50 Years Ago this Month – A to WXYZ

Fast Talkin’ Slow Walkin’ DJ Dude … It was June 1966 ...

WXYZ/Detroit – was BFYP DJ Joey Reynolds ahead of his time? This guy can TALK and that he did – fast – while grabbing records for the turntable and slapping down The Temptations’ “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg.”

 

WXYZ was too proud to give up the music biz through the highs and lows of the charts, but finally opened the conversation for a talk format in 1984.

Back in 1966 the top 40 station followed the Rock & Roll crowd, beat for formatted beat. Think Joey looks bored in his jock picture on WXYZ’s music chart? He was.

My 2008 interview with Joey pinpointed when stringent station formatting became unbearable. “I quit [radio] — in 1967-68. I didn’t want any more of it, I hated it. I wasn’t going to be playing something that someone thought the audience wanted.” And there you have it! [Joey’s story and more in BFYP-Book 2, The Swinging Sixties, coming this fall.] Ah, but did he stay retired ... ?

Rock Radio JULY 1970 Heck Yeah I Remember!

From Tinny Transistor to YouTube! My Treat … 

While we continue to struggle with the literal and figurative ailments of the day, it’s so important to enjoy a little brightness. With a special treat this month for classic radio fans, I hope you find your bright spot of pleasure, here.

As usual, we start with memorable people and music of July 1970. But it’s who is On Your Tinny Transistor Radio that brings you news of two pioneering Rock & Roll DJs glowing in 5,000 watt glory, even after 50 years. Let’s not waste another second …

50 Years Ago this Month ~ JULY 1970 

July 1^st: Anniversary of Wolfman Jack's death (1995). The innovative, quintessential DJ needs no major introduction here, but should be noted as the disc jockey to whom the BFYP series is dedicated. Celebrating birth days rather than deaths have always been my criteria for tributes to those who have gone before us. Look for Wolfman’s homage again in January 2021! Aoooooww!

July 11^th: Casey Kasem launches “American Top 40” for national syndication. What quickly became a radio format staple has never really gone away. Mixing artist bio info and trivia with music, he co-founded ATF with fellow DJ Don Bustany. 

July 24^th: Cousins Day! There is no link in my source associated with the day, so we’ll claim it for a Blast from Your Past featured DJ, Cousin Brucie! He is still “everybody’s favorite cousin.”

Music-wise, Eric Burdon & War tells us to “Spill the Wine” at #4 in this month’s KYNO/Fresno, California, Featured Radio Survey! That was okay when we were drinking Riunite or Blue Nun. (And we won’t even mention Boones Farm!) ♪ … and take that pearl … ♪

Hopefully, we’ve evolved to a smooth Cabernet Sauvignon that we definitely don’t want to spill. Pour yourself a glass, lean back, and reminisce … besides reincarnated Burdon sans Animals, what was playing …

On Your Tinny Transistor Radio ~ JULY 1970 (radio/music & DJs)                  
In addition to the music, we’re all about DJs at BFYP. Who was cueing up “Spill the Wine” for your radio pleasure? Boy, do I have a treat for you!

Any 1970s Philly radio fans here? Two of broadcasting’s most popular behind-the-mic dudes got together recently for a “virtual” fun feast of memories (and probably a little libation, too). 

Smooth talker, Bill Gardner, joined shock jocker, Joey Reynolds, in Joey’s “Hangout” on YouTube. Bill and I correspond often, as he graciously wrote the forward for my Blast from Your Past book series. He mentioned hanging out with Joey recently, and I jumped on the chance to ask a poignant question for this month’s 50 Years Ago blog …

He replied, “Do I remember where I was in July 1970? Heck yeah! Midday guy on WIBG/Philadelphia. Joey Reynolds hadn't joined us yet...it would be a few more months.” 

Bill became a legend in his hometown of Philly, spreading his good cheer across the nation to San Diego, Phoenix, and beyond. He’s proud that younger brothers, Al and Andre followed in his DJ footsteps.

