Interview with Jeffrey Riman

 

Professor Jeffrey Riman was kind enough to make time to talk with me about reporting for Billboard back in the early 1970s while he was music director at WPIR. He endured numerous follow up questions and even remembered that he reported to Billboard by phone!  That's a detail I've missed in other interviews. I learned that Sam Sutherland made an appearance at an IBS conference at the March 23rd 1973 at the Shoreham Hotel. Sutherland even mentions his appearance in his Billboard Campus News column in the March 24th issue. 

The hotel that hosted the conference is located at the corner of Connecticut Avenue and Calvert Street by Rock Creek park in downtown D.C. Just for fun I dug up a few postcards of the hotel. While it's very fancy today it was distinctly upscale even in the 70s. 

JF: Can you tell me about how you first became involved with WPIR?

JR: I was at Pratt studying fine arts but was also very interested in music. WPIR had a an extensive library with new music arriving daily it was exciting and interesting. I soon found out that with training I could have my own show. Having worked in theater in high school I  found the idea enticing. So I trained and practiced and did ultimately pass a test to do my own show which was mostly jazz, blues and some popular music. I enjoyed it even though our reach was minimal. I also made some good friends and had a sense of belonging that was a nice counterpoint to the highly competitive fine arts area where all of us young painters where chasing out dreams.

JF: Are you the same Jeffrey Riman who is the Chairman of the Newark Public Radio Community Advisory Board for WBGO?

JR: Yes, I participated in the CAB and was its Chair for a couple of years,. I wanted to see how we can better connect radio to the community.  Radio these days is a having issues connecting in a streaming world. I am no longer affiliated with WBGO as their programming is in a different direction then I would prefer although they seem to be doing well.  I like WKCR more.

JF: How did you start reporting airplay to Billboard? 

JR: I went to an [IBS radio event] in Washington. I think it was in 1973 and I met lots of A&R people from many record labels and there I met Sam Sutherland. A super nice guy who told me about Picks and Plays. When we returned to Brooklyn. Sam and I stayed in touch. ...he also was supportive of the station by sharing contacts that could help get us a more robust library. He was a great advocate for college radio and one day he just called and asked me what new record looked like a winner and all of the sudden I got those calls regularly. 

JF: Bob Glassenburg was the College Radio editor for Billboard. Did you have much interaction with him or Sam Sutherland?

JR: Sam was a great friend and enthusiastic supporter. I remember his enthusiasm and kindness.

JF: Per the Billboard "What's Happening" column of May 1973, WPIR hosted a programming seminar. How did that go?

JR: We were disappointed in the turnout But it was a great day Pete Fornatale of WNEW came out as did other guests and although under attended it was still a great outing. The article reflects my memory of it.

JF: In the February 10th issue of Billboard,  Dave Weinstein announces that you are the new Music Director. What was the transition like?

JR: Because of my connection with Billboard and my growing interest in all kinds of music David made me Music Director. I had no idea what to do but set about augmenting our library by reaching out to as many labels I could in search of building up our library of 50’s and 60’s music including Jazz, Soul and R&B and improving the pipeline of current music. The early 70s were rich with all genres (except disco)

JF: The latest record I can find has you reporting in the November 24th issue. In the following February the column was converted to move of a chart format. Was WPIR still reporting? 

JR: There seemed to be pressure to justify the college circuit and I could see that there was pressure to try different strategies. It just changed without explanation  and I was too busy to look back.

JF: There was another change in the June and July 1974 issues where airplay was completely removed and it re-focused on campus tour appearances. Do you know anything about the change?

JR: Only that it happened. I did notice that we began to get calls to pick up surplus concert tickets for give-aways. And there were lots of tickets for awhile. But hey I was in college and too busy to care much. Personally I was not a fan of many of those groups like J Giles, Doobie Bro, Yes and ELP I preferred mainstream Jazz, Early and current blues artists.

JF: I found an old RSS feed (XML) that records a Jeffrey Riman on the Podcast "Tea For Teaching." I'm pretty confident that was you. Was that your most recent radio experience?

JR: Yes,  But it’s not something I pursue. I like teaching more than anything else I have done. However I did guest host on WBGO several times but although it was great fun it was enough. 

AVP to ORH

 ...another long drive in a long career of long drives.
We begin on route 33 in New Jersey because that is how you cut south back onto Route 78 East after you have accidentally taken the exit for 22 East. It is there I caught a cooking show, an honest-to-goodness cooking show on WHYY 90.9. It was The Splendid Table, hosted by Lynne Rossetto Kasper, and it's one of the last of it's kind.  The program actually won the Best Radio Food Show award in 2008. She really is quite good.. but there can't be a lot of competition left. 

When I hit 287 North, I tuned in Rhythm Revue with Felix Hernandez on 88.3 WBGO, always an excellent program. I haven't heard it much since I left New York. He was spinning Donny Hathaway "Valdez In the Country" when I tuned in, a little late they hit some Sugarman Three. About then I could also get in 89.5 WSOU which was playing "Elephant Riders' by Clutch, and both 89.2 WFDU and 91.1 WFMU were both spinning some really great garage rock: the Fabulous Wailers, Calvin Owens, Frank Zappa, even the Rat Pfink Theme. Rex at WFMU was out but his sub was still good.

 I caught 91.3 WVKR briefly up on  84 East but only one song by Circlesquare "Hey You Guys."  Further North I caught 91.7 WHUS was was in the middle of a jazz set, James Farm, Donald Harrison's kickass Drumline, Dave Alvin etc. Then while heading up 84E approaching the border with Massachusetts, on 90.1 WECS I caught Mark E. Ramone in the middle of some Dead Milkmen. I think he's been there for 20 years, probably been playing that record the whole time. I think it came out in 1988.

Up in Worcester I caught 90.5 WICN playing Ahmad's Blues by Red Garland, great tune. I think he did that one in the mid 50s. When I listen to stations like these I hope that they're still there next time I drive through town. I've seen so many vanish in the last year I cant help but to wonder about it.

KMHD is the best Jazz station in America

Somewhat subjective I know, a controversial statement for certain. I still have my soft spots for WRTI and WBGO but KMHD just wowed me when I got to Portland Saturday.

I lost 3 hours in flying across the time zones and lost more in the damn flight itself. I've lost a lifetime in layovers in Chicago this year but that's a separate issue. But KMHD is programmed by psychics and that's all I know. They read your aura or they see your mental energy or maybe they pull a heart chakra out of a rabbit's hat. I dunno. But every time I need to hear some kind of music, even if I don't know it myself... they know.

Upon arrival I was toast. Totally burnt, tired agreeing to pay for stupid things, signing without reading just to get to a bed. KMHD was playing Little Red Rooster by Howlin' Wolf. Then Muddy Waters on Born with nothing. Goddamn psychic DJs reading my mind.

Then this morning. It was cold cold cold. There was a thin coat of water on everything and the clouds were splitting sporadically. The wind was up and even the hotel room was cold. I couldn't stay warm or even dry while working. There was no sun and I was driving in circles in a run down neighborhood trying to get un-lost.

KMHD was playing Dixieland and swing jazz. Everyone from New Orleans to Boston knows Dixieland is the audio equivalent of Orange Juice and Sunshine. day in, day out, they play a mix of blues and jazz -new and old, and they don't seem to carry any of the intellectual baggage that a station WBGO brings to the mic. They just let it groove and let that alone impress. KMHD, the place to be.

check out these Portland radio sites, great stuff:
http://www.portlandradio.org/
http://www.pdxradio.com/