R&B Influential Popularity On Rise In Mainstream Pop Here and The U. K.
O P I N I O N
Chicago — In 1966, Rhythm and Blues has achieved a peak position as a powerful influence on the total music business. A study of the Hot 100 chart will show that dozens of top selling records are R&B oriented, and this fact has not been lost upon the manufacturers. Key labels — major and independents — are making every attempt to improve their stance in the R&B field.
Examples are many: Capitol Records in recent months has been adding personnel with the distinct aim of improving that label’s image in the R&B market. United Artists Records has revived it’s Veep label as an R&B vehicle. Mercury Records here in Chicago, is making a determined push to solidify their brand in the R&B field. It is known as well that RCA Records plans a more greater, expanded field in current R&B activities with their sound.
But the phenomenon does not stop here. R&B is very big overseas — particularly in England. In addition to R&B records selling strongly there, the British record business currently mirrors a strong influence in pop market preference for the current R&B popularity.
This is all to the good, for it represents on the part of the music-record business an awareness that R&B is one of the great streams of American music.
The R&B idiom encompasses blues in all it’s variety, and blues is the bedrock of much of jazz; it encompasses the gospel, or “church” sound; it encompasses rock and roll; and via the blues strains it includes much of American folk music. In brief, R&B has brought to the music industry a vitality and depth which can derive only from the roots.
That this is now so fully understood reflects credit on the record industry and the record buyer. It is to the credit of NARA (National Association of Radio Announcers) and its members that there is now a keen awareness of the importance of the field.
Finally, it must be pointed out that success entails a burden or obligation which is willingly borne by those who are dedicated. It is NARA’s obligation to do all it’s power to maintenance the excellence of R&B music; to foster it’s growth on all cultural and economical levels. END
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(Information and news source: Billboard; August 13, 1966)
R&B MAKING DENT IN HOT 100 OUTLETS, INCLUDING KHJ LOS ANGELES, WKNR DETROIT, WMCA NEW YORK
NEW YORK — If anything dramatizes the vast popularity of R&B music today, it’s the increasing use of R&B records for programming by the nation’s Hot 100 format stations. The estimates of R&B play on pop rock ‘n’ roll stations range anywhere from between 10-15 percent in Denver to “close to 50 per cent” in Miami.
WSGN, in Birmingham, has a playlist featuring 30-40 per cent R&B oriented records,, said music director Dave Roddy. Dutch Holland, music director of WFUN in Miami, who considers the Supremes as R&B artists, says WFUN’s programming is close to 50 per cent R&B oriented records because “these records seems to be what’s happening at this time.” The Miami market has two R&B stations that influence the popularity of these records.
TEN SOUL HITS comprised the WKNR playlist for August 1, 1966. “You Can’t Hurry Love,” Supremes, debuted at #27. (Click on image for larger view)
WKNR in Detroit has six or seven records on its top 31 playlist that are R&B in nature, said deejay Scott Regen. This was considered a fairly representative week’s playlist. However, WKNR and most Hot 100 stations across the nation consider such artists as the Supremes as pop artists; they’re no longer strictly R&B artists, they say because their sales are mostly in the pop field. So stations such as KHJ in Los Angeles, the No. 1 Hot 100 format station there, may be playing more R&B oriented records than the 15 per cent now estimated. Program director Ron Jacobs said he felt that the popularity of R&B music is growing.
KIMN in Denver is playing 10-15 per cent in R&B oriented records and program director Ted Adkins said this represents an unusual display of the popularity of the music as only about 5 per cent of the population in Denver is Negro. Even some of the monster hits in the R&B field in previous years never got off the ground in Denver, he said. But this year thus far, in 1966, has seen more R&B oriented records happening in Denver than ever before.
WMCA, New York, had a playlist last week on which about 20 per cent of the tunes were R&B oriented.END
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(Information and news source: Billboard; August 13, 1966)
R&B soul great Otis Reddingperforming live on stage in L.A. at the Whiskey A-Go-Go in 1966.Motown Supremes “You Can’t Hurry Love” single from 1966.
