Was the 1969 Pop hit instrumental, "Quentin's Theme" (From TV's "Dark Shadows") by The Charles Randolph Grean Sounds played on Beautiful Music Stations? It was on the Ranwood records, a label that would seem to be one of the commercial labels that would release music that could be used on Beautiful Music formatted radio stations.
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"Quentin's Theme"?
- Thread starter johnbasalla
- Start date
I doubt it. Many recordings that were not "fit" for the beautiful music format in the '70s and '80s would be perfectly acceptable in that format today.
I had to go back and listen to it---been years. It certainly would have fit. Most Beautiful Music stations were automated and had their music supplied by a syndicator (Bonneville, Schulke)...it would have been up to them as to whether to include it in their reels. With a runtime of 2:01, it was certainly radio-friendly.
Same, but there is no database that I know of that would have that info. It got some top 40 play
#13 in Billboard, #6 at KHJ, Los Angeles.
There's one KHJ aircheck with Quentin's Theme on it
...and peaked at #3 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart.
Again, the wild card is the syndicator. In 1969, there were probably half a dozen.
Again, the wild card is the syndicator. In 1969, there were probably half a dozen.
Sticks out like a sore thumb, too. But we 1969 teenagers were going ape over "Dark Shadows".
If a station wanted to add "Quentin's Theme", or any other song that was not part of their syndicator's offererings, would they dub the record to reel-to-reel tape and splice it into, probably at the end of one of the reels? I would think they'd put it at the end as they would need to put a stop-tape tone after the song, and that didn't work, it would be more manageable.
Very likely most, if any, wouldn't have gone to the trouble. BM wasn't current hits based.
Shulke (SRP), Bonneville, Churchill, Peters Productions, IGM, FM-100, KalaMusic, RPM, Drake-Chenault come instantly to mind. But most did not begin until the early to mid-70s. In '69 almost all Good Music stations were home-grown.
Not likely. The reels had 25 Hz EOM (End of Message) tones that started the next song / reel and caused the deck to run for a determined interval to be cued up for the next time it was called. Most stations did not have such a tone generator on premises as they depended entirely on the syndicator.
And editing it onto a reel meant it might play once a week to every 10 days, as stations usually had about 150 to 175 hours of content on their reels.
Most stations used four separate alternating reels to blend and to get different percentages of tempo in each daypart. Shulke and Bonneville also had "matched flow" which was pre-programmed quarter hour tapes, but according to the commercial and service load, there was always a dropable extra song at the end which might or might not play.
Adding songs to Bonneville or SRP tapes would be a contract violation and would have allowed the syndicator to cancel. Nobody would do that, and there was no reason to, either.
Thanks for the memory jolt. I remembered the melody but not the name.
I recall hearing Quentin’s Theme on the softer AM MOR stations at the time. I also remember that nighttime AM skywave from distant stations oddly added to the strange ambience of the recording!
I recall hearing Quentin’s Theme on the softer AM MOR stations at the time. I also remember that nighttime AM skywave from distant stations oddly added to the strange ambience of the recording!
The 25 Hz tones were inaudible on most radios, but for those high-end systems with good bass response, it was always amusing to hear the rapid thumpathumpathumpa every now and then.🙄
What David said above.
If I were going to add a song to an automation system, I’d cart it and put it in one of the spot carousels, then program that cart number to play when I wanted it to before I ever tampered with a reel.
Still, as David says, you’d be screwing up a carefully designed hour of music to play a record your audience wouldn’t miss if you didn’t play it.
SRP started in ‘68. I wasn’t aware that Drake-Chenault ever offered a Beautiful format.
Bonneville launched in '69, according to a history composed by Walter Powers, who worked for Bonneville and its successor Jones Radio Network starting in the mid 70s.
Looks like SRP started in '68, according to a letter by the late Phil Stout, who was the program director for SRP beautiful music... However, every other source puts SRP's service starting in the early 70s. Maybe Mr. Schulke and Mr. Stout spent 2 years behind the scenes before anything was aired.
I had assumed the tape-based syndicators had launched prior to the AM/FM simulcast rule. But I can't find one that did. Interesting.
When I worked at WBOE 90.3 FM in Cleveland, Ohio during its NPR era, (1976-1978), we had a 25 hz tone generator that was used to put the switch tone onto the end of tapes. I remember if the tape machine heads were dirty, it might not do the switch. You could, sometimes, hear the "brrrr" sound on-the-air if you listened close enough, with the sound on your radio turned up loud.
When did the beautiful music syndicators start having custom music recorded in Europe? Seems like 1972 is coming to mind. Before, they would’ve had to use commercial recordings on their reels.
Although I’m way too young to have ever been in the beautiful music demo, it always bothered me that one could not go out and buy the music they played. I understand why they had to use custom music as few albums in that genre were being made in the 1970s.
I did enjoy the overnight beautiful music shows that were still broadcast into the 1980s on some of the 50kw stations mainly because Jay Andres on WGN and especially John McCormick on KMOX sounded so cool.
Although I’m way too young to have ever been in the beautiful music demo, it always bothered me that one could not go out and buy the music they played. I understand why they had to use custom music as few albums in that genre were being made in the 1970s.
I did enjoy the overnight beautiful music shows that were still broadcast into the 1980s on some of the 50kw stations mainly because Jay Andres on WGN and especially John McCormick on KMOX sounded so cool.
If the format was not Beautiful Music, I believe from time to time the syndicators (TM, Drake-Chenault, Century 21) would work with a station to integrate a regional hit, or something a competitor was playing that wasn't on the tapes.
I worked at a station that "rolled their own" automation tapes and produced a few of them. We did indeed have the tone generator. I copied Century 21 (from a previous station) and did a quick fade, others did not and it showed on the air
I worked at a station that "rolled their own" automation tapes and produced a few of them. We did indeed have the tone generator. I copied Century 21 (from a previous station) and did a quick fade, others did not and it showed on the air
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