A peek into the making of Blast from your Past and the Rock & Roll Radio DJs Project Plus news of the national radio industry ~ Memories & moments from the youthful years of Baby Boomers ~ News you can use from today's headlines & reliving scenes from yesteryear ~ Rants, raves and reminisces of author, LinDee Rochelle ~ Radio news ... the industry, the music, THE DJs! ~ The latest: January 21, 2012 *Photo description at end of page   BFYP ... the First Five Years (1954-1959) Now available in print and ebook; order from Amazon on signed copies here!   Rock & Roll Rhetoric, Radio Rumors & Great Gossip plus DJs' Notes & News (*Photo: Neale Blase, 1966) 01/21/12: Happy birthday, Wolfman Jack, wherever you are in Rock & Roll Heaven! Have you read Wolfman's book, Have Mercy! yet? According to longtime friend, Lonnie Napier, it's "just a fluff piece. That's not even half of what really happened." Owwww!      BFYP news ... look for a whole page of BFYP excerpts, notes and the Table of Contents coming to the site soon! 07/23/11: It's true BFYP DJ fans! We've been nominated at Dan Poynter's Global Ebook Awards 2011. Dan's ebook awards program is the first major and most prominent competition for  ebooks. If you have a moment and want to help promote our DJs, please vote today!    Do you have your very own copy to read yet? Buy today, or download a sample chapter here.    In other news today--yes, I'm still plugging along on the 25-year version. You WILL read it in your lifetime. :-) Seriously, I can't give a firm date, but striving for the summer's end. Please bear with me a little longer! And in the meantime, enjoy the moment ... again ... in the First Five Years. Have you hugged your DJ today? -- LinDee Live! From inside Blast from your Past 05/30/11: Excerpt! Enjoy ... Wolfman Jack Jack was still "Bobby Weston Smith," when his truancy angered his stepmom and triggered his forced freedom. "With an apology, Weston [dad] handed Bob $300 (a lot of money in the late Fifties) and told him it was time to go out on his own. Bob didn't hesitate. He grabbed his friend, Ritchie, shot down to the used car lot and plunked down most of his dollars on a dark green 1949 Buick convertible with a Fireball 8 under the hood."      I'm also proud to announce that "WolfWoman," Lou Lamb Smith, has agreed to my use of quotes in BFYP from Wolfman Jack's memoir, Have Mercy! Confessions of the Original Rock 'n' Roll Animal - so much appreciated. 04/13/11: The rumors are true! A BFYP ebook is now available - Blast from Your Past! Rock & Roll Radio DJs: the First Five Years 1954-1959 is on Amazon for your reading pleasure. No Kindle? No problem. Click here to download the "Kindle for PC" app or go to Amazon.com and enter query in Search. Enjoy the moment ... again ... with me! 01/06/11: "BFYP trivia alert (& prize)! Do you know that before Jay & The Americans, Sandy [Deanne] first wrote and released songs as founding member with the Harborlites in the late 1950s? And it was a friendly radio disc jockey who helped the teenage trio hit the airwaves ..."      Do you know who that might be? Send your guess here--first right answer wins a free author-autographed promo copy of BFYP's first five years (1954-1959; unedited). 01/06/11: Excerpt! Enjoy ... "Although the big box radio in the living room gave the DJs' pipes deeper timber, more often than not, we held them close to our ears and listened enraptured, via our trusty, mostly tinny, transistor radios. Quality didn't much matter--we were rockin'!" 07/17/10: Excerpt! Enjoy ... "There are many claims to what radio station, where and who, first turned us on to Rock & Roll. Ever hear of spontaneous combustion? My guess is it's something like that -- the cause will never be decided, but its effects were instant and hot.    Debates rage from coast to coast and border to border, and though I tried to find the most consistently repeated hypotheses, there are too many versions to come to a conclusion. So agree or disagree with what you read here, but I hope either way you enjoy the stories." 07/17/10: Excerpt! Enjoy ... "Speaking of radio ... 1954 was not particularly kind to the industry. That scene-stealer, television, threatened to kick radio off the stage.    Thrown into the ropes along with Marlon Brando in "On the Waterfront," radio screamed, 'You don't understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody ...'    