Friday, April 7, 1967: KMPX

Tom Donahue takes over the 8 p.m.-to-midnight shift at FM radio station KMPX in San Francisco, extending the station's embrace of what came to be known variously as underground radio, progressive radio or free-form radio -- in other words, music beyond the bounds of top 40. (In February, Larry Miller had brought the anything-goes format to KMPX with his midnight-to-6 a.m. program.)

     -- Tom Donahue, left, at KMPX in 1967; photo by Michael Ochs

* "A Brief History of 106.9 FM in San Francisco" (Bay Area Radio Museum): @

* "FM 107 KMPX, San Francisco: Tom Donahue" (includes sound clip from May 1967; Bay Area Radio Museum): @

* Larry Miller handbill (Bay Area Radio Museum): @
* KMPX staff, 1968 (photo by Baron Wolman): @

* Donahue biography ("Encyclopedia of Radio," edited by Christopher H. Sterling, 2004): @
* Donahue biography (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame): @

* "One More Page in the Book of Love: Tom Donahue, 1928-1975" (Greil Marcus, 1975): @

* "Birth of Community Rock Radio: A Brief History of KMPX and KSAN-FM" (FoundSF): @

* KMPX entry from www.jive95.com (site devoted to KSAN; includes sound clips): @

* "KMPX San Francisco Radio Workers Strike 1968" (Global Nonviolent Action Database): @

* "Free-Form Revolutionaries of Top 40 Radio / How Donahue, Syracuse Rocked the Bay Area Airwaves" (www.sfgate.com, 1998): @

* "Rock Stations Giving Albums the Air Play" (Billboard, July 22, 1967): @
* "KMPX's Tom Donahue Programs Music with a Wide Open View" (Billboard, December 30, 1967): @
* "The Underground Radio Turn-On" (Look magazine, June 24, 1969; from New York Radio Archive; scroll down for page images): @

* "FM Underground Radio: Love for Sale" (Rolling Stone, April 1970): @

* "Hip Capitalism" (Susan Krieger, 1979): @ 
* "The Republic of Rock" (Michael J. Kramer, 2013): @

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1965: 'Things Go Better with Coke'

Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, The Who, Petula Clark, Roy Orbison, the Supremes, Tom Jones ... these were just some of the popular musical artists who recorded advertising spots using Coca-Cola's slogan "Things Go Better With Coke" starting in 1965. The artists did not perform a standard jingle; instead, the radio ads mirrored their musical styles (or their hit songs) and incorporated the slogan.

* "How Coca-Cola Invited Music's Biggest Stars to 'Swing the Jingle' in the 1960s" (from Coca-Cola Co.): @

* "Swing the Jingle!" (partial list of artists; Coca-Cola Co.): @

* "Coca-Cola Commercials" (YouTube channel): @

* Record covers (www.vinylbeat.com): @
* "Things Go Better with Coke: Sixties Coca-Cola Commercials 1965-69" (CD; www.discogs.com): @
* "Coca-Cola Commercials" (CD; www.discogs.com): @
* "Coca-Cola Uncorks Teen Radio Drive" (Billboard magazine, July 10, 1965): @
* "Coke to Aim at Ethnic Groups" (Billboard, October 15, 1966): @
* "A History of Coca-Cola Advertising Slogans" (Coca-Cola Co.): @
* "Brand Image" (Michael Austin; from "Music in the Social & Behavioral Sciences: An Encyclopedia, 2014): @ 
* "For God, Country, and Coca-Cola: The Definitive History of the Great American Soft Drink and the Company That Makes It" (Mark Pendergrast, 2013): @

* "As Heard on TV: Popular Music in Advertising" (Bethany Klein, 2009): @

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Saturday, August 28, 1965: 'Ask CBS News About Gemini 5'

CBS airs what is believed to be radio's first nationwide call-in show, "Ask CBS News About Gemini 5," taking questions from listeners about the spaceflight. The show was originally scheduled to air on August 21, but aired instead on the 28th after Gemini's launch was delayed.

-- Top image from (Long Beach, Calif.) Independent (August 28)

-- Bottom image from Broadcasting magazine (September 6): @

* "Media, NASA, and America's Quest for the Moon" (Harlen Makemson, 2009): @

* Gemini 5 summary (NASA): @

* Gemini 5 summary (Encyclopedia Astronautica): @

* Gemini 5 summary (Drew ex machina): @ 

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December 1964-February 1965: Phil Spector's 'Wall of Sound'

On December 5, 1964, The Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," written by Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil and Phil Spector and produced by Spector, first appears on the Billboard music charts at No. 124. It would spend two weeks at No. 1 in February 1965. (In 1999, BMI listed the song as the one most often played on American radio and television in the 20th century, with some 8 million plays.)

