Got this yesterday ...
Today is September 11th.
My Wife Annie flew for United Airlines for another 15 years after 9/11.
Track #11, from my 2023 album is about that period of time.
It has been distributed through the retired airline worker's community.
It's currently part of several 9/11 memorials, nationally.
"Steel Wings To LA" is attached.
- Bobby
I taped some of the WLS/WCFL Rewound Weekend and burned a few hours on CD. My work car is a 2005 Pontiac Vibe that has a CD player. It is fun to drive around listening to those great stations as we did in the olden days.
On one of the Chuck Buell segments from 1972, it appeared the songs were slightly sped up. I know you have featured this discussion before. Maybe you can ask Chuck about this. I noticed it on songs such as Family Of Man by Three Dog Night and Nice To Be With You by Gallery.
Did the radio station speed them up to 46 rpms, or was the reel to reel taping the air check running a bit fast?
Phil
WCFL was the station that got called out for speeding up the music …
The idea was to get in an extra song each
hour, meaning they could offer “More Music” (even though that was WLS’ jingle!) It was also designed to make the station sound more "peppy" ... in contrast, the songs seemed to drag a little bit when you heard them on WLS ... or at least that's what they were going for.
A couple of the airchecks I heard on this year's program were badly warped and I was kind of surprised by that as they typically restore these to pretty pristine shape. (I guess it all depends on what you have to work with.)
Still, a GREAT way to spend a long weekend, listening to radio the way we remember it sounding back in the day when we all got hooked on this great music! (kk)
UPDATE: I asked Chuck Buell the following question …
I got a letter from a reader today (actually a 40-year veteran deejay himself) asking about WLS and WCFL speeding up the songs slightly back in the day to make them sound more "lively."
I specifically remember WCFL being called out on this (remember Chicago Radio Columnist Gary Deeb? He did a whole expose on this.)
The story was (at the time) that by 'CFL speeding up the records to pick up a few extra seconds here and there on every track they played, they could theoretically play one more song per hour than WLS did and thus offer "more music." Turns out this was strictly against FCC regulations and I believe they were fined heavily for it.
Do you remember any of this being discussed at the time in your station board meetings? Different strategies to beat the competition and make 'LS stand out from WCFL?
Curious what you can share (now that the statutes of limitations have run out!!!) lol
I don't recall that WLS ever did that.
Prior to my joining 'LS when I was at KIMN in Denver, we did experiment with that concept. Our reasoning was if we could eventually manipulate all our on air records by speeding them up, it would make the records heard on any competing radio station sound sl -o-o-ow-w-w by comparison. The key was to treat a record when it was just added because no one was familiar with it and it would sound normal or as it should.
So, to test out this practice, a new Beatle Record was sped up by 10% and added to our on-air playlist. Sounded fine (anything over that, we discovered made a record start to sound Chipmunkie!") Sounded great on the air being that it was a bright sounding, up tempo song to begin with.
Then local record stores started calling us asking why our record(s) sounded faster than the copies that customers were returning to their stores as "defective" because they "dragged" and the record store could not find any copies they had in inventory that "didn't!" Some stores even called the record labels and complained to them!
Well, as you can imagine, this idea was soon terminated, never to be undertaken again!
So, it was years later that WCFL tried that folly. I don't know their outcome other than they soon stopped doing it, too.
CB
UPDATE: We talked about this AGES ago …
I’ve been trying to find the original Gary Deeb article that took WCFL to task for this but have come up empty thus far …
However, here is some FH coverage dating back to 2011 on this topic …
Interestingly enough, it contains commentary from two of ‘CFL’s top jocks at the time, Ron Britain and Bob Dearborn! (kk)
I remember the whole speed-up thing and reading about it in the papers.
They really shouldn't do that to a record, as it can ruin the song.
Leah Jordan
Regarding "Speeding in a 45 Zone," it definitely was happening in the early ‘70s. I’m pretty sure I heard it in the Baltimore - DC corridor, although I don’t want to wrongly accuse any one station. And I’m certain I remember hearing the Raspberries’ “Go All The Way,” among others, supercharged, on CKLW in Detroit. The late Tom Clay told me that they definitely were spinning at 47 or 48 for a while.
Scott
Just one of the many "tricks of the trade" apparently! (kk)
In all of the talk about whether or not stations sped up songs, in particular WCFL, I can relate one thing I distinctly remember happening during that period. The DJs at WCFL would on occasion deliberately give the wrong time. I'm guessing this was done to try to influence anyone who might be filling out a survey to show the wrong time and enter a time that might show more favorably for advertising purposes. But I'm only guessing as to the reason.
