Another Hit for Chicago's WDRV - 97.1 The Drive

When Tuesday's mail arrived here at the Kelley home - it included a package for me from my brother Brian.

Inside was a copy of Bob Stroud's latest Rock 'N Roll Roots CD - Volume 9 - which has been for sale in Borders Book Stores in the Chicago area for a couple of weeks now.

Bob does middays on classic rock/classic hits WDRV/Chicago; and if you're a regular reader to this blog you might also know he produces and hosts a program airing Sunday Mornings called "Rock 'N Roll Roots".

The show focuses on the music that made an impact on the Chicago AM & FM dials in the 60s and 70s. The stuff I heard growing up in suburban Chicago.

The show is a labor of love for Stroud - something he started after joining Chicago's WMET in 1979. A history of Bob's journey up and down the dial is documented here.

The annual CD project features the music thats played each week on the show - a good chunk of it appearing for the first time on compact disc.

The album artwork is excellent too - acknowledging Chicago's musical heritage. Inside - the liner notes document the airplay each song received on the local airwaves back in the day. Very cool!

Bob explained the process to me in a recent email:

"Every April I solicit for suggestions from "The Stroud Crowd" for the upcoming Rock 'n Roll Roots CD release. At the end of the month, I tally up the votes and try to license the songs that received the most votes. Every year over 500 different titles are submitted!"

"We work with SRO in Minneapolis who do all the leg work of tracking down the songs and their publishers. Each year we press up 5,000 copies and retail them at Chicagoland Borders locations. When they're gone, they're gone. I've seen Volumes 1 through 3 goes as high as $75 on E-Bay! Previous Volumes are also for sale through sellers on Amazon."

"This year was the 1st year that we couldn't license a song that had never been on CD before. Volumes 1 through 8 all had songs that hadn't appeared on CD before, most were midwest hits from Chicago bands that were played frequently on WCFL and WLS."

For those outside the Chicago area: WCFL and WLS were the dominant Top 40 AM stations in the market in the 60s and 70s.

Since 2002, WDRV has donated at least $60,000 to charities from sales of the Rock & Roll Roots CDs - and each year its been a different charity:

"It has been a different charity every year while here at The Drive. We try to select one that has a music angle for obvious reasons."

"Children's Home + Aid offers music lessons, amongst many other academic offerings to children who come from needy families. They are also the charity that has been closely associated over time with this year's corporate sponser, Merlin's 200,000 Mile Shops."

Congrats to Bob and the staff at WDRV. The CD is not only a great charity project - but one that reinforces the passion for the station's music and its relationship with audience and the City of Chicago.

I've observed (from afar) others attempting to duplicate WDRV's format in other markets - even calling their station "The Drive". And most have failed - not understanding the attributes that have made WDRV a success.

And the first mistake imitators make is using the name "The Drive"; its a name that is uniquely Chicago and loses all significance almost everywhere else. There's only one "Drive".

Steal This Post

50° - clear at 10:54pm

Steal from me and you steal twice. And this was stolen with nothing but the most respect for its author. Blogs are all about spreading ideas. And I like spreading great ones.

The brilliant Dave Martin "put to ink" some great words today - on his blog - that I would encourage you to steal and spread:

"The play's the thing. We need to put more play into the everyday. Play will put the show back into show business. Broadcast has spent the better part of twenty years focused on the business at the expense of the show. Without the show, there is no business."

"Play is an important part of the hard work that is the creative process. Play enables, empowers, encourages the creative, the spark."

"Play is what brings the real creatives to the gig, they come to play. Play needs a positive environment, a stage."

"Play requires an advocate and sometime defense attorney."

And then there was more. Clicking the "comments" link below Dave's post, there's more on the topic from the legendary Tom Kent:

"Young Dave is so correct on "the play is the thing". Maybe that's what drove so many of us to get into this crazy business. It's a job that you can do with fun and pleasure and it doesn't seem like a job at all."

"The paradigm must shift from sales first to the show first and then we will witness how dramatically the bottom line will improve. When we put money first, money will elude us. When the greater mission is first and is driven by passion and talent, watch the money pour in."

