Blast from Your Past: KISN

Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Rock Radio APRIL 1969 Trumpeting Chicago

Horns Blaring in Chicago!

Do you remember what you were doing 50 Years Ago this Month? Whether you were dancing to what are now the “Oldies” or protesting on a local college campus, chances are you owned a transistor radio.

New Yorkers may even have been a fan of Warren Garling (aka Chris Warren), better known in ‘69 as DJ “Jesse James” on WSNY/Albany, NY. Want to boogie down Memory Lane with him? You’re in luck! Laugh, reminisce, and hum the Oldies tunes with Warren in his recently published memoirs celebrating 50 Years of Rock & Roll Radio! Remember when we used to say, I’ll Have to ask My Mom”?

Now a BFYP Book 2 jock, eleven-year-old Warren visited WBNR/Beacon, New York studios, came home and declared, “Mom, Dad, I don’t want to be Roy Rogers anymore. I want to be a Radio DJ!” Go now & remember …

50 Years Ago this Month in Rock & Roll Radio

APRIL 11^th: Although there truly is an *International "Louie Louie" Day on the official Brownielocks April calendar of events, it celebrates a 1963 happening. So obviously more than 50

Years Ago this Month. But at BFYP we have a vested interest in joining drunk partiers every year on this day. After all, BFYP DJ “Ken Chase”* aka Mike Korgan, produced The Kingsmen’s decades-enduring and endearing version of the iconic party song. A sketchy conflict of interest while working at KISN/Portland, Oregon.

Apparently in a hurry, Mike and the band recorded in it one crazy session, sans any super-professional equipment. Want to learn more? Excerpt from BFYP Book 2 – Ken Chase. And get the whole book on Amazon! Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The Swinging Sixties. Louie Louie, oh no / We gotta go … ♪

APRIL 13^th: What goes with “Louie Louie” and Old Time Rock ‘n’ Roll*? Record Store Day of course! Known for new releases and vintage vinyls spanning the decades, record stores across the country revel in the day with all sorts of entertainment, goodies, specials and discounts. Enter your zip code here to find your local participating stores! (*Spanning 1979-2019, nobody does this song better than Bob Seger.)

April 28^th: 50 Years Ago this Month Chicago Transit Authority burst on the Rockin’ scene with a trumpeting blare of horns in their self-titled debut album, garnering a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist of the Year. Their first three top singles, “Questions 67 & 68,” “Beginnings,” and “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?” solidified the beginning of their powerful jazzy-Rock sound.

Featured Radio Survey: *Although by 1969 Mike/Ken Chase was long gone from KISN/Portland, we found an April 1969 “Good Guy Survey for the Northwest” at ARSA to tease your memory … 50 Years Ago This Month in Rock & Roll Radio. That awesome day when …

Celebrate APRIL 1969 and … Rock On!

Blast from Your Past Gifts

Share on Twitter: @BlastFromPastBk

LinDee Rochelle is a writer and editor by trade, and author by way of Rock & Roll. She has published two books (of three) 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 … The Psychedelic Seventies!

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

Friday, June 1, 2018

50 Years Ago June 1968 Motown to Prog Rock

>>BFYP BULLETIN 06/26/18: In case you were under a rock recently, rather than listening to Rock, you may have missed more sad news. Pioneering WABC DJ Dan Ingram rose to R&R Radio Heaven, Sunday 06/24/18. Though he isn't one of our BFYP DJs (we have other big names like Cousin Brucie, Ron Riley, Jim Stagg and more), Dan was mentioned and revered by many in their interviews, as a dynamite DJ who made an enormous impact in the early Rock & Roll Radio world. RIP, Mr. Ingram. (Pictured right, at WABC, July 27, 1961.)

06/11/18: News quickly circulated in the broadcast industry about the rise to Rock & Roll Radio Heaven of “Uncle Ricky” Richard W. Irwin. The ReelRadio.com* founder, pioneering DJ, PD and audio geek, succumbed on June 7, 2018 after a prolonged illness. As a longtime member of RR, I and BFYP books owe a great debt to Uncle Ricky. ReelRadio allowed me to hear, experience and read about the vibrant voices of pioneering Radio DJs, which made my telling of their stories richer. Thank you m’dear. RIP. *The RR site is archived for now but its longevity is tenuous. Go while you can … it’s a #RetroRockRadio treat.
And now, as we honor Uncle Ricky, let's flip on the mic, and Rock On back to 1968 …

Motown Surrenders to Prog Rock

Were you suffering a sunburn from your day on the beach 50 Years Ago this Month? Or hiding in cool, dark movie theaters, peeking through your fingers at the horrors of Rosemary’s Baby, or equally horrific Vietnam war film, The Green Berets?

Radio to the rescue to lighten the mood and cool our red faces, with nighttime Rock on the radar 50 Years Ago this Month …

June 10^th: Tom and Raechel Donahue ended May 1968 with KSAN/San Francisco fans and owner, Metromedia, lovin' their format style. So they spread the love to its KMET station in Los Angeles. Tom’s progressive rock format began with a meager four hours per night. But not for long. “The Mighty MET” soon broke through the underground to full time Rockin’!

June 20^th: A stellar appearance at the famed Copacabana on this day in 1968, gave Martha Reeves & the Vandellas’ new single “Forget Me Not” a fighting chance on the charts. It debuted on KISN/Portland OR Good Guys Survey for June 25^th at #47. Alas, this tribute to long-distance military love failed to impress, and dropped off the following week. They had hit their peak on a great run through the 1960s.

Featured Radio Survey: As a beacon of Rock & Roll in the Pacific Northwest, KISN/Portland, kept its listeners tuned in to the in-crowd, 50 Years Ago This Month. ♪ Swim in the cove, have a snack in the grove … ♪ Recall that awesome day when …

Celebrate JUNE 1968 and … Rock On!