Rock Radio DECEMBER 1971 Love & Family Rule

Merry Holidays & Happy Christmas to All! 

Like music did in the 1970s, sometimes you just have to shake things up a bit. Switch ‘em up, turn ‘em around, and see what comes out. Similar to what happened for many of us in 2021 … whether we liked the results or not.

But we made it through and we’re extolling the virtues, vibes, and nostalgia, albeit a tad late, for DECEMBER 1971 … 50 Years Ago this Month …

♪ Rockin’ News & Views ~ Then & Now 
With the 1960s’ revolution and evolution of Rock & Roll, it continued to break away from early Rock. By 1971, we’re hearing more funk and soul, still Rockin’ out to Psychedelic Rock for a while longer, and hearing whispers of Disco that will dominate the latter ‘70s. (While never my fave music genre, I have to give Disco props for danceability … and I love to dance!)

֎ Then DECEMBER 1971 …

December 2^nd: Like pioneering Rock Radio DJs, long before there was Howard Stern as radio’s premiere shock jock, there was Dick Imus. On this day 50 Years Ago, Imus began his infamous Imus in the Morning radio show on New York’s WNBC, a mere three years after first getting behind a microphone at KUTY in Palmdale, California. And like many jocks over the decades, his career was driven or stymied by his personal life. Still, a memorable milestone in radio broadcasting.

December 7^th: This was a memorable date for loads of Beatles fans, waiting anxiously to know if former frontman, Paul McCartney and his wife, Linda, would actually make music with their new band. After a duo album attempt with Ram, released earlier in the year, the McCartneys released Wings’ debut album, Wild Life, on this day.
     Despite its lukewarm reception by many fans and critics, it managed to skim the bottom of  Chicago’s WCFL December 23^rd “Big 10 Albums list” at #10. Usually, though, when an album is popular, at least one song from it hits the Top 40. Not in Chicago. Although the album managed to scramble up its list to #6 a few weeks later, nary a song leapt from Wild Life to the chart lists.

December 31^st: Were you attending The Band’s New Year’s Eve concert held at New York’s Academy of Music 50 Years Ago this Month? Was it a true surprise or somewhat expected when Bob Dylan appeared on stage for the encore? Together again, they performed great tunes like "When I Paint My Masterpiece" and "Like a Rolling Stone."
       While performing with Bob Dylan in the late 1960s, The Hawks were finally recognized for their outstanding music and by the early 1970s, formally adopted “The Band” name. The informal moniker is how they were introduced as Dylan’s backup band, and looking for a new band name to get serious with their music, The Band was suggested and stuck.

֎ Now DECEMBER 2021 … 

Of course, December is dominated by Holiday-related celebrations and … shopping … and New Year’s Eve … and shopping … and more shopping.

But like November, December is also a month of giving, sharing, and this year especially, to Reflect merrily, Rejoice presently, and Rejuvenate for tomorrow.

So, just a couple days can be loosely applied to Rock music and radio, if you stretch their meanings a tad.  

December 8^th: Let’s celebrate Pretend to Be a Time Traveler Day … Blast from Your Past does this every month! There is no official link, so we’ll make our own Time Traveling adventure back to December 1971!
       WCFL/Chicago is our Featured Radio Survey this month and they rose to the occasion back in the day, with a fun Holiday tunes list of “Big 10 Christmas ’71.” Some obscure and still-popular tunes fill the list, like #1—"The Marvelous Toy” by Peter, Paul and Mary, #4—"Jingle Bell Rock” Bobby Helms’ eternal fave, and down at #10—The Royal Guardsmen’s catchy tune, "Snoopy's Christmas."

December 18^th: Once a goofy party idea, National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day is now a fun tradition! Reflect merrily as your personal choice of fashion, like choice in music, tells the world a little of who you are. Make mine Oldies Rock & Roll!

December 25^th: Christmas! May your day be merry and bright whatever way you choose to celebrate the Holiday Season. Rejoice presently in your individualism and gather when you can, with those who understand you and love you, anyway.

December 31^st: New Year’s Eve … time to Rejuvenate for tomorrow. What did we learn this year? That we will likely never be free of the scourge that was unleashed on our world two years ago. And then, what did we do? We put on some Rock & Roll (or whatever your fave music choice is) and said, “All right, if that’s the way it’s gonna be, let’s sing loud and dance proud!” Thank your lucky stars you’re still here to party, and Rock On into 2022.