Scrambling to salvage the industry and just in time for Holiday gifts, transistor radios hit the stores in November, 1954. Do you have an old Regency TR-1 stuck in the attic? If it's in mint shape, you may be able to sell it for a mint!" Like Brando's tortured character, Terry, radio persevered and won ... sorta." Mike Korgan (KISN, Portland, Oregon) "As a youthful ham operator, too, Mike sprawled in his room at night with his crystal set, its super-long wire antenna reaching for (here, Mike goes into his mock-deep DJ voice, dramatically emphasizing the 'double-U') 'WLS ... Chicago.'    At that young age, he decided he would not talk like the Oklahoman he was -- he mimicked the tones and vocal techniques of the northern DJs -- and got into more than one scuffle in school over his affected Yankee clip." Forrest "Frosty" Mitchell (KIOA, Des Moines, Iowa) "'Alan Freed and I, I think kicked the slats out of our cribs to Rock & Roll music.' So says 'Frosty' Mitchell. Known to his parents as Forrest, his high school football prowess led to a teen sports radio spot on a Des Moines, Iowa, radio station about 1950.    As it came time to 'grow up' Frosty considered his options. 'I looked at it (radio) and there wasn't much heavy lifting. They were playing vinyl 78s at the time but they weren't that heavy.' Decision made." Shotgun Tom Kelly (K-EARTH 101, L.A.) on his venerable DJ career, “I owe it all to mom.” In 1959, an afterschool broadcast from Oscar’s Drive-In by KOGO/San Diego radio DJ, Frank Thompson, was then-10-year-old Tom’s first brush with the microphone. Mom urged him to bike down & get an interview. Tom squeaked into the mic, “My name’s Tom.” And he was hooked! “I went home and built my own radio station.” Cousin Brucie (WINS-NY) on establishing his famous "relative" personality, c.late 1950s: "Everyone looks to visit with their cousins. They have the best toys." Jay Rose on his famous dad, Dr. Don Rose (WFIL-Philly), c. late 1960s: "I was 4 or 5 years old and playing out in front of our house, and he came driving up in the Batmobile. My dad, the super hero!" Joey Reynolds (WPOP-CT) on breaking out a band: "I'm an outsider (a Jersey boy), a street guy; so is Frankie Vallie. I broke his record out and made Sherry a hit--it was Hartford, 1963. I locked myself in the studio and played it non-stop for 4 hours ... and the record became a hit." David Darling on his "Beatle Buddy" dad, Lee Gray (WTRY-Albany NY): "It was early November 1963, and he was program director, when a record from Brian Epstein came across his desk. He knew The Beatles had something special and immediately added them to the playlist ... Epstein gave him access to The Beatles whenever he wanted ... really something for a little market like Albany." * Photo credit: Courtesy of California DJ, Neale Blase, in action in his early years, at Stockton's KJOY radio; c.1966.   Your Rockin' News 01/21/12: BFYP DJ Neil Ross enjoyed an eventful 2011 highlighted by his selected to announce Clint Eastwood at the AFI Lifetime Achievement Awards telecast! Great job, Neil!      And have you checked out BFYP's Rich Brother Robbin's oldies music site? You can be-bop all day long at your computer--have fun! 07/23/11: Old musicians don't fade into thin airwaves ... they become teachers and eventually write books! Mike Rabon, lead singer/guitarist for The Five Americans is back on the road with members of the band, AND his recently published book, High Strung, a memoir about their early days.    Mike's book is especially poignant with the news today of young Amy Winehouse's death. The excesses of fame and fortune can plunder a life--Mike knows from experience. It's a must-read for all of us fortunate enough to have survived youth in the Sixties and Seventies. 05/30/11: So like it or not, most of us are grandparents (like!). If you enjoy the little rugrats, are concerned about them, and love talkin' about 'em, you need to register at GRAND Magazine's website. In addition to all the fun stuff to read, do, and participate in, they sponsor a monthly news talk show on RadioActive Broadcasting. Have fun! 05/30/11: If you like to keep up with radio jocks on the other side of the "pond," check out the weekly BBC Radio 2 show with former US DJ, Paul Gambaccini, America's Greatest Hits - Saturdays, 8:00-10:00p.m., UK time. Very cool. (Here's a handy link, too, for World time at a glance.) 