KWK 1958: Rock and Roll Has Got to Go!
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- čas přidán 15. 10. 2013
- "Trend? St. Louisans Heave of Rock n' Roll"
Variety Magazine
January 22, 1958
"Rock 'n' Roll has come and gone on radio station KWK. As of yesterday (Mon), the shouts of the frantic ones are now as dead on KWK turntables as the dodo bird. The obsequies were put underway last week when Robert T. Convey, president of KWK, Inc. announced a Record Breaking Week, during which all KWK disk jockeys proclaimed the final playing of the various rock 'n' roll platters, then broke the records over the air so the listeners could hear the crunch.
'I decided on this action,' said Convey, 'after conferring with our disk jockeys and finding their complete agreement that rock 'n' roll has dominated the popular music field long enough.'
The public apparently agreed with Convey and the jockeys as reactions which poured into the station during the week ran about 5 to one in favor of the ban. What started out three years ago as a musical novelty trend with tunes such as 'Rock around the Clock' and 'Hearts of Stone' has grown to such proportions as to alienate many adult radio listeners."
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Technical note: I added "Whispering Bells" to the beginning of the clip, as my source for the footage had substituted a later live recording for whatever record this DJ played before breaking it. - Zábava
He was forced to do this stunt by the radio station he worked at, here - KWK in St. Louis - this guy was actually a rock 'n' roll DJ for years and liked rock 'n' roll, but they were changing their format from rock 'n' roll to a more easy listening format, and since he was the morning DJ, they brought their sister station on TV (KWK-TV) into the radio studio and more-or-less forced him to do this stunt. He hates being known for this video and actually despises it!
Thanks for the interesting info. Well, that's show biz, I guess. Perhaps he should make a "disclaimer" video? ;)
+pianorman Interesting, thanks.
Who was this DJ?
Thank you for the more complete story.
@@hotwax9376 Reed Farrell. He accomplished quite a lot in his life and passed on a couple of weeks ago at 89.
This reminds me of a scene in some movie or something I saw years and years ago. It was set in the early 60s, I think, and it featured a young man who got so sick of hearing his sister play her 45 of "Johnny Angel" on repeat that he grabbed it and smashed it right in front of her. She was not happy, to say the least. Does anybody else remember it, and if so, what it's from?
Yes can't recall from my hoard of videos books interviews etc on rock n roll but that did happen >>>Amazing that here on FB somebody would even mention it..Kudos to you!
And there's that Family Guy episode where we all learn that the bird is the word.
@@ramblingsadrift6477 Again, I can't find the title of it, but it was sometime in the late 90s or early aughts I saw it. I was just a kid at the time but the scene made an impression on me.
It was from the documentary film “This Is Elvis”. 0:24
And that's how we got Pat Boone.
Nowadays: Please turn that music down or I will take your phone away
Back in the 50s: In the name of Christ, you shall be sanctified!!! *smashes vinyl*
A lot of people don't know this, buy vinyl rock and roll records were magical talismans, engraved with satanic incantations, and breaking them dispels their power.
This is hysterical!
My local oldies station recently switched over to a Top 40/Adult Contemporary format, a decision led by one of their former DJs who recently took over management. And they fired their two leading hosts without warning. I can only imagine that this is what they are probably doing right now.
The same thing happened,a few years ago,at KGO when they dumped all of their top talk show jocks there.Ray Taliaferro,who did the night shift from 0100 hrs to 0500,got high points.He'd been there since 1977.
Reed Farrell, hmm. Seen this clip many times in the past but never realized he was just 27 or 28 in this clip - he was born 1930. I thought it was a genuinely stodgy guy at least in his 40's, the station program director or something.
I bought a mix record with this intro on it. It said something about jazzy jeff on the liner notes in 1990. I cant recall the name of the record forvthe life of me
Preach on brother!!!!
I wonder what his comment would be 30 years later hearing rap.
@@BBQFanNo1 he would organize a lynch mob
Pretty sure they show this clip at the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame museum
Just bought a new fender amp yes it's loud, wife said my rock and roll has got to go! 😂
He was playing Tutti Frutti by Elvis Presley orginally...
@adam pagan Not necessarily. It showed a clip of this in a documentary that was immediately preceded by Elvis' recording of "Tutti Frutti," and it was a different time from this one, because in that one he says, "That's the best way I know to get rid of it" after smashing the record.
Tutti Frutti is Little Richard’s song
@@1999_reborn Elvis covered it, though.
@@hotwax9376 Pat Boone even covered it, a pathetic version that sold more to the white kids than the Little Richard version. Predictably. Then Little Richard put out Long Tall Sally, Boone covered it and the Little Richard version sold more! The tables had turned and the Rock and Roll Revolution was on!
@@seancurran6727 Well, plenty of white kids were listening to the black artists, which is one reason why white racists hated rock & roll.
if he's still alive I agree he should make a disclaimer video
Does anyone know the name of the DJ in the footage?
Reed Farrell
does anyone knows the song before he smashes the record?
"Whispering Bells" by the Del-Vikings
Uncle Waldemar thanks
lol
"Whispering Bells" by the Del-Vikings, a Pittsburgh group
@@williamtkoltek7567 One of my favorite (doo wop songs) besides their outstanding "Come Go With Me" that was a #4 smash on the pop, and #1 R&B. A great duo of doo-wop songs!
What was the original song played?
Don't know! This clip was taken from the 70s documentary series "All You Need Is Love" which had some narration and slow music seguing over from the previous segment, up until the point where he takes the record off.
Whispering Bells by Del-Vikings (1957)
So, was Rock n Roll banned in the USA in that time?
almost, not really, the Jews wouldn't let Rock N Roll die.
@soundeagle what do Jews have to do with it?
