Named for Radio

I know the pic is blurry it's the intersection of Broadcast St. and Rankin Lake. It was late and I was tired, lost and hugry somewhere near the Virginia/North Carolina border. (After I took the pic I ate at Denny's got a hotel and bought a map).
We've all driven on, or past radio Avenue, or Radio Drive. There are easily a hundred streets named "Transmitter" Road. They're usually tucked up in the hills, right below the tower farm, but it's a real road. What is less common is the naming of an entire town after radio. This has happened only four times in the United States.

The United States has 5 places with Radio in their name:
Radio Junction, Texas ...on route 90 near Copperas
Radio Springs, Georgia ...just outside Rome I drove through it last year.
Radioville, Indiana ...Rte 421 south of Valparasio*
Radioville, Puerto Rico ...? near Arecibo I am told.
Radio Range Park, Ohio ...so its a tower farm, but somebody incorporated it near Hamilton Ohio for some reason. Home of WHSS the most organized high school radio station in America. It's run by GM Dave Spurrier a great american and long time radio man. http://www.895whss.com/

*Incidently radioville was 1. a website about pittsburgh radio and also an advertising company in the UK. These four things are all unrelated.

Radio and Ray Charles

Lots of radio stations play Ray Charles today, his work is a staple at the oldies format, urban oldies, and even some of the less lame Urban AC outlets. His rendition of "America the Beautiful" is played at sign off all over the country. His song Georgia on my mind is the official state song of our 23rd state. ...And really, after the movie "Ray" who doesn't like Ray Charles? And what the hell does this have to do with radio?  In the 1940s he spent some time as talent on 1240 WFOY-AM, then just a 250 watt daytimer, but still a CBS radio affiliate. In 1948 he and his Maxin Trio did a few pay-to-play 15 minute spots on KRSC  in Seattle. KRSC actually launched an FM stick in 1947, and it was on this brand new FM station they played. After that he used radio more to record than to broadcast. Well. When Ray Charles' career first began there were not a large number of recording studios around. Recording was expensive and most artists couldn't afford to cut a demo for vanity's sake. While he was on Atlantic records, studio time wasn't really an issue. But he still was using some odd ball studios. Atlantic records was an indie label. It was a move up for him, but he also became their first big artist. Ray Charles' early singles made him the bread winner for that label. Before he made it, they were nothing special. He outgrew the label quickly and moved over to ABC.

So, Ray got started in radio, not as a DJ but by recording his early singles at radio station studios. In Atlanta, Chicago and New Orleans.

The classic "Rays Blues" was recorded at WDSU-AM in New Orleans in 1953 as were many other sides. I got a woman was actually recorded at WGST-AM in Atlanta (still owned by Georgia Tech at the time, ...and 4 sides were put to tape WMAQ-AM Miami. 

It was Zenas Sears, then only an Atlanta deejay , got studio them time for on WGST they recorded some of his all-time classics including I've Got A Woman, Greenbacks, Come Back Baby, and Blackjack. The only reason Ray was in the WDSU studio is that Cosimo's was booked. He still managed to lay down a killer version of Don't You Know with a backing band of hired hands.

O Brother, Where Art Thou Radio

As powerful as Radio is, it used to be more so. A suave good ol' boy from Ohio fooled Texas into thinking he was a Texan, then ran for governor and won then ran for Senate and beat out Lyndon Johnson for the spot. He did it with a live radio show and a good back up band. They spoofed him in a film not too long ago...

The character of "Pappy" O'Daniel, the Governor of Mississippi and host of the KPRC-AM radio show The Flour Hour, is closely based on W. Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel, one-time Governor of Texas and later US Senator from that state. O'Daniel was not a native Texan. He was from Malta, Ohio. As a young child, he moved to Reno County, Kansas. More here.

O'Daniel worked in the flour milling business and moved to Fort Worth in 1925 to work for the Burrus Mills. O'Daniel soon took over their radio advertising, wrote songs and hired a group of musicians. The band was originally called the the Allasin Laddies. He changed their name to Light Crust Doughboys.  Interesting side note, country musician Bob Wills got his start as a member of the Doughboys. As the story goes, in O'Daniel had to fire Wills in 1933 for drinking too much and missing their radio broadcasts.

After the Doughboys split up, O'Daniel formed the Western Swing band "Pappy O'Daniel and his Hillbilly Boys." The new group was named after O'Daniel's Hillbilly Flour Company.

W. Lee O'Daniel portrayed himself as simple fried-chicken loving hillbilly fighting the establishment. And for once the good-ol' boy image was pretty accurate. He was famous for refusing to sign bills he didn't understand. He fought bitterly with the Texas legislature and was overridden a record 17 times. You can listen to him pimp his flour here ...and while you're at it, buy something from the kind folks at OTRcat. they have a great catalog of old-time radio programs.


