Anita Kerr Sings Different Note On The Radio by Recording Custom Jingles
We updated and have corrected the Anita Kerr exhibit today (Click on Anita or go to Catergories WXYZ) as dated March 13, 2012.
Thanks to information provided us by Detroit legendary broadcaster Lee Alan we’ve revised the post by adding his part of the story which is now part of the Anita Kerr exhibit as well.
Also you can read Lee Alan’s entire response in the ‘comments’ link below the post. Thank you Lee Alan, for your added comments. We’re grateful of your response.
In regards to the post all the corrections have been made, effective, July 2, 2012. Only with your help, first and foremost, we will strive to keep the record straight as best as we possibly can.
DETROIT — Unable to carve a niche in the torrid rock and roll field here,WXYZintroduced a “Good Life” sound here last week in a drive by new operations manager Joe Bacarella to create the station’s own audience with a new format appeal, slated tentative for March 5. The new sound hinges almost entirely on uptempo songs from a playlist of 150 tunes.
WXYZ-AM, until recently, was a top 40 station in the Detroit market going against WKNR-AM and CKLW-AM. WJBK, currently an adult-oriented conservative music station, made the switch several years back, dropping top 40 music by August, 1964.
Joe Bacarella
The records played will include everything from up-tempo tunes by Henry Mancini to records by Sonny and Cher and the Herman’s Hermits. But Bacarella emphasized that only the big band sounds of artists like Sonny and Cher and Herman’s Hermits will be played.
Records like Sonny and Cher’s “The Beat Goes On,” said Bacarella, features a big band sound. “Whereas at one time the Herman’s Hermits put out tunes featuring only the group, today their records features many more instruments than just the group itself. Ramsey Lewis’ ‘Wade In The Water,’ if you listen closely, contains that big band backing.
“It’s what’s happening in today’s pop music. It’s good to hear that rock beat, but nothing can compare with a Buddy Rich doing it.”
Bacarella, who came to WXYZ two months ago from Detroit’s WCAR, says the station will feature WNEW type deejays and a WIP (“work in progress”) format. The 150 tunes includes two selections each from 50 albums and 50 singles. Artists played, besides those already mentioned, include Peggy Lee, Nancy Sinatra and Frank Sinatra, and Eydie Gorme.
The format features 12 albums in four categories — male vocal, female vocal, group, and instrumental. A new playlist is compiled anytime the station may feel the need.
As part of it’s new image, WXYZ recently brought in the deejay duo of Howard and Martin and have invested in a fantastic promotion campaign behind the team. Bacarella said the station was also out to establish a “show business” image to correlate with the “Good Life” music sound for a new Detroit audience.
When Tony Bennett recently appeared at the Roostertail nightclub, the entire deejay staff taped interviews with the artist and Howard and Martin did a show from a script with Bennett for their program.
So far, the reception to the new WXYZ changes overall “has been excellent as had been expected thus far,” Bacarella said. END
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(Information and news source: Billboard; March 18, 1967)
WXYZ’s new morning team Specs Howard and Harry Martin.
A MCRFB Note: By the time Joe Bacarella arrived at WXYZ (from WCAR) on January 16, 1967, station manager Chuck Fritz had just finalized the deal in ink when hiring the duo of Martin and Howard from Cleveland’s WKYC as the new morning team on 1270.
Martin and Howard made news in print in Detroit when first introduced on December 5, 1966 (Click on image for larger view; scan courtesy Jim Heddle Collection)
It was a big investment. Reportedly, WXYZ agreed to pay the two personalities $48,000 each, with another $20,000 going to the team’s personal writer, an individual by the name of Ray Koeppen.
The very next day, on January 17, the duo was surprised after meeting with ABC brass from New York that WXYZ was dropping the top 40 format for MOR instead, much to their “devastation.”
With the new MOR format at WXYZ in place, Martin and Howard were never given the complete freedom the comedy team had celebrated during their eight-year run at Cleveland’s top 40 WKYC.
