Staff
KFXM Bio: The Legendary Lyle Kilgore
Raised in Riverside, Lyle Kilgore was a true KFXM original. He joined the company in 1957 after working at another station, KCSB which later became KCKC. Lyle left KFXM to join the top-rated K/men as news director.
From there, Lyle’s credentials continue to be more impressive:
- KHJ/Los Angeles, News Director (14 Years)
- KDAY/Los Angeles (3 years)
- KLAC/Los Angeles (3 years)
- KFWB/Los Angeles (15 years)
Lyle attended Riverside Community College and was in the United States Air Force before his impressive radio career. He has two daughters, two sons and eight grandchildren.
Lyle Kilgore is now retired and living with wife Eva in Orange County.
Frequently field mice would get into and crawl up the lines in the transmitter, and would blow the signal off the air. They’d be instantly fried, and the smell would come into the studio. There’s nothing quite like the smell of fried rat.
The transmitter was on a 40-acre site. Nothing else around but a building and my car one night. Nothing else. Mark Denis pulled up in his car to replace me on the air… and hit my car. Yep. 40-acres, one building and he hits my car.
A photo of the great KFXM DJs of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Lyle Kilgore is in the back row on the left. In the background is the old KFXM transmitter that served the Inland Empire for many, many years.
[Note: Gary Price went on to Los Angeles to become a salesman for what is now KRTH-FM, and later became General Manager of legendary stations KNAC-FM and KDAY-AM. The late Roger Christian became a popular Los Angeles disc jockey and his association with the music industry led him to write some of the great songs by the Beach Boys plus Jan and Dean.]
