landtuna said:
Fortunately for me I wasn't old enough to remember Fisher's singing career when it peaked. However, according to Liz Taylor I do know he was known for something else, but I won't dare mention it on this board.
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Fortunately for me I wasn't old enough to remember Fisher's singing career when it peaked. However, according to Liz Taylor I do know he was known for something else, but I won't dare mention it on this board.
I liked Carrie Fisher's semi-serious comment after reading her Dad's autobiography....."I need to have my genes fumigated".
We can debate whether "Dungaree Doll" was rock and roll. But it certainly was an attempt to cash in on an emerging teen market. My point earlier was simply that Como and others who attempted to cut a rock record seemed very forced (ever hear Vaughn Monroe laboring through "Black Denim Trousers"?). Fisher, OTOH, seemed to be having a little fun with it. Or perhaps he was making fun of it!
The only other early 50s pop singer who I thought did a credible job of cutting a rock record (sort of) was Teresa Brewer with "Sweet Old Fashioned Girl". She also sounded like she was enjoying herself.... although in interviews I've read, I don't think she ever named it as one of her favorites. (Her all-time favorite was "A Tear Fell").
The Fontaine Sisters may have also come close...but still no cigar IMHO...when they covered "Hearts of Stone" and "Seventeen". Perhaps you could also count Nat King Cole, who mixed pop with blues on tracks like "Send for Me", "If I May" (with the Four Knights), and "Looking back". Then there was Guy Mitchell after he ditched Mitch Miller's syrupy (stuff), and spent a couple of years in a pop-rockabilly groove. But I wouldn't say anything Mitchell or Cole cut was "rock"....even by mid/late 50s standards.
And as for Howard Miller on WIND, I wondered about the Sunday night/Monday morning thing myself. I know he lived in Barrington, so the round-trip commute for those shifts would've been a grind. I'm wondering if maybe they had a cot or some other arrangements, and he just spent the night at the station. I don't think voice tracking had been invented, although it may be the show was pre-recorded....which I also doubt.
We can debate whether "Dungaree Doll" was rock and roll. But it certainly was an attempt to cash in on an emerging teen market. My point earlier was simply that Como and others who attempted to cut a rock record seemed very forced (ever hear Vaughn Monroe laboring through "Black Denim Trousers"?). Fisher, OTOH, seemed to be having a little fun with it. Or perhaps he was making fun of it!
The only other early 50s pop singer who I thought did a credible job of cutting a rock record (sort of) was Teresa Brewer with "Sweet Old Fashioned Girl". She also sounded like she was enjoying herself.... although in interviews I've read, I don't think she ever named it as one of her favorites. (Her all-time favorite was "A Tear Fell").
The Fontaine Sisters may have also come close...but still no cigar IMHO...when they covered "Hearts of Stone" and "Seventeen". Perhaps you could also count Nat King Cole, who mixed pop with blues on tracks like "Send for Me", "If I May" (with the Four Knights), and "Looking back". Then there was Guy Mitchell after he ditched Mitch Miller's syrupy (stuff), and spent a couple of years in a pop-rockabilly groove. But I wouldn't say anything Mitchell or Cole cut was "rock"....even by mid/late 50s standards.
And as for Howard Miller on WIND, I wondered about the Sunday night/Monday morning thing myself. I know he lived in Barrington, so the round-trip commute for those shifts would've been a grind. I'm wondering if maybe they had a cot or some other arrangements, and he just spent the night at the station. I don't think voice tracking had been invented, although it may be the show was pre-recorded....which I also doubt.
Granted Fisher & Como weren't Rock & Roll, but what was the opinion of teens regarding their music & other pop music of the day such as Georgia Gibbs etc? I have to think that many people thought it was the (excuse the expression) "hippest" music of the day considering Rock & Roll wasn't invented yet. There were artists like Ruth Brown, but I don't think they were played enough on mainstream stations.
I started listening right around Bill Haley & Elvis. Speaking of Guy Mitchell, the first record I ever bought was "Singin' The Blues". It was a gigantic hit and it was played on every kind of music station--except classical.
Regarding Howard Miller, I also thought about his Sunday show being recorded. I know just a few years later WLS recorded all their Sunday shows.
I guess unless we find somebody who was there at the time we won't know. I think Bernie Allen is still around. Anybody know where he is?
