Mary Turner Pattis, as Mary Turner, worked as a silky-voiced disc jockey at KMET, an album-oriented rock station that was the soundtrack of Southern California in the 1970s and early 80s, before moving to radio. I left the station to become an addiction counselor and philanthropist. She died at her home in Beverly Hills on May 9. She was 76 years old.
Former KMET news director Ace Young said the cause was cancer.
KMET was an early 1970s hard rock upstart with lighthearted jockeys streaming a steady stream of new music from bands like The Who, Pink Floyd and Steely Dan, along with slightly naughty patterns (with a touch of sexual innuendo). Including, ad infinitum). Stoner jokes—that he was a welcome counter to the Top 40 hits that AM stations churned out.
They were proud rebels, mixing coverage of surfing with coverage of events such as the Mexican government spraying illegal marijuana crops with the highly toxic paraquat. (When late-night DJ Jim Rudd instructed listeners to call the White House to protest the practice, 5,000 calls flocked to the White House switchboard.) Their bright yellow billboard reads: It was often installed upside down. There was the characteristic cheer of “oo ya” (“w” for silence), indicating that all the jockeys were working on their programs. Young said in an interview that the neologism is an improvement on “the coughing sound you get when you smoke too much cannabis.” Ms. Pattis (then Mary Turner) was known as “The Burner” because of her captivating manner of speaking and her good looks, as lead singer of the J. Giles Band, Peter Wolfe is said to be the nickname given to her byBest spot at night, 6-10pm
When major bands were in town to play and promote their new albums, they stopped by KMET for an interview with Pattis. She was soft-spoken and easy to talk to, A friendly interlocutor who once teased Bruce Springsteen Ask, “Do you really know that cute little place down the road in San Diego in Southern California that plays guitar night and day?” (She was quoting the song “Rosalita” from Mr. Springsteen’s second album.) Most importantly, she let the subjects talk without interruption. Mr. Springsteen was so infatuated with her that he asked her out. in his performance The night after the interview, at a forum in Inglewood, California, he dedicated the song “Promized Land” to her.
