About the 101 KLOL documentary “Runaway Radio”
The long-awaited 101 KLOL Houston rock documentary, “Runaway Radio,” directed/produced by first-time filmmaker and Texas media blogger Mike McGuff, was released on VOD platforms February 27, 2024, with the Houston big-screen movie theater debut at the Alamo Drafthouse March 2, 2024.
“‘Runaway Radio,’ a documentary celebrating the wild and woozy heyday of the pioneering local rock radio station KLOL-FM. On the air from 1970 to 2004, KLOL transformed over its life from shaggy, free-form anarchy to loudmouth, shock-jock insanity, all the while providing the guitar-heavy soundtrack for a couple of generations of head-banging Houstonians,” wrote Cary Darling, the Houston Chronicle arts and entertainment editor.
The film is available to rent or buy on all major video-on-demand (VOD) platforms, including Tubi, iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, YouTube, and cable/satellite. It is also now available on DVD.
See Texas movie theater listings for “Runaway Radio” on the big screen! Outside of the Alamo Drafthouse, the documentary has also played at the River Oaks Theatre, Star Cinema Grill, and Studio Movie Grill locations around the Houston area.
The film’s world premiere debut was in November 2023 at the music documentary festival Sound Unseen Minneapolis.
In January 2025, “Runaway Radio” won the prestigious Texas Independent Film Award (TIFA) – for the best film made in Texas – as determined by the Houston Film Critics Society for its 18th Annual Awards. In 2026, it won three categories at the 47th Annual Telly Awards and two at the 32nd Annual Communicator Awards.
The documentary, distributed by Dark Star Pictures, covers the wild 34 years (1970 to 2004) of one of the country’s greatest Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) stations.
The film explores the many on-air personalities and behind-the-scenes players that made the station so popular. From the crazy station promotions, the music, and the radio wars the family-owned Rusk station had with the likes of ABC’s 97 Rock KSRR.
“If any Houston radio station deserves its own documentary, it is KLOL,” said former KLOL DJ and Texas Radio Hall of Famer Dayna Steele. “I have seen the film, and it brought tears to my eyes because I was taken back to that special time that couldn’t happen again.”
“Getting to work at KLOL wasn’t just an awesome radio opportunity, to work at this legendary station with its incredible portfolio of talent, but as a Native Houstonian to work at the radio station that I grew up with was a dream come true,” said former KLOL DJ and current Houston Eagle night host, Outlaw Dave. “The response from the fans, not only on social media, but in public, coming up and talking about the excitement building for the documentary further validates my sense of how important this radio station was to this community.”
“I’ll be forever grateful that KLOL gave me my first opportunity in media,” former KLOL on-air personality and current KHOU 11 morning traffic anchor Jennifer Reyna said. “Getting to work at my mother’s favorite radio station alongside the legendary Outlaw Dave and crew made it a fun part of Houston’s radio history. It is exciting to be a part of a station with so much legacy, and I’m glad it will be documented on film.”
KLOL no doubt had a legendary air staff of big names in Houston radio. In this documentary, you’ll hear stories directly from Jim Pruett, Dayna Steele, Crash, Grego, Outlaw Dave, Eddie “The Boner” aka Brian Shannon, Lanny Griffith, Colonel St. James, Keith Myles, David Sadof, Levi Booker, Jennifer Reyna and many more. AOR radio creator Lee Abrams even makes an appearance.
“As the creator of Outlaw Radio on KLOL, it was the launching pad of a rocket ride I can thankfully say is still going,” former KLOL DJ and current 95.7 The Spot all-day host GregO said. “KLOL fans will relive all the memories that made 101 great when the station ruled Houston. You will love this movie!”
Also interviewed are legendary artists like Dusty Hill (ZZ Top), Lyle Lovett, Sammy Hagar (Solo, Van Halen, Montrose, The Circle), Melissa Etheridge (singer-songwriter), Doug Pinnick (King’s X, KXM) and Carmine Appice (Ozzy Osbourne, Vanilla Fudge, Rod Stewart, King Kobra).
The AOR version of KLOL is still very much alive in the hearts of Houston and beyond. There are multiple online radio stations dedicated to the former Rock 101, as well as a Facebook group with thousands of members posting daily about the station and its music. Search the web, and you will find many companies selling shirts featuring the legendary KLOL logo, the Runaway Radio.
“The KLOL documentary shows the rest of the world why this station is still talked about to this day. It will be the last word on a Houston media legend,” said Texas Radio Hall of Famer and founding KLOL father Pat Fant. “We didn’t just play the music, we were a part of it. Our promotions became spectacles. Our on-air personalities were the host presenters of the non-stop performance that was KLOL. This is why KLOL continues to enjoy the kind of profile that only a handful of rock radio stations would ever really achieve.”
Fant now runs RFC Media, which specializes in digital radio stations for brands, but he never forgets where he started as a 21-year-old in 1970 when the station signed on the air.
“We didn’t just play the music, we were a part of it,” Fant added. “Our promotions became spectacles. Our on-air personalities were the host presenters of the non-stop performance that was KLOL. This is why KLOL continues to enjoy the kind of profile that only a handful of rock radio stations would ever really achieve.”
“I never take for granted that I was part of something unique, something memorable, something weirdly magical,” Steele added. “To this day, KLOL fans come up to me all over the world. My voice is the secret handshake that bonds us forever. As are many of the past KLOL voices.”
“With Runaway Radio director Mike McGuff has created a raucous rock and roll documentary about the iconic Houston Album-Oriented-Rock (AOR) radio station 101 KLOL. It started in 1970 as a progressive rock station, where DJs played what they liked. It grew into a national phenomenon that was revered and copied widely.”
– Bradley Gibson, Film Threat
“‘Runaway Radio,’ a documentary celebrating the wild and woozy heyday of the pioneering local rock radio station KLOL-FM. On the air from 1970 to 2004, KLOL transformed over its life from shaggy, free-form anarchy to loudmouth, shock-jock insanity, all the while providing the guitar-heavy soundtrack for a couple of generations of head-banging Houstonians.”
– Cary Darling, Houston Chronicle
“Freedom is a theme that comes up frequently in Runaway Radio, a film produced and directed by Houston media blogger Mike McGuff. KLOL broke damn near every rule that had previously governed FM radio, raising a middle finger to local blue noses and keepers of decency for over thirty years. Meantime, KLOL was generating huge ratings and even bigger profits as one of the most successful rock and roll stations in the country. We’re talking powerhouse. The Big Kahuna. King Kong.”
– Tom Richards, Houston Press
“The writer-director keeps the documentary moving at a swift pace while cramming a substantial amount of information in the 83-minute running time making this a must-see for rock fans.”
– Joe Friar, Fort Worth Report
“There are celebrity testimonials to KLOL from artists who actually had a close relationship with the station, and don’t feel forced in as they do in some artist docs. Some are no-brainers (ZZ Top’s Dusty Hill, Sammy Hagar), but some come from outside the dominant era of Album Rock radio (Lyle Lovett, who grew up with the station, and Melissa Etheridge, who somehow ended up in a prank war with legendary host Dayna Steele.) But Runaway Radio — the title comes from a KLOL logo featuring a scampering radio with legs –also gives voice to a wide swath of managers, programmers, and DJs from the station’s 1970-2004 history. As the radio-station documentary becomes a sub-genre unto itself, McGuff serves by doing what the best radio columnists did: finding a way to speak both to industry people and rock-radio fans.”
– Ross on Radio (radioINSIGHT)