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NEW! A rare find! This will be our first WJBK Robert E. Lee inclusion for the Motor City Radio Flashbacks aircheck repository.
A special THANK YOU to the anonymous donor (from Allen Park, MI.) who expressed he remain as, ‘unnamed’. Thanks again for providing this rare Robert E. Lee audio gem recorded on WJBK Radio 15, as dated, 60 years ago.
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Audio recording was digitally enhanced by Motor City Radio Flashbacks
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This WDEE 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 WDEE music chart courtesy of Mrs. Patti Griggs and the George L. Griggs estate.
Gary Stevens, Top-Rated Deejay From Detroit, Has Become the Fifth Good Guy on New York’s WMCA. This Is What It’s Like
THE NEW SCENE. What’s it like for an out-of-town deejay to move into New York and try to become part of a team of Good Guys on a highly rated station in the big town? How does he react to the change of climate, change of scene, change of audience and a change of hours? How does he feel about four -sheets posted all over town reading “Is Gary Stevens really a good guy? No. He’s a great guy!”
Gary Stevens is the new Good Guy in New York. He comes from Detroit, from station WKNR where he was a top-rated disc jockey. He is now with Station WMCA in the 7 to 11 p.m. slot, the big slot, make or break slot.
He came into New York after the biggest radio night time shakeup in Gotham in the memory of most record and station people. The big guns, the big names who used to hold down the top posts and who made New York still seem like the swinging rock town it was when Alan Freed was creating all kinds of excitement at WINS in the mid -1950’s, have vanished.
WHERE ARE THEY NOW. Murray the K is no longer on WINS. WMCA’s B. Mitchell Reed, who had captured a big segment of the kid audience, has left to return to his old post at KFWB in Los Angeles. Scott Muni has been long gone from WABC. Only Bruce Morrow, the cousin Brucie of the laughs and the gimmicks is still swinging at night. The other big night names have fled, and the kids get their sounds via TV.
WINS has turned to news. WMCA let its night time slot be filled by swing-shifting its other good guys for almost two months. WNEW’s new policy of playing slightly more raucous records has led some radio-record people to intimate that the station might go rock all the way, a possibility that seems as distant as the moon landings.
The Good Guys at WMCA give away sweatshirts, appear in funny costumes, play baseball with the Playboy Bunnies, make all trade functions and are probably the closest group of guys working together since the Harlem Globetrotters.
Gary Stevens has been through all this before. He was a Good Guy at WFUN in Miami, which helped to originate the Goody Guy format. So he knows.
NEW YORK KIDS. What has surprised him is the New York kids. “They’re more hip than the kids in Detroit,” he said a while back at a luncheon at Sardi.” A lot of the things I used to do in Detroit have not made out here. I guess it’s because the kids are more sophisticated.
“It’s all part of being in New York, I think,” continued Gary Stevens. “In other cities you look for things that are happening–here anyone or anything that happens comes to you.
“I get calls from kids who want to talk to me about my show. They use words like gimmick and format, words you wouldn’t hear used in Detroit by anyone except radio people. One youngster called me up a few days after I started at WMCA and said “Man, you need more gimmicks.”
NEED TO BE TALKED TO. “Yet, in spite of all this, New York kids still need to be talked to, like normal youngsters anywhere. I’m willing to alter my style to fit the market, but I still want to be myself.
I’ll use my own gimmicks, the Wooleyburger, a ferocious animal that doesn’t talk, only growls. I have to interpret what he says. I’ll also introduce the Frog. He growls too, and I’ll have to explain what he is saying.
“And I won’t play Joe Nice-Guy, just because I’m in New York. Some jockeys come to the big city and try to please everybody. Not me. I’ll be me.
“Even though the New York kids are more sophisticated about things, they are not more hip musically. In fact they are not as aware of many of the new records as the youngsters in Detroit. That could be because they have so many radio stations in New York with all kinds of different formats. It also could be because there are so many things here to distract them from records.”
SHOW A MIXTURE. Stevens’ show is a mixture of up-to-date and on the way up rock discs, a mixture of rock and rhythm and blues that lies more in the old Alan Freed tradition than that of his predecessor B. Mitchell Reed. He intersperses his commercials and straight announcements with gags and sort-of-one line put-ons. He doesn’t sound like anyone else in town, so he has to make it on his own.
With the help of the Good Guy image that is.
Is Gary Stevens a Good Guy? Can he bring to his shows that mixture of freshness and audience appeal that WMCA wants to make that night time slot the top-rated of the pop music stations? He’s trying hard, with the Wooleyburger, one-liners, and smartly paced programming.
He’ll probably learn a lot from those smart New York kids. And they might learn a lot from him. If they like him he’ll be a Good Guy for a long, long time to come. END
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Information, credit and news source: Music Business, May 15, 1965
Gary Stevens WMCA April 8, 1965
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ON YOUR PC? To fully appreciate this WKNR Music Guide for the week of May 16, 1966 chart feature click on image 2x and open to second window. Click image anytime to return to NORMAL image size.