By early 1968, the highly-invested Martin and Howard team tanked within earshot of a dismal 4.0 rating for the morning drive. Shortly thereafter, after much anticipated acclaim, the comedy-duo were finally dumped by the ‘XYZ brass. Martin and Howard were finished and done in Detroit. Dick Purtan, who was hired at the station for afternoons after returning back to Detroit from a very short stay at Baltimore’s WBAL, was then promoted by Bacarella to be the new morning man at WXYZ.
Jimmy Hampton (Taylor) on WAAM-AM (Flint), 1965; Jimmy Hampton on WXYZ AM 1270, 1966; Jim Hampton on WJBK AM 1500, 1969; Jim Hampton on WCAR AM 1130; 1970
Jimmy Hampton 1270 WXYZ radio personality profile brochure from 1966(Click on image for larger view)
… “What happened to the record? Ladies and Gentleman, did you see this? The record is warped. What do I do now? Should I just, can we shut the station off?”….
In 1958, the legendary call letters WXYZ made an abrupt transition to swing into a new Top 40 music station for Detroit. The 5,000-watter station, new in its concept, did quite well early on battling in head-to-head competition with its rival, WJBK 1500, another Top 40 formatted station. Both WXYZ and WJBK became a dominate force in Top 40 radio in the Motor City then, as both calls would go on to impact further the local pop music scene. Both stations fared very well in their respective broadcasting community service and, it was then that WXYZ grew in radio popularity, for the most part early on during the early 1960s.
During the time WXYZ (“it’s easy to remember”) had ushered in their Top 40 era in the late-1950s through the early 1960s, by now affectionately known as “Wixie,” the station gifted the Motor City in hiring some of the best radio personalities that ever graced the radio airways in the city’s history. Some of the legendary 1270 notables at the time included these great names: Fred Wolf, Paul Winters, Lee Alan, Dave Prince, Joel Sabastian, Steve Lundy, Fred Weiss, Don Zee; and, for a short time in 1966, Joey Reynolds and Jim Hampton.
A native of Michigan, Jim Hampton grew up in Farmington and attended Farmington High School. Hampton honed in on his deejay skills early on by emceeing record hops at Farmington High, as added entertainment right after the school’s basketball games.
Jim Hampton on WXYZ 1270 “Personality Plus” radio in 1966(Click on image for larger view)
Immediately after graduating high school, Hampton was hired at WXYZ as a ‘record spinner,’ spinning records and filling in commercials while assisting as board-op for Paul Winter, Lee Alan, Joel Sabastian and Dave Prince. According to Jim Hampton, that given opportunity ultimately became “such an amazing experience having to work with some of the best talents in broadcasting. All of them became my mentors, particular Dave, Joel and Lee.”
While greatly appreciative of his limited capacity in radio at WXYZ with a sense of purpose and desire to go well beyond, he landed his next radio job as a deejay “weekender,” which Jim described was located “in the middle of a cow pasture,” at Ypsilanti’s Top 40 station WYSI (presently WSDS).
Having gained further radio fortitude and experience while at WYSI, Hampton’s next stop will be Flint’s own WTRX. In November of 1963, he ultimately was hired as a full-time deejay there by the station GM, who was also responsible giving him the name Jim Taylor as well.
A great studio shot of Jim Hampton on WXYZ radio in Detroit
According to “Jim Taylor,” eventually, Hampton’s tenure “at night was the number one” show during the evening hours he was on WTRX. Ever so popular in the Flint area, Terry Knight was already there at the Top 40 station when Hampton was hired at the time. Hampton’s and Knight’s popularity came to full prominence during the times they both shared together on WTRX.
In 1964, Jimmy prematurely left WTRX, having quit by having thought he had a new position lined up with his former first radio love, WXYZ in Detroit. The position open at WXYZ was granted to someone else instead, and Jim found himself without work. WTRX immediately filled his position there with Larry Morrow, who later would come to prominence as Duke Windsor on CKLW.
