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Now Radio Come Alive

U

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From Pittsburgh in the 60s WKBW was one of my go-to stations. One of my favorite jingles was, "Now Radio Comes Alive, You're Listening to KB." Over the years, when I have seen this jingle mentioned it has been in a negative context. I liked it well enough that when our college radio station bought a small jingle package from a low-cost outfit in Dallas, I used part of it as the logo. "Listening to KB" became "WLRN." The salesman for the company (the name of which I can't recall) was very helpful and even gave us a deep discount for the acapella package (that I designed so we could edit it into twice as many jingles). He told me that the original tune came from Mary Kay Cosmetics. I haven't been able to confirm the tune but he said the original words were, "No Woman Need Ever Look Forty, Now There is Mary Kay." That was one of their tag lines. Anyone able to shed more light on this? (my user name is tce, but the thread insists on unregistered)
 
tce,

This is the first time I've heard of any Mary Kay connection to "Radio Comes Alive" (my wife's been a MK consultant for 18 years) but I will address the negative context.

Attached is a Jack Armstrong aircheck from December 1970 in which we hear much of the package. Personally there were a couple cuts I thought were great, but one cut in particular sounded like Jeff Kaye was feelin' nostalgic for 1932, sung by what sounds like flapper girls who even go "boop-boop-a-doo" at the end...it comes up twice in this aircheck (listen at 6:07) IIRC and Jack makes fun of it both times.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Jack+Armstrong+WKBW+1970

Jack discussed his feelings for the package on the internet SOWNY show, linked thru www.rockradioscrapbook.ca ...however I think it's been taken down. He did a couple of those shows before he died. I think Jeff Kaye and Don Berns turn up with Jack (IIRC, it's been a few years since I heard it) and after discussing "Radio Comes Alive", they got into the trip to Dallas to produce "The Music People" and not being happy with the jingle singers' execution. I'm probably mangling the story at this point but basically they went to some bars and clubs, pulled some singers out and ran 'em down to the studio to produce (IMO) the best jingle package in the history of jingles.

Although B94 did a similar theme in 1998 which was pretty awesome.

BTW are you east of the city? I live in Burgettstown and once lived in Butler...where the station's pretty much unlistenable. My KB memories...a jillion of them, come from living in Southern Vermont back in high school (where I heard the actual show on this aircheck) and later Westchester County, NY. WKBW bombs in there like a local signal at night...
 
The Music People jingle package has been discussed here before and you have the story pretty close to the way Jeff described to it, Chas. As I heard the story (direct from The Man), the "Now Radio" package outlasted its shelf life. Armstrong mocked it on the air ("...look at 'em, walkin' out in droves...") IMHO, "Now Radio" was hokey. But I can understand how and why some people liked it.

The era, the music being released, the groups, and the competition in the market demanded a stronger package. Jack was used to more powerful, albeit off-the-rack jingles in Denver (KTLK) and Toronto (CHUM). Jeff wanted a jingle sound that set WKBW apart from anything heard on radio and Top 40 radio in particular, matching the KB personalities like Armstrong, Beach, Berns and Neaverth. Format competitor 1400 WYSL was using a very good package, similar to what was heard on CKLW. WYSL's package offered more jingles, transitions, slow to fast, fast to slow; shotgun types, full up, medium as well as smooth down tempo, with full orchestration and acapella. Those were very good jingles, but Jeff didn't want stock jingles. Nor did he want a "Seventy Seven W-A-B-C" sound.

It was all about differentiation. So on some cuts, the session singers were replaced by a bar band singer that they'd "discovered." These are the cuts that sound like David Clayton Thomas, Crow, Jethro Tull, Zepplin, Mungo Jerry and Chicago. If you listen closely, the bar band male singer sings "dubba you" on some cuts, "double you" on others. But there are session singers in The Music People package, and they're very good, heard especially on the smooth cuts that are styled after Joni Mitchell, Bread or Carole King, as well as some uptempo tracks like the Badfinger sound-alike. These, BTW, are altogether different from the Pop-Tops that came a bit later.

There were so many cuts and mix-outs on The Music People package, that it still amazes me when I hear them on airchecks. Armstrong's patented "Your leeeeader" howl is best remembered as it's done over the jingle featuring a Chicago-like arrangement. It's a ramp-up jingle that leads into the sing: "WKBW... The Music People." And Berns' use of jingles to close out bits or shtick was equally classic.
 
