Iris Harrison
Iris moved to Oregon in 1974 and was attending the U of O when she started thinking about radio as a career. She was hired for first paying gig at KFMY, a little free-form daytime station in Eugene in 1975. Then the move to Portland came when she was hired at KVAN (The Monomaniacs) in 1976 by The Big B.A. The opportunity to work at KGON came in 1977 and she’s been here ever since. That’s also the year that she married Marty Party (who she met in Eugene), who retired in 2012 after a 35 year career at KGON. Iris was inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame in 2012. At the ceremony it was stated that “Iris is KGON.” As she says, “I’ve been here most of my life. KGON is my home.”
- Name: Iris Harrison
- Hometown: Monterey, California
- First Concert: Iron Butterfly at the Forum in L.A.
- Favorite Portland Concert Memories: Alice Cooper-1974, Springsteen-1975, The Who-1976 (twice!), Little Feat-1976, Tommy Bolin-1976, Pink Floyd-1977, Iggy Pop (with David Bowie on Keyboards)-1977, AC/DC-1978, The Ramones-1978, Queen-1982, Stevie Ray Vaughan-1984, Moody Blues (with The Fixx)-1986, INXS-1994, David Bowie-2004, TSO-2013.
- Favorite Bands/Artists: Beatles, The Who, Springsteen, Zep, Stones, Pink Floyd, etc. You know, the basic food groups of Classic Rock.
- Hobbies, distractions and interests: Love to travel, read, & garden. I’ll attempt a game of golf occasionally and only keep score when I’m forced to. Addicted to NCAA Football, and way too many HBO, Showtime and Netflix series. There’s always been at least one cat in my house since I was tiny.
- Something to know about Iris: Who you hear on the radio is who she is when you meet her anywhere from the grocery store to a concert. “KGON listeners feel like they really know me, and for the most part, that’s absolutely true.”