For Dallasites (people who have lived in Dallas all of their lives) The ZOO …YES, you heard me… THE ZOO (or as you may remember it as The ZEW) has returned….TODAY! (March 25, 2017)

Actually, the memory I am talking about, the The ZEW, (call sign KZEW), was the album rock radio station I use to listen to….like 24/7… back in 1970.  

Long Live The ZOO!

The ZEW was the first Radio Station in Dallas that was bold enough to play ..gasp... 5  songs back-to-back.  Before, radio stations had to fight their sponsors to play more than two songs back to back.  The ZEW was just one of the many things happening in Dallas that forced “Change” in the Dallas Music scene and I was glad to be part of that change.

KZEW, which for years shared its ownership with the Dallas Morning News, wasn’t the first album-rock radio station in Dallas, nor would it be the last. But it was the by far the best.

For me, and the entire posse of friends who hung out with me at the Dairy Queen in South Garland in 1970, The ZEW was our first and last exposure to radio when music playlists were spun by disk jockeys who played whatever they the heck they dug.  And of course, back in 1970…before there were stereo speakers standard equipment in cars…., the Rock Music streaming through the air to our car radios sounded great turned as loud as possible.

Good Ol Days of Dallas

OH, the good ol days, between 1970 to 1989, in Dallas when life was far more simpler and listening to music on the radio, without so many commercials, was revolutionary.  The memory is still fresh of me, in my late teens, making the many, many trips up and down Hwy 75 (Central Expressway) to Lake Texoma with the ZEW playing none stop music which was the begun the era of “Road Trip” music.

Now..in 2017…35 years later..I’m sitting in front of my monitor in my home studio with my headphones on rocking “The Zoo” again…and of course it is turned up to LOUD!!  

The ZOO is having their ‘soft launch’ today (March 25, 2017) on Vokal.  They are working out the kinks today, but so far…I’m smiling Ear-to-Ear hearing all of the voices from years ago…Jon Dillon of course is a Legend in Dallas Radio…so good to get him back in the saddle in Dallas radio.

John Ritchie, chief executive officer of ZOO Vokal (left) and former KZEW DJ-turned-radio consultant George Gimarc at Vokal studios in Dallas on Thursday. (Ben Torres/Special Contributor)

Thank You George Gimarc and John Ritchie for bring back to Dallas today’s version of The ZEW!  Rock on dudes!!