A MCRFB Note: Audio newly remastered, this WQTE audio aircheck was previously featured on Motor City Radio Flashbacks four years ago.
A special THANK YOU to Robert Pratt, of Farmington Hills, MI.. for providing this rare WQTE Tom Clay audio gem he personally recorded, as dated, 62 years ago.
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Audio recording was digitally enhanced by Motor City Radio Flashbacks
WQTE Launches New Management, Format and New DJs On-Air Policies
NEW YORK — The payola panic seemed to have abated but many stations across the country are still changing formats and/or deejays in search of higher audience ratings. Latest outlets to adopt new formats are KPOP and KABC, Los Angeles, and WQET, Detroit.
The Storer outlet, KPOP, is changing its call letters to KGBS – for obvious reasons – and switching from a Top-40-type format to an “adult music” policy, emphasizing show-music and semi-classical, beginning July I.
The ABC outlet, KABC, has put three spinners on notice and is adopting a non-deejay programming plan. Deejays put on four weeks’ notice at KABC were Jim Ameche, Don MacKinnon and John Trotter.
The station will launch a new non-deejay format July 4–details of which are still hush-hush. One trade rumor has it that the outlet might go on a news-only programming kick, a la a new San Francisco station operation.
Detroit Station WQET is dropping deejay-controlled disk programming in favor of a strictly supervised “Fabulous 56” format.
The format-switch at WQET is particularly interesting in view of Detroit’s hectic revolving-door situation in the deejay field over the last couple of years.
The station is headed by a team of veteran radio men – prexy Dick Jones and former top jock Ross Mulholland as general manager -and it went on the air last fall with a big-name deejay policy, featuring such top Detroit names as Ed McKenzie and Eddie Chase.
Confronted by lagging time-share sales and ratings, Jones and Mulholland decided to adopt the new “Fabulous 56′ policy last week on advice from local distributors. Programming has been taken out of the hands of the deejays and placed in the hands of management.
A list of 56 current hits is made up from station surveys of local dealers, one stops and juke operators, and a list of “rising tunes” compiled from national trade papers.
Approximately 60 per cent of the station’s programming is based on the 56 disks. The remaining 40 per cent is culled from “old memory songs – two to three years old,” new releases, and four “hit of the week” platters selected by the station’s four deejays.
In the wake of the station’s announcement that “the day of big name jockeys is past,” Eddie Chase left WQTE last week. McKenzie left the station three months ago in a disagreement over music programming policies. At the same time, the station has hired a new program director, Harv Morgan, and deejay Tom Clay. Remaining with the station are spinners Ralph Binge and Danny Murphy.
Clay was fired from WJBK, Detroit, last November after he admitted receiving about $6,000 over a year and a half from small record companies. The jock, along with other WQET deejays, has signed an affidavit that he will not accept payola, said Morgan, who opined that under the station’s new system the jocks will not have any opportunity to accept payola.
Morgan himself will also handle a deejay segment, in addition to his programming duties.
The new format was launched with considerable promotion and fanfare, including a special mailing to time buyers. The copies of Mantovani LP’s and similar non Top-40 packages were sent to the buyers, along with a comment to the effect that this is the kind of music listeners will like, but it doesn’t sell to audiences. END.
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MCRFB Note: Click or tap (and stretch) over each image for largest detailed view.
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Information, credit and source (as published): Billboard, June 20, 1960
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DETROIT FREE PRESS | Wednesday, June 1, 1977 — If John Hiller isn’t careful, manager Ralph Houk isn’t going to let him back in the bullpen.
The Tigers’ lefthanded relief ace certainly didn’t make it any easier for Houk to remove him from the starting rotation Tuesday night at Tiger Stadium as he put a stop to their six-game losing streak with an impressive 5-2 triumph over the Oakland A’s.
Mickey Stanley and Milt May helped him out with home runs, of course, as the Tigers’ dormant offense finally made it’s presence felt again, and Steve Foulcault stepped in when Hiller faltered in the ninth.
But there was no minimizing Hiller’s contributions to the cause as the 34-year old pitcher struck out nine while holding the A’s to nine hits in his second outstanding effort in a row as a starter — this time outpitching Oakland ace lefty Vida Blue.
Hiller now returns to the bullpen, where he and Foucault continue to compliment one another until Houk needs a fifth starting pitcher again.
