Year: 2012
FLASHBACK POP MUSIC HISTORY: MARCH 15
From the MCRFB music calendar:
Events on this date: MARCH 15
1958: Elvis Presley performs his last concert before leaving for the Army, a show at Memphis’ Russwood Park. Aside from two benefit shows in 1961, this would be the last Presley concert until 1969.
1966: Tonight’s winner at the Grammy Awards in New York City; Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass for their smash single, “A Taste Of Honey” (Record Of The Year), Frank Sinatra for his latest album, September Of My Years (Album Of The Year), and “The Shadow Of Your Smile,” (Song Of The Year).
1969: John Lennon and Yoko Ono, attempting to marry in Paris, are caught “standing in the dock at Southampton/Trying to get to Holland or France,” as later documented in the Beatles song, “The Ballad Of John And Yoko.” Passport problems keep them from boarding.
1971: CBS-TV announces it will cancel The Ed Sullivan Show, then the longest-running TV show in history, after 23 years.
1972: After Los Angeles radio station KHJ broadcasts Donny Osmond’s version of “Puppy Love” for 25 1/2 half hours straight, worried callers summons the L.A. police, who break into the studios. Turned out to be it was just a publicity stunt, and not taken over by parties involved any sort of criminal act, as some callers had speculated to police.
1975: Stoner Mick Jagger settles his paternity suit with (the beautiful) singer Marsha Hunt out of court.
1978: The Alan Freed biopic American Hot Wax, widely acclaimed as one of the best rock and roll movies of all time, premiers in New York City. The movie features performances by Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins.
1979: Elvis Costello gets in an infamous argument with Stephen Stills and Bonnie Bramlett of Delaney and Bonnie fame, at an after-party affair following Stills’ show in Columbus, Ohio. Reportedly, Costello made racist remarks to Bramlett to disgust her, in order to get her to stop her constant arguing. In retort, a very-drunk Costello refers to James Brown “as a jive-ass ……(delete N-word)” and Ray Charles “as a blind, ignorant …… (delete N-word).”
On the following day during a press conference, Costello went on to say that, “It became necessary for me to outrage these people with about the most obnoxious and offensive remarks that I could muster.” According to the story, Bramlett then responded at the bar by punching Costello in the face. Elvis later apologized to James Brown and Ray Charles personally, and, in his efforts to show his sincerity, Costello does some work with the Rock Against Racism project.
1989: The Rolling Stones sign a contract for $70 million dollars — the largest ever amount during that time — for their anticipated tour of the U.S., as had been long planned.
And that’s just a few of the events which took place in pop music history, on this day . . . . M A R C H 1 5
FLASHBACK POP MUSIC HISTORY: MARCH 14
From the MCRFB music calendar:
Events on this date: MARCH 14
1955: Popular country star Jimmy Dean interviews Elvis Presley on his Washington D. C. television show Town and Country Time. A nervous Elvis answers every question with a “yep” or “nope.”
1956: The Alan Freed film, Rock Around The Clock, starring The Platters and of course, Bill Haley and the Comets, premiers in New York City.
1958: The RIAA awards its first-ever gold record for sales of a million copies that year, the honor going to Perry Como’s, “Catch A Falling Star.”
1963: Gerry Marsden of the Pacemakers sneaks a custom-made guitar purchased in Germany through British customs and is fined 60 pounds.
1964: The Beatles “Twist And Shout” enters the Billboard charts on this day.
1965: Petula Clark makes her American TV debut on CBS-TV’s Ed Sullivan Show singing “Downtown” and “I Know A Place.”
1968: The BBC-TV program Top Of The Pops broadcasts the Beatles new promotional video for “Lady Madonna,” which, oddly enough, is made up entirely of clips from the band’s recording of “Hey Bulldog.”
1970: On this date, the Supremes (without Diana Ross) enters the Billboard charts with “Up The Ladder To The Roof.”
1972: At tonight’s Grammys Awards, Carol King’s massively popular Tapestry LP is awarded the Album Of The Year honors.
