The David Lachenbruch Equipment Newsletter October 12, 1963
FM STEREO, during 1963, has become a nationwide medium – and a nationwide selling opportunity. There are now 250 North American FM stations broadcasting at least part of their schedules in stereo. (This includes 12 in Canada.)
David LachenbruchBillboard Electronics Editorial Director
In the U. S., FM stations are broadcasting in stereo in 42 of the 50 States, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. As of this writing, 48 of the top 50 markets (in terms of population) are served with clear, local multiplex stereo signals – as well as many, many smaller markets. Many of the larger cities have a wide choice of FM stereo signals. In Chicago, for example, seven stations are broadcasting in stereo now, with the recent addition of WXRT -FM. Detroit has six. San Francisco and Seattle have five each.
We’ve been watching FM stereo closely in this column – and particularly its emergence as a nationwide medium – because we believe it provides the greatest home music instrument selling opportunity since the introduction of the stereo disk.
Now that perhaps more than 80 per cent of the nation’s population is within the range of FM stereo broadcasting, awareness of this new medium should increase rapidly. From the standpoint of the manufacturer, it’s now worthwhile to advertise FM stereo on a national basis. It’s no longer a regional market. Dealers, of course, can be in a position to capitalize on this promotion – even those in areas without FM stereo service now.
EARLIER THIS YEAR, we predicted that a million FM stereo receivers of various kinds would he sold this year. We believe this forecast is still valid; in fact, it may be somewhat on the low side as the result of introduction of large variety of new FM stereo receiving equipment.
The component high fidelity field often foreshadows trends in the packaged audio equipment market. Monophonic FM tuners in the component field have virtually been replaced by stereo tuners. In packaged goods, this trend will spread first to stereo phonographs. By the end of this year it’s a good bet that nearly all radio – phonograph combinations and radio – TV- stereo combinations, except for the low-end models, will have FM stereo.
But right now FM stereo is something you must sell up to in the console field – since many console phonographs are available in three flavors; that is, without radio, with AM-FM and with AM-FM- stereo.
In the portable and table model phonograph field, an increasing number of high-end units are appearing now with FM stereo, extending the versatility of compact stereo instruments. Presently GE, Magnovox, Fisher, Emerson, Pilot, Symphonic, Phonola and others are offering various types of compact stereo phonos with FM stereo.
The biggest growth this year has been in the field of AM-FM stereo table model radios. Nearly all domestic manufacturers, and many importers, now have FM stereo table models.
BUT FM STEREO IS NEW. It doesn’t sell itself. Many prospective customers haven’t even heard of it, or are only vaguely aware of what it is. Helping to create an awareness of this new medium is where real salesmanship comes in FM stereo can be both an impulse item and a step-up item. In the packaged equipment field it’s been largely a step -up so far. We have yet to see a store with a window streamer inviting the public to “Come in and Hear the New FM Stereo.” If color television can be successfully merchandised this way – and it is – why not FM stereo?
Like color television, FM stereo usually has to be demonstrated to be sold. This means a good outdoor antenna, and knowledge of which local stereo station puts out the best signal -and the most easily demonstrable programming – in your area.
A Magnovox Phono AM-FM home console unit, 1963
It seems inconceivable that any prospective customer should enter a store in search of a stereo phono or FM radio without being treated to a demonstration of FM stereo -and yet, in our own experience, this seems to happen more often than not. Just one question by the salesman – “Have you heard the new FM stereo ? ” – is enough to arouse interest in this latest radio development.
Salesmen should be thoroughly indoctrinated on FM stereo – what it is and how it works. Several radio -phono manufacturers have good booklets that will introduce them to it and give them the proper answers. Electronic Industries Association (1721 De Sales St., N. W., Washington) has an excellent pamphlet on FM stereo which should be must reading for salesmen.
ONE OF THE BEST WAYS to promote the sale of FM stereo equipment is through a tie-in with one or more of the local stereocasting stations. Some stations are aggressive and go out of their way to contact dealers and try to help them sell receivers. Unfortunately many stations aren’t self -starters in this respect. But every FM stereo station wants to increase its stereo audience as rapidly as possible, and most of them will be anxious to help promote FM stereo.
In many cities one of the most persuasive arguments for buying a stereo receiver is the amount of programming available in stereo. Some stations will give you quantities of their program logs for free distribution – so that prospective customers can see what they’re missing by not having stereo. Others have complete promotion kits, with window streamers, leaflets, etc. Most new FM stereo stations will be willing to give you advice on the best type of antenna installation for your store -some will even send a technician around to look it over if you’re having trouble.
If you wait for people to walk in off the street and ask you about FM stereo, you’re not taking maximum advantage of this new entertainment medium. On the other hand, if your store becomes “FM Stereo Headquarters,” if every salesman is well informed about FM stereo and instructed to demonstrate it to every customer, if you are equipped to give a good demonstration, and to give sensible advice on installation – then FM stereo can be the most profitable part of your music equipment sales this fall and winter. END
Billboard October 12, 1963
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(Information and news source: Billboard; October 12, 1963)
Some Radio Stations Pulling Stops From Losing Adult Audiences to Current ‘Beatlemania’ Hysteria
NEW YORK – With the Beatles safely home after their record-breaking tour of the United States and Canada, broadcasters are mulling the cause and effect of “Beatlemania.”