However, after the way Hiller has pitched in the last two starts, Houk definitely won’t hesitate to call on him again. (See article below for more; click on, tap or stretch article for larger detailed read).
Detroit Free Press, 06/01/1977 | Copyright 2023. Newspapers.com
BASEBALL REFERENCE: For the complete Oakland Athletics vs Detroit Tigers May 31, 1977 game-day box score and stats — click HERE
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TIGER NOTES: On Saturday afternoon, May 15, the Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox, final score 6-2, before 6,514 fans at Tiger Stadium. Winning pitcher: Mickey Lolich. Losing Pitcher: Jim Lonborg. This was game #27 in the early season, and the Tigers were in third place in the AL standings. Tiger reliever, Larry Sherry, takes the save. The game took 2 hours and 50 minutes to complete.
Source: Baseball Reference. Detroit Tigers, 1965
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Above article/advertisement courtesy freep.com newspaper archive. Copyright 2023. Newspapers.com
The above featured Detroit Free Press article was digitally re-imaged by Motor City Radio Flashbacks
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Missed any of our previous ‘Detroit Radio Back-Pages‘ features? GO HERE
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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Missed any of our previous ‘Detroit Radio Back-Pages‘ features? GO HERE
ON YOUR PC? You can read this entire newsprint article/ad — the fine print — ENLARGED. For a larger detailed view click above image 2x and open to second window. Click image anytime to return to NORMAL image size.
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[Audio produced by Jim Davis a.k.a. Big Jim Edwards]
THE CKLW TOP 100 1967! Make plans to tune in Memorial Day Weekend for The CKLW Top 100 of 1967 Countdown. This Big 8 Radio special holiday presentation begins on Saturday, May 27, at 3pm eastern / Monday May 29 at Noon eastern time.
It’s another Big 8 Radio exclusive CKLW audio presentation. Brought to you by Charlie O’Brien and Big 8 Radio! 🙂
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The only place on the web you will find great audio recordings of legendary Motor City disk jockeys, great Detroit radio stations and radio personalities — spanning over six decades — archived here in one place.
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Newly-added to the Aircheck Library repository (as listed below): 05/12/2023
01. CKLW-AM – Dave Shafer – May 25-June 7 1967.mp3
02. WJR-AM – J.P. McCarthy – April 6 1994 [complete C-SPAN broadcast].mp3
03. WMXD-FM – Randi Miles – September 17 1998.mp3
04. WHFI-FM – Tom Clay – Guest Deejay (Date Unknown) – 1970.mp3
05. CKLW-AM – Radio 80 – Dick Smyth Newscast [The Bud Davies Show] – November 20 1963.mp3
06. WCZY-FM – Roy Stephens – September 1983.mp3
07. WKQI-FM – Kevin O’Neill – Q95 – September 11 1996.mp3
08. WMXD-FM – Gerald McBride – January 8 1996.mp3
09. WCZY-FM – Steve Kelly – October 4 1985.mp3
10. WLLZ-FM – Harv Blaine – November 24 1981.mp3
11. WHND-AM – Richard D. Haase – 560 Honey Radio – April 26 1982.mp3
12. WDRQ-FM – Lee Alan – New Year’s Eve Countdown (feat. Chuck Berry Walled Lake Casino Concert) – December 31 1977.mp3
13. WKNR-AM – Sounds Of Keener 13 – 1964-1967.mp3
14. WKNR-AM – Keener Top 13 Countdown [Bob Green Productions] – February 13 1967.mp3
15. WXYZ-AM – Fred Wolf Morning Show – Radio 1270 – December 10 1964.mp3
16. WMJC-FM – Jeff Elliot & Jerry St. James – September 28 1983.mp3
17. WCZY-FM – Dick Purtan – September 22 1983.mp3
18. WCSX-FM – Carl Coffey – June 18 1992.mp3
19. WKNR-AM – John Small – Is Paul McCartney Dead? – The Beatle Plot – October 19 1969.mp3
20. WKNR-FM – John Small – Is Paul McCartney Dead? – The John Lennon Interview – October 22 1969.mp3
21. WDRQ-FM – Bill Bailey – November 27 1974.mp3
22. CKLW-AM – Charlie Van Dyke [Million Dollar Weekend] – March 20 1976.mp3
23. WABX-FM – Dennis Frawley – August 16 1977 [Elvis Presley Remembered].mp3
24. WNIC-FM – Lee Alan – Reunion Weekend – May 19 1985 [EDIT].mp3
25. WHYT-FM – Karen Dalessandro – September 3 1984.mp3
26. WKNR-AM – Bob Green – Saturday, May 20 1967.mp3
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MCRFB Note: All of the 26 airchecks listed above were previously featured on this site and were transitioned to this repository page on May 12, 2023.