Moving on to Jackson, Michigan. Jimmy applied and was offered a radio position with WKHM, another Knorr Broadcasting station in Michigan at the time. According to Jim, that was short-lived, as he decided to make that daily long travel there from Farmington to Jackson, a travel prospect having proved difficult, as he recently described to mcrfb.com.
And so it’s back to Flint one more time. But this time it’s on WAMM with the afternoon drive. Now with dual duties there, Jim accepted the initial offer to be the station’s music director as well.
A year goes by. By early 1966, Jimmy Hampton finally gets that call he was waiting for. Lee Alan, program director at WXYZ radio at the time, was on the horn with Jim. That call, as Hampton related, for him, “it was a dream come true.” And Jim Hampton was only every bit nineteen-years of age.
WXYZ Sound Survey; September 12, 1966(Click on image for larger view)
When that call was made, the ABC-owned radio station was the gold standard for broadcasting here in Detroit. Very prestigious in the field, WXYZ also was a television-affiliate and, as Jim Hampton had disclosed, the pay was above respectable for those who were hired to work for “Broadcast House,” located in Southfield. He disclosed his pay in 1966 at $165.00 a week, roughly $60,000 in today’s inflated money standards. In contrast, Joey Reynolds, the anticipated radio star WXYZ also hired in 1966, earned roughly “$325.00 per week” during the few months he was briefly there. Not bad.
But unfortunately, the “good times” would suddenly come to an abrupt end at “Wixie” radio. While still serving in the U.S. Army reserves, Hampton was called for active duty in late 1966, and would serve into the early months of 1967. During the six months he was away, changes were on the horizon that year for WXYZ. By the time he returned from the reserves, WXYZ dumped the Top 40 format for middle-of-the-road “beautiful music” instead, aptly christened as “The Good Life.” Lee Alan was gone by then, and while Joe Bacarella was now at the helms, Johnny Randall was hired to fill the void Hampton had left open during the time he was on reserve active duty. In the meantime, Jim filled the rest of his time on WXYZ-FM for the “obligatory six months after doing service.”
All in a row: Dave Prince, Danny Taylor, Pat Murphy, Jim Hampton, Lee Alan, Marc Avery; WXYZ 1966(Click on image for larger view)
Once again in search for higher ground, in late 1967, Hampton was introduced by a fellow radio acquaintance to John Detz at underground-rocker WABX-FM in Detroit. He was hired for the afternoon drive. About the same time, Jim recalled he got a call from KQV in Pittsburgh. He was offered an on-air position from Mike McCormick, who was the program director at the ABC-owned Top 40 station there. “I couldn’t see myself in Pittsburgh,” Hampton recalls, “but I ultimately got off the air and instead became co-manager of sales at WABX-FM.”
Having set up the new sales department for WABX, Hampton was instrumental in hiring Jim Irrer and Richard Golden for the sales team. Jim went on to say, that, “they became legends and made the station very successful with advertising.”
During his stay at WABX, another radio opportunity was left open for Jim. Late in 1968, there had been talk in the trade that WJBK was soon dropping it’s “beautiful music” format, planning it’s return to Top 40 radio in 1969 for the 50,000-watt daytimer (WJBK’s transmitted-power dropped down to 10,000 watts at night).
Detroit radio broadcasting legend Jim Hampton, photo taken several years back . . .
The new 1969 WJBK lineup were to include Marc Avery, Conrad Patrick, Hank O’Neil, K.O. Bailey and Tom Dean. Jim Hampton was asked to join the team. He became the music director while doing the all-night show once again. But the format would bomb within a few months after its inception on WJBK. Instead, WJBK decided to go with country. As the rest the lineup goes, Jim found himself out of radio one more time.
