought an investment partner, and KDZA sales manager Tony Spicola became a minority owner. Vintage KDZA lists Michael as owner from 1975 to 1979 and Spicola from 1979 to 1985, and its Spicola page says Spicola purchased the station from Michael in 1979 (an opening section there gives 1980). Vintage KDZA also reports that Michael died in 2018.

Sources

September 25, 2026

Roger Brandt

Roger P. Brandt owned and operated KDZA during one of the most important stretches in the station’s history. If you grew up on Pueblo rock and roll in the late 1960s and early ’70s, the station you loved had him in its corner.

Owning KDZA

In the mid-1960s, Roger and Diana Brandt bought KDZA. When the music drew criticism, Roger stood by the rock format and the young people on the air. According to Vintage KDZA, he also deepened the station’s ties to the community, built up its newsroom, and ran regular editorial-comment segments that gave the station more credibility.

Beyond the station, he held many civic leadership roles in Pueblo, and in 1970-71 he was president of the Colorado Association of Broadcasters. He sold KDZA, along with its FM construction permit, to Michael Galer in 1975.

Where he came from

Roger’s radio start came at age 14 at WCEN in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, his father’s station. He hosted an evening rock-and-roll show there and later worked in programming. In 1963 he graduated from Michigan State University.

Sources

September 25, 2026

Dee Crouch

Dee B. Crouch is the man behind KDZA in Pueblo. If your family tuned to 1230 AM in the 1950s or the “Rock of Pueblo” in the ’60s, it traces back to him.

Starting KDZA

A group that Dee headed set up Pueblo Radio Company, and KDZA went on the air under it on December 29, 1947. Listings in the mid-century Broadcasting Yearbook show him in many roles: president, general manager, chief engineer, commercial manager, and executive for programming and promotion.

Pueblo gets television

Pueblo’s first TV station was also Dee’s doing. Regular programming on KDZA-TV began in March 1953. The station went dark in April 1954, with a damaged relay tower and the expense of running without a network connection both playing a part, and its authorization was deleted later on.

The rock and roll turn

In 1964, KDZA famously switched to rock and roll, a change that happened because disc jockey Steve Scott persuaded Dee to go for a new format. According to Vintage KDZA history, he owned the station from 1947 through 1966, a span that includes the start of the “Rock of Pueblo” era.

In a 1992 Pueblo Chieftain family notice, Dee and his wife Edith are listed as KDZA’s first owners, with homes in Rye, Colorado, and San Diego. A death-index entry for Dee B. Crouch of San Diego shows October 12, 1995, at age 89.

Sources

September 25, 2026

Cliff Hendrix

Cliff Hendrix was one of Pueblo radio’s best-known mid-century broadcasters and a longtime KCSJ personality and manager. If your family tuned in KCSJ in 1950s or 1960s Pueblo, his was a name you knew.

Moving up at KCSJ

The 1955 Broadcasting Yearbook listed Cliff as KCSJ’s program and farm director. By 1957 he was radio director, and by 1966 he had become general manager. Trade advertising still identified him as KCSJ manager later in the 1960s.

Colorado Hayride

Cliff was also a visible local entertainer. He served as master of ceremonies for the Colorado Hayride, the live country-music program featuring Buddy Johnson and the Colorado Rangers, and he appeared with Johnson at community events and on KCSJ television.

Sources

Broadcasting Yearbook, 1955
Broadcasting Yearbook, 1957
Broadcasting Yearbook, 1966
Buddy Johnson family archive: Colorado Hayride, Barn Dance & Western Star Theatre
Buddy Johnson family archive: 1940s–1960s radio photographs and recollections
Broadcasting magazine, 1966 issues and classified pages (print)

September 25, 2026

Buddy Johnson

William “Buddy” Johnson was a Pueblo radio and TV entertainer, Western-music host and bandleader. If your family tuned in to Western music in Pueblo in the late ’40s and ’50s, you probably knew Buddy and his Colorado Rangers.

