AM - top 40

[DavidKaye]

AM Top 40 in the 60's

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsqQk0IY6EY&feature=related

In the 1960s, "....before corporate programmers dictated what to play and when to play it..." -- BOGUS. Corporate programmers were programming radio stations prior to the 1970s. There was Bill Drake with KYNO, KSTN, and KDB, and then with KHJ, KFRC, and the other RKO stations. But even before that was Chuck Blore with KFWB, KEWB, and KDWB, going back to -- are you ready! 1959. DJs weren't free to play what they wanted. The success of Top 40 was based on corporate programmers dictating what to play and when to play it.

 

[LKellerIII]

AM Top 40 in the 60's

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsqQk0IY6EY&feature=related

In the 1960s, "....before corporate programmers dictated what to play and when to play it..." -- BOGUS. Corporate programmers were programming radio stations prior to the 1970s. There was Bill Drake with KYNO, KSTN, and KDB, and then with KHJ, KFRC, and the other RKO stations. But even before that was Chuck Blore with KFWB, KEWB, and KDWB, going back to -- are you ready! 1959. DJs weren't free to play what they wanted. The success of Top 40 was based on corporate programmers dictating what to play and when to play it.

And I'll add to that: even the much beloved "underground" FM rock stations that came on air in the late 60s were usually owned by corporations. Metromedia owned KSAN and KMET, in LA for example. Granted, MM wasn't a 1200 station behemoth like Clear Channel, owing to the FCC's ownership limits of that era, but they were a sizable media corporation, nonetheless, with TV and radio stations in multiple large markets.

FM radio wasn't making any money in those days so they let the "hippies" run the show for a few years. But once it became clear that there was money to be made in FM, the corporate owners starting running many more mainstream commercials for more minutes per hour. And by the early 70s, these stations stopped being anything close to "free form" and adopted play lists.

 

[michael hagerty]

AM Top 40 in the 60's

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsqQk0IY6EY&feature=related

In the 1960s, "....before corporate programmers dictated what to play and when to play it..." -- BOGUS. Corporate programmers were programming radio stations prior to the 1970s. There was Bill Drake with KYNO, KSTN, and KDB, and then with KHJ, KFRC, and the other RKO stations. But even before that was Chuck Blore with KFWB, KEWB, and KDWB, going back to -- are you ready! 1959. DJs weren't free to play what they wanted. The success of Top 40 was based on corporate programmers dictating what to play and when to play it.

And I'll add to that: even the much beloved "underground" FM rock stations that came on air in the late 60s were usually owned by corporations. Metromedia owned KSAN and KMET, in LA for example. Granted, MM wasn't a 1200 station behemoth like Clear Channel, owing to the FCC's ownership limits of that era, but they were a sizable media corporation, nonetheless, with TV and radio stations in multiple large markets.

FM radio wasn't making any money in those days so they let the "hippies" run the show for a few years. But once it became clear that there was money to be made in FM, the corporate owners starting running many more mainstream commercials for more minutes per hour. And by the early 70s, these stations stopped being anything close to "free form" and adopted play lists.

And even under Donahue, there were rules. I have heard a KSAN aircheck from the early 70s with a promo from Tom Donahue himself:

"Hi, this is Tom Donahue. If you hear half an hour of music on KSAN and the disc jockey doesn't play at least one rock and roll record in that time, let me know and that DJ will be fired."

Apparently even Tom had his limits when it came to electronica, sitar music and bluegrass.

 

[BossRadioDJ]

Apparently even Tom had his limits when it came to electronica, sitar music and bluegrass.

Gregorian chants!!! Have you heard the KSAN aircheck with about fifteen minutes of uninterrupted Gregorian chants? (Granted, it may have been only five minutes, but it sure as heck seemed like fifteen minutes.)

Tom Donahue was a creative, intelligent man. But he also had a great sensibility about radio, and what people wanted to hear. Thinking back on that aircheck, I could imagine him emerging from a vast cloud of smoke to pick up his phone to call the station's hot line.

"Hey man, get that stuff off of there. Play some Hendrix or Beatles."

 

[LKellerIII]

Apparently even Tom had his limits when it came to electronica, sitar music and bluegrass.

Gregorian chants!!! Have you heard the KSAN aircheck with about fifteen minutes of uninterrupted Gregorian chants? (Granted, it may have been only five minutes, but it sure as heck seemed like fifteen minutes.)

Tom Donahue was a creative, intelligent man. But he also had a great sensibility about radio, and what people wanted to hear. Thinking back on that aircheck, I could imagine him emerging from a vast cloud of smoke to pick up his phone to call the station's hot line.

"Hey man, get that stuff off of there. Play some Hendrix or Beatles."

About 1970, I was a big fan of KPPC (106.7 - Pasadena). Tom Donahue was involved in the early stages of KPPC, but was gone by then. As "eclectic" as they were, they definitely adhered to a rock format - I don't think you would have heard even a single Gregorian chant. The only exception was afternoon DJ and Program Director Les Carter, who would occasionally veer way off format. But I think he would have said to those he supervised - 'do as I say, not as I do.'