Rock Radio 50 Years Ago ~ August 1975

Endless Summer of Rockin’ Radio Miracles   

Yes, this IS the August 1^st post, however, I’m lagging. This time, it’s even more aggravating for me than it is for you. I broke my toe. Now, it’s just a toe, so you wouldn’t think it would be a big deal. Without going into detail, and not posting a sad photo of me with my foot elevated in an orthopedic “shoe,” suffice it to say, I’m lagging. 

 However! Below is a teaser and hopefully you’ll make it back in a day or two to finish what will soon be a complete, super-fun “Endless Summer edition” of 50 Years Ago this Month!

Hot Summer nights were made for Rock & Roll music. Or is it vice versa? I have the distinct pleasure of being old enough to enjoy memories of AUGUST 1975 … and just so ya know (if you’re not “of a certain age”), sex, drugs, and Rock & Roll were all right there with me! And so was Radio …
       When finished this will be a jam-packed issue of Blast from Your Past ~ 50 Years Ago this Month. I have a trio of dynamite August 1975, Rockin’ music charts from which only one can emerge as the month’s Featured Radio Survey. No mean feat to choose; will you agree with my fave? Before we check ‘em out, let’s see what was riding high in music news 50 Years Ago …

º August 1975 Radio News & Muse ♪ 

August 4^th: The Led Zeppelin we all know and love, was nearly extinguished at the height of their popularity, on this date 50 Years Ago. Were you a zealous fan (and there were/are many) who anguished over the news of Robert Plant and family’s auto accident on an idyllic, but isolated island of Greece?
       Zep’s August 8^th press release of cancelled concerts is an item of historical interest on their website today, telling of the accident that fortunately was not fatal; however, it put the band’s future at stake. By the end of September, Plant was rolling around stage in a wheelchair, but not quite ready to perform.
       To keep them in your minds and hearts, Wolfman Jack’s Midnight Special November 14^th aired a tribute show for Led Zeppelin, with a previously recorded Plant interview (March ’75). Still, no tour plans were considered until Plant was fully healed. Obviously, that eventually happened, and Zeppelin fans breathed a sigh of relief in coming months. 

August 5^th: A historic date in popular music, as Stevie Wonder, known by family as Stevland Hardaway Morris (né Judkins), signed a monumental contract, re-upping with Motown Records, to the tune of a $13 million advance. Although, there was trouble in music paradise, as reportedly, the deal wasn’t finalized until April 1976.  

August 9^th: Fancy that, on this day, with the lead tune from their newest album, Main Course, at the top of charts, the Bee Gees’ comeback was complete when “Jive Talkin’” hit the one-million-sales mark for a platinum honor. The momentum inspired them all the way through the ‘70s.  

♪ On Your Tinny Transistor Radio ♪  

Where were you sippin’ your Endless Summer smoothie 1975? Join us this month as we explore the West Coast ocean waves and airwaves in Sacramento, California, up to Portland, Oregon, and all the way back down to the surf in San Diego! Three dynamic radio stations vie for Featured Radio Survey – which will grab the honor? Here’s a sample of what and who you were listening to August 1975 …

When I scored the vintage radio survey for KNDE/Sacramento, California, back in 2011, I had no idea just how great a find it was! Even the venerable WIKI doesn’t have proper info on the station, like I found on general radio history sites, including the link above. That link is only a paragraph on KNDE, but filled in the gaps of yet another convoluted station background. It began as a Progressive Rock station, eventually morphing into the Top 40 format. 
       More importantly, I learned that DJ Neale Blase, who’s in my BFYP Book 2: The Swinging Sixties, floated into KNDE and helped it reign supreme in Sacto area Rock, 1973- “until its unnoticed demise,” obviously after the Fall of 1975. Neale had a way of slipping in and out of radio stations like going through a revolving door. In fact, his own book reflects his self-named career, Radio on the Run: Hired 40 Times … Fired 22.

The August 27, 1975 “Rock KANDIE 147” 1470 on your dial, sports iconic art of the Psychedelic Seventies and a Top 30 list of hits. On the front, the “Rock Pile” and inside at #1? “Fallin’ In Love” by H.J.F. and Reynolds—better known as Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds. (Follow the link and note the unmistakable Playboy logo on the album cover. Yep, Playboy anything was popular then, including Playboy Records label.)  

As we scoot up the coast to Portland, Oregon, it’s with heavy hearts and misty eyes, we peruse the KISN 91 radio survey and its early image of Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne at the height of their run, lounging on the cover. A simple review of history has turned into a tribute to Ozzy, our self-proclaimed “Prince of Darkness” with his July 22, 2025, rise to Rock & Roll Heaven. R.I.P. His Back to the Beginning concert event July 5, 2025, raised $184,907,335.01 (£140 million) for charity. Giving back before he even left. Awesome. 

Apparently Portland’s first Top 40 station in 1960, KISN continued to generate Rock & Roll heat through the years, attracting great air talent like "The Real" Don Steele. Sadly, the station took a direct hit as a property owned by Star Stations, which reportedly battled corruption issues in Indiana during the early ‘70s. It all came to a head in 1975 and the FCC shuttered all Star Stations, requesting termination of broadcasting by September 2^nd. So the August 26, 1975, survey may well be their last hurrah.

