ON THE BEAT: THREE STARS REMEMBERED . . . FEBRUARY 9, 1959

Motor City Radio Flashbacks logoFrom the MCRFB NEWS archive: 1959

Condolences Extended To Families Of 3 Rock ‘n’ Roll Stars Killed In Plane Crash

 

 

O N   T H E   B E A T  

b y   R e n   G r e v a t t  |  B i l l b o a r d   F e b r u a r y  9 , 1 9 5 9

 

T H I S  C O L U M N extends its condolences to the families and friends of Buddy Holly, J. P. (Big Bopper) Richardson and Ritchie Valens, whose deaths occurred in a tragic plane crash earlier this week. All three left a distinct mark on the pop record scene and all three will be sorely missed by not only those who were close to them, but by many, many young record buyers who felt close to them in another way, as well.

Valens, a 17 year-old Californian, was experiencing his first big surge of popularity with his Del-Fi disk of “Donna,” which at the time of his death was the number three record in the nation. Earlier, Valens had scored with “Come On, Let’s Go.” Richardson, a Texas disc jockey with some eight years’ radio experience behind him, was a cleffer of some distinction and recently had made it big with “Chantilly Lace,” on Mercury Records. The hit disk, oddly enough, was the flip side of the “Purple People Eater Meets The Witch Doctor,” the original plug-side of the record.

Holly had been on the scene longest of all. A discovery of music man Norman Petty of Clovis, New Mexico, Holly had much to do with popularizing the so-called “Tex-Mex” rockabilly sound, with a number of smash hit records like “That’ll Be The Day,” “Peggy Sue,” “Oh Boy,” “Maybe Baby,” “Rave On” and “Early In The Morning.” His latest coupling, his first effort for a with a big string backing, was “It’s Raining In My Heart,” and in a way the ironical title, “It Really Doesn’t Matter Anymore.” But for many, it does matter, and Holly, Valens and Richardson will be not be forgotten. In fact, Coral Records is rushing out an album of Holly’s biggest hits, under the title, “The Buddy Holly Story.” END

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 (Information and news source: Billboard; February 9, 1959)

February 3, 1959

A MCRFB Note: This column was Billboard’s first immediate reference on the deaths of Holly, Valens and Richardson. This column initially was published six days after the tragedy.

For more on February 3, 1959 on the web: Go to the Des Moines Register online and see that paper’s exclusive tribute to Holly, Valens and Richardson, observing “50 Winters Ago” from 2009. You can literally spend hours here — it is loaded with a time-line, interviews, videos, photographs, documents and other special features commemorating 50 years since the tragic 1959 event. And this from the Lubbock-Avalanche Journal online (2009), “Iowans Remember Buddy Holly Performance” (click on the BACK-NEXT button as you go). Especially read the very last eyewitness account . . .  Last, see Scott Westerman’s splendid take on”American Pie Deciphered” (broadcast on XM-Sirius in 2010) here on Motor City Radio Flashbacks.

Plane Crash Site Where Three Rock 'n' Roll Singer Died

F E B R U A R Y   3 ,   1 9 5 9 :   T O D A Y   I N   M U S I C   H I S T O R Y

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1959: WITHIN MINUTES OF TAKEOFF FROM the Mason City, Iowa Airport, at around 1:00 AM CST, the chartered Beech-Craft Bonanza airplane No. N3794N containing Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. Richardson (Big Bopper) crashes into the Iowa countryside, killing all three, in addition to pilot Roger Peterson. The plane, headed for the next “Winter Dance Party” tour stop in Fargo, North Dakota, had been chartered by Holly in order for the band members to travel in heated comfort and to arrive early for their next gig.

When he learns that band member Waylon Jennings, who would eventually become a country star in his own right, has decided to take the freezing bus instead, Holly jokes, “Well, I hope your old bus freezes up.” Jennings jokes back, “Well, I hope your plane crashes.” Another Holly band member, Tommy Allsup, flips Valens for the last available seat, losing the coin toss. Valens exclaims, “That’s the first time I’ve won anything in my life!”

Pilot Peterson, not having been informed of worsening weather conditions, decides to fly “on instruments,” meaning without visual confirmation of the horizon, which leads to the crash. The tragedy was later immortalized as “The Day The Music Died” by Don McLean in his famous song “American Pie.”

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This Day In Pop Music History: February 3, 1959

FEBRUARY 3, 1959 Mason City Globe-Gazette

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VETERAN DJ ED MCKENZIE QUITS ON WXYZ . . . MARCH 16, 1959

Motor City Radio Flashbacks logo

From the MCRFB NEWS archive: 1959

McKENZIE BOWS OUT IN ‘FORMULA RADIO’ PROTEST

 

 

 

 

Capitol jazz artist Nat King Cole with Detroit radio personality Ed McKenzie on WXYZ radio, earlier in 1954. (Click image for larger view).
Capitol jazz artist Nat King Cole with Detroit radio personality Ed McKenzie on WXYZ radio, earlier in 1954. (Click image for larger view)

DETROIT — Veteran deejay Ed McKenzie resigned from station WXYZ here last week in protest of the station’s “formula radio” programming policy.

Rallying to his side was his long-time competitor and another Detroit veteran spinner, Robin Seymour, of WKMH, who came out strongly last week for McKenzie and against “formula radio.” Seymour stated that, “It’s a crime and a shame when one of the true deejays – one of the men who made the jockey a major factor in broadcasting – has to bow to the dictates of a program director.”

