According to Wikipedia and other sources, Shep Fields, leader of the popular "Shep Fields and His Rippling Rhythm" orchestra in the 30s/40s, following the breakup of the band, moved to Houston in 1963 and became a disc jockey. Would anyone, per chance, know for what station? I'm guessing KXYZ but I don't know.
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Shep Fields, former orchestra leader, was a DJ for what Houston station?
- Thread starter radiobop
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I remember hearing Fields on the radio in Houston. He had an evening shift and played the sound effect of a rippling stream between records as he talked. I remember thinking the shtick was a rip off of Lawrence Welk's champagne cork pop and bubbling sound effects but apparently Fields actually preceded Welk by many years. I did not care for the music he played and didn't listen much but I tuned in from time to time to see if he was still there. My impression is that he didn't last long.
As to both the time period and station my memories are more problematic, at least compared to the Wiki article. I remember this as being late 50s, ca. 58 or 59. I was not around Houston much in the 60s having gone off to college and when I was in town I was not into radio as I had been as a teen. My station of choice in the early and mid-60s was KPRC as I had kind of outgrown Top 40. In 63 I was in town most of the year, working at a freight office on the North side in the evenings and only got to listen to radio during my dinner break so I'm very sure I didn't hear him then. Perhaps the Wiki article is wrong or he was here briefly and returned years later? Or maybe I've just gotten some early memories mixed up - it's happened before as I recall.
Now as to the station, I have always remembered this as being KILT and yes, I know, that makes no sense at all. Exactly what I thought at the time. In fact I remember him as replacing my favorite KILT jock, Joel A. Spivak, and being the reason I started listening around to other stations including KTHT, KXYZ, KYOK and KCOH, and during the day, KPAC, Port Arthur. But that was many years ago and I could have it wrong, he may have replaced someone on KTHT or KXYZ although I really don't remember any of the jocks on either of those stations from that era. He certainly would have been a better fit for the programming on either of those stations (I never heard KXYZ when it was a Top 40 station, I only started listening to it after it had abandoned Top 40. My station for years had been KILT and before that KLBS which not only played the music I wanted to hear but came in best where I lived).
EDIT: Just found this giving a date of 1955 for him settling in Houston.
http://www.bigbandlibrary.com/shepfields.html
That date is also given on parabrisas.com.
As to both the time period and station my memories are more problematic, at least compared to the Wiki article. I remember this as being late 50s, ca. 58 or 59. I was not around Houston much in the 60s having gone off to college and when I was in town I was not into radio as I had been as a teen. My station of choice in the early and mid-60s was KPRC as I had kind of outgrown Top 40. In 63 I was in town most of the year, working at a freight office on the North side in the evenings and only got to listen to radio during my dinner break so I'm very sure I didn't hear him then. Perhaps the Wiki article is wrong or he was here briefly and returned years later? Or maybe I've just gotten some early memories mixed up - it's happened before as I recall.
Now as to the station, I have always remembered this as being KILT and yes, I know, that makes no sense at all. Exactly what I thought at the time. In fact I remember him as replacing my favorite KILT jock, Joel A. Spivak, and being the reason I started listening around to other stations including KTHT, KXYZ, KYOK and KCOH, and during the day, KPAC, Port Arthur. But that was many years ago and I could have it wrong, he may have replaced someone on KTHT or KXYZ although I really don't remember any of the jocks on either of those stations from that era. He certainly would have been a better fit for the programming on either of those stations (I never heard KXYZ when it was a Top 40 station, I only started listening to it after it had abandoned Top 40. My station for years had been KILT and before that KLBS which not only played the music I wanted to hear but came in best where I lived).
EDIT: Just found this giving a date of 1955 for him settling in Houston.
http://www.bigbandlibrary.com/shepfields.html
That date is also given on parabrisas.com.
Saturday at the Shamrock aired from March 1949 (St. Patrick's Day in fact) until 1953, before Fields got to town. It featured comics, actors, singers, it wasn't a dance show.
From what I gather, some of which came from my uncle who lived in Houston back then, everybody was still playing music during that time. It seemed, however, that KTRH had more talk programs than the other stations. I even remember that on Sunday mornings they had a program which consisted of a host reading and describing (or embellishing) the Sunday comic strips from the Chronicle. That lasted until the mid-'60's, if I recall correctly.
Again, relying on what my uncle said, I'm fairly sure that Shep was on KXYZ but I don't know exactly when. The late '50 to early '60's would seem to fit, though.
Again, relying on what my uncle said, I'm fairly sure that Shep was on KXYZ but I don't know exactly when. The late '50 to early '60's would seem to fit, though.
The late '50 to early '60's would seem to fit, though.
I don't think I agree JD. KXYZ changed its format from 50s pop music to "Beautiful Music KXYZ" sometime around 1960. "Beautiful Music" meant string orchestras like Mantovani, Andre Kostelanetz, Ferrante and Teicher, Roger Williams and others playing show tunes, movie themes and the popular songs of the day. It was several notches above elevator music, and great to listen to, IMO.