Finally, slip-sliding down to San Diego, we finish our Endless Summer with August’s Featured Radio Survey, and San Diego’s celebrated Top 40 station, KCBQ, August 25, 1975 …

So sorry, but you’ll have to wait for the radio survey finale. I’ll try not to take too long, but am hoping you’ll find it’s worth the wait! Coming soon, Featured Radio Survey, Song of Note and more music trivia and tidbits to Rock your Summer!

Let’s Enjoy AUGUST 1975 and … Rock our Endless Summer Hits!  

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 

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

 

 

 

Rock Radio 50 Years Ago ~ JULY 1975

An Age-old Query Heats up Summer Airwaves  

Mid-to-late 1970s music was Pop Rock and Disco at its best. Which is to say, according to many “true” Rock & Roll fans, the music was mellowing … at least for a time. Disco tunes began filling up the Top 10, but we’re still heating up Summer with a lighter side of unrest … 50 Years Ago this Month … and away we go …

º JULY 1975 Radio News & Muse ♪ 

Radio stations flipping formats is an inherent trait of the trade. This month 50 Years Ago, KRRV—K-Red River Valley—in the heart of Texas (Dallas) did the unthinkable. It switched from Country music (go figure, in Texas) to Top 40 and became KIKM for several years. Yeehaw. And ... 

July 5^th: Pink Floyd were riding high, coming off their spectacular The Dark Side of the Moon album. A bit spent and wondering where to go next with their music, they sought to rationalize their success through 9^th album and same-named tour, Wish You Were Here. 
       Unfortunately, their final tour performance on this date two months before its official release, was less than stellar at the Knebworth music festival in the UK. Hoping for rave reviews, pyrotechnics and plane flyovers and all, they received lukewarm comments, due mostly to technical difficulties. It has, however, stood the test of time. As one music lover said, Wish You Were Here is … one of the most emotionally resonant albums in Rock history. 
       Personal comment: I would never disparage Pink Floyd. They’re phenomenal. However, about stage performances in general, after many years of escalating theatrics and especially dangerous ones, I’m still at a loss as to why that’s a part of concerts at all. In my humble opinion, it detracts from enjoying a truly talented performance for its merit.

July 20^th: It's reported that Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band were strapped for dollars to complete their Born to Run album, so they played concerts like crazy from 1974-‘77. Smack dab in the middle, they kicked off the “official” tour a month prior to its release date, on THIS date at the Palace Theatre in Providence, Rhode Island. Were you there? Then you also saw that Steven Van Zandt energized the band as a full-fledged member.  ♪ … In the day we sweat it out on the streets | Of a runaway American dream … We gotta get out while we’re young | ‘Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run … ♪  

♪ On Your Tinny Transistor Radio ♪  
Where were you bein’ silly in the Summer of ’75? Was it your coming-of-age year or another year of cool pool parties and hot Rockin’ Radio sounds in Bakersfield, California, or maybe Chi-ca-go? Here’s a sample of what and who you were listening to …

Dynamite DJs spun our top tunes with career highlight years, and one of the decade’s few female DJs, making her mark in broadcasting. We’re talkin’ Rockin’ love, a little Country & Disco! 

Who remembers the plum of Bakersfield, DJ Nancy Plum, and her fave cowboy hat? Though Nancy held down the fort in the midnight-to-6:00a spot for Rockin’ station, KAFY in the heart of central California, her heart Rocked with Country. She spent a lot of time at Country stations, prior to this gig. Was she the reason Glen Campbell’s “Rhinestone Cowboy” was in KAFY’s Top 10? From Country to jazz to funk and Rock, Nancy made her station, your station. 
       If the Plum was your go-to DJ pal while you partied the night away, you’ll be glad to know she danced through the decades honing her broadcast skills, and wrote all about ‘em in her rompin’ book, Do Not Air: Radio Stories and "Other Stuff”. “What's really awesome is that today, Nancy Plum continues to be one of America's most popular disc jockeys, heard nationwide on Passport Radio on the web,” says her blurb. Now, her tunes are “5 at 5 Jukebox Jams” and the “60’s at 6.”
       At KAFY, you’d swear she turned the station Country, as she crouches in boots and cowboy hat, next to a race car proudly sporting her name. The survey says, “You’ve Gotta be Plum Crazy!” Well, it’s a known fact that most DJs of the day were a little on the wild side … though Nancy sat behind a mic for work, she had a love for aviation that landed her in later years as an airborne reporter for KFWB News 980 in L.A. She musta been good, as in 2000 she claimed a Golden Mic award from the Southern California Radio and Television News Association.
       What top tunes was Nancy spinning at KAFY in July 1975? #1 – “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” asked WAR; #2 – “The Hustle,” heated up Disco by Van McCoy; and #3 – “Please Mr. Please,” begging for another song, by Olivia Newton-John.

