>> lance freed: he made rock and roll safe for america. my dad didn't make it safe. when my dad went back to new york after those hearings, the heat was on. [camera flash goes off] wabc was a network station. they came to him and said, "sign this affidavit that says you've never, ever accepted a gift of any kind, at any time, to play records. that you don't have any publishing interest, you don't - you never got any benefit from the records you played." and he said, "why i can't sign this," and they said, "well, then you're fired." >> to our wonderful friends here, and all of you out there, for your great loyalty, this is not goodbye, it's just goodnight, and we'll see you soon. thank you. >> lance freed: there were kids all around him, i remember in tears, saying, "we love you, alan. we love you. what are we gonna do without you?" and he said, "you guys made this music.

this is yours. it's up to you to keep it going." >> freed: if i'm guilty of anything, i'm guilty of being present at the birth of rock and roll. >> lance freed: and within two weeks, his house - our house was seized in connecticut by the internal revenue service. we weren't even allowed to go in and get our clothes. i'd like him to be remembered not for the controversy, but just as a good man who really had good instincts and who loved what he did, and it happened to affect a lot of people in a really positive way." ♪ i love my radio >> on my office door there it says, "bill gavin, program consultant." it used to be that the disc jockey could pretty much program his own show with the records that he liked. most of your pop music stations now, called top 40 stations generally, are controlled very much by a playlist, and this playlist is drawn up by a music director or a program director.

>> you had a list of 40 records. you had to play those 40 records over and over, you had an a list and a b list. >> and that's it. nothing else, no deviations at all. >> i allowed the disc jockeys who worked for me at that time to play any two records of their own selection... >> ♪ my dj plays it once or twice every hour ♪ >> and your name once an hour, no more, please. >> ...within the aforementioned policy. >> biondi: and that, of course, led to the demise of the personality disc jockey. >> rock radio became the establishment. >> we became such a money pot. we were a bank. >> wabc has painted an rea truck solid gold and loaded it with hundreds of free prizes. >> i know i just won. >> oh my gosh! >> biondi: it was a rough time. >> disastrous. >> top 40 sucks. >> ♪ you would cry too if it happened to you ♪ [three gunshots fired] >> i was chosen to bring

the station back to rock and roll after we'd been playing kind of tribute music, mournful music, after the death of jfk. i said, "there's no way i can make nice, make you feel good about what's happened a week or so ago. but life must go on." >> steinberg: it almost died, until the people from london, england decided to come and make it live again. >> biondi: nobody even knew who they were. i played them in '63 here, and the phones rang, said, "take that [ beach boys." >> i'm on the air at 2:00 am and we get a special delivery package from capitol records. i put it on, 30 seconds into the song, the phones explode. "what is the name of that group? what's this song? where did that come from?" that never happened before. it has never happened since. >> ♪ we love you beatles ♪ oh yes we do >> wa-beatles-c proudly presents the beatles spectacular sounds. >> the beatles in person show at shea stadium.

tt ,000 kids in the street in manhattan. they all were listening to us on the air, waiting for ringo or paul or george or john, somebody to come to a window of their suite, just so they could get a glimpse. and d when i said, "would you sing along with this jingle," and 10,000 kids with this little tiny -- looks like a pack of cigarettes to their ear -- started singing... >> ♪ your world looks great with 77 wabc ♪ >> ♪ oh, beatles we love you >> beatles: ♪ yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ >> peter fornatale: that first generation that was indelibly marked by elvis and then the beatles arrived at their college campuses. we brought our own approach. >> sometimes they call themselves the protest generation. they say, "make love, not war." >> fornatale: the civil rights movement, the anti-war movement, the sexual revolution, then the opening

of the fm band. >> ♪ you gave them all, those old time stars ♪ ♪ through wars of worlds invaded by mars ♪ ♪ you made them laugh, you made them cry ♪ >> richard neer: am radio didn't even acknowledge the vietnam war. they would just blithely go on and play their happy little tunes and everything was hunky dory. >> lee abrams: am radio, whose playbook was written in 1955 and 1956, was still there. it was black and white radio in a technicolor world. carol miller: i mean, the guys on the air were all, like, entertainers and goofy. >> this is arnie woo-woo ginsburg broadcasting live from the surf ballroom nantasket just outside of boston. >> miller: there was nobody i could really relate to. ♪ >> abrams: and i actually went to a hendrix concert and on comes to the stage, it was like, "bobby magic from all-american boss tiger radio."

guy comes out with a crew cut and a bow tie and a picture of a happy tiger holding a microphone, winking at you. it was right out of a carlin video. "hey, everybody. hey, jimi hendrix is here. everybody happy?" "boo, get off the stage." people were - and it symbolized how totally uncool am radio was. >> radio announcer: the premier of the newest and most exciting sound on radio is happening now at wor-fm, scott muni, for you. >> peter altschuler: there was no format for fm, so they created it from whole cloth. >> we'll have a lot of the features that you are going to participate with us, in, like selecting all of the new sounds which you like best. you'll hear lots of music. >> miller: you weren't going to hear album cuts on top 40 radio, for the most part. so that was the main difference, is wow, you're gonna hear cuts from albums, albums you haven't heard yet. >> ♪ wild thing i think i love you ♪ ♪ but i want to know for sure ♪ >> scott muni: corporations

