Keener 13

By Scott Westerman

From the Legend page at keener13.com: “..for WKNR, it was the right time, the right elements and the right place, and for an all-too-brief period it was Camelot.”

Whenever I see the distinctive red, white and green logo from Bob Green Productions on a package, I know I’m in for a treat. In the seven years since keener13.com was born, Bob has been the project’s biggest cheerleader and contributor.

Once such gem arrived in my mailbox last week. It was a qualitative breakdown of the radio listening habits in Detroit during December and January of 1964-65.

This was the height of WKNR’s popularity. All the formatic details had been polished. And the on-air line-up that would be remembered as the quintessential Keener team was finding its center. In short, if you had to take a snapshot of WKNR at her best, this was the time.

The company that did the research was Pulse, a New York based radio research firm that specialized in face to face data gathering techniques that took interviewers door to door across Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. Then, as now, a microcosm of the overall audience was surveyed, just 1,034 households, with the results impressed across a broader universe to determine listening habits.

What stands out is Keener’s dominance as an advertising medium, regularly delivering listener ratings in the upper 20s and low 30s across just about every demographic dissection. Some factoids:

27.3% of all households surveyed listened to WKNR.
42.6% of three car households listened to WKNR.
3 in 10 Ford owners listened to Keener.
6 in 10 Rambler owners listened to Keener.
Department store shoppers preferred WKNR in droves.
46% of those surveyed had Federals charge accounts.
50% of those surveyed had charge accounts at E.J. Korvettes.
WKNR had a 20 share or higher across almost all occupational categories, ranking particularly high in executive and union-based professions.
WKNR had significant market share across all income demographics, playing particularly well at the upper end of the spectrum. 36.2% of those making the equivalent of $200,000 dollars a year were Keener listeners.

Our readers who are still in the radio business today would kill for 1/4 of these numbers.

And what a difference a decade makes. Ten years earlier (1955) was the decline of radio’s golden age. There was still long form programming across many day parts and Television had started its inexorable march to prominence with radio listenership spiraling downward.

Ten years later WKNR was history.

Link: Pulse Detroit Qualitative 1 December 1964-January 1965 (53mb PDF – Pretty big file!)

By Eileen Trombley Glick
Keener Correspondent at DetroitMemories.com

Swingin Time on DVD!

Over the years, a number of folks have written to me asking about the Swingin’ Time shows. As luck would have it, L.A. resident Dave Fisher, Cass Tech ’63, who was a ‘regular’ on Swingin’ Time, taped six shows back then and has now burned them to DVD. They are dated:8-27-66, 9-3-66, 9-10-66, 9-17-66, 12-24-66 and 3-11-67. If you’re interested in these DVDs, contact me and I’ll send you a PDF of the artists who appeared on each of these shows along with information on how the DVDs can be viewed.

Happy 50th Art Van and Little Caesars!

Art Van Elslander started working in a furniture store as a young man, and his entrepreneurial spirit led him to open his own store on Gratiot Avenue and 10 Mile Road in 1959. Despite the fact that Detroit’s economy was struggling during this time, Van Elslander was able to build his business, and between 1959 and 1964, he took on three business partners and opened seven more stores. Though the company experienced growth for some years, hard times hit Art Van Furniture in 1964. Getting creative, Van Elslander held a liquidation sale at the Michigan State Fair Grounds. He was able to sell everything and save the company. 1973, Art Van Furniture moved headquarters from the12 Mile Road and Van Dyke location to 14 Mile Road and Mound, where it is still located today. Art Van is the largest furniture retailer in Michigan, and the only independent family-run furniture store of its kind in the Midwest.

Mary Francis Masson Free Press Business Reporter writes:

A big “thank you, thank you” was bestowed on the couple who made “Pizza! Pizza!” a catchphrase. At a 50th anniversary celebration of Little Caesars, the kudos came from employees, franchisees, elected officials and even celebrities like Kid Rock, Eminem (who once worked at Little Caesars) and former President George W. Bush. Mike and Marian Ilitch opened their first Little Caesars restaurant in Garden City on May 8, 1959. Now there are about 2,500 Little Caesars pizza outlets located on five continents and in every U.S. state.