Of course, in the movie the only radio station noted by calls was WEZY-AM with the blind engineer. The WEZY calls never were assigned in Texas. Currently reside in Racine, Wisconsin. Fifty years ago they were not in Texas nor in Mississippi. In the mid eighties WEZY was just outside Tampa. There is a book about O'Daniel called Pass The Biscuits Pappy, you can read more about that here.

Demographic adjustment

My reader ship drops on weekends predicably, and I expect to see it in my reports. But last week, when women in radio week began, readership slid every day. It is sexism? statistical randomness? Or is it some kind of demographic miscalculation? I may never know, but we see the same thing in radio.

When you change format, your ratings can immediately go up. When KTLK went liberal talk in 2005 their book jumped. At the same time conservative talker KFI-AM dropped. duh. there are more liberal News/Talk fans in California. But that instant (1Q) gratification is rare.

Your ratings also can drop initially in a period we kindly refer to as adjustment. It could be just that I changed format, and the readers I appeal to shifted, and a recovery period would be required to see a return. I will return to regularly sheduled programming tomorrow, where as a radio station will probably wait a quarter or two before making a panic-driven flip back to their original format. But usually they will tough out a year or more before trying something else. But the change makes sense.

Under format A. your listeners we're primarily female, white 25 - 45 in age. Under format B. They are male hispanic and under the age of 30. There is certainly a common listenership, but they are small and you cannot market to fractions. The ad dollars are in big groups generally. And allowing multiple staitons to fight over the same demo in a market benefits NO ONE. (but it happens)

In Philadelphia, WSNI despite a very stable and respectable book, (averaging a 2.8) they dropped Soft AC and went Tropical last week. Philadelphia is one of few top 20 cities that do not have a latin-focused FM so the change was not entirely unexpected. Philly has a big latino population, but it's 2 generations or more old and very americanized. The decision to go Tropical is a long term decision in this city. WEMG-AM has been running a similar tropical format for years and they haven't had much better than a one share in years. The bet is that WSNI will steal 50% or more of it's listeners from WEMG-AM and then also gain new listener. (If all other things are equal, an FM will outperfrom an AM.) WSNI probably will recover quickly and be back to a 2.5 share by xmas. But is our hispanic population big enough to support two latin outlets? No. WEMG will go Spanish Oldies, Reg Mex. or pick up the Air America programming that didnt' work out on WHAT-AM. (I'm hoping for the libs of course)

As another example: WCBS New York. They dropped oldies and went "Jack" They lost almost their entire audience and dropped two points. They even had picketers It was a gutshot. They've spent a year recovering and WBZO-AM (oldies) in Long island has managed to gain a point in their book (average) in the same period. I wonder where those listeners came from... but they're gambling. They're betting long term that the aging of their demo will eventually result in ratings death. They decided that now was the time that their high operating costs outweighed losses in their ad book. They may lose short term. But long term they will win.

On the other hand ...KZLA flipping from country was just dense. Los Angeles certainly wasn't short on Rap or CHR outlets. I cant' explain that at all.

So will my readership return to normal over the next two weeks? We shall see.

WOMEN in RADIO (pt. 6 BONUS)

Irna Phillips earned the title “Queen of the Soap Operas.”

Born in Chicago in 1901, youngest of ten children, legend has it that Phillips endured her poverty-stricken, lonely childhood by reading and concocting elaborate lives for her dolls. In college she tried her hand at acting. But as they say (those that can, do. Those that can't...)

So she turned to teaching. After graduation, she taught in Missouri and Ohio for several years before returning to Chicago. She fell into a job at There she fumbled her way into a job at WGN doing voice-over. She got lucky and after a few months she was asked her to write a daily program "about a family."

That program became "Painted Dreams" and debuted in October 1930. It has since been recognized as the radio's first soap opera. Phillips wrote and perfromed in the program until 1932 when she left WGN over an ownership dispute. It was a big fight, She wanted WGN to get the program syndicated. Topted not to. It was a power struggle. The ability of the program to seell product was proven. Apparently her boss found her threatening... When they refused Phillips took them to court claiming the show as her own property. Terms of the dispute were settled and sealed... (When Painted Dreams emerged from the courts and was purchased by CBS. )

She crossed the street to WMAQ. There she created "Today's Children" which aired for seven years, and was massive hit on NBC radio ...because WMAQ was ready to syndicate from mthe get go! At WMAQ making money mattered more than personal crap. [somebody at WGN wasn't confident enough in their masculinity] It was followed by a strong of other successfull radio dramas: The Guiding Light in 1937, The Road of Life in 1938, The Right to Happiness in 1939.