have to be in control, and they aren't happy unless they give you this, "here's what we're playing." >> altschuler: and they thought that doing their market research and looking at the arbitrons, that they could get higher ratings if they went to a top 40 pre-programmed format. >> murray the k: it's been a very, very groy experience here at wor-fm. tonight will be my last broadcast. >> this is going to be my last night at wor-fm, and that has to do with a group of consultants and what they're asking me to do. i feel it would be very disrespectful and dishonest to you, and i don't see any other course. >> altschuler: those were people who took pride in their ability to program their own shows, pick their own music, put together their own material, and to turn to them and say, "what we hired you for is no longer what we want. we want you to just say what you're told to s, play what you're told to play," and to creative people, that was death. >> ♪ come on baby take a chance with us ♪ ♪ come on baby take a chance

with us ♪ >> raechel donahue: tom donahue was one of the three disc jockeys that are actually in the rock and roll hall of fame, in the big hall, along with the other artists, and he's pretty much considered the godfather of fm radio. he said, "top 40's dead and its rotting corpse is stinking up the airwaves," and he ought to know because he had just walked out on it. one morning i woke up after an evening of all the disc jockeys who lived in the neighborhood playing records for one another, album cuts, and tom was already up. he had the phone book out and he was calling fm stations until he found one whose phone was disconnected, and he said, "baby, give me my power tie and do my hair. we're gonna go paint the sky blue for somebody." >> ♪ fm, am where are you? ♪ you've got to be out there somewhere on the dial ♪ >> ben fong-torres: to take over a radio station was not an easy feat, and it happened only because a station w going out of business and had no alternative, really.

>> donahue: we went in to replace the portuguese irish hour. they were in so much trouble they had to piggyback two languages together. >> what we want to do is have everybody working together to make it as cool and groovy a trip as we can and to make it as happy a party as we can. >> ray manzarek: they were the first ones to play, like "the end," for instance. nobody would play "the end," but fm radio played, "the end." it's 11.5 minutes long. nobody but fm underground radio would play "light my fire." so, without fm radio, without, you know, underground, hip fm radio, there wouldn't be any doors. >> this is ksan in san francisco, tom donahue and rachel, and lots of other people tonight, lots of friends, until midnight. >> jann wenner: you know, any hour you wanted, any time day or night, we used to go over at night and just sit with the dj, whoever was on the air, and smoke some pot. you never knew who was gonna be there. there might be some member of the dead there. >> bob weir: he just brought his record collection and started playing it on the air. you know, those were the golden - the golden years of radio, as far as i was concerned.

you know, everybody was listening to everything. >> grace slick: tom donahue helped us. he would play and promote the bands that he liked. >> david crosby: they played music 'cause they loved it, and you can make sort of a painting of a series of songs in the right order >> blavat: the fcc said, "now, you have to designate somebody to be a watcher." so they brought program directors in. >> ♪ ...radio-friendly and i like to hear them when they're never ending ♪ ♪ my dj plays it once or twice every hour ♪ ♪ and sometimes when i'm dangling down in the shower ♪ ♪ oh, i love my radio >> there were two guys who owned radio stations; todd storz and gordon mclendon. and as legend has it, they met in a bar and they're sitting there having a couple beers, and one of them says, "do you realize they keep playing the same song over and over?"

>> "over and over again," and they went over and looked at the jukebox, and guess what? there were only 40 records in it. >> they said, "hey, let's try that on the radio." >> and boom, a money machine was born, called top 40 radio. >> ♪ listen, won't you lend us an ear? ♪ ♪ your 40 favorite tunes are here ♪ >> top 40 radio actually began in the early 1950s, but became even more important after payola, because once you took the control out of the disc jockeys' hands, into the program directors' hands, about what music to play, it just became "shut up and play the hits, buddy." ♪ i love my radio >> on my office door there it says, "bill gavin, program consultant." it used to be that the disc jockey could pretty much program his own show with the records that he liked. most of your pop music stations now, called top 40 stations generally, are controlled very much by a playlist, and this playlist is drawn up by a music director or a program director.

>> you had a list of 40 records. you had to play those 40 records over and over, you had an a list and a b list. >> and that's it. nothing else, no deviations at all. >> i allowed the disc jockeys who worked for me at that time to play any two records of their own selection... >> ♪ my dj plays it once or twice every hour ♪ >> and your name once an hour, no more, please. >> ...within the aforementioned poly. >> biondi: and that, of course, led to the demise of the personality disc jockey. >> rock radio became the establishment. >> we became such a money pot. we were a bank. >> wabc has painted an rea truck solid gold and loaded it with hundreds of free prizes. >> i know i just won. >> oh my gosh! >> biondi: it was a rough time. >> disastrous. >> top 40 sucks. >> ♪ you would cry too if it happened to you ♪ [three gunshots fired] >> i was chosen to bring

the station back to rock and roll after we'd been playing kind of tribute music, mournful music, after the death of jfk. i said, "there's no way i can make nice, make you feel good about what's happened a week or so ago. but life must go on." >> steinberg: it almost died, until the people from london, england decided to come and make it live again. >> biondi: nobody even knew who they were. i played them in '63 here, and the phones rang, said, "take that [ beach boys." >> i'm on the air at 2:00 am and we get a special delivery package from capitol records. i put it on, 30 seconds into the song, the phones explode. "what is the name of that group? what's this song? where did that come from?" that never happened before. it has never happened since. >> ♪ we love you beatles ♪ oh yes we do >> wa-beatles-c proudly presents the beatles spectacular sounds. >> the beatles in person show at shea stadium.