On the Pueblo airwaves

Buddy began his Pueblo radio work in the late 1940s at KGHF and KDZA, then joined KCSJ. His family’s archive documents his daily Western-music program, evening broadcasts with the Colorado Rangers and the live audiences who sent in requests.

Television and the band

Buddy also worked on KCSJ television, including the Pueblo Barn Dance, the children’s Adventurer’s Club and Western music shows. His programs brought regional music into homes and studio audiences, while the Colorado Rangers played dances and community events.

Remembered

Buddy died in Pueblo on December 5, 1986, at age 67.

Sources

September 25, 2026

Nick Donovan

Nick Donovan is a Pueblo guy who’s been waking up Southern Colorado for years. If you’ve started your day with KDZA, or hunted for the Jingle Bell Rock prize at Christmas, you know his voice.

Pueblo mornings and programming

Nick became a familiar Pueblo morning personality over many years and also worked as a program director in the market. A 1996 industry guide lists him in a Pueblo programming role, and later directory records show him as program director of KDZA-FM/Jet 107.9 under Clear Channel ownership.

The Mountain, then back to KDZA

He later hosted mornings on KPHT/95.5 The Mountain. After leaving iHeartMedia in 2023, Nick became a key on-air voice of the revived KDZA 1230/101.9, hosting Mornings with Nick.

Jingle Bell Rock

Nick is also closely tied to Pueblo’s long-running Jingle Bell Rock scavenger hunt. Local coverage says he became the voice of the promotion in the 1980s and helped keep the tradition going for a new generation.

Sources

September 25, 2026

Richard Randall

Richard Randall is a Colorado Springs talk-radio host whose career has taken him from TV reporting to radio news to long-form local talk. If you want to know what’s happening in Colorado Springs and Southern Colorado, odds are you’ve tuned in to his morning show.

The road to KVOR

Richard started his broadcasting career in Illinois, where he also worked as a trial lawyer. After moving to Colorado Springs he was a reporter at KKTV, then moved into radio news and talk at KVOR.

The Richard Randall Show

On AM 740 KVOR, Richard built a weekday local-issues program focused on Colorado Springs and Southern Colorado. He’s also hosted community forums and special events for the station, including its “Newsapalooza” gatherings in 2009 and 2010.

Where is he now?

As of October 2026, Richard is still part of KVOR’s local weekday lineup, on the air from 8 to 10 a.m. Missed it live? The Richard Randall Show is also an on-demand podcast on iHeart, digging into Colorado politics, election officials and ballot measures.

Sources

September 25, 2026

Jim Arthur

Jim Arthur is a longtime Colorado Springs news and sports broadcaster whose career has been tied closely to KVOR. If you start your Springs morning with the news on KVOR, or catch Air Force games on the radio, you know his voice.

Path to KVOR

Jim is a Colorado native who worked in Trinidad and Canon City before joining KVOR in 1989 as a sports reporter. He became lead anchor of Colorado Springs Morning News in 1995 and has been a central local voice on the station for decades. KVOR’s station information also lists him as news director.

Air Force sports

Jim has called Air Force basketball since 1996 and football since 2002, and has won multiple Colorado Broadcasters Association awards for sportscasting.

Sources

September 25, 2026

Archives: People

Coming to KDZA

Where is he now?

Sources

Springs stations

Where is she now?

Sources

A Boston business writer buys KDZA

Launching KZLO

Tony Spicola

Sources

Owning KDZA

Where he came from

Sources

Starting KDZA

Pueblo gets television

The rock and roll turn

Sources

Moving up at KCSJ

Colorado Hayride

Sources

On the Pueblo airwaves

Television and the band

Remembered

Sources

Pueblo mornings and programming

The Mountain, then back to KDZA

Jingle Bell Rock

Sources

The road to KVOR

The Richard Randall Show

Where is he now?

Sources

Path to KVOR

Air Force sports

Sources