TOM SHANNON! “Wild Weekend,” produced and recorded by Buffalo’s ‘Rockin’ Rebels,’ was co-written in part by (future disk jockey CKLW 1964) Tom Shannon while a radio deejay at WKBW, Buffalo, New York, 1962.
— M O T O R C I T Y R A D I O F L A S H B A C K S
From the channel 9 Show ” The Lively Ones” September 30, 1968. Special thanks to Julia for this photo. Her mom in the background.
CKLW-AM 800: Featuring Tom Shannon on the BIG 8 from 1979, click for audio here.
A nice studio shot! This Tom Shannon photograph was previously listed on eBay in 2012.
CKLW-AM 800: Featuring Tom Shannon on the BIG 8 in 1967, click for audio here.
A nice profile shot! This Tom Shannon photograph was previously listed on eBay in 2012.
From the MCRFB news archive: 1967
Music Happenings In and Around Detroit Town, 1967
Detroit — Columbia Records, Tom and Jerry Schoenith’s Upper Deck of the Roostertail and CKLW combined Monday, July 3 in an all-out promotion for Columbia’s Moby Grape. Columbia Records promotion man Russ Yerge brought the Grape into town that day and arranged with the Schoenith’s to have a special Moby Grape night at their club, which is normally closed Mondays. The public was admitted free. Paul Drew, program director of CKLW, co-operated in promoting the evening with a barrage of spot announcements about the free show. Drew also put the group’s single “Omaha” on his CKLW Big 30 playlist. All of the CKLW deejays, including Tom Shannon and CKLW-TV personality Robin Seymour, were on hand at the Upper Deck to introduce the Haight-Ashbury San Francisco band. The new group earlier in the day appeared on Seymour’s TV show. . . . Terry Knight is booked into the Chess Mate for two weeks beginning Monday, July 10. . . . The Bee Gees are coming into Detroit on a promotion trip Thursday, July 13. . . . Gordon Lightfoot is playing at the Living End the week of July 17. . . . Nanett (Fabray) was in Detroit Tuesday, July 4 to promote her Canusa record, “The Look Of Love.” END
(Information and news source: Billboard; July 8, 1967).
From the MCRFB NEWS archive: 1967
Music Happenings In and Around Detroit Town, 1967
DETROIT — The Monkees concert originally scheduled for July 29 at Olympia Stadium which was canceled due to the riots, was rescheduled for August 13. WKNR, alongwith its promotion and production department, heavily advertised and was sponsor to the Detroit sold-out event, in conjunction with Dick Clark Productions. . . . The Pleasure-Seekers, an all-girl group from Grosse Pointe, are booked into Trude-Heller’s in Manhattan and have signed with Associated Bookings in New York. . . . The Grateful Dead played at the Grande Ballroom, a psychedelic ballroom-venue here owned by Russ Gibb, on Friday and Saturday, August11 – 12. . . . . CKLW-TV personality Robin Seymour is hosting a series of ‘Celebrity Nights’ at the Upper Deck at the Roostertail on Mondays. He opened on Monday, August 7 with the Rationals, Deon Jackson and Chris Peterson. . . . MGM promotion manager here, Larry Benjamin, is hosting a party for the Paupers to meet disk jockeys and the press at the Pontchartrain Hotel Wednesday, August 16. . . . The Kingsmen are booked to perform at the University of Detroit, Saturday, August 26. . . . “Bearskin Rug Sounds,” an album of readings by CKLW disk jockey Tom Shannon, did so well locally that it will be distributed nationally on the Sound label. . . . Walsh Allen has joined WJLB as operations manager. He spent three years as program director at Cleveland’s R&B WABQ. . . . The Jimi Hendrix Experience makes its first Michigan appearance at the Fifth Dimension in Ann Arbor on Tuesday, August 15. . . . The Spencer Davis Group is in concert at the Ford Auditorium here, slated for Thursday August 24. . . . The Motown Records sales convention takes place here August 25 – 28. END
___
(Information and news source: Billboard; August 19, 1967)
A MCRFB Note: For more on the WKNR 1967 “Monkees In Detroit” concert, see our previous MCRFB March 3, 2012 feature, here.
For more on Tommy Shannon’s “Bear Skin Rug” Music LP, see our previous MCRFB May 4, 2012 feature here.
WPON – Tommy Shannon Interview With Jukebox John On January 28, 2008.mp3
The Angels – Tom Shannon Show Logo.mp3
Tommy Shannon – Wild Weekend Theme.mp3
Tom Shannon is now retired from radio and is living in California.
Here’s another cut from the Bearskin Rug L.P.
Thanks to Tommy Shannon for this forgotten photo
Tommy Shannon – Love (To A Friend).mp3
From the MCRFB news archives:
DETROIT’S NO. 1 DEEJAY DEBUTS NEW TEEN DANCE SHOW
DETROIT — “The Lively Spot,” hosted by CKLW deejay Tom Shannon, bowed here on CKLW-TV (channel 9) on Monday, September 30, replacing the Robin Seymour “Swingin’ Time” show. The show will be seen 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 6 to 7 p.m. Saturday when it will be known as “The Tom Shannon Show.” He’ll continue his 6 to 9 p.m. on the CKLW radio station.
Elmer Jasper, director of programming for CKLW-TV, predicts Shannon will become a great favorite of Detroit young people on TV. Shannon joined CKLW four years ago. A song-writer, he wrote the 1963 hit, “Wild Weekend,” by the Rebel Rousers. He also wrote “Soul Clappin’,” a local hit currently playing in Detroit on the radio charts, as performed by the Buena Vistas on the Marquee record label. END.
(Information and news source: Billboard; October 5, 1968).
