WCSX-FM BACK ON THE RADIO: CARL COFFEY!


WCSX RECALLED ON MOTOR CITY RADIO FLASHBACKS

WCSX-FM 94.7 * 1992 * CARL COFFEY


 

CARL COFFEY WCSX aircheck date: Wednesday, June 10, 1992

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NEW! A special THANK YOU to Jason Chase of Lake Orion, MI, for recently donating this WCSX radio aircheck to Motor City Radio Flashbacks!

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 * THE JASON CHASE COLLECTION *

 

Carl Coffey 1995

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WXYZ RADIO 1270 ‘DETROIT SOUND’ SURVEY: 03/09/65


WXYZ 1270  MARCH 9, 1965

(From the Greg Innis Collection)

*****

This list is selected each week by WXYZ Radio from reports of record sales gathered from leading record outlets in the Detroit area and other sources available to WXYZ.


A MCRFB VIEWING TIP

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THE ‘NEW’ DETROIT RADIO SOUND: KEENER ONE THREE!


 

BOB GREEN * CLASSIC WKNR PROMOS * BOB GREEN PRODUCTIONS: REEL I

 


Bob Green 1966

 

 

BOB GREEN PRODUCTIONS

 

In November 1963, 55 years ago this month, WKMH — 1310 on the dial — faded into the stratosphere while transitioning into a brand new Detroit radio sound. 

Today, and in celebration of that event, Motor City Radio Flashbacks presents a myriad of classic WKNR promos heard on ‘Keener Radio’ in the ’60s and early-’70s, courtesy of Bob Green.

A special THANK YOU to Bob Green for providing Motor City Radio Flashbacks with these classic recordings (back in 2001!). The audio presented here was transferred from three separate reeled tapes (boxed) and presented here for the very first time.

 

 

BOB GREEN * CLASSIC WKNR PROMOS * BOB GREEN PRODUCTIONS: REEL II

 


 

BOB GREEN * CLASSIC WKNR PROMOS * BOB GREEN PRODUCTIONS: REEL III

 


 

SPECIAL THANKS

 

Motor City Radio Flashbacks extends another special ‘THANK YOU’ to Bob Pratt, of Farmington, MI, for transferring three Bob Green Production (reeled) recordings to its present audio format, as they are featured here today. 

 


KEENER 13 1963-1971


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DETROIT TOP DEEJAYS PICK THE WEEK’S TOP HITS: 1965!

DETROIT FREE PRESS November 12, 1965 (click on image 2x for largest PC view)

Friday, November 12, 1965

THE WEEK’S TOP SINGLES

*****

Above article is courtesy freep.com newspaper archive. Copyright 2018. Newspapers.com.

The above featured Week’s Top Singles article was clipped, saved, and imaged from the credited source by Motor City Radio Flashbacks


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GAVIN REPORT: THE DJ UNDER RADIO CONTROL . . . MARCH 30, 1963

From the MCRFB NEWS archive: 1963

The Bill Gavin Newsletter  March 30, 1963

Radio Management Policy Dictates How DJ Ultimately Swings

 

 


 

From the Desk of Bill Gavin  Billboard Contributing Editor

 

MANAGEMENT AND THE DISK JOCKEY: Last week we had things to say about what makes a good disk jockey. We said very little about the problems and limitations surrounding the deejay, curbing his freedom of action. The circumscribed area within whose boundaries the disk jockey exercises his talents is known as “station policy.” This is simply another way of saying “what management wants.”

Station policy controls the kind of music to be played, the range of disk jockey discretion in programming his own show, the amount of humor he may-or must-use, the handling of time, temperature and weather announcements, the use of production gimmicks, the frequency of call letter and personal name mention, and so on. As most of our readers know quite well, these requirements vary considerably from one station to another.

In the “early” days (pre-1950) of the name disk jockey, he was pretty much his own boss. The main considerations were his ratings and the amount of revenue they attracted. He selected his own music and was expected to be a specialist in the field. The man preceding or following him often played a different kind of music. Each disk jockey set his own music policy, within very broad limitations.