Although Seymour and McKenzie – two of Detroit’s key deejays – have vied for audience ratings for the past eleven years (they occupied the same afternoon time slot) Seymour said they remained friends – their friendship dating back to the time McKenzie gave Seymour his first radio job at WJBK here.

Seymour had asked McKenzie to appear on his WKMH show to discuss the whole formula radio situation and his reasons for leaving WXYZ. Seymour said they will explore the jockey’s need for freedom of programming and will discuss further on whether the advent of “formula radio” has anything to do with the fact that no new name deejay (other than Dick Clark) has come up from the ranks in recent years.

WKMH deejay Robin Seymour
WKMH deejay Robin Seymour

Seymour said his station, WKMH, is now the only major Detroit station operating on a non-formula programming policy. The outlet did adopt a non-rock and roll format last year, but Seymour said the management dropped the policy last January, and put record programming back in the deejay’s hands. As a result, the jock said WKMH’s ratings are already showing a small rating climb – the first rating increase for the station in some time.

The WXYZ “formula” (featuring the Top 40 singles was adopted by the station about a years ago, and WXYZ vice-president in charge of radio, Hal Neal, opined “Our interpretation of radio is that it is a step moving forward.”

WXYZ's Ed McKenzie interviews jazz great Anita O'Day on his WXYZ radio show in the mid-1950s
WXYZ’s Ed McKenzie interviews jazz great Anita O’Day on his WXYZ radio show sometime in the mid-1950s (click image for larger view)

McKenzie on the other hand expressed his opinion that this “formula” did not jibe with his interpretation of radio as “being intimate and friendly.” He stated that his ratings were dropping since the “formula” policy had gone into effect and that he would sooner “dig ditches or sell hot dogs” than go back to formula radio “because I can’t do something I don’t believe in.”

The radio station disagreed with use of McKenzie’s bird calls on the air and his “on the air” comments on office typing and the programming. The station also found themselves in disagreement with McKenzie about their new policy to boost the station on his programs, which the jockey termed “unnecessary.”

McKenzie’s 3 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. spot is being taken over by Mickey Shorr, who will have another replacement for his own Night Train program. Reportedly making between $60,000 and $80,000 a year in his 29th year with radio, McKenzie was Jack The Bellboy at WJBK before he changed to WXYZ radio in 1952. END

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(Information and news source: Billboard; March 16, 1959)

WXYZ's Ed McKenzie with his friend, WKMH's Robin Seymour in the late 1950s.
WXYZ’s Ed McKenzie with his friend, WKMH’s Robin Seymour in the late 1950s.

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FLASHBACK MOTOR CITY HAPPENINGS ’68 . . . MARCH 2, 1968

Motor City Radio Flashbacks logoFrom the MCRFB news archive: 1968

Music Happenings In and Around Detroit Town, 1968

 

 

 

 

 

The Jimi Hendrix Experience performing live on stage at the Masonic Auditorium in Detroit on February 23, 1968. (Click image for larger view).
A WKNR presentation: The Jimi Hendrix Experience, photographed here performing live on stage at the Masonic Auditorium in Detroit on February 23, 1968. Jimi Hendrix dons the hat and white guitar. (Click image for larger view).

DETROIT — The Jimi Hendrix Experience performed at the Masonic Auditorium, Friday, February 23. The show presentation event was sponsored by WKNR “Keener 13” . . .  Ernie Durham, WJLB disk jockey who has for years hosted a Sunday night record hop at the 20 Grand for those 17 and over, will begin a weekly Friday night hop at the club for teenagers 14 to 17. In addition to presenting popular recording acts, Durham also plans to sponsor talent shows on those evenings. . . .  Sylvia Burton Christopher, originator of Arthur, the popular discotheque in New York City, is opening a similar establishment here called the Woodward Street Car. . . .  The Four Seasons performed a Detroit concert Friday, February 23. . . .  Sammy Davis, Jr., will entertain at the annual Fight For Freedom dinner to be held at Cobo Hall, April 28. Cleveland’s Mayor Carl Stokes will be the principal speaker at that affair. . . .  Marian Anderson performed at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s last Kresge Concert at the Ford Auditorium, Tuesday, February 13. . . .  Count Basie, Mariam Makeba, Wes Montgomery and the Jimmy Smith Trio, the Oscar Peterson Trio, and social comedian Richard Pryor performed together for a one-night jazz concert at Cobo Arena, Friday, February 23. . . .  Diana Ross and the Supremes are doing one-nighters across the northern United States, including college campuses. . . .  The Temptations, Stevie Wonder and Martha Reeves and the Vandellas left town recently to participate in the Motortown Revue Japanese Festival which will tour Japan for one month. The artists have been scheduled for TV appearances, concerts, and will entertain U.S. troops stationed in areas in and around Japan. . . .  The Pop Concert Committee of Wayne State University has scheduled its first pop concert for Friday, March 22, at the Ford Auditorium. Dionne Warwick has been chosen to headline the concert, along with other acts still to be determined. . . .  Robbie Dee, disk jockey on WCHB, has been promoted to production manager at that station. . . .  Hello People are booked into the Chessmate for one week, beginning March 12. . . .  Leon Issac is the new early afternoon disk jockey for WJLB. . . . Currently in progress is the Memphis Sounds Show at the Riviera Theater through Thursday, March 29. Among the artists on that show are J. J. Barnes, Pat Lewis, the Holidays, Eddie Floyd, Pig Meat Markham, Ruby Andrews and Barbara Mercer. END.

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

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