Meanwhile, Joey’s legendary status behind the mic came with gigs that included Detroit, Cleveland, Hartford, and his beloved New York.

Rarely did Bill and Joey’s paths meet in radio, but when they did, it was memorable! At one time, WIBBAGE (as WIBG was affectionately known) was home to both Rockin’ jocks. Can you imagine?!

Bill is our self-deprecating darling of radio … he told Joey up front, “You may be able to do three minutes here” … they went on about radio life (& life in general) for more than half-hour, ending with a Bill Gardner and Little Richard interview replay from 2005.

Of course, Joey knows better, exclaiming with obvious respect for Bill, “How many disc jockeys in the world became airline pilots, commercially?” Tame, coming from Joey, but mid-interview when recalling original meanings behind radio station call letters, look out! Joey has honed his shock-jock skills. (And please keep in mind this was recorded in the middle of COVID-19 drama, but just before the recent civil unrest.)

You won’t want to miss their raucous and randy reminiscing about life as a Rock & Roll Radio DJ in the 1970s! 

Take a break from your daily grind (it gets that way even working at home, doesn’t it?) and watch Bill Gardner and Joey Reynolds. Trust me, you’ll smile … a lot.

Featured Radio Survey
Though it wasn’t easy to learn, apparently the dairy industry launched ad campaigns in 1969 to beef up their milk sales. (Pun intended!) KYNO/Fresno, California, gave ‘em the back cover and splashed a hunky male lifeguard on its July 15, 1970 survey. Oh, yeah, and it had songs listed too … 50 Years Ago this Month in Rock & Roll Radio! Where were you that groovy day when your radio played …

Celebrate JULY 1970 and … Rock On!  

Blast from Your Past Gifts

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

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, there may be an unsecured link. As with everything cyber-security, use at your own discretion and risk.

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Rock Radio 50 Years Ago ~ JANUARY 1975

Rockin’ the New Year in a Sky Full of Diamonds  

I wish! But like many lyricists, we can take poetic license and turn the night-sky stars into sparkling diamonds to begin 2025 with musical magic.

Welcome to another 50 Years Ago this Month series behind the mic, with Rock Radio DJs and the music they helped make great in “the good ol’ days”! Hopefully, you’ll forgive me for being late with this article—again. After all, it’s tough to concentrate on writing when everyone around is partying! But before we get into it, a word from our sponsor … well, from me …

This is your official “AI” notice for the New Year: 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?!

That said, let’s Rock On, into 1975 … 50 Years Ago this Month … 

º JANUARY 1975 Radio News & Muse ♪ 

While Watergate convictions rolled on and Wheel of Fortune debuted on NBC, January 1975 music began to shift toward the right with more Heavy Metal music. We watched the left bounce around to Disco coming up to its peak, and Pop music kept us middlin’ around in relative sanity.

We’re still relaxing in Hawai’i with the January KPOI radio survey, after December’s Holiday frenzy, and find that not much has yet changed in the Top Ten. Even Wolfman Jack is again on the cover! This time in festive spirits to Rock you into the New Year …

January 1: Pioneering Rock Radio DJ, Joey Reynolds, is one of the most recognized East Coast personalities in the biz. He is also one of the most controversial, who, at WKBW/Buffalo, New York, famously rejected the idea of sponsoring The Beatles in their first US concert (1964), the night after their famed Ed Sullivan Show debut. But on this day in 1975, KQV/Pittsburgh hired Joey as program director.

       Um, that didn’t go so well either. He apparently dumped the Top 40 format to broadcast a skewed mix of jumbled music played by irreverent DJs, with inane advertising jingles sprinkled between DJ stunts. Not unexpectedly, Joey was fired by May and later in the year, KQV gave up music altogether, switching to 24-hour news. As we well know, though, Joey is a resilient kinda guy and truly a much-admired broadcaster. You can read a brief story of his 1960s rise behind the mic, in Blast from Your Past’s Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The Swinging Sixties.  [Image: Joey, Bill Gardner & Shotgun Tom Kelly. Three of my fave DJs at a fairly recent CES show in Las Vegas.]