>> there were about 10,000 kids in the street in manhattan. they all were listening to us on the air, waiting for ringo or paul or george or john, somebody to come to a window of their suite, just so they could get a glimpse. and d when i said, "would you sing along with this jingle," and 10,000 kids with this little tiny -- looks like a pack of cigarettes to their ear -- started singing... >> ♪ your world looks great with 77 wabc ♪ >> ♪ oh, beatles we love you >> beatles: ♪ yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ >> peter fornatale: that first generation that was indelibly marked by elvis and then the beatles arrived at their college campuses. we brought our own approach. >> sometimes they call themselves the protest generation. they say, "make love, not war." >> fornatale: the civil rights movement, the anti-war movement, the sexual revolution, then the opening

of the fm band. >> ♪ you gave them all, those old time stars ♪ ♪ through wars of worlds invaded by mars ♪ ♪ you made them laugh, you made them cry ♪ >> richard neer: am radio didn't even acknowledge the vietnam war. they would just blithely go on and play their happy little tunes and everything was hunky dory. >> lee abrams: am radio, whose playbook was written in 1955 and 1956, was still there. it was black and white radio in a technicolor world. >> carol miller: i mean, the guys on the air were all, like, entertainers and goofy. >> this is arnie woo-woo ginsburg broadcasting live from the surf ballroom nantasket just outside of boston. >> miller: there was nobody i could really relate to. ♪ >> abrams: and i actually went to a hendrix concert and on comes to the stage, it was like, "bobby magic from all-american boss tiger radio."

guy comes out with a crew cut and a bow tie and a picture of a happy tiger holding a microphone, winking at you. it was right out of a carlin video. "hey, everybody. hey, jimi hendrix is here. everybody happy?" "boo, get off the ste." people were - and itthe premiert and most exciting sound on radio is happening now at wor-fm, scott muni, for you. >> peter altschuler: there was no format for fm, so they created it from whole cloth. >> we'll have a lot of the features that you are going to participate with us, in, like selecting all of the new sounds which you like best. you'll hear lots of music. >> miller: you weren't going to hear album cuts on top 40 radio, for the most part. so that was the main difference, is wow, you're gonna hear cuts from albums, albums you haven't heard yet. >> ♪ wild thing i think i love you ♪ ♪ but i want to know for sure ♪ >> scott muni: corporations

have to be in control, and they aren't happy unless they give you this, "here's what we're playing." >> altschuler: and they thought that doing their market research and looking at the arbitrons, that they could get higher ratings if they went to a top 40 pre-programmed format. >> murray the k: it's been a very, very groovy experience here at wor-fm. tonight will be my last broadcast. >> this is going to be my last night at wor-fm, and that has to do with a group of consultants and what they're asking me to do. i feel it would be very disrespectful and dishonest to you, and i don't see any other course. >> altschuler: those were people who took pride in their ability to program their own shows, pick their own music, put together their own material, and to turn to them and say, "what we hired you for is no longer what we want. we want you to just say what you're told to say, play what you're told to play," and to creative people, that was death. >> ♪ come on baby take a chance with us ♪

♪ come on baby take a chance with us ♪ >> raechel donahue: tom donahue was one of the three disc jockeys that are actually in the rock and roll hall of fame, in the big hall, along with the other artists, and he's pretty much considered the godfather of fm radio. he said, "top 40's dead and its rotting corpse is stinking up the airwaves," and he ought to know because he had just walked out on it. one morning i woke up after an evening of all the disc jockeys who lived in the neighborhood playing records for one another, album cuts, and tom was already up. he had the phone book out and he was calling fm stations until he found one whose phone was disconnected, and he said, "baby, give me my power tie and do my hair. we're gonna go paint the sky blue for somebody." >> ♪ fm, am where are you? ♪ you've got to be out there somewhere on the dial ♪ >> ben fong-torres: to take over a radio station was not an easy feat, and it happened only because a station was going out of business and had no alternative, really.

>> donahue: we went in to replace the portuguese irish hour. they were in so much trouble they had to piggyback two languages together. >> what we want to do is have everybody working together to make it as cool and groovy a trip as we can and to make it as happy a party as we can. >> ray manzarek: they were the first ones to play, like "the end," for instance. nobody would play "the end," but fm radio played, "the end." it's 11.5 minus long. nobody but fm underground radio would play "light my fire." so, without fm radio, without, you know, underground, hip fm radio, there wouldn't be any doors. >> this is ksan in san francisco, tom donahue and rachel, and lots of other people tonight, lots of friends, until midnight. >> jann wenner: you know, any hour you wanted, any time day or night, we used to go over at night and just sit with the dj, whoever was on the air, and smoke some pot. you never knew who was gonna be there. there might be some member of the dead there. >> bob weir: he just brought his record collection and started playing it on the air. you know, those were the golden - the golden years of radio, as far as i was concerned.

you know, everybody was listening to everything. >> grace slick: tom donahue helped us. he would play and promote the bands that he liked. >> david crosby: they played music 'cause they loved it, and you can make sort of a painting of a series of songs in the right order that will put people on a certain kind of trip, and that was the art of the disc jockey. >> donahue: once we had the programming in place at kmpx, we realized we had to generate some revenue, and to do that, we had to get a salesman to sell time. >> chandler laughl: well, i was in jail in contra costa county for a marijuana offense, and a partner of mine went to work for kmpx and recommended me as a potential employee, and donahue wrote a letter to the judge and said, "if you'll let him out of jail, i'll put him to work." >> donahue: so tom wrote this incredible letter and we bailed him out of jail, 'cause as tom pointed out, "if he can sell pot, he can sell time." >> laughlin: so we had lots and lots of head shops, fashion boutiques. it's a little more abstract

than being able to deal lids, but it's basically the same pitch. >> donahue: after kmpx was a success, the owner decided, well, we're gonna change everything. i want everybody to wear a suit and a tie. i'm gonna bring in some of my friends. and then the checks started bouncing and it went on and on and on. so we organized the great hippie strike. the grateful dead and spencer davis came down and played on flatbed trucks for our first night of the strike, and then when we finally left, metro media rescued us and they took us all in, and that was the beginning of ksan. >> ♪ the west is the best >> scoop nisker: when the indians took over alcatraz island, ksan asked for donations of food and a boat, and somebody gave us a boat and we took the food out to alcatraz island, and we got rammed by a coast guard ship. that was the first naval battle of the revolution sponsored by ksan. >> little steven van zandt: slowed down, you know, got a little more conversational. got a little more stoned.