     The term "Wall of Sound" became associated with this song in particular and Spector's dense, layered production in general. Time magazine described it in the February 19, 1965 issue, before the term "Wall of Sound" took hold: "Spector Sound, as it's called in the industry, is marked by a throbbing, sledgehammer beat, intensified by multiplying the usual number of rhythm instruments and boosting the volume. Spectral orchestration, undulating with shimmering climaxes, is far more polished, varied and broadly rooted than the general run of rock 'n' roll. In Lovin' Feelin', Spector used two basses, three electric guitars, three pianos, a harpsichord, twelve violins, a ten-voice chorus and four brawny percussionists. His vocalists, a pair of 23-year-old white Californians who call themselves the Righteous Brothers, imitate the Negro gospel wail, a sound that Spector prizes as the 'soulful yearning that every teen-ager understands.' "

     The term itself was not new, having been used in the 19th century to describe Richard Wagner's Bayreuth Festspielhaus opera house and in the 1950s to describe Stan Kenton's jazz band.  According to the book "He's a Rebel" (linked below), it became shorthand for Spector's production style after Andrew Loog Oldham, manager and producer of The Rolling Stones, took out advertisements in British music magazines praising "Lovin' Feelin'." (The article above, by Derek Johnson for the New Musical Express issue of July 31, 1964, shows the term used to describe another Spector record.)

* "Bill Medley on Phil Spector" (JazzWax, 2012): @
* Article from The Pop History Dig: @

* Earlier post on "Blue-eyed soul": @

* "The First Tycoon of Teen" (Tom Wolfe, January 1965): @

* "The Sound Flowed Out of Old Music Streams" (Life magazine, May 21, 1965): @

* "He's a Rebel: Phil Spector, Rock and Roll's Legendary Producer" (Mark Ribowsky, 1989): @

* "Sonic Alchemy: Visionary Music Producers and Their Maverick Recordings" (David N. Howard, 2004): @

* "The Producer as Composer: Shaping the Sounds of Popular Music" (Virgil Moorefield, 2005): @

* "Tearing Down The Wall of Sound: The Rise and Fall of Phil Spector" (Mick Brown, 2007): @
* "Rolling Stoned" (Andrew Loog Oldham, 2011): @

* "Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop" (Bob Stanley, 2013): @ 

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October 1964: 'If I Were the Devil'

Radio/newspaper commentator Paul Harvey's famous column appears in newspapers throughout the United States. Harvey describes what actions Satan would take to reign over civilization, at the end revealing that all the events are already taking place.
     Note: The column's earliest appearance in a newspaper is October 1964, but the book "Good Day!" (linked below) dates the piece to 1960. Harvey also read the piece as part of his radio broadcast.

* 1964 column: @

* 1996 version: @

* Entry from snopes.com: @

* Harvey biography from Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture: @

* Harvey biography from Radio Hall of Fame: @

* "Good Day!: The Paul Harvey Story" (Paul J. Batura, 2009): @ 

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1964: Blue-eyed soul

"Blue-eyed soul" refers to soul and R&B music performed and sung by white musicians. The term first came into play during the mid-'60s, when acts like The Righteous Brothers had hits with soulful songs like "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'." Throughout the late '60s, blue-eyed soul thrived, as acts like The Rascals, The Box Tops, Mitch Ryder, Tony Joe White and Roy Head had a series of hits.

     -- From "All Music Guide to Soul" (2003)

Note: Philadelphia DJ Georgie Woods is generally credited with popularizing the term "blue-eyed soul" in 1964, specifically in describing The Righteous Brothers and their hit "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'." That song, released in December 1964, reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts in February 1965. (Also in December 1964, The Righteous Brothers released the album "Some Blue-Eyed Soul," though it did not include "Lovin' Feelin'.") 

Bill Medley of The Righteous Brothers writes in his memoir "The Time of My Life" that the term dates back a little earlier, to the duo's song "Little Latin Lupe Lu" from 1963. "We were enough of a hit that Atlantic Records, led by the legendary Ahmet Ertegun, picked up the national distribution rights for "Lupe Lu" and that's where the term 'blue-eyed soul' really came from. Atlantic was pretty much an all-black R&B label. When their public relations guy Red Schwartz took us out to promote it on radio stations, we found that most of them were black stations. In those days, radio was really divided like that. Unfortunately, Atlantic forgot to mention that we were white. When we showed up to do interviews, they were stunned. They'd still do the interview, but when we left, they'd quit playing the record. It wasn't a racial thing. It was like 'we play black artists.' ... Of course when 'Lovin' Feelin' came around, they said, 'Screw it, these guys are black. They're black enough.' One DJ in Philadelphia started saying, 'Here's my blue-eyed soul brothers.' In the 1950s and 1960s black guys would use the term 'blue-eye' to refer to a white guy. He was hipping his audience to the fact that we were two white guys. It was like a secret code and it caught on."

