Meet the Announcers
Mark Allen (weekdays from 6 to 9am—pictured with fiancée Kelly) was born on Christmas Eve 1959, and has been a resident of Huntington Beach for most of his life. His radio career spans over 13 years, of which 11 are with the Astor Broadcast Group. Mark has also done stand-up comedy, with appearances on Comedy Central and Showtime, in addition to performances at the Improv's and other local comedy clubs. In his spare time Mark enjoys surfing, working on his Scion xB, and "spending time with the love of my life, Kelly."
"Working here at The SPA, I've discovered an apprecia- tion for the American Song Book that I didn't know I had," says Mark. "Dean Martin is one of my favorites because of his 'cool' attitude. I'm also a big fan of Michael Bublé and Diana Krall."
"I hope you enjoy spending time with me in the morning as much as I enjoy spending time with you," adds Mark. "My motto for life is 'pay it forward.' You never know who you might be helping, and the feeling of giving is the best in the world."
Rick Rome (weekdays from 9am to 12pm—pictured with wife Marilyn) was born and raised in Eureka, California. ("Eureka! I've found it!" he exclaims to Marilyn upon arrival at every homecoming trip, to which she simply rolls her eyes heavenward.) After earning his doctoral degree in nuclear physics at Ohio Wesleyan University, Rick immediately took on bit parts in the Hollywood movie industry. His journeys eventually led him to doing weather reports in the early days of television ("Back in the day they didn't call us 'meteorologists,'" he insists), and then to radio announcing.
Rick has been a fixture at the Astor Broadcast Group for over 40 years. When he needs to relax, he indulges his favorite pastime of raising bats in a makeshift laboratory in his garage, where he also cross-breeds them with rodents of other species. Rick is also a long-distance runner and triathlete. To date he has competed in 37 Iron-Man Triathlons in Hawaii, and has won 18 of them. He and wife Marilyn, herself a former member of the British Parliament, have eight children, 26 grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
Paul James (weekdays from 12 to 3pm) is almost a Southern California native, having moved here at the age of four. After majoring in Broadcasting at Los Angeles City College, he started working in radio. Paul's first on-air gig took place in Stockton, California in the late '70s. His career then took him to the Bay Area, followed by stints in Palm Desert, Orange County, The Inland Empire, and finally here at The SPA.
"I'm having a blast working here at the SPA!", says Paul. "Where else can you get fresh cucumber slices for your eyes, a mud bath and a new white terrycloth robe every day? Join me middays for great music and some musical tidbits about the artists we play."
Billy the Kid (weekdays from 3 to 6pm—pictured with son Logan) says, "I am very fortunate to have made my living in the music industry most of my life. I played bass guitar in bands back when there were clubs to work that paid musicians well." Eventually those clubs evolved from live bands to DJs spinning vinyl to fill their dance floors. "So in order to stay employed in the entertainment industry I had to evolve as well."
Following years of working at such Orange County clubs as The Red Onion, Black Angus, and Peppers, Billy jumped on the country bandwagon of the early '90s, and while working at the Cowboy Boogie, met the program director of the country music station 94.3 KIK-FM, which was then owned by Art Astor. For the next 10 years Billy worked at 94.3 KIK-FM, which became COOL94.3, then eventually went to another Astor Broadcasting station, country AM 1510 KIKF. After taking almost five years off to be a stay-at- home dad helping to raise his son Logan, Billy returned to the ranks at Astor Broadcasting in 2005 when Art Astor chose to re-incorporate live DJs to compliment the lively sounds of his contemporary standards stations AM 1510 and AM 1450 The SPA.
Billy remains the afternoon drive host, keeping the listeners company from 3 to 6pm every Monday through Friday. "I love what I do," says Billy, "and feel very privileged to be your friend in the afternoon. I am always so glad to hear when the listeners tell me how much they love our station. That makes it all worthwhile!"
Scott Willis (weekdays from 6 to 9pm) has over twenty years' experience in broadcast and Internet radio. It was his father’s collection of big-band and Sinatra records that first got Scott interested in music as a youngster. He has pursued a career in music and broadcasting ever since, studying music history at the University of Kansas and hosting shows for stations in Kansas City and Los Angeles before coming to the SPA.
Scott counts the music of Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Harry Warren among his favorites, and is a big fan of singers like Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, and Jane Monheit. He is a musician and avid collector with more records than space! "Grab a cold one, or a martini or gimlet, and join me at the SPA every weekday evening!"