you know, "man, can you dig it? i mean, like, man, let me play some in-a-gadda-da-vida." >> cousin brucie morrow: at first, when changes really started, i fought it. i was not happy with the cool fm jock, "hey, let's smoke that banana. here's a 20 minute cut." that wasn't the kind of radio that i was used to. i wanted to give away a car. and we were afraid of what was happening, because we knew it was an end - it was an end of an era. >> ♪ are you listening? ♪ are you listening to me? >> there was so much exploding and happening at the same time, and fm fit perfectly. >> wnew-fm, new york. >> donahue: scott had his ear tohe ground. hendrix, dylanwith bosses above him that were like, "what the hell is this rebellious, hippie, '60s thing?" and he ended up making one of the most influential radio stations to this day that ever happened. >> the great thing about wnew, i think, was personalities. you had rosko, who was just

the hippest of all trips. >> rosko: want to take a mind excursion, baby? >> and then at night they had alison steele. >> we'll be broadcasting live, so you'll all be on the radio.n♪ ♪ can you hear me clearly around the dial? ♪ >> j.j. jackson: i started on a radio station called wbcn, which was very much attached to the sub-culture. kids would come by the station, and on this one particular time we had this kid, and she said, "you know, j.j., you want to smoke a joint?" i'm on the air, i hadn't done that on the air up until this time, but i'm figuring i could handle this. [laughter] she gave me this joint and i remember, oh, man, i was so high that they actually literally had to come in while i was in the chair and wheel me out. the switchboard lit up, people were, "is he okay?" we were part of the anti-war demonstrations. we were part of the civil rights movement.

we were out there in the streets doing it as well and urging people to take part in it. it wasn't just, "hey, man, you know, let's play this record so maybe you'll get laid." truthfully, it was a little bit of that, but... >> ♪ are you listening? ♪ are you listening to me? >> jim ladd: and i got into radio in the '60s listening to tom and rachel donahue. they put out the message as the community bulletin board, gave us a place to rally around. this was the only place our listeners could get this information. couldn't get it from the 6:00 news, certainly couldn't get it from straight media. >> the same musical vineyard in which you toil, how many are protest singers? >> um, how many? >> yes. are there many? >> yeah. well, i think there's about 136. >> you say about 136? or do you mean exactly 136. >> uh, either 136 or 142.

>> ladd: when we played "blowing in the wind," we meant it. if you're listening to this music and you let that music get inside and work on you, and work on your heart, that'll change your mind. what i do is look to the telephones, and when i see them light up, i've made that connection, and they're calling in requests that add to the set of songs we're playing. to me, that's the ultimate community and a wonderful way to communicate. >> ♪ one of our djs is missing ♪ >> morrow: abc sent me to woodstock. it was a - it was a love feeling about it. they painted a flower on my cheek. woodstock really opened up the so-called underground music. >> hi, everybody, i'm donald thoms. stay tuned for more of airplay: the rise and fall

of rock radio. also, sarah fleischer's here and she's with an amazin guest. we just saw how program directors used the top 40 playlist to take the power away from the djs, making radio bland and predictable. but then a new wave of progressive fm djs ignited a political and social revolution that helped end the vietnam war. in the next part of the show we'll get a look at the underground radio movement and see the birth of satellite radio. you know, this documentary is a tribute to radio's unsung heroes. many of these radio personalities are being seen and heard on television for the very first time in this film. we hope that you're enjoying this insightful look at the history of radio. we're also hoping that you will take the time right now and call in your financial support to this public television station so that we can produce and broadcast more documentaries just like this one in the very near future. and we have some great ways of saying thanks when you support us at certain levels. here's more about them. >> announcer: it was the music that changed our lives from the djs that brought it to us.

it's the true story of the rise and fall of rock radio, told by the jocks who spun the records and the artists they made rock stars. call now to support this public television station and we'll say thank you with this piece of rock and roll history. for a pledge of $80, you will receive airplay on dvd, featuring all the stories from behind the mic with the legendary djs and musicians. plus, bonus features, like interviews, album covers, and more. with a $70 contribution, we'll send you the airplay companion cd, an eclectic music mix, spanning the decades of rock radio. and for a pledge of $140, we'll send you both the airplay dvd and cd. rock radio sti has a home on public television. please call now and support great music documentaries on your public television station. >> sarah fleischer: you know, we're having such a great time tonight. this is so much fun. the program is fabulous.

