Hope everyone had a great week.
June 20,1996, the day radio as we knew it died. It's effects are still being felt.
It was on that day that Westinghouse Electric became the first entity to cash in on the new 1996 Telecommunications Act by purchasing Infinity Broadcasting for 3.9 billion dollars. The act relaxed restrictions on how many radio and TV stations one company could own in a single market.
By allowing one owner to own multiple FM radio stations in one market, the new owners found that it saved them money to put the management of all their stations under one roof. Before the multiple ownership rule, each station would have it's own program director, music director, promotions, engineering etc. You could have 5 Rock and Roll station in one market, playing the same music but all sounding different. With the new rule, they went down to one program director for 5 stations, one music director, etc. If the company owned stations in different cities, they often combined staffs. Radio stations lost their identity. It all sounded the same.
Today there are getting to be more and more stations that are going back to the 'individual sound', but they have a lot of ground to make up.
Movie scared us to death including my mom. Great movie.
We very rarely use the word genius. There are very few people who warrant it even being used in the same sentence as their name. Even more rare is when just about everybody agrees that the word is fitting for someone.
The Beach Boys founding member Brian Wilson has been called a musical genius by many and we agree with them.
Brian is celebrating 80 years on the planet today.
Happy Birthday Brian!! Thank you for letting us hear your music.
On Friday June 20, 1969, a music festival known as "Newport 69" started. It was the 2nd year for the festival, with the first being held in Costa Mesa, CA. The 1969 festival was held at Devonshire Downs in Northridge, CA.
Attended by an estimated 200,000 fans, the festival on June 20–22, 1969 was the largest pop concert up to that time and is considered the more famous of the two Newport Pop Festivals, possibly because of the appearance of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, which got top billing at the venue.
An estimated 200,000 people attended Newport ’69. Despite a poor sound system, a lack of food, water, and restrooms, and brutal security by the Hells’ Angels, it was deemed a resounding success by the attendees and musicians. The City Fathers of Northridge held a different view and banned any future music festivals. Newport ’69 made headlines around the country for a spell, but two months later, the phenomenon known as Woodstock made Newport seem like a picnic.
Jimi Hendrix was the headline act for the Friday night opening, but he played so poorly - supposedly from an LSD-laced drink - that he returned to the stage on Sunday. His Sunday performance with Buddy Miles, Eric Burdon, and several others lasted more than two hours. The Sunday performance is now legendary and prompted Los Angeles Times critic Pete Johnson to write that the audience “may have heard the best performance of their lives.”
Here's a list of Friday's performers:
Ike and Tina Turner
Albert King
Edwin Hawkins Singers
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Joe Cocker
Southwind
Spirit
Taj Mahal
On June 20, 2008, The Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page became Dr. Page. Here is the story from the school:
The University of Surrey is proud to confer the honorary degree of Doctor of the University to Jimmy Page for services to the music industry. The award was made on Friday, June 20 at Guildford Cathedral. Jimmy generously signed a guitar (see attached photo) which will be given away in a competition at the upcoming GuilFest festival. Surrey’s involvement with GuilFest this year celebrates its innovative music programmes that reflect the diversity of contemporary musical practice.
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is a world renowned guitarist and composer. Born in Middlesex in 1944, he grew up in Epsom, Surrey where he developed a passion for both painting and music. Throughout the 1960’s he was in demand as a session musician, leading eventually to his becoming a member of The Yardbirds. After various personnel changes, the band renamed themselves Led Zeppelin, and played under that name for the first time at the University of Surrey on October 25th 1968.
Over the next decade Led Zeppelin effectively redefined ‘rock’ music, drawing on a wide range of influences to create a string of legendary albums which have, to date, sold over 300 million copies. Led Zeppelin are unquestionably one of the most important and influential ‘rock’ bands ever, and the highly successful reunion concert at The O2 in 2007 shows the phenomenal interest in their music which persists today. Through his work with Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page, a major creative force within the band, became universally recognised as being one of the greatest and most versatile guitarists of all time.
