MIKE JOSEPH: ‘KEEPING TOP 40 RADIO IN TUNE WITH TIMES’. . . JULY 11, 1970

Motor City Radio Flashbacks logo (2015)From The MCRFB news archive: 1970

BILLBOARD ANNUAL RADIO PROGRAMMING, JUNE, 1970

‘RIOTS CARRY OVER INTO MUSIC’

 

 

 

 

NEW YORK — Because of a generation gap — a big one that’s highly evident in music today — the major problem in Top 40 radio could be in pinpointing the audience and programming accordingly, said Michael Joseph, one of the nation’s leading programming consultant and an authority in audience flow characteristics of various markets. Joseph spoke on “Trends in Contemporary Music Programming — The need To Know Your Audience.”

Pointing out that among the 40 radio stations he has reprogrammed were 18 Top 40 stations, 7 easy listening stations, variety stations, talk and news, he said there cannot be a ‘Mike Joseph’ format because “every market is different. So are the people. So is the competition. Each sound has to be custom-tailored, its population, to its music, news and information needs and wants, and counter-programmed against every competitor and according to the audience flow in the area.” Even his 18 rockers, he said has a different approach, format and sound.

Mike Joseph(MCRFB)3Between 1952-55, Joseph said he was program director of a highly-rated CBS station . . . and those were the days when every CBS affiliate was No. 1 at least 45 per cent of the audience. Joseph said he saw the handwriting on the wall and went into Top 40, as former radio giants were being sliced up by Storz Broadcasting and McClendon owned-affiliated Top 40 stations. The old affiliated stations were living on its laurels, living in the past, still convinced they were No. 1 when it was no longer true, he said.

Some Trouble

“Today, the contemporary and middle-of-the-road stations are in the same situation as these network stations were 15 years ago,” Joseph said. “You talk to the owners, management, and program people of these stations which had a third to a half of their market’s share 10 years ago, and you will find most of them are traditional in their thinking, living with their old glories and are ignorant of what’s happening in their markets, with their competitors, and especially with the music,” while their share of their audience has dwindled away. Just as Top 40 took away their audiences of the traditional stations, their own audiences are being eroded with all-talk, all-news, country music and soul music stations. Music stations are in trouble, he said, but “as a consultant, I learned never to give a criticism without a cure.”

He recommended surveying the market extensively, knowing the audience, programming the station according to the audience flow and against all the competitors, not just the “guys in your particular bag.”

Going into a city to work on a particular radio station, Joseph said he holes up in a hotel armed with all of the ratings available and transistor radios, then spends anywhere from two to six weeks listening and keeping a log on each station. Next, he visits the Chamber of Commerce and meets with business men to find out the makeup of the market and gather data precisely when people are at work. He said he has “found out, that in most markets there is no such thing as prime time or drive time, as agencies would lead us to believe.”  When he was revamping (then WKMH) WKNR in Detroit in 1963, he discovered that the four major automobile plants alone had 170 different work shifts and he remembered another that has as many workers at home or in their cars at 10 a.m. as it had in 5 p.m.

Riots Show

And last month’s Cambodia riots pointed out the difference between college students and New York’s construction workers . . .  this type of friction carries over into music, too. “When I programmed a station in Toledo last year, the rockers were low in ratings. I found out why immediately; there was a tremendous white backlash against rhythm and blues. The rockers were sounding like soul stations. I went in without a single soul record and the station skyrocketed from ninth to second within five days.” The reason, Joseph said, is that most of Toledo’s white work force came out of the South 20 or more years ago, while the Negro population was only 9 per cent. But when reprogramming WKNR in Detroit, he played a lot of soul. “Keener was the first white rocker to go Motown,” he said, because Detroit is 50 per cent Negro. His Philadelphia study showed the city to be conservative, so he programmed WFIL with a clean, well balanced adult-sound with little emphasis on soul because Philadelphia is well integrated. “Detroit Negroes think black, Philly Negroes think white,” he said.

‘Rapped Programmers’

He criticized Top 40 radio stations that program teen features and acid rock, hop promos, teen spots and contests mid-mornings when every student is in school. Teen-influenced programmers have taken over and, because they do hops and talk to the kids all of the time, they live and work in a teeny world. “Start communicating with the adults again,” he suggested. “You’ve lost them, and since we do play the numbers game, we must remember that the adults are still the majority.”

The radio industry also needs “basic rock” back in music. “The simple beats and simple lyrics need to return,” he said. “Top 40 music has become too experimental and too technical and lost the majority. You are catering to a majority, and as a result, it has become a minority appeal sound.” He pointed out the popularity of oldies and that the rock ‘n’ roll revivals were no fluke . . .  the kids are going to the root of it all.”

He also felt that the teen of today was much smarter and more sophisticated and more involved than 10 years ago and they had to be treated as equals by on-the-air personalities.

In the flood of eager questions which followed his speech on “Trends in Contemporary Music Programming,” Michael Joseph said the “drive time” was growing in its importance to radio programmers. Joseph said that in many cities, because of staggered hours and a multitude of other factors, the drive time market has developed into a virtual 24-hour market.

He noted too that middle-of-the-road radio is undergoing a gradual but definite change and urged both program directors and station managers to work toward halting the erosion in the format.

In answer to a question from the audience, Joseph said that the record sales percentages used in making up his station’s playlist were culled in it’s entirety from record stores and one stops. END

(Information and news source: Billboard; July 11, 1970).