* Entry from "All Music Guide to Rock" (2002): @
* Back cover of "Some Blue-Eyed Soul": @
* Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles (Billboard magazine, February 6, 1965): @

* "R&B Stations Open Airplay Gates to 'Blue-Eyed Soulists' " (Billboard, October 9, 1965): @

* "Blue-Eyed Soul Artists Herald Musical Integration on Airways" (Billboard, April 2, 1966): @

* Georgie Woods biography (from The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia): @
* Woods biography (from The Living Legends Foundation): @
* "Joy Ride! The Stars and Stories of Philly's Famous Uptown Theater" (Kimberly C. Roberts, 2013): @
* WDAS history: @ 

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Saturday, March 28, 1964: Radio Caroline

The brainchild of Ronan O'Rahilly, the first of the UK pirate radio stations of the 1960s, and extremely important in the development of UK postwar radio. Radio Caroline, "your all-day music station" for younger listeners, first broadcast from a ship moored off the coast of Felixstowe, Suffolk. By playing what the British Broadcasting Corporation did not, the station shaped the music radio revolution that led to the creation of BBC's Radio 1 and ultimately, the launch of commercial radio in the UK in 1973. 
-- From "The A to Z of British Radio" (Sean Street, 2009): @

-- Photo from www.jingleweb.nl (link: @)

* "Pirate Radio Stations" entry from "Encyclopedia of Radio" (2004): @

* Excerpt from "Working Class Heroes: Rock Music and British Society in the 1960s and 1970s" (David Simonelli, 2013): @
* "British Pirate Radio" entry from "Pop Song Piracy: Disobedient Music Distribution Since 1929" (Berry Kernfeld, 2011): @

* History (from Offshore Echos): @

* Website of Radio Caroline: @

* Website of Ray Clark (Radio Caroline disc jockey): @

* "I Love Caroline on 199" (1965 documentary by Paul O'Dell): @

* "The Radio Caroline Story" (1965 documentary by Paul Kramer): @
* How a radio ship and 7 men shook up Britain in 1964" (from Flashes & Flames): @

* Horizon magazine: @

* The Pirate Radio Hall of Fame: @

* 1964 survey on Radio Caroline audience (from The National Archives): @

* "Selling the Sixties: The Pirates and Pop Music Radio" (Robert Chapman, 1992): @

* "The Ship That Rocked the World" (Tom Lodge, 2010): @

* "Death of a Pirate: British Radio and the Making of the Information Age" (Adrian Johns, 2011): @ 

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Friday, November 22, 1963

-- United Press International teletype (image from kennedy-photos.blogspot.com)
-- Explainer (from UPI history website): @

Video

* David Von Pein's JFK Channel (this has an extensive collection of footage, including the breaking news reports of the major broadcast networks): @

* "The JFK Assassination: As It Happened" (Von Pein website): @

* From ABC News: @
* JFK: 3 Shots That Changed America" (The History Channel, 2009): @ and @ 
* Speech in Fort Worth: @
* "President Assassinated" (newsreel): @

Audio
* Lyndon Johnson taking oath of office aboard Air Force One (from LBJ Library): @
* Air Force One recordings: @
* Radio coverage: @
* BBC programs: @

President Lyndon B. Johnson
* President's daily dairy (from LBJ Library): @ and @
* From LBJ Library: "November 22, 1963 and Beyond": @
* From LBJ Library: "Nov. 22, 1963: Tragedy and Transition": @
* Selections from Mrs. Johnson's diary: @ (text) and @ (audio)

Front pages

* Dallas Morning News: @

* Dallas Times Herald: @

* Fort Worth Star-Telegram: @ and @

* Boston Globe: @

* New York Times: @

* Washington Post: @
* Los Angeles Times: @
* The Guardian (UK) : @

* Daily Mirror (UK): @

* Daily Trojan (University of Southern California, November 26): @
* Other newspapers (from www.downhold.org): @

* Other newspapers (from rarenewspapers.com): @

Other resources

* Timeline (from Dallas Morning News): @
* "Remembering JFK" (Fort Worth Star-Telegram): @
* "The Death of a President" (The Associated Press): @
* The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection (National Archives): @

* The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza: @

* JFK Tribute website (Fort Worth, Texas): @

* The JFK Assassination (Mary Ferrell Foundation): @

* The Harold Weisberg Archive: @

* The Kennedy Assassination (John McAdams): @

* "November 22, 1963: Death of the President" (from JFK Library): @ 

* "Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy" (Warren Commission report, from National Archives, 1964): @