They used harp glissandos for bumpers, with a resident deep throat intoning "In the air, all over Houston, 24 hours a day, Beautiful Music KXYZ." You may remember the late Pat Brown and Milt Willis were a couple of those deep throats. Richard Fulghum, Larry Fogle and Jeff Thompson also come to mind. It was all very impersonal with no sign of personality from the announcers. I don't remember anybody named Shep Fields.
That format lasted until the mid 60s, when the owner switched to strictly MOR pop music. He fired PD Milt Willis and replaced him with Bill Calder from KPRC 950. Calder threw out the harp bumpers and string orchestras, fired all the familiar deep throats and hired his own staff of personality jocks from around the country.
KXYZ was never the same after that. Calder's own obnoxious style and his heavy-on-personality programming sent KXYZ into the toilet, and the owners sold it to ABC Radio in 1968.
I don't think I agree JD. KXYZ changed its format from 50s pop music to "Beautiful Music KXYZ" sometime around 1960. "Beautiful Music" meant string orchestras like Mantovani, Andre Kostelanetz, Ferrante and Teicher, Roger Williams and others playing show tunes, movie themes and the popular songs of the day. It was several notches above elevator music, and great to listen to, IMO.
They used harp glissandos for bumpers, with a resident deep throat intoning "In the air, all over Houston, 24 hours a day, Beautiful Music KXYZ." You may remember the late Pat Brown and Milt Willis were a couple of those deep throats. Richard Fulghum, Larry Fogle and Jeff Thompson also come to mind. It was all very impersonal with no sign of personality from the announcers. I don't remember anybody named Shep Fields.
That format lasted until the mid 60s, when the owner switched to strictly MOR pop music. He fired PD Milt Willis and replaced him with Bill Calder from KPRC 950. Calder threw out the harp bumpers and string orchestras, fired all the familiar deep throats and hired his own staff of personality jocks from around the country.
KXYZ was never the same after that. Calder's own obnoxious style and his heavy-on-personality programming sent KXYZ into the toilet, and the owners sold it to ABC Radio in 1968.
Thanks for the history of KXYZ Filio. I always thought it had stayed BM all through the 60s. ABC brought in Paul Mitchell from Philadelphia and he reinstalled a very controlled, produced beautiful music sound but minus the mood setting pieces. Milt, Max and Morris Kamin had purchased KXYZ in 1961 and brought in Willis as PD. I always listened when I was in town in that era and it was a very impressive station but it wasn't my kind of music and I didn't listen much. You can hear air checks on Grady McAllister's website.
What I was suggesting above that I've only clarified some in my mind thinking about this is that I don't remember any jocks on KXYZ and KTHT basically because there weren't any, not at the hours I listened in the late 50s. I believe either by the time I started listening or shortly thereafter, KTHT had started Demand Radio 79, the first of several formats they had over the years that were basically jockless.
Take a look at the brochure from late 56, early 57 in this post on my blog:
http://houstonradiohistory.blogspot.com/2009/08/kxyz-gallery.html
It shows what KXYZ programming was like at that time - note they were still carrying a lot of ABC programs including Breakfast Club. I'm not sure when KXYZ dropped ABC (which was picked up for a time by 1360 Baytown). Not sure if you could call that programming Easy Listening.
I have no idea what KTRH was playing in the way of music; possibly still some hillbilly, which all the stations had played in the 40s and early 50s. Just about everything was block programming still. As I said, I really didn't become very aware of any of the other stations until after Joel Spivak left KILT.
At some point in the 50s, KXYZ was supposedly a Top 40 station but I never heard it and don't have any dates.
I agree, in hindsight, given what we know or think we know about programming principles today, Fields probably would have been a better fit for KTHT or KXYZ than KILT and as I said my memories are not clear. But programmers made stupid programming decisions back then just like they do now and he could have been on any of them. The idea of block programming instead of a single sound/musical style all day long was still very much in vogue.
I am pretty sure he wasn’t on KYOK, though.
What I was suggesting above that I've only clarified some in my mind thinking about this is that I don't remember any jocks on KXYZ and KTHT basically because there weren't any, not at the hours I listened in the late 50s. I believe either by the time I started listening or shortly thereafter, KTHT had started Demand Radio 79, the first of several formats they had over the years that were basically jockless.
Take a look at the brochure from late 56, early 57 in this post on my blog:
http://houstonradiohistory.blogspot.com/2009/08/kxyz-gallery.html
It shows what KXYZ programming was like at that time - note they were still carrying a lot of ABC programs including Breakfast Club. I'm not sure when KXYZ dropped ABC (which was picked up for a time by 1360 Baytown). Not sure if you could call that programming Easy Listening.
I have no idea what KTRH was playing in the way of music; possibly still some hillbilly, which all the stations had played in the 40s and early 50s. Just about everything was block programming still. As I said, I really didn't become very aware of any of the other stations until after Joel Spivak left KILT.
At some point in the 50s, KXYZ was supposedly a Top 40 station but I never heard it and don't have any dates.
I agree, in hindsight, given what we know or think we know about programming principles today, Fields probably would have been a better fit for KTHT or KXYZ than KILT and as I said my memories are not clear. But programmers made stupid programming decisions back then just like they do now and he could have been on any of them. The idea of block programming instead of a single sound/musical style all day long was still very much in vogue.
I am pretty sure he wasn’t on KYOK, though.
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