Can you feel it, smell it, hear it? LOVE is in the air! Like the soft fur of a cuddly new puppy, the heady scent of heart-shaped cookies fresh from the oven, to the vintage song that played for your first “real” kiss … it’s February 1973!
♪ Then MONTH 1973 Rockin’ News
& Views …
It seems at first glance, this Valentine
month 50 Years Ago, everything is coming up hearts and roses … on our Featured Radio Survey, fans in San Bernardino, California, favored love in
all its glory, with “Love Train” (O’Jays) at #1, and “Could It
Be I’m Falling in Love” (Spinners) close on its heels at #2. (KXFM
“Radio 59” February 16, 1973.)
Friend.” Ouch.
The glum attitude continues down the chart with “You’re So Vain” (Carly Simon) at #4, and rounding out the top five songs is the depressing-but-not, “The World is a Ghetto,” by protest band, War. Sigh, yes, love is complicated … ♪ Happiness is here, have your share | If you know you're loved, be secure … ♪
> On Your
Tinny Transistor Radio ♪
Some months, our pioneering radio stations’ surveys
practically mirrored each other from coast-to-coast. Top Ten songs showed the
love fans everywhere had for the same sweet melodies, with several tunes in the
list on both sides of the country.
As distant in Top Ten tunes as they are in miles, my sample surveys for February 1973 are from the first week at KKLS/Rapid City, South Dakota, and week two at KFXM/San Bernardino, California. Only two songs made both Top Ten lists and interestingly, they’re both about love lost:
“Don’t Expect Me to be Your Friend” by Lobo (mentioned above), comes in at # 2 for KKLS and #3 for KFXM; and “Last Song” by Edward Bear lands at #4 for KKLS and #7 for KFXM.
Monthly Song of Note ♪
In the lovers’ month of February 1973, just as now, many radio listeners
asked themselves, “Could It Be I’m Falling in Love"?
The Spinners declared their love in leaps and bounds with fans at KKLS
in the middle of the country, showing their passion as it climbed to #11 by
February 9th. With another week to get into the mood, the West
Coast’s KFXM, pushed it up to #2 by February 16th. ♪ … Meeting you was my destiny… ♪
The song is a virtual lullaby for lovers. And
just who were “Mystro and Lyric,” the lovesick lyricists credited with the hit
song? None other than Atlantic Records’ songwriter brothers, Melvin and Mervin
Steals. ♪
… And honey you'll always be the only one for me … ♪
February Survey’s
Dynamic DJs
Since my Blast from Your Past books are all about
Rock Radio Disk Jockeys, this is a good spot to share those who made the
stations’ survey cover. This monthly feature will tell you who’s on whatever
vintage survey(s) I have collected for that month, and if I can learn any new
or old news about them. What a fun month to start it …
In case you hadn’t already picked up on
it, KFXM/San Bernardino (CA) and KKLS/Rapid City (SD) are the two surveys in my collection for February 1973. KKLS chose to go
simple without jock pics, boasting instead, their top twenty song list, a top
ten album list, and a fun ad for their “secret sound” contest. Did you win? 
We found Doug Collins waking you up in the morning, Bruce Chandler spinning through your afternoons, Johnny Kaye, making nice in your nights, Ron Christian keeping you company all night long, and the wacky weekend DJs, Marsh Carter and Vic Moreno.
With a quick search on the fly, only two of the six produced results for additional notes. After a short stint at KMEN, the other hotshot station in San Bernardino, Bruce Chandler stopped for a few years at KFXM before heading south to Los Angeles. He breezed through KEZY and KIQQ and eventually found his way to KRTH around 2001.
The BFYP Collection of surveys places Doug Collins at KFXM as early as 1969 and I found hints that he stayed a while after 1973 as the fans’ fave morning guy.
Any of you “oldsters” remember the illustrious “Tennessee Ernie Ford” (1919-1991)? The popular 20th century singer and comedian found his inner “Tennessee” as a DJ in the late 1940s, at KFXM radio. I kid you not.
So what do we have this month for weird, wonderful, or just plain Quirky Band Names? A heap of good fun, starting with Uriah Heep. Some of you who read the classics will recognize the character name from Dickens’ iconic David Copperfield, chosen by the band (known as “Spice”) in December 1969, when the hundredth anniversary of Dickens’ death was in the news. Their “Blind Eye” hit #6 this month at KKLS. I didn’t know then, and still don’t understand what the song was trying to say. It is truly … ♪Stranger than the sunrise … ♪
Brighter Side of Darkness is an odd name for an odd early boy-band style. One of many one-hit-wonders of the era, their “Love Jones” tells the darker side of love in a rambling dialogue bordering on obsessive. It resonated with enough fans at KFXM to take it to #4 before dropping it back to #11. As with other short-lived bands, there isn’t much history on them. But ya gotta love their synchronized dance moves and matching yellow jumpsuits!
Last but not least, have I got a “Tonic for the Soul” – it’s Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show! This Chicago R&B/soul group has a most unique and poignant story behind their name. Word is, one of the band’s founding members, Ray Sawyer, wore an eyepatch after losing his right eye in a 1967 car crash that nearly killed him. Feeling a bit like “Captain Hook” of Peter Pan fame, he urged the band to adopt “Dr. Hook”—to which their name was shortened in 1975.
And what’s their claim to fame beyond their name? We’ve all heard (and probably sung in karaoke) “The Cover of ‘Rolling Stone’” rising from #22 to #14 at KFXM this month. Did they ever make Rolling Stones’ cover? Oh yeah, in March … but watch the video first … all the way to the end for Wolfman Jack’s comment. Then you’ll know why the magazine fed their egos, but with only three of the seven members in caricature on the cover, and a minimal caption: "What's-Their-Names Make the Cover."
> Now MONTH 2023 Rockin’ Today …
Well, it’s difficult enough to find fun stuff to populate this section and this
month’s article is sooooo late, we missed World Radio Day. It’s still included
though, since we tend to celebrate everything all month anyway.
As UNESCO says, “At the global level, radio remains the most widely consumed medium. This unique ability to reach out [to] the widest audience means radio can shape a society’s experience of diversity, stand as an arena for all voices to speak out, be represented and heard.”
February 27th: If you’re reading this article, you likely already know about National Retro Day. Though their official NRD is the 27th, on Facebook, they celebrate it every way, every day, all year. That’s because radio and “retro” go together and are merrily subjective, and changing with every generation. Go, take a look, enjoy and contribute!
♪ BFYP Featured Radio Survey
FEBRUARY 16, 1973 ~ KFXM/San Bernardino,
California ~ I would be no friend to our Rock & Roll Radio
Let’s Celebrate FEBRUARY 1973 and … Rock On! ♪
BFYP Book 2 (Swinging ‘60s) on Amazon
Blast from Your Past Gifts
Share your Oldies R&R fun on Twitter: @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 series, 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 … Book 3 – 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 and/or singular sources there may be an unsecured link. As with everything cyber-security, use at your own discretion and risk. 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!
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