Rock Radio 50 Years Ago ♪ ~ MARCH 1976

Wearin’ the Green & Rockin’ Out to Golden Oldies!  

Have you ever wished you could go back to where you started from, oh, so many years ago?  

With that provocative query, let’s just say that I managed to finish the text of our March article, but the images will take a tad longer. In the meantime, use your imagination, your memories, or make something up! Rock Radio History, though, is the important part, right? Enjoy … 

As I was cruising down Memory Lane, it was a perplexing toss-up to choose March’s Featured Radio Survey! Originally, I wanted to go with WHYI/Ft.Lauderdale, Florida, because it’s the only music chart I have for that station, and a fun one!  

But when I saw KERN/Bakersfield, California’s, survey with a “Junk Food” crossword puzzle we can all have fun with, I had to go with the Middle Earth in California. That’s what we Bay Area brats called Bakersfield, Fresno, Stockton, Sacramento and all the farm towns of Cally’s Central Valley.
       That isn’t all for this month though. We have another WTAC/Flint, Michigan, music chart for March, right on the heels of February’s WTAC Featured Radio Survey posting.
       Busy month with three vintage Rock Radio surveys! So let’s have some Rockin’ fun … 50 Years Ago this Month …   

º MARCH 1976 Radio News & Muse ♪ 

What was your fave DJ playing when you turned on your tinny transistor radio 50 Years Ago? Our radio stations were the center of our musical world. What we heard and loved on the air, is what we bought to slap on the ol’ turntable, to keep our world spinning.
       Wanna know a secret? Vinyl record sales, both new and vintage records, have been climbing again, to its highest in two decades! Vinyl Sales Rose For The 19th Consecutive Year in 2025, screams the headline in the Cue Burn newsletter article on Vinyl Alliance’s Substack, February 26, 2026. Who’d a-thunk it back in the day when Pop, Rock, Heavy Metal and Disco were still evolving?! 
       Let’s enjoy the memories of what and who you were listening to … 50 Years Ago this Month! 

March 7^th: To you, it may have been an average day 50 Years Ago (or not even born yet!), but to Elton John, it isn’t every day one is immortalized in wax. Especially at London’s famed Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. Although the Beatles beat him to the honor of being the first Rock-themed display, in 1964 (says SuperSeventies), there hadn’t been another until the Rocket Man zoomed in. Now he has several and the latest in 2024 is downright supersonic … or so I hear. Never had the pleasure.  

March 9^th: Unfortunately for Keith Moon of The Who, this date in 1976 was not his finest hour. But then, by this time, he’d been destroying his finest hours for about ten years. Unable to continue after only two songs, he caused their Boston Garden appearance to be rescheduled for the next night. It didn’t help … the whole US tour was ultimately delayed after he demolished his hotel room and landed himself in the hospital. Sadly, Moon battled alcoholism to the point of self-destruction. “… notorious as ‘Moon The Loon’, [he was] the incorrigible clown who respected no authority whatsoever and never knew the meaning of the word embarrassment.” After more tries and fails, Keith Moon died in September 1978, in the same London flat where the Mamas & Papas’ Cass Elliot died, both at the age of 32.  

March 20^th: It was today in 1976, that “Rhiannon,” a tune written and sung by Stevie Nicks and released with Fleetwood Mac in February, hopped on the KERN/Bakersfield, California, chart on its way up to the Top Ten. Of our three featured music charts for March, only KERN already saw its potential. DYK moments … It’s reported (unsubstantiated) that Stevie was a hit hostess at a Bob’s Big Boy hamburger joint before her phenomenal singer-songwriter achievements! Part of her success no doubt came from an active imagination. Reportedly, she read about Rhiannon, a dynamic figure in Welsh mythology, and became enamored of her. In the song, “Rhiannon,” was she revealing something about herself as well? ♪ …  She rings like a bell through the night | And wouldn't you love to love her? | She rules her life like a bird in flight | And who will be her lover? …  ♪   

March 26^th: Love the title of the new album Wings released on this day … Wings at the Speed of Sound. It does rather boost the ethereal image, doesn’t it? All set to promote the album in McCartney’s first US tour in a decade, they were delayed after the final show in Paris. Guitarist, Jimmy McCulloch, broke a finger slip-sliding on his hotel bathroom floor. Kind of a bad whoopsie!    

March 29^th: Reminiscing over the past brought a certified gold honor to the Four Seasons’ first #1 hit since 1964. Appropriately titled, "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)," it deserved the distinction, still riding high on Radio charts. The tune jumped four spots from the week before to #4 at KERN/Bakersfield, while earlier in the month, Ft. Lauderdale’s WHYI listeners set it at #3, and it hit #2 at WTAC/Flint, Michigan.  

