Gino Michelini, a familiar voice to Los Angeles rock fans as an afternoon DJ during the 1980s and 1990s on KLOS, died March 2. He was 77. The death was not widely announced until Monday.
An official obituary written by friends David Foreman and Frank Martin said he “passed peacefully at home of natural causes with his beloved cat Bud Bud by his side.” Michelini’s death comes about five months after the death of fellow Los Angeles/San Francisco DJ Dusty Street, who was said to have been particularly close to her and was helping to care for her before her death.
Michelini held an afternoon spot on album rock giant KLOS from 1984 to 1994. He also hosted a syndicated program called “Power Outages” on the Global Satellite Network. “You can’t really believe what’s happening,” he was quoted as saying of his sudden rise in a major market. “I went from being unemployed to the number one station in Southern California and a national radio show, all in the same day.”
His signature phrase, “How Ya Doin'” — inspired by his friend Joe Walsh) — was emblazoned on KLOS’ familiar rainbow-encircled posters. “Bang the Drum” was another catchphrase, as he broke out of his ritual of playing Todd Rundgren’s song “Bang the Drum All Day” to start his show every Friday at 4 o’clock.
A seven-minute comedy segment called “The 5 O’Clock Funnies” was a staple of his drive-time show, and Tim Allen credited his first appearance on the show in early 1989 as giving him his big break. After playing seven minutes of Allen’s debut show, “within 24 hours, the station had 500 calls,” the DJ said.
Born into a military family as Theodore Eugene Dunmeier, the future Michelini first began broadcasting from the Philippines on Armed Forces Radio during the Vietnam War. His work in the United States as a pop DJ at stations in Thousand Oaks and Stockton led to his true calling, doing freestyle rock radio on KSFM in Sacramento, KOME in San Jose (for six years), and, in 1982, KMEL in San Jose. Francisco, where he also served as music director during a two-year period. It was the KOME station programmer who convinced Dunmire that he needed a name that was “more exciting.”
After moving to Los Angeles and KLOS in 1984, Michelini “survived six program directors” over the next decade, his official obituary says, not always suffering them gladly as corporate programming became tighter and one song played out of work. The playlist became No No. “I’m not good at being told to shut up,” he said. “I’m the type of person that if you make suggestions, I’ll listen to them. But if you tell me I can’t do something and you don’t tell me why, or I don’t agree with the reasons, I’ll fight you.
In 1994, KLOS alarmed longtime listeners by dropping first Michelini and, shortly thereafter, Joe Benson and Bob Coburn. Some saw it as heralding the end of the era of the “cool” FM rock DJ — an idea amplified at the time by KLOS program director Kurelup, who told the Los Angeles Times of the firings: “I have great respect for Joe and Gino and Bob, but if we… Offering a more up-tempo and more modern approach, we need talent that at least lives up to the music in terms of energy.
After his departure from KLOS, Michelini continued to have broadcast stints at KFI (hosting a Sunday morning talk show), KCAL in Riverside, and KLSX, his obituary says: “A stint at KLOS for a fraction of his old salary” from 1999. to 2003.
The authors of Michelellini’s obituary say he “never recovered from Dusty’s death” last October, “but in the final weeks of his life, he seemed to find a measure of peace. He had quit Facebook and was planning a trip back to Tahiti when he died in his bed on Saturday.” March 2 at about 2 a.m., an old John Huston documentary in his laserdisc player and a iPod on the pillow next to him.
The obituary also notes that Michelini’s body was cremated, and, per his wish, his ashes were scattered in the ocean of coconuts on Manhattan Beach.