DO YOU REMEMBER – KDEA-FM, Acadiana’s Beautiful Music
Published 6:00 am Sunday, May 16, 2021
“A long long time ago, I can still remember, how the music used to make me smile” — Don McLean’s “American Pie”
Can you remember, that weekend in 1992, the weekend before Hurricane Andrew, when your favorite station played that song again, and again and AGAIN, Friday through Sunday. And then was gone.
KDEA-FM became Hot Country KXKC with a flip of the format that Monday morning. Garth Brooks’ “Friends in Low Places” replaced Don McLean’s dirge in the dark, and that was that.
KDEA began in 1974, as Donald Bonin made the decision to leave KANE-AM and start something new. “I wanted to do something on my own,” he said. So he began KDEA-FM, which had been KNIR-FM previously.
This was in the day before FM radio was the giant it is today. FM signals had different requirements than AM, and nobody’s car had an FM radio. (Imagine!) “We had a 115-foot tower for the station, and an FM signal needs a taller tower. So we built a 1000-foot tower in Cade. Our signal was 100,000 watts, which reached most of South Louisiana. We eventually had listeners from Southern Mississippi, from Baton Rouge, Lafayette,” Bonin said.
There still was the problem of car radios. “Nobody had FM on their car radio dial, so I struck a deal with Ray Himel, of Himel Motor Supply, to sell and install FM adapters. You’d have to tune to a spot on the AM dial, and then you’d be able to receive FM,” said Bonin. Luckily, FM grew into its popularity after a few years.
KDEA-FM was a Beautiful Music format from the beginning, programmed through KALA music, out of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Listeners could get their fill of Mantovani, instrumental versions of show tunes and popular music, even an occasional Beatles song made it into rotation. (“Norwegian Wood” takes on a whole new dimension backed by a full string section.)
Without any competition within the market area, KDEA became very successful. Local listeners could tune in for easy listening as well as local news, notably the News at Noon, voiced impeccably by Bonin himself. His sign off, “I’m Donald Bonin, and that’s the News at Noon. Now thank you, and good afternoon,” became as locally recognizable as Cronkite’s “That’s the way it is.”
Business was good; KDEA’s salesforce covered not only the New Iberia market, but Lafayette and Baton Rouge. Staff included several members of the Bonin family, daughter Andre, and sons Patrick and Donald Jr., plus Eddie Provost, Steven Stansbury, Renee Revett, Robert Burton, Phil Lizotte, Brenda DeKeyzer Lowry, Chuck Huebner, Jerry Overton Methvin and many other Acadiana broadcast legends.
There was a unique atmosphere at the station. Those who worked for Bonin, or ‘Mr. B’ as many called him, understood exactly what was expected of them, and were empowered to work creatively. Because the station was singularly owned, the staff and management were free to program, promote and sell as they thought would be best for the market.
KDEA chugged along for several years, doing well. There was a transition in the station’s format in the early nineties, as easy listening audiences began declining. The station said, “See ya later, elevator,” and became soft adult contemporary, playing the “real” versions of the songs people formerly heard instrumentally. The competition was fierce for the market’s audience. A few years later, after researching the trends, Bonin made the decision to become Hot Country KXKC.
The station really took off after that. After a year on the air, KXKC was No. 1 in the Lafayette market. It continued its success for several years. In 2004, “the men with the money came knocking,” said Bonin, and he sold the station. KXKC continues in Lafayette as part of a suite of stations owned by Cumulus Media, still playing country music.
Ah, KDEA. There are probably still a few listeners left who yearn for a good Mantovani riff, but probably more who miss, “Now thank you, and good afternoon.”