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. 
       Said one report, “… 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 in Flint 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 talented and beloved, 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 that 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 ~ December 1975

 Music Writes the Holiday Songs   

Happy Holidays! Is this month’s title a little confusing? Do you think I’ve finally gone senile? Well, maybe, but not completely. You’ll understand when you get down to our December Song of Note. It is totally apropos to the nostalgic Holidays and how music comes from the soul. Onward …

As hinted in previous months, December’s Featured Radio Survey is another hype for Wolfman Jack.

But that’s not all you’re gonna hear from him … not only does the inimitable Wolfman end our year on a sweeping high note, he also begins our New Year! Just not at the same station or even in the same state.
       Radio DJs have always been known as musical nomads, skipping around the country, going where the money and fun lead the pack. But by this time, Wolfman had established his popular, syndicated shows and could pop up anywhere, anytime. So it isn’t surprising that we see him sashay from Portland this month, to Georgia in January.

That said, let’s take a peek at what and who you were listening to … 50 Years Ago this Month! 

º DECEMBER 1975 Radio News & Muse ♪  

What music icon was in the news and what was your fave DJ playing when you spun the dial on your transistor radio 50 Years Ago?

December 6^th: Were you there?! As The Who toured the country in The Who by Numbers Tour, they played their biggest crowd at the Pontiac Silverdome, with 75,000+ screaming fans—setting the largest indoor concert to date.  

December 14^th: While we Boomers knew of the notorious offshore pirate radio stations of the 1960s, the ‘70s brought their own adored DJ scoundrels to land, in low-powered transmitters. On this day 1975, WCPR-1620AM/Brooklyn, New York, began broadcasting … which apparently lasted for only two months, but it made the news! Want to know more about pirate radio? Click the link.

December 25^th: Oh, sure, it was Christmas Day, but in 1975 the macabre gift under the tree was one of Britain’s pioneering heavy metal bands, Iron Maiden. Steve Harris says he formed the band and likened it to the torture device in The Man in the Iron Mask (1939 movie).  

December 31^st: Speaking of the Pontiac Silverdome, it was a New Year’s Eve spectacular with the irrepressible Elvis Presley facing the largest audience of cheering fans in his career … and splitting his pants onstage. Oh, my!

Turning to our December Rockin’ Radio Stations & dapper DJs … If you were in Portland, Oregon, the #1 tune on your tinny transistor radio was Barry Manilow’s bragging rights (seemingly) in “I Write the Songs.” But St.Paul-Minneapolis, Minnesota, fans heard the cry for help in Abba’s “S-O-S.” Both winter-cool radio station surveys proclaimed their listeners’ top tunes on December 1, 1975.

Let’s start in chilly Minnesota where KDWB wowed its fans with a music chart featuring bawdy, ballsy and hilariously lusty cartoon characters, to warm them up. The Playboy magazine reference is your hint of who sponsored it. It’s quintessential 1970s right down to the salacious lyrics of “That’s the Way (I Like It),” by K.C. & The Sunshine Band. It does, however, come with a music chart mystery. 
       In my collection of vintage surveys, I have a few without printed dates. Generally, the seller had already established the date and either indicated it on the sales paperwork, or stupidly written on the vintage survey. Purchased way back in 2010, this KDWB chart is in the latter category.  

       I didn’t have any reason to doubt the handwritten December 1, 1975 date—until now. I often consult the incomparably comprehensive ARSA survey archive (not a secure site) to validate accuracy. However, even that didn’t help with KDWB. Their offering did not include the usual survey image to establish its authenticity; unverified lists were available, but none of their Top 20 hits exactly matched the KDWB survey in my collection. I give up—it’s either the November 25, 1975 issue or the December 2, 1975 issue … your guess is as good as mine!  
       I’m leaning toward the November issue, and though that puts it in last month, I’m still including it here, ‘cause it’s such a fun survey. And our best BFYP DJ emeritus, Bill Gardner, sat behind their mic in December 1973! LOVE this Holiday pic from that year, of the station employees …

From radio survey mystery to Radio DJ mastery, we’re now in Portland, Oregon, listening to the pioneering DJ to whom my Blast From Your Past books are dedicated, Wolfman Jack!  