WHY, THAT SON OF A...SON OF A...
Eric it's okay
It makes me think of sectarian comments and ideas that some people want to force us into our heads...fortunately here , they have caused the opposite effect : we continue to talk about rock today , which we continue to appreciate through the generations! 🎸🎸🎸
Is this the same point he called rock and roll negra music? Or, was that another recording I've heard?
I thought he said that, too. Maybe it's a Mandela Effect thing going on...
They didn't want to play what's selling the most?
Reminds me of the two Jones comments on the Beatles. Envy? First 67 year old Paul Jones comment in 1964 after the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show: "As I see it Sullivan wasted time with the Beatles" Quincy Jones once said that The Beatles were the "worst musicians in the world" When looking back at the world of contemporary culture, it is not unusual to uncover some spectacularly bad takes.
All I can think of is how much those 45's he smashed would be worth in 2022.
Those are 78s
DJ’s name was Reed Farrell.
Longtime PA announcer for the St. Louis Blues...
40 years too soon.
He just shattered $300 worth of collectibles ..
and vinyl is back
@ND Praire Rock Homested Thank you internet
Ironically the DJ didn't have a problem with rock years later he came to despise this stunt the station made him do because he ended up becoming a poster child for the anti rock movement.
It's still pretty awesome anyway.
@@DrMackSplackem Destroying Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Elvis records?
@@dannytheman1313 He smashed some things resembling 45 RPM vinyl records of uncertain provenance on film for dramatic effect. Are you really alleging they were those exact discs?
@@DrMackSplackem Hard to say, if it was those exact records. But I doubt those were blank records. So that was someones song, I'm of the mindset that those records did not deserve to be destroyed regardless of who's they were. They could have just stopped playing the records.
I wonder how long THAT lasted? No rock music, that is, on this particular station.
Yeah I don't think rock 'n' roll was going anywhere......
Like that Danny and the Juniors song "Rock and roll is here to stay. It will never die."
"The system is antiquated," LOL. Based on what? No explanation given at all on why the "system is antiquated". Truth is, they just didn't like rock and roll and used management buzzwords as their explanation. And that, which truly is "the antiquated system" continues in the media to this day.
Based
Plot twist: no records were harmed in the make of this commmercial
I don't think the "problem" was the music. it's just that too many radio stations jumped on the rock'n'roll bandwagon. and when you have 3 or 4 stations in the same city playing the same music, it's going to dilute the ratings of each station. that's what happened to WVDA (1260) in Boston. an early rock'n'roll pioneer, forced out by 'copycats'. it became easy-listening WEZE and did quite well for years as the only 'good' music station in Boston, until FM became popular.
+Ross Ewage My local oldies station just switched to a Top 40/Adult Contemporary format, when there are already several of those where I live. The same thing will probably happen to them, and they easily may be forced to switch back.
yes I can just see the Herb Tarlick sales manager convincing the GM to change to adult top 40. "oldies listeners are retired and they don't buy anything now with their Social Security checks". well my dad didn't buy his first Cadillac 'til he was 55.
+Ross Ewage When WCBS was resurrected after the Jack debacle, there was an article that is somewhat related to this. www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/lost-50s-article-1.268475
That was a good song
Nadie . Absolutamente nadie : gente muy joven y gente muy vieja: # rock n roll tiene que irse..
Does this radio station exist 🤔? Was that DJ fired for breaking those albums 😳 🤔?
RAP has got to go.
+jetvette66 Let's see a video on that!!
+jetvette66 Now you sound like the middle-aged guy in the video. It seems to be every generation's duty to despise the next one's music. Don't believe me? Listen to some old radio comedy shows or watch some 1940's Warner Bros. cartoons to see the "roasting" Sinatra got. (And then look what happened. Same with Elvis in the 50's, same with the Beatles in the 60's. The more things change, the more they stay the same.)
+Jeff Missinne Yep. I hate the "Beatles" too.
+jetvette66 Congratulations, you are now officially "somebody's dad." Here's your Jim Nabors 8-track tape. Enjoy!
+Jeff Missinne "Pyle!!!!!"
He’d sure hate Spotify and CZcams.
Thank god he never got to listen to & watch KISS.
a wop bop a loo bop anyone?
imagine if he'd heard a death metal or black metal lol
Is this satirical?
Rock 'n' roll music was in a serious funk in the late '50s and early '60s...then this band called the Beatles came along.
@Troy Smith Eddie Cochran.
That leering madman Elvis Presley was a threat to peoples daughters. started this commercial version of Rock and Roll propagating suggestive pelvic displays..
Sounds like a deranged priest come record mogul with self opinionated ideals looking after his bank account who needs psychiatric assistance. Rock and roll will never die rock grunge and thrash metal will though. Mabey these men and women need to go too church to appreciate rock and music it's not about salesmen but players. Good music makes you feel better and happy even when things get back on you and you don't have to be able to make money or show off to be the best even in my religious beliefs just contentment after all it doesn't matter how much or little money you have. We all come in and go out with nothing and our kids will spend it after you die anyway. Priests poets and politicians. Even materialistic things get worn out and leads to debt. Who are they anyhow. Joby.
Something else I'd rather have a fifty pence fyfe than a hundred thousand quid car anyway. In the UK of GB you can only do a max speed of 70 mph or 92 kmh. If you don't get the polis catching you in a speed trap or speeding then they'll catch you with something else on you or your car. They can even compound it for no apparent reason so watch your speed kids and businessmen. No car no job. Thank God for the police.joby.
A Allen should have preached against rock and roll.
Justin beaver, Ma-dope-a, Bouncy, Megan "somebody needs to Trainor to sing," Tailor Swuft, Fell-out boy and other crap like those sorry acts need to go, too.
You realize you don’t have to listen to them
Based