Speaking of WTAC, were you there when DJ Peter C. Cavanaugh was best buds with The Who and flaunted The Who by Numbers album, to the delight of their listeners? WTAC ran a coveted contest for “The Who and San Francisco too!!!” trip featured in their March 12, 1976, Radio survey. The caricature style is quintessential 1970s’ art. “Squeeze Box” from the album was a hit on both WHYI & WTAC music charts this month. “The Big 600” made their mark on Pop & Rock until early 1980s when you could still hear Stevie Nicks, if you liked WTAC’s switch to Country. (Think her ’82 hit, “Leather and Lace.”)  

Next, let’s cruise the ol’ surf bus from Michigan all the way down to South Florida, as we peek into the studio at WHYI-FM/Ft. Lauderdale. Who was your fave DJ while tanning on the beach? If you didn’t have a job, it was likely Bill Tanner (1945-2021), who liked to tease listeners with, “Get up and get off with Tanner in the Morning.” The longtime area DJ helped homegrown artists like KC and the Sunshine Band (on the March charts with “Queen of Clubs”) and loved his listeners. Bill honed his relatable and knowledgeable broadcast skills from the start, at thirteen years old; and before he even arrived in Florida, was recognized as an innovative format developer.
       Y-100’s March 20, 1976 “official music sheet #95” flaunted its artistic prowess for listeners as they dove headlong into Disco, keeping “Disco Lady” by “Johnny” (Johnnie) Taylor at #1 for a second week. 

Hoping the exhaust-chugging bus will hold together, we trek cross-country, from the right coast to the left coast, stopping in the rural countryside of middle California. What’s so great about KERN/Bakersfield that it’s this month’s Featured Radio Survey? The March 20, 1976, music chart boasts more great artwork and a Junkfood Crossword Puzzle! Just too good to past up! DJ Mark Thomas invites you to solve the puzzle—and so do I! Print it and have fun wallowing in nostalgia as you munch on some junk food. Trust me, you’ll want to by the time you solve it!
       “Mark Thomas” may be a case of Radio’s annoying DJ aliases habit. I couldn’t find the name in research, not as a DJ in general, or specific to KERN, so let me know if you know his story!  

♪ March 1976 Song of Note ♪  

Sometimes when you have an urge to write, it doesn’t matter where you are, but who you’re thinking about could be of utmost importance and just won’t wait. Write it now! Even if it’s on the way to the hospital to be with your wife when your daughter’s born!
       That’s how we came to know Pierre Tubbs and J. Vincent Edwards’ poignant hit (recorded by Maxine Nightingale), “Right Back Where We Started From,” this month’s Song of Note and #7 on KERN’s featured survey. History says the title was created a long while before the lyrics were penned. But inspiration for the song in totality struck in less than ten minutes while the duo raced to the hospital for Pierre’s family. Can’t you just imagine how the urgency of the moment—and reports hinting at wedded bliss distress—may have prompted Pierre’s creativity.
       Talk about dedicated to work—a rough demo was cut the very next day. ♪ … Love is good, love can be strong | We gotta get it right back to where we started from … ♪   

♪ March 2026 Music Events & More ♪    
The music world—and indeed, all of us who love music—is still talking about Neil Sedaka (1939-2026), who passed away on February 27, 2026. As a child, Sedaka asked his mother to buy him a piano and at nine years old, began serious classical piano training at the Julliard School. The rest of his life was dedicated to music and performing. Do you remember, “Breaking Up is Hard To Do”? It’s #14 on WHYI/
Ft. Lauderdale’s March 20, 1976 Radio survey. ♪ … Don't take your love away from me | Don't you leave my heart in misery | If you go then I'll be blue | Cause breaking up is hard to do …  ♪     

March 29^th: Speaking of the piano, where would we be without it?! Celebrating the instrument so many musicians begin their love of music with, it’s World Piano Day! Imagine Rock & Roll without the Killer, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Rocket Man, Elton John, or the Piano Man, Billy Joel. Nevermind, I don’t even want to think about it. PianoDay.org has the scoop on today’s celebrating, which “… takes place on the 88th day of the year because of the number of keys on the instrument being celebrated.” Go before today and learn how you can join the celebration. In the meantime, listen to a hit piano tune still lingering on this month’s Top 30 charts, “I Write the Songs,” by Barry Manilow.  