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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.
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TIGER NOTES: On Saturday afternoon, May 15, the Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox, final score 6-2, before 6,514 fans at Tiger Stadium. Winning pitcher: Mickey Lolich. Losing Pitcher: Jim Lonborg. This was game #27 in the early season, and the Tigers were in third place in the AL standings. Tiger reliever, Larry Sherry, takes the save. The game took 2 hours and 50 minutes to complete.
Source: Baseball Reference. Detroit Tigers, 1965
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Above article/advertisement courtesy freep.com newspaper archive. Copyright 2023. Newspapers.com
The above featured Detroit Free Press article was digitally re-imaged by Motor City Radio Flashbacks
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Missed any of our previous ‘Detroit Radio Back-Pages‘ features? GO HERE
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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Missed any of our previous ‘Detroit Radio Back-Pages‘ features? GO HERE
ON YOUR PC? You can read this entire newsprint article/ad — the fine print — ENLARGED. For a larger detailed view click above image 2x and open to second window. Click image anytime to return to NORMAL image size.
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[Audio produced by Jim Davis a.k.a. Big Jim Edwards]
THE CKLW TOP 100 1967! Make plans to tune in Memorial Day Weekend for The CKLW Top 100 of 1967 Countdown. This Big 8 Radio special holiday presentation begins on Saturday, May 27, at 3pm eastern / Monday May 29 at Noon eastern time.
It’s another Big 8 Radio exclusive CKLW audio presentation. Brought to you by Charlie O’Brien and Big 8 Radio! ?
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The only place on the web you will find great audio recordings of legendary Motor City disk jockeys, great Detroit radio stations and radio personalities — spanning over six decades — archived here in one place.
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Newly-added to the Aircheck Library repository (as listed below): 05/12/2023
01. CKLW-AM – Dave Shafer – May 25-June 7 1967.mp3
02. WJR-AM – J.P. McCarthy – April 6 1994 [complete C-SPAN broadcast].mp3
03. WMXD-FM – Randi Miles – September 17 1998.mp3
04. WHFI-FM – Tom Clay – Guest Deejay (Date Unknown) – 1970.mp3
05. CKLW-AM – Radio 80 – Dick Smyth Newscast [The Bud Davies Show] – November 20 1963.mp3
06. WCZY-FM – Roy Stephens – September 1983.mp3
07. WKQI-FM – Kevin O’Neill – Q95 – September 11 1996.mp3
08. WMXD-FM – Gerald McBride – January 8 1996.mp3
09. WCZY-FM – Steve Kelly – October 4 1985.mp3
10. WLLZ-FM – Harv Blaine – November 24 1981.mp3
11. WHND-AM – Richard D. Haase – 560 Honey Radio – April 26 1982.mp3
12. WDRQ-FM – Lee Alan – New Year’s Eve Countdown (feat. Chuck Berry Walled Lake Casino Concert) – December 31 1977.mp3
13. WKNR-AM – Sounds Of Keener 13 – 1964-1967.mp3
14. WKNR-AM – Keener Top 13 Countdown [Bob Green Productions] – February 13 1967.mp3
15. WXYZ-AM – Fred Wolf Morning Show – Radio 1270 – December 10 1964.mp3
16. WMJC-FM – Jeff Elliot & Jerry St. James – September 28 1983.mp3
17. WCZY-FM – Dick Purtan – September 22 1983.mp3
18. WCSX-FM – Carl Coffey – June 18 1992.mp3
19. WKNR-AM – John Small – Is Paul McCartney Dead? – The Beatle Plot – October 19 1969.mp3
20. WKNR-FM – John Small – Is Paul McCartney Dead? – The John Lennon Interview – October 22 1969.mp3
21. WDRQ-FM – Bill Bailey – November 27 1974.mp3
22. CKLW-AM – Charlie Van Dyke [Million Dollar Weekend] – March 20 1976.mp3
23. WABX-FM – Dennis Frawley – August 16 1977 [Elvis Presley Remembered].mp3
24. WNIC-FM – Lee Alan – Reunion Weekend – May 19 1985 [EDIT].mp3
25. WHYT-FM – Karen Dalessandro – September 3 1984.mp3
26. WKNR-AM – Bob Green – Saturday, May 20 1967.mp3
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MCRFB Note: All of the 26 airchecks listed above were previously featured on this site and were transitioned to this repository page on May 12, 2023.
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WHND-AM – Richard D. Haase – 560 Honey Radio – April 26 1982
Compiled by the Music Popularity Chart Dept. of Billboard, from national retail store and one-stop sales reports, and radio airplay reports.
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Source Credit: 1966 (May) WiKipedia
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Pathe-Marconi Red Carpets Motown in France, Promoting Gordy’s Acts and New Tamla-Motown Label
PARIS — Pathe–Marconi pulled out all stops this week to launch the Tamla-Motown sound in France.
