Heartfelt Music Program

Heartfelt Music

was heard every Saturday morning from 8 'til 10 AM on KPFK, FM 90.7, Los Angeles with
your hosts John and Deanne Davis.

[logo]

Show call-in number: (818) 985-5830

You can write John and Deanne at:
John & Deanne Davis
P.O. Box 128
Sierra Madre, CA 91025-0128
(626) 355-4890 FAX
E-Mail: JohnJDavis@adelphia.net
DeanneCDavis@adelphia.net

The theme song? It's "It's A Beautiful Life", sung by Maura O'Connell on Jerry Douglas' album "Slide Rule" (Sugar Hill Records, No. SR-CD-3797).

HISTORY OF THE JOHN DAVIS PROGRAM

I have been doing the program on Saturday mornings on KPFK since 1971 and before that on a station known at the time as KCBH (now KYSR, "Star 98"). I started working part-time at KCBH while I was an electrical engineering student at USC. After graduation I continued to work part-time at KCBH as their chief engineer while working full-time in the aerospace industry. The radio program started by accident when the regular disc-jockey failed to show up one Saturday morning. There was an emergency program on tape that I was supposed to play if the DJ was late. After playing the same "emergency program" several times, I got tired of doing that and decided to play something else until the DJ arrived. This was when not many people were listening to FM radio so the station owner didn't care too much about such spontaneity as long as the station was on the air! That sort of thing would be impossible today. I chose music that was in the station library which I liked but no one else was playing. It was folk music and the audience liked the music so the Saturday morning program was born. It started around 1958, the exact date is unknown, and continued for twelve+ years. In 1970, KCBH was sold and the format changed so no more Saturday morning folk music program.

A year later the program was back on the air on KPFK where it has been ever since. The program has always been on Saturday morning, even though it has been moved around a few times on the Saturday morning schedule. This show was called a folk music program for many years but I got tired of that terminology since it really didn't fit what we did. The change to Heartfelt Music came after a conversation I had with singer-songwriter Rosalie Sorrels, where she described her work as "heartfelt music." Heartfelt Music better describes the music currently being played on the program.

The show is basically about the music I like, music that you don't hear on commercial radio. I think of the show as if a bunch of close friends were getting together to listen to some great music. The show is also about our family; which is probably pretty much like your family and we just share together each week common things that families go through but we do it on the radio. I also have the privilege of having some of the most wonderful listeners in the world. Most of our close friends have come from the show.

--John Davis

Return to Heartfelt Music Home Page