KBZT is a commercial modern rock music radio station in San Diego, California, broadcasting on 94.9 FM.

History[link]

During the 1970s and '80s, KBZT was known as "KBest95" but in the 1980s morphed from oldies into soft rock, before being sold to Sandusky Radio and becoming "Y95" in 1987. At about the time, the station launched the local careers of morning show hosts Jeff Elliot and Jerry St. James (Jeff and Jer). In the early 1990s, Jeff and Jer moved to rival B100, and 94.9 changed its name to "Mix94.9" adding more gold based music, before reverting back to KBest95. Also in the early '90s, the call letters and "KBest" logo moved to Palm Springs, where it was briefly the number one station in that market. The call letters and logo reverted to San Diego after the Palm Springs station changed format to Spanish. During that period Sandusky sold the station to Anaheim Broadcasting, which in turn sold 94.9 to Jefferson-Pilot, making KBest95 a sister station to country-formatted KSON-FM 97.3. In 2001, after struggling with oldies, the station switched to an "All '80s" format, just a day before rival Mix95.7 dropped Hot AC and adopted the same format. However, this format would also be short lived, and in 2002, KBZT dropped the 80s hits for the Alternative Rock based format it has now as FM 94/9. In 2006, Lincoln Financial Media bought this station and all the others that were owned by J-P, including Smooth Jazz station, 98.1 KIFM and Country station, 97.3 KSON.^[1]

Music direction[link]

As of October 2007, FM 94/9 is one of at least 5 stations in the San Diego market that plays modern rock music. However, on its website, FM 94/9 purports to strive to be different from other radio stations by playing diverse music, broadcasting locally produced music and using real deejays. Shows on the station include:

• Big Sonic Chill - Sundays through Fridays 10pm-2am
• The Local 94/9 - Hosted by Tim Pyles - Sundays 8pm-10pm
• The Swami Soundsystem Saturdays 10pm-1am (The Swami is the alter-ego of John Reis, who is the guitarist of the band Sultans and formerly led Rocket From The Crypt and Drive Like Jehu, and owns Swami Records)
• Brunch With Bob and Friends - Hosted by Tommy Hough - Sundays 9am-12pm
• Brown Bag Blues - Hosted by Mike Hansen - Sundays 7am-9am

In April 2006, the Lincoln Financial Group completed a merger between themselves and the Jefferson-Pilot Corporation.^[2] The media assets of the new merged company (including several San Diego area radio stations) are now called Lincoln Financial Media.

During the October 2007 wildfires in the San Diego area, KBZT became the temporary home of local public radio station KPBS-FM (89.5) after power to the KPBS-FM/TV transmitter on Mount San Miguel was interrupted on the morning of October 23^[3]. Within three hours KBZT had agreed to air KPBS' wildfire coverage until a backup transmitter could be established from the station's studio tower on the San Diego State University campus, which occurred the next day^[4].

In January 2010, "The Mikey Show" formerly of San Diegos KIOZ finds a new radio home at KBZT.

References[link]

1. ^ "Lincoln Financial Media"[1], December 15th, 2009
2. ^ April 2006 news release of the completed merger between Lincoln Financial Group and Jefferson-Pilot Corporation]
3. ^ SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Features - KPBS-FM stays on air, with help
4. ^ KPBS > About Us > KPBS Pressroom

External links[link]

• FM 94/9
• FM 94/9 on Facebook
• FM 94/9 on Twitter
• Lincoln Financial Media
• FM 94.9 on www.last.fm
• Query the FCC's FM station database for KBZT
• Radio-Locator information on KBZT
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for KBZT

Coordinates: 32°50′17″N 117°15′00″W / 32.838°N 117.250°W / 32.838; -117.250

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2008)

The Walls are an Irish rock band. They were formed in 1998 by two ex-members of The Stunning.

Members[link]

• Steve Wall
• Joe Wall
• Carl Harms (Guitar/Keyboards) (left February 2004)
• Rory Doyle (Drums)
• Jon O'Connell (Bass) (joined February 2004)

Biography[link]

1998–2000[link]

Brothers Steve and Joe Wall (previously of The Stunning) returned to Ireland after a two-year failed label stint in London. Their Camden housemate Carl Harms joined the band on guitar and keyboard duties. Drummer Rory Doyle joined soon afterwards. They set up their own label, Earshot Records (later changing it to Dirtbird Records) and recorded and released a string of singles. A remix of one of the album tracks, "Bone Deep", clicked with radio and became a nationwide hit. Many of the songs have featured on a number of TV series and feature films such as Bachelors Walk, Dead Bodies, Goldfish Memory and On the Edge (starring Cillian Murphy).