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WHND-AM – Richard D. Haase – 560 Honey Radio – April 26 1982
Compiled by the Music Popularity Chart Dept. of Billboard, from national retail store and one-stop sales reports, and radio airplay reports.
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Source Credit: 1966 (May) WiKipedia
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Two months ago, Audacy abruptly dumped all of their Smooth Jazz formatted stations on HD2, including Detroit’s Home for Smooth Jazz, V98.7.
When WVMV dropped their smooth jazz format and calls on the FM side, the new station moved it over to WDZH HD2 in 2009. After fourteen years on the air, the plug was pulled on late Friday evening, February 24.
While Audacy still incorporates the V98.7 format on their website, they replaced the extensive WDZH Smooth Jazz V98.7 playlist — immediately — with a much less selective, more shortened-playlist titled, ‘Soundscapes’. Noticeably, it is a much different smooth jazz format (and with ads!) you will hear on the channel today.
On March 4, I called the Audacy listed number in Southfield (MI.). I had called to inquire whether possibly there was some techical error, maybe or, whether they dropped the station. They had confirmed (and stated also inasmuch, to the many dismayed inquiries from callers they received as well) that V98.7 is now the former, officially having been dropped just before 11:00 a.m., on February 28.
I’ve been a huge fan of the smooth jazz format since the WJZZ-106 era in the Motor City. When WVMV V98.7 first signed on in December 1995, I took notice. And I became a dedicated listener to that station throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s during its smooth jazz heyday on the FM dial, and, up until its recent demise on HD2.
Not left to mire in despair, I was able to acquire the entire V98.7 HD2 playlist which the station had used in their play-rotation, essentially the same, most notably, which the station used during the past five years. The list comprises well over 800 smooth jazz tracks and the best of smooth R&B hits, combined. I have become very familiar with all these song titled numbers. I’ve listened to the station on HD2 and Audacy for many, many years already. It was, for the most part, my favorite station I listened daily to on their streaming app.
During March (and April) I created fourteen WVMV Detroit Smooth Jazz playlists on Spotify. Each volume (numbered 1-14) lists 55-plus titles per, having uploaded every song from the acquired playlist to the Spotify platform. The only thing you will not hear will be those wonderful WVMV jingles (masterfully created by Groove Addicts in Los Angeles) interspersed between song sets played throughout hours of the day, 24/7, on V98.7 HD2.
Here is a preview sampler below for WVMV Volume #3 (click on the play button):
Not on Spotify?
To listen on your mobile device, you can download the Spotify app on the Google play store. On your PC, you can also download Spotify here. Then register and set up your Spotify account, create a password, and, just sign in. And it’s free.
Once there, click over [my name] Jim Feliciano (or you can click my name in the preview provided above or on Spotify) and then scroll down to Public Playlist. To the right of the page, click on Show all and all 14 playlists will be featured there in one place. Or, you can go here.
There are several accounts under the WVMV ‘Smooth Jazz’ banner already on Spotify. I cannot speak for those. But what I can assure you is this. What I have presented there on the Spotify platform are all those same Detroit ‘Smooth Jazz’ favorites you heard played from the WDZH HD2 rotation during the past 5 years. Guaranteed.
So If you loved (and miss today) listening to Smooth Jazz V98.7 on Audacy, pass the word! The entire Smooth Jazz Detroit playlist is now all up on Spotify.
Jim Feliciano
Motor City Radio Flashbacks
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The WJBK FORMULA 40 hits was compiled, tabulated and produced by Radio 1500’s Bob Martin and Rosemary McGann.
This survey was tabulated overall by each record’s popularity and its appeal, sales, listener requests and record airplays based on the judgement of WJBK Radio.