The first time I heard the wrong time given, I figured the DJ just made a mistake. Because the time he gave wasn't just off by a few minutes or by an hour, it was WAY off, by hours. But when I noticed it on multiple occasions, and on different days, I figured it was not a mistake, but was being done deliberately. At the time I was still in my teens and had no idea why they were doing this. I got verification of this in later years upon reading a column by Gary Deeb. But this is something I heard with my own ears and on several different days. Another low point for a great radio station. This was probably in the 1974 or 1975 timeframe, but I'm only guessing.
Ken
Yep, another "claim to fame" that was going on at 'CFL at the time. (I confirmed this with Ron Smith, who remembered it clearly as well, along with the articles columnist Gary Deeb wrote, exposing this practice.) And you're right, it WAS a deliberate attempt to "alter" the books in the radio diaries that listeners kept at home ... they'd hear the time and ideally, without checking the clock, credit more listening time for the station. Amazing, isn't it??? (kk)
I asked Bob Dearborn, who came through in these pages a while back about the speeding up of the music played by the station, what he remembered about giving out false time on the air to beef up their listeners' diaries ... and wondered who the heck was in charge during this crazy time.
Here is his response:
>>>the time he gave wasn't just off by a few minutes or by an hour, it was WAY off, by hours. (Ken)
>>>Regarding WCFL speeding up the records, I really don't know. To the best of my knowledge, it was not done, but if it had been true, it would have been during the time in the 60's when Lew Witz was the general manager. Sorry that I have been vague about this, but my answer would be that it didn't happen. I am very certain that this did not occur during the time that Ken Draper was the general manager prior to Lew Witz.
(Ron Britain)
If it was off by hours, then it was the air talent making a mistake. It happens. But there was some time-check skulduggery going on at 'CFL in 1974.
During the same period when the records were sped up, we were told to add a few minutes to the time whenever the actual time fell short of :20, :35 or :50 minutes past the hour in order to get credit for an extra quarter-hour from ratings diary-keepers. Once a listener was at least five minutes into the next quarter, you got credit for them being tuned in during that quarter. Therefore, if it was really 4:19, we were instructed to say it was at least 4:20. If it was really 4:32 or 4:33, we had to say it was at least 4:35. It was a deception, all right, but one that amounted to a few minutes, never more than four minutes, and never hours.
As to your question, "Who the heck was leading the charge on all these schemes and practices to bolster WCFL's ratings?!?!?," it was not General Manager Lew Witz, as my very dear friend Ron Britain has theorized. Ron was long gone in 1974 when all this deception was happening. Lew fired him in December, 1970, and as you may have guessed, Ron to this day is not a Lew fan.
I have nothing bad to say about Lew Witz. He treated me extremely well, always with kindness, courtesy and more professional respect than I probably deserved. He and I were as different from each other as two people could be, but we liked and respected each other. Still do. Our relationship was always solid. We went through six program directors and 36 air personalities between 1970 and 1976, but I was there through all of it. Yes, my ratings were really good -- upper teens mostly, and once a 20 -- but additionally, Lew knew he could count on me, that he could trust me.
One of the many knocks on Lew that I've heard is that he was a micro-manager, involved in every aspect of the radio station, didn't let department heads have complete control of their departments. That was true up until about 1973. By then we'd turned the corner and were finally beating WLS across the board, and WCFL was named Billboard Radio Station of the Year. It was well-deserved. But then, for whatever reason, while basking in the station's newfound success, Lew finally started to delegate more than he had before, opened up to the ideas of other people. And it was one of those other people that had been brought on board who led us astray, with records being speeded up and time checks falsified.
I'm not going to name that person. I like him too much and don't want to publicly embarrass him over a mistake he made when he was young. We've all done foolish things in our youth. Fifteen years later, he turned into a prince of a man and as ethical as they come, one of my favorite radio colleagues. I didn't like him at all back in 1974 when he was doing all these things to "my" radio station, but, like all of us, he was the product of his most recent training and corporate environment, and he did what seemed normal and acceptable to him at the time as the way to win.
As I said in one of our jock meetings, even if we do succeed as a result of doing these deceitful things, it'll feel like a hollow victory and one we won't enjoy. Well, there was no victory, and as our dirty laundry was being aired in the press (what seemed like) almost every day, no joy either.
That's as much as I'm comfortable saying about the matter, Kent. It was a long time ago, and again, I think it would be a shame to focus too much attention on something that happened for a few months instead of appreciating the bigger picture of what that radio station was during its many years of greatness.
