If you’ve heard a gravel-laden voice introduce a deep cut from the annals of doo-wop history while your dial’s been tuned to a certain local station – you’ve heard The Doo-Wop Shop. A mainstay of KSVY 91.3 Sonoma weekend lineup for nearly six months, the Doo-Wop Shop airs at 10 p.m. on Saturday nights and features the musical proclivities of Kevin Messier, who is better known to his listeners as “KD.”
“My gravel voice comes from smoking for 20 years. And I quit. When I am talking on the air it is exactly as you hear me now. There is no difference,” explained Messier, who, it might be said, puts a premium on being real.
KD is the host of the newest show on KSVY 91.3 FM “The Doo-Wop Shop.” Photo by Ryan Lely.
When he reflects on his contribution to the chorus of voices that is the KSVY experience, Messier is circumspect and careful to keep his ego from interfering with the playlist. For Messier, the music is paramount.
“You know I am very critical of myself. I will go back to my air checks and say ‘I’ve got to quit saying that.’ Sometimes I am tired, and you can tell. Some guys have the ability to be the jock – my thing has always been music,” said Messier, whose voice rings with the hard-won authenticity of a man not averse to paying dues. “I may not have the ability to be the personality but my shows have always had excellent music. And that’s what I try to get people interested in.”
A San Francisco native, Messier attended Sonoma Valley High School and has family ties to the valley going back over a century and a half. He has lived in Florida as well California’s central valley, where he collected music and did an itinerate, five-year stint at a campus radio station at the California State University, Stanislaus. Prior to joining KSVY as a volunteer host, he helmed a show at a community station in Occidental.
Like the radio jocks of yore, Messier has a handle. He explains, “I was using Kevin and the Doo-Wop Shop, and it did not sound right. You know, ‘What do the Irish have to do with doo-wop?’” he laughed, as he explained that his heritage is French and Mexican. “‘K’ is for Kevin and ‘D’ is for my mother’s maiden name. So now I say ‘This is KD and the Doo-Wop Shop’ and no one really knows where it came from.”
Though Messier professes an interest in many musical genres, doo-wop caught his ear with a vengeance. “I like a lot of music, I’ll go all the way back to big band and jazz in the 1920s,” said Messier, who added, “I like oldies, I like classic rock, I like reggae.” Messier paused, then said flatly, “I don’t like country or rap.”
“Doo-wop for me has always been something I liked the best because it has a unique sound and did not last very long. The stuff that I play is so obscure. The Platters are considered doo-wop and a lot of those groups, but I’ll throw in stuff where, even if you grew up in New York, you would not have heard a lot of it,” said Messier.
That said, Messier readily admits that his own depth of knowledge regarding doo-wop has yet to hit bottom.
“When you go back east they have stuff that I have never heard of that they throw at me and laugh at me. Though out here, a lot of what I play no one has ever heard and it is so rare and it’s great. Great music has been forgotten because Clear Channel stations would not even touch this stuff,” said Messier. “I have a huge collection. The majority of it is doo-wop, and I have some R&B and some soul, and a bunch of classic rock. If I had to listen to something, this is what I would listen to.”
