IT’S THE SONG HITS PLAYED THIS DATE IN 1966 ON WXYZ 1270 AND WKNR KEENER 13 IN DETROIT. . . .
. . .Featuring “Respect” by the Rationals: No.9 on WXYZ, No.7 on WKNR; “Coming On Strong” by Brenda Lee, ‘Spotlight Sound Of The Week’ on WXYZ, this day, October 3, 1966
WXYZ *Spotlight Sound Of The Week*: Brenda Lee – Coming On Strong – 1966.mp3
From the MCRFB news archives:
WXYZ Single Promotes Station to Ad Prospects After Dropping Top 40
From the MCRFB Radio Jingles Archive, featuring:
WXYZ-AM 1967: The Good Life Jingles Package 1967
WXYZ-AM 1967: The Good Life Song (edit) 1967
WXYZ-AM 1967: The Good Life (Female) 1967
WXYZ-AM 1967: The Good Life (Male) 1967
DETROIT — WXYZ here is using a special record to showcase — for local clients as well as the Madison Avenue crowd — both its AM and FM sounds. One side of the 331/3 single heralds the Easy Listening music and the personalities — including Michelle and her sultry voice — on the FM stereo side. The flip side of the record showcase the personalities and the AM sound. Joe Bacarella, the station’s program director, describes “the sound of the good life” on WXYZ on the AM band.
The record, and a full-color brochure, is being hand-delivered to clients and potential advertising clients.
“Sound ideas sell,” is the first line in the brochure; it tells how the station tailored its identity jingles. Another section describes the “personality plus” side of the AM operation with photographs of the deejays, including a painting of the Martin and Howard duo deejay team newly on board, formerly out of Cleveland’s WKYC.
The FM side is promoted with a disclaimer as “entertainment with a flair” in the brochure. . . . the greatest names in entertainment will be heard on WXYZ: Sinatra, Belafonte, Peggy Lee, Les Elgart, Count Basie, Mancini, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, Roger Miller.” END.
(Information and news source: Billboard; May 6, 1967).
. . .ITS WHAT WAS PLAYED THIS DATE IN 1966 ON WXYZ 1270 AND WKNR KEENER 13 IN DETROIT. . . .
SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR FRIEND JIM HEDDLE IN TUCSON, AZ., FOR PROVIDING MCRFB ALL THE 1966 WXYZ DETROIT SOUND SURVEY SCANS!
From the MCRFB news archives:
Veteran DJ Exits Sparks ‘Formula Radio’ Furor; WXYZ Ace Fred Wolf Responds To Backlash
From the MCRFB Aircheck Library, featuring:
WXYZ-AM – Fred Wolf – 1961.mp3
WXYZ-AM – Fred Wolf – Part 2 – 1961 – With Dick Osgood.mp3
DETROIT — The No. 1 topic among record and radio executives continues to be “formula radio,” with the local press, jocks, distributors and broadcasting brass taking aggressive stands — both pro and con — on the subject.
The furor, of course, was sparked by the recent resignations of veteran deejays Ed McKenzie from WXYZ radio here, and Eddie Chase from CKLW radio in Windsor, across from the Detroit river. Both jocks blamed “formula radio” for their departure.
The local newspapers had a field day after the Chase resignation, with CKLW radio making public charges of prevarication on Chase’s part for reasons of his leaving. CKLW president J. E. Campeau issued statements to the Detroit Times that Chase designed his statements “to cash in on the subject of (the) so-called formula broadcasting.”
Campeau added in the Hearst publication story that, “the truth is, we insisted that Chase, whose ratings were sagging badly, return to live broadcasting from the studios…. instead of doing taped shows from the lobby of a local theater…. services such as time signals. weather reports, traffic conditions and other public services he could not provide on a taped show. In six months, his ratings became the highest in Detroit for most of the afternoon time segments.”
The station president claimed that Chase continued to view giving the public added station services as unnecessary. Chase refused to comment on Campeau’s statement and charges until he officially leaves the station.
Fred Wolf, disk-jockey star of WXYZ radio and television, however did not hesitate in an end-of-the-week climax denouncement of opposition to “formula radio” to label it as “”live, live, live!” Castigating “old-timers” for not wanting to move, Wolf explained “formula” as “fast-paced production, station identification, less talk, more music.” Admitting he couldn’t sincerely endorse straight formula, Wolf said identification is the big thing…. “It takes a good man with personality, get-up-and-go and a live program to get away with formula.”
Wolf and station officials’ opinion on “formula” were clearly not shared by some others in the industry here. Decca branch manager John Schlee, Columbia’s Russ Yerge, Mercury and Dot distributors John Kaplan expressed themselves vigorously in the local press against “formula.” They frowned because their sales staff must spend more time with record dealers in order to get their records on the listings which the dealers give the disk jockeys as weekly hit tunes. They also dislike the “wearing-out” of a disk on radio DJ shows because they fear the public may lose some interest in buying their disk product, therefore possibly affecting any potential high volume return in sales. END.
(Information and news source: Billboard; March 30, 1959).
A MCRFB news brief: 1964
WXYZ Debuts ‘Lovable’ Radio
DETROIT — WXYZ Radio, the ABC-owned station in Detroit, has introduced “Lovable Radio” to the Motor City. Promulgating the “love affair” are WXYZ deejays Fred Wolf, Dave Prince, Joel Sebastian, Russ “The Weird Beard” Knight (formerly of KLIF; Dallas) Bob Day and “Big Daddy” Don Zee, who hear themselves as romantics romeos over the Detroit airwaves, anyway. END
Addendum: Anyone still recall hearing those radio spot promos, “The Weird Beard’s Coming!” The Weird Beard’s Coming!” heard over on WXYZ-AM 1270 in 1964?
