CKLW HIRES DREW, IN STEPS TO TUMBLE DETROIT LEADER WKNR
DETROIT — CKLW, the 50,000-watt RKO General operation here, has brought in Paul Drew as program director and will soon launch an all-out campaign against market-leader WKNR. Drew, former program director at WQXI in Atlanta, has slated May 1 as the day to bow with the station’s new sound — “Fun Radio.”
Paul Drew, the legendary program-director at CKLW in 1967
“Fun Radio” will include a jingles package that was custom made for the station’s and “for the sound I’m looking for,” Drew said.
Prior, there has been talk that Bill Drake, a programming consultant, was going to the station. Drake has set the program for RKO’s KHJ in Los Angeles and also revamped entirely San Francisco’s KFRC — both highly successful today in their markets. Though Drew would not commit himself, every indication is that he’ll use the same template/model that had been programmed at the two leading West Coast stations.
What will be in use will be the same playlist, rule-of-play with a shortened record format. “We’ll play whatever is necessary to play the hits, but the playlist will fluctuate.” This will not eliminate the playing of new records by new artists, evidently, as the station had played on the air about a week ago with “Sunshine Girl” by the Parade, a new record which had been introduced to the station by A&M Records promotion man Don Graham.
Already, CKLW has begun a sort of sneaky promotion campaign, in wake of their intent in placing the station at the top in the Detroit market with no holds barred. WJR, the easy listening outlet in Detroit, as long billed itself as “The Great Voice of the Great Lakes.” CKLW has aired the slogan: “The Choice of the Great Lakes.” WKNR, the leading Hot 100-formatted station in the market, is promoting a concert with Paul Revere & The Raiders on April 8. CKLW had bought a large section of front-row seats to the show and will be giving them away for free to listeners on the air, a ploy in part of the station’s ongoing blitz from the station’s promotion department.
(Information and news source: Billboard; April 8, 1967).
WKNR, WJR Hitting Pay Dirt in Detroit, Thanks to Two Air Personalities
DETROIT — Two deejays — one in the Top 40 field and the other from a ‘middle-of-the-road’ easy music station, are basically responsible for the tremendous success of radio stations WKNR and WJR here in influencing the sales of records…. and may be largely responsible for the success of their respective radio stations in reaching a large audience.
J. P. McCarthy WJR circa 1965
WJR station manager James H. Quello, said that his good music station was proud of J. P. McCarthy. “He’s the number one radio personality in town. Everybody knows him and he’s in good part responsible… a major factor… in influencing the sale of LP’s in Detroit.”
According to Billboard’s Radio Response Rating Survey last week of the Detroit radio market — ranked the country’s fifth radio market — McCarthy was rated No. 1 in influencing radio listeners to purchase popular LPs. The station was rated first in the same category, but what makes it a unique situation is that the station gained strength to capture the top position since a similar Billboard survey of May 16, 1964, had placed WJR in second-place behind WCAR.
And the reason, according to Quello, is the power of McCarthy. McCarthy had been with the station at one time, then left WJR in Detroit to work for another radio station in San Francisco. He returned back to Detroit since the last Billboard survey. He’s so effective that WJR placed him on mornings in their 6:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. time-frame, and he returns for the 3:15 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. drive time. “After all, this is the motor city of the world… a big car place,” Quello went on to say. McCarthy features mostly MOR records, Quello said, “but we’re programming more contemporary music now, anything short of rock and roll.”
In influencing the sale of popular LP recordings, the major stations, in order, are WJR, WCAR, WWJ, and WJBK. WJR and WCAR has most of the power; in fact, WJR’s McCarthy had 52 per cent of the total points in Billboard’s survey, followed by WCAR deejay Joe Bacarella with 36 per cent overall.
WJR, incidentally, tied for second-place with WWJ in influencing the sale of conservative type records, was No. 1 in influencing the sale of classical records, and showed up fairly well as a power in influencing the sale of folk records as well.
Both Gain
Bob Green WKNR circa 1965
The top position in the sale of popular record singles was again captured by radio station WKNR and its popular disk-jockey, Bob Green. In fact, both station and deejay gained in strength. WKNR radio was rated at 33 per cent in May 16, 1964, but increased its influence to 44 per cent as of last week. Green increased two points to 30 per cent.