♪ 50 Years Ago on Your Tinny Transistor Radio 
DECEMBER 1971 ~ Celebrating the season also means giving this month’s primary Zodiac sign its due, with an instrumental that climbed the charts this month. WCFL/Chicago’s December 23^rd music survey notes “Scorpio” by Dennis Coffey & the Detroit Guitar Band. It isn’t an easy feat for an instrumental to  jump from #24 to #16 in one week. Its funky beat was just right, defining ‘71’s moody Scorpio season …

♪ BFYP Featured Radio Survey  
DECEMBER 23, 1971 ~ WCFL/Chicago’s survey gets all the glory with its top ten out of forty tunes focused primarily on love and family. Songster Melanie enjoyed the music chart’s #1 spot with “Brand New Key,” and her picture even graced the back cover. Nice marketing … 50 Years Ago this Month in Rock & Roll Radio! Where were you that groovy day when your radio played …   

Let’s Celebrate DECEMBER 1971 and … Rock On!  ♪  

LinDee

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. Two books (of three) 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 … 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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Originally posted 12/01/21 @ 7:53p PST

Merry Holidays & Happy Christmas to All! 

If you're here for the BFYP blog, thank you! It'sa comin'. So far as I can tell, it should be up tomorrow. I emphasize "should" because these days we just don't know what's coming tomorrow. A little hint ...

Like music did in the 1970s, sometimes you just have to shake things up a bit. Switch ‘em up, turn ‘em around, and see what comes out. Similar to what 2021 proved to do for many of us … whether we liked the results or not.

But we made it through and here we are, extolling the virtues, vibes, and nostalgia of DECEMBER 1971 … 50 Years Ago this Month …

♪ Rockin’ News & Views ~ Then & Now
With the 1960s’ revolution and evolution of Rock & Roll, it continued to break away from early Rock. By 1971, we’re hearing more funk and soul ... but there was way more to the '70s than that.

֎ Then DECEMBER 1971 …

December 2^nd: From a pioneering shock jock to this month's Midwest Featured Radio Survey and ...

֎ Now DECEMBER 2021 … 

We'll pretend to be a time traveler and more ... C'mon back for great info and memorable nostalgia ...

 

 

Rock Radio NOVEMBER 1971 Family Month Rocks

November 3, 2021 ~ Finally ... the completed article!
November Notes to Rock Family Month 

It’s true—I missed the November 1^st post deadline (self-imposed), but it was due to a three-week family road trip from one side of the country to the other for a wedding. As Charles Dickens once so succinctly said, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times …” That said, we’re still talking, so thankfully, the enjoyment outweighed our individual personality quirks. And although you’re now reading the text, images and fine tuning will need to come later. So come on back! You know you want to read it again and tell your friends …

For many people, this month (and next) is all about family. However you spend Thanksgiving, think about turning your radio on low, for background, and listen to one of many nationwide stations broadcasting the best of Holiday music or your genre of choice. Of course, my fave on the Featured Radio Survey is vintage Rock & Roll, Sly & the Family Stone’s “Family Affair,” at #21 … but bottom line, if you keep an open heart and mind, you can’t go wrong with good music and family (even if it must be through Zoom or Skype).

So crank up the volume a tad and let’s celebrate November and Thanksgiving 1971 … 50 Years Ago this Month …

♪ Rockin’ News & Views November 1971 ~ Then & Now 

50 Years Ago this Month …
Many radio stations of the era included “bonus” music info for their listeners, like lyrics to a popular song, or up-and-coming song titles, or a list of best albums. Both WCFL/Chicago (still in Halloween mode with their chart ending 11/04/1971) and KOWN/Escondido, California, our
FRS, with chart ending 11/21/1971, boasted an album list, so …

>Then November 1971 …
Back in the day, there was a plethora of albums released this month. Some were forgettable without a single remarkable solo title, while one in particular gave us an iconic song for the decades, though the album went largely untitled … 

November 8^th: Most music lovers instantly recognize “Stairway to Heaven” from the first few strums of Jimmy Page’s guitar. It made its public debut on this day, one of several dynamic tunes on Led Zeppelin’s iconic fourth studio album, popularly known simply as Led Zeppelin IV. “Stairway” was backed up by “Black Dog” and “Rock and Roll” with their own memorable intros. 

November 17^th: While Zep was in their prime, Bob Dylan merely fulfilled a contractual obligation when he released his second “best of” album, Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II. To make it fresh, he mixed previously recorded songs with archived, never recorded tunes that received a lukewarm reception from fans, at the time. Gaining admirers over the decades, Vol. II is now considered one of his best-selling albums with recognizable songs like “All Along the Watchtower,” and “All I Really Want to Do.” ♪ All I really want to do | Is, baby, be friends with you. ♪ (Yes, it was written and originally sung by Dylan, but Cher brought it to life.)

