The Far-Reaching Influence of Colorado’s KILO 94
After pampering grass for two summers, I knew I liked working out-of-doors and believed I could do similar work almost anywhere. One of the organizations I applied to was the City of Arvada, which quickly contacted and hired me to work at its Lake Arbor Golf Course (rather than labor in its parks). I began working at the course in early spring of 1981, the second temporary worker hired for the summer season; the first temp, already on site, was Randy C., an amiable fellow who turned out to be a junior at Pomona High School — not the 35-year-old supervisor I mistook him for! Also on site were the golf course’s five permanent staff members: boss Reed, mechanic Randy, irrigation techs Neil and Billy, and jack-of-all-trades Dale. [1]
Reed appreciated my familiarity with mowers and grounds equipment and immediately put my mowing experience to use. I was taught how to operate the three-reeled Toro mowers, first cutting collars then quickly graduating to tees and greens. Once temps Carrie, Jackie, Craig, and Tom were onboard, however, I began cutting roughs using one of the seven-reeled Toro tractor mowers. (The only job higher was mowing the fairways, which was done by retiree Ken, who lived in one of the condos along Chase Drive, which snakes its way through the course’s front nine. [2]) Twice a week I mowed 18 holes of rough until summer’s end, when all the temporary workers but Craig and I returned to their lives as high school and college students.
As summer segued into fall, we all worked inside, in the shop’s main garage, servicing the course’s 75-plus golf carts. Reconditioning carts in groups of three, we removed the batteries from beneath each cart’s seat, power-washed dirt and acid from the frames, reinstalled the batteries, repacked the wheel bearings, and scrubbed the carts clean before returning them to the clubhouse. Then, as fall became winter, and Craig’s time at the course reached its expected end, I was granted an unexpected reprieve. Randy, much like Reed before him, was impressed with my mechanical knowledge and lobbied to keep me on staff and take advantage of my mechanical abilities throughout the off-season. With the golf carts completed, Randy, Billy, and I turned our attentions toward the heavier equipment, the mowers, first focusing on their engines — changing oil and filters, installing new spark plugs, and replacing air cleaners — then setting ourselves to the task of sharpening the blades and cutting bar on every reel of every mower on the grounds. Refurbishing a fleet of equipment and preparing for a new cutting season was a laborious and interminable undertaking, yet I enjoyed the challenge, the sense of accomplishment, and working in a shop environment. More than all of this, though, I reveled in the ever-present music, courtesy of KILO 94, that provided the backdrop to golf-course life throughout 1981.
KILO 94 was a hard-rocking station broadcasting from Colorado Springs, and Randy had his shop radio tuned to the station, at 93.9, never moving it from this position on the FM dial. [3] KILO routinely played album tracks (old and new) never heard on the rock stations in and around Denver; these cuts, along with a few hits sprinkled here and there, were the sublime sounds that continuously resonated through the golf course’s shop area, never failing to find my receptive ears. Throughout the height of summer, when in and out of the shop during the day, I heard fragments of songs like “Fight the Good Fight,” “Back on the Road Again,” “Just the Same Way/Anytime,” and “Homesick,” tunes that turned me on to Triumph and REO Speedwagon while reacquainting me with Journey and Atlanta Rhythm Section, respectively. And as the mowing season wore on, esteemed songs like “Crosstown Traffic,” “Post Toastee,” “Fly by Night,” and “Hey, Baby” by Jimi Hendrix, Tommy Bolin, Rush, and Ted Nugent entered my consciousness for the first time ever. But it was when I began spending more time in the shop as fall and winter approached that I heard an endless succession of astounding songs that introduced me to bands such as Chilliwack, Survivor, and Shooting Star, DVC, LeRoux, and The Sherbs, the Tarney-Spencer Band, Nantucket, and countless others. I arrived at Lake Arbor a bit of a popster but thanks to KILO left the golf course in early 1982 a much harder rocker.
Thereafter, during the eighties and beyond, KILO became my music station of choice, at home and at work during my years at PAR Associates. Through KILO, I would discover Shanghai’s “Talk to Me” and Gamma’s “Right the First Time,” Paul Collins’ Beat’s “On the Highway” and John Hall Band’s “Crazy (Keep on Falling),” and The Kind’s “I’ve Got You” and Diesel’s “Sausalito Summernight.” [4] By way of KILO, I would be introduced to Aldo Nova, Fastway, Zebra, and Y&T, the Jon Butcher Axis, Honeymoon Suite, the Headpins, Frōzen Ghōst, and so many, many more.
As impossible as it might sound, KILO 94 made a profound and indelible mark upon my life. While the station will be forever linked to my time at the golf course, its influence was far-reaching, exposing me to an extraordinary body of rock music that lifted my aural experience to an unsurpassable height and, in doing so, made the eighties the highlight of my musical life — one that continues to shine bright.
Above piece excerpted from the forthcoming It’s Only Music: A Musical and Historical Memoir.
[1] Dale Moody was a relative of Orville Moody, the 1969 U.S. Open champion, who used a portion of his winner’s prize to purchase land and then design and build the Lake Arbor Golf Course. The private course opened in 1972, but soon found itself in financial hardship. In 1974, the City of Arvada purchased the lease to the course at a small business administration foreclosure auction, then sublet the operation as a public course to Top Golf, Inc. But with Top Golf struggling financially, the city cancelled the sublease in 1975 and purchased the course outright in 1976 with its share of Jefferson County’s Open Space funds. The city also purchased the partially completed clubhouse and leased it to a private operator when finished; since 1987, however, after razing and rebuilding the structure, the City of Arvada has operated the clubhouse (with pro shop and restaurant) on its own. “Lake Arbor Golf Course.” Golden History: Museum & Park (www.goldenhistory.org/places/lake-arbor-golf-course/, 1994.)
[2] Chase Drive in Arvada occupies a notable place in my personal history: (1) For a number of years during the seventies, my aunt Jan and cousin Traci lived in a condo on Chase near the swimming pool. Because the Lake Arbor complex was brand new and the Mary Tyler Moore Show at the peak of its popularity, Jan and Traci’s real life “single mom/only child/two females living on their own” situation — much like the TV show’s protagonists Mary, Phyllis, and Bess — was, in my mind, the height of modernity. (2) Michael, an amorous coworker of my mom’s during her time at Associated Grocers in the seventies, lived in Lake Arbor somewhere off of Chase Drive. (3) Two members of Firefall reportedly lived in a Chase Drive condo on Lake Arbor’s #2 fairway during the band’s 1970s heyday. (4) Pam, my coworker for several years at PAR Associates, lives in the complex at present. And (5) Chase Drive, as it has for 40 years now, exists in my consciousness as the street that once took me to work at the Lake Arbor Golf Course every day during the summer and fall of 1981.
[3] Now in its 44th year, KILO continues to serve Colorado Springs and Pueblo, broadcasting at 94.3 on the FM dial.
[4] Among the many other songs I would discover with the aid of KILO were Billy Thorpe’s “Children of the Sun,” Union’s “Mainstreet USA,” and Frank Marino’s “Strange Dreams.” Charlie’s “It’s Inevitable,” Broken Homes’ “Steeltown,” and Billy Rankin’s “Call Me Automatic.” Stone Fury’s “Break Down the Walls,” Kim Mitchell’s “Go for Soda” and “Kix’s “Cold Blood.” Saraya’s “Love Has Taken Its Toll,” the Michael Thompson Band’s “Can’t Miss,” and others far too numerous to mention.