In attempting to evaluate a phenomenon like the Beatles the inevitable question arises as to what caused the hysteria – the Beatle fans as a result of radio, or radio, under pressure of Beatle fans.
WWDC – Washington D. C. – welcomes the Beatles! February 11, 1964.(Click on image for larger view)
No matter who caused it, never before in the history of radio broadcasting has any group or individual from the entertainment world received such overwhelming support. Beatlemania struck radio with unprecedented impact, sending many thousands of hours of related programming into the airwaves.
The involvement by radio has gone far beyond the mere playing of Beatles records. Contests, promotions, extensive news coverage, pilgrimages to England, etc., became standard procedure.
The cities with more than one contemporary music-formatted station enjoyed (or cringed) as two or three stations battled to out-Beatle each other.
Radio programmers explain that the affair was not one of love alone, but an effort to cash in on what was mushrooming into the latest (and perhaps biggest) pop music craze ever to hit this continent.
Others argue that the mania is attributable primarily to the tremendous radio station involvement and identification with the Beatles. The “Monster” was of their own making.
Serious Drawbacks
Industry programmers caution that Beatlemania with its strong appeal to teenagers could result in driving away adults that enjoy contemporary pop pop music. It has also been noted by many the possibility that rhythm and blues and the more conservative music stations have attracted many listeners away from pop stations as a result of the latter’s preoccupation with the English sound.
Just how much good, or harm, the Beatles have done to radio is being measured. Programming executives are carefully watching station audience composition studies and the ratings to determine if the new seven to 12-year old listeners captured by Beatle broadcasting has resulted in a loss for contemporary music stations of adults.
The Beatles of Liverpool, like the Pied Piper of Hamelin, have a mysterious musical lure for even the smallest of tots. Why?
“It’s their honesty, in part, plus the fact that they look like cuddly dolls,” says producer Jack Good of ABC -TV’s “Shindig,” on which the Beatlemania of John, Paul, George and Ringo will resound Wednesday, Oct. 7.
Another ABC-TV show bows Saturday, Oct. 10 to the demand of Beatle fans. Dick Clark will present an all-Beatle program on the “New American Bandstand-’65,” including the pick of their latest recordings, a portion of their latest motion picture, several taped interviews procured from KRLA, Pasadena, and KRLA deejay Casey Kasem’s recording of “A Letter From Elena.”
The flames were further fanned by many stations, who not content to refer to the group in the second person, dispatched their top newsmen and deejays on the recent 30 -day junket made by the boys from Liverpool.
Among the air personnel who traveled with the Beatles to tape on-the-spot personal reports and interviews for their stations back home included Larry Kane, newsman, WFUN, Miami; Art Schrieber, news director of KYW, Cleveland; Jim Stagg, KYW deejay, and Long John Wade, WDRC, Hartford, deejay. Most stuck it out for the whole tour.
Contests and Promotions
Nearly every conceivable type of contest and promotional tie-in with the British group has been tried by stations here and in Canada.
CHWO, in Canada, conducted a “Beatle Bonanza” in connection with the showing of “A Hard Day’s Night.” A special phone answering switchboard set up to handle the calls was swamped and eventually broke down. KDKA’s promotion manager, Owen Simon, and 17 other station staffers went into the streets of Pittsburgh with 40 tickets to the movie. WOWO, Fort Wayne, Ind., “Pussycats” were similarity beaten in a group singing honors. The “Pussycats,” comprised of deejays from WOWO, were edged out in a contest which drew 52,000 postcards during the three-week battle.
WIBC, Indianapolis, selected 35 questions from more than 3,500 submitted by listeners to he relayed to the Beatles in London. They recorded their answers, sent the tape to WIBC and the WIBC Beatles Press Conference became a ruddy success. The station was also designated as the “Mid-America Chapter of the Beatles National Fan Club.”
Both WQAM and WFUN iMiami, flew a planeload each of listeners to the Beatle concert in the Gator Bowl. The stations ran contests to pick the lucky entourage. WJZ -TV, Baltimore, ran a “Beatles Forever Contest” in conjunction with the station’s “People Are Talking” program. The grand prize winner received an all-expense-paid trip for two to Pittsburgh to see the Beatles. Toronto was typical of the cities that experienced personal Beatle visits.
CHUM garnered all of its manpower to cover the event and featured broadcasts from the hotel lobby while George Harrison’s sister Louise (flown to town courtesy of CHUM) broadcast her comments from a suite overlooking the hotel entrance.
The next day – Beatles Day – every second record played by CHUM was by the Beatles. CHUM played a part during and after the concert at Maple Leaf Gardens.
One of the footnotes to Beatlemania was the WGUY, Bangor, Me., ban on Beatles records which resulted in a group of teenagers picketing the studios.
In announcing the Beatles disk ban, William Hart, general manager of WGUY, declared the station would “no longer be part of a drive to build a Beatle empire.” END
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(Information and news source:Billboard; October 10, 1964)
Ascension of FM Radio Popularity Stokes Consumer Choice For 2 Band Radios, 1965
CHICAGO – Dealers have been reporting a revolution in radio sales that could see AM-only models go the route of 78 r.p.m. There is one exception to the trend: low-end AM portables in the $5-$10 range which serves as the vital link between the teenager and his rock ‘n’ roll radio station.
“Even in the moderate-cost table lines our customers want AM FM,” goes the typical dealer observation. The changing market is clearly reflected in factory sales figures just released by the Electronic Industries Association. And one need not go too much further in search of an explanation than the record of FM station growth during recent years (see chart below).