Away from music, he has been involved in the Action for Brazil’s Children Trust, or ABC Trust. His commitment to this cause goes back to 1994 where he witnessed first hand unrest in the largest of Rio de Janeiro’s shanty towns. He resolved there and then to do something to help, which led to the establishment of "Casa Jimmy", a shelter for abandoned street children, which continues to be run successfully today and has helped over 250 children to find a better life. Building on this, the ABC Trust was set up with Jimmy Page as the founding patron. In 2005 he was awarded an OBE in recognition of his charitable work, and also made an honorary citizen of Rio de Janeiro later that same year.
Sorry, but we have to say it……"paging Dr. Page".
The Kinks' Ray Davies is celebrating his 78th birthday today. Ray is one of those guys we could go on for days about, but we are sure you are familiar with his work.
Happy Birthday Ray!!!
By June of 1962, The Beatles manager, Brian Epstein was working hard to get the band more exposure by having them open for more established acts. On June 21 of that year, Brian arranged to have the lads open for Bruce Channel of "Hey! Baby!" fame at the Tower Ballroom, in New Brighton, England.
Backstage, The Beatles were making the rounds and getting to know people. Channel's harmonica player, who will go on to fame as Delbert McClinton, offers John Lennon some tips on playing harmonica, which Lennon will later put to use on the band's first single, "Love Me Do."
Here is a shot of the band (with Pete Best), Delbert and Bruce. 60 years ago today.
57 years ago today, on June 21, 1965, one of the great "American Made" albums The Byrds "Mr. Tambourine Man" was released. It was The Byrds debut LP. In one of the reviews of this record, it was described as "Folk Rock". It was probably the first time the term had ever been used.
Here is a list of the tracks on the LP:
Side 1
"Mr. Tambourine Man" (Bob Dylan) – 2:29
"I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better" (Gene Clark) – 2:32
"Spanish Harlem Incident" (Bob Dylan) – 1:57
"You Won't Have to Cry" (Gene Clark, Jim McGuinn) – 2:08
"Here Without You" (Gene Clark) – 2:36
"The Bells of Rhymney" (Idris Davies, Pete Seeger) – 3:30
Side 2
"All I Really Want to Do" (Bob Dylan) – 2:04
"I Knew I'd Want You" (Gene Clark) – 2:14
"It's No Use" (Gene Clark, Jim McGuinn) – 2:23
"Don't Doubt Yourself, Babe" (Jackie DeShannon) – 2:54
"Chimes of Freedom" (Bob Dylan) – 3:51
"We'll Meet Again" (Ross Parker, Hughie Charles) – 2:07
Happy 57th Birthday to The Byrds debut album "Mr. Tambourine Man!!!
He's one of our favorite people on this planet.
He has one of the greatest voices in the history of Rock and Roll.
He is Howard Kaylan and today he is celebrating his 75th birthday. Howard for those of you not familiar with him, was the lead singer for The Turtles, (Happy Together, She'd Rather Be With Me etc), a member of The Mothers of Invention , 'Eddie' of Flo & Eddie and one of the guys who sang the Strawberry Shortcake TV show theme song.
Happy Birthday Howard!!! And he was the first guy to use 'etc' in a hit song.
Todd Rundgren has 74 candles on his birthday cake today. His best-known songs include "Hello It's Me" and "I Saw the Light", which have heavy rotation on classic rock radio stations, and "Bang the Drum All Day", which is featured in many sports arenas, commercials, and movie trailers.
What many people don't realize is that during the 1970s and 1980s, Todd engineered and/or produced many notable albums for other acts, including "Straight Up" by Badfinger , "Stage Fright" by The Band, "We're an American Band" by Grand Funk Railroad, "Bat Out of Hell" by Meat Loaf, "New York Dolls" by the New York Dolls, "War Babies" by Hall & Oates, and "Skylarking" by XTC. In the 1980s and 1990s his interest in video and computers led to his "Time Heals" being the eighth video played on MTV, and "Change Myself" was animated by Rundgren on commercially available Amiga computers.
He is a man of many hats. He also has some cool stuff. We used this picture because it show Todd playing "The Fool" guitar that was formerly owned by Eric Clapton. Todd has had it in his collection for years (we have heard rumors that he sold it but we do not know for sure).
Happy Birthday Todd!!! Thanks for the music, the art, you know, everything you do!