Previewed for the week of April 21, 1958
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Above featured WJBK chart digitally restored by Motor City Radio Flashbacks
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A sincere thank you, Mrs. Patti Griggs. This featured presentation would have not been possible without your generosity, dedication, and your continuous support.
Above WJBK music chart courtesy of Mrs. Patti Griggs and the George L. Griggs estate.
Motown’s House Band Finally Gets Their Recognition and Just Due
LOS ANGELES — After more than 40 years of obscurity, the Funk Brothers are finally earning their due.
Though this group of 13 jazz/blues artists crafted much of the sound for Motown Records’ Detroit-era hits, its contribution to the music industry only recently received widespread recognition with the Standing in the Shadows of Motown documentary (Artisan).
The title’s April 22 DVD release ($22.98, $19.98 for VHS) promises to attract an even wider American audience with such notable added-value content as extra jam-session footage and extended documentary featurettes, as well as through its joint promotional support from Artisan Home Entertainment and Universal Music Enterprises (UME). UME promoted the accompanying soundtrack, which was released on Hip-O/Motown.
PACKED WITH CELEBRITIES, HITS
The Standing in the Shadows of Motown project first took wing in the 1980s. Writer/producer Allan Slutsky had been researching the bass playing of James Jamerson for a book about R&B hotbeds of the 1960s. Interest in the musician’s style led Slutsky to track down his widow, who informed him about Jamerson’s work with the Funk Brothers through out that decade and into the early 1970s. Slutsky ultimately wrote a book about the Funk Brothers and produced the documentary, which was released in theaters last November.
Through interviews and re-enacted scenes, the film documents the Funk Brothers’ rise and fall at Berry Gordy Jr.’s Motown Records. It also features performance segments with the surviving members of the house band and such contemporary vocalists as Joan Osborne, Chaka Khan, and Ben Harper. Pianist Johnny Griffith and drummer Richard “Pistol” Allen participated in the film, but they passed away before its theatrical release. (Griffith’s passing came just days before the film’s debut.)
The film’s soundtrack-which includes new recordings of “Heat Wave,” “Do You Love Me,””I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” and other Motown hits–garnered the Funk Brothers’ first Grammy Awards this year, in the categories of best traditional R&B vocal performance (for “What’s Going On,”with lead vocals by Khan) and best compilation sound track album for a motion picture, television or other visual media. The project, released Sept. 24, 2002, has sold 13,000 units, according to Nielsen Sound Scan.
Motown music’s ability to captivate modern audiences is not surprising to Funk Brother Jack Ashford, a tambourine player, who says, “Each Funk Brother had a unique signature to what he did, and these combinations made Motown’s music which in turn, collectively, created the Motown sound.”
Pianist Joe Hunter adds that the film “is the biggest recognition that [the Funk Brothers] have ever gotten. And because of Allan, I saw a whole lot of people I hadn’t seen in 35 years. By the time we had played our third tune together, we were at it again.”
Viewers will gain further insight into the ongoing history of the Funk Brothers through the DVD’s special features. Among these selections are a commentary with Slutsky and director Paul Justman, biographies of individual Funk Brothers, and a featurette recorded at a dinner with the group. The interactive recording-studio extra also enables viewers to arrange and record variations of the Funk Brothers tunes.
“I think the DVD will be most rewarding, because it is going down in history,” says Funk Brother Joe Messina, a guitarist who had stopped playing music for 30 years before participating in the project.
MOTOWN MARKETING
Artisan and UME’s joint promotional plans are designed to interest consumers in the video and the soundtrack. UME senior director of sales and marketing Ken Patrick says, “The goal is to try to create overall Motown excitement.”
The companies will run joint consumer print ads and are working on a variety of retail promotions. For example, Tower stores will feature end caps with the CD and DVD, while a sampler of Motown songs will be free with the purchase of the DVD at Circuit City outlets.
The Albany, N.Y.-based Trans–World chain is also running print and radio ads touting the titles. Trans World video buyer Mark Higgins says, “I think the DVD is going to do great. This is a natural for us, because our business is still primarily music.”
Artisan and UME will also provide support for the Funk Brothers’ April tour with Osborne. Artisan president of sales and marketing Jeff Fink notes, “We’re trying to include our retail accounts in the tour as much as possible. We will offer concert ticket giveaways at various stops.” Tour stops are still being determined. END
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Credit source information (as published): Billboard, March 22, 2003