Sales Tripled
EIA figures show that sales of auto and home radios equipped to receive FM have more than tripled since 1960. An increase of 40 per cent above 1964 is expected before the end of next year. In 1960 – the year FM really started to catch hold – one FM receiver was sold for every nine radios purchased. Last year one of every four radios sold could receive FM. By 1966, EIA expects the ratio to increase to one of three.
AM-only sales have hovered between 16 and 20 million since 1960. Some 20 million of these sets are expected to move this year. Of the domestic-brand FM sets sold, the EIA has found that some 40 per cent are incorporated in phonographs, 25 per cent are table models and the remainder are portable or combined with clocks and TV sets.
Portables Lead
Portables have registered the highest rate of FM sales increase. Radio Advertising Bureau statistics indicate that 23 million FM sets were included in the 151 million reported in home use today. This share is expected to rise to 30 million of 161 million this year and 38 million of 170 million in 1966.
The increase in FM model sales has remained in step with FM broadcasting growth. While set sales have tripled since 1960, station number has increased from 821 in 1960 to 1,205 in 1964.
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(Information and news source: Billboard; October 9, 1965)
Billboard and Recording Music Industry Pays Homage to Ray Charles’ on His Twentieth Year in the Recording Business, 1966
Billboard October 15, 1966
The record business since its earliest years has been marked by the occasional appearance of an artist whose career added something fresh, or unique, to the world’s musical heritage. Such an artist was Caruso; another was Gene Austin; and yet others were Duke Ellington and Charley Parker. The list is a wonderful one . . . it is a list of what may be called the “great originals” and it includes Jimmie Rodgers, Frank Williams, Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra.
Each had his bag, as they say; and we may be grateful that several of the names are still carrying on in the great tradition. But the wellspring of talent never runs dry, and it is our pleasure to formally take note of – and document – the latest addition to the ranks of the “great originals.” Ray Charles is the name, as The Genius himself says in one of his early singles.
Ray has been on the scene some 20 years. His biography is the theme of another story; but for our purposes – the consideration of Charles as a recording artist – it is important to note that the years he spanned, two decades, were years of profound change in the music business.
Charles had recorded for some obscure labels on the West Coast in his initial years; but his first major development came when he joined Atlantic Records in 1952. “Root” influences were entering the mainstream of pop music. Rhythm and blues was selling in the pop market. This was an exciting blues – based music which was filling the vacuum created by the decline of the bands of the 1930’s and early 1940’s.
As the band business declined, the jazz world went off into new directions; and its prophets were Charley Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Christian and others who flocked to Minton’s in Harlem. Locations like Bird – land and Bop City echoed with the new music. Simultaneously – in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s – in another segment of the music business, another “root” influence was about to enter the mainstream of pop music.
This was the country and western ‘field, with its spiritual home in Nashville. It was during this time that several pop artists – notably those recorded on Columbia by Mitch Miller – such as Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney and Joe Stafford, garnered big hits with such country material as “Cold Cold Heart,” “Half As Much” and “Jambalaya“.
In still another area of the world of music – Memphis – an innovator named Sam Phillips was laying the groundwork for a history – making musical development: the creation of the “rockabilly” sound, a fusion of blues and country as done by white artists such as Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash.
Assuredly, the times were changing. Tin Pan Alley, once centered in New York, had become the entire nation; and the wealth of American music was coalescing into one stream. Today it has coalesced in the artistry of Ray Charles. He has brought to the record buying public the elements outlined above – blues and country and pop; but “his bag” is infinitely greater, for it includes the great treasury of ballads written by the cream of composers affiliated with both ASCAP and BMI.
He is – in one – a great vocalist, a jazz pianist, a fine songwriter, a great arranger; and, as has been pointed out by Jerry Wexler, vice-president and general manager of Atlantic Records, Charles is a constant influence on the contemporary jazz scene. Indeed, he is one of the “great originals” – and this at a time when American music is richer and more complex than it has ever been.
Ray Charles 1953
Ray in his early years was influenced by the great, late Nat King Cole and the noted rhythm and blues artist, Charles Brown. He then came to Atlantic (1952) and recorded his first sides – one of which was “Losing Hand,” a notable blues side, particular with regard to the piano and guitar interchange. The first recording date included another interesting side, “Mess Around,” a rousing uptempo blues, written by Ahmet Ertegun, the president of Atlantic. But thus far, Ray was not writing his own material or arrangements.
One year later, however, Atlantic recorded Ray while he was playing around New Orleans. The session, cut at radio station WDSU studios, produced “Don’t You Know” – not one of his big sellers but nevertheless a milestone record because it was a Ray Charles tune, a Ray Charles arrangement and a Ray Charles band.
The year 1954 was a very important one for Charles. He was now writing and arranging, and his famous gospel style -using gospel chord progressions -was very apparent in his work. Wexler recalls: “In November of 1954, Ray called us to Atlanta to dig his new band. We got with him in the afternoon at the Peacock nightclub . . . as soon as we walked in Ray counted off and they hit into ‘I’ve Got a Woman’ and that was it. Zenas Sears got studio time for us, and after much confusion we got out with a tape containing ‘I’ve Got A Woman,’ ‘Greenbacks,’ ‘Come Back Baby‘ and ‘Blackjack‘ . . . it had now happened. Ray was full-fledged, ready for fame.“
From this point forward, Charles made many hit records with his own songs, his own arrangements and his own seven -piece band. Until 1959, he emphasized his gospel-styled songs. Then in 1959 Atlantic cut the noted Genius” session. This featured six sides with strings and voices with arrangements by Ralph Burns. Six sides were done with a big band. This group contained Charles’ own small group plus Ellington and Basie sidemen.