WKNR radio station manager Walter Patterson said the Top 40 station isn’t doing anything different, “but we are fortunate in accumulating listeners.” A recent Pulse study showed that the 24-hour Detroit station as reaching 292,900 separate households during a given day.
“We’re not cocky, but we watch our position closely and never let up,” Patterson said. While the station does believe in strong air-personalities, — “some are and some are not” — it also practices “playing more music and keeping talk to a minimum.” The station’s “sound” is very important,” Patterson said.
WKMH the former, now WKNR, featured a “middle-of-the-road” music format until November 1, 1963, when it went Top 40. “We’ve pulled the fastest turnaround of any station in the country,” Patterson said. “What’s happening is the more we go, the more we get.” The station plays the top 31 records and distributes 99,000 copies of the station’s own survey guide of featured songs and hits. Patterson also said the station has a “refrigerator full” of promotions and uses them as the need arises.
Also in the Top 40 market, radio station CKLW has increased its power in influencing the sales of records since the last Billboard survey. The market saw WJBK change format from Top 40, where it ranked No. 2 last May, to good music. In May 1964, it was No. 4; now it ranks second. Dave Shafer and Tom Shannon of CKLW now rank second and third behind WKNR’s Bob Green.
John Gordon, the program director of CKLW, received the Billboard nod as most co-operative in exposing new records.
Close in R&B Field
In the R&B field in the Detroit market, it was a close race, but WCHB radio came out on top in influencing record sales. WCHB had 49 per cent, WJLB had 44 per cent and FM station WGPR had 7 per cent. WJLB ranked first last May.
Ernie Durham WCHB
Bill Williams, program director at WCHB, attributed the station’s increase in influence to a “much tighter format that was launched in January.” The station also went 24-hours in April. Williams said deejays on WCHB are now faster with delivery than before. “We play 35 of the top-selling R&B records, interspersed with every third record with one we think is a good prospect for a potential hit-maker to climb-up the chart.” This has made the station very important in getting listeners to go out and buy more into the R&B product,” Williams said.
“This is a good R&B market, its the home of the Motown sound,” he said, adding that he liked to think of his market as the entire population of Detroit. WJLB, however, scored with the top disc-jockey — Ernie Durham — in the power of influencing record sales. In fact, Durham almost captured the whole thing with a 44 per cent influence in the Detroit R&B market. The second-place honors goes out to Le Baron Taylor of WCHB, who held the No. 2 spot at 27 per cent.
Interesting to note is that an FM station, WBRB-FM is now showing muscles in influencing the sales of country music records. The field is still dominated by country powerhouse WEXL, which still came up with 86 per cent of the total points, but it’s no longer a one-station field. WBRB showed up with a 14 per cent; it’s a new station since the last Billboard survey. Bill Samples, of WEXL, is still the No. 1 deejay in the motor town getting country music records sold. END
___
(Information and news source: Billboard; July 24, 1965)
WKNR SIGNED OFF INTO HISTORY TODAY, APRIL 25, FORTY-YEARS AGO
DETROIT (April 25, 2012) — WKNR-AM, once the dominate radio station in Detroit during the 1960s, signed-off the 1310 AM frequency for the last time on this day, April 25, 1972.
The WKNR AM and FM studio facility at 15001 Michigan Ave., Dearborn, in the 1960s. (Photo courtesy Keener13.com)
Formerly WKMH-AM, the station made the switch to “the new Radio 13” on October 31, 1963.By early 1964, WKNR was by then the most popular radio station in Detroit and remained No. 1 in the market, still holding that status throughout the first six months through 1967.
WKNR, affectionately known as “Keener 13,” began it’s eventual slide from Detroit radio dominance in April, 1967. It was during this timeWKNR saw their challenge met head-onby their other rival located across the Detroit river, CKLW.
WKNR No. 1 in 1965, according to this published trade article. (Click on image for larger view).
CKLW, during that time, was totally being restructured into a formidable radio powerhouse the Canadian station would become by year’s end.
RKO radio consultant Bill Drake and Paul Drew were the two people responsible for the major changes at the “Big 8.” Paul Drew, the newly-appointed program director at CKLW, patterned the same “Boss Radio” format Bill Drake and Ron Jacobs had programmed on 93 KHJ in Los Angeles. By 1965’s end, Jacob’s KHJ was by then the No. 1 radio station in L.A.
But WKNR would not easily go down without a fight. While going against the “Big 8” giant, the legendary Detroit radio station’s ratings were found inside a downward decline, all the while battling against two major fronts.