Bob
And now for a horse of a completely different color ...
As Shelley pointed out ...
>>>That is NOT the “pretty in pink” Barbie color. It must be the 21st century version, where everything is bolder and nobody cares what you think. (Shelley Sweet-Tufano)
HA! Yep! True that!
But sometimes one has to suspend reality when hearing, feeling, smelling, listening or seeing something like that house awash in non-official "Barbie Pink!"
Oh. Wait. THAT’s what Barbie is all about in the first place! Non-reality “Pretend Play!”
Particularly, for instance, considering Barbie has had over 200 jobs of which several related and associated specialties are included, which parent company Mattel adds toward Barbie's occupations count.
Including ~~~
Can one believe that?!
Now will someone please hand me my alter ego “Superman Action Figure?!"
CB ( which stands for “Career-Counselor Boy!” )
It isn’t often that I have the opportunity to make a printing reference in this arena …
But many years ago, we had an account who had an “in” with Mattel and was awarded the order to print the artwork for the brand new Barbie board game that was coming out on the market … and we landed that order.
It became immediately apparent that matching “Barbie Pink” was the key to printing this successfully.
As it turns out, SO many different Barbie products had been printed over the decades (this experience for me happened in the ‘80’s) that Pantone (the company that develops all of the various … and by this I mean literally hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of color hues) actually developed a patented color CALLED “Barbie Pink” … so that no matter where in the world something in the Barbie Universe was being printed, it would match the same color pink being printed anywhere and everywhere else.
It turned out to be as simple as ordering that product by name … and then matching the color to the ink swatch / drawdown provided by the ad agency … and we were on our way! (kk)
Jimmy Buffett’s wife Jane posted a heartfelt letter of thanks on Jimmy’s Facebook Page over the weekend, thanking friends, family, fans and Jimmy’s medical team for all the love they had showered upon him during his long and successful career. (kk)
Another Cryan’ Shames-related question from Robert Campbell …
So I went and got out my FOUR copies of “A Scratch In The Sky,” one still encased in plastic, and was looking at the handwritten back cover. It’s kind of hard to read, but at the bottom there’s a line that states …
“In Appreciation: Geoff Bryan, Ron Holder who are two of the members of the criminally forgotten Blackstones.”
I wonder what their contribution to the album was.
Robert
For this one, I went right to the source and contacted original founding members Tom Doody, Jim Pilster and James Fairs …
Tom (Toad!) was the first to respond ...
Hey Kent -
Geoff and Ron were from Saturday's Children. I think the Blackstones was their original name. They wrote Dennis Dupree from Danville.
I wish I could give you the scoop on The Town I'd Like To Go Back To and The Warm, but I have no idea, other than I really like singing the songs. Have a great one!
Tom Doody
>>>Please keep us posted, LJ … we’ve been covering your efforts for over a decade now … and want to keep Forgotten Hits Readers up to date on any and all new developments … and where and how they might be able to view this film! (kk)
Kent,
Thank You, and all of The Forgotten Hits dedicated viewers … you are so very kind and much appreciated.
In the following I would like to offer an outtake from our feature length screenplay 'The Winter Dance Party Tour – 1959.'
Viewers must remember that at the very beginning of what eventually became 'The Winter Dance Party Tour - 1959" on the morning of Friday, January 23, 1959, at 9:00 a.m., there 12 musicians, 1 tour bus manager and 1 tour bus driver met at the GAC parking lot and boarded a tin-can that they called a tour bus that would provide their transportation for the next 24 days straight … 24 locations … 24 performances.
Unfortunately, there wasn't a real tour bus ... just a small, uncomfortable charter bus that lacked heat most of the time with no normal sleeping availability.
The tour and transportation was provided by GAC of Chicago, IL, in conjunction with Feld Management from New York. Irvin Feld, as a favor to Buddy Holly, asked GAC to put together a tour so that Holly could get out on the road and promote his music. Irvin Feld offered Holly that he would become Holly's manager following 'The Winter Dance Party Tour.' (Holly had left his management and was living with his new bride in New York at the time.)
The Winter Dance Party Tour - 1959 was a circus-like atmosphere and irresponsibly managed. It was a circus-like atmosphere that Promoter Irvin Feld and GAC Management had created by scheduling the 24 days straight, 24 performances in 24 winter locations in the mid-western states sometimes hundreds of miles apart for the 12 traveling musicians in a fun circus bus-like vehicle … but no one on this circus Winter Dance Party Tour Bus was having fun.