But Jim’s radio career was far from over. Ken Draper, the legendary radio programmer who created WCFL in Chicago, was coming to Detroit’s WCAR. Jim’s meeting with Draper went well. He was hired as WCAR’s Production Director. It was a first for Jim, as he said this opportunity “really honed my skills as a producer and writer, which helped me later when I went to LA to become a producer for syndication. WCAR was an amazing station at the time with names like Ray Otis, Specs Howard, Dave Prince, H.B. Phillips, Dan O’Shea, Warren Pierce, Edward Alan Busch to name a few.”
Now nearing the end of 1969, Jim was getting a little restless with the Detroit radio market. The news director at WLS in Chicago, Phil Hayes, an old friend of Jim’s, decided to give him a call. He said Mike McCormick, the new PD, who previously invited Jim over to Pittsburgh’s KQV a few years back, was now looking for a new Production Director for the legendary Windy City station. Jim and his wife decided to leave Detroit that weekend and headed straight for Chicago. After having met Mr. McCormick during an outdoor social event, and “after a few drinks,” that same night, Jim agreed to accept the offered opportunity to work for WLS.
Jim Hampton today
In the ensuing years after his last radio stint at WLS in Chicago, Jim Hampton’s career in broadcasting excelled to greater heights with syndication marketing. While in LA perfecting his craft in production writing and radio syndication, Jim produced over 1,000 specials for the ABC Radio Network and has interviewed many musical stars for radio affiliates across the nation and around the globe as well. Many would include various recorded specials for national distribution home and abroad, including The John Lennon Story, The Bob Seger Story, The Beach Boys Story, The Eagles Story, Michael Jackson, Super ’70s and much, much more.
Today, Jim Hampton resides in the Los Angeles area. But his heart never abated no less the love he always held for the city he affectionately still calls home. A winner of the Aegis and Telly Awards, currently he is CEO of GreenhouseMarketing Group, a marketing and sponsorship sales company that represent many organizations, events and broadcast properties across the United States and worldwide.
MCRFB would like to express our sincere gratitude to Jimmy Hampton for contributing to this exhibit. All photos courtesy of Jim Hampton. We also would like to thank Jim for permitting this website to exhibit his sensational twelve-hour radio special “Radio Recall,” which Jim locally produced for WPON-AM in Pontiac, Michigan for the 2009 Memorial Weekend.
On behalf of George Griggs, Scott Westerman and mcrfb.com,Jim Hampton, thank you so much for sharing once again those wonderful Detroit radio memories you gave us all.
From the MCRFB Aircheck Library, featuring: (Click on name for audio)
Addendum (Update): Special thanks once again to Jimmy Hampton for sharing with MCRFB the photos below, added to this exhibit September 8, 2012.
Jim Hampton on stage for a WABX-FM benefit event at the Grande Ballroom circa 1968 for The Salvation Army.Two WXYZ-AM Detroit radio greats: Jim Hampton and Marc Avery circa 1969.
It is high time we give thanks to the nation’s deejays who are performing an invaluable service for music publishers and record companies by bringing to their attention talent from their area — talent which otherwise might never had the opportunity to have been heard by publishers and recording companies.
A case in point is Dave Prince of WXYZ, Detroit. About two years ago, Mr. Prince wrote us about Billy Lee & The Rivieras, a group appearing around Record Hops in Detroit. He was so impressed with their musical talent and performance abilities that he felt it was his duty to help them. He waxed so enthusiastically about the boys that we agreed to hear them. We liked what we heard and we signed them.
Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels’ “Sock It To Me” LP; New Voice Records; 1967.
The rest is musical history, the group now known as Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels has soared to stardom. As for Dave Prince, he derives much satisfaction in realization he discovered a stellar group, and in knowing that was truly a great judgment in talent found.
There are other cases where deejays discovered writers, musicians, and singers, and have done much to help them. This speaks well for the radio personalities of the USA who feel a sense of responsibility for their listeners. So, we say thank you one and all, you dedicated people in radio wherever you are.
Dan Crewe,
Vice-President,
Saturday Music, Inc.
1841 Broadway, New York, New York 10023
212-CI 5-3535
(Information and news source: Billboard; August 13, 1966).
