—ABOUT THIS ALBUM—
The Temptations Christmas Card is a 1970 Christmas album by The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label. The album was released on October 30, 1970. It’s also the group’s first holiday release, it features each Temptation leading on various popular Christmas standards and original Christmas songs.
(Source: WiKipedia)
— 50 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK —
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A special THANK YOU to Greg Innis for recently contributing this WCHB December 15, 1969 ‘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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—LITTLE ALTAR BOY—
“Little Altar Boy” was written in 1961 and first recorded that year by vocalist Vic Dana for his album This Is Vic Dana. Released as a single, it reached number 45 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In an introspective moment, Dana performs this quiet song in the 1962 musical-comedy film Don’t Knock the Twist.
The song was also recorded by Andy Williams on his 1965 album Merry Christmas, by Glen Campbell on his 1968 album That Christmas Feeling, and by Jack Jones on his 1969 album A Jack Jones Christmas.
(Source: WiKipedia)
— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —
VIC DANA * 11 * DECEMBER 15
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‘MOTOR CITY MUSIC KEENER 13 AND THE SOUNDTRACK OF DETROIT’
The long anticipated WKNR tome by Scott Westerman is now available!
At long last, the Keener legend is in print. 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
—SLEIGH RIDE—
“Sleigh Ride” was covered by the American girl group the Ronettes. The Phil Spector-produced recording has become the most popular version outside the traditional pop standard genre, charting yearly in Billboard’s Top Ten U.S. Holiday 100 and was #26 in 2018 in the Hot 100. It features the well-known “Ring-a-ling-a-ling, ding-dong-ding” background vocals, and the clip-clop and whinny of a horse at its beginning and end.
(Source: WiKipedia)
— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —
THE RONETTES * 12 * DECEMBER 14
—ABOUT THIS ALBUM—
The husband-and-wife duo of Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme were firmly established as one of the best traditional pop acts in the United States when they recorded this lush Christmas offering for Columbia Records in 1964. On ‘That Holiday Feeling!‘, Steve and Eydie deliver solid solo performances — Gorme on “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “White Christmas,” Lawrence with “Let Me Be The First To Wish You Merry Christmas” and “The Christmas Song” — while they show off the splendid vocal give and take that made them stars on “Sleigh Ride,” “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!,” and “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.” Featuring arrangements from some of the best studio men in the business (including Don Costa, Al Cohn, and Patrick Williams), That Holiday Feeling! is a beautifully crafted artifact from the era of great singers, and captures Steve & Eydie at their best.
(Source: AllMusic)
— Christmas Memories From the Soundtrack of Your Life —
Click on (COMPLETE LP) for the complete track listing on this album.
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‘THE DJ WHO LAUNCHED 1,000 HITS’
The long anticipated Robin Seymour story is now available!
‘THE DJ WHO LAUNCHED 1,000 HITS’
Here is the story of a Detroit radio and television pioneer, the great Robin Seymour. . . from his earliest days on WKMH radio, later in 1963 staying with the “new” WKNR Keener 13, to the host of “Teen Town” and “Swingin’ Time,” on CKLW-TV 9. Both of Seymour’s TV broadcasts became two of the original TV dance shows geared for teens — showcasing music legends of the day — beaming out of Windsor, Ontario into Detroit homes in the 1960s.
If you are a Baby Boomer and want to relive those wonderful days of the ’50’s and ’60’s this story is for you. It is complete with pictures of memorable Motown superstars. It is a most enjoyable read. Writer Carolyn Rosenthal masterfully captures Robin’s fascinating story from his earliest years in the service to his history making radio and television career.
You will find as well great Robin Seymour memories shared by current and former Detroit radio broadcasting luminaries —
Reflections by Pat. St. John (Sirius XM); Art Voulo, Jr. (Radio’s Best Friend’); Scott Morgan (The Rationals); Pat Holiday (CKLW); Jim Harper (ex-Detroit radio morning personality); Lee Alan (Lee Alan Creative); Jerry Goodwin (former WKNR WKNR FM WABX personality); Tom Ryan (former CKLW WOMC personality); Dick Purtan (former WKNR CKLW WOMC Detroit radio morning personality)
Robin is 93 today and resides in Texas.
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Get the new Robin Seymour memoirs book today! Available HERE only through Amazon.com
— A MCRFB NOTE —
Not the least as important as having obtained a copy of this long awaited Robin Seymour memoir I received in the mail in early April, but I must say that I was truly humbled, having seen my Robin Seymour photo collage I put together, there in print, having found its way on the back cover of this Detroit broadcast legend’s book, ‘The DJ Who Launched 1,000 Hits’.
Thanks again for all those great Detroit radio and television memories you shared with us throughout the decades, Robin Seymour. We are all truly grateful 🙂 — Jim Feliciano
The Top 40 Story
In this special edition we have interviewed the key programmers that helped shape the direction of the format to its present state. Our sincere thanks to Gordon McLendon, respected as the most creative radio programmer in history. Almost every format heard on the radio today has been influenced by this man. We are also indebted to Rick Sklar, VP ABC Radio, who has guided the ABC stations to dominant market positions,
Bill Drake, who had the most dramatic effect on the format and is still today the most successful programmer
with over 200 stations currently under his guidance.
Paul Drew, who until recently was VP Programming for RKO, and Kent Burkhart, a man who has been taught by the best and has since added quite a bit to the format himself.
If it were not for these people and the many others involved in the creation of this publication, taking the time to share their knowledge, the opportunity to learn from history might still not exist.
Bill Drake (January 14, 1937 – November 29, 2008), born Philip Yarbrough, was an American radio programmer who co-developed the Boss Radio format with Gene Chenault via their company Drake-Chenault.
It was later at KYNO in Fresno, California that he met Gene Chenault, who became his business partner. Together, the pair developed highly influential radio programming strategies and tactics, as well as working with future “Boss Jocks” (their new name for on-air radio talent).
Drake-Chenault perfected the Top 40 radio format, which had been created by Todd Storz, Gordon McLendon and other radio programmers in the late 1950s, which took a set list of popular songs and repeated them all day long, ensuring the widest possible audience for the station’s music. Jingles, news updates, traffic, and other features were designed to make Top 40 radio particularly attractive to car listeners. By early 1964, the era of the British Invasion, Top 40 radio had become the dominant radio format for North American listeners and quickly swept much of the Western world.
(Source: WiKipedia)
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