1960s Radio – Return to the Glory Days
1960s radio was nothing short of amazing. I can make that statement because I grew up on it…and was so enamored by it I chose to adopt radio as a profession. I didn’t enter the arena until the glory days of 1970 radio but clearly, my influence came from those formative years of the 60s.
One of the greatest gifts I ever received was a transistor radio. That small device exposed my small town world to an entertainment medium that was so much better than what local radio could offer. 50,000 watt radio stations in big cities could be heard at night…and there was something incredibly magical about that nighttime sound.
I was most drawn to the colorful personalities of big-time DJs like Dick Biondi (WKBW, WLS and WCFL, both in Chicago), Cousin Brucie (WABC, NY), and Jackson Armstrong (WKBW, Buffalo) to name just a few. It was also through these great radio stations that I was exposed to the hit music of the 1960s, which by the way, sounded incredibly amazing, despite the fading in and out of the far away broadcast signal.
These radio stations had unique sounds. WABC used a heavy reverb on their microphone with a chime that sounded with their jingle. WLS and WCFL had incredible jingle packages that helped you quickly identify the station you were listening to. And, there were jingles that sang the name of the disc jockey. That probably didn’t mean much to someone who had no interest in making radio a career. But for me, those personalized jingles were amazing.
In the early 60s music radio was emerging, more free form, and with more latitude given to the DJ. In fact, most DJs in those early days selected their own music to play. Playlist creation was more hit and miss than scientific. And, oh my, how many commercials there were. 18 to 21 minutes of commercials per hour was not uncommon. Some stations even pushed that limit. As a result, music programming was generally a song followed by DJ banter, and then a cluster of commercials and then another song. Repeat and rinse.
Block programming was also predominant in the early 60s. For example an hour long Swap Shop program would be followed by the Obituaries of the Air… and then the Birth Announcements… and then a segment of music programming. One of my first stations featured a Christmas feature every year hosted by the owner’s daughter called, “Pam the Pixie.”
Radio stations sponsored everything imaginable. One of the first stations I worked at was a daytime radio station that signed off at dark. They actually sold the time that they were off the air. Every day I had to read the sign-off message, “The following hours of silence are brought to you by D.C. Heatwall Tires.” Then in the morning when we signed back on I would read, “The preceding hours of silence were brought to you by…” Well, you get the picture. It was a practice that had been in place since the early 60s that made its way to 1970.
Although the FCC frowned on stations running ads longer than 60 seconds…it was not uncommon for live ads to run 2 or 3 minutes. DJs often received gifts from the advertisers in exchange for showing their account a little extra love. Unfortunately, that practice also carried over into the area of song selection which created another problem that ultimately led to government intervention.
It was in the early 60s that some young radio programmers wised up to the loose, highly commercialized, and often reckless programming exhibited by many radio stations around the country. They saw a huge opportunity for gaining a competitive edge over the completion. By tightening the playlists, taking song selection from the DJs and replacing it with consumer research, playing fewer commercials, and getting rid of the clutter and block programming…they could produce a product that was more appealing to the listening public.
Innovators in this area included Rick Sklar who brought a streamlined version of Top 40 radio to WABC in the early 60s. Bill Drake took Sclar’s model and modified it into a format called Boss Radio. The Drake format was first aired in 1961 at KSTN (Stockton), followed by KYNO (Fresno) in 1962 and 1963 and KGB in San Diego in 1964. Then in 1965 Boss Radio became the format of choice for powerhouse KHJ in Los Angeles. Also jumping on the Boss Radio bandwagon: KFRC in San Francisco; CKLW in Windsor, ON; and WRKO in Boston. The format and numerous spinoff’s dominated radio programming for many years to come.
As with all movements even the good ideas that came with the Boss Radio concept were carried too far. By the time I got to WLCY in Charlotte, NC in 1971 our playlist had been reduced to just 18 songs. Even to this day I cringe when I hear one of those songs that we played over and over. Then again, our target audience was young teens and for one rating book (just one), Big WAYS was dethroned. Needless to say, they came back and stomped us into a new format…which led to the demise of our program director and me getting his job. So, it wasn’t all bad. That little bit of experience for me got the attention of Southern Broadcasting and my first program director gig of note, at WSGN in Birmingham.
1960s radio produced a comeback era for radio that had taken a huge hit from the surging popularity of television. Innovative program directors, courageous owners, and dynamic air personalities turned radio around and created a new “heyday” that I was privileged to be a part of in the 70s and 80s. Then came satellite radio, iPods, and internet radio leaving me to wonder, “Will the glory days of radio ever return?”
The great oldies from 1960s radio are playing right now on Golden Hits Radio.
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