Am Radio in the '60s

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bookslover

Puritan Board Doctor
This won't mean anything to people who didn't grow up in southern California during the 1960s, but my next door neighbor had his radio on while working on the outside of his house today (in 90-degree heat, no less). The station was KRTH (K-Earth), which is an oldies station. The DJ spinning the discs was a guy named "Charlie Tuna" (his professional name, obviously).

I was amazed! I remember listening to him when he was on the legendary KHJ-AM station (a top 10 station in those days) playing records in the mid-'60s! I figure the guy must be about 70 now, but he sounds as fresh as ever. Music keeps you young, I guess...

In 1970, KHJ had a show that played the Top 100 singles from the 1960s. Naturally, #1 was by the Beatles ("She Loves You").

Good ol' Charlie Tuna...What a flash from the past - Charlie Tuna, Humble Harv, the Real Don Steele (the king of them all)...ah, sweet memories!
 
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I remember listening to WABC radio in New York City during the summer. Cousin Brucie and Harry Harrison were the main DJ's. If I were to hear them again it would be nostalgia city.
 
North Jersey Baptist said:
I remember listening to WABC radio in New York City during the summer. Cousin Brucie and Harry Harrison were the main DJ's. If I were to hear them again it would be nostalgia city.
Click to expand...
Ah, yes 77, WABC. Last time I went home they told me it was a radio talk station now.
 
Any WABC fans remember Dan Ingram? He was on in the afternoons from the mid-60's. He was always quick with the jokes.
 
Any Motown fans?

[video=youtube;Ta9LeyblMXs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ta9LeyblMXs[/video]

Come to Detroit (accent on the last syllable, please, and our second language here, appearing on household goods, etc., is French, the Canadian version, not Spanish, s'il vous plait) - and you can take a tour of Hitsville USA. My family and I did it a couple of years ago and at the end, the tour guide has the men (my husband and son were included in this) standing in the same spot in the recording studio where the Temptations recorded "My Girl" - and singing it... He taught them the Tempts' dance to it as well... Are the women off the hook? No! :D They lined us girls up and we sang "Stop in the Name of Love" - and you have to dance to that, too, just like the Supremes did. The tour was great (I grew up about 6 miles from Hitsville USA)...

Okay, so we're "flyover country..." WKNR ("Keener 13" - The Keener Legend) was our station, along with CKLW (just across the river in Windsor) in the Sixties... But we had Motown...
 
bookslover said:
This won't mean anything to people who didn't grow up in southern California during the 1960s, but my next door neighbor had his radio on while working on the outside of his house today (in 90-degree heat, no less). The station was KRTH (K-Earth), which is an oldies station. The DJ spinning the discs was a guy named "Charlie Tuna" (his professional name, obviously).

I was amazed! I remember listening to him when he was on the legendary KHJ-AM station (a top 10 station in those days) playing records in the mid-'60s! I figure the guy must be about 70 now, but he sounds as fresh as ever. Music keeps you young, I guess...

In 1970, KHJ had a show that played the Top 100 singles from the 1960s. Naturally, #1 was by the Beatles ("She Loves You").

Good ol' Charlie Tuna...What a flash from the past - Charlie Tuna, Humble Harv, the Real Don Steele (the king of them all)...ah, sweet memories!
Click to expand...

Yes, indeed. But, don't forget the Wolfman himself, Wolfman Jack.
 
Remember the girls looping a transistor radio through a beltloop in their jeans? You know, the ones that were about the size of the later walkmans?
 
Charlie Tuna got his start in Kearney (pron. Car-nee) Neb. He's one of the greats of all time.

I didn't know he was at K-Earth but that's the place for him.

You might enjoy my (ugly) radio site. There are some fun old airchecks from some fun old friends.
 
DMcFadden said:
Yes, indeed. But, don't forget the Wolfman himself, Wolfman Jack.
Click to expand...

Ack! How could I have forgotten the Wolfman!!! Shame on me...:eek:

In his early days, he broadcast from a 50,000-watt clear-channel station in Tijuana, Mexico. On super-clear nights you probably could have heard him on the moon...

I still remember my surprise when I first found out that the Wolman was white!
 
In St. Louis it was KXOK. I listened to it all, especially the Beatles. Where I lived the only place to buy records was at the furniture store. It was a different time, it was a good time.
 
Ivan said:
In St. Louis it was KXOK. I listened to it all, especially the Beatles. Where I lived the only place to buy records was at the furniture store. It was a different time, it was a good time.
Click to expand...

Records? You mean those vinyl spinning frisbees? :lol: Ivan, we really are old.
 
North Jersey Baptist said:
I remember listening to WABC radio in New York City during the summer. Cousin Brucie and Harry Harrison were the main DJ's. If I were to hear them again it would be nostalgia city.
Click to expand...

The best week of the summer was Boy Scout camp in the Poconos. We were close enough to NYC to pick up 77 WABC. Cousin Brucie, Dan Ingram, and the crew. Every radio in camp was tuned to WABC. Great memories.
 
Galatians220 said:
Any Motown fans?

YouTube - Motown Studio A

Come to Detroit (accent on the last syllable, please, and our second language here, appearing on household goods, etc., is French, the Canadian version, not Spanish, s'il vous plait) - and you can take a tour of Hitsville USA. My family and I did it a couple of years ago and at the end, the tour guide has the men (my husband and son were included in this) standing in the same spot in the recording studio where the Temptations recorded "My Girl" - and singing it... He taught them the Tempts' dance to it as well... Are the women off the hook? No! :D They lined us girls up and we sang "Stop in the Name of Love" - and you have to dance to that, too, just like the Supremes did. The tour was great (I grew up about 6 miles from Hitsville USA)...

Okay, so we're "flyover country..." WKNR ("Keener 13" - The Keener Legend) was our station, along with CKLW (just across the river in Windsor) in the Sixties... But we had Motown...
Click to expand...

I love Motown. Methinks another thread is on the way... :cool:
 
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