She had to give up acting to full-time radio wirting. She had also sold the shows to national networks. She got famous. In 1949 Phillips created the first serial broadcast on a major television network, These Are My Children. The show, tanked. It ran on NBC for only a month.

Phillips returned to TV in 1952 with The Guiding Light in 1952, with The Brighter Day following in 1954. These shows did great. She had learned how to write for the new media. The Guiding Light (later shortened to Guiding Light) remains on the air to this day, making it the longest running program in broadcast history.

However, she has long been known as "hard to work with"
-Phillips fired lead actress Helen Wagner because Phillips said she did not like the way she poured coffee.
-Phillips also fired actor John Beal from Another World one episode because she "didn't like the way he looked
-She demanded her actors, even the stars never go by their real names in public.
-She has also been rumored to have driven some of her stars into thearapy and nevervous breakdowns.

...she's also been called a raving bitch... but she made history but so has synvia Rhone. When a woman makes history in a man's world maybe they need to push a little hard. She retired from soaps completely in 1973 and died later that year. Ever the control freak, Irna had requested that her family not write an obituary upon her death

Recollections of Irna in her final months can be found in Harding Lemay's 1980 memoir, Eight Years in Another World.

WOMEN OF RADIO WEEK PT 5

Susan Stamberg, was the first woman to regularly anchor a national nightly news program. That is pretty damn impressive.
This New York City native os one of the pioneers of radio and National Public Radio.

She joinedNPR 1971, previous to that, she served as producer, program director and general manager of WAMU in Washington, D.C., http://www.wamu.org/

Starting in 1972, Stamberg served as co-host of NPR’s All Things Considered. Her run there lasted for 14 years, after which she moved over to NPR’s Weekend Edition. She started hosting on it's Sunday premiere in January of 1987 and on through October 1989. She has been inducted into the Broadcasting Hall of Fame and the Radio Hall of Fame. other recognitions include the Armstrong and duPont Awards, the Edward R. Murrow Award from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, The Ohio State University's Golden Anniversary Director's Award, the Distinguished Broadcaster Award from the American Women in Radio and Television.

Stamberg is the author of two books, and co-editor of a third. TALK: NPR's Susan Stamberg Considers All Things chronicles her two decades with NPR. Her first book, Every Night at Five: Susan Stamberg's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED Book, was published in 1982 by Pantheon. Stamberg also co-edited The Wedding Cake in the Middle of the Road, published in 1992

As a host, her conversational style and intelligence Her thousands of interviews include conversations with Nancy Reagan, Annie Liebowitz, Rosa Parks and James Baldwin. In May of this year, in an interesting ouroboros she offered some advice to the Katie Couric, first woman selected to anchor the national nightly news, solo, for a major TV network. Here

Why I hate the P.T.C.

Sometimes I get irritated about the belligerent stupidity of others ruining my fun. But where it comes to the Parents Television Council™ I don't even know where to start. So I'll begin with current evens. Last week they released a list of their top 10 "Best" advertisers. But their idea of "best" is downright odd.

To an ad buyer a good ad is one that sells the product effectively. To a viewer it's the one that's least obtrusive. We tolerate ads because network programming is expensive to produce and it won out over a subscription model.  But the PTC has another notion. Their definition of "best" is based on what programs they run that ads in. NOT THE CONTENT OF THE AD! More here.

"Each company listed purchased at least 25 ads on prime time broadcast programs. Companies with the most ads on PTC-rated green lighted shows were ranked the best, and those with the most ads on PTC-rated red lighted shows were ranked the worst. "

You can see the list at the above link, note #6 is the Altria Group. Altria is the shiny chromed new brand name for Phillip Morris. They make 3 billion cigarettes a year. To the PTC they are one of the "best" advertisers. This is a company that fought the federal government for years to avoid admitting what everyone already knew: that cigarettes are addictive and cause cancer.

Anyway. That's TV. We write about Radio here. So, here's why I hate their meddling in radio [Link] While I hate them less than the religious cults that try to force college and high-school stations to share time, hate them less than the christian corporations that buy up licenses and pipe in satellite fed right-wing propaganda, I hate them more than almost anything else.

WOMEN OF RADIO WEEK pt 4

Yvonne Daniels was known as “The First Lady of Chicago Radio,” Her silky smooth professional speaking voice garnered ratings wherever she worked. Her knowledge of jazz made her a listener favorite throughout America’s Midwest. Here's my favorite part: Most people outside of Chicago and across the country did not know Yvonne Daniels was Black.