Top 40 changed that. One by one, the big name disk jockeys found it impossible to hold their ratings in the face of a solid challenge from a pop station whose music was dependably the same day and night. The concentrated power of the top hits was too much for stations that had no over-all music control.

MUCH THAT WAS CREATIVE was lost to modern radio with the passing of the big name disk jockey. Much that was stereotyped – almost ritualistic, and certainly sterile-replaced it. But this was apparently what the people wanted. The top 40 disk jockeys was almost a robot, with little to do besides time, temperature, the chart number of the record, and an occasional pick “destined for future popularity.”

As top 40 outgrew its early childhood, a handful of progressive program directors began to realize that while the mass audience wanted the top hits, they also preferred having them presented by human beings rather than automatons. The disk jockey began to re-emerge as a vital factor in program appeal.

Little stations and big ones are now trying to solve the problem of how to adapt the personality disk jockey to a carefully controlled music policy. There is endless experimenting going on.

Disk jockeys are encouraged to be “personalities” – to sparkle with clever sayings. Some disk jockeys have their own private gag files. A few stations have libraries of wit and humor, from which the air men are expected to draw. There are syndicated gag services in circulation. Some stations, I’m told, employ feature writers to supply disk jockeys with clever material. Apparently the humor factor bulks large today in the thinking of station managers.

The function of the disk jockey in building his own show is, of course, much more restricted on top 40 than on “better music” stations. But even in the latter, we find a growing trend toward a “must play” list of singles, which have to be incorporated with some frequency into every disk jockey show.

AMONG TOP 40 STATIONS, opinion seems divided as to requiring the disk jockey to prepare his show in advance. Some feel that he operates better through the exercise of spontaneous choice as he goes along. Others believe that a planned show is more likely to be smooth and well balanced. Among smaller stations, particularly, the requirement of writing out in advance the order of records to be played compensates somewhat for comparative inexperience of the staff. In a few cases -successful, I might add – the music director himself programs every disk jockey’s show, and deviations are permitted only in exceptional cases.

Even in the early days of top 40, management noted one difficulty: Disk jockeys with no responsibility for picking the records were losing contact with the music world. As they lost touch, they also lost interest, and that’s just how they sounded on the air. To correct this shortcoming, many stations instituted the weekly staff meeting.

The music director plays a group of new releases for the assembled disk jockeys, who vote yes or no on each nomination. Only those sides receiving a big majority (two- thirds or more) could be included in the new playlist. The system is anathema to most promotion people, who would prefer to focus their efforts on a single arbiter rather than on a group. Weekly meetings may be cumbersome and inefficient, but they do give each disk jockey a sense of responsibility for the new music selected. END

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(Information and news source: Billboard; March 30, 1963)


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FELICIANO LIGHTS A MUSICAL FIRE IN CLEVELAND CONCERT . . . NOVEMBER 2, 1968

From the MCRFB NEWS archive: 1963

Feliciano Lauds Cleveland Audience Singing On It’s Feet

 

 

 


 

CLEVELAND – They stood up for RCA artist Jose Feliciano before he sang a note Oct. 17 at his Public Music Hall appearance. And they kept standing when the song was over.

Feliciano opened with his soul version of “Star Spangled Banner,” which had struck such a spark at the World Series game in Detroit Oct. 7.

The blind guitarist, who can set a fire with his fingertips, wowed the 2,500 audience with his wit as well as with his singing and playing. He did a hilarious
spoof of Coca -Cola commercials, imitating Barry McGuire, Mrs. Miller, Tiny Tim, Walter Brennan and Bob Dylan.

There was the haunting strains of “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” the beauty of “Malaguena,” the tenderness of “Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Cryin,” the rollicking rhythm of his current “Hi-Heel Sneakers” and of “Mama Don’t Allow.” But the greatest ovation came from his million-seller “Light My Fire.”

Feliciano wound up singing “Hang on Sloopy” in Spanish, banging on the bongos. Also on the bill, British comedian Jonathan Moore scored with comedy routines on laundermats, airplanes and Hell’s Angels. WKYC disk jockey Fred Winston emceed the Belkin Brothers production. END

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(Information and news source: Billboard; November 2, 1968)


Jose Feliciano 1968

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