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"Dino Might!"
By Chad Jones
ANG Newspapers Staff Writer

Aptitude tests indicated that Steven Donikian should be a marine biologist, which would have made him San Leandro's very own Jacques Cousteau.

Heading into Hayward's Chabot College, Donikian didn't feel that aquatic wonders were his life's calling, despite the aquariums full of exotic tropical fish he kept at home.

When Donikian set his career course, he opted for mass communication and ended up focusing on radio.

``Something involving music made sense,'' says Donikian. ``I was listening anyway.''

Indeed he was. Born to Armenian parents, Donikian is first generation Armenian American, and one of his primary youthful memories is watching TV variety show s in the 1970s starring the likes of Tom Jones and Glen Campbell.

``My grandmother, from Istanbul, Turkey, never missed Dean Martin's show,'' Donikian explains. ``Thursday nights, Channel 4. She didn't speak any English, but she loved Dean. I grew up feeling like he was a favorite uncle who came over once a week. Dean Martin came on screen and you just laughed and smiled along with him.''

With a record and CD collection that numbers in the thousands, Donikian has just about everything ever recorded by Martin and his Rat Pack cohorts Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. as well as other vocalists such as Nat ``King'' Cole and Bobby Darin.

The older he got, the more Donikian learned about pop music. He moved beyond variety shows and discovered the Beatles, U2, the Who, Sting and many others. But in high school, he found himself drawn back to Martin and the classic crooners.

With his passion for pop music from the 1940s to the present, Donikian says he felt radio would be a good fit for him.

When, at age 21, he had to complete a class project at Chabot, Donikian decided to interview a program director at Magic 61, an AM radio station in San Francisco that broadcast the golden oldies Donikian loves so much.

``I interviewed Brian Rhea, the assistant program director, and I asked him all the questions I had prepared,'' Donikian recalls. ``Then he asked me what I listened to, and I told him about collecting Cole, Sinatra and Martin.''

When Rhea confirmed that Donikian wasn't kidding, he asked the young man if he could start work on Monday.

``I rearranged a few classes and started as a substitute producer for Russ `The Moose' Syracuse,'' Donikian says. ``Doors started opening.''

Because there were already a number of Steves in the building, Rhea re-christened Donikian as Dino in tribute to the young man's enthusiasm for all things Dean Martin. The nickname stuck.

That was 13 years ago, and now Donikian is a full-fledged producer. He works the 6 to 10 a.m. shift on KABL 960 AM with on-air personality Jim Lange, former host of ``The Dating Game.'' In addition to producing the show, Donikian is becoming more and more of an Ed McMahon to Lange's Johnny Carson.

If you tune in, you'll hear Lange and Donikian bantering like old friends. They talk about what they did over the weekend, what movies they've seen recently or what they've eaten at Scoma's, an old-fashioned San Francisco seafood restaurant and stalwart sponsor of the morning show.

``This format, what we call `America's best music,' has the most loyal following in radio,'' Donikian says. ``They care about the music and they develop an attachment to the people at the station. They call up and start talking to you like they're your aunt or your mom. If I call in sick one day, I receive dozens of get-well cards.''

Sometimes the power of the broadcast medium surprises Donikian.

``I had to go to a funeral recently, and Jim mentioned it on the air,'' Donikian says. ``Suddenly my parents in San Leandro are getting all these concerned calls asking who died. You have to watch what you say on the air.''

Listeners frequently hear about Donikian's passion for sports; he's been an A's and Warriors fan since childhood; and about his burgeoning collection of soccer jerseys from around the world.

Sitting in production booth at KABL headquarters near Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco, Donikian sports a red-and-white jersey from the Tunisian team. Several listeners have pledged their help to acquire hard-to-get jerseys from the Ivory Coast and Kenya.

``Another cool part of being on the radio is that I'm able to wear soccer jerseys to work,'' Donikian says.

As if the job and his various collections didn't keep him busy enough, Donikian also spends time cooking (but not cleaning up). Fully fluent in Armenian, he, like his father, is a sub-deacon at St. Vartan, Oakland's Armenian church. Donikian still expresses disbelief that he works in a medium he loves and is surrounded by music he adores. That helps him roll out of bed at 4 a.m. and head from San Leandro to the radio station.

``What I do doesn't feel like work,'' he says. ``I love my job. Radio can be an uncertain business, and you don't know what will happen day to day, but I like the people I work with. The music is a huge part of what keeps me there. That and there's no heavy lifting.''

Reprinted with Permission From ANG Newspapers.