Blast from Your Past - Surveys & Treats!
1954 ~ 1959, the First Five Years

Note, 05/14/11: The no-frills, pre-print EBOOK version of BFYP - The First Five Years, is available on Amazon.com now! Although I hope you enjoy my entertaining tales of vintage terrestrial radio in this early Rock & Roll teaser, there will be even more fun as we journey through the next 25 years in the Blast from Your Past!  print version, available soon.

We were (and are) a visual generation -- remember how much we "saw" inside our minds in the '70s? (Heehee.) Since ebooks are small and not yet to the visual technology to accommodate books laden with images, here, you will find some colorful stuff that I wanted to include in the digital version, but couldn't. Reminisce - have fun! And remember, the print version will have it all, plus another 25 years! (And if I can figure out how to size these to make them more legible, I will--dang it.)


WIBG / Philadelphia: November 15-21, 1958
To take advantage of the waves you have to first know which way the wind is blowing them. FM-rebel Tom Donahue learned the rules before he broke them.
DJs (top/bottom, l-r): Bill Wright, Tom Donahue, Joe Niagara, Hy Lit, Harold B. Robinson, Doug Arthur.




Top 3 of their Top 99 Records of the Week:
1. It's only Make Believe - Conway Twitty
2. Tom Dooley - Kingston Trio (a family road-trip sing-along favorite)
3. Topsy II (Part 2) - Cozy Cole


WIBG / Philadelphia: December 28, 1959 - January 3, 1960
No pics, but listed DJs: Bill Wright, Tom Donahue, Bob Mitchell, Harvey Miller.



Top 3 songs of their Top 99 Records of the Week:
1. Why - Frankie Avalon
2. The Big Hurt - Toni Fisher
3. Way Down Yonder - Freddie Cannon

In the 1950s Humble Touring Service (Houston, TX) graciously provided travelers with a list of radio stations (10,000 watts and over) across the country, for your listening pleasure. A few large and small markets included: WVOK/Birmingham, AL; KGO/San Francisco; KGEM/Boise, ID; KTBS/Shreveport, LA; WINS/New York City; KWJJ/Portland, OR; WIBG/Philadelphia. PA; KTRH/Houston, TX; KING/Seattle, WA; and WKOW/Madison, WI. Keep on truckin'!




WMCA / New York: August 9, 1957
"570kc - First on your dial!"
Includes future DJ great, "Murray the K" Kaufman before his big break at WINS.
DJs (top/bottom, l-r): Gallagher & O'Brien, Bob Callan, Ernie Stone, Bert Knapp, Alun (sic) Williams, Dave Leeds, Murray Kaufman, Ed Welch.