1980: On the occasion of his forty-seventh birthday, Quincy Jones is awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame at 1500 Vine.
1981: Bleeding ulcers forces Eric Clapton to cancel the remainder of his 60-date US tour. Clapton checks himself in a hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota.
2005: The New York Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inducts Percy Sledge, The O’Jays, U2, Buddy Guy and the Pretenders.
2008: In London, ex-Foundations member Peter MacBeth is sentenced to six years in prison on pedophilia and sexual assault charges.
And that’s just a few of the events which took place in pop music history, on this day . . . . M A R C H 1 4
THE CLASSIC BIG 8 CKLW-AM RADIO REUNION
THE BIG 8 REUNION
Originally Aired On
October 19, 2002
Provided by: Art Vuolo, Jr.
ANITA KERR SINGS WXYZ FOR DETROIT SOUND 1270 ’66
From the MCRFB desk of Jim Feliciano
Anita Kerr Sings Different Note On The Radio Recording Custom Jingles
“You can bet when your dial is set, to the last four letters of the alphabet, WXYZ the big four — WXYZ, you get more!”
WXYZ-AM 1270 PERSONALITY-PLUS Jingles Package 1966 ( 6:29 audio)
Let’s rewind back to 1966. If your AM dial was set on the radio here in Detroit to 1270, you may still remember listening to one of the most beautiful jingles packages ever produced for Detroit radio during that time. The Anita Kerr custom-series jingle package for WXYZ AM.
But first just who was Anita Kerr?
Insofar as mainstream music popularity goes, and by name definition, not much had been known or had been publicized about her back when, outside a few music-trade publications.
Anita Jean Grilli (Anita Kerr) was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on October 31, 1927. According to her biography, Anita took an early exposure to music early on during her childhood when she first appeared on her mother’s radio show in Memphis. During her teen years in high school there, she expanded her musical talents by forming her own singing group. As a youngster then, she also demonstrated maturity for writing music as well.
In 1949, she went on to form a singing group, the Anita Kerr Singers, which she later trimmed down to a quartet. Anita Kerr as soprano, Gil Wright as tenor, alto Dottie Gillard, and Louis Nunn as baritone. Eventually, the Anita Kerr Singers played on local radio and gained exposure on NBC television’s ‘Sunday Going South.’ The group’s talent for good music gained in popularity while in hometown Memphis, and in 1951, Decca Records signed the group as studio backing singers for their recording label.
In 1956, the Anita Kerr Singers made an appearance on the Arthur ‘Godfrey’s Talent Scouts’ show on CBS television. The group also made gains with an appearance on the Jim Reeves Show in 1958. The group also went on to record an album as well, ‘Voices In Hi-Fi,’ which Decca released in 1958.
By the end of the 1950s, the group had signed over with RCA Records. Chet Atkins, the head of the Country Music Division of RCA, integrated Kerr’s talents to help facilitate a new “Nashville Sound.” The new “sound” Atkins produced was primarily intended to be more mainstream and appealing for the pop music scene at the time in the early 1960s. By adding strings and Anita Kerr’s vocal backings, along with the Jordanaires, RCA went on to introduce mainstream America with a brand new sound for country music. In crossing over, they called it, “Countrypolitan.”
During that time as well, Anita Kerr became more involved behind-the-scenes with the studio production facets at RCA. Now utilizing her talents elsewhere for Chet Atkins there, she was instrumental in producing orchestral arrangements for other RCA country recording artist as well, such as Skeeter Davis’ 1963 country/pop hit, “The End Of The World.” The group went on to back many other country artists on RCA as well, including Hank Snow, Jimmy Reeves, Floyd Cramer, Dottie West, Roy Orbison, and many, many more.
In 1965 the Anita Kerr Singers reached a high point by winning two Grammy awards. They were awarded for Best Performance By A Vocal Group for their RCA album, ‘We Dig Mancini,’ edging out the Beatles’ ‘Help!’ album in that category. The group also won the Best Gospel Album category by collaborating with George Beverly O’Shea in the 1964 RCA album release, ‘Southland Favorites.’