She began on a local AM station in jacksonville, IL but for the life of me I cant figure out if its WLDS or WJIL... Yvonne appeared on the national radar when she moved to Chicago. She joined WYNR-AM to DJ a jazz show that competed with popular disc jockey Sid McCoy on WCFL-AM. WCFL couldn't take the pressure and at McCoy’s own urging WCFL-AM eventually hired Daniels. Within two years the duo was heard in 38 states. She stuck with that station until they went Top 40.

In 1964 Daniels picked up a spot at WSDM-AM one of the nation’s first all-female radio station. Her program Daniels’ Den consistently beat out the rest of Chicago radio in it's time slot. In 1973, she moved on to WLS-AM, a big 50,000-watt powerhouse, where she became the station’s first female disc jockey. WLS beat out WCFL for number one in Chicago that year and every year for years after. You can hear clips of her at WLS here: http://www.wlshistory.com/WLS70/

During the 1980s, Daniels worked Chicago morning shows on WVON-AM, WGCI-AM and eventually on “Smooth Jazz WNUA.” Her career ran for more than three solid decades. Daniels is rightly credited with paving the way for future generations of both female radio personalities and specficly black women. She was a role-model and a blueprint. She died of cancer June 21, 1991. The city of Chicago named a downtown street in her honor.

WOMEN OF RADIO WEEK pt3

Kate Smith was born May 1, 1907, in Greenville, Virginia. It was a poduck town then as it is now. She went from there to being called “The First Lady of Radio. By the New York times. Just to get a hint of her massive appeal, remember during WWII, her on-air appeals for war bonds topped $600 million. [$7,984,257,195 in todays dollars.] Kanye west couldn't get that much even when he sang "George Bush don't like black people" in a Katrina victims fund raiser...

She began in vaudeville as many radio people did in that era. But unlike the others, she moved on to Broadway. It was there she got the attention of Columbia Records vice president Ted Collins who decided to put her on the radio. “The Songbird of the South” made her broadcast debut in 1931. http://katesmith.org/

During the 1930s, she became radio’s number one attraction, due not only to her evening show, but also to her appearances on Kate Smith Speaks, a popular weekday show where she offered homespun advice on current topics. It proved so popular that NBC gave her a prime-time show on Wednesday evenings, The Kate Smith Evening Hour.

In 1938, she introduced Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America” in the film This is the Army. It became so popular it was followed by another 2,000 recordings. among her biggest hits were River, Stay 'Way From My Door (1931), The Woodpecker Song (1940), The White Cliffs of Dover (1941), I Don't Want to Walk Without You (1942), There Goes That Song Again (1944), Seems Like Old Times (1946), and Now Is the Hour (1947). About 20 of those managed to sell a million copies EACH! She switched to LPs in the sixties and released five between 1963 and 1967.

Her popularity ran so deep, that even at the age of 65 while television was entering it's golden era she got her own show. Her last TV series was CBS's The Kate Smith Show, a weekly half-hour musical series in 1960. Her guest appearances put Oprah to shame. She made appearances on top TV shows, such as The Ed Sullivan Show, The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show, The Jack Paar Show, The Dean Martin Show, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. Smith’s final radio program aired on the Mutual Network in 1958. She died in Raleigh, NC, June 17, 1986.

WOMEN IN RADIO WEEK pt 2

So Marian Driscoll got second billing as Molly, she was still wildly popular.

The radio serial Fibber McGee and Molly premiered in 1935. The program struggled in the ratings for 5 long years. When suddenly in 1940 it started picking up steam, in three more years it was the top-rated program in America. (free mp3s of the program here)

Marian Driscoll was a genuine coal miner’s daughter, was born in Peoria, Illinois on November 15, 1898. She toiled and touring in obscurity for years on the small-time show biz circuit with Fibber eventually arriving in Chicago in 1924. It was there in the sindy city that broke into radio. They eventually performed on thousands of shows and developed 145 different voices and characters.

Broadcast to the nation from WMAQ-AM Chicago, the show entertained America for 19 years. Running on WMAQ-AM until March 1956, and then moving to NBC’s Monitor until 1959. Somewhere in the mid fifties the program was cut from 30 mintes to fifteen.

The program was sponsored by Johnson's Wax for most of its long run. Don Quinn, a former cartoonist was the writer of the series. He wrote the sponsors into the script where possible creating some of the earliest product placements in brodcast media history. Marion's poor health prevented her from working much in her later years, and as a result Fibber McGee and Molly ended while other radio serials were making the leap to TV. It was briefly on television with different actors playing the lead roles, but no one could capture the chemistry of Jim and Marion. It tanked.

NBC kept transcription discs from most of the programs that S.C.Johnson's Wax sponsored. Many of these have become available for sale. More than 700 complete shows are currently in the hands of collectors. Marion died in 1965. the notion that people have these old radio serials on their goddamn ipods is very peculiar to me. but it's true.
http://www.athenamama.com/cgi-bin/mt/archives/000055.html

WOMEN IN RADIO WEEK pt 1

I was issued a challenge to write about the women of radio for a week. The research was harder than I thought. Very few women go into radio. My theory is that they are repelled by the unattractive men who do... or maybe its the smell in the transmitter shack.

As the character Ma Perkins, Virginia Payne was called “America’s mother of the air,” a benevolent, self-sufficient widow who owned and managed a lumber yard in the fictitious town of Rushville Center. The radio soap premiered in August of 1933 on the powerhouse Cincinnati station WLW-AM. Within four months it had garnered such listenership that it had moved to WMAQ-AM Chicago and officially joined the NBC network.

The character Ma Perkins was kind and sometimes trusting to a fault. She offered homespun philosophy to any and all who needed it, including her children Evey and Fay, Evey’s husband Willy and Ma’s business partner, Shober. The show was the brainchild of soap opera creators Frank and Anne Hummert. Payne, was only 23 when Ma Perkins first went on the air. She continued to play the title role until the show ended 27 years later. It was one of the longest, running radio dramas ever broadcast. It was imitated for decades, thus paving the way for modern soap operas

It was sponsored by Proctor & Gamble under their dishsoap Oxydol (later Lava Soap). The show ran on NBC and CBS until 1960. Under NBC is ran on both Red and Blue network staitons [47 NBC Red stations, 10 NBC Blue stations] At it's peak of popularity it was airing in Canada and all over Europe. Virginia Payne died on February 10, 1977. She and Ma Perkins were inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1988.

The shows are still available here: http://www.oldtimeradiohome.com/Ma_perkins.htm

Black Man Buys Radio Station

When black businessman Jesse B. Blayton Sr. purchased 860 WERD-AM in Atlanta in October of 1949, he became the first African-American owner of a radio station. There were already many black oriented radio stations in the south, they just had white owners. More here.



Blayton came in and replaced the all-white staff with black announcers. He installed his son J.B. Junior as GM, and imported a veteran Chicago DJ Jack Gibson to be the PD. It was Gibson who instituted a daily news broadcast, using information from Atlanta’s black newspaper, and he also brought in an Atlanta University professor to do news commentary. Paul E. X. Brown came over as a part time announcer from WEAS-AM and though he only worked there for six years, he kept a lot of souvenirs and has recently become the main source for airchecks from these early years.
http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/aafa/print/aafa_aarl97-010.html

Though they were only a 1,000 watt daytimer, Gibson became Atlanta's most popular DJ within 6 years. Martin Luther Kings Southern Christian Leadership Conference had offices in the same building. It has been said that King would bang on the ceiling with a broomstick when he wanted to make a public statement. But that sounds like crappola to me. By the late 1960s, the fulltime stations fulltime WAOK-AM and WIGO-AM had really whittled away their audience, and WERD was at the end of it's winning streak.

Blayton sold WERD-AM in 1968 and remained active in community affairs until his death. He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1995. Today it has the calls WEAC-AM under Beasly and it runs a Gospel format. The original Price Masonic building on Auburn Avenue that once housed WERD still stands today. More here.

The Word "Radio" Itself

I've spent over a year now telling you all about the events that led up to you listening to your radio. Where tubes, transistors, DJs, formats and all manner of things radio originate. I realized only this morning I had not yet discussed the origin of the word radio itself.

It has many definitions, so I will dryly begin there:

ra·di·o (rd-)n. pl. ra·di·os
1. The wireless transmission through space of electromagnetic waves in the approximate frequency range from 10 kilohertz to 300,000 megahertz.
2. Communication of audible signals encoded in electromagnetic waves.
3. Transmission of programs for the public by radio broadcast.
4. An apparatus used to transmit radio signals; a transmitter.
-An apparatus used to receive radio signals; a receiver.
-A complex of equipment capable of transmitting and receiving radio signals.
-A station for radio transmitting.
-A radio broadcasting organization or network of affiliated organizations.
5. The radio broadcasting industry.
6. A message sent by radio.

The word radio isn't much older than radio itself. It began to appear in 1907, abstracted from earlier combinations using the word such as radiophone (1881) and radio-telegraphy (1898). These words were only marginally older, and themselves originate with the liberal use of the prefix "rad" from the word radiation.