Arrangements were by Quincy Jones, Ernie Wilkins and others. Released under the title, “The Genius Of Ray Charles,” this album opened up for Charles a new segment of the record audience.
So during his Atlantic years, Charles developed greatly in blues, giving it his distinctive gospel orientation; he also developed as a jazz artist, as an arranger and writer; and finally, he also showed his capacity for handling ballads, such as his great performance of the Johnny Mercer-Harold Arlen standard, “Come Rain Or Come Shine.”
During his term on Atlantic, Charles had brought to the awareness of the public the term “soul” (see separate story) as characterizing his type of performance. It is also worthy of mention that his Atlantic blues sides, in addition to their gospel feeling, contained Charles’ own version of the vocal break so characteristic of blues performances, and a diversity of interesting rhythm patterns including a rumba blues beat – as exemplified in his “What’d I Say” record. In these years he also developed his capacity for wit and humor, as illustrated by such sides as “It Should Have Been Me” and by his subtle voice inflections.
Finally – on June 26, 1959 – to be exact, Charles cut a prophetic record. This was “I’m Movin’ On,” written by the great country artist, Hank Snow. As Wexler had said: “Regardless of the genre -gospel, pop, even hill-billy, Ray Charles now has the world for an audience.”
Ray Charles 1959(Photo credit: Paul Hoeffler)
How true. Charles was already very interested in country and western material. He was hip to the songs, to artistslike Chet Atkins and Hank Snow, and he was getting ready to project himself to the public in new dimension-country music, with string and big band arrangements.
This was to happen early in Charles’ association with his new (and current) label – ABC. Charles’ recordings on ABC represent a flowering of his talent in many areas – all of them merging into one: pop. He took jazz, rhythm and blues, country and western and big ballads and gave to them all his unique touch; and sold them all in the mass market.
Ray’s first albums on ABC were “Genius Hits The Road” and “Dedicated To You“. These were not in the old Charles jazz or rhythm and blues style; the sides made use of big band arrangements, strings and a chorus, arranged and conducted by Marty Paich and produced by Sid Feller.
The first album produced the notable “Georgia On My Mind,” which became the nation’s No. I single. These two albums, with songs like “Georgia,” “Ruby,” and “Stella By Starlight” broadened Charles’ audiences. His exploration of sophisticated musical areas continued with such albums as “Ray Charles And Betty Carter,” using such great standard material as “People Will Say We’re In Love” and “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” with arrangements by Marty Paich and the Jack Halloran Singers.
ABC Paramount 1962
But a blockbuster development was coming: This was Charles’ increasing interest in country music. Two albums, “Modern Sounds In Country & Western Music, Volumes I and II,” were milestones in several ways. Volume I gave ABC its first million-selling album and this included the million-seller single, “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” the Don Gibson song published by Acuff-Rose. In Nashville, where Acuff-Rose headquarters, President Wesley Rose was heard to remark: “That man (Charles) has done a lot for country music.”
Rose, of course, was correct. Charles, a great performer with blues and with jazz, who subsequently proved his artistry with standard ballads, now was proving his artistry with the country and western idiom. The prophecy inherent in his recording of Hank Snow’s “I’m Moving On” was about to be realized. In a set of revealing notes written for the liners of the country albums. Rick Ward, ABC publicity advertising director, tells how a&r director Sid Feller was at first confused when Charles requested a list of country hits of the past 20 years. Sid started collecting the songs, and by the time the recording session was due, Feller was completely sold on the idea.
Working with arrangers Marty Paich, Gerald Wilson and Gil Fuller, Charles produced a body of recorded material which accomplished several things: I) The country sides gave Charles a new dimension – one which had been hinted at in his Atlantic era; 2) Charles’ recordings of country music gave the country field a new dimension, for it brought country music even more firmly into the pop mainstream of American music.
Meanwhile, in an industry which is marked by the phenomenon of changing tastes and artists of short-lived fame, Charles keeps on turning out hit after hit: “Hit The Road Jack,” “Busted,” “Let’s Get Stoned” and others, plus his current “I Chose To Sing the Blues.” The last two decades – the era of Ray Charles – have been important ones for musicologists and scholars of the social scene. These people have realized that integration developed on a musical level long before the present civil rights movement picked up steam.
In this article we have sketched the broad outlines of this development – the influence of Memphis and Presley; the influence of Nashville, and finally, the influence of Charles who saw and understood the entire scene and made it his own with his fusing of blues, gospel, country and standard ballads and jazz-making all of these musical forms desirable to the pop market. In this way, Charles exercised a highly significant socio-musical influence whose total effect on our culture is still gaining momentum.
Meantime, he has not forsaken any of the musical forms which have been part of his development. One of his albums, for instance, is titled “Together Again“ (from the hit song of the country writer-artist Buck Owens). This contains, in addition to the title song, a veritable pot-pourri of both country and rhythm and blues material.