"The future of radio is bright and here's a great big fat raspberry to all you naysayers."

Thanks Dave. Thank you Tom. Dave's entire post - and Tom's complete comments can be found here.

Monday Monday

47° - cloudy at 10:30pm

13 hours on the day job today. So nice to be busy again!

Edison Media. Sean Ross and the folks are blogging here about the ten best radio markets for radio - and begin the countdown with Louisville.

Sean notes a "heated" classic rock battle between Clear Channel's WQMF and Cox Radio's WSFR.

Over the summer, WSRF won the 12+ numbers; back in the spring it was WQMF. You have to love a battle like that. We'll have to listen tomorrow on the 'net!

Fred Jacobs. Fred writes this morning about The Eagles new album; how its distribution is anything but conventional; how the heritage band's album knocked Britney out of the top spot on the charts. Read here. Fred promises a related follow-up piece on his blog tomorrow.

Great quote. About the current recession (or "economic downturn") from McVay Media's Dave Lange:

"...a recession is the perfect time to build a brand. You will likely see less competition, less clutter around your message, and remember the audience is STILL THERE. Just because they may be holding their wallets a little tighter they are still looking for entertainment and we offer it for free every day."

Dave's blog is here.

Watching: The Closer tonight on TNT and hearing the familiar voice of actor Barry Corbin (saw him too!) - reminding me of one of my favorite radio stations that only existed in the TV world: KBHR/Cicely, Alaska.

KBHR - a part of the early 90s TV series Northern Exposure. Barry's character (Maurice Minnifield) owned the station that featured "Chris in the morning" - (played by actor John Corbett). Just a great series. And Janine Turner - the icing on the cake.

BTW: Barry Corbin is voice of 99.5/The Wolf in Dallas. MP3s of his imaging work here.

More tomorrow. Bedtime for Bonzo.

Sunday Morning Odds & Sods

43° - overcast at 1pm

Listening this morning - to the music of Neil Young being featured on WDRV's Rock & Roll Roots. Walk On. Like A Hurricane. All good stuff.

Christmas. I've seen a lots of stations testing their holiday music; and I've come to believe that the audience expects to hear it.

There's nothing wrong with Classic Rock and Classic Hits embracing selected holiday music - although I didn't always feel that way.

Thanksgiving weekend isn't that far away and a great time to kickoff. My wife was in Target yesterday and said it was apparent the shopping season has begun.

The Buzzard Book. It didn't come out in time for my birthday - but if anyone is looking for a Christmas present for me it might be John Gorman's new book: "The Buzzard: Inside the Glory Days of WMMS and Cleveland Rock Radio.

John Gorman was Program Director of WMMS (The Buzzard) from 1973 to 1986.

From Amazon:

This rock and roll radio memoir takes you behind the scenes at the nation's hottest station during FM's heyday, from 1973 to 1986. Sex and drugs, music and merchandising--it was a wild time when the FM airwaves were wide open for innovation.

John Gorman led a small band of true believers who built Cleveland's WMMS from a neglected stepchild into an influential powerhouse. The station earned high praise from musicians and even higher ratings from listeners.

Gorman tells how WMMS remade rock radio while Cleveland staked its claim as the "Rock and Roll Capital" by breaking many major international music acts. The fun may have died when FM went corporate in the late 1980s, but it was a hell of a ride while it lasted.

Filled with juicy insider details, this fast-paced story will entertain anyone who listened in during those glory days when FM delivered excitement and the Buzzard ruled the airwaves.

Looks fantastic - and available through Amazon here. Perhaps I'll just get myself an early Christmas present.

Mel. Will sue the FCC if the Sirius/XM merger isn't approved. Read here.

I can only think that others interested in one of the two satellite radio licenses might sue too if the merger is approved. I could be wrong.

While there is plenty of competition under of the broad definition of "audio entertainment", I do feel that satellite radio is a unique distribution platform that deserves two competitors. Every other distribution platform is open to competition.

Let them merge - but force a surrender of one license and award it to another.