I'd like to have XM's Channel 6 (Sixties)

[JH_Radio]

I am glad i recordec airchecks from both services over the past few months.
John
Bensalem, PA

 

[tomservo]

Cousin Who?

I mean, siriusly (ha ha). Never heard of him until he got on at Sirius. And I'm a huge radio nerd AND grew up listening to oldies and being fascinated by ye olde time radio broadcasts. Terry "Motormouth" Young, Pat Clarke et al? Never heard of them either.

But I HAVE heard of Bob Eubanks and Chuck Barris as DJs, and Rick Dees and Larry Lujack and Wolfman Jack. Maybe Brucie was a legend up nawth, but in the rest of the US he was a relative unknown. That being said, since I didn't know any of the other 60's jocks either, he'll be just one more name. Sounds like a great jock, from what little I've heard tho!

 

[AZJoe]

Cousin Brucie Morrow is the jock who introduced the Beatles at Shea Stadium to America in 1964,he knows the history of rock n roll as few do, as he was part of it . He probably has met and interviewed more artist from the 50s and 60s than any other jock, past or present. His talent & knowledge are legendary.

 

[andreajesus]

Thanks for backing me up on this one, Joe - i'm glad that SOMEONE besides me gets it!!

Andrea

 

[AZJoe]

Cousin Brucie was a New York Jock. This is a B I G country. Many people across the US never heard Cousin Bruce. Each major city in the '60s had their own "Cousin Brucie". Maybe some posters here could list their city's best known, best loved Top 40 Guy who owned the airwaves at the time.

Andrea, did you know that in LA, The Beatles were introduced to the listening public by a Radio DJ, named Bob Eubanks. Someone we in NY only knew as the host of "The Newlywed Game".
New York's a big town, but its not the whole USA.

Hey, Barry...

1) Brucie may have been a "New York jock", but the impact that he and Murray the K had on radio in the 60's CANNOT and MUST NOT BE DENIED!!
2) I was WELL AWARE of Eubanks' connection to the Beatles - in the same vein, a LOT of people DON'T know that Chuck Barris (yes, THAT Chuck
Barris!) was the dude who wrote a little song in the 60's called "Palisades Park" for some guy named Freddy "Boom-Boom" Cannon...)
3) New York may NOT be the whole USA, BUT...New York set the STANDARD for a LOT of things then and STILL DOES TODAY!!

Andrea

All very true Andrea!!!! 8)

 

[landtuna]

Although I've had access to XM for a few years (along with my DTV sub) yesterday was the first time I had listened to it. I don't know what it used to sound like but have the following observations:

60's on 6 - where in hell do they get that echo/reverb? That was definitely NOT a part of 60's rock radio.

50's on 5 - they are playing early 60's songs like The Tokens "Lion Sleeps Tonight" and a Lou Christy song (not that I care a whole lot but it seems if it is supposed to be a genuine 50's station they'd know 50's music).

Wish both stations' DJ's wouldn't talk over the songs. That's too much like old time radio.

 

[kurtfoster]

Yes, Sirius 70's had a better playlist - better selection of music, but I also liked the DJ's on XM. I can hear all the songs both XM and Sirius played, but the extra part for me was the on-air personalities. If XM turns into Sirius, I am gone.

kurt.

 

[tomservo]

60's on 6 - where in hell do they get that echo/reverb? That was definitely NOT a part of 60's rock radio.

I wasn't alive during that vaunted era of radio, but from what I've heard a lot of stations did reverb on the mics. Each Friday 60's on 6 spotlights a popular station (one time they did WSGN from my hometown of Birmingham, last week I think it was KHJ) and some of the skimmed audio of the jocks has reverb.

 

[landtuna]

I wasn't alive during that vaunted era of radio, but from what I've heard a lot of stations did reverb on the mics. Each Friday 60's on 6 spotlights a popular station (one time they did WSGN from my hometown of Birmingham, last week I think it was KHJ) and some of the skimmed audio of the jocks has reverb.