LENNON COMMENTSREGARDING ‘JESUS AND CHRISTIANITY’SPARKSOUTRAGE, GROUP’S MUSIC AIRPLAY BAN ACROSS U. S.
NEW YORK — The radio ban against playing Beatles’ records, which was begun last week by Tommy Charles and Doug Layton, WAQY, Birmingham, Alabama, has spread across the country, with dozens of stations refusing to program or play recordings by the British group.
British magazine Datebook July 29, 1966 issue with the controversial “Jesus” Lennon comment which fueled universal outrage around the world.
Cause of the controversy is a statement published in a British magazine, Datebook, dated July 29, 1966 and attributed to John Lennon. The statement follows:
“Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue about that: I’m right and I will be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first, rock ‘n’ roll or Christianity. Jesus was right, but his disciples were thick and ordinary.”
At a press conference held here late Friday, August 5, Brian Epstein, Beatles’ manager, said the statement was taken out of context. Epstein explained that Lennon meant “in the last 50 years the Church of England and, therefore Christ, had suffered a decline in interest.”
While the statement, confirmed by a Beatles spokesman, went virtually unnoticed in England, the reaction in this country was immediate.
In the aftermath of Lennon’s comments, Beatles records were banned from radio airplay by dozens of stations, sparked by B. J. Williams, seen here, a deejay from KSWO, Lawton, Oklahoma. (Click on image for larger view).
Greater impact has been in the so-called “Bible Belt” which is mainly in the southeast portion of the United States. But the ban has extended to other sections of the country. New York’s WABC has reportedly put Beatles records on the verboten list, but, at press time, the switchboard operator at the station said that not one of the station’s staff members could be reached.
B. J. Williams, deejay at KSWO, Lawton, Oklahoma, called for a Beatles “bonfire” and broke the Beatles’ latest record while on the air.
In Milwaukee, WOKY music director King Kbornik said he would not ban the record until he had seen Lennon’s remarks in print.
The extent of the ban is not known, but a majority of the nation’s radio stations will continue to program Beatles records. The group is scheduled to perform a concert at New York’s Shea Stadium August 23.
A spokesperson for Capitol Records, which issues Beatles recordings under it’s logo in the United States, said Lennon’s remarks were “quoted out of context and misconstrued.”END
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(Information and news source: Billboard; August 13, 1966)
CHICAGO — Vee-Jay Records, which scaled the sales heights before losing the Beatles in 1964, plunged into formal bankruptcy here last week.
In a hearing in U. S. District Court August 1, an offer by a West Coast combine to acquire the debt-ridden Chicago recording company was withdrawn and the court ordered receiver Gerald W. Grace to liquidate the company.
The acquisition offer was withdrawn because Vee-Jay’s obligation to the U. S. Government were considered excessive, Billboard has learned.
Vee-Jay has been in Chapter 11 status since early this year when President James Bracken announced that the firm had filed a petition for financial arrangement.
“The proceedings were instituted with the expectation that the corporation could be reorganized on a sound financial basis,” Bracken said.
In a hearing in May, a group represented by attorney William Bluestein of Los Angeles announced interest in acquiring Vee-Jay, which then owed the government about $1.5 million and had nearly $2 million in outstanding debts.
Bluestein’s group was interested in acquiring 69 4 Seasons masters, which were bid for at the same hearing by counsel for the 4 Seasons group. Bluestein’s interests would have made a financial arrangement with the government and would have paid creditors a dime on the dollar or 1/10th of 100 percent owed to each creditor.
‘The 4 Seasons Sing‘ on Vee-Jay Records; 1963. (Click on image for larger view)
The 4 Seasons contract with Vee-Jay Records reportedly called for the masters to revert to their agents, Genious, Inc., in the event of company bankruptcy. The masters will undoubtedly find their way into the catalog of Philips Records, a Mercury Records affiliate, also based in Chicago. The masters in question were awarded to Vee-Jay in a settlement following the signing of the group by Philips.
