A ‘RADIO’ AD * “Take A Lively Companion Wherever You Go” * 1964
A ‘RADIO’ AD * “You Can Swing The Blues…” * 1964
A ‘RADIO’ AD * “Wherever You Go We’re Your Musical Host” * 1964
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The above classic ‘radio’ endorsement ads, featured today on Motor City Radio Flashbacks, was sponsored and distributed for radio by the National Association of Broadcasters, 1964.
TO A DETROIT BROADCASTING LEGEND, ROBIN SEYMOUR
In celebration on the occasion of Robin Seymour‘s recent 91st birthday this week, Wednesday, March 8, 2017, Motor City Radio Flashbacks presents today, “Cruisin’ 1956.” Motor City Radio Flashbacks is showcasing some of Robin Seymour’s greatest Detroit radio memories, reflections he shared from his illustrious broadcasting career on the Detroit radio dial spanning over three decades from the 1940s – 1970s.
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By Jerry Hopkins
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The CRUISIN’ history of rock and roll radio begins in 1956, one of the most exciting years in “pop” history, and to take us down this memory lane (with a beat) is Robin Seymour of WKMH, which was, when he joined it, a little-known station In Dearborn, Michigan. Robin came to the suburban Detroit station from the Armed Forces Radio Network and he brought with him a voice that mixed the warm, confidential tone of an intimate friend with the slick disc jockey rap we all know today, a blend which made him a natural for housewives and teenagers alike.
WKMH’s Robin Seymour
Robin never had any particular ethnic identification or allegiance but the “Bobbin’ with Robin Show” quickly found its audience, as he constructed a bright, orderly program that featured (almost exclusively) the records listed on the sales charts printed by the music press. He also was among the first of the nation’s deejays to ask his listeners what they thought about new records, and hosted some of the earliest sock hops and commercial tie-ins with local record stores. In 1953 he was named “Disc Jockey of the Year” by Billboard, the music trade magazine. The following year he was given the same title by another publication, Hit Parader.
1956: President Eisenhower underwent an operation to relieve blockage of the small intestine due to ileitis, but physicians said he would be physically fit to run for re-election. Scientists said radiation was a peril to the future of humanity, Egypt seized the Suez Canal and the United Nations established the first international police force on the Sinai Peninsula. The first trans-Atlantic telephone cable system went into effect. The Hungarians revolted. Six Marine recruits were marched into a stream at Paris Island and drowned. The Andrea Doria sank off the coast of Massachusetts. And Elvis Presley and the spread of rock and roll nearly pushed everything else in this list of news stories right out of the conversation.
This was the year Elvis recorded Heartbreak Hotel, Don’t Be Cruel, Hound Dog and perhaps half a dozen other million-selling songs . The first of these (Hotel) appeared in the number one position the end of April and that song or another by Elvis occupied the same lofty spot twenty-five of the year’s remaining thirty-six weeks.
1956 was the year “rock ‘n’ roll” became an angry epithet, blamed by psychiatrists and religious leaders (not to mention thousands of parents) for the rise in juvenile delinquency; some even said it was all a part of some Communist plot. Elvis and his pack of noisy imitators were called obscene and there were real riots at dozens of concerts. There were non-rockers on the record charts, to be sure, but it was Carl Perkins’ Blue Suede Shoes and Bill Haley’s Alligator that became a part of the New Culture, not Gogi Grant’s Wayward Wind and Morris Stoloff’s Picnic. The war babies had come to teen-age.
Most adults in ’56 thought it was a fad and that “it” would go away. Most radio listeners believed otherwise. There were a number of rock giants on the popular music charts in 1956 and many had made their abrupt and rhythmic appearances there after serving an apprenticeship in the ghetto called rhythm and blues.
That’s what 1956 was: the teen-age 1776. There’d been rumblings earlier, but this year all the lines were drawn.
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“Recreating one of his old radio shows from 1956 is Robin Seymour, who then was with WKMH in Dearborn, Michigan. He had come to this suburban Detroit station from Armed Forces Radio and soon his warm, confidential tone had won him teenagers and housewives alike. His BOBBIN’ WITH ROBIN show was the reason BILLBOARD named him Disc Jockey of the Year in 1953, and HIT PARADER magazine did the same in 1954. Today he’s in television and concert promotion in Detroit. For this album, Robin Seymour was the first of the seven disc jockeys in the CRUISIN’ series selected as the best living representatives of Fifties and Sixties radio from seven top American radio cities.”
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The “Cruisin'” series was conceived, created and was produced by Ron Jacobs. The “Cruisin’ 1956” album was released by Increase Records, June 1970.
In conjunction with KHJ Boss Radio (Los Angeles), RKO General, and Drake-Chenault Enterprises, CKLW presented ‘The History Of Rock & Roll‘ this week in 1969. This seminal, historic rockumentary comprised of 48 hours of programming from start to finish. Covering the first and second generation of rock, the program traces the early roots of rock ‘n’ roll from its origins in the early ’50s, of its influence impacting the hits of the ’60s. For four days, CKLW aired the Bill Drake HRR program in 12-hour blocks — 12 noon to 12 midnight — beginning Sunday, February 28 through Wednesday, March 3, 1969.