♪♪ BFYP Featured Radio Survey ♪♪

MARCH 20, 1976 ~ KERN/Bakersfield, California … I’ve written about KERN DJ Russ Gerber in past articles, so this month, it’s a focus on its connection with listeners. Radio stations had more gimmicks than we can count. Concerts, contests, and crossword puzzles! Problem is, not all 1976 music charts survived the years, and I’ve not been able to locate the one for the week after our featured KERN survey, to retrieve answers to the March 20^th puzzle! Hopefully, I’ll figure it out. If you do, let me know! (Larger size available on FRS page.) While we work on it, give a listen to your fave songs from … 50 Years Ago this Month in Rock & Roll Radio! Where were you that groovy day when your radio played … 

Rock MARCH 1976 and … Rockin’ the Pot of Golden Oldies!  

BFYP Book 1 (1954-1959) on Amazon         
BFYP Book 2 (Swinging ‘60s) on Amazon 
Blast from Your Past Gifts 
Share your Golden Oldies R&R fun on X: @BlastFromPastBk 

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LinDee Rochelle is a writer and editor by trade, and author by way of Rock & Roll. Two books (of three planned) are published in her Blast from Your Past^TM series, available on Amazon: Book 1 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The First Five Years 1954-1959^TM (eBook only; coming soon in updated print edition) and Book 2 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The Swinging Sixties^TM (eBook & print). Coming soon-ish … Book 3 – The Psychedelic Seventies!^TM 

Note: FYI – All links in the BFYP site are personally visited, verified, and vetted. Most are linked to commonly accessed sites of reputable note. Occasionally, since I often feature real people and/or singular sources there may be an unsecured link. As with everything cyber-security, use at your own discretion and risk. This site is wholly owned by LinDee Rochelle & sponsored by PenchantForPenning.com^TM. No compensation is received for any mentions of businesses, products, or other commercial interests. *All holiday and special event days are found at Brownielocks.com’s calendar site. Enjoy! 
            RE: AI – The Blast from Your Past site has never and will never (knowingly) be written or assisted, by Artificial Intelligence. It’s just stupid ol’ “I” and I enjoy writing these articles. They soothe my soul. So why would I hand that indulgence over to an artificial, soulless entity that can’t feel pleasure?!

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Rock Radio 50 Years Ago ♪ ~ FEBRUARY 1976

Rock & Roll Lives for Love!  

Whether we are “in” Love or not, there is no dodging this month made for Love. And apparently, Love music stretches back to the oldest of “Oldies” tunes. Says a 2024 article from The Harvard Crimson, “In fact, the oldest known love song is that of Shu-Sin, which was discovered in the library of Ashurbanipal in Mesopotamia and dates back to 2000 BCE.”   

BFYP’s 1970s Oldies, contrary to what some younger generations may think, are as enduring and endearing, so we’re giving love a capital “L” all month. In our  February Featured Radio Survey, there are no less than a dozen Love-themed songs in the Top 30, and half of those tout the word “Love” in their titles. So, Rock & Roll fans, you can’t escape the LOVE we feel for our top Oldies tunes … 50 Years Ago this Month …  

FEBRUARY 1976 Radio News & Muse ♪ 

What was your fave DJ playing when you turned on your tinny transistor radio 50 Years Ago? What top artists of the day make the news? Read on and enjoy the memories of what and who you were listening to … 50 Years Ago this Month!  

February 7^th: So, remember in December 2025 when I told you about the Brooklyn, New York, pirate radio station WCPR that snuck onto the airwaves? It was a brief escapade—and it was today in 1976 that the FCC raided the station and shut them down. Never fear, the operators, John Calabro and Perry Cavalieri were persistent, if not legal. It didn’t take ‘em long to find another, more elusive wayward station, in WFAT … and when that was raided in 1979 … WFOT. All were short-lived, but talk about tenacious!  

February 20^th: Stomped in Love! On this date 50 Years Ago, Kiss added their big ol’ bootprints to the sidewalk outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. They didn’t have anything on the charts this month, but hit the bottom of Radio lists by end of March with “Shout It Out Loud” to become Kiss’s second song to break the Top 40. Think it isn’t about Love? Au contraire mon chéri, Kiss made self-Love a thing with this tune!  ♪ … It doesn't matter what you do or say | Just forget the things that you've been told | We can't do it any other way | Everybody's got to rock and roll, whoo, oh, oh … ♪  

February 28^th: And what, pray tell, was Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards this day in 1976? Of course: “Love Will Keep Us Together." Although co-writers, Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield thought it would be a hit for them in 1973, as did brother/sister team, Mac and Katie Kissoon, it was another duo, Captain & Tennille (Daryl Dragon & Toni Tennille) who found the groove with it. The tune gave them their first of many #1 hits. Though ultimately divorced, Ms. Tennille was by the Captain’s side when he passed in 2019. Love, did indeed, keep them together.

