local storiesJanuary 18, 2023

Rising Stars: Meet Randi Lavik

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Randi Lavik.

Hi Randi, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m so proud to be a Southern California Native, born & raised.

The Daniels [nee’ Iskowitz] Family landed on Ellis Island from Belarus in 1905.

My Maternal Grandfather Ben, born in 1900, lied about his age to fight in World War I in 1917, and hung out with Gangsters in the Midwest and East Coast by trade soonafter.

His job was to hustle Pinball and Jukebox machines into dive bars, until then-Governor Hubert Humphries busted up the operation.

My Grandpa turned down investment opportunities, including The Tropicana Resort/Casino in Las Vegas, in addition to a big chunk of Ventura Blvd. “Why would anyone want to go anywhere that’s so hot?” was his argument.

When the family dined out, Prizefighters sent drinks to the table.

My family preceded the arrival of the Brooklyn Dodgers to West L.A. in the late 1940’s. There was a Post-War housing shortage in 1947 in Los Angeles.

When my Grandpa was married and settled down, he and my Grandmother ran a Mid-Century Furniture Store on Sunset… in the Mid-Century.

We kids watched Dodger Games, eating M+M’s on their leather Eames lounge chairs, and my sister has a bedroom full of Heywood-Wakefield. The taste level… who knew? They did.

Everything was covered in plastic in their Co-Op on Sepulveda and Queensland Ave.

My ‘Nana’ Marion was sharp, from head to toe, her entire life. Perfectly accessorized. She took interest in me because I found her to be absolutely fascinating, and took me on outings when Los Angeles was beautiful, always in a big Oldmobile.

She fabulously chain-smoked Benson & Hedges Menthols, leaving Revlon Coral lipstick on the tips.

She gave a speech at my older Brother’s Bar Mitzvah in a surprisingly formal restaurant on National Boulevard, around the corner from our house, and cried tipsy happy tears with a hot mic in her hand.

Her Niece’s Husband was the Sound Director at the Hollywood Bowl and we picnicked in the boxes. She took me to fashion shows at Bullock’s Wilshire. She showed me a glimpse of the beautiful people and kept it classy.

My Mom attended Hamilton High and soared when it came to Home Economics. She’s very good with her hands and infants.

By the age of 18, she was married with children and worked nights. Vicki was a cute little waitress at Dupar’s in the Farmer’s Market, the Head Cocktail Waitress at Gazzarri’s on the Sunset Strip, and served in the TWA Lounge at LAX. She preferred Trini Lopez over The Doors. I D.I.E.

Her Bestie was Arlene, who worked at Nate & Al’s in Beverly Hills and brought coffee and matzoh brei to the Rich & Infamous, until the Delicatessen closed recently. They photographed Arlene for ‘Vanity Fair’, still cute, in her horned-rimmed glasses.

My Mom had kids in her teens, 20s and 30s, five in total.

My Pop Roy is from Memphis. He and his siblings attended Humes High School with Elvis Presley. He served in the Air Force, then migrated here with his Brother to start college on the G.I. Bill in Santa Monica… until he fell in love.

My parents, alive, well and still in love, met running lunch trucks and brought hot coffee and meals to workers in factories and shipyards all over Southern California, before drive-thru’s.

They remained in the food business for over five decades, feeding L.A.

My Dad Roy, going strong in his 80’s, is a Board Member for the Meals on Wheels organization, Long Beach, and my brother Dave ran several college cafeterias in L.A. & O.C.

My siblings Steven and Casey are both entrepreneurs; we always worked in our family.

As for me, I was born in Inglewood and spent my early childhood in West Los Angeles, where the 10 meets the 405.

I learned how to read at Richland Avenue Elementary School and sat up and paid attention when they wheeled the TV cart in.

Morgan Freeman’s ‘Easy Reader’ character taught me to read. ‘The Electric Company’—–learning, combined with ‘The Funk’ caught my attention early. My musical memory is strong.