I started listening right around Bill Haley & Elvis. Speaking of Guy Mitchell, the first record I ever bought was "Singin' The Blues". It was a gigantic hit and it was played on every kind of music station--except classical.
Regarding Howard Miller, I also thought about his Sunday show being recorded. I know just a few years later WLS recorded all their Sunday shows.
I guess unless we find somebody who was there at the time we won't know. I think Bernie Allen is still around. Anybody know where he is?
radioman148 said:
In 1955 I was 11 and prior to that my radio listening had been police/detective, kiddie (like Little Orly), and westerns. If my age group was listening to music it wasn't observable to me. Kids a few years older seemed to be into jazz or the pop vocals of the day (Sarah Vaughn, Rosie Clooney, Peggy and Brenda Lee, Sinatra, Martin etc.). In '56 the RnR and Pop music hit the radio and from then on it was Fats, Little Richard, Bill Hayley, the Doo Wop groups, Rick Nelson, and of course Elvis. There was a fair amount of Rockabilly and some Country crossovers in there too.
landtuna said:
I can only speak from my experience. When Rock & Roll started I was 6. The only music I had heard before that was classical because that's what my father played. I actually liked some of it. However, when I heard R&R that's all I would listen to from then on.
Perhaps if I was 6 in 1949 or 1950, I would have had a very different opinion about what was the current pop music at that time.
t.j. said:
Keep in mind that Top 40 predates rock n' roll by about 4 years... KOWH in Omaha did the first real top hits of the moment format in '52. Here is a bit of information about that station and its creation:
http://www.davidgleason.com/KOWH_Birth_of_Top-40.htm
DavidEduardo said:
I did know that. I was specifically referring to the music which really captured the teens at the time.
I really enjoy these threads on Chicago radio history. I spent most of my pre-teen, and later, much of my teenage youth doing my nightly homework while listening to WLS and WCFL. Since I was an "A" student, they mustn't have been bad influences 
Only my new-found fascination with FM in about 1970 was able to disloge them from my radio dial. Those were MUCH BETTER DAYS for our beloved medium!
Around 1960, Eddie Fisher was dropped by RCA Records, so he founded and briefly recorded on his own label – RAMROD Records. TMI?
Only my new-found fascination with FM in about 1970 was able to disloge them from my radio dial. Those were MUCH BETTER DAYS for our beloved medium!radioman148 said:
Around 1960, Eddie Fisher was dropped by RCA Records, so he founded and briefly recorded on his own label – RAMROD Records. TMI?
hipporadio said:I really enjoy these threads on Chicago radio history. I spent most of my pre-teen, and later, much of my teenage youth doing my nightly homework while listening to WLS and WCFL. Since I was an "A" student, they mustn't have been bad influences
radioman148 said:
Around 1960, Eddie Fisher was dropped by RCA Records, so he founded and briefly recorded on his own label – RAMROD Records. TMI?
Very appropriate name.
...so THAT's who was behind that label! I have a couple of copies of one of their album releases, The Best of What's-His-Name by Jack Paar. The album was made up of segments from Paar's monologues on The Tonight Show...hipporadio said:Around 1960, Eddie Fisher was dropped by RCA Records, so he founded and briefly recorded on his own label – RAMROD Records. TMI?
WIND's approach sounds very reminiscent of WGBB Freeport NY in the 60s. During the daytime hours, you'd hear Mom and Dad's music, Sinatra, Como and the rest of non-rock pop. After 7 PM, the station would become very uptempo, mixing currents with 50s and early 60s oldies.
I didn't grow up in Chicago, but it seems like WJJD was the top 40 station until it signed off at sundown. At night, you went to WIND.
I didn't grow up in Chicago, but it seems like WJJD was the top 40 station until it signed off at sundown. At night, you went to WIND.
radioguy39nj said:WIND's approach sounds very reminiscent of WGBB Freeport NY in the 60s. During the daytime hours, you'd hear Mom and Dad's music, Sinatra, Como and the rest of non-rock pop. After 7 PM, the station would become very uptempo, mixing currents with 50s and early 60s oldies.
I didn't grow up in Chicago, but it seems like WJJD was the top 40 station until it signed off at sundown. At night, you went to WIND.