June 20,1996, the day radio as we knew it died. It's effects are still being felt.
It was on that day that Westinghouse Electric became the first entity to cash in on the new 1996 Telecommunications Act by purchasing Infinity Broadcasting for 3.9 billion dollars. The act relaxed restrictions on how many radio and TV stations one company could own in a single market.
By allowing one owner to own multiple FM radio stations in one market, the new owners found that it saved them money to put the management of all their stations under one roof. Before the multiple ownership rule, each station would have it's own program director, music director, promotions, engineering etc. You could have 5 Rock and Roll station in one market, playing the same music but all sounding different. With the new rule, they went down to one program director for 5 stations, one music director, etc. If the company owned stations in different cities, they often combined staffs. Radio stations lost their identity. It all sounded the same.
Today there are getting to be more and more stations that are going back to the 'individual sound', but they have a lot of ground to make up.
Movie scared us to death including my mom. Great movie.
We very rarely use the word genius. There are very few people who warrant it even being used in the same sentence as their name. Even more rare is when just about everybody agrees that the word is fitting for someone.
The Beach Boys founding member Brian Wilson has been called a musical genius by many and we agree with them.
Brian is celebrating 80 years on the planet today.
Happy Birthday Brian!! Thank you for letting us hear your music.
On Friday June 20, 1969, a music festival known as "Newport 69" started. It was the 2nd year for the festival, with the first being held in Costa Mesa, CA. The 1969 festival was held at Devonshire Downs in Northridge, CA.
Attended by an estimated 200,000 fans, the festival on June 20–22, 1969 was the largest pop concert up to that time and is considered the more famous of the two Newport Pop Festivals, possibly because of the appearance of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, which got top billing at the venue.
An estimated 200,000 people attended Newport ’69. Despite a poor sound system, a lack of food, water, and restrooms, and brutal security by the Hells’ Angels, it was deemed a resounding success by the attendees and musicians. The City Fathers of Northridge held a different view and banned any future music festivals. Newport ’69 made headlines around the country for a spell, but two months later, the phenomenon known as Woodstock made Newport seem like a picnic.
Jimi Hendrix was the headline act for the Friday night opening, but he played so poorly - supposedly from an LSD-laced drink - that he returned to the stage on Sunday. His Sunday performance with Buddy Miles, Eric Burdon, and several others lasted more than two hours. The Sunday performance is now legendary and prompted Los Angeles Times critic Pete Johnson to write that the audience “may have heard the best performance of their lives.”
Here's a list of Friday's performers:
Ike and Tina Turner
Albert King
Edwin Hawkins Singers
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Joe Cocker
Southwind
Spirit
Taj Mahal
On June 20, 2008, The Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page became Dr. Page. Here is the story from the school:
The University of Surrey is proud to confer the honorary degree of Doctor of the University to Jimmy Page for services to the music industry. The award was made on Friday, June 20 at Guildford Cathedral. Jimmy generously signed a guitar (see attached photo) which will be given away in a competition at the upcoming GuilFest festival. Surrey’s involvement with GuilFest this year celebrates its innovative music programmes that reflect the diversity of contemporary musical practice.
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is a world renowned guitarist and composer. Born in Middlesex in 1944, he grew up in Epsom, Surrey where he developed a passion for both painting and music. Throughout the 1960’s he was in demand as a session musician, leading eventually to his becoming a member of The Yardbirds. After various personnel changes, the band renamed themselves Led Zeppelin, and played under that name for the first time at the University of Surrey on October 25th 1968.
Over the next decade Led Zeppelin effectively redefined ‘rock’ music, drawing on a wide range of influences to create a string of legendary albums which have, to date, sold over 300 million copies. Led Zeppelin are unquestionably one of the most important and influential ‘rock’ bands ever, and the highly successful reunion concert at The O2 in 2007 shows the phenomenal interest in their music which persists today. Through his work with Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page, a major creative force within the band, became universally recognised as being one of the greatest and most versatile guitarists of all time.