Reverb was somewhat popular during the 50's as part of what was then called "color radio" and, of course, has been a staple on Mexican radio forever. But I don't remember hearing any station using it (at least out west) after the very early 60's.

 

[landtuna]

Cousin Brucie was a New York Jock. This is a B I G country. Many people across the US never heard Cousin Bruce. Each major city in the '60s had their own "Cousin Brucie". Maybe some posters here could list their city's best known, best loved Top 40 Guy who owned the airwaves at the time.

Andrea, did you know that in LA, The Beatles were introduced to the listening public by a Radio DJ, named Bob Eubanks. Someone we in NY only knew as the host of "The Newlywed Game".
New York's a big town, but its not the whole USA.

Hey, Barry...

1) Brucie may have been a "New York jock", but the impact that he and Murray the K had on radio in the 60's CANNOT and MUST NOT BE DENIED!!
2) I was WELL AWARE of Eubanks' connection to the Beatles - in the same vein, a LOT of people DON'T know that Chuck Barris (yes, THAT Chuck
Barris!) was the dude who wrote a little song in the 60's called "Palisades Park" for some guy named Freddy "Boom-Boom" Cannon...)
3) New York may NOT be the whole USA, BUT...New York set the STANDARD for a LOT of things then and STILL DOES TODAY!!

Andrea

All very true Andrea!!!! 8)

Barry is correct. Until I moved from the West Coast to NYC in 1969 I had never heard of Bruce Morrow. He was the big kahuna on WABC's AM blowtorch at that time and may have been influential in the NY area but the music of the time was coming out of San Francisco.

Unlike the music centers of the South (50's), Philly (50's & early 60's), L.A. (early 60's), S.F. & the UK (mid-late late 60's & 70's), Seattle (80's) I don't remember anything of national interest coming out of the NY area since WWII-era Big Band/Swing when most music radio was live and came out of the big hotels in the NE. Cousin Brucie wasn't around back then. He may well have been the influential DJ in New Yawk City but he wasn't near the rock driver that Dick Clark, for instance, was nationwide.

 

[fredcantu]

Reverb was somewhat popular during the 50's as part of what was then called "color radio" and, of course, has been a staple on Mexican radio forever.

As someone who keeps up with Mexican radio I can tell you the reverb you're talking about went out in the 70s.

 

[hballard_HB]

Although I've had access to XM for a few years (along with my DTV sub) yesterday was the first time I had listened to it. I don't know what it used to sound like but have the following observations:

60's on 6 - where in hell do they get that echo/reverb? That was definitely NOT a part of 60's rock radio.

50's on 5 - they are playing early 60's songs like The Tokens "Lion Sleeps Tonight" and a Lou Christy song (not that I care a whole lot but it seems if it is supposed to be a genuine 50's station they'd know 50's music).

Wish both stations' DJ's wouldn't talk over the songs. That's too much like old time radio.

I have to disagree with a few points from landtuna. Reverb was most definitely a part of the sound of 1960s big time AM radio. New York's WABC was probably the best known example. Where I grew up in the '60s, the station that defined Top 40 AM radio in Charlotte, Big WAYS, was famous for their distinctive sound that was likely one of the best engineered AM stations I've ever heard, and reverb was a major factor in that trademark sound signature. Some stations did tend to go overboard with the use of reverb, but many East Coast and Midwest AM stations used it effectively, along with pioneering an art and science of broadcast engineering we now know as "audio processing." One thing I immediately noticed and admired about XM's 60s on 6 was the extra effort that was done to replicate that sound of 1960s Top 40 AM radio. Reverb and compression on the mike, PAMS jingle packages and fast talking, hard driving air talent showcasing the music with their own brand of personality was what radio of that time period was all about.

I don't know the programming philosophy of the new Sirius regime, but the XM approach on the 50s on 5 was inclusive of the early '60s, with the cutoff point being early 1964, when The Beatles arrived.

