Keener 13

Frank Hartge is one of our most dedicated Keenerfans. He’s my Ebay agent, with an eye out for anything on that site connected to WKNR. And he’s probably the only person in the state of Ohio with his own personal Keener license plates. “The DMV wouldn’t let me use the actual call letters, so I opted for this, which is probably better anyway,” he says. “Not that anyone in central Ohio will know what it means!”

Update: Frank’s not the only one to immortalize Keener with license plateage. The “Reel” Tom Ryan, legendary CKLW board-op and a major contributor of WKNR history to this site, has the Michigan version. “I also have (from the past) a non-vanity Michigan plate ‘KLW 800’ and also a non-vanity Ontario plate ‘KLW 800′”, he writes. ” Both of those plates were regular issues. I had to wait in line in two different countries to obtain those plates in my name. That happened when I moved back to Michigan from Windsor in 1978.” Now that’s dedication!

Mike Smith, the lead singer of the Dave Clark 5, passed away on February 28th, less than two weeks before the group was scheduled to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Smith’s supercharged vocals were part of the mix that brought the DC5 to the front lines of the British Invasion. The band charted 18 times on Keener beginning with “Bits and Pieces”, which peaked at number 2 on the WKNR Music Guide in April of 1964, and ending with “Everybody Knows” which had a?two week run in November of 1967. After the?DC5 broke up,?Smith?fronted his own band?until a freak accident in 2003 left him paralyzed below the ribcage. He was 64.?Smith was the second band member to pass, preceded by saxophone player Denis Payton, who succumbed to cancer in December of 2006.

More Links:
USA Today Appreciation?- AP London?- Rare Film Footage?- Susan Whitall’s Blog?-? Pat St. John Remembers?- Official Mike Smith Website?- DC5 Discography?- USA Today: Accolades finally arrive

I can’t confirm the count, but it seems to us that WKNR has been one of the most popular topics of Terry Young’s Sonic Sound Salute over at XM Radio’s 60s on 6. Terry’s back on the case on Friday, February 22nd, from 4-9PM Eastern time. You’ll hear airchecks from the Bob Green collection along with Keener’s unique mix of personality, audience involvement and great 60s rock n roll. Here’s how DetNews.com’s Susan Whitall covers the story, including a shout-out to Keener13.com.

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.