Away from music, he has been involved in the Action for Brazil’s Children Trust, or ABC Trust. His commitment to this cause goes back to 1994 where he witnessed first hand unrest in the largest of Rio de Janeiro’s shanty towns. He resolved there and then to do something to help, which led to the establishment of "Casa Jimmy", a shelter for abandoned street children, which continues to be run successfully today and has helped over 250 children to find a better life. Building on this, the ABC Trust was set up with Jimmy Page as the founding patron. In 2005 he was awarded an OBE in recognition of his charitable work, and also made an honorary citizen of Rio de Janeiro later that same year.
Sorry, but we have to say it……"paging Dr. Page".
The Kinks' Ray Davies is celebrating his 78th birthday today. Ray is one of those guys we could go on for days about, but we are sure you are familiar with his work.
Happy Birthday Ray!!!
By June of 1962, The Beatles manager, Brian Epstein was working hard to get the band more exposure by having them open for more established acts. On June 21 of that year, Brian arranged to have the lads open for Bruce Channel of "Hey! Baby!" fame at the Tower Ballroom, in New Brighton, England.
Backstage, The Beatles were making the rounds and getting to know people. Channel's harmonica player, who will go on to fame as Delbert McClinton, offers John Lennon some tips on playing harmonica, which Lennon will later put to use on the band's first single, "Love Me Do."
Here is a shot of the band (with Pete Best), Delbert and Bruce. 60 years ago today.
57 years ago today, on June 21, 1965, one of the great "American Made" albums The Byrds "Mr. Tambourine Man" was released. It was The Byrds debut LP. In one of the reviews of this record, it was described as "Folk Rock". It was probably the first time the term had ever been used.
Here is a list of the tracks on the LP:
Side 1
"Mr. Tambourine Man" (Bob Dylan) – 2:29
"I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better" (Gene Clark) – 2:32
"Spanish Harlem Incident" (Bob Dylan) – 1:57
"You Won't Have to Cry" (Gene Clark, Jim McGuinn) – 2:08
"Here Without You" (Gene Clark) – 2:36
"The Bells of Rhymney" (Idris Davies, Pete Seeger) – 3:30
Side 2
"All I Really Want to Do" (Bob Dylan) – 2:04
"I Knew I'd Want You" (Gene Clark) – 2:14
"It's No Use" (Gene Clark, Jim McGuinn) – 2:23
"Don't Doubt Yourself, Babe" (Jackie DeShannon) – 2:54
"Chimes of Freedom" (Bob Dylan) – 3:51
"We'll Meet Again" (Ross Parker, Hughie Charles) – 2:07
Happy 57th Birthday to The Byrds debut album "Mr. Tambourine Man!!!
He's one of our favorite people on this planet.
He has one of the greatest voices in the history of Rock and Roll.
He is Howard Kaylan and today he is celebrating his 75th birthday. Howard for those of you not familiar with him, was the lead singer for The Turtles, (Happy Together, She'd Rather Be With Me etc), a member of The Mothers of Invention , 'Eddie' of Flo & Eddie and one of the guys who sang the Strawberry Shortcake TV show theme song.
Happy Birthday Howard!!! And he was the first guy to use 'etc' in a hit song.
Todd Rundgren has 74 candles on his birthday cake today. His best-known songs include "Hello It's Me" and "I Saw the Light", which have heavy rotation on classic rock radio stations, and "Bang the Drum All Day", which is featured in many sports arenas, commercials, and movie trailers.
What many people don't realize is that during the 1970s and 1980s, Todd engineered and/or produced many notable albums for other acts, including "Straight Up" by Badfinger , "Stage Fright" by The Band, "We're an American Band" by Grand Funk Railroad, "Bat Out of Hell" by Meat Loaf, "New York Dolls" by the New York Dolls, "War Babies" by Hall & Oates, and "Skylarking" by XTC. In the 1980s and 1990s his interest in video and computers led to his "Time Heals" being the eighth video played on MTV, and "Change Myself" was animated by Rundgren on commercially available Amiga computers.
He is a man of many hats. He also has some cool stuff. We used this picture because it show Todd playing "The Fool" guitar that was formerly owned by Eric Clapton. Todd has had it in his collection for years (we have heard rumors that he sold it but we do not know for sure).
Happy Birthday Todd!!! Thanks for the music, the art, you know, everything you do!
Last edited:
