By Matt Hutchison
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A Jesuit school might not be what the general population would consider a thriving spot for underground music culture, yet that’s part of the allure of KXLU 88.9 FM. Entering the radio station’s cluttered, vinyl-stacked, and sticker-tacked fourth floor production area is like stepping into another world outside the sleek white, palm-tree-lined idyllic confines of Loyola Marymount University, a private university and research center adjacent to Inglewood in the Westchester neighbourhood of southwestern Los Angeles.
At least, that’s what I was thinking during my first station visit alongside an old friend in early 2011. The opportunity to visit stemmed from an invite by Alison Potoczak, one of KXLU’s then-DJs and General Manager, to guest spin on her early A.M. show. She knew we were prominent punk and underground rock ‘n’ roll record collectors, and knowing KXLU has an extensive history in that genre, accepting the invite was a no-brainer. It would be one of a few times we’d appear on Ali’s show throughout her tenure. Shortly afterward, I’d be appearing on several other late night/early morning and afternoon shows throughout the following years while working for various record labels.
KXLU has a deep history within the Los Angeles underground rock world and independent music nationwide. Along with being the first station to premiere “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” press photos of Kurt Cobain and Dave Grohl performing live while wearing sweatshirts of the station’s white splatter logo circulate online, while Discogs is awash in recordings of live sets at the station performed by Le Shok, Death Valley Girls, Torche, Eyehategod, The Dream Syndicate, and Burning Heads alongside many others. Rock ‘n’ roll isn’t KXLU’s main forte as the show’s programming is scattered all over from electronic (Alien Air Music & In A Dream w/Mystic Pete), reggae (The Reggae Show) to bluegrass and gospel (Wildwood Radio Flower Hour), to 24 hours of salsa music over the weekend with the station’s wildly popular Alma Del Barrio program. However, it’s the rock shows that’s always interested me with the personalities behind each show, like the boisterous Reverend Dan (Music For Nimrods), the hilarity and insouciance of Hillary Russell and Rob Douglas (Livation), the shoutouts from Fred Kiko (Demolisten) the sarcasm of Tony Knox (No More Heroes), and the blatantly offbeat nature of Ryan and The Rattler (Zoo Croo).
However, Stella is a person who left a considerable impact on KXLU’s identity with her world-spanning underground rock-centric Stray Pop program ruling the airwaves every late Friday night/early Saturday morning. Known on air and to the rest of us as Stella Stray Pop for the past 40 years (effectively referring to herself as The Punk Rock Geezer), the ever-peaceful hostess runs her listeners through a four-hour gamut spanning early ‘70s proto-punk from New York and Detroit to the latest happenings in the European/Australian/Asian garage-punk world, the cold industrial beats from Wax Trax-era Chicago, and underexposed, local bar-roaming Los Angeles punk ‘n’ roll bands. There aren’t many guarantees in life on a Friday night except for Stella kicking off Stray Pop with the rhythmic percussion of The Hollywood Persuaders’ “Drums A-Go-Go,” a consistently solid playlist throughout the show, and her like clockwork civil service PSA reminding us all at 1:00 a.m. that bars and liquor stores will 86 booze services in an hour. Before Stray Pop’s debut in February 1980, regional listeners were hard-pressed to find a college show regularly playing records from the Southland’s first-wave punk and new wave bands. Since then, Stella has kept Stray Pop going, effectively opening the door for other shows catering to the burgeoning underground rock movements of the time and instilling KXLU as a haven for punk music and within the national college radio circuit.
After spending years listening to Stella and hearing her calm voice, I inquired about her availability for an interview, which she was happy to accommodate on the condition that we speak in person. Again, a no-brainer. Plans solidified to meet at the Du-pars diner off Fairfax Ave, where we talked extensively about her Catholic upbringing, radio’s technical side, Stray Pop throughout the years, and where she sees AI technology implemented in traditional radio. Here’s what transpired from our conversation.
Scene Point Blank: What brought on the idea for you to remind folks that bars and liquor stores will be closing in an hour as soon as the 1 a.m. hour hit?
Stella: I can’t exactly remember when and why I started saying that -- just something to say while looking at the clock. Maybe I began saying this when my show moved from Tuesdays to Fridays. Stray Pop used to be on Tuesdays from 11 p.m. - 2 a.m. before moving to late night on Fridays. So maybe because I got that extra hour, that’s when I began saying that reminder. I can’t account for the thoughts that fly in my head.
Scene Point Blank: You were born in Cleveland, OH, but your family moved to southern California when you were six months old. Under what circumstances did this move occur, and how do you think your life could have turned out if you stayed in Ohio?
Stella: Oh god. That last question I’d rather not think of. [Laughs. The weather is the reason my family moved to southern California. Even though my dad was born in the United States in 1919, he was raised in Italy, and the rest of the family was born and raised there. But he returned to the United States as an adult in 1939 around the time of the War. Being from southern Italy, his family couldn’t stand the Ohio weather, and it took my uncle watching a golf tournament on the television to convince the family to move West. The match was somewhere in southern California during the wintertime, and all he saw was sunshine on the screen while stepping out in the snow. Watching that tournament was his “That’s it!” moment. He had enough of the cold weather. Being from a Mediterranean climate, who could blame him, and got a job in southern California. Now, his family was very tight knit, and he had six family members follow him out, except for one who stayed behind in Cleveland and another who was still in Italy.
"I even saw The Misfits the first time they ever played southern California. They played over in Watts at Bob’s Place, and everyone that evening had their car stereos stolen right out of their cars."
Scene Point Blank: A 2007 LA Weekly profile reveals that you’re the youngest of three siblings, all raised in a strict Italian-Catholic household. For those unfamiliar with that type of upbringing, can you tell us what those rules were like for you three? Not to sound cliched, but did that upbringing only further your or your sibling’s interest in the rock ‘n’ roll world around the LA area at the time?
Stella: I attended Catholic schools from first grade onward, including St. Mary’s Academy in Inglewood for high school. So yes, I know where to go for good parking at the Forum. After that, I attended Loyola Marymount, which was a tiny campus back then, nothing like the size it is now. Kindergarten was the only time I went to public school because Catholic schools didn’t have a kindergarten. As for the rules, I’m unsure what they were like for my siblings, given they’re much older than me. It was strict, though. Here’s an idea of how rigid the rules could be. My dad didn’t want me to see Queen play at the Santa Monica Civic in either ‘76 or ‘75, even though my friend’s mother was dropping us off and picking us up from the venue. Why, you ask? Because he was concerned someone would spike my Pepsi and sell me into white slavery. Something along those lines. [Laughs.]
Scene Point Blank: Did your siblings play an important part in developing your music tastes throughout the years, or were you keen on discovering new bands yourself in new issues of Creem and Circus?
Stella: My older brother was really into soul and jazz music, and he had this incredible 45 collection with a lot of stuff on King Records…I wish I knew what happened to that collection, though. They disappeared somewhere in our garage after he told me I could have them; I don't know; maybe Mom had already given them away by then. Scenarios like that have spawned many comic book collectors over the years, parents not understanding what their kids collect. But his 45 collection rubbed off on me growing up in our house. That's the thing when you're really little; you pick up stuff as you grow. My older sister also hooked me on some stuff when I was younger. By the time I was in high school, I was reading all the issues of Creem, Hit Parader, and Circus, which I still have.