From the mailbag: I’m 67 years old and grew up in Detroit. I moved to Texas in 1960. When I was a little boy we lived on Detroit’s east side and my father would take me to an amusement park at 8 Mile Rd and Gratiot. I was wondering if anyone remembers the name of that park and if there are any surviving photos of the park? Also, are there any photos of Jefferson Amusement Park and is it still open? – Doug McLeroy Houston, Texas

Eastwood Park (aka Eastwood Gardens) was open from 1925-1953 and located at 8 Mile & Gratiot. It was a popular destination, helped by the fact that the streetcars turned around there. The park was a creation of Cyril Wagner, the same gentleman who opened Electric Park. In fact, Eastwood’s roller coaster came from Electric after it closed in the ’20s. Jefferson Beach was mostly destroyed by fire and closed in 1959. It boasted a 1,000 foot high roller coaster and a swimming beach. Additional information, memories and photos available at this terrific website: www.WaterWinterWonderland.com.

On a personal note, my dad was working at Jefferson Beach in 1947 when he met my mom, a visitor to the park. They married four months later and were together for 33 happy years. Our family lived about one mile from JB, so we went there often.

TV Talk with DETROIT TV GUY ED GOLICK Webmaster of www.DetroitKidShow.com and a vintage Detroit TV show expert

QUESTION: I was born in Ferndale in 1928. I studied at the Society of Arts & Crafts located on Watson street in Detroit, beginning in 1948. I have some good memories of ol’ Detroit. I remember Ralph Binge’s Beautiful Carl, Sharp Frank and, I believe there was one other character who were figments of Ralph’s comical imagination. He performed the voices. They were hilarious. They were very popular on his morning radio program, which was, I think, WXYZ, and the year was 1952. Can you give me more information about this show? – Bob Johnston Pawleys Island SC

ED SEZ: You can read more about Ralph Bingey and Joe Gentile on my website at http://www.detroitkidshow.com/Binge_and_Gentile.htm

Whatever happened to??

QUESTION: What ever happened to Don Zee? He was the midnight DJ at WXYZ. I listened to him all the time and even went down to the studio in Southfield with a friend of mine to visit with him one evening.

Art Vuolo, Radio’s Best Friend and Detroit broadcasting expert answers: Sadly, Don was killed in a gun accident while living in west Texas back in the late 1970s. Don “Daddy Zee” Oke (“Daddy Zee, two e’s, if you please”) worked the graveyard shift from midnight until 6 am, and always signed on with Dracula (Bobby Pickett), Elvira, and “Trantula” by The Trantulas.

Detroit Memories On YouTube: Check out Sonny Eliot’s 50th ANNIVERSARY INTERVIEW with Michael Collins from 1997.

Upcoming Class Reunions

Detroit St. Thomas – All years | St. Ambrose – All classes | Detroit Redford – Class of ’59 | Walled Lake Central – Class of ’59 | Mother Of Our Savior – 60’s Grade School Reunion | Highland Park – Class of ’64 | Waterford Kettering – Classes of ’64 and ’65 | Waterford Township – Class of ’68 | East Catholic – Class of ’69 | Lakeview (St. Clair Shores) – Class of ’69 | Livonia Franklin – Class of ’69 | Southfield – Class of ’69 | St. Florian – Class of ’69 | St. Mary Mt. Clemens – Class of ’69 | Waterford Kettering – Class of ’69 | Wyandotte Roosevelt – Class of ’69 | Madison – Class of ’74 | Clintondale – Class of ’77 | Lincoln Park – Class Of ’78 | Airport (Carleton, MI) – Class of ’79 | St. Clement – Class of ’79. Details on all Detroit area class reunions can be found here.

(Eileen Trombley Glick keeps Detroit Memories alive from her home base in Phoenix AZ. Click here to subscribe to the FREE Detroit Memories Newsletter.)

By Scott Westerman
We noted with interest Saul Hansell’s NYT piece entitled “The Ascendance of Internet Radio“. In it, he showcases the pricey Tivoli wifi radio boxes. They are but one of a growing number of Internet appliances that play music. I say play music, because the definition of Internet radio doesn’t necessarily comply with how us Keenerfans might define the term.

Services like Pandora and Rhapsody create playlists for you based on preferences you choose, playing your faves and interspersing them with stuff that the computer logic thinks you also might like. These services include applications that play on IPhones and wifi audio devices so you can take your playlists with you. Continue reading “Internet Radio: Ready for Prime Time?” →

By Scott Westerman – Curator, Keener13.com

To paraphrase the Cannon, “It was 42 years ago today, Sgt. Pepper blew the world away..” On June 2, 1967 Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was released in the United States. The collection ranks as number 1 on the Rolling Stone list of all-time great albums. its spawned a thousand imitators up to and including the Simpsons, and four decades later, the Beatles classic is still a household word. So why didn’t any of the album tracks ever make it to the WKNR Music Guide? What two Pepper session recordings weren’t included in the LP, but made it to number 2 on Keener before being included in The Magical Mystery Tour? Who ARE all of those people on the album cover? Which Pepper track did Russ Gibb study during his quest to solve the Paul McCartney death mystery? And what role did a famous WKNR personality play in promoting Sgt. Pepper’s release nationwide? Continue reading “WKNR’s Sgt. Pepper Connection” →

By Scott Westerman

When I read Susan Whitall’s piece on John Fogerty, it brought back vivid memories of putting on the headphones in my Ann Arbor basement, stepping behind my Ludwigs and playing along with Creedence.