It includes, for instance, Bill Monroe’s “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” which was the first song (and a country song at that) ever recorded by Elvis Presley. It also contains the country items, “I’ve Got A Tiger By The Tail” and “I Don’t Care,” and such rhythm and blues sides as “Watch It Baby” and “Maybe It’s Nothing At All.” This album, incidentally, was first issued under the title: “Country And Western Meets Rhythm And Blues“.
Ray’s Moods 1966
In his latest album, to be released momentarily, there is reflected the broadest range of material. Titled “Ray’s Moods,” this package presents something for all the different types of Ray’s fans. Those hankering for rhythm and blues have it in “What-Cha-Doing In There.” For the jazz buffs there’s “Chitlins With Candied Yams“. His ballad style is illustrated by “Please Don’t Say Goodbye,” and his whimsical, humorous side is reflected in “Granny Wasn’t Grinning That Day“.
And finally, for the country fan, there’s “She’s Lonesome Again.” Buffs of Ray’s piano style will like “Maybe Because It’s Love” and “It’s A Man’s World,” the latter with gospel chord progressions. And Ray, of course, is continuously an innovator, so in this package he sings “Sentimental Journey” as no one has ever done it before.
Such is the artistry of Ray Charles, whose career spanning two decades has brought together the diverse strands of American music fashioning them into a creation that is at once fresh and new while still remaining faithful to the roots from whence it all sprang.END
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(Information and news source: Billboard; October 15, 1966)
Ray Charles and The Raylettes circa 1965.(Photo credit: Charles Pugh)
Police Called On Special Duty; Beatle Antics Causes Headaches
Note: Previously posted on September 20, 2012
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 in full force. Cow Palace, 1964, 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. August, 1964.
Flashback forward: September 14, 1964. The Cleveland police were heavily present posing as a security barrier during the Beatles concert in Cleveland, sponsored by Top 40 WHK.
Singer Credits Radio Jocks in Turning Selections from LPs Into Singles
NEW YORK – Trini Lopez, the Reprise Records artist, owes a lot to the disk jockey fraternity. Not only have the deejays helped catapult his records into the top-selling brackets, but they’ve also been doubling as a&r advisors for the singer.
Lopez, who is now in New York for a month’s engagement at Basin Street East (beginning June 8), openly admits that the disk jockeys have helped tremendously in deciding which side should be taken out of his Reprise albums for a push in the singles market. “It was the disk jockey action on ‘If I Had A Hammer’,” said Lopez, “that made us take it out of my album, ‘Trini Lopez at P.J.’s’ for a single release.” The result of the action was a 4,000,000 single seller around the world. The album. incidentally, also has racked up global sales around the 4,000.000 mark.
Lopez also mentioned that his culled track from his second album, single round, “Kansas City,” was “More Trini Lopez at P.J.’s” because of disk jockey preference, went on to pull in more than 500,000 sales. Similarly, his current single release, “What Have I Got of My Own” was given the deejay nod from among the songs included in his third LP, “On the Move.”
Although Lopez made his mark in the singles and album fields a little over a year ago, his current stop at Basin Street East marks his first engagement in the East. He said the delay was due to commitments overseas. “A disk performer today,” explainedLopez. “can no longer ignore the international field. His records sell in those markets and therefore it’s to his advantage that he appear there.”
In Europe, Lopez already has played in England, Paris, Rome, London, Holland, Berlin, Belgium and Scotland. He goes hack to Paris in August for a one-man show at the Olympia Theater. In his previous engagement at the Olympia, during February and March of this year, he co-starred with the Beatles, now on his foreign itinerary in his first tour of South America. This is set for November, with stops scheduled in Brazil, Nicaragua, Peru and Mexico City. Coincidentally with the upcoming South American tour will be the release of his fourth Reprise LP to be titled, “Trini Lopez: The Latin Album.” Don Costa did the arrangements and conducted the orchestra for this package.
Costa also worked with Lopez in preparing the arrangements for his act at Basin Street East. In previous dates, Lopez worked with bass and drums accompaniment only, but for the Basin Street East date he’ll have a 10-piece crew backing him. “The sound will be larger,” said Lopez, “but it will still be like that heard on my records.” END
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(Information and news source: Billboard; June 13, 1964)
Radio Manager 7 Point Essentials Defines Station’s Objectivity, Success and Destiny
From the Desk of Bill Gavin Billboard Contributing Editor
A RADIO STATION is people. Its impact on listeners and advertisers is the product of a number of people, doing a number of things. Engineers, secretaries, salesmen, disk jockeys, accountants, supervisors, switchboard operators and managers all combine to produce profitable programming. Of all the people who make radio what it is, the one who stamps his personality most indelibly on a radio station is the manager. Not only does he control a station’s destiny, but his personality and character are often reflected by his employees.
THE MAN WHO achieves managerial status most often does so by demonstrating ability in the business aspects of broadcasting. More often than not the manager lacks experience in programming, or in any of the performing or production phases of show business.While he can direct his salesmen and accountants with the voice of experience, he usually relics heavily on his program director to plan and supervise the actual programming. There are times, however, when only the manager can make critical decisions about program policy. At such times, a lack of program experience can produce decisions that do more harm than good.All too often a manager’s decision to make drastic changes in program policy is made without proper awareness of consequences.
THE PURPOSE of this Newsletter is to suggest certain qualities that all managers should have in making their program decisions effective.