I think that's pretty accurate. But as I alluded to earlier, in addition to Sinatra, Como, etc., on WIND you'd also get Connie Francis, some of Elvis' stuff (e.g. "Don't be Cruel"), Fats Domino, etc. So it wasn't totally Mom and Dad. Plus I think mixing in some of the more contemporary music coupled with WIND's better signal helped it from a competitive standpoint versus 'JD.
But it's probably safe to say that the younger fans of the entire "unfiltered" top 40 generally would flip to WIND when WJJD signed off.
cyberdad said:radioguy39nj said:WIND's approach sounds very reminiscent of WGBB Freeport NY in the 60s. During the daytime hours, you'd hear Mom and Dad's music, Sinatra, Como and the rest of non-rock pop. After 7 PM, the station would become very uptempo, mixing currents with 50s and early 60s oldies.
I didn't grow up in Chicago, but it seems like WJJD was the top 40 station until it signed off at sundown. At night, you went to WIND.
I think that's pretty accurate. But as I alluded to earlier, in addition to Sinatra, Como, etc., on WIND you'd also get Connie Francis, some of Elvis' stuff (e.g. "Don't be Cruel"), Fats Domino, etc. So it wasn't totally Mom and Dad. Plus I think mixing in some of the more contemporary music coupled with WIND's better signal helped it from a competitive standpoint versus 'JD.
But it's probably safe to say that the younger fans of the entire "unfiltered" top 40 generally would flip to WIND when WJJD signed off.
Cyberdad is right on. We did go to WIND at night because it was the only alternative. WJJD played 100% Top 40, but they went off the air at Salt Lake City sundown. This of course was in the late 50s. When WLS went with Top 40 in 1960, they blew WJJD away in a short time. WJJD's inferior signal and limited hours were no match for WLS.
radioman148 said:
WLS' flip to top 40 was a slam dunk. A 50 kW blaster signal vs 50 kW directional daytime only is not a level playing field.
Six months after WLS flipped, ABC did likewise with its NY flagship, WABC. Unlike WLS, WABC faced stiff competition in top 40 in New York. WMCA, WINS and WMGM had been in the format for several years. All were 24-hour operations. Over the next five years, WMCA with its 5 kW signal, put 50 kW WMGM and WINS out of the format. Until 1968, WMCA consistently beat WABC in NYC, while WABC won in distant suburbs because of its blaster signal. The rise of FM upstart WOR-FM put WMCA out of top 40 in 1970, not WABC.
radioguy39nj said:radioman148 said:
WLS' flip to top 40 was a slam dunk. A 50 kW blaster signal vs 50 kW directional daytime only is not a level playing field.
Six months after WLS flipped, ABC did likewise with its NY flagship, WABC. Unlike WLS, WABC faced stiff competition in top 40 in New York. WMCA, WINS and WMGM had been in the format for several years. All were 24-hour operations. Over the next five years, WMCA with its 5 kW signal, put 50 kW WMGM and WINS out of the format. Until 1968, WMCA consistently beat WABC in NYC, while WABC won in distant suburbs because of its blaster signal. The rise of FM upstart WOR-FM put WMCA out of top 40 in 1970, not WABC.
It's surprising when you think of it that before WLS, Chicago didn't have a full time rocker. In a city as big as Chicago you would think that somebody would have tried it sooner. Fortunately for WLS they didn't.
M
MsMusicRadio
Guest
Seems Group W was only committed to running a real rocker in Cleveland for some reason
MsMusicRadio said:
And even there, it was nowhere nearly as true to the format as WERE and WHK were noted for (and of course, WJW in evenings).
radioman148 said:
And LS was lucky in that it took until the early 80s for an FM Top 40 station to knock them out (although the Loop knocked them out in male teen/18-34 demos during the height of Disco Demolition). Both WDHF/WMET and WEFM tried, but failed (and to a certain extent WBBM-FM in its early live jock, pre-"Soft Rock 96" days). It took Mike Joseph's "Hot Hits!" at B96 (and Buddy Scott's refinements) while Gehron was still stuck in the "Top Tracks" reaction to the Loop at LS to end LS' reign at the top, which they never regained as WLS-FM or as Z95.
Mark Jeffries said:
It took a lot longer for the Rock FMs to knock off the big AM in Chicago. It happened earlier in most other markets.
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