CCR charted 13 times on WKNR over a three year period between August of 1968 and July of 1971. The station played the hits, but also dug deeper into the albums, tracking secondary singles like Lodi, Commotion and Sweet Hitchhiker. With the exception of Suzi Q, every CCR appearance went top ten. Continue reading “Primal Fogerty” →

Jeff Smith sent us this link to an NPR story about the past, present and questionable future of Muzak. For example, did you know that Lyndon Johnson owned a Muzak franchise and sold a subscription to the White House? Ken MacDonald, Sr., the erstwhile owner of radio stations in Saginaw, Cadillac and Petoskey once told me that a Muzak franchise was a “license to print money”. It may have subconsciously influenced my career direction.. I became a cable guy soon after that conversation.

Today Muzak is trying to dig their way out bankruptcy, even as some of the terrestrial broadcasters teeter on the brink. The key question: Will businesses pay for an “audio environment” in the age of the Ipod?

I remember sitting in the orthodontist’s office in Ann Arbor back in the 60s. Dr. Buatti had WLDM, “Detroit’s Foremost FM Station”, doing their Muzak impression in his waiting room. I wished I had a transistor with Keener playing in the ear piece. I think that perhaps that added to the excruciation of the whole braces experience!

By Susan Whitall – From her Blog at DetNews.com
I’ve gotten more than a few calls from angry musicians this week, in the wake of publicity about the radio protests going on against Rep. John Conyers’ proposed fee for performers that AM and FM radio would have to pay.

Conyers’ Performance Rights Act passed through the Judiciary Committee and now faces a vote by Congress. The Senate has a similar bill it’s considering. Continue reading “More from the musicians” →

By Scott Westerman
If you read Mike Austerman and Art Vuolo in January of 2009, you know that their love affair with satellite radio is diminishing as the unified brands struggle to find profitability by cutting personality and tightening the 60s play list. It seems that the decade channels at Sirius/XM are falling victim to the same disease that’s infecting most major radio stations these days. It’s symptoms are homogenization and automation, followed by staff termination. Continue reading “Where did our love go?” →

By Susan Whitall – From her Blog at DetNews.com
Singer/songwriter Cat Stevens, known now as Yusuf Islam, performed in Los Angeles Monday night in his first U.S. show in 33 years. The concert was invitation-only and packed with famous musicians (Van Morrison was reportedly on the list) and celebrities.

Here’s the Billboard report.

The “Reel” Tom Ryan reports that you can now peruse every issue of Billboard Magazine, from 1942 to 2008, on line over at Google Books.. for free.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Do a WKNR word search at Google Books and you’ll find 628 references across hard covers, paperbacks and magazine articles.

Some of the Billboard references include an interview with Keener program director Frank Maruca, who discussed the station’s policy on playing Christmas music and an article announcing the debut of progressive rock on WKNR-FM.

Google Books is a growing library of facsimile reproductions of documents, books and magazines. Its a lot like digging through the microfilm at the library and is a treasure trove for Keenerfans seeking references to our favorite radio station on the web.

Chris Morton, writing in his Floydian Slips blog, takes us back to the summer of 1967. Tim Buckley was slated to appear at Russ Gibb’s famed Grande Ballroom and as the artist and his host headed toward the venue their path was blocked by the Michigan National Guard. They were told that portions of the city were in flames. Chris goes on to relate how the Grande escaped destruction even as buildings all around it were consumed. Even as the rage was boiling over, people remembered that this was a place where the music lived.. a place worth saving.

That’s just one of a thousand footnotes from the storied history of Detroit’s hippest 60s concert spot. Continue reading “Remembering the Grande” →

After his departure from the Monkees, Mike Nesmith charted on the WKNR Music Guide with “Joanne“, a tune that helped cement his reputation as a pioneer in the country rock genre. The song had echoes of “Different Drum“, which became a one hit wonder for the Stone Poneys, and a catalyst for Linda Rondstadt’s solo career. Nesmith had an early fascination for incorporating video and music and was a seminal influence on what would become the early format of MTV. Continue reading “Mike Nesmith’s video parody” →