Comments for show 4/11/2009

Well, our new website is actually launched and on line. Thanks to Chuck Reisinger for all his help with this. We have some old playlists up, which I will be adding to next week.
Speaking of next week, the WNCU spring fund raiser begins this Monday the 13th and continues through next Sunday. We will be on the air this coming Saturday raising money for WNCU and 8 Track Flashback. These are tough times, but we need your support, and it has always been the case that there are a few folk (less than 100 generally) who call in and support the show.
If you enjoy the show, I encourage you to call in and make some sort of contribution. It is not just the amount of money contributed that is important but a showing that there is a group of folk out there who enjoy the show enough to step up. So even ten dollars is important, we know from the radio ratings services that over the course of a Saturday show over 3000 folk will tune in. So even if only ten percent called in, it would over triple participation in our fund drive.
This week’s show featured our monthly countdown of 18 R&B chart hits from 50 years ago, in this case April 1959. This was an intersting countdown, with a number of the big hits from 1958 (Stagger Lee by Lloyd Price and Lonely Teardrops by Jackie Wilson) dropping off and being replaced by new records by these artists. Often followup records to big hits are not as strong, but “That’s Why” for Jackie Wilson and “Where were you on our weddng day” are certainly very good records, if tending to be more pop than the earlier tunes. This was a continuing trend on the chart as the labels sought to capitalize on the cross-over appeal of R&B artists and try and broaden their appeal and boost the market.
Still operating behind the scene, Berry Gordy has continuing success with Jackie Wilson, and debued his Detroit Tamla label with a first release by Marv Johnson, “Come to me” though the record charted on the United Artist label which picked up the master for national distribution. More big hits from Marv Johnson were in the offing, though to my knowledge he never charted on any of the Motown group labels.
—all for now, Jim Davis

June 19th, 2010 | Tags: , , | No Comments »

July 18, 2009

Well, we are now well into summer and it’s been a while since I’ve done a post. However, there is a new installment so to speak in my Radio Biography in the “about” section where I chronicle the five years I spent at on the air at WDNC from 1976 to 1982 doing a show with similarities to 8 Track Flashback.
This week we count down the top 18 R&B chart records from July 1959. Whereas 1956 and 1957 witnessed R&B music invading the Pop chart, the melting pot phenomenon (or just better marketing and payola) continued with lots of Pop and “Rock and Roll” (not really, but that’s what folks considered it at the time) crossing over to the R&B charts. A lot of familiary names and tunes which are certainly a mixed bag in terms of standing the test of time. Judge for yourself, I will try and get a playlist posted.
An interesting item I found while doing research was an article in “Billboard” from 1960, reporting how the FCC requiring radio stations to stop accepting free records from the record companies had sent the radio business into a tizzy. An interesting parallel to the situtation now when those same record companies that send out recordings for free to be played on the air to promote their artists now want radio stations (including WNCU) to pay by play for the music we play on the air. This pending legislation may have a dramatic effect on what you hear on the air, includuing 8 Track Flashback, if the record companies prevail. For me personally it may be more a matter of doing all the paperwork to document sources for all the material I play. There are arguments back and forth about fairness to performers, but since the distribution would be through the record companies, I question the process given the record companie’s shabby treatment of the artists in terms of royalties in the past. We shall see what develops.

June 19th, 2010 | Tags: , | No Comments »

June teenth, 2010

If you don’t know about June teenth, go check it out, an interesting part of history.

We are moving along with our plans for HD-2, the furniture was delivered Friday, and we start installation on the new control room next week. The transmission system is in place and has been tested, we just needed a control room and additional audio delviery system, and of course CONTENT! Hopefully part of that will be more 8 Track Flashback in an evening timeslot. We were foretunate to procure grant funding to purchase this equipment.

How are you holding up with the heat? We didn’t do very well last Sunday when our air conditioning at the transmitter site failed and we had to go off the air. Our fifteen year old system had some temporary repairs done Monday and we got back on, and the final repairs were completed in Thursday. We need to replace that old system ,as well as our 15 year old analog (FM) transmitter.

Which brings me to my last comment. I finally got the total from the May fundraiser for 8tfb, and we only had about $2490 in pledges. We used to do nearly double that. The problem is that a only a few of our thousands of listeners call in and do their part. You can help, just think about giving say $10 to the station. If 300 folks did that, it would make up the difference. Public, listener supported radio requires just that, listener support, and shows like 8 Track Flashback cannot continue without funding from the folk who enjoy it. So please consider making a contribuation in the name of 8tfb at www.wncu.org.

Thanks, Jim Davis

June 19th, 2010 | Tags: , | No Comments »

June 12, 2010

Well, I tried to do a Post from my Iphone, but that did not work real well, all I got was the header done. But like any new (at least for me…) technology there is a learning curve. So far, I am enjoying the iphone, don’t know if I will stick with it, the one I have is a loaner.

June 19th, 2010 | No Comments »