Anita Kerr Enterprises, 1965
Later on in the same year, according to a brief article in the October 16, 1965 edition of Billboard magazine, Anita Kerr moved to Hollywood from Nashville to form Anita Kerr Enterprises to work in the commercial radio and jingle industries. In concert with former RCA Victor European sales administrator, Alexandre Grob, they also obtained the services of Charlie Williams, former songwriter and personal manager at RCA Records. While on the west coast, Anita still continued to work with her Nashville singing group which bears her name, and stated of her intentions in bringing the other members of the singing group to California to record jingles. The singers will remain as an act for the RCA label, according to the Billboard brief.
By 1967 Anita Kerr Enterprises had recorded jingles for various radio clients across the country, including KMPC AM 710 in Los Angeles, California; WLS AM 890 in Chicago, Illinois, WGH AM 1310 in Newport News, Virginia, and WXYZ AM in Detroit.
At WXYZ AM 1270 here in Detroit, Lee Alan was program director for WXYZ-AM. In late 1965, new changes were being implemented at the station for the coming new year for 1966. Lee Alan personally wrote and composed the “Personality Plus” jingles series for the coming new “Detroit Sound Survey.” WXYZ-AM, at the time, was a Detroit affiliate and owned by the ABC Radio Network in New York.
Once approval had been attained for Lee Alan to proceed with the station’s new “Personality Plus” custom package, ABC in New York sanctioned station General Manager Chuck Fritz’s request to allow Lee Alan to hire Dick Marx Productions in Chicago “to finish the arrangements and contract with Anita to do the singing,” Lee Alan said. “Years earlier Dick (Marx) had produced the jingles for sister station WLS-AM in Chicago.”
Lee Alan further stated that, “the series were carefully crafted to upgrade and change the sound of WXYZ. I produced the package with Dick Marx in Chicago. We hired Anita Kerr and her back-up singers who recorded everything in two sessions in over a two day period.
“Later I was asked to write and produce another series for WXYZ-FM which was affected by the ‘broadcast separately from AM’ by FCC rules. At he same time I wrote and produced the opening jingles for the new ‘Martin and Howard’ show which began in 1967. For each production session I hired Dick Marx and contracted with Anita Kerr,” Lee Alan went on to conclude (see Lee Alan’s comments below; dated July 2, 2012).
After a trip to Europe in late 1967, Anita Kerr disbanded the group before signing over with Warner Brothers Records. But once again, she formed a new group of Anita Kerr Singers under the Warner label. The new group features tenor Gene Merlino, bass Bob Tedow, and sopranos Jackie Ward and B. J. Baker. They produced two albums for Warner records, both albums were produced with Warner Bros. recording artist Rod McKuen. The first album was entitled, ‘The Sea’ which became a best-seller in 1967. In late 1968, the group released their second album with McKuen. Their second LP was entitled, “Home By The Sea.’ In both albums, Anita composed the music and Rod McKuen wrote the lyrics to the songs.
In 1969, Anita Kerr made a move over to Dot Records. While at Dot Records, the group won the Edison Award for their first album under the new label, The Anita Kerr Singers Reflect On The Hits Of Burt Bacharach And Hal David.
According to the Wikipedia website, Anita Kerr received a special ASCAP Award in 1975, in recognition of her efforts “as a first class musician for her significant contributions to the birth and development of the Nashville Sound.” In 1992, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Science (NARAS) gave Anita Kerr the NARAS Governors Award “in recognition of her outstanding contributions to American music.”
But once again, in closing, listen closely to those classic jingles Anita Kerr had recorded for WXYZ radio in 1966. We’re certain you’ll agree this custom-package was one of the most beautifully arranged set of jingles that was ever produced for Detroit radio during the 1960s.
And we certainly would have to especially thank Lee Alan for making this beautifully written WXYZ custom series package we’ve featured here for making this all happen all the more in 1966.