Buddy Holly had made arrangements with promoter Irvin Feld during a meeting in New York: Feld initially suggested that he would put together The 1959 Winter Dance Party Tour and Buddy Holly was excited.
From the very first day on January 23, 1959, when everyone met in Chicago for The GAC and New York Irvin Feld management Winter Dance Party Tour, none of us had any idea that we would later be subjected to such unbelievable conditions.
Before we left the parking lot, the tour manager referred to the bus as 'Third Class'. He continued his statement by saying: “There are many things I will be required to do
around here, and telling the truth isn't one of them. You start telling the truth, and that can get you fired real fast.”
Unfortunately, the so-called tour bus was basically a short school bus. The below zero winds would blow through every possible opening in that tin-can and the heating system failed multiple times.
Show#1
An 8:00 p.m. Show on a Friday night - January 23rd at The Milwaukee 'George Devine Million Dollar Ballroom.'
Frankie Sardo opened the first show of The GAC Winter Dance Party Tour with his 'Fake Out' song. Waylon, Tommy and Carl were the backing musicians … and even
Buddy sat in on drums.
Several thousand teens turned out for this craziness. Devine claimed it was their most successful rock-n-roll get together to date.
Well, what a 'bitchin time' they had.
(22 more performances in 22 more days in more 22 locations to go … but who's counting.
In the 1950's, The Winter Dance Party Tour manager was an auto parts salesman and on January 23, 1959, he became the tour manager on The Winter Dance Party Tour. He was the brother-in-law to the famous Louis H. Krefetz, who was personal manager of 'The Clovers' and he lived in the Krefetz household as well. He was appointed as tour manager by Irvin Feld Management out of New York. Prior to this appointment, he had acquired tour experience with the R&B circuit through his brother-in-law, Louis H. Krefetz. In addition, in September of 1958, he had been hired by Irvin Feld Management for a mid-west tour that again included Dion and The Belmonts.
Show#2
An 8:00 p.m. show on a Saturday night - January 24, 1959, at The Eagles Ballroom, 302 58th St. in Kenosha, WI, with guest Debbie Stevens performing 'If You Can't Rock Me'.
The boys were 'radioactive' as their fans rushed the stage, some jumping up on the stage to sit at their feet.
The place was 'jam packed'
If you got 'em, don't smoke 'em, was the rule of the night, as the local
police and parents monitored the evening’s activities.
Ritchie Valens, J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson and Frankie Sardo mingled on stage.
The boys hung around and signed autographs and posed for a few photos …
Man, they had it 'made in the shade!'
However, there were issues.
Like which of the 12 performers were getting paid the most and how much more for each performance.
It seems the word got around on the bus about how much more Buddy was getting paid for each performance than the others. They all had a lot to think about.
If it wasn't performance money issues, it was the 'Piece of S.H.I.T. Bus.'
The boys would stretch out across the
seats. Some would lay in the overhead rack.
This was NOT a 'tour bus.' This was
really wrong of GAC and Irvin Feld Management to provide.
Again, this wasn't a 'tour bus' … it was just a piece of GAC S.H.I.T.
It was a little past midnight when The Eagles Show ended.
What a night, what a gathering.
It was a warm 16 degrees when the bus was being loaded. As everyone was settling in, you could hear the horns from the cars ... teens yelling out their car windows.
Crowds of teens were still 'cruising' The Eagles Ballroom.
The boys threw all their dirty clothing on the floor in the back of the bus … some things never change.
Next Show#3 of The Winter Dance Party Tour
395 miles and another all night drive to Mankato, MN to The Kato Ballroom with (Bill Diehl emcee.)
What a ride.
The road was two lane and extremely bumpy …
Good luck getting any rest this night.
395 miles … 22 more performances, 22 more days, 22 more locations to go.
'Flash Forward' to January 30, 1959
Show#8
The boys called a meeting in the lower level of The Laramar Ballroom. This was 'That Defining Moment' when Buddy Holly stated that he was not going to spend another minute on that damn bus. This was the initial thought to charter an airplane. That damn bus provided by GAC and Irvin Feld management was the issue. If the bus would have been an actual tour bus … clean, safe, reliable and a suitable mode of transportation, there would never have been the need for the idea to charter an airplane.
From the Screenplay to “The Winter Dance Party Tour – 1959” | 185 pages | 29,438 words)
The Introduction
The Trailer script
The Screenplay
The Ending
LJ Coon
A couple more smilers from Chuck Buell …
I Found This Rare Photo of Your Mom and Dad on Oak Street Beach listening to Forgotten Hits when they were new songs …