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).
The Anita Kerr Singers on Warner Bros. Records 1967(click on image for larger view)
Let’s rewind back to 1966. If your AM dial was set on the radio here in Detroit to 1270, you may still remember listening to one of the most beautiful jingles packages ever produced for Detroit radio during that time. The Anita Kerr custom-series jingle package for WXYZ AM.
But first just who was Anita Kerr?
Insofar as mainstream music popularity goes, and by name definition, not much had been known or had been publicized about her back when, outside a few music-trade publications.
Anita Jean Grilli (Anita Kerr) was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on October 31, 1927. According to her biography, Anita took an early exposure to music early on during her childhood when she first appeared on her mother’s radio show in Memphis. During her teen years in high school there, she expanded her musical talents by forming her own singing group. As a youngster then, she also demonstrated maturity for writing music as well.
In 1949, she went on to form a singing group, the Anita Kerr Singers, which she later trimmed down to a quartet. Anita Kerr as soprano, Gil Wright as tenor, alto Dottie Gillard, and Louis Nunn as baritone. Eventually, the Anita Kerr Singers played on local radio and gained exposure on NBC television’s ‘Sunday Going South.’ The group’s talent for good music gained in popularity while in hometown Memphis, and in 1951, Decca Records signed the group as studio backing singers for their recording label.
The Anita Kerr Quartet on Decca Records. 1958
In 1956, the Anita Kerr Singers made an appearance on the Arthur ‘Godfrey’s Talent Scouts’ show on CBS television. The group also made gains with an appearance on the Jim Reeves Show in 1958. The group also went on to record an album as well, ‘Voices In Hi-Fi,’ which Decca released in 1958.
By the end of the 1950s, the group had signed over with RCA Records. Chet Atkins, the head of the Country Music Division of RCA, integrated Kerr’s talents to help facilitate a new “Nashville Sound.” The new “sound” Atkins produced was primarily intended to be more mainstream and appealing for the pop music scene at the time in the early 1960s. By adding strings and Anita Kerr’s vocal backings, along with the Jordanaires, RCA went on to introduce mainstream America with a brand new sound for country music. In crossing over, they called it, “Countrypolitan.”
During that time as well, Anita Kerr became more involved behind-the-scenes with the studio production facets at RCA. Now utilizing her talents elsewhere for Chet Atkins there, she was instrumental in producing orchestral arrangements for other RCA country recording artist as well, such as Skeeter Davis’ 1963 country/pop hit, “The End Of The World.” The group went on to back many other country artists on RCA as well, including Hank Snow, Jimmy Reeves, Floyd Cramer, Dottie West, Roy Orbison, and many, many more.
Anita Kerr’s Grammy award-winning RCA LP, ‘We Dig Mancini’ beat out the Beatles ‘Help!’ LP for “Best Performance by A Vocal Group” award. 1965
In 1965 the Anita Kerr Singers reached a high point by winning two Grammy awards. They were awarded for Best Performance By A Vocal Group for their RCA album, ‘We Dig Mancini,’ edging out the Beatles’ ‘Help!’ album in that category. The group also won the Best Gospel Album category by collaborating with George Beverly O’Shea in the 1964 RCA album release, ‘Southland Favorites.’
Anita Kerr Enterprises, 1965
Later on in the same year, according to a brief article in the October 16, 1965 edition of Billboard magazine, Anita Kerr moved to Hollywood from Nashville to form Anita Kerr Enterprises to work in the commercial radio and jingle industries. In concert with former RCA Victor European sales administrator, Alexandre Grob, they also obtained the services of Charlie Williams, former songwriter and personal manager at RCA Records. While on the west coast, Anita still continued to work with her Nashville singing group which bears her name, and stated of her intentions in bringing the other members of the singing group to California to record jingles. The singers will remain as an act for the RCA label, according to the Billboard brief.
