STEPHEN RABOW & THE HOUSE PARTY

Stephen Rabow's Biography

Stephen Rabow was always "different." As a teenager he began collecting a very large and diverse record collection - you were just as likely to find compositions for glass harmonica or Chinese opera or Mexican rock bands from the 60s as you would contemporary folk, jazz and pop recordings.

He began his radio career on KAOS at the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington where, in addition to his premed studies, Rabow immersed himself in searching out independent recordings, unusual imports and "music from the heart, not exclusively for the corporate pocketbook." After graduation (he was speaker of the class) Rabow moved to Seattle accepting a full-time evening job at a major hospital (he was in charge of evening admissions) while simultaneously taking a part-time position at KZAM, helping their FM and AM stations to expand their record collection and playlist with additional independent record labels and import vinyl.

When KZAM-AM switched to "The Rock of the 80's" Rabow launched his weekly Monday night "Music For Moderns" show. In order to initially get on the air he had to go out and find his own sponsors. However, it became immediately apparent that Rabow's approach to radio was something unique, soon the Saturday night "House Party" was added to the KZAM broadcast schedule.

Local radio had never heard anything like it before and Rabow was named one of "The Most Influential People in Seattle" by the Seattle Times. Ironically, the extraordinary amount of publicity may have helped contribute to the elimination of "The Rock of the 80s" format on KZAM-AM. The small AM station (difficult to pick up in many parts of Seattle) was only supposed to add a rating point or two in order to boost the numbers for advertisers. Sharing the same call letters, it became more and more difficult for the FM sales force to convince potential sponsors that their FM format had nothing to do with the "wild" AM side which - naturally due to its unique and colorful nature - was generating so much press attention.

After KZAM, Rabow became National Program Director at YESCO/Forground Music, the company which eventually brought the Muzak company to Seattle. While Rabow can't be held directly responsible for the Muzak take-over, he was responsible for helping bring in some of the personnel who would lay the foundation for such a move to become possible. It was also at YESCO that Rabow helped Bruce Pavitt secure employment - a regular job meant there would be funding for Pavitt's Sub Pop record label.

During this time, Rabow did a Sunday night stint on Seattle's non-commercial free-form KRAB-FM and also helped raise funds for the non-profit station, sponsoring occasional concerts. (Rabow's "Gary Wilson Concert" is somewhat legendary.)

Within an hour of Rabow's hearing a rumor that KYYX was "going new wave" Stephen showed up at the station and literally showered Programming Consultant Rick Carroll (from KROQ in Los Angeles) with 10,000 names, addresses and phone numbers. Pages and pages of petitions to "Save The Rock of the 80s" which had been collected at various record stores and concerts after the demise of KZAM-AM flew into the air above Rick Carroll's head.

It worked.

Rabow was hired (without even an air-check) to revive his weekly "House Party." A few months later radio legend Pat O'Day, owner of KYYX, persuaded Rabow to work at the station in a full-time capacity as editor of "The Wave" magazine and as a daily air-personality. His first full-time job as a "daily radio personality" became "Stephen Rabow's Hours of Adventure, Romance, Danger and Lust".

For awhile it was a lot of fun. Rabow's "House Party" became #1 in the ratings teens through adults for his time period.

But radio is radio.

KYYX was sold, the new owners changed formats and all of the "Rock of the 80s" DJs were terminated live on-the-air at the end of Rabow's final "KYYX House Party."

Rabow returned briefly to KRAB-FM before he became the first DJ hired to create a new Seattle station, KHIT-FM, where both his weekly "House Party" and daily "Adventure, Romance, Danger & Lust" shows thrived. KHIT was not an exclusive "new wave" station, it mixed up current hits, oldies, R&B and some "wave". But Rabow's "House Party" continued the tradition of introducing new music from England and independent recordings from around America. Plus plenty of local artists. His programs consistently achieved the stations' highest ratings. But that wasn't enough to prevent KHIT from being sold and - oh, what a surprise - the new owners had other plans for the station.

Rabow, now convinced that working in radio is likened to "being a hobo waiting for a train," retired from Seattle's commercial airwaves.