Although I don’t have an original February 1976 music survey in my BFYP Collection, I found a couple of fun ones at ARSA (not a secure site). From music artists to the Radio stations who played their hits and misses, where were you spinning the dial 50 Years Ago?  

Were you flyin' high in Love or the sky, in mile-high Denver, Colorado? KTLK (not a secure site at ARSA) had recently surpassed popular KIMN in ratings and DJ John Edwards loved taking you to new heights in KTLK’s 10p.m. to 2a.m. slot. Believe it or not, in 1969 when KTLN changed its call letters to K-TALK / KTLK, they thought engaging the local teens in chit-chat and music would be fun and innovative. Not in the ‘70s! Just the music, please …
       Listeners loved the music, not so much the talk. With a new top tunes format, KTLK eventually surpassed then-dominant Top 40 station KIMN, especially when KTLK took on the Disco format of the late 1970s. “Denver’s Double K-1280” published a full Top 40 for its listeners—and nevermind that their two Ks were not doubled together.  

Let’s shiver our way over to the Northeast for our Featured Radio Survey, WTAC (ARSA survey, not a secure site) in Flint, Michigan. I had to laugh when I noticed one of their

Hit Bound tunes, “Deep Purple” by “The Lovely Donny & Marie Osmond.” Someone at the station was obviously enamored of them (or at least, Marie)! And with good reason. “Deep Purple” ultimately became the 42^nd-biggest hit of 1976 in the U.S.

       DJ Peter Cavanaugh (1941-2021) was just getting started behind the mic and made a name for himself by striking up friendships with AC/DC (Australia) and The Who (England), premiering them in the U.S. They were connections that followed him as he moved up the Radio ladder, to serve in management, even though he’d scored a BA in political science … let’s face it, Radio is more fun!
       WTAC thrived throughout the decade as "The Big 600." That lasted 'til 1981 when Top 40s petered out and it flipped to Country. 

Having some fun with research, I found that in the first month, (January) 2026, there may have been current songs about Love, but you can’t tell from their titles. Not a one with Love in the title … kinda sad, don’t you think? Since Love dominates our lives in mates, family and friends, check out the two tantalizing Love tunes below, for your February 1976 musical memories …  

♪ February 1976 Song of Note ♪  
Wow. Every year in the 1970s gets more and more difficult to choose a Song of Note—there are so many iconic classics in every Top 20! This month, from “Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover” (Paul Simon) at #1 on our Featured Radio Survey, to “Theme From S.W.A.T.” (Rhythm Heritage) rounding out the top 20 (of 30) tunes, it was a daunting jaunt through time.
       I try to take into account the general mood of the month, so Valentine Y Love rules February, and I finally settled on two, absolute opposites … from the pain of love in Nazareth’s “Love Hurts,” sitting at #5 on the chart, to the Miracles exclaiming love’s exuberant joy in “Love Machine,” at #6, we’ve got ya covered.

       Scottish band, Nazareth, struck a painful chord with “Love Hurts” that resonated with so many, and still does! By far, theirs is the most popular version of the song, originally recorded by The Everly Brothers in 1960 and covered by others before Nazareth gave it a hard Rock vibe. From the lead singer to the lead guitarist, you can feel their pain. ♪ … Love is like a flame | It burns you when it's hot | Love hurts...... ooh, ooh love hurts … Oh, yes, sometimes it does … 
       On the other end of the Love spectrum, however, following right on its heels on the WTAC music chart, “Love Machine,” by the Miracles, expressed the other side of Love—pure joy! And I gotta say, my pure joy came when I pulled up the YouTube video and found the Miracles dominating the stage flaunting extravagant, 1970s Disco style, in matching “Pepto Bismal”-pink suits!
       Our resident DJ Extraordinaire, Bill Gardner, shared this tidbit, “Made me think of my KOOL [Phoenix] interview with Bobby Rogers of the Miracles. Among the cool things he told me was he's [the] voice behind ‘woo hoo hoo hoooooo yeah’ on ‘Love Machine.’ In that video in the Pepto pinks you mentioned, Bobby's the tall guy with the glasses. Many times that video is [played] back to back with their killer song "Do It," as well.” As we’ve said many times, the 1970s were all about Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll!  
       Oh, the memories! ♪ … I'm just a love machine | And I won't work for nobody but you | A hugging kissing fiend … ♪   

♪ February 2026 Music Events & More ♪    
Miscellaneous news and notes of music and Radio today …  

February 13^th: I generally regale World Radio Day as a terrific, global way to thank our Radio broadcasters for all the pleasure they have brought their listeners, in so many areas of our lives. 
       While I applaud the sponsor of this day (UNESCO) and have for years, I was disappointed to find their site prominently displaying a message for the broad use of AI in Radio—and beyond.
       Directly below this line on their site, “It is a Day to thank broadcasters for the news they deliver, the voices they amplify and the stories they share,” comes THIS: “Today Artificial Intelligence (AI) opens a new chapter: not just for innovation but for deepening their bond with listeners.”