Vee-Jay suspended all operations here in May. The company was founded in Chicago in 1953, moved to Los Angeles in 1964 and returned last year. When the label returned to Chicago, the company had such artists as Jerry Butler, Betty Everett, Jimmy Reed, Little Richard, John Lee Hooker, the Dells, Joe Paige, Russ Morgan, Harry (Sweets) Edison, Fred Hughes, Joe Simon, Orville Couch and several gospel acts. END
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(Information and news source: Billboard; August 13, 1966)
Who owns the Beatles? Capitol Records vs. Vee-Jay Records, “cease and desist,” legal wranglings and continuous copyright ownership infringements claims against the Vee-Jay label, as this 1963 telegram would suggest, brought an ultimate end to Vee-Jay Records. The company was sued out of the business by mid-1966.Beatles LP on Vee-Jay Records, released early-1965.
WRIF-FM jock lineup for May, 1971. Ann Arbor Sun; May 14, 1971. (Click on image for larger view)
DETROIT — WRIF-FM in Detroit has added two new broadcasters in their lineup as they move towards a 24-hour live programming — Dan Carlisle and Paul Greiner. WRIF-FM started moving towards full live broadcasting over a year ago. With the two new additions they now offer 21-hours of live studio broadcasting and three hours of tape.
Both voices are familiar to Detroit audiences. Carlisle was one of the original crew on WABX-FM before going to Chicago’s WDAI-FM where he held down the 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. time slot. Carlisle will be on WRIF-FM from 3 to 7 p.m. Crossing town from WKNR-FM where he filled in from 2 to 6 p.m. is Greiner. Air time for Greiner on WRIF-FM will be from the 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. hours.END
(Information and news source: Billboard; May 22, 1971)
WWWW-FM RUNNING ‘100 MPH’ AGAINST WCXI-AM TO WIN COUNTRY RACE IN DETROIT
DETROIT — Dene Hallam, program director atWWWW-FM Country 106 claims the station is making strides in the latest Detroit radio ratings, and going against the competition in the market WWWW seemingly “always goes 100 miles per hour,” he says. That was just about fast enough to earn WWWW a 4.4 share in the latest Arbitron report, up from an invisible share, following a surprise format switch to country in January, 1981.
Detroit’s WWWW-FM Country PD Dene Hallam.
Hallam sees his station pulling an upset over WCXI-AM, an established country station, as more significant than just an upstart beating the competition at its own game. “I think ‘adult 25 to 54’ more than ‘country’ in programming the station. We’ve actually increased the country share of the market, rather than just take away listeners from ‘CXI,” Hallam claims.
“The country share of the Detroit market has traditionally hovered around 5.0. Now country stations have about an 8.4 share of the Motown market. When ‘CXI came on the scene, it devoured WDEE (now a religious station). We not only beat WCXI, we expanded the market share.”
The strategy appeared to be working, since WWWW rated no. 2 overall in Detroit among adults 25-54, beaten only by giant WJR-AM.
Workaholism is Hallam’s secret method to rocket to the top of the ratings. It’s not unusual for him to work 12-hour days, and he hopes the rest of the staff keeps up individually in attaining higher status and recognition where the station has been heading overall. He visits Nashville periodically, calling on artists, publishers, record companies and media reps. Locally, Hallam pays calls on retailers, scoping out the country singles section, even talking to customers, seeing what sells.
“Country never sold that well in Detroit, now its starting to sell. The other country stations have been basically MOR personality stations. My big question is, ‘Can I induce my audience to buy? That’s what we’re here for,” Hallam claims.
Hallam, in stating, claims he always had the bottom line in mind when he’s programming the station, and “it’s producing results for clients already.” Good thing, too, since WWWW lost almost all of its advertisers in the format switch.
Some critics cite the lack of commercials as one reason WWWW trampled the competition in the ratings this time out. “Our commercial load was light,” Hallam admits. “But the music we play keeps people listening. Some critics say country music is doing well because it’s on FM. I feel it’s a hindrance rather than an advantage. In the North, in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Cleveland, AM bested FM in country. FM started to beat AM in the South two or three years ago.”