Wishing the DJs wouldn't talk over the songs because it is too much like old time radio? That's what radio of the 50s and 60s decades was all about, and the intent of the 50s on 5 and 60s on 6 was to celebrate the time when the guys on the air had the talent to talk over the music intros right up to the vocal. The music producers knew it and tailored their product for radio. The down side was that many great hits were butchered by editing to intentionally make them shorter than the original creations, just to achieve the goal of getting the most music into an Arbitron-measured quarter hour.

I hope Terry "Motormouth" Young will continue the 60s on 6 Friday Sonic Sound Salutes, recreating those special times and the classic radio stations that defined that part of history. Now as for removing Bobby Bennett, Leigh Hamilton and Dr. Nick from XM 60, Soul Street and transforming it into Sirius Soul Town, and for evicting Matt The Cat's Night Prowl Show and his weekly documentary feature "Harlem" from 50s on 5, what the hell was Mel Karmizan trying to accomplish with these genius programming decisions?

 

[hballard_HB]

Although I've had access to XM for a few years (along with my DTV sub) yesterday was the first time I had listened to it. I don't know what it used to sound like but have the following observations:

60's on 6 - where in hell do they get that echo/reverb? That was definitely NOT a part of 60's rock radio.

50's on 5 - they are playing early 60's songs like The Tokens "Lion Sleeps Tonight" and a Lou Christy song (not that I care a whole lot but it seems if it is supposed to be a genuine 50's station they'd know 50's music).

Wish both stations' DJ's wouldn't talk over the songs. That's too much like old time radio.

I have to disagree with a few points from landtuna. Reverb was most definitely a part of the sound of 1960s big time AM radio. New York's WABC was probably the best known example. Where I grew up in the '60s, the station that defined Top 40 AM radio in Charlotte, Big WAYS, was famous for their distinctive sound that was likely one of the best engineered AM stations I've ever heard, and reverb was a major factor in that trademark sound signature. Some stations did tend to go overboard with the use of reverb, but many East Coast and Midwest AM stations used it effectively, along with pioneering an art and science of broadcast engineering we now know as "audio processing." One thing I immediately noticed and admired about XM's 60s on 6 was the extra effort that was done to replicate that sound of 1960s Top 40 AM radio. Reverb and compression on the mike, the PAMS jingle packages and fast talking, hard driving air talent showcasing the music with their own brand of personality was what radio of that time period was all about.

I don't know the programming philosophy of the new Sirius regime, but the XM approach on the 50s on 5 was inclusive of the early '60s, with the cutoff point being early 1964, when The Beatles arrived.

Wishing the DJs wouldn't talk over the songs because it is too much like old time radio? That's what radio of the 50s and 60s decades was all about, and the intent of the 50s on 5 and 60s on 6 was to celebrate the time when the guys on the air had the talent to talk over the music intros right up to the vocal. The music producers knew it and tailored their product for radio. The down side was that many great hits were butchered by editing to intentionally make them shorter than the original creations, just to achieve the goal of getting the most music into an Arbitron-measured quarter hour.

I hope Terry "Motormouth" Young will continue the 60s on 6 Friday Sonic Sound Salutes, recreating those special times and the classic radio stations that defined that part of history. Now as for removing Bobby Bennett, Leigh Hamilton and Dr. Nick from XM 60, Soul Street and transforming it into Sirius Soul Town, and for evicting Matt The Cat's Night Prowl Show and his weekly documentary feature "Harlem" from 50s on 5, what the hell was Mel Karmizan trying to accomplish with these genius programming decisions?

 

[landtuna]

As someone who keeps up with Mexican radio I can tell you the reverb you're talking about went out in the 70s.

I can still hear reverb coming up from the Mexican AM's at night.

 

[landtuna]

Reverb was most definitely a part of the sound of 1960s big time AM radio. New York's WABC was probably the best known example.

