Radio News 10/28/67
from Billboard magazine

BB 10/28/67: the #1 single is "To Sir With Love" by Lulu. There's a long "radio
review" by Claude Hall, a requiem for the "heavy" WOR-FM. It's in a separate
message posted to this list.
In a related story, Bill "Rosko" Mercer, former all-night personality with
WOR-FM who resigned a couple of weeks ago, has been hired by WNEW-FM for a
progressive rock show and will handle a seven-days-a-week stint 7-midnight.
George Duncan, station manager of WNEW-FM, said the decision for the change in
programming and image of WNEW-FM was "made strictly on Rosko's availability."
WNEW-FM is "building for the future," he said. The station programs Easy
Listening music. WNEW-FM was the first all-girl station in New York. The girls
are being retained for the daytime operations of the station. Duncan said he
saw no reason why the combination of the girls daytime and Rosko nighttime
shouldn't work. He said Rosko would play "meaningful" music. "Our music has
progressed in this direction for some while. Rosko's availability only pushed up
our timetable for the change."
Chuck Leonard, air personality at WABC, says the Hot 100 DJ of today not only
has to be aware of the history of pop music, but also has to "do his homework
and find out what a Ravi Shankar is." In some respects, psychedelic music is
very good, he said. In many cases, however, record companies are "throwing in
noise." But he finds that today's songs, on the whole, have a much more honest
basis than the love ballads of yore. He referred to the latest records of Chad
Mitchell, saying Mitchell is now "out of sight." This type of record probably
wouldn't be played on his AM show (on WABC 11-midnight weekdays and 5-10 p.m.
Sundays) but might be played on FM (he's on WABC-FM each Saturday 8-9 p.m.) On
his FM show, Leonard plays such things as "hip Sinatra, of which there's not
much around, and the records that are a little too far out for Easy Listening
stations, but too tame for the rockers." On this show, he blends such artists
as Mitchell, Lou Rawls, Aretha Frankin and Peggy Lee. Leonard majored in
journalism at the Univ. of Illinois, but became interested in the radio-TV setup
on campus and worked on the campus radio station, UGPU (WGPU? --MD) as program
director. After college, he worked at a newspaper, the Washington Evening Star,
and part time at WEBB Baltimore. Soon he was making more from his radio job
than his newspaper job. In June 1965, he left to join r&b format WWRL in New
York; he shifted three months later to join Hot 100-formated WABC, one of the
most powerful stations in the nation. Leonard feels that it's difficult to put
labels on pop music today. "What's happened is that producers and artists have
pulled the labels off the bottles and poured everything into one bottle.
Psychedelic music is happening, Latin rhythms are influencing music. All of
these and other sounds are being incorporated into a type of new music that
doesn't have a name."
A new FM station slated to go on the air the second week of December isKFMC-FM
in Provo Utah, a sister station to KOVO here. The stereo operation will program
Hot 100 with the exception of hard rock and r&b tunes.
KFMK-FM in Houston has gone to a rock 'n' roll format, mixed with jazz. PD
Johnny Maxwell said he's playing both singles as well as stereo album cuts. The
station was playing Easy Listening records. DJs on the station include Maxwell,
Gordon Scott, Jay Thomas, David Lee, Mel Love, Charlie Park. Station is the
only stereo Hot 100 outlet in town.
WSGA, 1000 watt Coastal Broadcasting operation in Savannah GA, has just changed
to a hot 100 format and is slating several records back to back in a "Mini-Spin"
once per hour to "give more music than any other Savannah station." The station
is programming 50 records, plus a pick by each DJ and oldies twice an hour. The
new lineup battling for the market of 250,000 includes Donnie Brook, Chuck
Rawlinson, Jim Squire, Danny Kramer, John O'Neil and Les Allen.
In Cleveland, radio stations are going after students in a big way. WHK is
distributing 300,000 book covers this week; WIXY's competing covers, distributed
by Kenny King Restaurants, have a space for class schedules, as well as a list
of the WIXY promotions. Wildest school promotion goes to DJs Charlie Brown and
Irv Harrigan of WKYC. They agreed to dye their hair in the school colors of the
school that submits the most petitions.
KSEW in Sitka, Alaska, which programs Hot 100 music, is bowing a free songsheet
for teens.
In Portland Ore., the newest host of a bandstand-type TV show used to be a teen
singing star himself. He is Lynn Easton, former lead singer of the Kingsmen and
author of their "Jolly Green Giant" hit of a few years back. Easton, now with
the advertising firm of Keith R. Petzold, Inc., hosts the show in KGW-TV here.
WLOS in Asheville SC, which has been featuring an Easy Listening format, has
gone Hot 100 8-midnight each evening.
WBVP and WBVP-FM in Beaver Falls Pa. are switching to a Hot 100 format, but PD
Chuck Wilson reports that it will be a "light rock" format. Air personalities,
besides Wilson, include Jim Reynolds, Larry Yeagley, Phil Crysler, Dick Hanna,
Jan Leslie and Vince Minella.
WDRC Hartford, one of the nation's leading powers in breaking new singles, has
launched a three-hour morning all-request show, featuring mostly oldies. Bertha
Porter, MD of the Hot 100 outlet, said reception has been excellent in the two
weeks the show has been on the air. Requests are accepted on the phone 9-10
a.m. "just as fast as the receptionist can write them down." Then new
personality Jim Peters weaves in the requests in his 9-noon show every other
record. Miss Porter says the show was instigated to appease housewives and other
listeners who seem to want to hear past hits.

Back