it's so much fun to have you here. you are such an icon. >> blavat: listen though, you two guys, man. you guys gotta go back on radio and do the freak. these guys have the freedom that i have on radio right here on public television. and that's the great thing about the programs that you guys offer to the people out there. they're great shows, and you have the freedom to talk about these shows, and that's why public television is so great. but more important, this show is about what you do. you're radio. >> fleischer: i'm radio. i don't have the freedom that you do, but i want to talk about that. when that power was taken away from you as a dj, to program your own music... >> blavat: that's when fm and underground came in. >> fleischer: tell me what you did, how did you survive? >> blavat: what i did is, i said... >> fleischer: because you're a rebel. >> blavat: oh, absolutely. listen, i went out and i got my own sponsors and i said to management, "i want to buy two hours worth of time." "wow! this is what you want? you got it." i became the program director, the boss with the hot sauce,

the man that played the music that i loved for my audience. that's how i survived. and still survive today. interesting point, sarah. we were talking about program directors, how bland am radio became, that was the rise of fm radio, because fm radio was so new to the listener that they had the freedom to play whatever they wanted to play. >> fleischer: we used to album sides. >> blavat: yeah. yeah, you did whatever you wanted. >> fleischer: back in the day. >> blavat: back in the day. that's why this program is such a great program because young people today will look at this and say, this was what america was about when radio was your friend. >> fleischer: right. well, you know what, you are an inspiration. let me just tell you that. and i want to thank you for being here so much. you're adding so much to the program tonight, and i know people are really enjoying seeing you. hearing about you for years and then having you on the show is such a plus. but i want to thank you for watching tonight, such a great program. and this is how you can keep these kinds of programs coming

on public television. for $80, you will receive airplay: the rise and fall of rock radio, the dvd. the program, of course, that we're watching now, with over 30 minutes of bonus material. for $70, you'll receive airplay, the cd. and, of course, this is the companion cd to the show, and features 11 of the songs, great songs, that you're hearing in the documentary. now, if you want to spend $140, we will say thank you so much, from the bottom of our rock and roll hearts, you will get airplay dvd and cd. both the dvd and the cd are exclusive to public tv. so please remember that these levels, you know, they're just suggestions. any financial contribution is, of course, greatly appreciated. so do what you're comfortable with. but please ask about this station's basic membership level when you do call. donald. >> thoms: thanks, sarah. you know, public television looks at our world and culture with programs that inform, entertain, educate, and even

inspire. and this service is here for everyone without regard to their ability to pay. but the service isn't free, folks, you know that. it takes real dollars to purchase, produce and broadcast all the shows you come to find here on public television. so please, please, do your part right now and call the number on your screen. it's the support of individuals like you that make it all possible. we cannot do what we do without you. that's the honest to goodness truth. if you donate, contribute $80 to this public television station, we will say thank you with airplay: the rise and fall of rock radio dvd, with 30 minutes of bonus material. 30 minutes! if you pledge $70, we'll say thank you, and again, we will say thank you, with the airplay cd, which features 11 of the songs you're hearing in the documentary. songs like dear mr. dj, clap for the wolfman, around the dial, video killed the radio star. great, great songs. this is a great documentary. i do appreciate the fact that public television is bringing you, and it is, it's just for you. if you pledge $140, we will

say thank you with airplay dvd and the cd. and, folks, the other thing is that both the dvd and the cd are exclusive to public television. you can't find it anywhere else. so please, call us right now at the number on your screen and ask the operator about putting your contribution on a charge card. help support the informative programs that we bring to you, your family, and to your community throughout the year. sarah. >> fleischer: jerry, you know, it's so important to make that connection with your listener, and i know you know that. i have to ask you, how did you make that connection back in the day during the "golden years," and how do you make it now? i mean, you're still on the radio. >> blavat: sarah, i had the ability to be, not only playing the music, but be very honest with my listeners. they would call up on the air, "geator, make a dedication for my girl sarah. i miss her tonight." so i would play ♪ i miss you so ♪

but it was a wonderful time, and when you watch this documentary, you will get the connection of the way it was, and you're going to say, "why can't it be like that again?" this station, and this public television thing that you do, is the last of the freedom for pele totalk from here and play music. >> fleischer: well, we have to keep that going. >> blavat: go to the phones. they gotta go to the phones. >> fleischer: they have to go to the phones. stay tuned for more of airplay: the rise and fall of rock radio. i'd like to tell you about the gifts once again. for $80, you will receive airplay: the rise and fall of rock radio dvd. for $70, you'll get the cd. and for $140, airplay, the dvd and the cd. thank you again for watching this fabulous program. stay with us, there's more to come.

>> jed the fish: progressive radio to me meant anything can happen day. ♪ and his skin is cold >> carolyn travis: the story was that paul mccartney had been killed in a car crash three years earlier and replaced with a double, a guy named william campbell, also known as billy shears, as in the one and only billy shears of sergeant pepper's lonely hearts club band. but the frenzy really started on october 12, when a university of michigan student called keener fm and spoke to dj russ gibb. >> russ gibb: who do we have here? what's your name? >> tom on the line. >> gibb: yeah, hello, tom. what's going down? >> tom: i was gonna rap with you about mccartney being dead. what is this all about? >> travis: he asked russ to play "revolution number nine" backwards, and it was the first time the words "turn me on, dead man," were heard on the radio. more and more clues surfaced, and pretty soon beatles fans everywhere - and i was one of them - would take out our albums and we'd play them backwards and forwards, and fast and slow. >> there are numbers in the title of "the magical

mystery tour" that really come out if you really get very, very high and look at the front of the album. >> travis: nine days later, wabc overnight dj roby yonge defied station policy and started talking about the rumors. >> yonge: the beatle paul may be dead. i'm talking to 40 states right now, and i'll surely get fired if i say anything unusual. but the fact is, folks, i've been fired anyhow. >> travis: they got over 350,000 calls. ♪ this is the end >> morrow: well, the program director rushed in with an armed guard, ripped him off the r while he was on the air live. >> yonge: please remember you heard it here first, in the middle of the night, okay? 'cause i'm not gonna be around that much longer. >> morrow: and put les marshak on the air to substitute for roby yonge. >> les marshak here, and, you know, we've been getting some phone calls regarding some speculating that roby yonge was doing earlier this morning. please be assured that those speculations are untrue. they are untrue. please don't call, all right? >> ♪ can you hear me? ♪ can you hear me clearly