By 1967 Anita Kerr Enterprises had recorded jingles for various radio clients across the country, including KMPC AM 710 in Los Angeles, California; WLS AM 890 in Chicago, Illinois, WGH AM 1310 in Newport News, Virginia, and WXYZ AM in Detroit.
At WXYZ AM 1270 here in Detroit, Lee Alan was program director for WXYZ-AM. In late 1965, new changes were being implemented at the station for the coming new year for 1966. Lee Alan personally wrote and composed the “Personality Plus” jingles series for the coming new “Detroit Sound Survey.” WXYZ-AM, at the time, was a Detroit affiliate and owned by the ABC Radio Network in New York.
Once approval had been attained for Lee Alan to proceed with the station’s new “Personality Plus” custom package, ABC in New York sanctioned station General Manager Chuck Fritz’s request to allow Lee Alan to hire Dick Marx Productions in Chicago “to finish the arrangements and contract with Anita to do the singing,” Lee Alan said. “Years earlier Dick (Marx) had produced the jingles for sister station WLS-AM in Chicago.”
Lee Alan further stated that, “the series were carefully crafted to upgrade and change the sound of WXYZ. I produced the package with Dick Marx in Chicago. We hired Anita Kerr and her back-up singers who recorded everything in two sessions in over a two day period.
“Later I was asked to write and produce another series for WXYZ-FM which was affected by the ‘broadcast separately from AM’ by FCC rules. At he same time I wrote and produced the opening jingles for the new ‘Martin and Howard’ show which began in 1967. For each production session I hired Dick Marx and contracted with Anita Kerr,” Lee Alan went on to conclude (see Lee Alan’s comments below; dated July 2, 2012).
The new Anita Kerr Singers; Warner Brothers Records 1968
After a trip to Europe in late 1967, Anita Kerr disbanded the group before signing over with Warner Brothers Records. But once again, she formed a new group of Anita Kerr Singers under the Warner label. The new group features tenor Gene Merlino, bass Bob Tedow, and sopranos Jackie Ward and B. J. Baker. They produced two albums for Warner records, both albums were produced with Warner Bros. recording artist Rod McKuen. The first album was entitled, ‘The Sea’ which became a best-seller in 1967. In late 1968, the group released their second album with McKuen. Their second LP was entitled, “Home By The Sea.’ In both albums, Anita composed the music and Rod McKuen wrote the lyrics to the songs.
Anita Kerr Singers ‘Reflect‘ Album; Dot Records 1969
In 1969, Anita Kerr made a move over to Dot Records. While at Dot Records, the group won the Edison Award for their first album under the new label, The Anita Kerr Singers Reflect On The Hits Of Burt Bacharach And Hal David.
According to the Wikipedia website, Anita Kerr received a special ASCAP Award in 1975, in recognition of her efforts “as a first class musician for her significant contributions to the birth and development of the Nashville Sound.” In 1992, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Science (NARAS) gave Anita Kerr the NARAS Governors Award “in recognition of her outstanding contributions to American music.”
But once again, in closing, listen closely to those classic jingles Anita Kerr had recorded for WXYZ radio in 1966. We’re certain you’ll agree this custom-package was one of the most beautifully arranged set of jingles that was ever produced for Detroit radio during the 1960s.
And we certainly would have to especially thank Lee Alan for making this beautifully written WXYZ custom series package we’ve featured here for making this all happen all the more in 1966.
DETROIT — WXYZ will follow the Supremes to Detroit’s Roostertail nightclub Monday evening (January 17) for their performance. Lee Alan and Danny Taylor will broadcast remote from the club’s lobby at their regularly scheduled time – 7:15-10 p.m. and 10 p.m.-1 a.m. respectively.
Marc Avery, Steve Lundy, Dave Prince and Pat Murphy will be on hand at a WXYZ table with microphones to interview the Supremes themselves and thereafter speak with members of the crowd live concluding the Supremes Roostertail performance. END
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(Information and news source: Billboard; January 22, 1966)
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