The root word Radiation is much older, coming into common use in 1555 as an Anglo adaptation of the Greek verb radiare , meaning "to shine or beam." That word comes from The earlier Latin Radius, meaning "staff, spoke of a wheel, beam of light." Its origin is unknown but may be the older Latin word radix meaning root. Possibly the Sanskrit word vardhate "rises, makes grow," or the ancient Greek ardis meaning "sharp point."

*The term Wireless dates back only to 1894 beginning as a direct reference to the lack of a telegraph wire. By 1903 it was being used to refer to radio, and radios.

The first use of the word radio to mean "radio-receiver" was only in 1917, and its use meaning "broadcasting medium" only in 1922! Prior to that the term Wireless remained far more dominant. It was not until WWII that the military's preference for the word radio over wireless changed the preference.

So that's it. Radio begins as a reference to wheel spokes and now has nothing to do with wheels spokes, beams of light, or sharp points... except for car radios, fiber optics routers, and .. dang I cant think of a pointy thing.

...and a DJ at gunpoint

This one is a tad arcane. I cant find the call letters, so add salt where needed. If anyone can fill in the details let me know.

After the release of their fourth album, "Strangeways Here We Come", the Smiths made a controversial move to major label EMI in 1987, upsetting their more indie paste-eating fans. The major label money exerted pressures on the band members and eventually after the release of their 10th album, they split.

It was in that year "a distressed young man" in Denver, Colorado, walked into his local radio station and took the Disc Jockey and other staff hostage. He insisted, at gunpoint, that they play nothing but Smiths records. This Smiths-a-thon lasted for over four hours.

The people of Denver were at first confused, and slowly became depressed by the power of the Smiths. they dyed their hair black in great numbers some even becoming goth overnight. People suffered seizures. Somewhere in time Arbitron noticed a subtle shift in TSL. Eventually, the police arrived and persuaded the unhappy young man to wash off his makeup and give himself up. The story  is cited in numerous places but I've found no versions that date prior to 2003 which brings it's veracity into question.

Regardless, Morrissey decided to embark hastily on a solo career.

Smilin' Jack's Old-Time Radio Trivia Quiz

Go here.

Take Smilin' Jack's Old-Time Radio Trivia Quiz

I thought I knew my old time radio serials but I got slaughtered. My score was only 35%. Think you can you do better? Jack French kicked my ass.

it's all about the old 15-30 minute programs that ran on the radio right after kids got out of school. They were called "Juvenile Adventure" shows. typically the hero is left in a precarious situation at the end of each episode (like modern soaps but more manly) so you'll tune in tomorrow.

Hadacol and radio

One of the FTC's least favorite "customers" during the summer of 1950 was a Louisiana state senator named Dudley J. LeBlanc, an opponent to the infamous Huey P. Long. He had a scheme, involving the massive power of radio advertising and Hadacol. It became the most popular snake-oil [non-homeopathic ] product ever.

It proved to be an elixir of 12 per cent alcohol, plus some of the B complex vitamins, iron, calcium, and phosphorus, dilute hydrochloric acid, and honey. he claimed the alcohol was a preservative. LeBlanc mixed the first batches in big barrels behind his Abbeville, Louisiana, barn, nearby farmers' daughters stirring it with boat oars. He charged $3.50 for a bottle of Hadacol. (With 12% alcohol by volume In some areas of the South, dry by local option, druggists sold Hadacol by the shot)

Dudley decided to bombard rural America with Hadacol advertisements and endorsements on the radio. Hadacol sponsored Hank Williams on Health and Happiness shows, broadcast daily across the airwaves in the early 1950s. The senator boosted sales for his own product throughout the Cajun country by reading testimonials in French over a radio stations like KAOK. LeBlanc even guested on Groucho Marx's radio program...

Half a dozen bands were "inspired/bribed to write odes to it. Country music recording artist Slim Willett wrote a song about Hadacol Corner, about an Upton County, Texas town supposedly almost named for the elixir. Bill Nettles and his Dixieland playboys wrote a big band tune about it as well. The Treniers wrote Hadacol (That's All), Professor Longhair wrote Hadacol Bounce, Little Willie wrote "Drinking' Hadacol", the Cajun artist Harry Choates even wrote a tune in french called Valse de Hadacol... you can hear that one here: http://npmusic.org/Happy_Fats_Valse_de_Hadacol.mp3

In entering new markets, LeBlanc blanketed the area with radio spots before he shipped any of Hadacol to the city. He ran a radio contest, which required the listener to identify "Dixie," and winners were sent coupons good for a bottle of Hadacol...