SARASOTA GUIDEBOOK

With hopes that he could be a mentor to younger kids, he spent a short time at KNHC-FM, Seattle's high school station. It was when he took a week off to vacation in Florida when he decided to set his sights towards having different adventures, beyond Seattle radio, in faraway lands. In this country at least, Florida is about as far away from the Northwest as you can get.

Since leaving Seattle Stephen Rabow has won Emmy and Iris awards for his on-camera talent and Addy Awards for his creative work. In 1991 he and his soon to be wife, Kimberly launched their own publishing company (Primitive Press) without any financial backing - "just out of the ether." Now the Rabows produce a monthly city magazine and annual exploring guides to the Sarasota, Florida area where they reside with their two young children, a dog named "Spot" and a 6000+ record collection which they still enjoy daily.

Stephen notes that he has never been happier. Although he used to have more hair, he says.

STEPHEN RABOW & WIFE KIMBERLY ON MT. RAINIER 7/03

If Stephen Rabow left a "legacy" it was one of openness and compassion for the efforts of Northwest musicians. His was the first commercial radio program to aggressively promote local bands on Seattle's airwaves since the pioneering days of Pat O'Day in the early 60s. Notably, "Stephen Rabow's Local Tape Extravaganza" - an annual non-stop marathon of local cassette tapes produced by listeners, unheard of on commercial radio anywhere (some of these shows went on for more than nine hours non-stop) - is still fondly remembered.

There were many other positive facets of the "Rabow radio experience" which touched listeners and future famous band members alike, including his weekly visits to area schools (Stephen would visit classes and talk about "The History of Rock and Roll from Beethoven to The Sex Pistols"); his wild KCPQ/Seattle International Film Festival television spots (Rabow shrunk himself down to the same size as Barbie and they "hung out" by her pink pool while he told Barbie not to worry about subtitles in foreign films because she could read "16 Magazine" and foreign films really weren't that much different); his fake on-air commercials ("Driving Tips for Stupid People brought to you by the Stupid Jean Company where you can buy jeans in individual styles yet remain looking like everyone else around you"); his "Christmas Beach Party" (Rabow volunteered to work Christmas night at whatever radio station he was at, playing hours of Beach Boys and California surfing music, this went on for nine years in a row)...for example.

Yet, in a nut-shell (as opposed to nut-case) it all came down to one thing: Stephen Rabow did his best to make radio fun to listen to.

The House Party

"Stephen Rabow's House Party" began on his birthday - a Saturday night in August, 1980. It evolved from "Music For Moderns", a specialty program launched on KZAM, comprised of imports, independent labels and local music. While "Music For Moderns" took a more academic approach (a weekly survey of the new and unusual), "House Party" was designed to rock.

This was before oldies stations became vogue, in fact there were no oldies stations at the time, so Rabow would mix up Little Richard and Flying Lizards, the Sex Pistols and Elvis Presley, the Barracudas and The Beach Boys - and plenty of local tapes. It was unlike anything anywhere else (with the exception of KROQ in Los Angeles.

Pullman House Party Sock Hop

Two or three weeks after "House Party" was launched Rabow received a call from the Seattle Times. "What are you DOING there? Everyone is talking about your show!" Not only did they do a major story on him, but he was named "One of the Most Influential People in Seattle" - the only person from radio, television or print media on the list. THAT was even weirder.

All the new wave noise turned out to be too much for the KZAM folks who promptly killed the station. Luckily, we were allowed to have a "last day on the air" - Rabow was allowed to have the very last show that night and, following "Radio Radio" by Elvis Costello, thanks to the proper sound effects, "blew up" the station.

Stephen Rabow 1982

On to KYYX, where the Sunday night "House Party" aired first on the automated KYYX. The studio had only one turntable. For the first couple of months Rabow did the "House Party" on reel-to-reel tape with one turntable.

The "House Party" became #1 in the ratings teens through adults on Sunday nights. The at KYYX "House Party" was pretty much an FM extension of what Rabow did originally on KZAM - local tapes, imports, blocks of mixing new music with old. But reached a much larger audience, from Oregon to British Columbia.

But then Pat O'Day sold the station and the new owners immediately killed the "Rock of the 80s". The Rock of the 80s format once again ended with a "House Party" swan song, with many of the KYYX DJs in attendance. The last song played, as on KZAM, was Elvis Costello's - "Radio Radio" - before KYYX "blew up."