Subtle differences give a station the edge over competition, Hallam’s convinced. Updating spots, making them sound immediate, encouraging deejays to talk conversationally, and convincing listeners that the station has a family orientation are some of the things that give him that edge.
Hallam feels the evolution of a new artists should be through small and medium stations, with little or no competition. “In a big city station, you’ve got competition. People would rather hear Kenny Rogers than some Joe Blow. We play the hits. We make the hits, too. Because WWWW played it, Joe Dolce’s ‘Shaddap Your Face’ sold over 400 copies at one Harmony House outlet. We watch smaller markets, sales, make call outs. Sylvia, Charly McClain, Freddie Raven were added because they were doing so well wherever they played.”
Promotion, both on the air and through concert tie-ins, is a big element in WWWW’s sudden success. Hallam tries to get a guest deejay appearance anytime somebody comes to town.
“Last week we had Alabama, Charly McClain and Ronnie McDowell. I try to get ’em to sound like real DJs — so if people don’t like a particular artist, they’ll listen anyhow. The guest artists talk right up to the lyric, play music beside their own. We try to get a taped promo from everyone who’s coming to town. I’ll go just about any length to get it, too. For Razzy Bailey, we had to set up a three-way conference call at 3:30 in the morning. But we got it.”
On the air promotions include concert ticket giveaways, prize-contests, many tied in to Pine Knob and Meadowbrook concerts. “We try to think of the whole family,” Hallam says. “We’re in the middle of of ‘106 Days of Summer’ right now. If you win a pair of tickets in a giveaway, the DJ will ask if you got kids. If you do, you don’t have to hire a sitter. . . . we’ll throw in the extra tickets so you can take them too.”
“The twang’s out of country. The western’s out of country and western. There’s no similarity between Eddie Rabbit and Hank Williams, Jr., only an evolutionary tie. WWWW doesn’t play much music older than the ’70s. Music wasn’t that well recorded before then, and especially when it comes to country music from decades ago, and stereo makes it sound even worse.”
“We try to play what people would like us to play for them. I don’t kid myself that WWWW is the only station our listeners tune in. I want to get more service on the air, increase our library, get out in the community more. Right now, I’m programming totally on gut feel. If the announcers can’t execute, the ideas are wasted. The jock is the liaison between listeners and the program director. The jock’s job is to entice the listeners to listen a little bit more than they would left to themselves.”
“I’ve never worked at any station that’s adult targeted, that’s as busy with requests as WWWW,” Hallam claims. “We went on Joe Dolce’s new single, ‘Ain’t No UFO Gonna Catch My Diesel’ right out of the box and the phones are just burning up with requests.”
“I change the rotation weekly, and rest a song when it comes off the playlist rotation. The entire staff here is dedicated in going the extra yard. There are too many 9 to 5 program directors (and other radio people) in the world. The answer to our hard work is in the ratings.”END
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(Information and news source: Billboard; August 22, 1981)
Dene Hallam1954-2009
A MCRFB Note: According to the Country Radio Broadcasters website (www.crb.org/), Dene Hallam began his country radio career as program director onHarrisburg, Pennsylvania’s WFEC in 1977. His country radio resume reflects he made stellar career advanceswhile programming New York’s first Country station, WKHK, as well as WWWW in Detroit, New York’s WHN, KKBQ in Houston,San Francisco’s KYCY, WKHX in Atlanta and WDAF in Kansas City. Hallam returned to Atlanta in 2007, serving as program director for the ‘Moby in the Morning’ network until his death in 2009. He was 54.
Dene Hallam held the distinction being one of only two programmers to win Billboard’s Program Director of the Year in two different formats, Country and Top 40. While at KKBQ in Houston in 1995, Hallam won the coveted Billboard PD of the year award for Country. For more information on Dene Hallam’s passing, gohere.