I like that Jeff wanted to set the station apart from the rest, after all it was "One of America's 2 Great Radio Stations". That was a cleaver tact in itself. I'm probably partial because I spent my formative years living just 2 miles away from the transmitter. WKBW came in on just about everything, record players, toasters, you name it!

With all due respect WABC was a good radio station but lets face it part of the legend is the 50,000 watt non directional signal, plus the fact it's located in New York City. WKBW was a great radio station that even people in New York City and New Jersey preferred to WABC.
 
Well Mike for my money, WABC's secret sauce was Dan Ingram with Ron Lundy a little behind. Harry Harrison and George Michael, while smooth as silk, were - to me - all about the basics...even Armstrong's replacements - from the Janitor and Shane to Quinn and George Hamberger - were more fun to listen to than ANYONE I'd heard doing nights in NYC, excepting only the amazing Howard Hoffman who took over nights at WABC near the end.

As for Jack himself, it only took until 2001 'til I felt comfortable saying "here's a night jock in that league"...

JPB, the single disappointment about "The Music People" package is that by its very nature - based on current/recurrent music - it couldn't help but have a short shelf life. Yes they were strong enough to stand on their own without automatically recalling the tunes they were based upon, but I'd think that after a year or so, any savvy PD would be itching to update with some cuts based on American Pie, Alice Cooper, Elton John...

B94/Pittsburgh had a few cuts in this vein made at Reelworld in 1998...doing a Chumbawamba-style "Today's Hit Music" chant on one of them. Most distinctive Top 40 package since "The Music People".

Finding the bar band singer was a work of true genius...then again I'll go to my grave believing most everything Jeff Kaye did was genius.

Makes it tough when someone posts an aircheck of, oh, CKLW and while others marvel at the execution, I'm going..."ok so he had a deep voice and could read liner cards, where's the fun?"...
 
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Thanks, Chas, for the comprehensive reply. And for the link, I hadn't heard the jingles since 1970 - still love them. I have the jingle package we bought that used the logo, flaking away on a tape reel. Great to hear the Real Leader. When Jim Quinn came to KQV, he tried to be Jack Armstrong, but never had that rapid fire delivery. He had to drop it during his brief stay at WIBG handcuffed to liner card as Happy Jack. He was Your Leader again when he came back in a few months. I don't suppose he tried that when he ended up at KB.

I do live near Butler. Not sure if you meant the station there sounded terrible or that KBs signal comes in poorly - both are true. Other than KB, my favorites were WFIL and WCFL. FIL took the tight, highly produced format one step beyond Drake and the fake-Drakes. They had a continuous series of top talents who worked the format perfectly. - tce
 
chas108 - thanks for the response - I have tried replying, but continue to have problems posting - tce
 
Chas 108 agree with you on the secret sauce. Let me say WBT has a great afternoon guy in Don Russell. I even told him he reminded me of big Dan, of course he said it was a big compliment. Most times you hear a good jock set up a bit and then connect making you laugh. With Ingram and Russell the bit and the connect comes at you so fast you laugh and say where the @#$ did that come from? That's a great entertainer!
 
As I used to say about KB it was like having a morning man on the air 24 hours a day!
 
Unregistered said:
Chas 108 was asking about the Jack Armstrong interview:

It's here (scroll down to August 27, 2007), and well worth a listen:

http://rockradioscrapbook.ca/air96-p.html
Click to expand...


Thanks! I thought this was gone forever. IIRC there's a second SOWNY Show with Berns and Jeff Kaye, talking about Armstrong as he was supposed to appear on that one too...

Priceless.
 
tce,

Now that I look back at the reply you reference, I see where "unlistenable" could refer to the Butler PA stations as well as 'KB...I meant 'KB but agree about Butler...LOL.

Quinn at 'KB had an Armstrong-like edge in his presentation but that was the only similarity. He definitely wasn't trying to be Jack in Buffalo...and in later years, he'd admitted when the topic came up, how bad it sounded when he tried to imitate him on KQV back in 1968.
 
Recently, on the topic of giving the wrong call letters, I started to tell the story of Sandy Beach saying WBZ during his first show on WKBW. My memory is that I actually heard it. Then, I wasn't sure if it was Sandy Beach or Jefferson Kaye. Anyone able to help my semi-retired memory?
 
That was Jefferson Kaye....as I had heard it myself. T'was a big deal when he came to town, and he must have been a tad nervous! Also, I was lucky enough to tune into him before he left WBZ. I was a big shot among my High school friends as I had heard the new guy 1st!
 
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