* "Marking JFK anniversary, GPO releases digital Warren Commission report" (Washington Post): @
* "Report of the Select Committee on Assassinations, U.S. House of Representatives" (from National Archives, 1979): @

* UPI reporter Merriman Smith's account of the day (November 23; Smith was the first to report the shooting, as shown in teletype above): @
* "Total Domination" (American Journalism Review, 1998): @

* "The Flight From Dallas" (Esquire, 2013): @
* "The Hours Before Dallas: A Recollection by President Kennedy's Fort Worth Advance Man" (Jeb Byrne, 2000): @
* Life magazine, November 29: @

* Life magazine, December 6: @

* Life magazine, December 13: @ 

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What didn't happen on November 22, 1963

President Kennedy

     * Speech at Dallas Trade Mart: @ (text) and @ (materials from JFK Library)

     * Speech in Austin: @ (text) and @ (materials from JFK Library)

     * President's schedule for the day: @

Music

     -- Symphony orchestras in Boston and Chicago, performing in the afternoon as the news of Kennedy's death spread, changed their programs and played the funeral march from Beethoven's Third Symphony.

     * Account from Boston (from time.com): @

     * Original introduction from Boston (from WGBH): @

     * Boston Symphony Orchestra program for 1963-64 season (revised program for November 22 is on Page 9): @

     * Account from Chicago (from orchestra archives): @

     -- On the same day that the album "With the Beatles" was released in the United Kingdom, the band was featured on "The CBS Morning News." The segment was to have been shown on "The CBS Evening News" that night. It eventually aired on December 10.

     * Watch the segment: @

     * "How Walter Cronkite jump-started Beatlemania in America" (from BeatlesNews.com): @

     * "Hello Goodbye: Why the Great Mike Wallace Instantly Forgot His Beatles TV Exclusive" (from The Huffington Post): @

     -- "The Dick Clark Caravan of Stars" was to have performed in Dallas on November 22. The show was canceled.

     * "Dick Clark on the Day America Lost JFK" (John Burke Jovich): @

     * Lineup (from A Rock n' Roll Historian blog): @

     * "Clark Show Off to Big Openers" (Billboard magazine, November 23): @

Television

     From the New York Times, November 23:

     TOKYO -- The first live American television transmission across the Pacific by means of the communication satellite relay was received clearly here today. Pictures transmitted by the Mohave ground station in California and received at the new Space Communications Laboratory in Ibaraki Prefecture, north of Tokyo, were clean and distinct. The sound transmission was excellent. The transmission was received live from 5:16 a.m. to 5:46 a.m. Viewers here saw and heard taped messages from Ryuji Takeuchi, Japanese Ambassador to Washington, and James E. Webb, director of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. A message of greeting from President Kennedy to the Japanese people, which was to have been the highlight of the program, was deleted when news of the President's death was received shortly before the transmission. In place of the taped two-and-a-half-minute appearance of the President, viewers saw brief panoramic views of the Mohave transmitting station and the surrounding desert area. The American Broadcasting Company and the National Broadcasting Company shared in producing the program.'

     From The Associated Press, November 22:
     The nation's three major television and radio networks scrapped all commercials and entertainment programs out of respect for the death today of President Kennedy. The National Broadcasting Co., American Broadcasting Co., and Columbia Broadcasting system all said they would devote their entire radio and television programs to news of the assassination and all allied incidents. The Mutual Broadcasting System said it would ban commercials and entertainment features on its radio network until after the President's funeral. ABC said its commercial and entertainment ban would remain in effect indefinitely. NBC said it would observe the commercial and entertainment blackout until "sometime tomorrow night." CBS said it would not return commercials or entertainment programs to its network until after the President's burial. All networks said they would continue broadcasts on radio and TV through the night.
* TV listings for November 22 (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; go to Page 19): @

"Dr. Strangelove"

     A New York screening for critics was canceled, and changes to Stanley Kubrick's new movie were made in light of Kennedy's death (detailed below). The film's premiere was delayed; the movie did not open until January 1964.

     * From "Stanley Kubrick: A Biography" (Vincent LoBrutto, 1999): @

     * From Time.com: @

     * From Los Angeles Times: @

Frank Sinatra Jr. kidnapping

    Three men who were planning to kidnap the entertainer intended to do so on November 22 in Los Angeles, but it was delayed until December 8 in Lake Tahoe, Nevada.

     * From MentalFloss.com: @

     * From TruTV.com: @

     * From Jan & Dean website (The band's Dean Torrence had loaned money to one of the kidnappers, a friend of his): @

     * Newsreel: @

Other

     * "The most famous magazine cover that never was" *(Washington Post): @

     * Kiplinger Washington Letter planned for November 23: @ and @

     * Where We Were" (People magazine, November 1988): @ 

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