The 60s: Radio Was The Key

In my post on Monday I talked about how music was the glue in the foundation of The 60s and the cultural revolution that followed. I think that the main reason for this was the power of an old medium being used in new ways- radio. As TV was taking away a great deal of the old radio ideas (soaps, dramas, comedy, news) it had to find a new way of presenting itself. In the new music was one of the answers.

Now it didn't happen overnight. I worked at a now defunct station in South Williamsport, PA (WMPT AM/FM). To set the scene, this was in 1969 - the year of Woodstock, fairly well along in the music revolution. In our (admittedly small market) we were the only station out of four that ever played "rock" music. And we only did that in the evening on Ron Shobert's "Night Train" program and on my Sunday afternoon show. I could play "lighter" rock on my 6 - 8 morning wake-up show, but that was about it. Everyone else in town played what we derisively called "elevator music" or pop singers like Perry Como, etc. Rock was too radical. Years after the Beatles hit it big and almost as they were ready to break up you could not hear the Beatles 80% of the time on the radio in our city.

But in the greater society outside the hills of northern Pennsylvania it was far different. We would all listen late at night with the transistor radio under the pillow to WBZ, WABC, WKBW, WCFL, CKLW - the big 50,000 watt giants. Counsin Brucie, Dick Biondi, Dick Sommers, Joey Reynolds, Allison Steele, Chicken Man became as well known to us in the eastern half of the country as Wolfman Jack was in California. It was an underground movement- an alternative universe.

One of the more interesting things I remember is how few "genres" of music there were in the "popular" field. Top 40 was basically it. Some of it was soul music- which was "black" music marketed to the "white" audience. Every now and then a country cross-over would occur with a Johnny Cash or the old "pop" standards with a Frank and Nancy Sinatra. But it was mostly rock and soul. And every station that played the "popular music" played them all- white or black. In many ways, I believe, this cross-color barrier music in our soundtrack helped move the civil rights issues forward. It may be to our detriment that we have re-ghettoized so much of the music today.

Sidenote: It was, however, still a racist world. I know that the "soul" music we listened to was often less radical, less "soulful" than the music played on the "black" stations. We were getting a more sanitized version and it was very difficult for African-American artists to break the barrier. The Supremes and Jimi Hendrix notwithstandting. As is often the case the exceptions prove the rule. Remember also that it took black videos a number of years to break into the rotation on MTV and that was over 15 years later! And that took CBS Records threatening to pull all their videos if MTV didn't play Michael Jackson.

Another development of the music revolution was the start of what at least sounded like minimal format radio. This began on the truly radical side of broadcasting in those days- FM- just as it was beginning to blossom in the big cities. WNEW-FM, in New York and WMMR-FM in Philadelphia were two excellent examples. They moved beyond the Top 40 format which had started the whole thing and moved to albums and long cuts and sound and music mixes. The BIG pioneer was WBAI in New York, a non-commercial station that brought the revolution that was happening in the streets to the airwaves. (WBAI is still at it. It's most influential current offering is Democracy Now.

All of this became a bonding experience that our parents didn't understand or care to share in. Voices in the night spoke to us from great distances bringing in the music that then sounded nothing short of world-shattering. As should be expected business took notice of all this with such a large base in the Baby Boomers, and all of it became quite commercial as time went on.

But that cannot take away from the power of ther musical revolution that occurred and, in many ways, opened the door for the many different music genres of today. Music, we found out, was empowering. If you could pick up a guitar and learn to play it, you too could make music for the masses. The words of the songs told us that there was a way to express our feelings - from teen love and teen angst to some of the biggest issues like war, peace, and poverty.

Some of the ways we look back at that music is simple nostalgia. But some of it is deeper. It is more profound for it reminds us that we are in a constant state of revolution. The new genres always seem to push the envelope of the previous music. To listen to some of the music from the 50s and 60s is to remind us of the roots of today and that it continues in new ways. Sadly we are more fragmented musically, but perhaps that is to be expected. Us old-timers will always struggle with changing what was so meaningful to us.

But I am glad it keeps on going- and I am glad to know that in some small way I was lucky enough to be in at some of the early days and helped make it happen if only a drop in a very large ocean.