Chapter 6. The 60s: A New Radio Era Begins

Radio is a business full of egos, emotions and lots and lots of words and you could sum it all up in two words. Okay, names.  How about “Bill Gordon”.  That’s not meant as a slam.  Gordon was an example of all three used to their maximum potential, and on top of that he was fearless. How so?  How about negotiating your contract in front of an audience including managers from other stations?  It happened during a luncheon at Cleveland’s Carter Hotel celebrating 1957’s National Radio Week.  Gordon emceed the event, and after introducing top executives from WGAR, WTAM, WERE, he came to his boss, WHK’s general manager Kenneth Hackathorn. During his intro Gordon suddenly blurted out, “Now, then, about my contract for next year?  Ten dollars more a week?”^[1]  Hackathorn was surprised but saw an opportunity saying, “Yes!  I’ll go along with that.”  Gordon told him, “I’m not kidding!  This man is my witness” placing his hand on the shoulder of Cleveland Mayor Anthony Celebreeze.   Hackathorn assured him he wasn’t kidding either and went back this his lunch.  It was actually a break for WHK management as he was concerned that Gordon and the station wouldn’t be able to come to terms.  Gordon said with a sigh afterwards, “Now I’ll never know if I could have gotten 15!”  WHK was in for even bigger news in the months to come.

So, what do you do with a radio facility that had a million dollars poured into it to make the studios and all related amenities state of the art?    In the case of WHK, you say goodbye!  That’s right. In February 1958, front page headlines reported the current owners…Forest City Publishing Company…decided to unload the property to New York’s Dumont Broadcasting Company for less than was paid in the renovation.^[2]  Dumont paid $750 thousand for the stations, but the two buildings that housed them went to Cleveland businessman Jack Kelman for about half a million. There were no plans to move, especially in light of the recently completed improvements, and a lease agreement was announced at the same time as the sale. The FCC still had to approve the transfer of the license, but no problems were anticipated and offices had begun to be cleared.

It was unclear as to why the sale occurred in the first place let alone why they targeted Dumont.  However, when the dust settled this very savvy new media giant had successfully separated itself from the company’s TV network which ceased operations in 1956.  Not to worry.  The newly established Metropolitan Broadcasting Corporation, later known as Metromedia, continued to own prime TV stations in Washington D.C. and New York along with one of this country’s most popular independent outlets, WNEW-AM & FM.  Commenting on the sale during his visit to the city to sign papers, Dumont president Bernard Goodwin told the press, “We are delighted at this opportunity to enter the Cleveland radio scene.  We are especially happy over the friendly relationship with the Forest City Publishing Company in reaching the purchasing agreement for WHK”.  He added, “We are entering Cleveland with the determination to continue the station’s outstanding policy of public service and entertainment.”  Oh, and one more thing.  Goodwin claimed there were no planned changes “either in the personnel or the policies of WHK.”  Most radio pros will tell that’s double speak for “changes are coming”, and they did.  Cleveland was a prime Midwest media market and gave Dumont a firm foothold for future expansion.

Some key personnel were added to the WHK staff by late summer including Jack Denton and Earle Jerris, and two who would go on to what could only be described as legendary careers, Ernie Anderson and Pete Myers.   Much has been written about Anderson who would go on to become Cleveland’s most popular TV personality when he transformed into WJW-TV’s horror host “Ghoulardi”.  He hosted B-movies and comedies drawing 50% of the audience among the commercial TV stations before heading to Los Angeles to become one of the most recognizable voice-over artists in the business.^[3]  But at WHK, Anderson was assigned a split shift from noon to 2 p.m. with a four-hour break, and then back at 6 p.m. for another two hours.  Myers, who made a name for himself as the “Mad Daddy” at WJW-AM, did a split shift as well starting at 2 p.m. for two-hour show, a long break and then back for another two hours at 8 p.m.  It was also announced Myers and Anderson would be on Monday through Sunday!  Myers also saw opportunities with WNEW in New York and wouldn’t stay in Cleveland much longer.

As northeast Ohio passed the mid-century mark heading into the 1960’s, the state of radio seemed stable and even prospered despite the ongoing battle for media users with TV.  WERE remained the station to beat which was unlikely considering Bill Randle was such a juggernaut.  Even so, the other stations fought as hard as they could and, despite DuMont’s claim no personnel changes were being pursued at WHK, a purge of the staff left only Tom Brown and Pete Myers from the old crew. Bill Gordon had decided, or maybe the word was “forced”, to continue his TV career at WEWS with the popular “One O’Clock Club”.  In March of 1959 a key player joined the station with the entry of Johnny Holliday.  The Florida native made his way to Cleveland by way of Rochester’s WRVM, and it wasn’t long before the high energy Holliday would play a key role in WHK’s transition to a heavy rock and roll rotation.^[4]

WERE-FM aired an interesting experiment that April focused on religion.  For years the daily Catholic rosary was a staple on many stations across America, as was other religious programming, but a Connecticut Episcopal church raised some eyebrows when it aired its “20th Century Folk Mass” that also included elements of jazz.  Seeing an opportunity to deliver programming to what was still a niche audience with FM receivers, WERE aired the mass followed by a discussion among clergy and scholars whether the church was actually helping or even hindering those seeking religion in a contemporary format.  A central theme of the discussion was whether the 20th Century Folk Mass represented a “theological deterioration”. ^[5]  Innovative for the time, and even controversial, many religions since have used contemporary music in their services.

With the dawn of the new decade, Cleveland radio seemed stalled in a “safe” mode.  KYW / Cleveland had Big Wilson’s jazz show, WERE’s Bill Randle was still the top jock but airing big band standards on Saturday night, and WGAR and WJW plodded along with so-called “good music” and an occasional novelty song to break things up. The stations found themselves in what best be described as a “comfortable” position…and why move if you’re comfortable?   A bit more about Randle.  In a good place, but ready to make a major move.

By March of 1961, Randle was about to be awarded a Ph. D and made the decision to leave his WERE show after eleven years with the station.  He would continue as a consultant, but it also left a golden opportunity for another station in town to fill the gap left by its most prominent radio voice.^[6]  Tired of being what he called a “teen-age disc jockey”, Randle had been teaching at Fenn College while pursuing his graduate degree at Western Reserve University.  Consider this.  WERE was known for breaking acts and pushing the envelope, but much of that originated with Randle.  He’d established a reputation among listeners with, “If it’s different it might be good, and if Randle likes it, it must be great!”  The question was whether another personality could attain that same level of loyalty.  KYW and WHK were appealing to young listeners as well, and despite the often-bland nature of current music, the stations had personalities that kept people listening when the records could not.  It would be interesting to see who would be left standing when the smoke cleared.

The summer of ‘61 was drawing to a close when WERE made a crucial decision.  Randle may have been advising them, but the bottom line is revenue, and the station faced tough competition.  WERE brass decided to re-direct the programming to…here it comes…” good music.”  The 60’s was a new radio era with new ideas heightened by good music.  Good music was in the ear of the beholder, but so was the sound of money coming in and the station needed revenue flow.^[7]  Columnist George Condon applauded the move claiming in the previous few months WERE had aired “advanced barnyard school music, which is characterized chiefly by the sound of young men in obvious vocal distress against the lugubrious thrumming of countless guitars”.  He noted that it ended an experiment by WERE following Randle’s departure from the air, and the dismissal of people like Carl Reese and Phil McLean who had been there for a decade, to broadcast more of what he described as an ”organized cacophony”.  Condon called some of the musical decisions “offbeat” with melodic music played only intermittently.  But the real reason was offered in a quote by an unnamed WERE employee who said, “Our experiment wasn’t entirely a failure, there was no commensurate rise in sales”.  As Condon interpreted it, the operation was a success…but the patient died.  WJW made similar move months before and left the door open to WHK and KYW to see if they could reap the benefits.

Early sixties radio was pretty much at the mercy of its music, putting more pressure on its personalities to sell excitement.  In 1962, Cleveland was forty years old and facing tremendous competition from television, especially in the evening hours.  Car radios may have kept the medium alive, but some of the most innovative minds were moving on.  Norman Wain joined the WHK staff as an astute salesman which would reap huge benefits for the audience as well but those would be years in the making, and many programmers wondered what the next trend would be and how to exploit it.  Sadly, the tragedy of the JFK assassination in November 1963 would add to the credibility of television even affecting the fate of twice a day newspapers.   The answer would come in just months.

After the horrors seen on TV with the death of President Kennedy and a particularly harsh winter, many hoped the new year would bring a new beginning.  Radio’s revitalization may have been the result of TV, and it happened on Sunday night, February 9th.  It was the Ed Sullivan Show, the weekly revitalization of the old vaudeville stage shows, and the stars that evening included singer Georgia Brown, British pub entertainer “Two-Ton Tessie” O’Shea, and an English quartet…the Beatles.  The much-hyped appearance drew a record TV audience anxious for something positive to grab onto.  As one viewer put it following the tough months before, “The world was in color once again”.  People flocked to department, record and dime stores to buy up anything even remotely connected to this new British Invasion, and it quickly drew the keen eye and ear of radio programmers.

Young listeners had a new reason to listen to the radio.  Sullivan continued to air this fresh revival in rock music and shows like Mike Douglas and Dick Clark’s American Bandstand took notice and followed suit, but TV was tightly scheduled meaning only a fleeting glimpse of the acts while radio had a steady stream.  As the singers and bands made their way to American shores, with home-grown rivals from Motown and surf bands challenging their dominance, it resulted in a wealth of new music, new listeners and new revenue streams for radio.  Many stations quickly reinvented themselves and the airwaves were paved with gold, the frontline being disc jockeys to keep the excitement at a fever pitch.  It even compelled “Dr. Bill” Randle to return to WERE though it remained to be seen if he could capitalize on the new entertainment.^[8]  Former superstars like Bill Gordon, who had returned to radio on WERE but defied the necessary “more music, less talk” formatting left with little fanfare.  There was also a decisive move by the FCC that would shake the radio industry in coming years.

In April 1965, the commission ruled that AM / FM combos would not be allowed to simulcast their programming.  The commission ruled that by early fall the stations would have to air 50% different programming on their FM sides, but stations were in a bit of a dilemma.  FM receivers were not in every home and why should a station spend extra money on programming to a diminished audience?  With AM still the king, it turned into cheap programming with classical music, dramas and basically content that was losing audience on the AM band.  But the big news of the year may have been the brainchild of Norman Wain, Bob Weiss and Joe Zingale, the top salesmen at WHK who had successfully won the chance to present the Beatles at Cleveland’s Public Auditorium the previous year.

WDOK-AM had a loyal audience that was getting smaller thanks to increased competition from all sides in the radio war and a format that screamed “old”.  The WHK trio decided to strike out on their own and approached owner Frederick Wolf with an offer to buy WDOK that he readily accepted.^[9]  The station had a 5000-watt directional signal, weak for what they wanted to do with it, but the key was they knew what would work.  The movie had programmers scratching their heads.  The station had a weak signal and by the time it moved up “the stick” (the antenna) the wattage could be cut to as much as 3500, and here’s the kicker.  They wanted to play Top 40, going up against the heritage WHK and the 50-thousand-watt WKYC (formerly KYW).  Despite the naysayers, the three took ownership and WIXY 1260 debuted in late 1965.

Much has been written about WIXY and its success, too much to cover in a book of this type, but let’s just say it shows what owners with vision, clever promotions and a stable of top-notch air talent could accomplish practically overnight.  It didn’t hurt that the station also outplayed its competition to get the Beatles concert in 1966, despite John Lennon’s remarks about Christianity.  WIXY would dominate Cleveland radio through the 1960s, getting as much as 50% of the audience shared by the crowded AM and FM bands.  It would eventually force WHK and KYW to drastically revise their formats.  Rock and roll owned the airwaves through the mid-Sixties.

The only constant in radio is change.  Many of Cleveland’s major names had left for greener pastures.  Johnny Holliday and Pete Myers were in New York, and Bill Gordon left his radio home at WERE in a huff but would eventually resurface at WHK. His morning show would now concentrate on “good music” though how much he could fit in between his long talk segments would have to be seen.  Plus, WERE was in the news again in May of ’68 with front page headlines announcing the station that Ray Miller bought twenty years before for $75-tousand was now being sold for $9 million to an out of state concern.  Stockholders who bought shares for $5 years before were now holding paper worth $450 apiece.  There were other out-of-town stations included in the sale, but pending approval from stockholders it also meant that WIXY would be the only locally owned station.

Bill Randle wasn’t impressed with much of the new music opting for jazz, which he felt was a more compelling form of entertainment.  By late 1968 he was doing shows like “Ask Your Neighbor” and “Swap and Shop” but felt content enough at the station to sign a new contract.  WERE was also having success with its sports voice, Pete Franklin, expanding his night-time show to a general talk call-in format in fall of 1968 (Hart, 1968).  Metromedia owned WHK and its FM sister station now rechristened WMMS (for “Metro Media Stereo’) and tested various forms of programming from progressive rock to Top 40.^[10]  College stations were exploring various shows and formats, especially with rock and a number of the more prominent names went on to commercial success.

The space race was intensifying as America aimed at the moon.  WGAR actually played a role in the space program that December working with NASA’s Lewis Research Center to broadcast Christmas music to the Apollo 8 crew.  That same program aired on WGAR Christmas night.  But the real news out of WGAR would come just two months later when veteran Tom Armstrong, who held down the morning drive slot for 14 years, was told he was going to midday.  He was replaced by the much younger Stuart Bowers, the former program director at Cincinnati’s WLW, and word rippled through the industry the station was going through a “restructuring” to attract younger listeners…but define “younger”?  WIXY was still the hands down favorite with competition from Windsor Ontario’s CKLW-AM.  FM was starting to rear its head, offering alternative programming for the college-aged crowd (but hindered by the lack of FM receivers in cars).  New voices would be heard on WGAR, but they had a big job (Personnel, 1969).  As it turns out, Bowers wouldn’t be in the morning chair for any real length of time, and Armstrong wasn’t content with his position either.   In April 1969, just two months after his reassignment, Armstrong signed on to do mornings at WDOK-FM, which at that point was pumping out pre-recorded fare.  In a gracious gesture, WGAR’s promotion director Frank Young expressed the station’s regrets that Armstrong would be moving to the station known as “Stereo Cleveland” saying he was “one of the best air personalities in the country.  We feel he will be an asset to WDOK”^[11].  Was Armstrong an attraction to an older crowd?  Of course, his move would be the first of many as AM talent looked at options on the FM band.  At that point there were a lot of veteran broadcasters from heritage stations looking for new opportunities, and if Armstrong was successful, it could open a lot of doors for some prominent names that were idled.

There was yet another challenge, and this one would hit hard.  Cigarette advertising generated a lot of money, mostly on the network level, but local stations benefited as well.  The FCC had declared a ban on tobacco ads for radio and TV and stations raced to hopefully undo the damage.  WGAR management was certain the National Association of Broadcasters would fight the upcoming ban, and WKYC attorneys suggested it would be decided in the courts.^[12]  At least one broadcasting executive predicted that, if successful, it would also result in an advertising ban on wine and beer ads.  It took some time, the commission won, but to the stations’ relief, wine and beer continued to generate money for the stations.  That ban never came about.