As a Showbiz-savvy, goofy kid, I read the ‘Calendar Section’ in the L.A. Times at age 10 or so. ‘MAD Magazine’ and ‘The Dr. Demento Show’ on KMET were massive influences on both my humor and politics, to this day. I couldn’t get enough books, not ever.

In the year of our Bicentennial, we moved to Downey, Where the 5 meets the 605. Suburbia, U.S.A. absolutely. We lived a few blocks from ‘The Carpenter’s’ house.

My friends had parents that were Millionaires while others were on Welfare; we were somewhere in between… and it was a great place to grow up for that reason. People from Downey can converse with society on every level, a gift.

I babysat neighbor Dave Lopez’ kids and was obsessed with the Emmy on his TV (Dave was a Reporter/Anchor for CBS news for decades).

In 1985, my high school Counselor (a female person) steered me towards Cerritos (our nearest Junior College) and advised me to go look for a Husband, saying “You’ll never graduate Randi, you’re an idiot.” (I went on to earn four degrees, going on five, Mrs. S.).

After graduation, I worked for both Disneyland and the Walt Disney Studios, and in college I excelled in Journalism and landed an Internship in radio; this changed my life absolutely, college credit or not. In my case, not. Journalism courses were ‘non-transferable’ and my cute boyfriend Bob was the Sports Editor.

I worked at KROQ-FM during its ‘Rock of the 80s’ heyday for three years and learned who does what at a radio station.

They paid me $3.35 an hour (on occasion), to answer the office switchboard and fill in when Administrative employees went on vacation.

My Bestie and I launched an Internal Newspaper called ‘The Roq Report’ for the station, filled with station gossip, interviews with staff members, and the New Wave news of the day that we copied and pasted from the trades, alongside articles from my Dad’s ‘People’ magazines and ‘National Enquirer’ subscription.

We also collected celebrity phone numbers, when DJs solicited them for on-air crank calls and contests. And listened to Jay Leno’s answering machine message. And called Warren Beatty’s Butler to ask if Miss Madonna was there? Before Caller-ID.

I answered the KROQ request lines and sometimes friends from Downey made requests. We wrote down listener song requests by hand- and presented them to the DJs on breaks–I still love Sharpie markers.

I went on to work at KLOS-FM, KRLA-AM, and KQLZ ‘Pirate Radio’ with Scott Shannon.

Radio was and is my first love. Undiagnosed anxiety kept me from finishing college and pursuing an early radio career, and quite a few of my peers did very well in the Entertainment business.

I could barely make eye contact; I had a healthy fear of everyone. This kept me out of even more trouble. It was such a freewheeling time to be a teenager in Los Angeles.

In the early ’90s, I migrated to Orange County and worked in Publishing and Advertising, without a degree yet. The women in power were especially mean. Visiting Salesguys took my single friends and I to fancy, drink-y lunches all over Irvine, Huntington and Newport Beach.

Frustrated, I worked full time and went back to Community College at night, earned an A.A. degree at 29, then earned two more degrees at 31 years of age, pregnant, with honors.

Academia became my joy when I started to get positive feedback from Professors I admired so much. When my daughter was a baby, I wanted to learn to sew and obtained a degree in Fashion Design too.

I started Grad School & still have 3 courses to go. Sorry Pop. My ultimate dream was always Motherhood, and we have recently sent our two off to college… whew!

In addition, I started to write here and there and spent three years with a Co-Author, writing what we referred to as ‘The Definitive Oral History of KROQ-FM, the 1980s years’.

I invited a former KROQ Intern-turned-DJ to our book launch party. and soon after, he asked me to sit in with him on his Community-Supported Radio show in Laguna Beach.

I was terrified; I loved being around radio people and the business, yet never dreamed I’d love being ON the radio as much as I do. I stayed with the show for a few years, interviewing many of my musical heroes, then earned my own show.

I still write music articles, but there isn’t enough Lawyer Money to publish my former dream project; what we learned about the record industry in the 1980’s is nothing anyone should read about. I hear Adam Carolla and Jimmy Kimmel, KROQ alums from the early ’90s, were Producing a KROQ documentary? I use my platform for good these days.

