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Morning Becomes Eclectic (MBE) is an American three-hour adult album alternative radio program first aired in 1977 and broadcast live every weekday from KCRW in Santa Monica, California. The show's name is a play on the Eugene O'Neill trilogy of plays, Mourning Becomes Electra.
The program was created by Isabel Holt. MBE was previously hosted by Tom Schnabel (July 1979 - November 1990), Chris Douridas (1990 - 1998),[1] and Nic Harcourt (1998 - November 2008). Jason Bentley followed Harcourt as host in 2008. He announced that he was relinquishing his duties as Music Director and host of Morning Becomes Eclectic after 10 years on August 30, 2019. [2] Anne Litt, the station's current Program Director of Music, served as host from January of 2020 until February of 2021. In December 2020, Novena Carmel and Anthony Valadez were named as the new hosts, beginning their tenure on February 2, 2021.[3] On January 10, 2024, the LA Times confirmed that Anthony Valadez had departed from MBE and KCRW as one of 16 station staff accepting restructuring-related buyout packages to address a $3 million budget deficit at the station.[4]
The show is repeated twice on KCRW's music webcast, and live performances are also sometimes available as audio and video podcasts. Typically, the show features two or three live performances each week during the last hour of the day's broadcast.