KAAY "It wasn't about the music"

Many of you have heard or read me say that time and time again. My point is that KAAY was so much more than the music and the ratings and popularity was not because of the music. We always had competition that could always play much more music than we did. When KAAY went on the air there was KXLR and KALO playing the same music. I'm not sure what KVLC was doing at that time. I feel to this day that news was a key ingredient in the success of KAAY. News gave a reason for adults to accept the music. Remember in 1962 rock and roll was not the adult choice. We ran a 5 minute newscast every hour and headlines on the half hour. The original format, designed by Jim Hankins, a/k/a Mike McCormick, was for the five minutes at :45 and the headlines at :15. I can still see the dittoed "Hot Clock" hanging right in front of the jock. Each day the p.d. filled out the hot clock with all the contests, promos, housewife of the day etc. Is there an FM music station today that runs news every hour? Let alone, have two full time news personnel.

I started off this post, with the idea of talking a little about music. As a DJ, I really got tired of the music. Elvis, The Beatles, all were just records to me. I was never an Elvis fan. I played it because the audience wanted it. However, the other day, after seeing one of those record offers on TV, I wanted to hear Elvis's Suspicious Minds again. I went online, to the Walmart music service. (because it's cheaper than Itunes.) Ready to spend my 88 cents, I saw an album with 14 cuts for about $7. Couldn't pass up a deal. I'm glad I did. I heard Elvis for the first time, as a listener, who had paid money. I have to say I enjoyed the album.

As I hear from KAAY listeners outside of Arkansas, I discover it was about the music. Why listen to KAAY when you have WLS and WCFL.? Why listen to KAAY when you have WNOE and WTIX. It was about the music.

As music evolved and Dale Schidenswartz a/k/a Clyde Clifford brought in Beaker Street it became even more about the music. Pat Walsh, gets a lot of the credit for allowing yea even fostering experimenting with the format. Pat even played with a little talk radio on KAAY in the evenings. The FM handwriting was on the wall. Would it be the death of AM? Obviously not.
The music hasn't died. (for those of you who bought the line from American Pie). It will continue to evolve. Where are the programmers willing to innovate? Is AM dead? Should it be? The F.C.C. allowing consolidation of stations hasn't helped. Manufacturers putting out devices that include radios but only FM, hasn't helped. Why doesn't the F.C.C. just take the AM band and use it for a purpose that they can auction off to the highest bidder. That's what they are doing with TV. The TV broadcasters were forced into HDTV and the low channel frequencies will have to be turned back in to the F.C.C. so they can auction them off for other services. IS THAT IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST? I digress. Maybe the music has died and were just waiting for the funeral.