I didn't get to listen to WABC until 1969 and reverb was gone by then. I don't remember any AM station having it much after the late 50's in the Southwest where I lived and don't remember any FM having it at all.

I don't remember any S.F. station having reverb either but some had background sounds airing between songs (like KLOK's "clock ticking"). KEWB used swimming pool sounds one summer. And Buck Herring on KYA had sound effects galore. Loved that guy!

I don't know the programming philosophy of the new Sirius regime, but the XM approach on the 50s on 5 was inclusive of the early '60s, with the cutoff point being early 1964, when The Beatles arrived.

Apparently the philosophy hasn't changed. In about 25 hours of listening over the past three days I have heard exactly TWO Fats Domino and ONE Rick Nelson song. These guys were the icons of late 50's radio. Seems like they play plenty of obscure early 50's songs but very little from the late 50's. They do however include plenty of early 60's stuff like the Beach Boys. I like the Boys but they don't belong in the 60's.

Wishing the DJs wouldn't talk over the songs because it is too much like old time radio?

I liked listening to the lead-in's and fade-out's and always hated it when the jocks blabbed over the music. Didn't like it then. Don't like it now.

I hope Terry "Motormouth" Young will continue the 60s on 6 Friday Sonic Sound Salutes, recreating those special times and the classic radio stations that defined that part of history.

Maybe I'm getting grouchy in my old age or my brain isn't as fast as it used to be but I remember plenty of DJ's who put on a good show without the machine-gun mouth. Content will win over speed and volume every time.

 

[Don62]

Cousin Brucie was a New York Jock. This is a B I G country. Many people across the US never heard Cousin Bruce. Each major city in the '60s had their own "Cousin Brucie". Maybe some posters here could list their city's best known, best loved Top 40 Guy who owned the airwaves at the time.

Andrea, did you know that in LA, The Beatles were introduced to the listening public by a Radio DJ, named Bob Eubanks. Someone we in NY only knew as the host of "The Newlywed Game".
New York's a big town, but its not the whole USA.

Hey, Barry...

1) Brucie may have been a "New York jock", but the impact that he and Murray the K had on radio in the 60's CANNOT and MUST NOT BE DENIED!!
2) I was WELL AWARE of Eubanks' connection to the Beatles - in the same vein, a LOT of people DON'T know that Chuck Barris (yes, THAT Chuck
Barris!) was the dude who wrote a little song in the 60's called "Palisades Park" for some guy named Freddy "Boom-Boom" Cannon...)
3) New York may NOT be the whole USA, BUT...New York set the STANDARD for a LOT of things then and STILL DOES TODAY!!

Andrea

All very true Andrea!!!! 8)

Barry is correct. Until I moved from the West Coast to NYC in 1969 I had never heard of Bruce Morrow. He was the big kahuna on WABC's AM blowtorch at that time and may have been influential in the NY area but the music of the time was coming out of San Francisco.

Unlike the music centers of the South (50's), Philly (50's & early 60's), L.A. (early 60's), S.F. & the UK (mid-late late 60's & 70's), Seattle (80's) I don't remember anything of national interest coming out of the NY area since WWII-era Big Band/Swing when most music radio was live and came out of the big hotels in the NE. Cousin Brucie wasn't around back then. He may well have been the influential DJ in New Yawk City but he wasn't near the rock driver that Dick Clark, for instance, was nationwide.

Errrrr....... Ever hear of Dion & the Belmonts?

The Shirelles?

The Drifters?

Bobby Darin?

Doo-Wop?

Lovin' Spoonful?

Billy Joel?


And a host of other groups and artists that came out of the Tri-State area.

You also forgot about the mid-60s L.A. which saw Jan & Dean, Brian Wilson's Beach Boys, the Mamas and Papas, etc.

 

[andreajesus]

Yeah, Don - LOVED your post!! And you're absolutely on the money - SO MANY of our artists/musicians came from the TRI-STATE AREA, and who better at that time to have one of their own - Bruce Morrow - playin what they're making...