The Hadacol bubble began to expand enormously, growing out from the romantic delta land to cover the broader South. Lafayette became a boom town, as LeBlanc tore down houses and a school to enlarge his plant. Experts at promotion were hired from major proprietary concerns in the East. And as sales grew fast, LeBlanc's advertising campaign grew faster. Toward the end of 1949, he found he owed a tremendous tax bill which be did not have the ready cash to pay. So LeBlanc told his advertising manager to wipe out the bill by plunging the whole sum in new advertising. LeBlanc's advertising bill ran to a million dollars a month running ads on as many as 528 radio stations including WCIC, WSM in Nashville, WWVA in Wheeling, WCKY in Cincinnati in addition to a slew of stations in LeBlancs own Arcadian backyard.

Toward the close of the year, LeBlanc's advertising bill ran to a million dollars a month, taking in about 700 daily papers and 4,700 weeklies and 528 radio stations. Then Leblanc sold the whole company to the cash to run for Governor of Louisiana against Huey Long. More Dudley here.

Lafayette, Travel Misive #5

Continental Airlines emailed me a little love note just to say that due to the over-blown neo-con milked minor terrorist problem in England, I need to arrive at the airport 3 hours early, and I cannot bring any liquids thru bag check.

I am fine with the liquids. Should have happened already. But the 3 hour early arrival is just more time wasted in addition to the flight delays I already know will occur. Tomorrow I will get up before the sun, and I will not return home until after the sun goes down.

Anyway... Lafayette was also the name of an early manufacturer of radio parts and transistors. They're based in Sossyet. They also made retail radio radios like the Lafayette KT-135, a four band regenerative receiver. It was one the last regenerative radios made before E.H. Armstrong revolutionized reception with the regenerative feedback circuit. (before superheterodyne) More here.

The Super Heterodyne took a radio signal and feeding it back into the same tube repeatedly, creating gain, thereby strengthening the signal. the simple regenerative receiver could not do this,. The result of trying to turn up the regeneration control for more gain would eventually cause the receiver to break into a oscillation i.e bad noises. Speaking of bad noises, I've already listened to what the local dial has to offer:
88.7 KRVS -Triple A
101.1 KBON -Americana/Cajun
960 KROF-AM -Nostalgia
1240 KANE-AM -Cajun
1450 KSIG-AM -Nostalgia
1520 KFXZ -Gospel

I had been looking forward to hearing KJCB-AM 770 which has been described as a full-service variety station buts its all been Soft Ac so far as I've heard. KRVS has a reggae show on now, which is reason enough to turn the radio off.

http://www.daveswebshop.com/lafayetteradio.shtml

Travel Missive #4

I've been eating a lot of prefab food, another invention of engineers and it got me thinking about another traveling engineer. You know Duncan Hines as the brand name on that box of cake mix that even engineers can make cake from. I'm not saying Engineers make bad cooks, I'm just saying we get kind of caught up in the measuring...

Duncan Hines was a real man. And a long time ago, he was on the radio. He was born in 1880, in Bowling Green, Kentucky. He studied at Bowling Green Business University and accepted a job out west as a traveling salesman just before graduation.

Form his experiences eating on the road, in 1936 He published his first book “Adventures in Good Eating.” This came at a time when the automobile had found its way into the hearts and homes of most Americans. For the first time, Americans were taking road trips, after the car radio and before television.

In December 1948 Hines-Park Food Co. was formed. Hines took a hands-on approach in marketing these products. He went on the road again attending store openings, promotional events and often appeared on local radio programs. He was featured on the Mutual Radio Network on a daily basis, Stations like KEX did massive promotions, He even squeezed in an appearance on the Lum & Abner serial ... visiting their restaurant of course.

I however have been eating a lot of Subway after a bad experience at a Shoneys In Tennessee. I really wish his guide to good eating was still in print.

NOLA to Baton Rouge, Travel Missive #3

Last week I bought The Birth of Soul, Ray Charles box set. Atlantic Records actually put out the compilation in 1991 while the famed musician was still alive and recording. Cuts like Lonely Avenue make a great accompaniment to the amazing lightning storm we are having in Baton Rouge tonight. There is a flood warning and the locals, utterly galvanized by the real thing, roll on ignoring the EAS alerts interrupting their drive-time programs.

I turned off Ray for a bit to check out the AM side. Between New Orleans and Baton Rouge there is a 50 mile stretch of Route 10 west and there isn't much AM radio audible on it. But the lightning, that's audible. Extremely audible. Lightning doesn't only make light and sound. The discharges also produce radio waves called 'sferics. Airplanes actually have devices designed to detect lightning from these RF waves.

