SOUL SURVIVORS * 1967
— BILLBOARD Peaked #4 November 4, 1967 —
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DETROIT FREE PRESS: WJBK-AM ‘U.S. Musicians Succeeding As Goodwill Ambassadors’
(Above WJBK related article is courtesy freep.com newspaper archive. Copyright 2017. Newspapers.com).
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A MCRFB Note: The title of the song in the above 1972 Motown “YESTERYEAR” single re-issue is an obvious misprint. “You Keep Running Away,” written by Holland-Dozier-Holland, would be one the the last few singles the Four Tops recorded written by the Motown song-writing trio prior their departure from the label, latter 1967.
From the MCRFB NEWS archive: 1967
Motor City R&B Labels on ‘Track’ to Launch U.K.
NEW YORK — America’s rhythm and blues product will be getting another outlet in England via the independent Track Records. Kit Lambert, who is partnered with Chris Stamp in the Track operation, has been in the U. S. the past week laying the groundwork for Track’s onslaught into England’s growing R&B market.
Track’s scheme is to found a “third force” in England’s R&B field. “We’re looking for ties with small r &b labels here,” he said, “to give them a corporate identity in England and to give us the product to compete with Atlantic and Motown.”
Track will make its R&B bow in England in about three weeks with the Parliaments‘ recording of “I Want to Testify,” This disk release is the kickoff of a recently concluded deal between Track and Detroit’s Solid Hit Bound combine. Labels in Solid Hit Bound are Revilot, Groovesville and Solid Hit. The Parliaments‘ disk is on the Revilot label and Track expects to have all of Revilot’s product in the English market within a six -month period.
Lambert also plans to present Track’s R&B artists in a new way. He wants to get away from the stereotype presentation of Negro acts and bring out the identity of each singer in a particular group. He’ll concentrate on dress and publicity
photographs to develop a different R&B image for Track’s groups. “The image,” he says, “will be something like hip soul.”
Promotion TV
Track will also stress TV films to help promote the R&B act in England. Lambert and Stamp will be visiting the U. S. regularly to supervise the TV films, which have become potent promotional tools for American acts overseas. Meantime, Track is continuing to roll with its pop groups.
The Who a Hit
The Who, a Decca group in the U. S., hit the market this week with “I Can See for Miles.” It is reported to be one of Decca’s largest advance pressings. The record was rushed into market to capitalize on the Who’s appearance on the Smothers Brothers CBS -TV show Sunday (September 24) where they performed the song. Decca is promoting the disk with a printing of 250,000 color photos of the group which is being sent to key radio stations around the country.
And, to keep a continual flow of information from the U. S. to England concerning R&B properties, Lambert and Stamp have shifted Nancy Lewis to a New York office from London. In addition to scouting R&B acts for Track, she’ll be doing publicity for Lambert and Stamp’s management firm, New Action, Ltd. Miss Stamp will be headquartering in New York at 888 Eighth Avenue. END
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(Information and news source: Billboard; September 30, 1967)
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Many of these records were the most popular radio plays heard on Detroit’s only country station 1340 on the AM dial at the time, WEXL, as was tabulated nationally week-ending previous, October 07, 1967.
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Fifteen years ago, on September 29, 2002, Ernie Harwell called his final game for the Detroit Tigers. The Detroit Tigers lost to the Toronto Blue Jays, 1-0.
This special airing of Ernie Harwell’s last game was rebroadcast in its entirety by WXYT 97.1 Sunday, May 9, 2010.
Monday, May 10, 2010 was declared ‘Ernie Harwell Day’ at Comerica Park. The Detroit Tigers’ MLB HOF broadcaster was “the voice of the Detroit Tigers” for over four decades.
Ernie Harwell passed away on May 4, 2010.
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NEW! An added WXYT audio feature to the MCRFB Aircheck Library. From the Jim Feliciano collection
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Was ‘Brother John‘ actually the voice of Alan Almond?
That was the question Motor City Radio Flashbacks could not ascertain with an answer.
