Rock Radio Scrapbook
Articles
Buffalo Radio in 1955
By Gary Deeb
It was the summer of 1955 and
Buffalo still was the 14th largest broadcast market in the United States. I was
only dimly aware of that fact, being only nine. But I knew that those sounds
coming from the radio and my own portable RCA model were wondrously thrilling.
Indeed, it's entirely possible that Buffalo radio never was performed at such a
stratospheric level as it was at that particular moment.
More....
Radio's Jackie Robinson: Nat D. Williams
By Dale R. Patterson
In the decade of Jackie Robinson, there was yet
another man who broke a color barrier. One year after Robinson became the first
black in modern times to play major league baseball, Nat D. Williams became the
first black man in the south to become the regular host of a radio show. It
opened the floodgates as many African-Americans would follow him to their
rightful place on the airwaves.
More...
The Daddy of Rhythm and Blues: John R.
By Dale R. Patterson
"Gentleman John", "John R.", or just plain John
Richbourg, it didn't matter what name you knew him as. This legendary late-night
voice of Nashville's WLAC will always be regarded with awe whenever great rhythm
and blues dee-jays are talked about. He truly was "The Daddy of Rhythm and
Blues." More...
The Ace From Outer Space: Jocko Henderson
By Dale R. Patterson
He has been called the black Dick Clark, the
father of rap, the ace from outer space. He may also be the most deserving dee-jay
not in the Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame. Douglas "Jocko" Henderson remains one of
rock 'n' roll's most overlooked pioneers.
More...
Progressive Radio Pioneer: Tom Donahue
By Dale R. Patterson
He was a giant - both in stature and in
influence on rock radio. One of the leading Top 40 jocks of his era, he is best
remembered for something that had nothing to do with talkovers, million-dollar
weekends and all that is associated with hit music radio. For Tom Donahue is one
of the originators of the free-form album format.
More...
Forgotten Pioneer: WBNY
By Bob Skurzewski
It is Buffalo's forgotten pioneer.
On September 24, 1935,
Mr. Roy L. Albertson received a construction permit for WBNY radio. The station
went on the air on March 4, 1936, assigned to a "shared frequency" of 1370kc.
WBNY-AM and WSVS (Seneca Vocational High School) shared "air" time. Later, the
FCC, as part of a nationwide frequency reallocation program, moved WBNY-AM and
WSVS to 1400kc. More...
Toronto Radio: A Look Back
By Dale R. Patterson
These are not meant to be formal
histories of the stations, just one fan's reflections on some the greatest rock
'n roll radio of all time. This section looks at four great AM stations
and one FM station in Toronto plus a glance at U.S. radio from a Toronto
perspective.
More...
The CHUM Chart
By Dale R. Patterson
On May 27, 1957, CHUM radio in Toronto made two changes that would prove very historic. They became the first station in Canada to program Top 40 hit music, 24 hours a day. Also, they began a tradition that would last 29 years with the weekly issuing of the CHUM Chart. More...
The CKOC Chart Gallery
As donated by Mark Sorensen via Nevin Grant
It was the longest-running chart in Top 40 radio history, with
more than 16-hundred issues from 1960 to 1992. View some classic CKOC music
charts as donated exclusively to Rock Radio Scrapbook.
More...
Breaking the line: Black radio pioneers
By Dale R. Patterson
WDIA was by no means the first U.S.
radio station to hire black broadcasters. It was the first in the U.S. south to
go with an all-black format. But other black broadcasters preceeded Nat D. and
company in other parts of the country.
More...
The Boy on the Couch: B. Mitchel Reed
By Dale R. Patterson
He was the fastest tongue in the east -
and west - a rapid-fire entertainer backed by a cacaphony of bells and horns.
But he also had an alter-ego, a slow-talking, introspective personna that made
him a pioneer in FM underground radio. B. Mitchel Reed, whether he talked
at you or to you, remains one of the great legends of rock radio.
More...
The WDIA Photo Gallery
By Dale R. Patterson
Classic photos of the pioneering black radio
station, WDIA.
More...
The Don Berns Interview
Q: You're one of the top personality jocks in the country, and you've worked some of the top "personality" stations in the country. Tell us about some of these stations. What I'd like to know in particular is how their station "personality" differed.
A: I consider the top "personality" stations I've worked for to be (WKBW) Buffalo, KLIF (Dallas), KFMB (San Diego) and now WTAE (Pittsburgh). I'm not geing to back before WKBW because we'd be getting into 1960s radio, which is a totally different bag. More...