— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —
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Aired on the night of December 18, 1966 on Detroit NBC WWJ-TV (Channel 4), 10:00 p.m., 54 years ago, on this day. Guests: Andy and his brothers (The Williams Brothers), Bob, Dick and Don. His wife, Claudine Longet, and The Osmond Brothers.
(Source: Detroit Free Press; Sunday, December 18, 1966)
THE ANDY WILLIAMS CHRISTMAS SHOW * NBC-TV * SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1966
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“It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” is a popular Christmas song written in triple time in 1963 by Edward Pola and George Wyle. It was recorded and released that year by pop singer Andy Williams for his first Christmas album, The Andy Williams Christmas Album. However, the song was not released as a promotional single by Williams’ record label (Columbia Records) that year, as they instead opted to promote his cover of “White Christmas” as the official promo single from the album.
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(Source: WiKipedia)
— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —
DECEMBER 18 * 08 * ANDY WILLIAMS
— KEENER 13 AND THE SOUNDTRACK OF DETROIT —
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The long anticipated WKNR book by Scott Westerman in print and available!
At long last, the Keener legend is available and in print (published in 2019). It’s a tale 56 years in the making and 4 years in production, with biographical sketches of many of the original WKNR personalities, popular culture highlights from each year of the Keener era and scans of 9 years of WKNR Music Guides.
Motor City Music – Keener13 and the Soundtrack of Detroit tells the story of Keener’s birth and how Bob Green, Dick Purtan, Jerry Goodwin, Robin Seymour and others found their way to the Detroit airwaves. There are classic tales of Keener and the Beatles, a contest that almost landed WKNR in court and the station’s power to raise a half million dollars for charity during a newspaper strike.
We meet two of the men behind the scenes, program director, Frank Maruca and chief engineer Jerry Martin, a duo who help craft both the sound and the vibe that made WKNR jump out of your radio and into your heart.
Music guide buffs will love watching their favorite hits ride up and down the charts, watching how the promotional pictures of the announcers morphed over the years and remembering some of the products that Keener helped sell to thousands of fans across the Motor City.
Motor City Music is a true trip down memory lane, a required reference for those of us who followed the music and a loving tribute to the talent that transformed a 5,000 watt AM station that barely covered the market into a powerhouse that became the soundtrack of our lives.
Grab your copy of Motor City Music – Keener13 and the Soundtrack of Detroit in either print or digital form at Amazon.com.
And to one and to all . . . Merry Christmas!
–Scott Westerman
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‘A Christmas Gift for You’ from Phil Spector (originally released as A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records) is an album of Christmas songs, produced by Phil Spector, and originally released as Philles 45 in 1963. Spector treated a series of mostly secular Christmas standards to his “Wall of Sound” treatment, and the selections feature the vocal performances of Spector’s regular artists during this period. The album peaked at No. 13 on Billboard magazine’s special, year-end, weekly Christmas Albums sales chart in December 1963. The album, released in the United States on November 22, 1963—the same day that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated—was an immediate relative failure (in reception) at that time.
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(Source: Wikipedia)
— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —
Click on (COMPLETE LP) for the complete track listing on this album
PHIL SPECTOR * A CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR YOU (COMPLETE LP)
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“Little Saint Nick” is a Christmas-themed hot rod song about Santa Claus and his sleigh, written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love of the American rock band the Beach Boys. The song was first released as a single on December 9, 1963, and peaked at number 3 on Billboard magazine’s special seasonal weekly Christmas Singles chart. Its B-side was an acappella version of “The Lord’s Prayer”. “Little Saint Nick” was recorded on October 20, 1963 at Western Studio in Hollywood. “Little Saint Nick” reappeared on The Beach Boys’ Christmas Album in 1964, with the stereo pressings of the album containing a new mix that removes the overdubbed sleigh bells and tuned percussion.
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(Source: WiKipedia)
— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —
DECEMBER 17 * 09 * THE BEACH BOYS
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The above Billboard ad was digitally restored by Motor City Radio Flashbacks
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“The listing of records herein is the opinion of CKLW based on its survey of record sales, listener requests and CKLW’s judgement of the record’s appeal.”
The above CKLW chart was digitally restored by Motor City Radio Flashbacks
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A SPECIAL THANK YOU
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A sincere, thank you, Mrs. Patti Griggs. This featured presentation would have not been possible without your generosity, dedication, and your continuous support.
Above CKLW music chart courtesy of Mrs. Patti Griggs and the George L. Griggs estate.
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We Wish You a Merry Christmas is a 1962 album by Ray Conniff. The album was one of two platinum albums over the course of Conniff’s career and earned him the title of CBS Records Best Selling Artist for 1962.
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(Source: Wikipedia)
— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —
Click on (COMPLETE LP) for the complete track listing on this album.
RAY CONNIFF * WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS (COMPLETE LP)
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“My Favorite Things” is a show tune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music. Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass released a version in 1969 as a single from their 1968 album, Christmas Album. It reached No. 45 on the Billboard 100.
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(Source: WiKipedia)
— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —
DECEMBER 16 * 10 * HERB ALPERT
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—ACKNOWLEDGEMENT—
A special THANK YOU to Greg Innis for contributing this WCHB December 15, 1969 ‘Detroit Super Soul’ chart with Motor City Radio Flashbacks
— THE Greg Innis COLLECTION —
This WCHB chart was digitally restored by Motor City Radio Flashbacks
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