CKLW officially became the No. 1 radio station in Detroit by November, 1967, according to a Radio Response Survey published inBillboard on November 4.
CKLW, with it’s massive 50,000-watts of transmitted radio power covered 3 Canadian provinces and at times, their night-time signal spanned across 28 States. In contrast, after sundown, WKNR’s 5,000-watt signal was commonly known to be absent from the radio dial in areas east of Detroit and, more so, deficient in night-time coverage and strength.
By now, major changes had begun at WKNR both in the management and personnel level. In January of 1968, J. Michael Wilson was by then doing mornings on Keener. Dick Purtan had left WKNR for Baltimore. By the first week of April 1968, WKNR radio greats Bob Green, Jerry Goodwin, Ted Clark and Scott Regen were no longer there. Sean Conrad, Edward Alan Busch, Tony Randolph, Ron Sherwood, and Dan Henderson were to be the new voices on Keener 13.
WKNR survey guide from February 07, 1972. (Click image for larger view).
Despite the many changes in the Detroit radio market scene at the time, WKNR’s battle for survival against CKLW and FM’s “free-form” radio would drag on for five years.
Near the end of 1971, according to a Detroit Arbitron radio rating for the period Oct./Nov., WKNR-AM had a 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. cume of 377,300 in total listenership during a given broadcast day. For WKNR, those numbers represented a reduction down to a 15 to 12 total market share. In comparison, WABX-FM ranked just under in total rank, with a cume of 330,000 during those same hours.
WKNR, who by then revamped its playlist to include some album-oriented tracks, also made much of their attempt to pull away from the “same as” CKLW all-pop music format. No longer were the top 31 songs part of the playlist rotation. Slashed in half, WKNR’s new playlist focused primarily on the top 15 hits instead, while “previewing” the other 16 songs or so for the week.
By late 1971 and early 1972, WKNR now was promoting itself as the new “American Rock and Roll” radio station. An obvious affront towards the dominance that was CKLW located in Windsor, Ontario.
On the 100.3 FM side, the album rock-oriented ‘underground” format that was WKNR-FM was dropped after an unsuccessful run against WABX-FM. In it’s place, Stereo Island, an easy-listening music format, now found it’s place competing against WLDM-FM in Detroit.
MCRFB jingle audio: WKNR “Stereo Island” 1970
But the changes were not enough, and ultimately, it was not to be.
In the end, WKNR became the former on a brisk, chilly but sunny morning that was Tuesday, April 25, 1972. Just before 8:00 a.m., WKNR deejay John McCrae’s voice breaks but regains composure as he announced the inevitable —
MCRFB aircheck audio: John McCraeLast Moments of Keener 13 April 25, 1972
(This original audio source is property, courtesy of Scott Westerman andkeener13.com)
“…This is John McCrae, I’d like to take it upon my, myself to speak on behalf of all the people who made Keener what it, was and is. You know, Pete Seeger, with a little help from his cosmic friend, wrote it much better than I could, and the Byrds sing it, much better than I, could ever say it. So this time Detroit, we’d like to thank you, for making nearly a decade — a Keener season.”
Signing-off, the last WKNR Keener 13 Top 30 hit WKNR would ever play — before the 8:00 hour on the morning of April 25, 1972.
As the last few bars of the Byrd’s “Turn, Turn, Turn” began to fade, the magic that was once WKNR faded away with the song. But the memories, the events, the music, the great names, the faces and voices who crafted the Keener legacy a long time ago, remain in many a hearts and minds yet even still, to this day.
In 2002, thirty years since WKNR was last on the air, Scott Westerman and Steve Schram decided it was time someone gave WKNR it’s long due, with honors. Working together they packaged an incredibly amazing WKNR tribute site, aptly named,keener13.com.
This coming June, 2012, will mark a decade since the website’s creation. And the phenomenal story about this greatDetroit radio legacyis still being told, remembered, and celebrated there on the world-wide web.
WKNR ‘Together’ logo from 1970 – 1971.(Click image for larger view).
“Keener” was a radio station that went on to impact nearly a decade the many lives of a community it once served.It knew its listeners. And if only but for a short time, WKNR also was the station that, in all essence,knew the city of Detroit wellby way of its prestigious award-winning news department informing and staying “on top of the news” during the station’s Top 40 reign here during the the 1960s and early-1970s.
