Keener 13

Mike Austerman, the venerable webmaster over at Michiguide, shares the radio column beat with Art Vuolo over at the Oakland Press. He’s always worth reading, but especially so with this candid assessment of the state of the art in the Motor City. Scroll down to the comment section for some succinct analysis from Keener’s magic maker Bob Green.

Valentine’s day is traditionally a time when we break out our favorite Keener love songs. The vast majority of the 2,756 records that charted on the WKNR Music Guide were poems inspired by Cupid’s arrow. But as Susan Whitall writes in her Detroit News blog, some of the more interesting musical tomes of the last 40 years focus on love gone bad.

When the Republicans were in Michigan ahead of the primary election, one candidate gushed about an underground Motown legend. It turns out that Mike Huckabee is a huge James Jamerson fan. DetNews.com’s Susan Whitall blogs about it.

On the morning of April 25, 1972, while John McRae was playing the last rock and roll records of the Keener era on WKNR-AM, Jim Cutler was at the controls in the control room on WKNR-FM. Keener-FM had pioneered a new approach to beautiful music when it launched Stereo Island in 1971. It required the DJs to put together seamless mixes of the most mellow popular tunes amongst a jingle package customized for the brand. It was a concept that was a step above the mind numbing elevator music that was an automated?staple across town at WLDM. But the human capital it required to produce the Stero Island sound didn’t throw off enough cash flow to satisfy the bean counters (sound familiar?), and as Keener AM backtimed to the top of the hour with “Turn Turn Turn” by the Byrds, Jim Cutler queued up his final Stereo Island set. Jim Nuznoff knew it was coming and had his reel to reel rolling to document the first hour of the new WNIC. The resulting aircheck ?gives a good feel for how tragically bland WNIC’s initial programming concept was. Juxtaposed against what we hear today, you can see just how far “100.3” has come.

From the Keener Key Men of music.. Here’s a 1968 New Year’s Greeting. Four decades later the Keener Magic is still felt in Detroit, and around the world. All the best from your Keener13.com curators: Scott Westerman and Steve Schram.

Keener correspondent Bob Berry sends this best-ever post from Dan O’Day. If you have ever earned a pay check in the radio biz, this one will bring back a ton of memories, both good and bad, and remind you why broadcasting is a lifelong addiction from which we never fully recover.

He never charted on Keener, but Dan Fogelberg was a key voice in the soft rock revolution that helped WNIC return the WKNR-FM frequency to number one in Detroit. The Pekin, Illinois native had a dozen hits in the 70s and 80s with a story telling style that approached Harry Chapin and lyrical melodies that found their way into hundreds of back seats during romantic Michigan evenings.

Susan Whitall’s piece, “Rock Hall of Fame stirs controversy with some oddball choices” hits the nail on the head. With people like Leonard Cohen and Grandmaster Flash getting in ahead of Gordon Lightfoot and Mitch Ryder, it makes you wonder what the voters have been smoking.

Few who lived through the 60s may remember the name Ross Bagdasarian, but his alter ego, David Seville, found a place in the rock n roll record books. It happened when he recorded his voice and sped up the tape to create Alvin, Simon and Theodore… The Chipmunks. While a number of novelty acts found their way onto the WKNR Music Guide, The Chipmunks never did. And yet, they spawned an empire that continues to provide cash flow for Bagdasarian’s descendants. Here’s Ryan Pearson’s take on the latest resurgence of interest.

Keener correspondent Bob Berry aggregates these news stories from the Freep and MHOFM:

Down in Nashville late last month, the Musicians Hall of Fame held its first ever induction and Motown’s Funk Brothers backing band (drummer Uriel Jones, bassist Bob Babbitt and guitarist Eddie Willis) was among the honorees.

At the induction ceremony concert, Peter Frampton spoke of how he was inspired by the group and sang “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” with the inductees backing him. Former Supremes singer Mary Wilson then performed “Stop in the Name of Love.”

Here’s more from the MHOFM website.

NASHVILLE, TN (October 26, 2007) — The Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum is happy to announce the first annual Musicians Hall of Fame Awards Show at Schermerhorn Symphony Center, November 26, 2007, 7:30 p.m.? This inaugural event celebrates the induction of some of the most esteemed and influential musicians in recording history. The inaugural inductees include the Nashville A-Team, The Blue Moon Boys, The Funk Brothers, The Memphis Boys, The Tennessee Two, and The Wrecking Crew.?

“These are the actual musicians who played on so many records that have become such a part of our everyday lives,” says Joe Chambers, CEO and founder, Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum.? “There are so many more musicians to be recognized and every year we will add more names to those who will be honored.? This will be such an historic evening with all these talented inductees being paid tribute on the stage of Nashville’s incredible new Schermerhorn Symphony Center.”

The event will showcase performances with some of the original members from the groups that being honored which include; The Nashville A-Team (Harold Bradley, Ray Edenton, Charlie McCoy, Bob Moore, Hargus “Pig” Robbins, and Jerry Kennedy), Funk Brothers (Uriel Jones, Joe Messina, Eddie Willis, and Bob Babbitt), Wrecking Crew? (Billy Strange, Don Randi, Larry Knechtel, Joe Osborn, Hal Blaine, Lyle Ritz, James Burton, Jim Horn, and Mike Deasy), Memphis Boys (Bobby Emmons, Bobby Wood, Gene Chrisman, Mike Leech, and Reggie Young), Tennessee Two (Marshall Grant and Bob Wooten, who replaced the late Luther Perkins); Blue Moon Boys (Scotty Moore and D.J. Fontana). These musicians played on mega-hits for such legendary superstars as the Beach Boys, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, George Harrison, Patsy Cline, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, George Jones, the Supremes, and Frank Sinatra.? Along with this talented roster of performers, special guest vocalists will also be announced soon.

During rock radio’s golden age, there were a few personalities who transcended the format to become a brand in their own right. Such was the case with Philly legend Hy Lit who passed away recently at age 73. He exuded charisma but couldn’t follow formats, stepped all over the vocals and just plain did things his way. Here’s Jerry Del Collano’s appreciation along with a Ron Turner compilation of Hy Lit airchecks.

For several years, we produced a podcast celebrating the music, the memories and the popular culture of Detroit. The Keener13 Podcast got hits from around the world and, depending on the topic, tens of thousands of listeners sampled our flavor of Michigan rock. Time and the complicated maze of regulations on streaming media made our show a memory, but the passion flame for Michigan music is far from extinguished. Tony Clark and Art Van, two Keener enthusiasts and audio artists in their own right produce The Michigan Oldies Podcast, a regular two hour venture into the radio wayback machine. It’s a mixture of personality, trivia and tunes, much of which are rarely heard on the conventional airwaves these days. Find them at www.michiganoldiespodcast.com?.