       Portland/Vancouver Radio fans were jacking up their Saturday nights from 10:00p to 1:00a, listening to Wolfman Jack on KISN. “When my syndication activity was at its peak, and I was on the armed Forces Network, I was on some 1,400 radio stations worldwide. That included Vietnam, of course.” Wolfman was humbled by the stories returning Vets told him. “By doing my thing in a Hollywood studio, I was helping them keep it together. And they made it out the other end of a pretty hellish experience.” (Quotes from Wolfman Jack’s Have Mercy! Confessions of the Original Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal.)
       KISN may be in what many might call the po-dunk of the Pacific Northwest, but it’s mostly been a die-hard, original Top 40 Rock & Roll station since 1959! Many top-ranking Radio DJs sat behind their mics, including "The Real" Don Steele. So they’re OK in our book! However, the FCC wasn’t as enamored of Star Stations, its parent company. It wasn’t long before they were unceremoniously given the boot off broadcasting for shenanigans stemming from WIFE/Indianapolis IN. They endure today, though in a lowkey way.  

But no self-respecting end-of-year Oldies Radio article would be complete without a couple of top tune Year End Surveys!

Powerhouse station WABC/New York MusicRadio 77 gave its listeners a huge Top 100 Hit List roundup of the year, with a cool cover graphic. WIND/Chicago was no slouch either, with their Top 56 tunes and awesome pics of their ten dynamic DJs. You’ll find these charts at the bottom of the Featured Radio Survey page.

♪ December 1975 Song of Note ♪

Heartfelt music is a running theme through the Holidays, so our December Song of Note gives music its due. You may think you know what Barry Manilow’s #1 tune, “I Write the Songs” is about … but you don’t, if you think he’s just bragging.
       Written by Beach Boys member, Bruce Johnston, as quoted from SongFacts.com, “I wrote it about 'where music comes from' (for me, music comes only from God).” Manilow had his reservations about recording it, and rightly so—many fans always thought he was being egotistical. But he simply agreed with Johnston … music is … My home lies deep within you | And I've got my own place in your soul …   

♪ December 2025 Music Events & More ♪    

Saturday/Sunday ~ December 13^th-14^th: I generally report only Rock & Roll events here, and though this is about a song-and-dance man, what makes Dick Van Dyke* (b.12/13/1925) specific to BFYP is he also began as a Rock Radio DJ at the tender age of sixteen in Danville, Illinois, ohhhhhhh so many years ago. And this weekend is special, as his documentary, “Dick Van Dyke: 100^th Celebration” is released in theatres on his 100^th birthday. *Mr. Van Dyke shares pre-documentary tales On Turning 100 with the Today show (November 2025). Go. Enjoy history in the making. 

Saturday ~ December 20^th: It’s always frustrating when a perfectly fun day to celebrate has lost its sponsor. But never fear, this Go Caroling Day link will tell you all about how a beloved Holiday tradition became part of our lives, around the 13^th century.
       For our purposes, I’ve listed the Top Ten (in my humble opinion) Rock & Roll versions of vintage and classic Christmas songs in alphabetical order … why not add them to your Christmas Caroling Day playlist and spread some upbeat cheer?    

Blue Christmas / Elvis Presley (1968)
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) / Darlene Love 1963; this version 1986
Frosty the Snowman / The Ronettes (1963)
Jingle Bell Rock / Bobby Helms (1957; great b&w version on Dick Clark show)
Little Saint Nick / The Beach Boys (1963)
Please Come Home for Christmas / The Eagles (1978)
Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree / Brenda Lee (1958)
Run Rudolph Run / Chuck Berry (1958)
Santa Baby / Eartha Kitt (1953)
Silent Night / The Temptations (1970?) 

Thursday ~ December 25^th: Of course, it’s Christmas Day! I hope you Rock around the Christmas tree and if you don’t have a tree, just Rock On!  

Wednesday ~ December 31^st: Have you been waiting all month for a festive New Years Eve? It’s here! Enjoy, be safe and face 2026 with a Rockin’ melody in your heart. See ya next year!

♪♪ BFYP Featured Radio Survey ♪♪   
DECEMBER 1, 1975 ~ KISN/Portland, Oregon, is your Holiday Rockin’ Radio Station! Can’t go wrong with Wolfman Jack on the cover, tellin’ ya, he’ll Rock your Saturday nights. Memories are marvelous, and I expect there are more than a few who once called Portland home and remember Action Alley clothing store with their “Kicky Clothes for Gals.” I hear it was once on the South Fred Meyer corner … 50 Years Ago this Month in Rock & Roll Radio! Where were you that groovy day when your radio played … 

Nostalgia and Rock Radio History all wrapped up with a bow, make great gifts! Don’t forget to check out Blast from Your Past books! All about the pioneering Rock Radio DJs of yesteryear. 1950-1959 Rock Radio DJs: The First Five Years (eBook only) and The Swinging Sixties (eBook & print). True tales of music and mayhem from behind the mic!

Rock DECEMBER 1975 and … Reflect, Rejuvenate, Rejoice & Rock On!  

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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