November 27, 1990 -Seattle Post-Intelligencer – Gene Stout, P-I Pop Critic
`Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay” proclaimed Danny & the Juniors in 1958.
But no one imagined gray-haired disc jockeys spinning tunes like “At the Hop” and “Twistin’ USA” into the ’90s.
It was the music parents hated. Today, it’s the parents who are listening. And often their children, too.
Oldies stations across the country are hopping and bopping to the sounds of vintage ’50s, ’60s and ’70s pop, rock and rhythm and blues.
“I’ve got to believe there’s no end to this format,” says Seattle radio veteran Dick Curtis, KVI-AM’s morning jock. “I see reports that say it’ll be strong through the year 2000. People just don’t seem to be burning out on it.”
Nostalgia radio comes in many forms. “Music of your life” stations such as KIXI-AM play pop and big-band music of the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s. KIXI breathes new life into the past with weekly live radio broadcasts at Ernie’s Bar and Grill at the Edgewater Inn.
Classic-rock stations such as KZOK-FM focus on Jimi Hendrix, the Doors, Led Zeppelin and other acts of the ’60s and ’70s. KJR, the top teen-oriented station during the ’60s, targets the baby boomers with a blend of pop and rock from “The Big Chill” era of ’60s and even ’70s music.
BUT MANY OLDIES stations, such as KVI and KBSG-AM/FM, borrow heavily from the “happy days” of rock ‘n’ roll.
“The happy period was the ’50s through maybe 1966 or 1967,” says Mike Webb, KVI’s program director and midday host.
“After that the sound began to change. A lot of negative themes came out.”
Stations focusing on oldies rock ‘n’ roll began appearing as long ago as the mid-’60s, at the height of the British rock invasion. One of the first was San Jose’s KLOK, which went to an oldies format in 1966. In the ’70s, KLOK’s owners started one of Seattle’s first oldies stations, KUUU.
Other stations popped up from time to time, but the real oldies-radio explosion didn’t come until the ’80s, when a wave of ’50s and ’60s nostalgia swept America.
KJR-AM’s program director, Greg Martin, calls oldies stations “a comfort zone” for baby boomers.
“It tells them the world they grew up with is still OK,” he says.
KVI switched from a news/talk format to oldies in 1984. The station nearly had a lock on the market until 1988, when KBSG made its debut on the FM band.
“It’s so hard to do music on AM today,” says KVI’s Webb.
“FM just sounds better. I think the fact KBSG is on FM has a lot to do with their success. Listeners like to hear the music in stereo. They like the fidelity.”
KJR and KVI compete with their FM counterparts by touting themselves as community-minded and service-oriented, with a strong hometown feel. KJR morning jock Gary Lockwood, who has been at the station 15 years, is a Seattle institution.
“He’ll retire at KJR,” says Martin. “He is KJR.”
KVI’s Curtis, who began his radio career at KJR in 1960, keeps in touch with listeners through such events as KVI’s annual live New Year’s broadcast from Girvan’s restaurant.
KVI adds an extra twist to its programming by playing a lot of Northwest rock ‘n’ roll from the ’60s, including music by the Sonics, the Kingsmen, Merrilee Rush and Paul Revere and the Raiders. The station recently hosted a 20th anniversary party for Seattle rock ‘n’ roll band Jr. Cadillac at the Seattle Sheraton Hotel.
“We need to play those songs because it’s a reflection of the Northwest scene,” says Webb. “They’re not all hits, but they’re a part of our local culture. That’s an important kind of grounding we need here.”
Occasionally, a song that barely raised an eyebrow when it was new brings complaints from listeners today.
An example is Jimmy Soul’s humorous 1963 calypso-style novelty hit “If You Wanna Be Happy,” which advises male listeners to “make an ugly woman your wife” to avoid heartbreak. (The song is on the sound track of Cher’s upcoming movie, “Mermaids.”)
“We don’t play it very often. Sometimes the women get upset about it. They think it’s sexist,” says Webb.
ONE OF THE OLDEST songs KVI plays is “The Fat Man” by Fats Domino, recorded in 1949.
“Some say that’s the oldest rock ‘n’ roll song there is. We play it just to give listeners a sense of history,” says Webb.
Webb knows teens and preteens are listening to oldies stations, but doesn’t know how many are tuning in KVI.
“I get lots of calls from young kids. There are two kinds, it seems. One might be the preteen who likes novelty records like `Rockin’ Robin,’ `Shake, Rattle and Roll’ and `See You Later Alligator.’ Then there are the older high school kids that like the Stones and the Beatles.”
Webb doesn’t think a love for classic rock ‘n’ roll reflects badly on today’s music.
“I hear people put down the new music and I say, `Well, come on, people put down our records in the ’60s.’ I have a pretty open mind about rap and all that stuff. Those will be the oldies of tomorrow.”
