KOMA

KOMA was a radio station in Oklahoma City, where John Peel worked (as John Ravenscroft) in around 1965, after he had left Dallas, where he had worked for KLIF, and before his move to San Bernardino, where he worked at KMEN. His period at KOMA is less well documented than his other US radio work, but it was his first full-time radio job. On the station he was co-host, with DJ Paul Miller, of The Paul and John Show, which, according to Margrave of the Marshes (p.213), became extremely popular with teenage high school students. Although no recordings of the show have come to light, it seems to have included an element of comedy, in the style popularised by other DJ duos in the US and copied in the UK by Kenny Everett and Dave Cash; their Kenny and Cash Show on the pirate ship Radio London was similarly successful in 1965-66. .

During his time in Oklahoma Peel also claimed to have branched out into management, with two improbably named and obscure groups, Dann Yankee and the Carpetbaggers and Jay Walker and the Pedestrians, who apparently performed on Indian reservations, with Peel also serving as their driver. Continuing to benefit from his Liverpool background at the height of the "British Invasion" of the US pop charts, he also travelled to Minneapolis on behalf of KOMA to meet The Beatles::

''Can you imagine your own letter or message personally delivered to Paul, Ringo, George or John? This is John Ravencroft, the newest member of the KOMA good guys, and I will be able to deliver your messages to the Beatles in Minneapolis on Saturday, when I attend their press conference and show. I will report directly to you from Minneapolis on KOMA. On Monday night I will be with Bobby Davis and K to tell you all about my recent month-long holiday in my hometown of Liverpool and play you many exclusive records from the English hit parade. If you have a message for the Beatles, please send it to me, John Ravenscroft, c/o KOMA, Box 1520, Oklahoma City, and stay tuned to hear the Beatles’ reactions to your letters. Cheerio until Monday. '' (transcript of KOMA clip, from: Radio Radio)

But the trip was a disaster; not only did he not meet the group, but, as Sheila Ravenscroft puts it (Margrave of the Marshes, p..215) "John was thrown down a flight of stairs by a friendly policeman at the Beatles concert". She adds:

''He did, though, get to meet the Supremes, who joined the ever-expanding list of bands who refused to speak to him. Conversely, The Lovin' Spoonful went straight to the top of the then-meagre list of bands who not only agreed to converse with John, but even invited him to the cinema with him (they went to see The Greatest Story Ever Told, by the way'')

Due to failing ratings, KOMA decided to change its DJ team, as was common practice in US commercial radio, and in autumn 1965 Peel/Ravenscroft lost his job. In the Radio 1 documentary Radio Radio he recalled:

''But then the station KOMA, although it had a freak signal that could be heard on a good night they reckoned in 26 states – I mean, it was very well known over most of the eastern side of the United States – but locally it really didn’t do terribly well. It was never, in the whole time I was there, the Top 40 station in Oklahoma City. And I think in the market it came something like fourth. So they got into a panic and got rid of a lot of people, and because I had been the last to join I was the first to go, and also the English thing was beginning to lose its impact.''

Yet despite this setback Peel soon found work at KMEN in San Bernardino, where his DJ career continued to develop.