In the mid-80s, Bruce Vidal ruled Los Angeles evenings at KIIS. His main competitor was Laurie Allen at KMGG FM 105, whose job he took at KIIS and who also happened to be his wife.
Bruce and Laurie had a long-standing bet in their house that whoever had the highest ratings got to drive their Corvette to work. It’s a bet the Vidal never lost.
They were featured on the cover of People magazine, and national news magazine shows.
Vidal was also the substitute host on the “Rick Dees Weekly Top 40.”
He battled health issues most of his life before succumbing to diabetes in 2002 at the age of 54.
On a personal note, Bruce was a friend and most likely the reason I got into radio. I first met him when I was a kid, and he was working at his first radio job in a small town in Iowa. He was encouraging and always had time for a kid just interested in what he did. Like most people at their first job, I even recall Bruce doing play-by-play for the local high school teams.
Even in those first days, his goal was to be on the air in his hometown, Los Angeles.
Here he is at KIIS.
Enjoy.
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Jeff Lynn serves as Editor of Barrett Media’s Music Radio coverage. Prior to joining Barrett Media, Jeff spent time programming in Milwaukee, Omaha, Cleveland, Des Moines, and Madison for multiple radio groups, including iHeartMedia, Townsquare Media, NRG Media, and Entercom (now Audacy). He also worked as a Country Format Editor for All Access until the outlet shut down in August 2023.
To get in touch with Jeff by email, reach him at Jeff@BarrettMedia.com.