around the dial ♪ >> morrow: am and fm were two different camps. fm radio was where the message was. if you were angry and politically, you know, astute, you'd listen to fm. >> donahue: the fm station was the social, the musical and the political hub of san francisco. they just called it the station. and if we wanted to get 100,000 people out to protest the vietnam war, we could do it in a heartbeat. >> on the front of the bus we have the sign that we have just written on carelessly today. that's the ultimate right to do, to steal your children from you. it's like a joke, but it's a true joke. >> ♪ we are volunteers of america ♪ >> we sent busloads of listeners to wnew-fm, down to the major rallies in d.c. >> slick: richard nixon kind of stood out and we didn't like the war, we didn't like his politics. we thought you've got to clean up stuff here first. >> b. mitchell reed: there has been some sort of uneasiness amongst people because the industry is burgeoning.

it's really growing by leaps and bounds. it is becoming the media for all sorts of things that are not allowed on the am station. >> ♪ look what's happening out in the streets ♪ ♪ got a revolution [got a revotion] ♪ >> morrow: anybody who played drug related or records or music with drug content in it, their licenses would be looked at. >> david crosby: the problem is that the songs are offering an entire alternate set of values. that's what frightens the people that control the fcc. >> i think that rock and roll people were part of what stopped the war, which then spread and spread and spread and spread. >> vin scelsa: all the marketing guys looked and said, "look at all the people there." >> ♪ baby boomers >> scea: we can market to them. >> ladd: then they broug in what are called radio consultants, selling these people their formats. >> the radio consultant who was best known for innovating with this kind of research was lee abrams. >> abrams: you know, i think the problem with the whole research thing, it just got completely out of control.

>> the research, unfortunately, can be interpreted in any number of ways by somebody with an agenda. and i said, "and what happened when you tested bob marley?" "oh, it came back really positive." so i said, "oh, good. then we're gonna start to play some." he said, "no, people just say they like bob marley because they think it's cool. we'll just play eric clapton's version of "i shot the sheriff." and i was like, "that's it." >> scott shannon: it was a victim of the commercialization of the fm band. that's what happened. more competitive types of radio moved to the fm band, and it was, "shut up and play the hits, shut up and play the hits, shut up and play the hits, and don't interject too much personality, nobody wants to hear it." >> rick dees: you think people want to listen to the same 10 songs over and over and over again? let me just tell you, because i'm in this business, it is not 10 songs, it's nine songs over and over and over again. >> jay thomas: once the am

formats moved to fm and played the same records over and over again, and did the time, the temperature, and had all the stupid contests. >> a local disc jockey, jerry st. james, took what he called the world's biggest nestea plunge. >> it became just like am, except the signal was clearer and better. >> ladd: and that's what ruined fm radio, because once they took over, the freedom was gone. >> shadoe stevens: we had gone through these arcs of era of love, and then the era of resistance and fighting for what's right. and then that's kind of coming to a conclusion, "let's party." >> ♪ on the radio, whoa oh, oh, oh, on the radio ♪ >> in economic terms, disco is what may have been the final nail in the coffin. >> ♪ don't it kind of strike you sad when you hear our song ♪ >> kc: i never felt that there was any anti-disco movement. i think it started from that guy that did the promotion in chicago.

>> between games, dahl was to lead the crowd in song and chants and then finish by blowing up a box of disco records. >> jackson: if i walk into a club, i don't want to sit down and think about the music. it's all pelvic, man. it's all - and i believe a lot of people that, so-called hate disco, can't dance. >> ♪ on the radio, whoa oh, oh, oh, on the radio ♪ >> ♪ you have the time ♪ you have the power ♪ you've yet to have your finest hour ♪ [gunshots] >> vin scelsa: we basically held a wake for john on the radio that night. >> richard neer: we individually all wound up at the radio station, and that was sort of our hub for the next 24 hours of mourning. >> scelsa: with people calling in, expressing their sorrow, their rage, their shock. >> neer: it was probably our finest moment, in terms of the sense of community. >> bruce kelly: 96x will now

istenees, canada and the world. collectively, we will remember hn lennon, a man with a dream, a dream that one day the human race will find peace. >> ♪ video killed the radio star ♪ ♪ video killed the radio star ♪ >> j.j. jackson: musically, it gave the artists a way of getting their music exposed. unfortunately, and mtv is not to blame for that, is that suddenly then the way they looked became more important than what they had to say. >> ben fong-torres: that gave radio a little kick in the butt. >> wolfman jack: mercy! all right. >> jerry young: down to detroit now, it's 28 over in riverview, it's 27 on your fm with the motormouth terry young. it's 99.5, the fox. another 15 in a row next. >> robert murphy: repeat after me this all-important phrase. >> tina delgado is alive, alive! >> and we're adding a lot of records and breaking a lot of new music, and the radio stations were outrageous and over the top. >> this is jed the fish on kroq-fm. i don't know, it's something

about not playing commercials for a full hour. >> raechel donahue: looking in the record library, and i'm saying, "rick james? rick james, rick james?" and black flag, and they're also playing marilyn monroe's "diamonds are a girl's best all this weird stu, anthey're playing ttle drops of parrots going, "squawk," and lines from invasion of the body snatchers in between records. it was crazy. >> back then, it was a true grassroots - with a lot of grass - radio station. >> dusty street: the things that we were talking about over the air at kmpx in the '60s and early '70s were much different than what we were talking about in the '80s at kroq. but, once again, it was a social consciousness. >> ladd: in the '80s, ronald reagan deregulated the broadcast industry. he removed a ruling from the fcc that said, "no one in america could own more than seven television and seven radio stations." >> scelsa: and it became more and more homogenized, more and more corporately controlled.