We had received word from a frequent visitor to the website who stated it was he (without any given 100% degree of certainty implied) after hearing our aircheck feature this website posted here on September 7, 2017.
In all due fairness, the voice does sound very much extraordinarily as similar — one may think that could be Alan Almond.
We received the final answer to this question.
Thank you, Jim Heddle, of Phoenix, Arizona, for your (September 11) email response.
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Hi Jim,
Brother John’s show was not local, it was syndicated nationally and was carried in Detroit by WXYZ-FM. Here is some information about him from allmusicguide.com:
Born February 14, 1932, John Rydgren (or Brother John, as he came to be known as an on-air DJ and radio personality) was an ordained minister in the American Lutheran Church, and for a time was a director of the American Lutheran Church’s radio and television films division. His claim to pop history fame came in the 1960s and early ’70s when his early syndicated FM radio shows, most notably the show called Silhouettes, which was broadcast across the U.S. (and in Vietnam) between 1966 and 1968, reached a wide-ranging audience. Positioning himself as a sort of “hip preacher” between Christianity on one hand and the emerging “Flower Power” generation on the other, Rydgren interspersed progressive and psychedelic rock tracks with his thoughts on spirituality, philosophy, and the changing times, all in a deep, sincere, and affecting baritone. He also released three LPs of his thoughts and musings laid over a backdrop of fuzz guitars, heavenly choirs, and sitar drones, Worlds of Youth (1966), Cantata for New Life (1967), and Silhouette Segments (1968), during this time period. He died on December 26, 1988, from a heart attack at the age of 56. Omni Records reissued remastered versions of Rydgren‘s three LPs, along with bonus tracks and an additional LP, They Say, in a two-disc set in 2012.
According to the Detroit News, Alan Almond died in 2015 at the age of 67. You might also be interested to know that before Alan landed his job at WNIC, he briefly did the morning show on WPAG in Ann Arbor.
Take care, Jim Heddle
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We have our answer.
And a special thank you to Mike Landry and Andrew Wagonner for your added confirmations in regards (same as above) having shared as well.
WLEW * Jack Thomas * 1975
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Motor City Radio Flashbacks would like to extend our thanks to Frederick Vobbe for sharing this Michigan broadcasting memory in behalf of his brother, Jack Thomas. Fred Vobbe was chief engineer for Detroit radio stations WHNE-FM, WMJC-FM and WHND-AM, Birmingham, Michigan, in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Today, Fred resides in Lima, Ohio, still doing what he does best as chief engineer for major media outlets (radio and TV) in the Buckeye state. We present Fred’s own words he shared of his brother’s broadcasting career, verbatim, below.
Audio and photos courtesy of Fred Vobbe.
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My brother Jack Thomas started broadcasting in 1958 at McKinley School’s educational radio station, WTDS-FM, while a student. In his spare time he recorded radio shows with his friends in his parent’s basement, and collected the latest rock & roll 45s while imitating the sounds of WJBK AM and other stations in Detroit.
In high school he jocked “sock hops” for private and company parties. His first “big time” job in radio was with WATH AM/FM in Athens, Ohio, serving as a Staff Announcer and Chief Engineer. He took the name “Jack Thomas” when on the air. After a decade in Athens he moved to WLEW AM/FM in Bad Axe, Michigan, in 1973 in a similar role.
Being a small market station he set up remotes, assisted in news broadcasts, assembled music libraries, and repaired the station’s broadcast equipment. Jack was proud that he entertained his audience with clean humor, “On This Day in History“and “Jack’s Birthday Book” where he kept a list of area listener’s birthdays and mentioned them on the air while reading entertaining stories and trivia.
While at both stations he produced automation tapes, first for WATH-FM 105.5, and later for both WLEW AM and FM. After retiring from WLEW in 2006, Jack worked part-time briefly for WCPT-FM, and was on the air as “Brother Jack.”
Thomas’ career in broadcasting in the thumb area comprised well over thirty years in radio, where his name is still remembered today.
Jack Thomas passed away in February 2017 at the age of 76.
Frederick Vobbe, August 19