Amid much radio fanfare, publicity and advertisement dollars invested prior his arrival here from (Gordon McLendon’s) KLIF 1190 in Dallas, WXYZ went on to retain the celebrated arrival of the legendary Russ Knight to Detroit in June 1964.
But what had been great for KLIF in Dallas, Texas, wasn’t all necessarily that good for WXYZ in Detroit, Michigan. In passing, the Weird Beard’s tenure on 1270 would become a short blip in Detroit radio history — was there 5 months — that was it.
By the second week in November 1964 Russ Knight found his way back on the radio in Texas once again. This time, on another Gordon McLendon radio station, KILT 610 AM in Houston.
A side note: Incidentally, Russ Knight held the distinction of having had contact with Jack Ruby, first at Dallas police headquarters, and again at KLIF during that stunning, tragic November weekend in Dallas 1963.
On July 23, 1964, while employed at WXYZ in Detroit, Russ Knight was deposed for information regarding his brushes with Jack Ruby on Saturday, in the early-hours of November 23, by Warren Commission Counsel Burt Griffin at the U.S. Courthouse in Chicago, Illinois.
Knight, during his deposition (see: Testimony of Russell Lee Moore; Knight), stated he first met Ruby at the Cotton Bowling Palace in Dallas, the year prior, sometime during 1962. He went on the official record in having said he met with Ruby about a dozen times since. During further questioning Knight also testified he, accompanied along with his wife, had been at Ruby’s Carousel Club sometime earlier in 1963.
Russ Knight was immortalized in the “Cruisin'” LP series by Ron Jacobs (‘Cruisin ’62’ KLIF) in 1970.
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*** UPDATE ON RUSS KNIGHT: Russ Knight passed away Oct. 12, 2012 ***
By Robert Philpot
DFW.com | Posted 3:08 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 15, 2012
Russell Lee Moore, better known to radio listeners as Russ “The Weird Beard” Knight, died Friday at age 80.
Knight, a 2003 Texas Radio Hall of Fame inductee, worked at several stations nationwide, including in the early ’60s at then-Top 40 powerhouse KLIF/1190, where, according to his obituary, he proclaimed himself “the savior of Dallas radio.”
The KLIF-era Knight was the featured DJ on Cruisin’ 1962, one of a series of albums that consisted of hits from a particular year interspersed with DJ patter. (There’s much more on Knight and the Cruisin’ series here.)
After Knight left KLIF, he worked at KILT in Houston, where he introduced the Beatles when they came to town. For a lot more about that era, go here. There is also information on some of the later parts of his career here.
Services are Tuesday in Trumbull, Conn. Information is in the obituary link above. Updates are possible here and on the Texas Radio Hall of Fame Facebook page.
(Source: Dallas Ft. Worth.com; October 15, 2012)
(Information and news source: Billboard; October 24, 1964)
A special THANK YOU goes out to our friend, James Heddle, Tucson, Arizona, for his recent contribution to our website — in sharing this historic and rare WXYZ (1945) wartime radio booklet with Motor City Radio Flashbacks.
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From the MCRFB news archives:
CHANGE OF THEME FOR WXYZ AM IN DETROIT
DETROIT — There has been a personnel shuffle at WXYZ, Detroit, but station program director Bob Baker reports that the station’s programming will remain the same. Marty McNeely is leaving the station, and Lee Alan is returning in the 7 to 12 midnight time slot. Joel Sabastian, previously the night man, is taking over the 3 to 7 P.M. spot, effective for this week, and Paul Winter, formerly the afternoon man at WXYZ, is moving up into the 11 A.M. to 3 P.M. hours this week as well. END (Billboard; March 31, 1962).
From the MCRFB news archives:
DETROIT CKLW-AM DJ FIRES COUNTRY BOOM
DETROIT –The pop record business was only so-so last week, but dealers and distributors noticed an upsurge in country and western record disks sales, which was mainly attributed to the impact of deejay Bob Staton‘s 7 P.M. to 12 Midnight C&W show on CKLW.
At the same time, dealers and distributors lost an exposure outlet for singles when station WKMH started a new programming policy last Monday, featuring only “up-beat music,” with the bulk of its wax culled from long-play albums. The move leaves Detroit with only two strong influential and exposure outlets for singles — WJBK and WXYZ.
WXYZ-AM in Detroit started swinging on new releases only a few months ago. Deejays Lee Alan and Joel Sabastian recently returned to WXYZ, and the jocks, who do their own programming from 3 to 11 P.M. daily, are putting strong emphasis on “breaking” new singles here.
The impact of Staton’s C&W show on CKLW is also felt in the pop market categories, according to Tommy Schlesinger of Jay Kay Distributors here. For example, he cited James O’ Gwynn’s “My Name Is Mud,” which was played heavily by Staton and was then picked up by WJBK for its pop music records rotation.
In the album field, Capitol’s original-cast album of Richard Rodgers’s “No Strings” musical hit is chalking up strong sales and heavy radio play. The show was premiered here at Detroit’s new Fisher Theater.
Among the newer singles mentioned as showing local action was “Let’s Stick Together” by Wilbur Harrison on Fury Records and “You’re To Blame” by the Fascinators on the Trans-Atlas label. END (Billboard; April 21, 1962).
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(Information and news source: Billboard; March 31, 1962 and April 21, 1962)