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FLASHBACK POP MUSIC HISTORY: MARCH 13
From the MCRFB music calendar:
Events on this date: MARCH 13
1956: The Elvis Presley album is released today. Self-titled, many musicologists would affirm this LP as the first-million seller in sales shortly after the album’s release.
1958: The Recording Industry Association of America launches its Gold Award Program to honor artists in outstanding sales. One-million units sold of a single 45 rpm record earned Gold status; in 1976, the Platinum Award was introduced for singles which moved two-million units. Today, the single award is given at the half-million (gold) and million (platinum) level of sales or downloads, with the same award qualifications for album-length or CD releases.
1959: On Friday the 13th, the Kingston Trio are nearly killed when their plane makes an emergency landing on a turkey farm in South Bend, Indiana.
1964: According to Billboard, over 60 percent of all US singles sold are Beatles records.
1965: The Kinks releases their single, “Tired Of Waiting For You” and Freddie and the Dreamers enters the charts with “I’m Telling You Now.”
1965: On this week’s Cash Box charts, the Beatles hold down the top four positions, with “Eight Days A Week” at No. 1. Meet The Beatles has become the all-time best selling album in the U.S., having sold 3.5 million copies already.
1965: Disgusted with the pop direction taken with the latest single, the Graham Gouldman-penned “For Your Love,” Eric Clapton quits the Yardbirds, eventually forming Cream with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker.
1975: George Jones and Tammy Wynette finally gets that D.I.V.O.R.C.E she had been singing about after six years of ill-wedded bliss.
1987: Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band are honored with their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1750 Vine Street.
And that’s just a few of the events which took place in pop music history, on this day . . . . M A R C H 1 3
MEMORABLE SOUNDS OF DETROIT RADIO
FLASHBACK POP MUSIC HISTORY: MARCH 12
From the MCRFB music calendar:
Events on this date: MARCH 12
1953: Popular WDIA disc jockey Rufus Thomas signs with Memphis label Sun Records in order to release a song titled, “Bear Cat,” an answer song record to “Big Mama” Thorton’s hit, “Hound Dog.”
1955: Master jazz saxophonist Charlie “Bird” Parker, dies at the age of 34. The hard-living Parker’s postmortem suggests he may have died from pneumonia, a heart attack, burst stomach ulcers, or cirrhosis of the liver.
1958: A Philadelphia court sentences Billie Holiday to one year probation for pleading guilty two years earlier for heroine possession.
1959: Philadelphia’s own Fabian, discovered by Philadelphia’s own Dick Clark, is named “Most Promising New Talent” in an American Bandstand viewers poll.
1965: The Beatles wrap up their location shooting of Help! in the Bahamas. In an interview with the New York Times, Beatles manager Brian Epstein declares that the band will still be popular in ten years. Epstein also stated in the interview that the Rolling Stones were “just another fine group,” in his opinion.
1969: Infamous London police officer Det. Sgt. Norman Pilcher, well known for singling out and busting rock stars, enters George Harrison’s house in Esher, Surrey, England and arrest the Beatle and his wife Patti for possession of marijuana (specifically, cannabis resin). That same morning, Beatle Paul McCartney marries Linda Eastman in the office registry in Merylbone, London and again in the Anglican church in St, John’s Wood. The other three Beatles don’t attend.
1971: Paul McCartney’s lawsuit dissolving the Beatles is upheld when a London court grants his request to appoint a non-biased receiver to handle the group’d business affairs in the wake of the band’s management dispute.
1996: Nancy Sinatra gives her famous white go-go boots, the one that were made for walkin’, she donates the pair to the Beverly Hills Hard Rock Cafe where it has been on display there for the past sixteen years.
2003: On the eve of the Rolling Stones’ first tour of China, the Chinese government submits a list of forbidden songs to the group, songs which the band is prohibited from playing anywhere during their stay while in that country. Songs include “Brown Sugar,” “Honky Tonk Woman,” and “Let’s Spend The Night Together.”
And that’s just a few of the events which took place in pop music history, on this day . . . . M A R C H 1 2