The European premiere of the T-M show was a sell-out concert at the Paris Olympia Theater which featured most of the Berry Gordy Jr. team–the Supremes, the Miracles, Martha and the Vendettas, Stevie Wonder and the Earl Van Dyke
Sextet.
To this concert Pathe-Marconi summoned their representatives in Holland, Sweden, West Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Norway and Denmark. Organization costs for this pilgrimage and the lavish midnight cocktail party that followed the concert amounted to some $4,000.
It was Pathe-Marconi’s biggest promotion since the acquisition of the Capitol label 10 years ago. Advance publicity for the launching of the Tamla-Motown label included special point-of-sale record displays and 50 huge posters—total area 12,000 square yards–at strategic points throughout Paris. There were also display advertisements in France’s paper, France Soir.
Said Pathe-Marconi pressman, M. Boullen: “The launching of the Tamla-Motown label here comes at a time when French record buyers are becoming more inclined to accept lyrics in English. There is now a very noticeable tendency for them to prefer the original record, in English, to the French language cover version.”
Enthusiastic Crowd
The Tamla team got an enthusiastic reception from the French audience and Berry Gordy Jr. told Billboard afterwards he was well satisfied with the reaction.
In a short speech at the cocktail party, Gordy said that his company always tried to put quality first and recalled that last year Tamla-Motown put out 65 singles, of which 44 got into the American charts.
First releases of the label in France include disks by the Supremes, the Temptations, the Four Tops, Earl Van Dyke. Marvin Gaye, Mary Wells, the Miracles, the Velvelettes, the Marvelettes, Martha and the Vandellas, the Contours and Brenda Holloway.
Berry Gordy also announced that Tamla-Motown had signed French singer Richard Anthony. END
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Credit source information (as published): Billboard, May 1, 1965
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Two months ago, Audacy abruptly dumped all of their Smooth Jazz formatted stations on HD2, including Detroit’s Home for Smooth Jazz, V98.7.
When WVMV dropped their smooth jazz format and calls on the FM side, the new station moved it over to WDZH HD2 in 2009. After fourteen years on the air, the plug was pulled on late Friday evening, February 24.
While Audacy still incorporates the V98.7 format on their website, they replaced the extensive WDZH Smooth Jazz V98.7 playlist — immediately — with a much less selective, more shortened-playlist titled, ‘Soundscapes’. Noticeably, it is a much different smooth jazz format (and with ads!) you will hear on the channel today.
On March 4, I called the Audacy listed number in Southfield (MI.). I had called to inquire whether possibly there was some techical error, maybe or, whether they dropped the station. They had confirmed (and stated also inasmuch, to the many dismayed inquiries from callers they received as well) that V98.7 is now the former, officially having been dropped just before 11:00 a.m., on February 28.
I’ve been a huge fan of the smooth jazz format since the WJZZ-106 era in the Motor City. When WVMV V98.7 first signed on in December 1995, I took notice. And I became a dedicated listener to that station throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s during its smooth jazz heyday on the FM dial, and, up until its recent demise on HD2.
Not left to mire in despair, I was able to acquire the entire V98.7 HD2 playlist which the station had used in their play-rotation, essentially the same, most notably, which the station used during the past five years. The list comprises well over 800 smooth jazz tracks and the best of smooth R&B hits, combined. I have become very familiar with all these song titled numbers. I’ve listened to the station on HD2 and Audacy for many, many years already. It was, for the most part, my favorite station I listened daily to on their streaming app.
During March (and April) I created fourteen WVMV Detroit Smooth Jazz playlists on Spotify. Each volume (numbered 1-14) lists 55-plus titles per, having uploaded every song from the acquired playlist to the Spotify platform. The only thing you will not hear will be those wonderful WVMV jingles (masterfully created by Groove Addicts in Los Angeles) interspersed between song sets played throughout hours of the day, 24/7, on V98.7 HD2.
Here is a preview sampler below for WVMV Volume #3 (click on the play button):
Not on Spotify?
To listen on your mobile device, you can download the Spotify app on the Google play store. On your PC, you can also download Spotify here. Then register and set up your Spotify account, create a password, and, just sign in. And it’s free.
Once there, click over [my name] Jim Feliciano (or you can click my name in the preview provided above or on Spotify) and then scroll down to Public Playlist. To the right of the page, click on Show all and all 14 playlists will be featured there in one place. Or, you can go here.
There are several accounts under the WVMV ‘Smooth Jazz’ banner already on Spotify. I cannot speak for those. But what I can assure you is this. What I have presented there on the Spotify platform are all those same Detroit ‘Smooth Jazz’ favorites you heard played from the WDZH HD2 rotation during the past 5 years. Guaranteed.
So If you loved (and miss today) listening to Smooth Jazz V98.7 on Audacy, pass the word! The entire Smooth Jazz Detroit playlist is now all up on Spotify.
Jim Feliciano
Motor City Radio Flashbacks