>> graham nash: the world's media is owned by probably less than a dozen people. they're right wing, they're conservative, they don't want protest music on their radio stations. >> linda energy: in the, you know, olden days, we got to program our own music, but then selector came along and it started getting programmed into more of a black song, white rock ballad, black, white rock ballad. so, basicall you're hearing the sameight songsjust in a different order every day. >> crosby: but somebody in oshkosh is programming, you know, stations in l.a. and they have no idea what l.a. is, or who lives there, or what they want, or - and they don't care. >> stephen stills: and they give us that playlist that runs all over the country and they all buy into it. it's sort of like buying into the gallup poll. >> that was the death of this kind of radio as art. not the death of it as business. ♪ radio what's new ♪ someone still loves you >> 3-2-1.

>> morrow: this i do know from my earth science days. the satellite is up there 20-some-odd thousand miles. i mean, every day they had channels which takes the signal from here, throws it up to a satellite 22,000 miles up, and this thing is traveling elliptically, which is kind of a good word, you know, it's around, and then sends it back to earth. >> what is it, professor? >> morrow: i have no idea how this thing works. >> right you are, skipper. >> because technology is very important, but it's secondary to the audience. every region has their own little heroes, their own little pockets of music that they love and grew up with that they haven't heard. i have that music. >> abrams: i remember radio from the '50s. it was magic. you know, it was theater of the mind, it was just wonderful experience. it defined the american, you know, sonic experience. driving down the freeway, top down, listening to a great station, and you just don't

ar that anymore. and xm, again, our mission is to bring that back. >> phlash phelps: lee abrams, he said, "you know what we want you to do? re-create it like it's a '60s channel from the '60s." so if you were in chicago, we bring back wls. you get to hear that sound. if you were in new york, you'll get to hear what it sounded like on wabc. we bring back the old jingles. we're doing it for you all over america. oh, we've got a new one for you. how about for michigan. ♪ can you hear me? ♪ can you hear me clear around the dial? ♪ >> donahue: well, that's it for me, my little angels. i will see you next time. so until then, then, remember, what we've learned from history is that we never learn anything from history. >> morrow: we went through a very good time with rock and roll. it gave audiences of different backgrounds, cultures, an opportunity to get together and look at each other, sit near each other, enjoy the same sounds of music and say, "hey, you know, you're not so bad." >> travis: as long as there are always a few that are willing to keep something

going that is worth going, it's kind of like weeds; no matter how much chemical pesticide you put on it, we're still gonna find our w up through those cracks in the concrete. we are. >> morrow: isn't this amazing? what is gonna be next? >> cousin brucie. >> cousin brucie! >> cousin brucie. >> cousin brucie. >> cousin brucie! >> thank you for watching airplay: the rise and fall of rock radio. i'm sarah fleischer, and donald thoms is with us this evening as well. this was the story of rock radio and the djs who made it, and it celebrates a time when we all listened together, and the sic changed our live our communities, and the world. and we hope that you found this documentary both insightful and entertaining. and we also hope that you take the time in this last intermission and call in and make that financial contribution to support all the fantastic programs that

public television brings you throughout the year. you know, we can't do it without your help. so, please, we're asking you, call the number on your screen now, talk to one of our friendly operators, and as we've bn telling you throughout t night, we have some really terrific thank you gifts when you contribute at certain membership levels. and here's more about them. >> announcer: it was the music that changed our lives from the djs that brought it to us. it's the true story of the rise and fall of rock radio, told by the jocks who spun the records and the artists they made rock stars. call now to support this public television station and we'll say thank you with this piece of rock and roll history. for a pledge of $80, you will receive airplay on dvd, featuring all the stories from behind the mic with the legendary djs and musicians. plus, bonus features, like interviews, album covers, and more. with a $70 contribution, we'll send you the airplay companion

cd, an eclectic music mix, spanning the decades of rock radio. and for a pledge of $140, we'll send you both the airplay dvd and cd. rock radio still has a home on public television. please call now and support great music documentaries on your public television station. >> thoms: i'm here with jerry blavat who is one of the stars of this documentary. jerry, thanks for being here. it's just great talking to you because you have so many great stories. i think that we need to do a documentary just about you. tell me, you just told me you've been on the air, on the radio, for 50 years. and so, in this part, in the last part of documentary, you talked a little bit about the changeover from am radio to fm radio, and that was revolutionary at that point. >> blavat: rightame what am igin now it's sat, but satellite radio is just a jukebox - boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. the guy behind the microphone

