Voting Station

Tom Donahue

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Radio Personality

The Resume

    (May 21, 1928-April 28, 1975)
    San Francisco disc jockey at KYA-AM (1961-67), KMPX-FM (1967-68) and KSAN-FM (1968-75)
    General manager of KSAN (1972-75)
    Founded Autumn Records (1964)
    Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer (1996)

Why he might be annoying:

    He was nicknamed 'Big Daddy.'
    He moved to San Francisco from Philadelphia in the wake of an East Coast payola scandal.
    His explanation of how he discovered Autumn Records' biggest act, the Beau Brummels: 'A whore told me about them, and I always listen to whores.'
    After nearly two decades as a Top 40 deejay, he blasted the format in a 'Rolling Stone' article titled 'AM Radio Is Dead and Its Rotting Corpse Is Stinking Up the Airwaves.'

Why he might not be annoying:

    He produced the Beatles' last concert, at San Francisco's Candlestick Park (1966).
    At Autumn Records, he signed Grace Slick's pre-Jefferson Airplane band, the Great Society, and hired Sylvester Stewart (the future Sly Stone) as a producer.
    He was considered the father of free-form, progressive FM radio, playing album cuts and music ranging from rock to Indian ragas.
    He died of a heart attack the day before was to sign a deal to return to KMPX as a general manager after the station was bought by Francis Ford Coppola.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 18 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 8 Votes: 87.50% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 10 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 16 Votes: 37.50% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 12 Votes: 58.33% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 6 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying