A true Icon an a inspiration to all that have tried to follow in his footsteps From a Dis Jock in los Angles KLRA early 60's when Am ruled the rock airwaves in LA , Then his own "national syndication". A pioneer in National syndication ....My guess the first in radio rock music....

Posted by DrRock on Friday, 02/2/2018 @ 18:30pm

Wrong on two counts. National syndication has been around for around for a very long time... probably starting almost immediately after the Chain Broadcasting Rules were struck down as illegal, maybe earlier. Second, Alan Freed was nationally syndicated back in the '50's.

Posted by Philip on Saturday, 02/3/2018 @ 20:56pm

only referring to rock...Freed was short lived sadly.. Another great no doubt He was the" bell ringer" for rock ...Having said that Casey went on for decades...Wolfman Jack is another great pioneer .........Reaching more than just a local area...All greats in their own way..

Posted by DrRock on Saturday, 02/3/2018 @ 21:31pm

No Philip

Both DrRock and I have brought up the importance of Clear Channel am stations

Again educate yourself before you open your mouth.

Again stop your bs to cover up your ignorance.

The people on that 60s blog don't agree with you so you come up nonsense to cover your ignorance

google what people have to say about those clear channel stations like WLS and WCFL Your bs is wrong. you have no logical argument and use garbage to cover up you ignorance

You want to say somebody is wrong you need to look it up and put up an actual logical argument By the way your opinion counts for jack sheet when you can't back it up.

Educate yourself or shut up - back it up

By the way I think I will listen to the actual lawyer that told me that I should be a lawyer because of my logical arguments

Maybe you should look up what numbers people do

Posted by Zuzu on Saturday, 02/3/2018 @ 21:39pm

Zuzu, do you even know what syndication is? No one is saying that superstations weren't important. Heck, it was a superstation that made Wolfman Jack famous in the United States, because he could be picked up in parts of the Southwestern U.S. because the FCC couldn't regulate a Mexican station. So yes those high-wattage stations were important, but so was being nationally syndicated. And Alan Freed was a rock and roll disc jockey who was syndicated nationally. That's a fact, and no amount of people on a blog about '60s music disagreeing with that makes it any less true.


DrRock... Freed did play rock'n'roll. True he was sadly short-lived. While playola (also known as "payola" or "plugola"), was indeed a terrible practice and needed to end, it has been suspected that the reason that Freed was particularly targeted was because he was the premiere national jockey for rock and roll music... at a time when many parents still believed rock and roll was corrupting the youth. Who knows how long Freed could've gone on if he hadn't been targeted, according to theory?

Btw, DrRock, I'm all for Casey Kasem. As the host of the Weekly Top 40 for decades, he deserves a spot right alongside Dick Clark. Just wanted to point out that your facts weren't quite accurate.

Posted by Philip on Saturday, 02/3/2018 @ 22:31pm

Philip
was indeed a terrible practice and needed to end

That's Funny...


a time when many parents still believed rock and roll was corrupting the youth.

Hmmm they may of had a point..... lol

I am glad you agree...On Casey I am all In for Wolfman also

Posted by DrRock on Sunday, 02/4/2018 @ 00:13am

DrRock,

The Wolfman is another big yes from me.

Posted by Philip on Sunday, 02/4/2018 @ 00:35am

syndication was not as important as you think.

Use a little logic clear channel reached more people than syndication.

For border stations you should mention the Carter Family not Wolfman Jack. They were more influential on rock and roll.

This is what you do not get. These stations were all over the country.

Chicago was especially important. Smack dab in the middle of the country. release a record on the east coast you only go west from the west you only go east. from Chicago you go both ways. It worked for Styx.


What about King Bisciut Flour Hour and Dr Demento

Posted by Zuzu on Sunday, 02/4/2018 @ 02:06am

ZuZu

Never really think of the Carter Family radio show as rock radio.. More Folk country I really do know much .. Great in its day

love good old Dr Demento he Also had his big break in Pasadena/LA His syndication stated in 1974 A different venue than Casey

Biscuit Flour Hour Was a fun show Stared up after Casey not quite the impact IMO Casey was the king for years ..
All fun stuff

Posted by DrRock on Sunday, 02/4/2018 @ 17:22pm

Zuzu, the whole "syndication vs. superstation" debate is completely non-germane to this discussion about Casey Kasem. The whole discussion has been about Casey Kasem and whether or not he was, as DrRock first posited, either a pioneer of syndicated radio or the first rock and roll disc jockey to be nationally syndicated. I was simply pointing out that neither actually applies to Kasem. Radio syndication has been around since at least the '40s, and Alan Freed was a rock jock who was nationally syndicated in the '50s.

But since you insist, what you're forgetting is that each individual superstation has a limited reach (modern internet streaming notwithstanding). They have longer reach than other stations, but even they only reach a small percentage of the country. You claim the one Chicago station reaches 7 states... well that still leaves 41 that are NOT being reached (not counting Alaska and Hawaii, because if you're broadcasting from the contiguous 48 and reaching either of those two states, you're seriously violating FCC policy). The point is that there is NO ONE SINGLE superstation (or clear channel station, as you insist on using the archaic term) that reaches the entire nation. NONE! Syndication on the other hand CAN and DOES reach the vast majority of the nation, because whether it's prerecorded content, or satellite linkup simulcasting, it can and does distribute from Los Angeles to New York; Boston to Phoenix, Seattle to Jacksonville, Houston to Pittsburgh and all points in between. And you don't need to be on every station in each market. You don't even need to be on the top-rated station in each market. You only need to be on ONE station in each market. A superstation will have a great effect on a single chunk of the country, but it cannot reach the entire nation. So yes, syndication reaches more people than a single superstation, because it works on a wider scale. Each individual superstation has/had their own staff, you can't be heard on more than one superstation at a time. But in syndication you could theoretically be heard on all of them at once. What if a syndicated show is carried by a superstation, hmm? The two are not mutually exclusive.

Btw, as far as translational movement across the country, you could say the same things about Kansas City, Saint Louis, Detroit, etc.

Doc Rock, sorry to have muddied this conversation. Been fun.

Posted by Philip on Sunday, 02/4/2018 @ 18:00pm

Philip

This has nothing to do with tv so why do you keep insisting on using the wrong term

250 mile radius is daytime after the sun goes down these fcc regulated stations could reach close to all of the country am signals bounce and travel farther fcc may determine if it is multi or single directional. Weather conditions determined how far it reached

The fcc did this so markets to small for radio could get some coverage.


why Chicago

various reasons

politics - major hub - wls and wcfl djs often went on to national fame -

why did papa Jackson bring the boys here to get them on Chicago radio

things tied together here

syndication did not out do the reach of clearchannel until the 70s or 80s

Mancow had the largest market share on a clear channel station before he became syndicated.

You have no idea what the 50s 60s or 70s were like and you need to apologize for telling people wrong information.

Posted by Zuzu on Sunday, 02/4/2018 @ 19:59pm

DrRock

Carter Family 1st and 2nd generation would be early influence. Don't forget that they are connected to Johnny Cash. June Carter Cash wrote Ring of Fire.

Maybelle Carter started lead guitar

They influenced r&r through the decades

rockabilly
folk revival
60s folk
70s folk rock country fusion


I think King Bisciut was not picking the best concerts

Dr Demento became an underground for songs not played on regular radio such as

Chuck Barrys My Ding a Ling

Jim Stafford Wildwood Weed

Steve Goodman's Lincoln Park Pirates

Posted by Zuzu on Sunday, 02/4/2018 @ 21:34pm

Superstation doesn't just refer to the one TV channel. "Clear Channel" no longer refers primarily to the AM stations of yore. When radio people use the term "Clear Channel" nowadays, it refers to the media conglomerate now calling itself iHeartMedia, but most people know them by their previous name.

And yes, I know how AM signals work. They typically carry further than FM signals do on the same wattage. I also know that for the longest time, many AM stations used to sign off after sunset. Some still do. But many didn't. The point is, that syndicated programming still had incredible reach during the 50's and 60's because not everyone listened to the high-wattage stations at night. They didn't have a monopoly (oligopoly, whatever) on the nighttime radio airwaves.

To assume that you couldn't make it big if you weren't on a high wattage station denies both the greater potential that syndication has over those stations, and also the "who-knows-you" nature of the radio industry. Syndication reached the entire nation. You need to stop treating it like it was small potatoes.

Also, you're close, but slightly off when it comes to the FCC acting to benefit smaller markets. What they did for the purpose of encouraging smaller towns and markets was to grant transmitter licenses in smaller towns. In the case of my own personal experience, one of our AM stations was out of Lansing, but the transmitter tower was located in the small town of Okemos. Or a Grand Rapids station with the transmitter in Greenville. Letting the mega-stations up their wattage at night didn't help the smaller markets quite that much.

Papa Jackson brought them to Chicago because it was close by. They were from Gary, Indiana, which was basically a Chicago suburb. They still ended up on Motown, though.

Posted by Philip on Sunday, 02/4/2018 @ 23:16pm

He never should have remarried! He should have just enjoyed being single, and his children from the first marriage.

The poor guy's ashes are scattered somewhere in Israel now because of that evil second wife from CHEERS!

Posted by Roy on Friday, 09/21/2018 @ 15:55pm

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/casey-kasems-wife-children-accuse-each-other-of-killing-radio-icon-48-hours/

CASEY KASEM'S WIFE, CHILDREN ACCUSE EACH OTHER OF "KILLING" RADIO ICON

Posted by Roy on Tuesday, 11/27/2018 @ 23:01pm

https://www.tmz.com/2014/11/07/casey-kasem-missing-body-norway-decomposing-rotting/

CASEY KASEM
ROTTING IN NORWAY

Posted by Roy on Tuesday, 12/4/2018 @ 23:36pm

https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6415062/casey-kasem-buried-norway-death-autopsy-body-jean-kerri-mike-julie-2014

Casey Kasem Finally Laid to Rest in Norway; Questions About Death Remain

Posted by Roy on Tuesday, 12/4/2018 @ 23:39pm

Kasey Kasem with his top 40 show only promoted crappy music. His voice was annoying and he really didn't do anything for Rock Music.

Posted by The Rock Hall is a Clown Show on Saturday, 12/11/2021 @ 17:36pm