- hello, how are you? wasn't like that in the early days. >> thoms: no, but clearly, the early days were - i guess you would consider them the glory days, but, you know, am radio, fm radio was, and for a long time, fm radio was... >> blavat: at the beginning. >> thoms: but it was big. it was revolutionary. it was playing brand new music. and then, you believe, that because of the same reasons... >> blavat: that's what happened with satellite. >> thoms: that's what happened to fm radio and then satellite came along. >> blavat: right. well, what happened is, fm, which was the savior for radio, then followed suit what am was doing and they killed the bird that laid the golden eggs. >> thoms: but i'm going to at least though, i'm thinking that it's never going to come back. that indeed that kind of radio you do... >> blavat: not the way it was with the freedom. you take freedom away, it's just a voice. you got to identify with the audience. the audience has got to identify with the guy behind -- that's why talk

radio is so big today, because the audience identifies with that person, and what the subject is. our dedication with the kids calling in and the music is what made radio. jockeba your fen at night, you didn't have money in your pocket, you turned your radio on. >> thoms: i'll tell you, it's one thing about listening to jerry because it's just amazing. but i also want to tell you about our thank you gift, because i think though, after having seen thisdocumentary, that you'd like to see actually the fact that there is an extra 30 minutes in the dvd. so let's talk about that for a bit. if you donate $80, we'll say thank you with airplay: the rise and fall of rock radio dvd. this, of course, is the program you just saw, with over 30 minutes of bonus material. 30 minutes! that's just amazing. i just can't imagine what's in that 30 more minutes. if you pledge $70, we will say thank you with the cd, which is the companion cd to the program, and it features 11 songs from the film. i've read a bunch of them.

there's radio ga-ga from queen, dear mr. dj; tina robbin, and clap for the wolfman; guess who, and around the dial by the kinks. that's just a few of them. you would li to have this is you remember those songs from the day. if you pledge $140, we'll again, we will say thank you with airplay dvd plus the cd. you'll get them both. and i'll tell you, folks, both the cd and dvd are exclusive to public television. what does that mean? that means you can't get them anywhere else. you have to call the number on your screen and talk to one of our great volunteers who can help you through the process, which only takes about two minutes. and please remember that these levels are just suggestions. any financial contribution is greatly appreciated. please ask the operator about this station's basic membership level. sarah. >> fleischer: we're going back over to jerry and donald, aren't they fun, in just a minute, but first, i want you to take a moment right now to become a member, or to renew your membership to this public television station. and please be as generous as you can, and i know that

you b the number on your screen to cast your vote for more informative and entertaining documentaries like this one, like airplay. viewers who become members are one of our greatest resources. remember this too, it doesn't matter how much you give, what matters is that you call, you call with a donation of any amount. but please, when you contribute at certain levels, we want to thank you with some very exciting gifts. so, remember that for $80, you will receive airplay: the rise and fall of rock radio dvd with 30 minutes of bonus material. for $70, you'll get the cd, and it features 11 of the songs that you heard in the documentary. and donald was telling you about some. you've got the buggles; video that killed the radio star, i love that. little richard; long, tall sally. connie francis; vacation. and much more. for $140, we will say thank you for contributing

and you will get the airplay dvd and cd. both the dvd and the cd are exclusive to public tv. that means you can't get it anywhere else but here. so, please, once again, call us now, the number is on your screen. ask the operator about putting your contribution on a charge card. donald. >> thoms: thanks. you know, we've talked a lot about your part in the documentary, but we haven't talked a lot about you. i mean, you told me that you knew frank sinatra, you knew sammy davis, jr., you knew dean martin. how did you know these guys? >> blavat: before i went on radio i began as a dancer on bandstand, bob horn's local bandstand show, and then had a group, danny and the juniors; at the hop. so i traveled on the road with all these guys, and when young don rickells worked in philadelphia, he needed a valet. so the geator with the heater, the boss with the hot sauce was taking care of don's underwear, the sweatshirts - he'd be sweatin' all the time. and that'sow it t began. and then i was lucky enough to get involved in radio

by up a radio station, i was promoting records then, and i loved listening to the black cats. and that's how it began. >> thoms: so it's interesting that we talked a little bit in this documentary the fact that, you know, i think it was alan freed who just started to really play black music on the radio stations. now, back in those days, did you know what he was doing? how did you guys communicate? because if he was playing them, it clearly gave a lot of freedom to a lot of other djs to play it. >> blavat: yeah, but what he did is - all of the airplay that he was doing, he had the shows at the paramount theater, and he booked all of the biggest rock and roll stars; danny and the juniors were one of the stars, and that's how it began for me in show business. you know, it's so important what you guys do for public television because these shows that you folks are out there watching, you can't get them anywhere. and this show that you guys are talking about is the real deal about radio. >> thoms: that's true. and i do hope you'll listen to him because i do hope that you actually will consider donating to this station. and when you do donate to this station at certain levels, we say thank you with gifts.

so if you donate $80, we'll say thank you with airplay: the rise and fall of rock radio dvd, with 30 minutes of bonus material. if you donate $70, we will say thank you with the airplay cd. $140, we will say thank you with the dvd and the cd, which is a combo. please call in right now and support this station with a generous contribution of financial support. public television cannot exist without your help. so please, call right now. sarah. >> fleischer: where do you go when you want unique documentaries? where do you go when you want drama? how about music specials for adults? or educational programs for children? now, if your answer is public television, then we would like to hear from you. your pledge will help us pay the programming bills. without you these programs would not get from our studios to your living rooms. and it's just that simple. you are a very important part of our production team. so, please, pick up your phone

during this last intermission, make that financial contribution to support this public television station. donald. >> thoms: jerry, so now that we're almost done, i do want to thank you for being here. you've been just a delight. if you had to say one thing about radio that we haven't heard, what would you say? what, what - is the golden age done? >> blavat: unfortunately, i think so. i think the problem is that there are no longer disc jockeys that have the ability to develop persona, and i think that's sad. >> thoms: right. well, i tell you what, the documentary is exciting, it's really fun. i hope that you enjoyed it. and if you enjoyed it enough, i hope you pick up the phone and give one of our great operators a call and tell them how much you like it, and tell them what thank you gift you want, whether it's the dvd or the cd. no matter what you do, whatever you do, pick up the phone, become a member of your station right now.