OBJECTIVITY: A manager may he coldly analytical about such things as overhead, taxes and profits, but he is often apt to let his own personal tastes get in the way of good programming judgment. He forgets that the music that he, his family and friends enjoy is not necessarily the music most preferred by most radio listeners. A careful study of ratings, as influenced by various programming patterns, offers the only safe guide on this thorny path.
OPEN-MINDEDNESS: We need to look back only a few years to remind ourselves how radio continues to change. New ideas bring new successes. New ideas are not necessarily good ideas, and they frequently fall short of their goal. No capable managerwill try out every new idea brought to him. but he will at least he ready to explore its possibilities. There are few surer methods of failing in radio management than a stubborn adherence to the past.
CONVICTION: Some managers embark on a new program policy with obvious reluctance. Their doubts and cars are contagious. The entire staff is infected by uncertainty. When program planning lacks directions and When a manager finds it necessary to submerge his own personal tastes in order to follow objective logic, he should keep his feelings to himself.
COURAGE: A conservative station that switches to a top pop music policy is bound to become the target of adverse criticism. Listeners will protest. Local newspaper columnists will poke ridicule. The manager’s golfing cronies will express their objections. Every manager who takes his station into the pop music field for the first time should expect such abuse and be prepared to discount it. Eventual gains in ratings and revenue will be sufficient rebuttal for the critics.
CONSISTENCY: Once a program policy is embarked upon, it should be followed without deviation until it has been thoroughly tried and tested. This is simple common sense, but sometimes it is overlooked, and confusion is compounded. Consistency also should be the rule for successfully established operations. Overconfidence can lead to tinkering with the program structure to the ultimate damage of the station’s ratings.
AWARENESS: A good manager should learn all he can about the sources of his program material. He should know the news services, the record distributors and their promotion people. He should know about his production material, who produces his jingle packages, and why they cost so much. Being thus well informed, he will be better fitted to work closely with his program director in handling special problems.
SENSE OF COMMUNITY:Most managers belong to service clubs or the chamber of commerce. They sec to it that their stations carry public service spots in support of community projects. This is not enough. A station’s strongest safeguard against sudden swings of public favor is found in its community roots.Every employee should be encouraged to he a part of its community activities: churches, schools. clubs, etc. Friendly contacts should be maintained with civic and philanthropic leaders. The station’s voice should not just parrot “me too.” It should at all times speak with prestige and authority on community matters. There is no reason why constructive community roles should he reserved for the network stations or for the conservative independents.
The progressive, contemporary music stations can play an equally significant part. Radio generally has lagged far behind as a representative medium of mass communication. In such a policy, community interest and self interest go hand in hand.
It is a wise manager who knows when and how to take an active partin his station’s programming. He is even wiser who knows when and where to leave it alone. END
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(Information and news source: Billboard; June 13, 1964)
Consultant See Radio Top Playlists Out in Near Future
NEW YORK – “Within the next three years the basic concept of playing a top 30 record or a top 40 or a top 60 will go out the window, according to Bill Drake, programming consultant. Stations just won’t be doing thatsort of thing anymore . . . at least not those stations that want to appeal to a mass audience. In my opinion, there are again going to be many radio stations where the records played will be a matter of judgment.” To survey record stores is great;it’s possibly the only base you have of determining whether a record is popular or not in your market, he said. But some of the albums today are selling whether they get played on the air or not. He felt that some stations with a small audience are going to make a larger impact on record sales than some stations with larger audiences.
Many radio stations today are not reaching the full potential of the possible mass audience . . . just as record sales on many records are not meeting their full potential.
“As far as reaching a mass audience is concerned, you have to have some sort of foothold at a broad base of appeal.When your music approach or the approach of your personalities is too hard or too soft, the broad base of audience is going to dwindle.” he said.
No Danger Flags
“There are no real danger flags to tell when a station is slipping or not doing its job right. It’s almost intuition. It’s more of a feeling than anything else. It may be a lack of interest in the sound or it may be that you feel you’re not really stimulating any more. Actually, I guess it’s a lot of little things.”
And there’s no magic wand to correct things. Every station has to control its own destiny. You can’t operate a station by remote control.
Bill Drake
“What we have going for us, to tell the truth, is a brain trust. Any time any of the stations we consult have difficulty, I can bring almost a dozen top-notch radio men into the market to analyze the situation, starting with Bill Watson, who’s over-all national programmer for our firm. But we also have such minds as Ron Jacobs and Gary Mack on tap.I’ve never gone out and shouted about any ratings we’ve achieved because you first have to substantiate it. I’ve always taken the attitude that you can have a fluke success in a ratings book, but all of the ratings firms will agree over a long period of time. This is why it’s so stupid to fire a deejay because his ratings dropped. I feel it’s my duty to constantly go back and improve and if something bad does happen, then it needs special concentration on it –like KFRC in San Francisco where no Top 40 station has a very good ratings picture at this time. Four members of the braintrust went into the market to study the situation. This, again, brings you back to the music problem: You have to reach for that broad appeal. So many people in radio are afraid they will miss the latest fad. But it’s a sad state of affairs if you have to depend on the latest fad in radio or records like the Beatles or Elvis because when the fad changes you’ll be left with egg on your face and find your audience has disappeared.
One Secret
“I think one of the secrets in mass appeal programming is related to the fact that Motown Records doesn’t want to produce r&b records – they want to turn out records that are both pop and r&b. Country artists are now trying to be both pop and country.