       Granted, they follow it with the admonition of, “When used ethically and responsibly to support professional judgement, creativity and public service values …” and “AI is a tool, not a voice.” And therein lies the problem. Just like any “tool” with the potential to do harm, it depends on who’s holding it.
       I’m absolutely, more than a bit biased—not only as an “old school” Radio fan—but as a writer and author battling AI’s hijacking of creative works—I cannot condone UNESCO’s stance. AI has been unleashed on us without the moral boundaries that should have been required to monitor and police its use. Now, like the latest provocative, addictive drug, it’s too late to stop.
       I’ll be the first to admit I have not performed in-depth research into the extensive pros and cons of its use—and though it has its benign uses to make some aspects of life easier—it still feels like the rape of all human creativity. I have and will continue for the foreseeable future, refrain from using even the most basic AI in my writings. I have a mind—I know things—and while the research I must do to augment, is now AI-powered, it is not by my choice. It is already holding us against our will.  

February 14t^th: Today as in yesteryear, Valentine's Day naturally comes with Love and music ... okay, and with chocolate and flowers. But especially if your diet doesn't allow sweets and you're allergic to flora, there’s always romance in silly little Love Songs. What were some of those dozen or so amorous—and I use the term loosely, as we were very superficial—“Love” songs in the vintage February 1976 Top 30? “Sweet Thing” (Rufus), “Love Rollercoaster” (Ohio Players & still on the charts from January) and since it’s the ‘70s, “You Sexy Thing” by Hot Chocolate, of course! ♪ … I believe in miracles | Where you from, you sexy thing? … ♪    

February 27^th: Turn up the nostalgia volume, it’s National Retro Day! Although we’d like to think this day was created just for Boomers, especially our stylin’ music and hip Disco dance moves, according to the sponsor’s Facebook page, it doesn’t matter what generation you’re in … or which decade or two from which your fondest reminiscences burst forth. The point is to enjoy the memories …

♪♪BFYPFeatured Radio Survey♪♪  
February 13, 1976 ~ WTAC/Flint, Michigan … Imagine that—a Rock Radio DJ with a sense of humor—said with tongue-in-cheek, of course. DJ Peter Cavanaugh graces “The Big 6 Music Guide” cover … as a cute little chimp with a kiss-this face for Valentine’s Day! Irresistible. See what else is special about this survey … 50 Years Ago this Month in Rock & Roll Radio! Where were you that groovy day when your Radio played … 

Rock February 1976 and … Let’s Rock the Love!  

BFYP Book 1 (1954-1959) on Amazon         
BFYP Book 2 (Swinging ‘60s) on Amazon 
Blast from Your Past Gifts 
Share your Golden Oldies R&R fun on X: @BlastFromPastBk 

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ 

LinDee Rochelle is a writer and editor by trade, and author by way of Rock & Roll. Two books (of three planned) are published in her Blast from Your Past^TM series, available on Amazon: Book 1 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The First Five Years 1954-1959^TM (eBook only; coming soon in updated print edition) and Book 2 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The Swinging Sixties^TM (eBook & print). Coming soon-ish … Book 3 – The Psychedelic Seventies!^TM 

Note: FYI – All links in the BFYP site are personally visited, verified, and vetted. Most are linked to commonly accessed sites of reputable note. Occasionally, since I often feature real people and/or singular sources there may be an unsecured link. As with everything cyber-security, use at your own discretion and risk. This site is wholly owned by LinDee Rochelle & sponsored by PenchantForPenning.com^TM. No compensation is received for any mentions of businesses, products, or other commercial interests. *All holiday and special event days are found at Brownielocks.com’s calendar site. Enjoy! 
            RE: AI – The Blast from Your Past site has never and will never (knowingly) be written or assisted, by Artificial Intelligence. It’s just stupid ol’ “I” and I enjoy writing these articles. They soothe my soul. So why would I hand that indulgence over to an artificial, soulless entity that can’t feel pleasure?!

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