Thursday, January 2, 2025

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.  

January 6th: 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 8th: 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 20th radio chart for a week.

January 31st: 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 1972 hit on Pop charts, then known as “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl),” sung by Looking Glass? With a little arrangement revision and title change, Manilow’s version a reborn hit.

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 7th 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 3rd’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 29th, 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 20th: 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 21st: 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 28th: 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 28th? 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 1st, 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 

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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 PastTM series, available on Amazon: Book 1Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The First Five Years 1954-1959TM (eBook only; coming soon in updated print edition) and Book 2Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The Swinging SixtiesTM (eBook & print). Coming soon-ish … Book 3The 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.comTM. 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?!

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

 

No comments:

Post a Comment