January 6^th: Were you there when the hottest concert ticket in Boston by a band not even on the charts, caused a riot? ‘Tis true—a thousand or so fans got antsy while waiting to buy Led Zeppelin tickets in Boston Garden’s lobby. As usual, rioters’ angry stupidity came at a cost for all Boston fans, when the mayor cancelled the concert.

January 8^th: New York’s Madison Square Garden took advantage of Zeppelin’s canceled tour and booked them for this day—the tickets sold out in a then-record of four hours. The notoriety got “Stairway to Heaven” back on the bottom of San Francisco’s KCBQ January 20^th radio chart for a week.

January 31^st: It didn’t take long for Barry Manilow’s now-iconic love song, “Mandy” to go gold. It debuted on KPOI’s January 3, 1975, chart at #26 and became his first gold single three weeks later. Do you know it started out as a #1 hit on UK Pop charts in 1972, then known as “Brandy,” by Scott English (written by English and Richard Kerr)? With a little arrangement revision and title change, Manilow made it his own and a hit is reborn.

♪ On Your Tinny Transistor Radio ♪  
Where were you bein’ fun and feisty in the New Year 1975? L.A., New York, Hawai’i? Here’s a sample of what and who you were listening to …

“Laughter in the Rain” by Neil Sedaka hit the #1 spot for KHJ/Los Angeles on their January 7^th chart. What was the other side of the country voting to the top? Fighting to keep its #1 status the first week of January, with New York listeners at WABC, is Carl Douglas’s “Kung Fu Fighting.”

But we’re still in Hawai’i for this month, listening to KPOI and asking, “When Will I See You Again”? Sparkly trio, The Three Degrees, finally grabbed the #1 spot on January 3^rd’s “Records of Hawaii” chart. 

KPOI listeners were mainly content with up-and-comers released back in the Fall of 1974, jockeying their faves up the ranks. The Top Ten didn’t change much, with the top tunes hanging on by the edge of their claws, just in a little different order.

And we’re still swayin’ with the palm trees, in sync with Wolfman Jack! He rang in the New Year with a festive cover for KPOI, party hat and all! 

January’s top three tunes, basically shuffled around from December’s chart list (previous chart #s in parentheses): #1) “When Will I See You Again” (3); #2) “Please Mr. Postman” (5); and #3) “Kung Fu Fighting” (1).  

♪ January ’75 Song of Note ♪   
Up for consideration was KPOI’s #5 tune, “Laughter in the Rain” by Neil Sedaka, for its pure happiness shining through the clouds and stormy weather. But looking for something even more fantastically hopeful to start the New Year, January’s Song of Note is … 

       In the beginning of a New Year when anything is possible, can’t you just visualize a trip with “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” (Elton John). Released in November ‘74, it made steady progress up the chart, settling the first week of January at #11 before skipping into the Top Ten.   
       A Lennon/McCartney tune from 1967, it was inspired by Lennon’s son, Julian’s, nursery school drawing for a classmate. Lennon gave a poetic nod to Lewis Carroll’s literary style (Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass) for his creative lyrics.
       Some of you may have noticed the initialized reference of the title to the hallucinogenic drug, LSD. Personally, I had never visualized that allusion, but some people will find an intentional or unintentional double meaning in just about everything. Lennon was appalled and firmly denied that “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” is an acid song. Do you believe him? Jus’ askin’ … 
       Elton John’s version certified Gold on January 29^th, but Elton would rarely-if-ever sing it in a concert after Lennon’s death. Its connection to Lennon was simply too personal. ♪ … Picture yourself in a boat on a river | With tangerine trees and marmalade skies … ♪    

♪ Quirky Band Name Award ♪
As promised in December, I simply could not pass by this farcical opportunity for the quirkiest band name we’ve had in a while … Disco Tex & the Sex-o-Lettes … fronted by a colorful character with dancing babes, wins our first 2025 Quirky Band Name Award.

