The Weekend Salute
“Just Thinking"
I was driving home from San Francisco on a Friday night a couple of weeks ago, just easing onto the Bay Bridge, when I noticed the digital clock on the dashboard flip to 5:00.
Growing up in The City, 5:00 on a Friday wasn’t just a time, it was a signal. The workweek ended, the weekend began. Like clockwork, you’d tune the radio to 104.5 FM, KFOG, because every Friday at 5:00 PM meant The Weekend Salute. The opening notes of “Smoke Two Joints” by The Toyes would roll out over the airwaves, officially kicking off the weekend. It was a ritual Fogheads across the Bay Area instantly recognized, an unofficial alarm bell telling you it was time to relax, to exhale and get into weekend mode, here comes that Friday feeling again.
This was before satellite radio, before playlists and algorithms, before Apple Music and Spotify decided what we might like next. As car radios evolved from strictly AM to AM/FM, so did we. We moved on from the station of our youth—KFRC 610 AM, with Dr. Don Rose and his corny one‑liners, sound effects, and boundless energy that made mornings feel lighter and louder. And we landed at KFOG, the soundtrack of the Bay Area’s coming of age in the 1980s and 1990s.
KFOG was never just a rock station, it had evolved into a shared cultural space, a companion for commutes, a backdrop for work, for weekends, for late nights, and for long conversations. It didn’t just play music, it was upcoming events, it created a community and was a voice for the Bay Area.
On September 16, 1982, KFOG abruptly dropped the easy‑listening format it had aired since 1963 and launched “Timeless Rock,” opening with “Rock This Town” by the Stray Cats. The contrast is part of what made KFOG so powerful, it wasn’t born cool, it evolved. The station’s reinvention mirrored the Bay Area itself, shifting from passive consumption to intentional listening, shared identity, and cultural confidence.
What immediately set KFOG apart was its trust in its DJs, their personalities helped define the course of the station for the next 30 plus years. Instead of following a rigid playlist, listeners related to hosts who treated the audience as curious adults rather than passive consumers. Shows like Ten at Ten and Acoustic Sunrise weren’t just programming blocks; they became weekly rituals, shaping listening habits across generations.
These DJs became household names, welcome voices that felt more like friends than broadcasters. Dave Morey, an original that started with the 1982 transition, the longtime morning host and the creator of Ten at Ten, remaining a defining presence until his retirement in 2008. Rosalie Howarth, host of Acoustic Sunrise and Acoustic Sunset, from 1987 to 2018. Renee Richardson, a morning show co‑host and later Music Director, from 1997 to 2016. “Irish Greg” McQuaid a producer and co‑host from 1999 to 2016. Bill “Webster” Webster, Annalisa, Big Rick Stuart, and M. Dung each brought their own personality and musical sensibility, reinforcing the idea that KFOG was driven by people, not formulas.
KFOG’s impact extended beyond the airwaves. Events like KFOG Kaboom, which was an annual fireworks show, many benefit concerts, giving listeners a chance to be participants. Charitable drives, “Live from the Archives” release and support for local music scenes reinforced the feeling that KFOG belonged to the Bay Area.
Today, KFOG is gone but its influence lingers, in playlists and in memories of simpler times. And every once in a while, when the clock hits 5:00 on a Friday, it’s hard not to flash back to listen for those familiar opening notes by the Toyes and let the weekend begin.
Let me know what you think.
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