A WJR HOLIDAY TRADITION: BEGINS TODAY! AN ORIGINAL CHRISTMAS . . . HOSTED BY JIM HAMPTON

Begins 6:00 p.m. EST., today! Listen ‘live’ to ‘An Original Christmas’ HERE

WJR [Detroit Free Press] RADIO PRESS PHOTO: DENNIS NEUBACHER

WJR’S McCARTHY IS TOP DJ IN DETROIT . . . JULY 2, 1966

Number One Air Personality — 18 Months After Returning to WJR

DETROIT — J. P. McCarthy of WJR is the king of the air personalities in Detroit, according to the record industry.

McCarthy received 52 per cent of the votes of record dealers, distributors, one-stop operators, and local and national record company executives as being the major influence on album sales. They also attributed him with having vast influence in creating sales of Easy Listening singles.

James H. Quello, program director of the Easy Listening format station, said that McCarthy, “seems to be able to pick them. He practically made Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass in Detroit.” A lot of the credit, too, should go to music director Harold Lake, Quello said.

“We try to play the bright new beats that aren’t rock,”Quello said, “try to be cheerful and entertain and sensible. McCarthy practically dominates all morning ratings because of his warm personality an the fact that he keeps his show interesting. For instance, he has little gimmicks he calls winners and losers –– sort of comments about topical matters. He also plays novelty records.”

WJR also scored as the major influence on classical record sales with 55 per cent of the votes. The programming of WJR has given the station tremendous billings. “Business in the last year and a half has been absolutely fantastic,” Quello said. “We’ve definitely proved that there’s room in a market for all kinds of music – country music, our music, or rock ‘n’ roll.”

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Information, credit, and news source: Billboard; July 2, 1966

WJR 760: A 1966 [Detroit Free Press] DETROIT RADIO AD

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The above featured Detroit Free Press article was digitally re-imaged by Motor City Radio Flashbacks A special thank you to senior MCRFB consultant Greg Innis, of Livonia, MI., for contributing the Newspapers.com archives (Detroit radio related) articles, ads, and images we have featured on this site, since 2016.

Thank you, Greg Innis, for making these historic Detroit radio features possible. 🙂

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THE VOICE OF SUMMER RECALLED: TIGER BASEBALL IS ON THE AIR! JUNE 1978

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DETROIT FREE PRESS | (Bloomington, Minn.) Sunday, May 18, 1978 — The Tigers dismal decline continued Saturday as the Minnesota Twins dealt them their sixth consecutive defeat, 3-1.

In keeping with their current trend, the Tigers played well enough to win. They collected seven hits, compared to the Twins’ eight, and Milt Wilcox was certainly every bit as effective as his Minnesota counterpart, Geoff Zahn.

But Zahn got the win while Wilcox was stuck with his fifth loss as the Tigers exhibited almost an uncanny inability to hit with men on base.

As a result, they now need only one setback to match their longest losing streak of the season. Furthermore, 17 of the Tigers’ last 24 games have ended in failures, which is why they’re now fifth in the American East, a distant 12 and a half games behind the Boston Red Sox.

**Twins 3. Tigers 1**. *(Click on box score for largest detailed view)*

But the only solution manager Ralph Houk could offer Saturday was continued patience.

“All we can try to to do is relax ’em and wait,” Houk explained in the otherwise silent, somber clubhouse.

“They”re all trying too hard when they come up with men on base,” Houk continued. “That’s obvious.

“We just can’t seem to get going. We can’t get the runs in. We can’t bunch our hits. We scatter them all of the time.

We’ll come out of this sooner or later,” Houk predicted. “We’ve got to break loose. And when we start winning we won’t be able to understand why we didn’t do it before because it’ll look so easy.

“But right now, it seems the little things keep happening to us. We get runners picked off base and we leave men on second or third when we’ve got a chance for a big inning. We’re not hitting that bad. We’re just not hitting with men on base. And when you don’t score, you’re not going to win. But all we can do is sit back and wait.”

One has to wonder, though, how much longer Houk will continue to be patient. Butch Wynegar put the Twins on top, 1-0, with his third homer of the season at the bottom of the second inning Saturday. (See article below for more; click on, tap or stretch article for larger detailed read).

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BASEBALL REFERENCE: For the complete Minnesota Twins vs. Detroit Tigers June 17, 1978 game-day box score and stats — click HERE

**Detroit Free Press** Sunday, June 18, 1978 (a.)

**Detroit Free Press** Sunday, June 18, 1978 (b.)

**The voice for the Detroit Tigers** Ernie Harwell with Paul Carey.

DETROIT RADIO MOURNS PASSING OF VETERAN WJR BROADCASTER, FRANK BECKMANN

Frank Beckmann, who spent nearly five decades on Detroit radio, is being remembered for his long-running work on “New Talk 760” WJR and as the voice of the Detroit Lions, Detroit Tigers, Detroit Pistons, and, for 33-years, the Michigan Wolverines, during his long radio career. Beckmann died Saturday. He was 72.

Beckmann retired from WJR in March 2021 from WJR where he had been hosting late-mornings (9 am-12 noon) on the talk outlet until his final broadcast.

“I will be forever grateful to WJR for helping all of my boyhood dreams to come true. As a youngster growing up on the east side of Detroit, I always imagined sitting behind a microphone, announcing Lions and Tigers games,” Beckmann said last year when he retired. “It was surreal for me to actually have been able to do that, along with experiencing the other great opportunities this radio giant known as WJR provided me.” Beckmann said he had looked forward to more time on the golf course during his retirement.

Two weeks ago Beckmann’s family shared the sad news that he was he was entering hospice after several recent strokes. Last June, just months after his retirement, Beckmann was diagnosed with vascular dementia, a rare brain disease, after his started exhibiting unusual behavior. His wife, Karen, had told The Detroit News earlier this month that doctors give him days to live.

“Frank was a giant. Not only in stature, but in the world of broadcast radio too, said WJR’s Chris Renwick of his 6-foot, three-inch friend. “Frank always did it his way, and always kept us the best informed audience in all of radio,” said Renwick, noting Beckman also helped raise tens of millions of dollars for Detroit charities.

German-born Beckmann first signed on to WJR in 1972. In 1981, he succeeded Bob Ufer as the University of Michigan football play-by-play announcer, calling games for 33 seasons. He was honored as “Top Michigan Sportscaster” numerous times, and was been cited for his work as the only person to broadcast games for all four of Detroit’s major sports teams and the creation of “Sports Wrap” in 1981, recognized as Detroit radio’s first sports talk show.

In 2014, Beckmann received the Chris Schenkel Award from the National Football Foundation, making Beckmann a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 2008 and was also been inducted into the Michigan Associations of Broadcasters Hall of Fame and named “Best Midday Personality” by the group.

In Beckmann’s honor, his family is asking instead for donations to the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, which is creating the Frank Beckmann Center for Journalism. Get details HERE.

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The above article published by InsideRadio, Monday, February 14, 2022. Credit and article is courtesy of insideradio.com (Atlanta, GA)

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Motor City Radio Flashbacks extends our deepest heart-felt condolences to the entire Frank Beckmann family, to his beloved radio audience and friends, and to the entire staff of WJR.

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