       In spite of their sexist name—not an oddity in the day—the group from the Bronx was serious about making a name for themselves in the burgeoning Disco era. Bubbling under on KPOI’s “New Music” list, their first hit, “Get Dancin’,” cashed in on the dance craze’s high energy fervor. It stalled at #21 over the next few weeks, followed in April with release of hit number two, "I Wanna Dance Wit' Choo (Doo Dat Dance)," both becoming Disco anthems—even scoring frontman, Monti Rock III (born Joseph Montanez, Jr.) a gig as DJ in the iconic movie, Saturday Night Fever (1977).  
       Despite over-the-top theatrics, and marginal singing talent, Disco Tex & the Sex-o-Lettes’ tunes were bona fide early Disco hits, riding a high that took them through the best of it. But things were sketchy with the group through 1982 when they permanently disbanded. As of last reports, frontman, Rock, is still performing at 82 years young.  

♪ JANUARY 2025 Music Events & More ♪    

Monday ~ January 20^th: Today’s National Disc Jockey Day, and though the official sponsor is noted as Wikipedia, without Radio and the pioneering Rock Radio Disc Jockeys behind the mic, this monthly odyssey wouldn’t exist!  
       An assigned article about Rock & Roll memorabilia inspired two books (a third coming eventually) and this monthly sojourn into Oldies Rock Radio with its dynamic on-air personalities. I am especially appreciative of Disc Jockeys and their contributions to my life “back in the day” (I was a frequent winner of station giveaways!) and current lifestyle of music and fun. 
       Interviewing more than forty DJs for my books was not only essential, but extremely entertaining. Cousin Brucie/NY, Shotgun Tom Kelly/SoCal (who just published his own book), Ron Riley/Chicago, and my fave DJ friend, Bill Gardner/Philly+, all gave me the lowdown and high points of

their lives behind the mic (1950s-1970s). In January 1975, Bill wowed his KVIL/Dallas, Texas, listeners, and the station’s billboard advertising reflects the flamboyant flavor of the ‘70s!
       Largely overlooked and underrated in today’s podcast/iTunes/playlists era, DJs still deserve our love. As one calendar’s historical commentary notes, “On this day, we celebrate the talents of all the disc jockeys, from those playing the ‘Chicken Dance’ for the millionth time at a wedding to the radio personalities who help you get through the morning commute.” 

Tuesday ~ January 21^st: And on this date every year, at BFYP we commemorate Wolfman Jack’s birthday! After all, those books I talk about are dedicated to the “Original Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal.” Not only an entertainer, Wolfman Jack (Robert Weston Smith, 1938-1995) was also a consummate marketer, popularizing and selling his syndicated shows at a time when DJs just didn’t do that. Do you recall his memorable performance in the American Graffiti movie? If you want an evening of pure entertainment, buy/rent/view the film. It’s still a hoot! (Image: Wolfman Jack & San Diego’s own celeb DJ, Shotgun Tom Kelly!) 

Tuesday ~ January 28^th: Okay, granted, I stretch a tad seeking relevant music-related blurbs, but seriously, it’s National Kazoo Day! And yes, Kazoos are maybe not popular in Rock tunes, but it has been used—the Beatles turned to it now and again—like McCartney in “Uncle Albert” and Ringo in “You’re Sixteen.” The simple little instrument has been accompanying musical knee-slapping and harmony humming since its patent by Warren Herbert Frost on January 9, 1883. So why celebrate on January 28^th? For no particular reason, says its sponsoring site.

♪♪ BFYP Featured Radio Survey ♪♪  
JANUARY 3, 1975 ~ KPOI/Honolulu, Hawai’i. Wolfman Jack just couldn’t resist having fun for the 1^st, in full party hat and horn regalia on the survey’s cover. One can’t help but wonder … did KPOI keep its New Year resolution to make winners of more than 10,000 listeners in 1975?! … 50 Years Ago this Month in Rock & Roll Radio! Where were you that groovy day when your radio played … 

Let’s Celebrate JANUARY & a Happy New Year 1975 … 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 

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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! 
            01/01/25: 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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