Russ Gibb, WKNR FM underground DJ and Detroit rock & roll visionary extraordinaire, passed away at the age of 87 on April 30, 2019.
In the featured aircheck, Russ Gibb interviews Jeff Beck on his Saturday mid-afternoon show. Inasmuch, Beck was billed to perform at the Grande Ballroom that same night. On another note, and across town as well, Creedence Clearwater Revival was to take the stage at the Olympia at 8:30 p.m.
In wake of his passing, the Detroit Free Press highlighted his career as a WKNR FM broadcaster, rock promoter, and ultimately, as an instructor/teacher in the Dearborn area. In remembrance of Russ Gibb, you can read the article online, here.
This is our very first Russ Gibb inclusion (the first of two) for the site’s Aircheck repository. A nameless donor, in sharing this recording, expressed complete anonymity. The said donor has made two audio contributions, here and here. He resides elsewhere outside the State of Michigan today.
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Audio was digitally remastered by Motor City Radio Flashbacks
WKNR-FM Russ Gibb, circa 1969 (Detroit Free Press file photo)
The above featured Detroit Free Press article was digitally re-imaged by Motor City Radio Flashbacks
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MCRFB Note: Special THANKS to our friend, John Bartony (a.k.a. Jukebox John) St. Clair Shores, Michigan, for providing the above Detroit Free Press WXYZ 1270 ad (June 1958) for this site, as featured today.
A special thank you to senior MCRFB consultant Greg Innis, of Livonia, MI., for contributing the Newspapers.com archives (Detroit radio related) articles, ads, and images we have featured on this site since 2016.
Thank you, Greg Innis, for making these historic Detroit radio features possible. 🙂
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The Top 100 Hits of 1967 Countdown premiered at big8radio.com on Saturday, May 27, at 3pm EST. / Encore presentation aired Monday, May 29 at 12 Noon EST.
For the benefit of our friends who might’ve missed the broadcast over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, the CKLW Top 100 of 1967 broadcast will be archived in our Aircheck Library and heard anytime — ON DEMAND — on this featured page at Motor City Radio Flashbacks.
A special THANK YOU to Charlie O’Brien for recently contributing this special Big 8 Radio / CKLW 1967 Countdown program (May 2023) for our Motor City Radio Flashbacks archive.
Another Big 8 Radio production. An exclusive CKLW audio presentation. Brought to you by Charlie O’Brien and Big 8 Radio. 🙂
The above WKNR chart was digitally restored by Motor City Radio Flashbacks
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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 WKNR music chart courtesy of Mrs. Patti Griggs and the George L. Griggs estate.
A MCRFB Note: Audio newly remastered, this WQTE audio aircheck was previously featured on Motor City Radio Flashbacks four years ago.
TOM CLAY
A special THANK YOU to Robert Pratt, of Farmington Hills, MI.. for providing this rare WQTE Tom Clay audio gem he personally recorded, as dated, 62 years ago.
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Audio recording was digitally enhanced by Motor City Radio Flashbacks
WQTE Launches New Management, Format and New DJs On-Air Policies
WQTE ‘Fabulous 56‘ Survey, 1960
NEW YORK — The payola panic seemed to have abated but many stations across the country are still changing formats and/or deejays in search of higher audience ratings. Latest outlets to adopt new formats are KPOP and KABC, Los Angeles, and WQET, Detroit.
The Storer outlet, KPOP, is changing its call letters to KGBS – for obvious reasons – and switching from a Top-40-type format to an “adult music” policy, emphasizing show-music and semi-classical, beginning July I.
The ABC outlet, KABC, has put three spinners on notice and is adopting a non-deejay programming plan. Deejays put on four weeks’ notice at KABC were Jim Ameche, Don MacKinnon and John Trotter.
The station will launch a new non-deejay format July 4–details of which are still hush-hush. One trade rumor has it that the outlet might go on a news-only programming kick, a la a new San Francisco station operation.
Detroit Station WQET is dropping deejay-controlled disk programming in favor of a strictly supervised “Fabulous 56” format.
The format-switch at WQET is particularly interesting in view of Detroit’s hectic revolving-door situation in the deejay field over the last couple of years.
The station is headed by a team of veteran radio men – prexy Dick Jones and former top jock Ross Mulholland as general manager -and it went on the air last fall with a big-name deejay policy, featuring such top Detroit names as Ed McKenzie and Eddie Chase.
The Detroit Free Press March 27, 1960
Confronted by lagging time-share sales and ratings, Jones and Mulholland decided to adopt the new “Fabulous 56′ policy last week on advice from local distributors. Programming has been taken out of the hands of the deejays and placed in the hands of management.
A list of 56 current hits is made up from station surveys of local dealers, one stops and juke operators, and a list of “rising tunes” compiled from national trade papers.
Approximately 60 per cent of the station’s programming is based on the 56 disks. The remaining 40 per cent is culled from “old memory songs – two to three years old,” new releases, and four “hit of the week” platters selected by the station’s four deejays.
In the wake of the station’s announcement that “the day of big name jockeys is past,” Eddie Chase left WQTE last week. McKenzie left the station three months ago in a disagreement over music programming policies. At the same time, the station has hired a new program director, Harv Morgan, and deejay Tom Clay. Remaining with the station are spinners Ralph Binge and Danny Murphy.
WQTE Tom Clay circa 1960
Clay was fired from WJBK, Detroit, last November after he admitted receiving about $6,000 over a year and a half from small record companies. The jock, along with other WQET deejays, has signed an affidavit that he will not accept payola, said Morgan, who opined that under the station’s new system the jocks will not have any opportunity to accept payola.
Morgan himself will also handle a deejay segment, in addition to his programming duties.
The new format was launched with considerable promotion and fanfare, including a special mailing to time buyers. The copies of Mantovani LP’s and similar non Top-40 packages were sent to the buyers, along with a comment to the effect that this is the kind of music listeners will like, but it doesn’t sell to audiences. END.
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Information, credit and source (as published): Billboard, June 20, 1960
Russ Gibb, WKNR FM underground DJ and Detroit rock & roll visionary extraordinaire, passed away at the age of 87 on April 30, 2019.
Audio was digitally remastered by Motor City Radio Flashbacks
