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The T. Michael Jordan Collection

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T. Michael Jordan at 16, before he became a famous DJ.
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T. Michael Jordan, 1977, after becoming a famous DJ.
Dick Biondi & T. Michael, 2008
Dick Biondi & T. Michael, 2008
T.
T. Michael Jordan, 2015

[Bio by Uncle Ricky with T. Michael Jordan]

T. Michael Jordan, (Tom Nefeldt) was born and grew up in Chicago, but it was so long ago that no one remembers the year, only that it was the 4th of June. His first radio job was in 1963, at KBRR in Leadville, Colorado, where he lasted only a couple of weeks. Determined to continue in his chosen profession, he returned to Illinois and WTAY in Robinson. In 1965, he took the evening shift at KLWW in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, then KYSN in Colorado Springs.

"T" always liked the sun, so in 1966, he was off to Genie Radio, WGNE in Panama City, Florida, and when the PD and GM moved to Tucson, Arizon, he followed them to 50KW KFIF before his first trip to California, and the legendary KMEN in San Bernardino, circa 1968. In 1971 he re-located to KIRL in surburban St. Louis, Missouri, where he stayed for nearly a year.

The Twin Cities came calling, and despite the coooler temperatures, he moved to Minneapolis and KDWB in the early '70's. Somehow, he found his way to KROY/Sacramento, California. He worked with Johnny Hyde at KROY and KCRA in the Capital City. Then, down the valley to KAFY/Bakersfield as Program Director, back across the country to WLOF in Orlando, Florida, and back to California and KLIV/San Jose where he first worked with programmer Rick Carroll. He followed Rick back to Sacramento and KNDE, and finally, in the mid-70's, he made the big move to KKDJ(FM) in Los Angeles.

Picture of T. Michael Jordan with Baby Leopard
Picture of T. Michael Jordan with Baby Leopard

Though KKDJ had the #1 cume, Tom was ready for a change and decided to open a pet shop in Los Angeles. He had always loved animals (cats are his favorites) but he learned quickly that wasn't enough to guarantee success in the pet shop business. His shop went bankrupt and he went back to radio at KEZY in Anaheim, California, until he was asked to return to Sacramento and KROY in November, 1978. It was there he met Uncle Ricky, who eventually asked him to host mornings on KROI(FM). He held that position until 1980, when he was offered the position of Production Manager. At that point, Tom decided he should return home to Chicago. He did work a few months at WYEN(FM) in Chicago, but what followed was a second successful and remarkable 30 year career that had nothing to do with radio!

Tom became interested in using a home computer to track the Stock Market. He taught himself computer programming and his software earned him royalties. His "in the field" training and support work caught the attention of Tandy Corporation in Fort Worth Texas. He was asked to join Tandy to manage training and support for their rapidly growing personal computer business. In 1985, a family connection resulted in a offer to move back to Los Angeles and manage computer operations for The Writer's Guild of America, which he did for ten years. He worked for the L.A. County Bar Association for five years, the California Department of Justice for six months, and returned to Illinois in 2001 to wrap up his amazing second career at Architex, a major supplier of contract textiles.

"T" retired in 2015 and says he still listens to music radio. He might work in radio again, but would not want to play oldies. He says the songs are all burnt out.

The Repository thanks T. Michael Jordan for sharing!

[Descriptions by T. Michael Jordan and Uncle Ricky]

G2/5.0 compatible TOP STREAM 44 Kbps (10 Khz)
T. Michael Jordan, WGNE Panama City Florida,
February 3, 1966
(24:46)


Play Scoped This Exhibit 'SCOPED (08:54)

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'SCOPED

. . . It's Genie! . . .

WGNE/Panama City, Florida, was a hot daytimer on 1480 Khz with tons of PAMS jingles, lots of REVERB, and T. Michael Jordan in afternoon drive. He spliced together a number of jingles, and these "Frankenstein" versions are featured here.

T. Michael wrote that this is where he experienced his first hurricane. The studios were two blocks from the beach, so he told all the teens getting out of school that the surf was great. Hundreds of surfers showed up. The Florida Highway Patrol showed up at the station, with instructions to tell the kids on the beach to go home because it was going to get very dangerous.

The PD and GM moved to Tucson, and he followed them to KFIF.

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G2/5.0 compatible TOP STREAM 44 Kbps (10 Khz)
T. Michael Jordan, KFIF, Tucson Arizona, 1966 (21:46)

Play Scoped This Exhibit 'SCOPED (06:36)

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. . . On a million dollar weekend, every other record's a hit from yesterday . . .

This partially restored exhibit is a composite of two different airchecks from April 16, 1966 and July 15, 1966. KFIF was a 50,000 watt AM daytime-only station licensed to Tucson, Arizona.

Picture of Boss Jock T.M. Jordan handing over a 1966 Mustang to winner Richard BakerKFIF Boss Jock T.M. Jordan hands over a 1966 Mustang to winner Richard Baker

T. Michael wrote:

"The owner (John B. Walton, from Odessa TX) used to listen to us on a special phone setup... he came from an oil made millionaire family, and loved it when I dedicated "Sloop John B" to him. Anyway, we wanted badly to be fulltime (this being prior to multiple ownership in one market), and worked out a deal with the FCC. His idea was to donate the 1550 freq to the University of Arizona, and then purchase a fulltimer at 570 (KTAN). The FCC said "YES", and the University had a real radio station for students and we had a fulltimer. That just killed everything else in the market. We became KIKX. I was offered the PD'ship, but also had an offer from K/MEN, and I so badly wanted to work in SoCal, so I turned it down and went to K/MEN. I loved (and still do) Tucson."

Portions restored, the fidelity is uneven, but this is a rare piece of Arizona radio.

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G2/5.0 compatible TOP STREAM 64 Kbps STEREO (10 Khz)
T. Michael Jordan, KKDJ Los Angeles, September 10, 1974 (01:02:59)
Play Scoped This Exhibit 'SCOPED (13:04)

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. . . not only is it a great light show, they burn holes through the ceiling . . .

T. Michael Jordan is featured on his overnight show, in stereo, from KKDJ.

Print Ad: The Number one FM audience has just been possessed by KKDJ. The devil you say.KKDJ beat KHJ in Cume about the time The Exorcist was released

The KKDJ Music Makes News feature is coupled with Lew Irwin and Earth News. The topic is the fictional "towering bronze colossus" Doc Savage.

An interesting playlist, not too far off center, with a couple of unexpected LP tracks. David Bowie's Diamond Dogs is the hot LP of the day.

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G2/5.0 compatible TOP STREAM 44 Kbps (10 Khz)
T. Michael Jordan, KEZY Anaheim July 1978 (28:27)

Play Scoped This Exhibit 'SCOPED (05:18)

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. . . If I got any closer to you, I would be behind you . . .

T. Michael Jordan at KEZY Anaheim, 1976T. Michael Jordan at KEZY, 1976

T. Michael Jordan holds forth at your hometown radio station from Anaheim, California — home of Disneyland — and it's a hot Graduation night in July, 1978.

This edited, partially-restored exhibit was created from a tightly-scoped "skimmer" aircheck, so anything that happened when the microphone was off is not included. We are told there was a jingle, used out of stop sets. Otherwise, it's a typically tight Brother T., with top 40 hits and classics picked for Southern Caliornia high school graduates.


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More to Come from The T. Michael Jordan Collection!
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