KFRC Radio Jingle

[CloseToYou10]

Hi -

Does anybody know when the Carpenters recorded the jingle for KFRC radio in Los Angeles? The Close To You DVD doesn't say!

Steve

 

[Michael Hagerty]

Steve:
The jingle was recorded in late 1977 or early 1978.
Some background: KFRC (San Francisco, not Los Angeles) was part of the RKO General chain (RKO being the movie studio and later theatre owner, swallowed by General Tire in the 1950s). In 1965, Bill Drake was hired to consult KHJ, Los Angeles using a format that became known as "Boss Radio". RKO's stations at the time:

WOR-AM and FM, New York
KHJ-AM and FM, Los Angeles
KFRC-AM and FM, San Francisco
WRKO-AM and FM, Boston
WGMS-AM and FM, Washington, D.C.
CKLW, Windsor, Ontario, Canada (Detroit)
WHBQ, Memphis

KHJ was number one in less than a year, so RKO began rolling out Drake's Top 40 approach to its other stations...KFRC in 1966, WRKO and CKLW in 1967, WHBQ and WOR-FM in 1968. WOR-AM was a successful full-service adult station and stuck with its format. RKO wanted to switch WGMS AM/FM, which was classical, but word leaked out and angry listeners created a backlash that prevented the change.

The FM stations paired with the Top 40 AMs were simulcasting until new FCC rules ordered separate programming for AM/FM combos. Drake and partner Gene Chenault developed automated music formats like "Hitparade" and later "Solid Gold" to run on the FMs. These were so successful that Drake-Chenault became a major syndicator, serving hundreds of non-RKO stations around the country with programming for automated stations.

In 1973, RKO, believing that they weren't getting Drake's full attention, asked him to choose. He chose Drake-Chenault. The new RKO VP/Programming was Paul Drew. Drew's belief was that a McDonald's-like consistency, brightness and upbeat approach to marketing would work for radio. So in 1976, he commissioned the "You" campaign from TM Productions in Dallas. In retrospect, it's surprising McDonald's didn't sue. Their campaign was "We do it all for you". The primary "You" campaign jingle went like this:

You
You in the sunshine
You are the reason we do what we do
You
You are the music we play
We play it for you on K-F-R-C!

KHJ, KFRC, WRKO and WHBQ all got the package (WOR-FM had morphed into a higher-energy approach branded "99X" and wasn't a particularly good fit for the "You" campaign. RKO had sold CKLW in the early 70s with the advent of Candadian content laws). But for whatever reason, it's greatest success was at KFRC. In fact, TM Productions wanted to launch "You II" just a year or two later, but KFRC was still running the original package...and getting audience requests for some of the one-minute "mini-songs".

KFRC's program director from May, 1977 until sometime in 1980 was Les Garland (later the first PD of MTV). To get the last mile or two out of the "You" campaign, he had artists do the jingles. Steve Miller, The Doobie Brothers, The Bee Gees, Hall & Oates, England Dan and John Ford Coley and George Benson...but the best of the bunch....no doubt because Richard decided it had to be perfect....was the Carpenters....which ran long after the other "superstar" versions of the "You" jingle had stopped. I don't believe the artists did the jingles for any of the other RKO stations...only KFRC.

An example of the original package can be found on the excellent www.reelradio.com website (a legally incorporated nonprofit online museum of American popular music radio:

http://www.reelradio.com/bm/index.html#whbqtmyou

But the KFRC 1978 composite has the "star" jingles....including the Carpenters:

http://www.reelradio.com/jl/index.html#kfrc78

Probably way too much information here, but that's the story...and, as usual...the Carpenters did it best.

---Michael Hagerty
...remembering great music and radio, online....

 

[Rudy]

I unfortunately never listened to CKLW (wasn't a radio listener), but it was tops in ratings even in other markets that it reached (like Cleveland). Great site here with plenty of sound clips, including their jingles:

http://www.thebig8.net

 

[Michael Hagerty]

The great thing about growing up in Los Angeles was that A&M was (literally) right around the corner from big stations like KHJ and KMPC...which treated acts like the Carpenters as "local talent". Played them early and often. In fact, I have my love of A&M largely thanks to KMPC (the big personality middle-of-the-road station), which played not only the singles, but album cuts from Herb, Julius, Sergio, Burt and almost anyone else on A&M until Jerry's rock ethic kicked in.

---Michael Hagerty

 

[Steven J. Gross]

Michael, http://www.reelradio.com/rdsc/airchecks.html
You will get a kick out of it, I think.

 

[Michael Hagerty]

Stephen:
Thanks for the thoughtfulness of the link. But I'm a charter Reelradio contributor (circa February 1996)...and never miss a Real Don Steele Collection update!

---Michael Hagerty

 

[aaflyer98]

I remember AM Radio station KFI back in the '70's used to play lots of the Carpenters....and that's where I first heard "Good Friends Are For Keeps" the jingle for the Bell system phone company. Also remember them premiering "Goodbye to Love" (and saying they weren't too sure about that one...hee hee)

 

[Michael Hagerty]

It's hard to imagine now, but "Goodbye To Love" was very polarizing. It probably saved the Carpenters (at least for another year or two ) with Top 40 programmers, but the middle-of-the-road fans didn't know what to make of Tony Peluso's guitar.

As MOR (middle of the road) stations went, KFI (at least in the early 70s) was among the more square...not only your comment (above) about "Goodbye To Love"...but I remember Lohman & Barkley (KFI's brilliant morning team) playing Ike & Tina Turner's "Proud Mary"...and as the record faded out, Al Lohman clearing his throat and saying "Well, I've always wanted to try social work......"....and, as late as 1975, hearing Jerry Bishop in afternoons at KFI play the Eagles "One Of These Nights" and then asking the program director on the air why they were playing the record: "I thought we decided at the music meeting last week that this was too hard".

Times certainly have changed.

---Michael Hagerty