My program is called ‘The Drop Sound’ and I’m the first DJ in the US, possibly outside of Asia, to play the 10+ year catalog of the music group BTS from South Korea. Frankly, I wanted to hear them on the radio, so I did something about it.

Radio programming freedom is an incredibly rare gift. We go live via our FM signal locally and can be heard worldwide via our Apps and station website.

I live tweet with our audience during the program, Friday nights from 9pm to midnight, Pacific Time, and receive requests, gifts, and love letters from fans on every Continent. I play listener requests.

Programming is my joy.

My format is ‘BTS and The Greats’–Beatles/Monkees/Who/Doors/Erasure/Depeche Mode/Fishbone/BeeGees/JudyGarland/Betty Hutton/Eaeon from South Korea… etc… I play everything I love from the 1930s to the 1990s or so, along with BTS deep tracks, solos, covers, collaborations and Friends of BTS.

One time I “Googled” myself and found articles in the South Korean News and screenshots of my tweets(!) worldwide.

Seeing feedback from my audience in ‘real time’ is a Communications miracle in my opinion and any DJ’s good dream. I got a million eyeballs on a tweet and it was life-changing, absolutely. Our show is the highest-rated music show at our station; our fans famously broke the server twice.

BTS has a very large fan “ARMY” and I’ve been a member for years. I think they will be writing about BTS in 50 years.

The success of The Drop led to a Podcast for Snippet.fm called BTS7, and my Co-Host Sylvia Park and I are proud to have written and presented 12 smart, bilingual episodes for Spotify/Anchor.

If you asked me how I got here so unexpectedly, I might give credit to the combination of my lucky L.A.-in-its-Prime upbringing, early cultural sensitivity, a good public education, smart Mentors and our regionally-shared collective musical memories.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Former A-Paper student and Perfectionist here. I was almost a Librarian.

I was so motivated! Curiosity killed this cat. TMI.

I quit caring so much.

When I stopped listening to everyone’s opinions (and took a healthy break from Facebook/Social Media), my creative life soared.

I’m misunderstood by many, and it’s aok by me.

I have been a volunteer for years at our nonprofit station. It’s my honor.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Late bloomers forever! I found my voice in my 40s… if anyone tells me they are too old to do this or that… I ain’t buyin’ it.

I work for my Audience. I love them like family. It took years to earn their trust and I’m proud to present BTS–#First!

Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
I’ve read so many showbiz autobiographies and books about the Arts and watch ‘Turner Classic Movies’ religiously.

Real Life Mentors are the best.

Jimmy Alvarez, Host of ‘TNN Radio’ & Publisher of the ‘O.C. Music News’ taught me the radio business all over again.

Greg Friedman, Host of ‘Inner Journey’ on KX FM, taught me to find my gratitude.

LA Filmmaker/Writer/Performer/Poetess Linda Kaye & Crew helped me find courage in front of an audience.

My children humble me. They are so much better at everything. Teenagers now have so much more emotional intelligence than my squirrely generation could have imagined.

I found my audience on Twitter. I loathe and detest AI. I literally had a front row seat when computers, deregulation and syndication killed the art of radio programming, firsthand.

I’m an old-school button pusher; I still love the Radio as much as ever. I’m proud to present a one-woman, She/Her show.

Contact Info:

Website: The Drop Sound: www.kxfmradio.org, BTS7 Podcast: www.snippet.fm
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/randi_lavik/ https://www.instagram.com/thedropsounds/ https://www.instagram.com/bts7_podcast/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/randilavik https://twitter.com/TheDropSound https://twitter.com/BTS7_FM

Image Credits
The gentleman in the photo with me is Mentor Jimmy Alvarez.
The grainy photo was taken at KROQ, in the studio with Dusty Street and Lewis Largent, late 1980s.
The onstage photo subject is Kim Seokjin, BTS, my photo, Rose Bowl, 2019.

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