As Bob Green previously commentedto Scott Westerman on keener13.com, quote, “The WKNR experience provided some of my happiest radio memories.”
We agree.
As to a generation who grew up listening to top 40 radio in Detroit during the 1960s, one may actually say many of those “happiest radio memories” we recall having heard on Keener 13 — belongs to many of us today just the same.
WKNR. Those call letters would come to embody one sensational story. A story of a Detroit radio station’s historic top 40 run to number one status (in short-order all within 9 weeks) after having signed on in October 1963.
And it is a story still remembered to this day. Forty years after signing-off into Detroit radio history one April morning, on this day, in 1972.
A MCRFB NOTE: For a more comprehensive search in our MCRFB archives on WKNR to date, you may GO HERE.
Recording Industry’s Record Personnel, Station Management cited for ‘Communication Blackout’ by Frank L. Sweeney, Promotion Director; Monument Records
NEW YORK — The recording music industry is suffering from a tremendous lack of understanding between record personnel (simply known in the industry as “record men”) and radio people at the management level, according to Frank L. Sweeney, former music director at WKNR, now national promotion director with Monument Records and Sound Stage 7 Records. Sweeney (known as Swingin’ Sweeney on the air in Detroit) left WKNR mid-August to join Monument Records.
“I don’t think most record people truly know how radio station people operate — and conversely, more so — precious few people at the management level understand the record business. I would like to see better liaison at the management level between the radio and record industry,” he said. “When I call at a station, besides the music librarian and the program director, I’d like to see the station manager. After all, I represent an industry which supplies him with 87.7 per cent of his product — the percentage of programming that’s based on records.”
Frank L. Sweeney, former WKNR air-personality in 1965.(Photo cropped from back of a 1965 “Keener 13” music guide).
Sweeney felt that many radio men had a generally low regard for record people that wasn’t warranted. “This relationship between radio and the record industry just sort of grew — like Topsy.” That is why he believes that a national promotion man today has to be very aware of public relations. “I want to call on a station, to get to know everybody there, even if I don’t have a record to plug with me. I want the station to think constantly, and favorably, of Monument. I want to create a new image for me and Monument — we’re sort of synonymous now. I would hope that myself, as an air-personality going into the record industry, might contribute to a better understanding between the two businesses.”
The Problem with radio, he said, is that on most modern radio stations which program the Top 40 format, the only criteria used in programming a particular record is sales… not the merit of the record itself. “We’re feeding an industry it’s programming — and free.” He said he’d once figured that an ordinary station had used roughly $2,700 in records during a year at retail prices. It isn’t that the record industry is supporting broadcasters… $2,700 probably means little over-all in broadcasting costs over a year’s time, he felt. The wrong is that station managers very seldom pays that much attention to what their station is playing. It’s immaterial to a large number of them.
“Management in radio are good hard-working people. But the truth is most of them had their basic training in sales rather than music. Some of management have precious little knowledge of programming. They say ‘Hell, we’ll play top 40’ and we’ll either do one of two things: Hire a young man whose basic job is not programming, but tabulating. Or get an old pro and turn everything over to him.
“But either way, there’s very little communication, or a lack of, between management and the man who does the programming.” The old cliche about radio stations not being in business to sell records may be, or may not be, true, he said. “But it was the choice of radio stations that records be used as the bulk of their product.”
To improve public relations between record companies and the radio business, Sweeney feels he’ll have to spend a lot of time on the road. “I can’t say the things I’ve said, and then hang around Detroit (his present headquarters) or in Nashville (headquarters of Monument Records)…. I’ve got to get out and see radio people — hopefully not only those who program the music, but the managers themselves.”END
(Information and news source: Billboard; December 11, 1965).
WJBK SWITCH FROM ROCK TO CONSERVATIVE MUSIC FORMAT
DETROIT — The Motor City will soon lose it’s distinction of being the only city in the U.S. with four full-time contemporary music formatted radio stations.
WJBK, the Storer-owned station, will drop its rock-pop music format on August 16 in favor of an all album, conservative music format.
The post-TV situation saw a battle for the pop market between WXYZ, the ABC-owned outlet, WKMH, with Robin Seymour leading the way, and WJBK.