04/13/11: Have you heard of Keep Rockin' Magazine? It's an awesome Boomer online publication that's right up our rockin' alley. When you go check 'em out don't forget to sign up for the Malt Shop Memories Cruise this October - what a way to spend Halloween! 04/11/11: Do you know that today is International "Louie, Louie" Day? It's true! And you can read about Ken Chase, aka Mike Korgan, the DJ/KISN-Portland program director who produced the most popular version by The Kingsmen in BFYP! Before his "Louie" days, he thought he'd be a concert pianist ... really ... read about his early days in Blast from Your Past! Rock & Roll Radio DJs: the First Five Years (1954-59) ebook! Notice! I'm compiling a list of fun oldies radio-related websites. Click here to send me your favorite link and please tell me why. I'll personally check 'em out and when listed on this site, you'll see your name as "dedicated by"! (Whatever name you provide--real or fun! And link, if you send it.) Rock on! LR 01/06/11: San Diego DJ fans are whooping it up today! RAMP (Radio and Music Pros) reported the return of Shelly Dunn to partners Dave Rickards and Cookie "Chainsaw" Randolph in their new gig at KFMB-FM (100.7 Jack FM), after the trio's forced year hiatus--from each other.      KGB-FM was dumb enough to let them go last year, and KFMB quickly scooped up the guys--Shelly had to wait a year (darn ol' contracts, anyway). The DSC is back! 01/06/11:The DJ and announcer biz can be a series of starts and stops, ups and downs, exhilarating firsts, dizzying downfalls, and on some occasions, a welcome second chance. (You'll read about them in BFYP!)      Such was the case this week, with the poignant news burst about former DJ and voice-over announcer, Ted Williams. Quickly dubbed the "Susan Boyle of DJs" the homeless Williams is getting his second chance in life behind the mic. Best wishes to him--living up to the hype won't be easy, but if anyone can do it, a DJ can. If you've had your head stuck in the sand, the best (honest) reading I found on him is here. 01/06/11: It is with great sadness we learned not long ago that one of "my" DJs has talked his way into Rock & Roll Radio Heaven. In June, 2010, Bob Doll, founder and Editor Emeritus of the Small Market Radio Newsletter (publishing since 1983) passed through the Rock-On Gates. You can read Bob's story in the first 5 years of BFYP 1954-1959, when published. Bob was a beloved member of the national radio family, with many friends throughout. 07/17/10: So how long has it been since you checked your attic to yawn over (or yearn for) the dawn of your youth? If your pension and Social Security together just isn't quite making the grade this recession, consider the value of your once-loved, now languishing mementos of yesteryear.    A 1957 Sony TR63 transistor radio is on eBay today selling on a "Buy It Now" basis for $745! Now that would meet a nice vacation travel expense. On the other side of that gold coin, if it's time to renew your love for Rock & Roll Radio as it once was, or you're thinking about starting a nostalgia collection, check out the cute little red "Winston" transistor radio with a beginning bid of only 99 cents! It's a reflective piece of '60s nostalgia and a tobacciana collectible. American Top 40 Radio show debuted July 4, 1970, starring the distinctive pipes of Casey Kasem. Forty years later and after two separate stints by Kasem (1970-88; 1998-2004), the show is still going strong, with the next perennial teenager-host, Ryan Seacrest. But will the Top 40 mic be up for grabs again? Seacrest is making noises about leaving ... DJ job opening! Stay tuned ... A little old, but worth reporting: 09/23/09, Crains New York, by Matthew Flamm "According to a Nielsen report, the iPod generation listens to the old-fashioned medium as much as older folks ...    Nielsen is measuring listening in 51 markets, using the old handwritten diary system that Arbitron gave up, but claims that it is reaching a wider sampling of the radio audience ... According to the results released Monday, 18-to-34-year-olds listen to radio an average of 21.5 hours per week." Click for full article.    Way to debunk the myth that radio's dying, Nielsen! LR