“Part of our KFRC situation was as a result of paying too much attention to a fad. I was told: ‘But this type of music is drawing 3,000 kids a night into the Avalon Ballroom.’ And I said: ‘Great. But you should hang around the Cow Palace when Billy Graham is there. He’ll pack that place. Yet this is not exactly the best reason I know for rushing back to a radio station and putting on your George Beverly Shea records.”
The character of the people has changed in the world, he said. Everybody talks about the generation gap. There has always been one, but it’s probably wider today than ever before. If you admit that the gap does exist, then you have to consider that Fats Domino today is middle-of-the-road. This is why in “Parade ’69” syndicated programming “we went after the largest possibly audience available to FM-the 18 to 34 age group that we felt would own FM sets.
“WOR-FM in New York, one of the stations we consult, just ranked fifth in a January/February ARB -among all stations. And in adults 18-34, we were second by WABC in the 6 a.m.- midnight Monday through Sunday period. What this survey also showed was that WOR-FM had a cume of 1,880,000 during a week, reaching 146 per cent more listener impressions than the next highest FM station in New York.
“If you had to compare the programming on WOR-FM, I guess you’d classify it as a little more rocky and r&b than our ‘Parade’ programming. Bot ‘Parade’ is already showing threes and sixes in some of the markets where it’s on the air. We’ve signed agreements for 25 stations and it’s now on the air on 15 of these.
“Personal judgment plays a major role in the selection of the music for this programming – we might only be playing 17 of the top 20 records of the time. And personal judgment was a key factor in the 48 -hour “History of Rock ‘n’ Roll” special that we put together.Like many people, I’m a record buff and when I get some friends over to the house I’ll put one some albums and would find myself telling everybody: ‘Did you know that Berry Gordy wrote nine of the songs on this album?’ That led me to thinking what a groovy thing it would be to do this on radio. You can’t tell me that people would have been as interested in the special, which gathered astronomical ratings everywhere. if we’d just played the records because we play 80 per cent of them anyway. It was the information about the artists and the interviews with the artists and record producers that created a special kind of excitement about the show. A major auto manufacturer now wants to buy the show to introduce its new cars with this September. Two TV producers are thinking of transferring the concept to television. We’ve had countless requests for the show and it’s now in syndication.”
Collective Effort
Programming, in general, has to create a collective effect, he said. There’s not any individual record that can make you a success. And this is where personal judgment in the records a station plays will be more and more significant in years to come. END
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Information and news source: Billboard; March 29, 1969
ANDY WILLIAMS’ YULE MARK; TOPS TWO CHARTS FOR CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY 1963
(This post previously was featured on Motor City Radio Flashbacks on December 24, 2015, December 23, 2014 and December 24, 2013)
Andy Williams in 1963(click image for larger view)
NEW YORK — Columbia’s Andy Williams gave the label a first place in both the singles and albums derby, according to Billboard’s special Christmas sales recap last week. For the first time in the Christmas listings, Williams scored with his “White Christmas” single and his “Andy Williams Christmas Album.”
In the album running, Columbia held the top position with eight of the 25 packages listed, including three in the top 10. RCA Victor took second-honors with four on the parent label and two others on its low-priced Camden line. Capitol placed third with three Christmas best sellers. On the charts with one album each were Decca, Mercury, 20th-Century Fox, London, Liberty, Philles, MGM and Argo.
In the singles area, Decca and Capitol tied with four listings each out of 16 records reported showing healthy sales on this week’s best-selling Christmas singles charts. Liberty placed two on the list (both by the Chipmunks) while Columbia, 20th-Century Fox, King, Mercury, Epic and Warner Brothers landed one each on the Billboard special Christmas list for 1963. END
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(Information and news source: Billboard; December 21, 1963)
THE 1963 CHRISTMAS TOP 10 ALBUMS
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The Christmas Top 10best-selling albums Billboard listed (from 25) for December 21, 1963
No. 1: “Andy Williams Christmas Album” Columbia; No. 2: “Sounds Of Christmas” Johnny Mathis, Mercury; No. 3: “Little Drummer Boy” Harry Simeone Chorale, 20th-Century Fox; No. 4: “This Christmas I Spent With You” Robert Goulet, Columbia; No. 5: “Elvis Christmas Album” Elvis Presley, RCA Victor. No. 6: “Merry Christmas” Bing Crosby, Decca; No. 7: “Christmas Greetings From Mantovani and his Orchestra” London; No. 8: “Merry Christmas” Johnny Mathis, Columbia; No. 9: “Christmas With The Chipmunks, Vol. 2” David Seville and the Chipmunks, Liberty; No. 10: “Christmas Song” Nat King Cole, Capitol Records
This 2018 Christmas Holiday Season
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This Christmas Motor City Radio Flashbacks presents “The Andy Williams Christmas Album” in its entirety from 1963.
Aside from his best-selling Christmas recordings, Andy Williams brought us some of the best in televised Christmas specials into our homes during the Christmas holiday season as well, for nearly five decades, singing seasons’ praise with profound holiday spirit and Christmas joy.Andy Williams passed awayin September, 2012.
If only for a moment. In playing this album, imagine it’s Christmas-time 1963 once again.
We hope this holiday album will take you back to a special time and place. A memorable holiday seasons’ past we cherished with loved ones, our families, and with friends we were truly blessed having then, when we first heard this beautiful, Andy Williams holiday recording for the very first time . . . Christmases, long, long ago.
