Pink Cadillacs and live coverage: Detroit gave Aretha Franklin a send-off befitting her contribution to the pantheon of soul. Over 100 pink vehicles were on the scene as was Detroit television and several cable networks. See the entire funeral here.
Those of us who grew up in Keenerland also listened to and respected “The Great Voice of the Great Lakes”. WJR’s 50,000 watt signal was home to one of the steadiest and most professional lineups of talent in the market. We remember J.P. McCarthy in the Morning, Karl Hass, Mike Whorf and the Focus interview program in the Middays and Jimmy Launce in the afternoons. Ernie Harwell was the voice of summer and the WJR News Team put together long form broadcasts that covered Detroit’s ever changing scene in award winning style. Another of the WJR team left us this week when Jimmy Launce died at age 84 in Sarasota. What’s less known is Jimmy’s Keener connection. He worked at WKNR’s sister station in Battle Creek in 1959, before the call letters were WKFR. Jimmy was also the first host of the Focus program, along with Lee Murray. Here’s a link to Jimmy’s closing theme: “Gina” recorded by Don Costa.
Were you one of the 25.7 million households to watch the last episode of “The Fugitive” on WXYZ (ABC) this past week in 1967? David Jansen as the wrongly accused Dr. Richard Kimble was pursued by Barry Morse‘s detective Philip Gerard for four seasons, climaxing in the capture of the villainous “One Armed Man”, portrayed by real life amputee, Bill Raisch. Raisch went on to become a long time acting teacher. He had a famous fight scene with Kirk Douglas in Lonely are the Brave in 1962 and can be seen in a crowd scene in the sci-fi classic, War of the Worlds. Raisch lost his arm during World War II. Watch the final 5 minutes of the penultimate Fugitive episode here.
If ever a song summed up a summertime memory it’s The Beatles‘ Hey Jude, (Video) released in the summer of 1968. Legend has it that Paul McCartney wrote it for John Lennon‘s then 5 year old son son, Jullian (Jules), in the wake of John’s divorce from Jules’ mother, Cynthia. Rolling Stone calls the tune, “a tribute to their friendship, right at the moment it was starting to fracture.”
Keener Number Ones for this week include:
(1964) Last Kiss, J Frank Wilson
(1965) Eve of Destruction, Barry McGuire
(1966) Cherish, Association
(1967) The Letter, Box Tops
(1968) Harper Valley PTA, Jeannie C Riley
(1969) Sugar Sugar, Archies
(1970) Cracklin’ Rosie, Neil Diamond
(1971) Go Away Little Girl, Donny Osmond
Keener birthdays this week include, Daryl Dragon (August 27) of the Captain and Tennille, Wayne Osmond (August 28) of the Osmond Brothers, and Van Morrison (August 31).
Keener on Spotify: 13 Hits from the week of September 3, 1964.
Our deep dive into the WKNR Music Guide comes from the week ending September 3, 1964. Keener was a month away from celebrating her first birthday and was at the top of the Detroit rock radio ratings. The musical themes included car songs, there were entries from the British Invasion and some Motown Magic, and it was a time when the likes of Earl Hagen and Al Martino could still score a Top 40 hit. Clearasil was a product that every teenager knew about (check out this 1960s vintage commercial) and The Beach Boys were about to pivot away from simply surf tunes with “All Summer Long” at the top of the LP Charts. In one of those continuity errors that often happens in Hollywood, All Summer Long plays over the closing credits of the film “American Graffiti” which documents the end of the summer of ’62.
Another oddity from this week in 1964 was the appearance of Jumpin Gene Simmons’ (no relation to the guy from Kiss). His “Haunted House” stood at Number 10, a record that would become an annual novelty hit during the Halloween season. We’ll leave you with a video rendition of this fun one-hit-wonder.