While land-locked Californians listened to Nancy Plum on restless nights, DJ duo, Dick Sainte (Richard Arnold Middleton) and Doug Dahlgren, kept WCFL/Chicago listeners jumpin’ with their Dick and Doug Show.
       Though highly popular for years in Chicago, the guys, transplanted from Portland, Oregon, didn’t make a career to retire from in the Windy City. It was easy to struggle with all that was the Psychedelic ‘70s, and by all accounts, ‘CFL was their career highlight. Obviously frustrated about the station changing formats in 1976, they didn’t help matters any (or themselves), by bad-mouthing all things WCFL in the weeks leading up to its switch to elevator music. This account of Dick and Doug’s final show by pioneering DJ Jim Bartlett, is an interesting take by a jock who had experienced his first full-time station send-off in a rare, congenial manner.
       Dick and Doug’s mics were finally cut about a half-hour before the show’s scheduled sign-off, marking “the end” of their ‘CFL gig, March 12, 1976. Sadly for their fans, they couldn’t get work together again after, and though going their own ways, both eventually migrated back to the Pacific Northwest. Dick Sainte passed away at the age of 67 (12/10/2005), and Doug Dahlgren joined him in Rock & Roll Heaven just last year (11/30/2024), at the age of 82.
       While it’s frustrating to recount only a fraction of extraordinary lives lived, we are generally defined by one or two memorable moments from our full spectrum of fun in the sun. WCFL was that for both Dick and Doug.
       So, ‘CFL/Chicago fans, what were you listening to with the incomparable Dick and Doug? Spinning the 3 top spots of the chart: #1 – ironically, “Love Will Keep Us Together” by The Captain & Tennille; #2 – Paul McCartney reminding you, “Listen to What the Man Said”; and #3 – “One of These Nights,” promised the Eagles. 

♪ JULY ’75 Song of Note ♪      
This month’s Song of Note struck a note with listeners in 1975, peaking at #1 on KAFY/Bakersfield charts and still rising at #9 for WCFL/Chicago fans. The band’s name is markedly incongruous to the song’s title, and yet offers a simple solution for … WAR, “Why Can’t We Be Friends?”

       It’s an especially poignant question, considering recentglobal events … and the daily unrest still today, in our own country. We could also ask, “Why is there so much hatred?” and be no closer to peace.
       Founding member of the popular funk/soul/jazz/Rock group, Leroy “Lonnie” Jordan and the band, used songwriter/producer, Jerry Goldstein’s influence to offer harmony with all their music, in troubled times. The song was even chosen by NASA, beaming the hopeful tune up to space to bond U.S. astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts in their space journey, this same month, for Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.
       I rarely quote more than a line or two from sources, but WAR drummer, Harold Brown told Songfacts a philosophy about “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” origin that bears repeating … over and over and over: The band got the idea for this song when they were traveling in Japan in the early '70s …”We're all connected by language, and by our food, and by our culture. Most racists don't know why they're racist. But you pick them up and take them over and drop them in a country, like India or Pakistan, guess what? 'Why can't we be friends?' Because all of a sudden you find out we're more alike inside than we are on the outside. We started realizing that that's really important. You travel all over the world, you can't speak a lot of their language. But one thing they do know, they know your body language, how you may react." 
       With July 2025 still in the throes of discontent, the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, felt the need to honor WAR and their optimistic messages of peace, with a star (June 5, 2025) to commemorate their 50^th anniversary of the song’s same titled album. Are the song’s lyrics still relevant? You be the judge … 
♪ … I'd kinda like to be the President | So I can show you how your money's spent | Why can't we be friends? … ♪      

♪ July 2025 Music Events & More ♪    

Monday ~ July 7^th: Although the National Day of Rock ’n’ ‘Roll is listed on some holiday calendars, there is no definitive link to a supporting site. So let’s just roll with it! It’s described as a day to celebrate the climb of emerging Rock Radio up the charts as it gained popularity in mid-1950s through 1960s. And we’re all about that! The legends, the culture, the music and the Radio that urged us to dance, people, dance! Now would be a great day to watch Dirty Dancing (again).
       And yes, there is an International Day of Rock ‘n’ Roll on July 13^th, but is apparently only supported in Brazil and Ireland. Really? Never would’ve thunk it …  

Wednesday ~ July 30^th: And I guess the former sponsors of Paperback Book Day gave up, with the proliferation of eBooks and audio books. Well, we aging 39ers don’t give up so easily. I STILL sell Blast from Your Past paperback books! (Hence, the links 😊) Enjoy the true tales of Rock & Roll Radio DJs in the 1960s! (1954-1959 in eBook only) Thank you Rock & Roll friends. 

♪♪ BFYP Featured Radio Survey ♪♪   
July 26, 1975 ~ WCFL/Chicago, Illinois, turned up the Summer heat with a Top 40 lineup that had something everyone. Feeling funky? Hankerin’ for Country? Want to jive to a Jazzy tune? Sure, it’s all there, but iconic ‘70s Rock & Roll is dominant. When it comes to big-time Rock Radio stations, ‘CFL had it all and many of the best pioneering Radio DJs. What’s your music flavor … 50 Years Ago this Month? Where were you that groovy day when your radio played … 

Let’s Enjoy JULY 1975 and … Rockin’ Hot Memories!  

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! 
            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?!

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