WJBK Radio 1500 radio survey logo from 1958
Six or seven years ago, the 50,000-watt CKLW, just across the Detroit river in Windsor, began to feature a younger deejay lineup and playing more of the top current pop singles. The RKO General station with its big wattage has been effective carving an important niche for itself in the Detroit market as well as in secondary markets in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana.
The next significant important change in the contemporary station line-up was the switch of WKMH to a standard, no rock policy, leaving the field to WXYZ and WJBK, with CKLW contributing its share to the hot pop scene, but not to the same degree.
Enter WKNR
The most exciting change to the status quo took place in November of last year, when WKMH pulled a complete 360-dgree switch in music format and call letters, WKNR, came a 30 plus 1 contemporary music format, promotions galore, much fanfare in the press and also added a few new swingin’ airman to enhance the format change.
The impact of WKNR greatly altered the Detroit market picture, rating-wise and pop-music wise. The tight-playlist formula the station’s concentrated on and off-the-air promotion drove the station’s ratings from obscurity up to a position of prominence.
Although many factors must be taken into consideration in reasoning why a station decides to change it’s format, many programmers label any format changes as a certain sign of defeat. Industry observers opinion that the mitigating factor in the forthcoming WJBK change was brought on by the impact of WKNR on the market, along with the solidifying of WXYZ’s influence on its pop music audience and coupled with the increased competition in the same area from CKLW.
Other important factors to be taken into consideration is the affinity of the Storer Broadcasting Company for conservative and subdued music formats. WJBK will, along with WGBS, Miami; WHN, New York City; WJW, Cleveland and KGBS, Los Angeles, be programmed musically from Storer’s music department in Miami.
At present Storer’s 50,000-watt station in Philadelphia is the company’s foremost and highly successful exponent of contemporary music. Another tpo-rated Storer station, WSPD in Toledo, also features a pop music, news and personality format.
Current Research
WJBK is presently in the survey of the listeners in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties to keep in touch with their taste, desires and preferences in radio.
“Although we have only completed approximately half of the current survey, we are learning that the majority of the people polled are desirous of the type of format we will be launching in August,” said John Grubbs, WJBK program station manager.
According to Billboard’s May 16 Radio Response Rating for Detroit, WQTE and WWJ reported conservative music formats. WCAR and WWJ features music of the standard variety, culled primarily from albums.
“WJBK’s ‘Sound of (Just Beautiful) Music and Total Information News’ format is being designed to incorporate all members of the staff,” said Grubbs. “Our air personalities are all top pros and are capable of handling any format.”
WJBK staffers include Marc Avery, Clark Reid, Robert E. Lee, Robin Walker and Bobby Layne. Grubbs scotched rumors circulating in the trade in recent weeks that he is being transferred to WIBG in Philadelphia as program manager replacing William Wheatley.
“The rumors circulating to the effect that I am being moved to WIBG or any other station are not in any way based on fact,” emphasized Grubbs. END.
(Information and news source: Billboard; August 1, 1964)
FROM WKMH TO WKNR, FOUR-WAY BATTLE HEATS UP RADIO DIALS ACROSS DETROIT
DETROIT — A four-way battle is shaping up in this market with the immediate changeover in programming at WKMH.
The Dearborn-based 5,000 watter has introduced a new set of calls, WKNR, several new deejays, and a radical switch from the soft sound in music to a “30 plus 1” format. Detroit will be one of the few markets where severe competition is taking place among three or more pop music stations.
1310 WKMH logo circa 1962.
The Knorr-owned radio outlet has been under the programming consulting of Mike Joseph for many months. Soft standards have been the path for more than a year. WKMH (now WKNR) was once the major pop music outlet in the market. Today a major fight is now developing between the new WKNR, RKO radio’s 50,000 watter, CKLW, WJBK, Storer-owned “teen’s swinger” radio, and WXYZ, the ABC-owned pop-rater on the 1270 radio dial in Detroit. Recently CKLW had added Tom Clay in the afternoon-evening drive to help accentuate CKLW’s positive pop sound.
Mort Crowley, a KHJ defector, broadcasts 5 to 9 a.m., followed by the former-WKMH mainstay Robin Seymour in the 9 to 12 p.m. time slot. Jim Sanders is handling the noon to 3 p.m. shift, and Gary Stevens will be hosting the 3 to 7 p.m. segment. Bob Green will deejay from 7 to 12 a.m., while Bill Phillips will hold down the fort all night long until 5 a.m. END.
(Information and news source: Billboard; November 16, 1963).