2001–2004[link]

The Walls heard rumour of a second Slane Castle date for U2 (as the first concert had sold out in hours). They sent four copies of their album to the band. Bono loved it and offered The Walls a support slot. That day the band played to their biggest crowd to date – around 80,000 people. "To the Bright and Shining Sun" was their next single. That June they supported Red Hot Chili Peppers. They spent the next year gigging while building their own studio in Dublin.

In February 2004, original member Carl Harms decided to leave the band to make his own record. They recruited bassist Jon O’Connell, who had just 2 weeks to learn all the songs before a two week tour of the new EU accession states: Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. "To the Bright and Shining Sun" also featured on the EA Sports soundtrack for the UEFA Euro 2004 official licenced game.

2004 - 2006[link]

For the next album, the band went to Studio Black Box in France to record with producer and ex-The Frames guitarist David Odlum. Originally scheduled for a release date in September 2004, The Walls decided to hold their album until the new year. U2 were releasing How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb that autumn and according to Steve "we thought that it would be a fair and gentlemanly gesture to stand back and give them a fair crack of the whip, so to speak".^{[citation needed]}

In October 2004, they released a taster - "Drowning Pool" - a blistering, spleen-venting, blues explosion, 2min 52sec long. It took people by surprise and divided opinion - exactly what the band wanted. They supported Bob Dylan to a capacity crowd in Galway that summer and played a storming set that showed there were changes afoot in The Walls sound. They christened the album New Dawn Breaking after the final track on the record. It went straight into the Irish charts at No. 5 in its first week of release in June 2005 and has produced four hit singles: "To the Bright and Shining Sun", "Passing Through", "Drowning Pool" and "Black and Blue".

2007[link]

The band kicked off 2007 with a gig in Dubai and are presently negotiating gig offers in France, Italy, the Czech Republic and China. They also supported Crowded House on their Australian comeback tour before retreating into their studio to work on album number three.

2010 - 2012[link]

In 2010, the double A-side "Carrying The Fire"/"Phantom Power" was released. Following this, in March 2011, the "Bird In A Cage" EP was released, of which the title track was revealed to also be on the bands forthcoming album "Stop The Lights", which is to be released in 2012. Following this announcement, the band's new single "Stop The Lights" was released in January 2012. The band are currently using the innovative "Fund It" in order to finish their third album. The welcome newcomer Kevin Crowley from Newcastle West playing the spoons.

Discography[link]

	"To the Bright and Shining Sun" (2002) noicon From the 2005 album " New Dawn Breaking".
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Studio albums[link]

• Hi-Lo (released May 2000).
• New Dawn Breaking (released June 2005) (reached No. 5 in Irish charts)
• Stop The Lights (released 2012)

Singles and albums[link]

• "The Night I Called It A Day" (Single, released Feb 1999)
• "Broken Boy" (Single, released Sept 1999)
• "Something's Wrong" (Single, released Apr 2000)
• Hi-Lo (Album, released May 2000). A remix of one of the album tracks, Bone Deep, was popular in Ireland. Some songs featured on TV series and feature films: Bachelors Walk, Dead Bodies, Goldfish Memory and On the Edge (starring Cillian Murphy).

• "To the Bright and Shining Sun" (Single, released 2002) reached No. 11 in the Irish charts.
• "Drowning Pool" (single, released 2004)
• New Dawn Breaking (Album, released June 2005) reached No. 5 in Irish charts and has produced four hit singles: "To the Bright and Shining Sun", "Passing Through", "Drowning Pool" and "Black and Blue".

• "Carrying the Fire" / "Phantom Power" (double-A sided single, released Jun 2010)
• "Bird In A Cage EP" (4 Track EP, released Mar 2011)

Cover versions[link]

• Cover version of Chaka Khan's "Ain't Nobody" on Even Better than the Real Thing Vol. 1
• Cover version of Natasha Bedingfield's "These Words" on Even Better than the Real Thing Vol. 2
• Cover version of U2's "With or without you" on Even Better than the Real Thing Vol. 3

Career highlights[link]

• Supported U2 at Slane Castle, 2001
• Supported Red Hot Chili Peppers, 2002
• Supported Bob Dylan, Galway, 2005
• Supported Crowded House, Australia, 2007

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official band website, contains free MP3s; gig info, photos, Walls shop, press releases etc.
• The Walls at MySpace, contains some sample MP3s.