MCRFB NOTE: For previous Mike Joseph entries linked to Motor City Radio Flashbacks, you may go HERE, HEREHEREand HERE.

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HOLD ON! HERMAN’S HERMITS HITS SILVER SCREEN ’66!

Hold On! Movie Poster (MCRFB)

HERMAN’S HERMITS * “Hold On!” * MGM (HOLD ON! Soundtrack LP) 1966


M A R C H    3 0 ,  1 9 6 6 :   T O D A Y  I N   M U S I C   H I S T O R Y

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Hermans-Hermits-Hold-OnTHIS DAY 1966 : The film Hold On! starring Peter Noone and Shelley Fabares, launched its gala premiere in Los Angeles, today, Wednesday, March 30. The 85 min. musical film is directed by Arthur Lubin, film cast co-stars Herbert Anderson, Bernard Fox and Sue Ane Langdon. The film’s soundtrack features ten new songs by Herman’s Hermits and one by Shelley Fabares, while casting band members on tour in the movie’s plot as a fictionalized band version of themselves. Produced by Sam Katzman. (Source: Wikipedia)


Peter Noone and Shelley Fabares 1965 (mcrfb)

SHELLEY FABARES * “Make Me Happy” * MGM (HOLD ON! Soundtrack LP) 1966

Herman's hermits 'Hold On!'

THIS DAY IN POP MUSIC HISTORY



 

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WESTON HAS DETROIT SOUND WRAPPED UP . . . APRIL 29, 1967

Motor City Radio Flashbacks logo (2015)From the MCRFB news archives: 1967

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kim Weston 'I Got What You Need' MGM singleNEW YORK — Kim Weston’s Detroit sound came across loud and clear at the Riverboat here Tuesday night (April 18), as the recently signed MGM artist delivered a mixed bag of soul and standards.

Miss Weston’s opening number, “I Got What You Need,” was easily the most effective of the evening. It’s a hard-driving pop song with R&B overtones, and it’s also the title of her first MGM single. The material and delivery speak well of Miss Weston’s Motown background.

She demonstrated power and range in “The Man That Got Away,” and a good dramatic sense in the title song from the Broadway musical, “Walking Happy.”

But Miss Weston is strongest with the Detroit sound, although she’s versatile enough to handle show tunes and standards. END

(Information and news source: Billboard; April 29, 1967).

I GOT WHAT YOU NEED * Kim Weston * MGM Records (1967)

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WKNR-AM BACK ON THE RADIO: GARY STEVENS!

On Air (Flashing)

WKNR RECALLED ON MOTOR CITY RADIO FLASHBACKS

WKNR-AM 1310 * 1965 * GARY STEVENS



Gary Stevens WKNR aircheck date: Saturday, March 27, 1965

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Gary Steven’s last show on WKNR. Stevens’ first show upon his arrival to New York’s legendary WMCA was Thursday, April 8, 1965.




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POST WKNR: GARY STEVENS SPELLS ‘CASH’ FOR WMCA

New York City WMCA radio ad. WMCA and Gary Stevens represented by Robert E. Eastman, Co. 1966. (Click on image 2x for largest view).
New York City WMCA radio ad. WMCA and Gary Stevens represented by Robert E. Eastman, Co. 1966. (Click on image 2x for largest view).

Photo courtesy: mrpopculture.com/


A WMCA GARY STEVENS ’65 FLASHBACK!

GARY STEVENS * April 24, 1965 * WMCA 570 * NYC

WMCA-AM Good Guys 57 c. 1965

Gary Stevens aircheck audio courtesy musicradio77.com/



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WMCA NYC: A FAREWELL MESSAGE BY GARY STEVENS!

The New York Daily News, Friday, August 30, 1968.
The New York Daily News Friday, August 30, 1968

A WMCA GARY STEVENS ’65 FLASHBACK!

 GARY STEVENS (ex-WKNR) * April 8, 1965 * WMCA 570 (Stevens’ First Show) New York

WMCA-AM Good Guys 57 c. 1965

Gary Stevens aircheck audio courtesy musicradio77.com/


A MCRFB GARY STEVENS POSTSCRIPT

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GARY STEVENS, ONE OF THE LEGENDARY WMCA “GOOD GUYS,” having signed on April, 1965, did his last radio gig on ‘Fabulous 570,’ Thursday, September 18, 1968. Prior, Gary Stevens was one of the most popular jocks in Detroit while on WKNR “Keener 13” from November 1963 through  March 1965.

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ALSO: For an extensive Gary Stevens feature previously posted (February 18, 2013) on Motor City Radio Flashbacks, see GARY STEVENS: FROM JOCK TO DOUBLEDAY EXECUTIVE



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WJBK 15 TOP 53 HITS IN DETROIT: ON THIS DAY IN 1964!

WJBK-SURVEY-MARCH-27-1964-FRONT

WJBK 1500 RECORD REVIEW WAS COMPILED BY RETAIL SALES AND RADIO AIRPLAY POPULARITY

WJBK DETROIT’S TOP 15: NUMBER 13 * The Wailers * WEEK OF 3/27/64

WJBK-SURVEY-MARCH-27-1964-BACK (1)

WJBK 1500 RECORD REVIEW WAS COMPILED BY RETAIL SALES AND RADIO AIRPLAY POPULARITY

ON THE WAY ON ‘JBK : NUMBER 40 * Shirley Matthews * WEEK OF 3/27/64


WJBK RADIO 15. 51 YEARS AGO

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WJBK-SURVEY-MARCH-27-1964-FRONT(MCRFB Header Cropped)


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