November 28^th?: Rudy the Fifth, a Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band album appears in Wiki’s list of albums released November 28, 1971 – or was it? Wiki can’t seem to get its “facts” straight. Their data page for the album offers an October 4, 1971, release date as do several other sources—however, most of them take their lead from Wiki and “Life,” one of the more interesting songs on its track list, shows a January 30, 1971, release date … make up my mind! ♪ Life, before you're over | I want something to show for | All my trouble … What are we here for?” ♪
       Well, October and January have come and gone, so here we are … it’s worth mentioning because  for all his fame, the pretty-boy, teen idol actor, didn’t have it easy as a pop artist. From the beginning, he wasn’t taken as a serious singer. However, his role on the long running family “reality” TV show, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, ended in 1966, and by then, his critics had learned a thing or two. His "Poor Little Fool" became the first #1 song on Billboard magazine’s new “Hot 100 chart” in 1958. Good for him.

>Now November 2021 …
Well of course … the month of Thanksgiving also includes Family Stories Month. The official link is several years old, so let’s talk about how this month relates to you, BFYP, and Rock Radio DJs! In fact, I can give you an example. Do you have a former (or even current) Radio Disc Jockey in your family? Ask him or her what life was like on the radio, back in the day. Grab your recorder, and keep those memories forever!

My example is good friend pioneering DJ, Bill Gardner. Last month, as Bill put it, “… radio guy and singer/songwriter Richard Beattie,” contacted Bill for an interview about his memories of gigs at KLZ-AM and KLVZ-FM, “regarding our pioneering launch of America's first Rock and Roll [format] on FM, KLZ-FM Denver in '65.” Richard is in Denver so it’s personal for him, and intriguing radio history.
       They chatted about the absolute brilliance of KLZ/Denver in forecasting radio’s future. Bill recognized the potential of FM and the album-oriented format The full interview aired in snippets over the month of October, but we have a partial sample of the first interview for you and hope to score the full hour of great radio memories, soon. Stay tuned! And more this month …

November 16^th: Family Day marks the second day of the week in American Education Week. Why might this be important to Blast from Your Past? Because we like to think memories are an education unto themselves and should also be recognized today. Family history is often discussed in schools and BFYP DJs have decades of educational memories to share. Just ask ‘em. 😊

November 24^th: In fact, ask the pioneering DJ in your family why National Jukebox Day is important to radio? Back in the day, if your song was heard on the radio, the next logical step to broaden its audience was the ubiquitous jukebox. There was one in every diner, honkytonk, and bars without live music.

November 25^th: Thanksgiving is here! Thank you, readers for stopping by to visit when you can. Enjoy November 1971 memories (or history if you’re a young’un) and Thanksgiving memories, then and now.

♪ 50 Years Ago on Your Tinny Transistor Radio 
NOVEMBER 1971 ~ Try as I did, I could find no information on KOWN’s cover DJ, Dave Love.
Dave had the look of SoCal’s typical “surfer dude” of the era, but was that his real name or the station moniker? If anyone knows, please feel free to contact me! LinDee @ BlastFromYourPast .net (remove the spaces).

       And while we paid tribute above to albums released this month, WCFL/Chicago and KOWN/Escondido, California, give us this month’s hot solo tracks burning up the Top 40 and Top 30 charts (respectively).
       “Peace Train” (Cat Stevens) and “Gypsys, Tramps and Thieves” (Cher) made the top five on both surveys. A special coup for Cher, as it was her first solo hit and eventually certified gold. KOWN also makes my special survey list, for its misspelling of “Theives” (and we won’t mention the misuse of the apostrophe in “Gypsy’s”).              

♪ BFYP Featured Radio Survey 
NOVEMBER 21, 1971 ~ KOWN/Escondido, California      Once again, Wiki makes a convoluted history report, with KOWN “beginning” in 1957. Granted, there’s a difference between stations’ AM and FM entities, but KOWN’s murky past include moving transmitters in 1972, but program testing in 1966, and “it didn’t sign on until August 1978.” Huh? The links are there, see if you can figure them out. In the meantime, have fun  … 50 Years Ago this Month in Rock & Roll Radio! Where were you that groovy day when your radio played …  

Let’s Celebrate NOVEMBER 1971 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. Two books (of three) 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 … 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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