DETROIT — The Detroit-based new rhythm and blues Tamla-Motown show opened New York’s Apollo Theater last week and in it’s final few days appeared on its way to cracking box-office records. The show, scheduled to run for ten days at the Harlem theater, starred top Tamla-Motown acts headlining the event — the Miracles, Mary Wells, the Contours, the Supremes, the Marvelettes and others Motown acts, including Marv Johnson, a United Artist star, who is currently managed by Tamla-Motown chief Barry Gordy, Jr., was also featured on the bill.
The “Motortown Revue” first came to New York City’s Apollo in 1962.
Gordy, who manages and books all his Motown talents on his two hot labels, booked the entire show into the Apollo Theater. Prior to playing here, the show gained acclaimed exposure with a week’s performance in Washington and a string of one-nighters through the South. The rock and roll R&B show will play an engagement in Newark before heading back to its home base in Detroit.
This is not the first show ever sponsored by a label, but it is one of the most successful venue ever sponsored by a recording company promoting and showcasing of their talent/product. It is understood that Gordy, who has had much success with his record firms, will be presenting more shows of this type in the future. END
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(Information and news source: Billboard;December 22, 1962)
“The Miracles” w. musicians (L-R) Claudette Rogers, Ron White, Pete Moore, Smokey Robinson and Bobby Rogers circa 1962
HOLLYWOOD — Capitol Records will release the Beatles’ second single, “Can’t Buy Me Love” and “You Can’t Do That,” tentative Monday, March 16, claiming advance orders will exceed 1,700,000 copies. The Capitol label plans asking the RIAA to certify the disk as a million-seller on the same date for release.
Both tunes were written by band members Paul McCartney and John Lennon and the songs were recorded in London on February 27, upon returning from their triumphant U. S. visit here. Capitol Records has three outside pressing plants working on the disk, in addition to its own two facilities. The disk is also slated to be released in Europe tentative Friday, March 20. END
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(Information and news source: Billboard; March 14, 1964)
Police Called On Special Duty; Beatle Antics Causes Headaches
HOLLYWOOD — The Beatles may be idols of teenage girls and the love of top 40 stations, but to California police, airport officials and hotel managers they spell trouble.
When the mop-topped British band arrived here last week for concerts at the San Francisco Cow Palace and Hollywood Bowl, they found their reservations at the Fairmont and Ambassador Hotel canceled because of management fears about what screaming hordes of teenagers would do to their property, stayed guests and jovial the quartet itself.
The group was scheduled to land at Lockheed Airport in Lockheed, California, for their concert Sunday (August 23) at the Bowl, but officials nixed the idea, stating they didn’t want teenagers ruining their facilities.
“Beatlemania” frenzy displayed in full force during the 1964 Beatles concert performance in San Francisco.
The quartet arrived with accustomed hysteria and confusion at Los Angeles International Airport Tuesday, August 18, en route to San Francisco. Over 500 screaming girls flocked to the Pan American terminal when word was leaked that the Beatles was passing through L. A. Extra police were called in to supplement the regular airport security force. The Beatles touched down at 4:15 p.m. and were airborne at 5:45 p.m., appearing at a hastily arraigned press conference which accomplished nothing.
Forty-five minutes later, when they arrived in San Francisco, a howling mob of 5,000 hysterical teenage girls were there to greet them. More than 100 San Mateo County sheriffs and police officers fought back the hysterical youngsters.
The four were taken to the Hilton Hotel, one of the few places willing to rent them rooms.
To secure maximum protection for the Bowl concert, which Capitol planned recording, producers Bob Eubanks, Reb Foster (both of KRLA) and night club owners Michael Brown and Bill Uttley obtained the services of 149 Los Angeles policemen, with the city picking up the tab for the coverage because the Bowl is county property. When events are held in private facilities, police are often hired by the producers.
San Francisco producer Paul Catalana paid the salaries for 100 policemen, hired especially for the concert at the Cow Palace, but San Mateo County faced an estimated $4,000 tab for additional protection at the airport. END
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(Information and news source: Billboard; August 29, 1964)
Police security in high-action during the Beatles performance at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. The date was August 19, 1964.Fast-forward: September 14, 1964. The Cleveland police were heavily present posing as a security barrier from screaming female fans during the Beatles concert in Cleveland, sponsored by Top 40 WHK.