Motor City Radio Flashbacks presents today the first hour of ‘THE HISTORY of ROCK & ROLL’ as aired on CKLW 12 noon — 1:00 p.m., Sunday, February 28, 1969.
Original program concept conceived and created by Ron Jacobs, KHJ. Produced by Bill Drake and Gene Chenault.
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Above CKLW music chart courtesy of Mrs. Patty Griggs and the George L. Griggs estate.
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THE BEATLES first U.S. single debuts (#68) on the Billboard Hot 100, this month, 02/01/1964 on Vee-Jay Records. “Please, Please Me,” also noted, was released initially (and bombed due to dismal sales) by the Chicago-based label, coincidentally, one year earlier exactly to the date of the Beatles’ (1964) first visit to America, February 7, 1963. Re-released a year later due to the band’s surging popularity, the Beatles Vee-Jay 498 (misspelled Beattles) was introduced by Dick Biondi on its first U.S. radio airplay, WLS, Chicago, 02/08/1964.
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The ‘Top 5’ soul records also were the most popular radio plays heard on Detroit’s two R&B stations 1440 WCHB and 1400 WJLB on the AM dial at the time, as well as other record selections off this chart, as tabulated nationally, week-ending 02/11/67.
From the MCRFB NEWS archive: 1964
The Bill Gavin Newsletter February 8, 1964
From the Desk of Bill Gavin Billboard Contributing Editor
IT’S FUN, SO THEY TELL ME, to be a music director. It’s the most fun when you’re with an important station in a big city. Big name stars you’ve never met phone you, call you by your first name, and speak in a manner suggesting a lasting, possibly, personal friendship. Even though your own salary is considerably less than that of any disk jockey on your station, national officers of big record companies phone you, call on you, take you to dinner and treat you as a real V.I.P. Which you are.
Even if you’re in a smaller town, you can still be important. You have a sense of power. You can break new records in your area and force the nearby big city stations to he aware of them. Promotion men come to sec you, and they let you know just how much influence you really have. You may even receive pre -release mailings of new records and get them on the air ahead of your big town colleagues. It’s exciting work.
DISCUSSING ALL THE MEANINGLESS back slapping and phony good will that goes with record promotion, the music director is more a part of the record business than anyone else at his station. It is part of his job to know what is going on in the world of records. It’s a fascinating world of show business and it’s fun to be part of it, if only as an observer. The fun of being a music director more than compensates for the daily chore of auditing all those new releases. Those who have never faced this task for any length of time have little notion what a grinding and frustrating experience it can be. It requires many hours every day to listen all the way through both sides of every new record that arrives. Add to this the extra hours that the conscientious music director spends in listening several times to those entries that he considers important, and it makes for a pretty full week in auditioning alone. The amount of trash that must be sifted to discover the worthwhile items is horrendous. Of course, hardly any music director listens to all the sides all the way through. An unfamiliar label by an unknown artist may he tossed out unheard. The first few bars of one side may be so unacceptable that no further attention is paid to either side. And, if he gets too busy with other duties, he may put aside the remaining newcomers in a “file for future reference” category, the limbo of “lost” records.
THE BIGGEST HAZARD that any music director must face is his own ego. The search for fame as a “picker’ can distort objective judgment. There is little distinction in picking obvious hits, such as new Bobby Vintons. Elvis Presleys. the Beatles and Brenda Lee. It is human nature to want to he a hero by “discovering” a hit which others had overlooked. This is why so many music directors spend valuable air time looking for gold under the rocks and ignoring the diamonds lying around in plain sight.
Then there is the music director whose nickname might very well be “Flip.” He frequently takes issue with the record companies on their choice of plug side. One in a while he may be right in his espousal of the flip, but most often he is wrong. Certainly there is no necessity for anyone to accept the infallibility of the record company’s selection of a preferred side. In a list of top hits for any year there are always a few items that were broken by a music director who disregarded the company’s promotion of the flip side. With most music directors the flip pick is an honest judgment. With others it is hero mania. Every music director owes his employer the obligation to use his own best judgment in selecting the side to be played. He should also he ready to admit his mistakes and to correct them. Sometimes, however, the music director keeps trying to prove his point in the face of mounting evidence to the contrary and permits his own stubborn ego to blind him to the facts.
IN ORDER TO BE EFFECTIVE the music director must know his market. While a majority of hit records do well in all areas, certain artists and certain musical sounds tend to do better in one city than in another. An awareness of local preferences is essential in guiding the music director’s selection of new material. Even though record sales are the yardstick by which the music director’s success is measured. his prime concern is not with selling records but
with station ratings. He may he tempted to “do a favor” for his favorite promotion man, but it is no favor to his employer to allow personal favoritism to interfere with the best possible programming. It is worthy of note that the most successful radio stations all have top-notch music directors. Whatever they are paid, they are well worth it. END
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(Information and news source: Billboard; February 8, 1964)
50th! When two hot Monkees LP’s sat on top of the Billboard LP chart — #1 (second LP) and #2 (Debut LP) — for week-ending February 11, 1967.
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