NEW YORK — Play on the nation’s450,000 juke boxeswas back to normal Friday, November 29, but for a 72-hour period last week few Americans had the stomach to listen to the mechanical music makers.
Automatic phonograph and game collections last weekend and Monday, November 25 were scanty, as millions of Americans stayed by their radios and television sets to watch the news developments and to view the funeral of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
Even when surface normality was restored Tuesday, November 26, the gaiety commonly associated with taverns and restaurants were muted. And when patrons put their coins in the juke box, they did so in an almost mechanical manner.
Manhattan itself was almost a ghost town through the weekend and on Monday, November 25. Normally, Friday and Saturday nights are the big money makers for Gotham tavern owners. And these are the evenings that get that the heavy jukebox and game play.But few patrons were in the mood to play the juke box or coin-operated games. Most of them stayed home and watched the ceremonies on TV.
In Chicago, the coin machine business ground to a halt immediately following the tragic and bizarre series of events connected with the assassination of the President.
Juke boxes and games were shut off as the city’s attention turned elsewhere — first to the tragic scenes in Dallas, then to the mournful culmination of those scenes coming out of Washington, Monday, November 25.
Chicago Clubs Closed
Throughout the Windy City night clubs were closed, neon signs were dimmed and while some taverns were operating — at half capacity or less — talks inside were loosely centered on the Dallas tragedy and news instead, by its patrons, while glued to the establishment’s TV sets. Bands and combos were silent. Friday was the worst evening as people just couldn’t seem to comprehend what had happened.
By Tuesday did locations start to return to normal and even then the return was gradual and deliberate. Juke boxes which have been turned to the wall, were again plugged in, but there was no rush to play the coin-op record machines.
A check with the trade showed that over-all collections were off s much as 50 per cent or more.The comments of Earl Kies, head of Apex Music Company, are typical.
“We know for sure collections will be affected — we can judge by the service calls, they’ve been nil.” Kies said his service men were out on the streets but none had more than two calls a day.
“Many of the locations had out-of-order signs on the juke boxes,” said Kies. The Chicago juke boxoperator estimated that close to 80 per cent of his machines were down for the weekend and that his week’s collection would be off from 30 to 35 per cent.
Cleveland Juke Boxes Silent
In Cleveland, a crack of 21 guns echoed against the concrete and brick walls of the empty heart of this city this past Monday, November 25, the national day of mourning.
The city wept.
Virtually all businesses and industry closed down. Neon lights closed their eyes. Nightclubs and cafes, restaurants and movie houses closed their doors. A few remained open but there were few found inside.
A number of bars remained open but coin operated games and juke boxes remained silent. One bar which served a few patrons honored President Kennedy’s memory by displaying signs which over the darkened jukebox: “Will remain silent (today) in honor of our departed President — The Management.”
Most operators in this area reported the same experience. The few drink spots that remained open pulled the plugs from the music machines. Radio and television sets kept their patrons informed at every detail of the assassination and the burial of the former President.
The area operators generally figured the take for the day to be but a fraction of the normal volume. “But who can be concerned about it at a time like this,” said one prominent music man.
Joseph Abraham, president of Lake City Amusement, one of the oldest operators in terms of years in the business, reflected everyone’s attitude concerning the death of President Kennedy. “We’re all very shocked . . . we will be for a long time. It seems impossible that would happen in our country. Everything closed down. The bars, restaurants, a lot of plants and offices.
“Sure we lost some income . . . . but who cares at a time like this? All the boys feel the same way. Who could think of dollars and cents at this hour?”
In Manhattan on Friday afternoon, November 22, New Yorkers pick up the latest news out of Dallas on a car radio. (Click image for larger view)
Charles Comella of Cadillac Music Company added: “We’ve actually been out of business since Friday, the day President Kennedy was assassinated. And believe me we’d stay out of business for two more Fridays if we thought it would bring him back!
“One of our locations that stayed open the day of the burial reported that the men sitting at the bar broke down and cried. We all were crying inside. It helped us put our lives in proper perspective.”
Milwaukee Pulls Stop On Music
In the state of Wisconsin, the same effects were reported from Milwaukee. Juke boxes stopped spinning Friday afternoon when the stunning news of the assassination of President Kennedy flashed over radio and TV sets. For the rest of the weekend the city’s taverns remained somber and silent.
“There has never been anything to compare to this type of reaction. Everything halted completely when the news hit. The music stopped and hasn’t started up yet,” reported Harold Opitz, Wisconsin Novelty Company, on Tuesday morning, November 26.“There has been no gaiety around here for four full days. Some of our better stops here say they never experienced anything like it. A lot of our locations cater strictly to Negro clientele. We they are quiet, you can bet tavern business is quiet all over. Many of the pubs completely closed down until after the President’s burial.”
According to Sam Hastings, Hastings Distributing Company, president of the Milwaukee PhonographOperators’ Association: “We haven’t had time to completely evaluate the drop off. But, we know our take fell at least 25-50 per cent below normal.
“Our best barometer is the number of service calls we receive over a given period. Saturday, we had one service call. Normally we expect several dozen service calls during the weekend.From what other operators tell me, they all experienced the same decline in business as we did. It was noticeable all over the metro Milwaukee area. Tavern business was hit hard, and so was the coin machine industry.”END
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(Information and news source: Billboard; December 7, 1963)
From the MCRFB NEWS archive: 1963