DETROIT — Close contact with record promotion men has been a contributing factor in CKLW’s surge to the top in a July-August Hooper audience rating survey, according to program director Paul Drew. The Hot 100 format edged out easy-listening station WJR-AM 20 to 19.9 in total rated time periods. WKNR, once the leading rock ‘n’ roll outlet, had a 13. 6 in the Detroit market. WJR does best in the morning hours, losing out 25.2 to 12.3 in the noon to 6 p.m. slot Monday through Friday. WKNR also tops WJR in the afternoon period.
A “feel” of the market is necessary in order to program a radio station successfully, said Drew. This involves “going where the people go. . . . not watching TV or going where you want to go.”
Promotion men can be a valuable aid in learning what’s on CKLW on March 3. The 50,000-watt station had never before enjoyed good ratings. . . . going on in a market, Drew says. The 50,000-watt station beaming out of Canada into Detroit and beyond had never before enjoyed good ratings. . . . going on in a market, Drew said. CKLW set aside two days each week so promotion men can see the music librarian, he said, “and I try to see them when I can.” Last Monday, for example, Drew took time to talk to Sammy Kaplan, an independent man ” who’s don’t very well and has given us some good information”; Harvey Cooper, RCA-Victor Records; Cliff Goroff, Dot Records; and Russ Yerges, Columbia Records. In addition, Drew tries to take or return every telephone call from all the record men connected with the recording industry for the benefit of where the station has been going both in popularity and market rank.
Team Effort
Paul Drew with Petula Clark in 1967. Photo property of Georgia Radio Hall of Fame. (Click on image for larger view)
Drew, formerly music director at WQXI in Atlanta, took over as program director at CKLW earlier this year, which at the time was certainly not benefiting the high ratings it hold now. Drew felt that the achievement was a team effort of the people at the station; though he did bring in some deejays, such as Gary Mitchell, Mike Rivers and Jim Edwards, he did not do the “cleaning house” (Tom Shannon, Dave Schafer remains) that many program directors do. Playlist varies, but centers around a group of 30 records, plus eight or nine “hitbound” selections added each week, plus a few album cuts. Last week, the station was playing one cut from Aretha Franklin’s “Aretha Arrives” LP, “If I Were A Carpenter” from the new Four Tops album “Reach Out,” and a track from Dionne Warwick’s “Window Of The World” LP.
Watches Playlist
CKLW PD Paul Drew with Cher. Photo property of Georgia Radio Hall of Fame. (Click on image for larger view)
A tight playlist doesn’t necessarily mean that a new product won’t get played, he said. Last week, the station went on J. J. Barnes new “Now That I Got You” on Groovesville Records and was also playing the Strawberry Alarm Clock’s “Incense And Peppermints.” A new record by an unknown artist will have trouble making the station’s playlist, he said. . . . “It’s a rare thing, unless it’s a smash in another market.” The station watches closely current radio playlists in Flint and Lansing. At night, CKLW’s signal reaches 18 States, Drew said.
Drew started in radio in 1955 at WHLS in Port Huron, Michigan, after attending Wayne State University in Detroit where he majored in speech and psychology. He was a deejay for four years at WGST in Atlanta, doing a nightly rock ‘n’ roll show for the good music station, there since 1963. It was about this time that Phil Yarbrough, now known as Bill Drake, talked him into joining WAKE in Atlanta, where Drake was program director. Drake went to KYA, San Francisco, and Drew went to WQXI in Atlanta for three years. While there he served as deejay, then program director, then music director for the popular top 40 radio station. END
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(Information and news source: Billboard; September 30, 1967)
MCRFB Note: The Jim Davis YouTube interview featured below took place in 2002. For more on Jim Davis (Big Jim Edwards) today, gohere.
From the MCRFB NEWS archive: 1966
