Radio Stations

“There are only two types of music … good and bad. You can take good music and play it at the wrong time and make it bad … but you can’t do anything with bad music … as it’s no good to begin with.

Michael Sheehy
Radio and Records Interview 1977

How does one explain Planet Pootwaddle … well for starters it ain’t yer Grandpa’s “All Hit Radio” … for that matter it isn’t for “civilians” at all … it’s for the “musically astute” … and you can make up your own ass toot joke right here.

Planet Pootwaddle has been on the air 24/7, 365 days a year since 2006.  Pooty is intended as a non-profit, intelligent alternative to the many novice hobbyists and money oriented corporate stations that abound on the internet.

After 50 years of programming and producing radio stations to make other people happy … Michael created Pooty to make himself happy … and happily shares it with his friends.  It covers ALL kinds of music … Blues, Rock, Pop, Jazz, Western, Western Swing, Country, Novelty and so on.  Always wanting to stay up date … Pootwaddle is a combination of tons of the latest releases along with 30 years worth of Michael’s music compilations.  Some people sculpt, some paint … Michael paints with sound.  Pooty features over 40,000 produced elements.
In a nutshell: Planet Pootwaddle is an “oasis” of ear candy.  And, as such, an extensive collection of familiar and eclectic music all coupled together with a healthy dose of 12-year-old-boy humor.  The whole thing is seamlessly bound together with our unique brand of production or as we like to call it: “jingle magic.”

All veteran actors & radio pros … Pootwaddle Cast and Crew members include radio legend Shadoe Stevens (American Top Forty, Hollywood Squares, Announcer for The Craig Ferguson Show, Beverly Hills 90210, Baywatch, The Larry Sanders Show, Caroline in the City, Clueless and countless others), Robert David Hall (CSI, West Wing, L.A. Law, Beverly Hills 90210), Terry McGovern (Star Wars), Wally Wingert (Announcer for The Tonight Show, Family Guy, King of the Hill, Transformers and too many more to mention), Mona Marshall (Southpark, Frozen, Hotel Transylvania, Despicable Me), and voiceover legend Brian Cummings (GI Joe, Beauty & the Beast, Aeronauts, Ducktales, Zorro, longtime voice of ABC Disney) plus a host of others.

Pooty is radio for people who like ALL kinds of music.  Our promise is great music, a good laugh and, occasionally, something to really think about.
Enjoy!

Entertain, Inform and Lift the Spirit

Paul McCartney told us, “Do some good before you go,” and my partners Greg Oganowski, John Styll and I took that completely to heart. After a big birthday a year or two ago it dawned on me “you are a lot closer to the end of this book than the beginning so it’s time to leave something in your wake that can continue to evolve and put a smile on a lot of faces.” This was the foundation for Mellowrock.com. Putting together this Commercial-Free, Tax-Deductible Non-Profit station was the perfect way for us to pool our talents and experience as an alternative to enthusiastic amateurs as well as corporate powerhouses. Corporations are in business … the business of making money. At Mellowrock.com, we don’t chase money … we chase happiness. We hope you find our “turn it on … leave it on” efforts artistic, intelligent, and as comfortable as your favorite fuzzy slippers.

In 1976, I had the good fortune to join CBS’s pioneering radio station KNX FM “The Mellow Sound,” as Music Director and later Program Director … right smack dab in the middle of Hollywood CA. KNX FM was very special as it had invented the “Soft Rock” format (although we found the term somewhat oxymoronic). When KNX FM added a record, the following day, scores of other stations across the country added it as well. So, to put it mildly, we had a huge impact and “broke” records left and right. During my tenure at the station, it became the sixth most listened to radio station in the U.S. (the first 5 being in New York). We broke revenue records and there was actually an amazing six week waiting period for new advertisers just to get on the air. The Mellow Sound was on in more retail establishments than ever, before, or since. Later, it was the model used to create the “Smooth Jazz” format. All of this was accomplished without contests, giveaways, loud obnoxious commercials and, amazingly enough, with very little self-advertising. It was entirely built on the strength of the programming, aka “the music”.
We love visiting the past … but don’t want to live there. That’s why we have included mellow artists and music that have been introduced over the past 40 years … music that fits the sound and attitude of this unique format. Mellowrock.com is an updated version of the original Mellow Sound KNX FM Los Angeles. Eighty-five percent of KNX FM was music and 85% of that music was in the form of produced 3-5 song sets. For 7 out of the 10 years of KNX FM’s heyday, I designed 99% of those sets which were then produced by our amazing production engineer/artists Marianne Jorgenson and Vin Degan. I dreamed it up and they brought it to a very artful reality. We produced 52 reels of these sets each and every month for years on end. It was quite a team. These sets were what made KNX FM stand apart from the others … and these sets are precisely what we are returning to Mellowrock.com.
Throughout my 50+ year radio career, I have never stopped producing this type of sonic creation as radio was too limited for my personal musical tastes. Mellowrock.com contains about 40 years of this type of my audio essays. Calling them “mix tapes” wouldn’t be invented for a decade or later.

Our audio genius partner, Greg Oganowski brought the world the “Optimod” a sound processor currently used by nearly every FM station around the world. That’s just one reason Greg’s clients today include Google and Apple to name just a couple. Greg went thru hundreds of the KNX FM reels and digitally remastered them so we could include them in Mellowrock.com. Most importantly, Greg’s cutting-edge audio technology is providing Mellowrock.com with the cleanest, most transparent audio currently available. Don’t take our word for it … just listen! Oh yeah … the title/artist metadata has no lag either … it is instantaneous.
Partner John Styll went thru many of the “Mellow Sound” reels that could not be salvaged and meticulously recreated each one, note for note and beat by beat. This is another unique feature that makes Mellowrock.com like no other station. John also creates many of his own set stylings which have been featured in our large library.
That’s our story and we’re sticking to it … enjoy!

Michael Sheehy

The KNX FM Programming Staff During the Station’s Heyday

• Robert Nelson – Vice President./General Manger
• Roger Layng – Program Director/Air Personality
• Steve Marshall – Program Director/Music Director/Air Personality
• Tom McKay – Music Director/News & Feature Reporter/Air Personality
• Michael Sheehy – Program Director/Music Director/Air Personality
• Dave Hall (Robert David Hall) – Music Director/Air Personality
• Iona Morris – Program Coordinator
• Jacquie James – Program Coordinator
• Christopher Ames – News Director /News & Feature Reporter/ Air Personality
• Paul Crosswhite – News & Feature Reporter/Air Personality
• Dara Wells – News & Feature Reporter/Air Personality
• Joanne Ehrhart – News & Feature Reporter/Air Personality
• Bob Madigan – News & Feature Reporter/Air Personality
• Brent Seltzer – News Director /News & Feature Reporter/ Air Personality

Additionally, KNX FM had an incredible Sales, Engineering, Advertising Traffic and Administrative Staff. Wonderful folks, but too many to mention here. Sorry kids.