Detroit and L.A. Record Sales Are ‘Happening Places’
By CLAUDE HALL
“Cool Jerk” by the Capitols on Karen Records; 1966.
DETROIT — Detroit and Los Angeles are currently the best place in the nation in which to break a record. Both cities in the past six months, according to a special Billboard survey, have had eight records start there with a sales breakout, and have spread across the country to finally reach Billboard’s Top 100 Chart. In the case of Detroit, this include’s “Cool Jerk” by the Capitols on Karen Records, No. 7 this week, and “Oh, How Happy” by the Shades Of Blue on Impact Records which went to No. 12 and is No. 14 this week. Impact is a Detroit record label.
The eight-Detroit chart makers came from a total of 16 breakouts; the eight Los Angeles winners came from only 14. Chicago, New York and Detroit were the cities with the largest number of total breakouts — 16 each. But, of the New York and the Chicago breakouts, only six went on to reach the chart.
The Shades Of Blue on Impact Records; 1966
San Francisco, on the other hand, had seven records reach the chart from 15 original breakouts. San Francisco had the largest number of total breakouts — 20 — but five of these records happened first in other markets. Tying with New York and Chicago in number of breakout records that went on to reach the chart were Dallas, Miami and Pittsburgh.
In a similar survey last year, New York took all honors, not only having the most original breakouts — 17 — but having the most that reached the chart — 19. San Francisco had been second with 18 breakout that reached the chart. That survey encompassed nine months.
During the past six months, Atlanta had five record breakouts that reached the chart, Houston four, Milwaukee and St. Louis three each.
In all, there were 182 different records which were listed as breakout singles in 22 different markets between Billboard’s January 1 and June 25 issues. Of these, 81 had made the Top 100 Chart as of the current July 2 issue, another 26 record singles made the Bubbling Under category. The percent of of breakout single records making the chart was 45.1.
“Time Won’t Let Me” by the Outsiders on Capitol Records; 1966.
These figures do not include the big name artists like the Beatles, whose records generally break nation-wide immediately after release. Of the breakout singles, the two biggest hits to date have been “Elusive Butterfly” by Bob Lind on World Pacific Records, which started in Miami, and “Time Won’t Let Me” by the Outsiders on Capitol Records which started in Cleveland. Both records went to No. 5 on the chart. However, other records still moving up the chart like “Little Girl” (a San Francisco happening) by the Syndicate Of Sound on Bell Records, “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” (Miami breakout) by the Temptations on Gordy Records, “Dirty Water” (a Miami breakout) by the Standells, on Tower Records, “Along Comes Mary” by the Association on Valiant Records (a Los Angeles breakout) still stand an excellent chance of doing as well on the charts. All four of these former regional breakouts are in Billboard’s top 20 with a star, indicating heavy current record disk sales.
“Sweet Pea” by Tommy Roe on ABC Records; 1966.
Without doubt, the crown for taking the longest to happen goes to “Sweet Pea” by Tommy Roe on ABC Records, appearing this week on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart at 37 with a star. The record was first listed as a breakout in Atlanta in the February 19 issue. More than two months later, in the April 30 issue, it was a breakout in Miami. The May 21 issue showed it as a sales breakout in both the Dallas-Ft.Worth area and in Memphis as well. On June 4, it was a breakout in both Milwaukee and the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. All this before “Sweet Pea” finally began to happen big.
Some records, in spite of being sales breakouts in other markets, never really make it. “Second Hand Man” by the Back Porch Majority on Epic Records had sales breakouts in Houston, Dallas-Ft. Worth and Chicago, but only went as high as No. 135 in the Bubbling Under category. “Don’t Stop Now” by Eddie Holman on Parkway Records broke out in sales in Los Angeles, New York and Pittsburgh, but failed to make it elsewhere in other major markets. “Mr. Moon” by the Coachmen on Bear Records broke in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Milwaukee and San Francisco but only went high as No. 114 in the Bubbling Under category. “I Dig You Baby” by Lorraine Ellison on Mercury Records had the same fate.
Some markets didn’t fare so well in ratio of success with breakouts. Although a total of 15 different records had sales breakouts in Baltimore — 13 of which happened there first — only two went on to make the 100 chart, one an Al Martino record which went as high as No. 30. END.
(Information and news source; Billboard Magazine; July 2, 1966).
From the MCRFB news archives:
