How SoCal’s “The Mighty 690” inspired a novel
Long before podcasting and FM radio, AM radio ruled. And in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the biggest dog on the porch was THE MIGHTY 690. The 50,000-watt station was heard throughout SoCal. And its top-40 format was popular with teenagers and young adults. The story of the station — and a real-life contest it ran in the summer of 1981 — has been fictionalized in a fun new novel, The Mighty 690 by Alexander Hamilton Cherin. In this episode of SoCal Voices, Cherin talks about the impact of the real Mighty 690 radio station on his youth, his multi-year journey writing the book including why he took a fictional rather than fact-based approach to this story, and offers some predictions about the future of radio in Southern California and the general outlook for the region. If you're a fan of nostalgia, radio history, or just love a good story set in SoCal, this episode is a must-listen! Dive into the world of The Mighty 690 and join us on a journey back in time to a defining era of Southern California radio.
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