“It has been four years now that KKBT a.k.a. 92.3 FM The Beat has blessed their listening audience each weekday morning with uninhibited laughter aroused by their morning wake-up show. John London and his morning House Party, consisting of sports reporter Dennis Cruise, traffic jam reporter Shirley Strawberry, and air personalities Ben Kelly and P-Funk, have formulated a successful morning radio show overflowing with comedy and entertainment designed to get their early morning listeners to their destinations with carefree and stress relieved attitudes.
“”Don’t get me wrong, there was a lot of trial and error when we were trying to put the House Party together,”” said Dennis Cruise. “”It was not the same House Party as it is now. We were at the bottom rung and close to losing our jobs at one point.”” Luckily the show did well, preventing Dennis from going back to wroking as a truck driver in San Francisco picking up roadkill.
“”I’m serious,”” Dennis said with a grin, “”I would pick dead animals up from off the street and from behind the back of McDonald’s restaurants. Soap and lipstick would then be made out of them.””
Prior to coming to the Beat, John London, Shirley Strawberry, and Ben Kelley had all worked for various radio stations. P-Funk worked in the promotions department for a record company.
John London and the House Party are number two in popularity second to Spanish station KLVE, among listeners who are 12 or older, and second to the Baka Boyz on Power 106 among teens. Appearances by the raspy-voiced, risque “”Cigar Man,”” oscene phone calls made by P-Junk and callers voicing their Pet Peeves give the House Party a flavor of its own.
The House Party’s competition is slim, with Howard Stern accompanying them at a distance.
“We bag on Howard Stern so much because he is our only competition,” says John London. “To bag on Rick Dees would be overkill.” (Dees’ show on KIIS is ranked number 9 among listeners 12 and older.)
The “House Party” which aims itself towards the urban community, attempts to attract a broad spectrum of individuals. You might need an open and mature state of mind as you listen to some of the show’s more explicit material.
“There is an element out there that absolutely hates us,” said John London. “They listen to our show to try and catch us,” added Dennis Cruz.
The anti-House Party element considers the show along with the radio station to be hazardous to the urban community regardless of its slogans, “no color lines” and “peace on the streets.” Some Los Angeles journalists and politicians have denounced the House Party as being ignorant and a source which is tearing down the black community. These critics fail to recognize or praise the House Party or the Beat for its positive contributions to the community, such as donating all of the proceeds from their annual Summer Jam concert to local charities and taking on the role of Santa Claus each year to help less fortunate families during the holiday season.
“I don’t feel any obligation to be a role model on the radio,” said John London. “We like to think that we are positive but that’s not our role. If we are doing our job and people are listening and getting something out of it then that’s positive. If we’re negative and we are bad for the community then our ratings would fall and people won’t listen. If you try to be positive then that’s phony. If your job is to go on the air and try to be a positive role model then that’s not real.”
Surprisingly enough, members of the House Party happily announced that they receive an average of only one or two complaints a week.
“When we receive complaints they’re usually legitimate ones,” said John. “The main complaint comes from people who like our bit but feel that it is too harsh on their children who are in the car. We then had to make a decision as to whether we wanted to tone down our show to make it tolerable for the entire family and we don’t. This is what we do. It’s an adult show for adults. This is what makes the station successful.”
“Now, there are certain boundaries that we won’t cross. Say for instance someone dies in our community. We won’t sit on the air the next day and joke about it. Our jokes are satirical and we poke fun at everybody. That’s part of having no color lines. Our crew contains two Caucasians, two African Americans, and one Latino. To enjoy us, you must be confident and secure with yourself.”
The House Party crew credits their success to their location. With Los Angeles being one big melting pot of diversity, the residents here are receptive to their candid humor.
Does the House Party plan to go national like their rival, Howard Stern? No, even though they are successful, and probably would be in any city (besides Salt Lake). No books, no movies, no national audience. That’s okay because I’m sure Los Angeles would want to keep them all to themselves anyway.”