I actually found a website recently that instructs on best use of AM radio to listen to lightning: http://www.wvlightning.com/sferics.shtml It includes audio clips.

I quote in part here:

"Sferics can turn any AM radio into a simple lightning detection device. They are easily distinguished from normal static in that they are sudden loud, crackling noises, sounding a little like someone wringing a wad of plastic bubble wrap. They occur simultaneously with any lightning discharge. Especially at night, your AM radio can pick up waves from lightning hundreds of miles away. "

Anyway, I was hoping to catch a little KLSU out here but it seems to be off air or at low power. My hotel is 4 miles from the transmitter and the religious talker on 88.5 bleeds straight across their frequency. There are two local LP stations: 94.9 WTQT a gospel outlet and 96.9 WHYR another christian Contemporary station (possibly satcaster). ... they are inaudible as well.

Amazingly here, KLSU has posted a very detailed history of their stations beginning in the 1960s. http://www.klsu.fm/history.html

Biloxi to Baton Rouge, Travel Missive #2

1370 WCOA-AM was the first radio station in Pensacola, and the last I listened to as I blew town this morning. http://www.wcoapensacola.com/ It is a station many older residents still feel indebted to in this often storm-struck coast. In 1926 there was no national storm warning service. So when the staff of WCOA received telephone reports from the Southeast of a severe hurricane they urged citizens in low lying areas to evacuate. It was their first year on air, and for them a landmark in their history twice over. Today they are a typical local talker.

I got to Biloxi by lunch time but avoided eating in town. I was in a neighborhood near Gulfsport and there is nothing there really. Everything here is either brand new or a rubble heap. This was the center of the Katerina storm surge last year. Somehow Coast Radio Group (aka Dowdy) building survived despite their close proximity to the St. Louis Bay.

Notable stations that made me turn off the new Black KeysCD:
106.1 WMTI (Nostalgia)
1320 WRJW-AM (country oldies)
102.9 KMEZ (one of the REAL rythmic oldies outlets)
1420 WIGG-AM Americana
1600 KLEB-AM cajun

...and tonight I am going to listen to the Minister on WWOZ and nobody is gong to stop me

Pensacola, Travel Missive #1

Today I am in Pensacola Beach, I can see the Gulf of Mexico from my room and I feel much better after many days of traveling in the 100 degree+ heat. I feel somewhat sunbaked like a diet potato chip. Radio in Pensacola is pretty bad unfortunately. They have no college radio, no community stations, no high school stations... not even a couple hippies with an LP license. they got nada for radio... but a great view.So I broke out my little Belkin TuneCast I FM transmitter hooked into my laptop and am broadcasting to the clock radio in my room at what is supposedly an allowable wattage. Of course we have all learned recently many of these devices operate over the allowable limit some even at 100,000 times the legal limit. So it is also possible I am not the first pirate in Pensacola beach. But I'm playing 1Gb funk mix I made so I don't expect anyone to complain. Everybody likes the Apollo Commanders...

I got here after a three day drive between Pennsylvania and Texas. I did a similar drive in reverse last February. You can read about that the and radio here in the A.R.T. archive.
Route 81 south is a piece of work, it stretches from Harrisburg to Knoxville, where it dumps straight into 40 West which runs deep into the land of the Texians.

Route 81 South mirrors the much bumpier and hillier Blue Ridge parkway. For the smoother ride you sacrifice the best view any American highway has to offer. as it was 81 hit no major cities between Harrisburg and Knoxville, that's a stretch of about 500 miles. It passes through the minor cities of Winchester, Harrisonburg, Staunton, Roanoke, Radford, Marion and then hits Bristol before things get into Deliverance country. 50% of all radio stations in this stretch are christian or gospel, the other half are country. If you ever make this drive... bring a couple Mix CDs. 9I should note that I did drive right past the humble studios of WCRR-AM which pretty much has the town of "rural retreat" to themselves. http://www.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=42996.msg292857

Here in Pensacola the most interesting radio stations are the local gospel outlets. WRNE-AM 980, WNVY-AM 1090 and WNZO-AM 1230. Last night I heard a real Jim Jones screamer-type preacher on WNVY. He was wild and honestly I could not understand a word he said until I felt compelled to purchase kool-aid. Fortunately I was still full from the king-size Ruben I had just eaten from Mcguires. http://www.mcguiresirishpub.com/

Back on Tour

I am going to be on the road for about ten days starting tomorrow, posting may become irregular. So instead of reading my regular Tuesday post, instead please listen to this spectacular podcast series on delta blues here:
http://www.purplebeech.com/blues/