Hello Detroit – Robin Seymour.mp3
Month: August 2012
FLASHBACK FRIDAY: THE NEWBEATS * 1965 * HD STEREO
FLASHBACK FRIDAY: TERRY KNIGHT & THE PACK * 1966 * HD HI-FI
HUDSON’S RECORD DEPARTMENT
WORKING TO THE BONE DAY AND NIGHT
Working hard day and night!
I VOTED FOR EARL PITTS
WSHJ – SOUTHFIELD
1959 ‘FORMULA RADIO’ STIRS FUROR IN DETROIT… MARCH 30, 1959
From the MCRFB news archives:
Veteran DJ Exits Sparks ‘Formula Radio’ Furor; WXYZ Ace Fred Wolf Responds To Backlash
From the MCRFB Aircheck Library, featuring:
WXYZ-AM – Fred Wolf – 1961.mp3
WXYZ-AM – Fred Wolf – Part 2 – 1961 – With Dick Osgood.mp3
DETROIT — The No. 1 topic among record and radio executives continues to be “formula radio,” with the local press, jocks, distributors and broadcasting brass taking aggressive stands — both pro and con — on the subject.
The furor, of course, was sparked by the recent resignations of veteran deejays Ed McKenzie from WXYZ radio here, and Eddie Chase from CKLW radio in Windsor, across from the Detroit river. Both jocks blamed “formula radio” for their departure.
The local newspapers had a field day after the Chase resignation, with CKLW radio making public charges of prevarication on Chase’s part for reasons of his leaving. CKLW president J. E. Campeau issued statements to the Detroit Times that Chase designed his statements “to cash in on the subject of (the) so-called formula broadcasting.”
Campeau added in the Hearst publication story that, “the truth is, we insisted that Chase, whose ratings were sagging badly, return to live broadcasting from the studios…. instead of doing taped shows from the lobby of a local theater…. services such as time signals. weather reports, traffic conditions and other public services he could not provide on a taped show. In six months, his ratings became the highest in Detroit for most of the afternoon time segments.”
The station president claimed that Chase continued to view giving the public added station services as unnecessary. Chase refused to comment on Campeau’s statement and charges until he officially leaves the station.
Fred Wolf, disk-jockey star of WXYZ radio and television, however did not hesitate in an end-of-the-week climax denouncement of opposition to “formula radio” to label it as “”live, live, live!” Castigating “old-timers” for not wanting to move, Wolf explained “formula” as “fast-paced production, station identification, less talk, more music.” Admitting he couldn’t sincerely endorse straight formula, Wolf said identification is the big thing…. “It takes a good man with personality, get-up-and-go and a live program to get away with formula.”
Wolf and station officials’ opinion on “formula” were clearly not shared by some others in the industry here. Decca branch manager John Schlee, Columbia’s Russ Yerge, Mercury and Dot distributors John Kaplan expressed themselves vigorously in the local press against “formula.” They frowned because their sales staff must spend more time with record dealers in order to get their records on the listings which the dealers give the disk jockeys as weekly hit tunes. They also dislike the “wearing-out” of a disk on radio DJ shows because they fear the public may lose some interest in buying their disk product, therefore possibly affecting any potential high volume return in sales. END.
(Information and news source: Billboard; March 30, 1959).
ADAM WEST – MIRANDA – 1966
FLASHBACK POP MUSIC HISTORY: AUGUST 8
from the MCRFB music calendar:
Events on this day: August 8
1960: Decca Records in England refuses to release Ray Peterson’s latest single, “Tell Laura I Love Her,” going so far as to throwing away 25,000 pressings of the teen-tragedy song, reason being they felt was “too tasteless and vulgar for the English sensibility.” A cover by Rick Valance proves them wrong by going straight to No. 1.
1969: Photographer Iain MacMillan shoots the cover for what would be the Beatles’ last recorded album, Abbey Road, just outside the studios where the band recorded most of their classic songs. The photo, which merely shows the band crossing the street while walking away from the studio, has become iconic in its own right, and provides “Paul is dead” enthusiasts with several erroneous “clues” to his “death,” speculation aroused noting Paul is seen barefooted in the photo. (Supposedly, to some, this shoe-less posturing by Paul represents death, but McCartney doused on the theorists by stating it was a hot day). The shoot, which lasts ten minutes, produces six shots, from which Paul picked the shot for the LP cover.
1970: At Philadelphia’s Mount Lawn Cemetery, Janis Joplin purchases a headstone for her idol, Bessie Smith, the famous African-American blues singer who died from injuries suffered in a 1937 car crash – after being refused in a all-whites only hospital. (Bessie’s widower refused to purchase a head stone for her).
1975: Hank Williams, Jr., falls 500 feet down Ajax Mountain near Missoula, MT, sustaining critical injuries exposing a part of his brain and keeping him in and out of hospitals for the next two years. The resultant facial scars would inspire his trademark look, “hat, beard, and shades.”
1983: Herold Melvin and three members of the Blue Notes are arrested for cocaine, marijuana, and meth possession at Caesars Boardwalk Regency Hotel Casino in Atlanta City.
1986: David Crosby (The Byrds; Crosby, Stills and Nash fame) is released from prison after only serving only eight months of his original five-year sentence for cocaine and firearms possession.
2005: Two jurors in the Michael Jackson molestation trial tell NBC-TV’s Today that they have come to regret their ruling of “not guilty.”
Deaths: Cannonball Adderley; 1975.
Releases: ‘Revolver,’ (LP) Beatles; 1966. “Eleanor Rigby,” The Beatles; 1965. “Looking Out My Back Door,” Creedence Clearwater Revival; 1970.
Recording: “Blue Angel,” Roy Orbison; 1960. “I Want You (She’s So Heavy),” “The End,” The Beatles; 1969.
Charts: 1953: “Vaya Con Dios (May God Be With You),” Les Paul and Mary Ford; hits No. 1 on the chart. 1960: “Itsy Bitsy, Teenie Weenie, Yellow Polka Dot Bikini,” Brian Hyland; hits No. 1 on the chart. 1970: ‘Blood, Sweat & Tears 3,’ (LP) Blood, Sweat & Tears; hits No. 1 on the LP chart.
Certifications: 1974: ‘461 Ocean Boulevard,’ (LP) Eric Clapton; certified gold by the RIAA. 1974: “Feel Like Making Love,” Roberta Flack; certified gold by the RIAA.
And that just a few of the events which took place in pop music history, on this day… 