Our launch of the Keener 13 Facebook page prompted Scott Regen to share some photos from his collection.

His first professional acting gig happened when he was eleven. He was a star on the BBC’s Coronation Street at age 16. And when he was 20, Davy Jones was picked from a casting call of thousands to be part of a made-for-television rock band that became one of the most popular acts of the decade.

After seeing the film  A Hard Day’s Night, Bob Rafelsonand Bert Schneider decided to create a TV show that would feature what they hoped would be America’s answer to the Beatles. Their first choice was to sign John Sebastian’s  Lovin’ Spoonful, but that group already had a record contract. So they ran an ad in  Daily Variety and The Hollywood Reporter in the fall of 1965 to find their musicians.

Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork, and Brit Davy Jones were ultimately hired and under the guidance of Don Kirshner, the Monkees were born. The group had help from some of the best writers in the business including Tommy Boyce, Bobby Hart, Neil Diamond and the Brill Building team of Gerry Goffin, Carole King. They charted  13 times on the WKNR Music Guide, with hits like “Last Train to Clarksville“, “I’m A Believer“, “(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone“, “Pleasant Valley Sunday” and “Daydream Believer“. They held down Keener Hit Number One five times.

While each Monkee had his fan base, Davy was a particular favorite. With the British Invasion in full swing, his English accent and Beatle hair cut put him at the forefront. 38 years later,  Yahoo Music named him “Number 1 teen idol of all time”.

At the height of the Monkee’s popularity, Davy Jones talked with Bob Green about life in the Hollywood spotlight.

Jones continued to pursue a show business career after the Monkees broke up in 1971, touring with Dolenz, Boyce & Hart and various other side men. His stage and television credits include starring with Dolenz in Harry Nilsson‘s play The Point in London and appearances on, The Brady Bunch, My Two Dads, Here Come the Brides, and Love, American Style. He continued to record, releasing his last album in 2009.

His last performance happened on February 19th in Oklahoma, just ten days before he died in his sleep of a massive heart attack at age 66.

From 1965 through 1968 Detroit could challenge Dick Clark’s American Bandstand dominance. The two local dance programs we remember are Club 1270 and Swingin Time. Channel 7 was home to the program named after the frequency of their sister station. Club 1270 was hosted by Lee Alan, Joel Sebastian and Dave Prince and during it’s brief run it showcased the talents of everyone from local boy Jamie Coe to mega-stars like Leslie Gore and the Rolling Stones. Across the river, CKLW showcased the talents of Keener alum Robin Seymour on Swingin Time. With production coordinator Art Cervi, who would later become a star in his own right as Detroit’s incarnation of Bozo, Swingin Time mirrored Bandstand in format and with the broad list of current and future rock stars who performed before Channel 9′s cameras.

No video record of Club 1270 exists on the Internet, but a number of clips from Swingin Time can be found. Robyn Seymour wisely saved a number of kinescopes of the show providing a rare historical look at the nacient talents of the likes of Bob Seger and James Brown.

Here are two clips to turn back the hands of time.

In December, 1963, Jerry Lewis‘ first solo foray into a television variety show was in trouble. ABC executives were scrambling to find a replacement for his Saturday night slot and decided to keep the variety without regular host. On January 4th, The Hollywood Palace made it’s debut and for the next six years, it was one of the most watched variety shows on television. Across 192 episodes, literally every major entertainer walked across it’s stage.

ABC kept the venue, redressing and re-naming the former Jerry Lewis Theater as “The Hollywood Palace”. The program was one of the first to make the switch to color when the RCA NTSC compatible system took off in 1965. And over the years, scores of stars hosted.  Bing Crosby tested out his Christmas show format on the program and held the record for the most hosting appearances (31). The off-screen announcer was Dick Tufeld, a voice we remember as that of the robot in the CBS scifi classic Lost In Space.

Over the years the Palace was responsible for the first major television exposure for everyone from  The Rolling Stones to The Jackson 5. the Beatles supplied a first on the program; the American television debut of the music videos for “Penny Lane” and “Strawberry Fields Forever“.

In the Tom Hanks film “That Thing You Do“, the Wonders perform on “The Hollywood Television Showcase”, an homage to the Palace.

While never a top ten performer, The Hollywood Palace did well enough in the ratings to survive until February 4, 1970. Der Bingle hosted the finale featuring best-of clips from the more than 700 performers who appeared on the program. The Hollywood Palace still exists today, as the Avalon Hollywood Nightclub.

By 1966, color was becoming a staple in prime time. In this segment, The Supremes render “Keep Me Hangin On” the old-school way it should be done:  without lip syncing and backed by Mitchell Ayres and the Hollywood Palace Orchestra.

What acts do you remember seeing on the Hollywood Palace?

From the Beatle Bible – “All four Beatles gathered at EMI Studios on the morning of Friday, August 8, 1969, for one of the most famous photo shoots of their career. Photographer Iain Macmillan took the famous image that adorned their last-recorded album, Abbey Road.

“A policeman held up the traffic as Macmillan, from a stepladder positioned in the middle of the road, took six shots as the group walked across the zebra crossing just outside the studio.

“Iain Macmillan was a freelance photographer and a friend to John Lennon and Yoko Ono. He used a Hasselblad camera with a 50mm wide-angle lens, aperture f22, at 1/500 seconds.

“Prior to the shoot, Paul McCartney had sketched his ideas for the cover, to which Macmillan added a more detailed illustration.

“As the group waited outside the studio for the shoot to begin, Linda McCartney took a number of extra photographs.

“The Beatles crossed the road a number of times while Macmillan quickly took six photographs. 8 August was a hot day in north London, and for four of the six photographs McCartney walked barefoot; for the other two he wore sandals.

“Shortly after the shoot, McCartney studied the transparencies and chose the fifth one for the album cover. It was the only one when all four Beatles were walking in time. It also satisfied The Beatles’ desire for the world to see them walking away from the studios they had spent so much of the last seven years inside.

“Macmillan also took a photograph of a nearby tiled street sign for the back cover. The sign has since been replaced, but was situated at the corner of Abbey Road and Alexandra Road. The junction no longer exists; the road was later replaced by the Abbey Road housing estate, between Boundary Road and Belsize Road.”

The album cover added fuel to the conspiracy  theory, amplified by WKNR-FM’s Russ Gibb, that Paul had died and was replaced by a double. The most common interpretation had John symbolizing the minister, Ringo the undertaker, Paul (without shoes) as the body and George as the grave digger.

Here is the Dutch documentary, featuring Russ talking about how he contributed to the story.

Back before national programmers and record company marketing money decided which records got airplay, local stations could be true hit makers. WKNR helped rocket a ton of Detroit area talent onto the national stage, including Bob Seger, Deon Jackson, Mitch Ryder and the Rationals. Keener was also the key proving ground for Motown acts. Berry Gordy, Jr.’s special relationship with Scott Regen made it possible for Keener to have unique on-air access to artists and the WKNR Music Guide became a leading indicator of potential national success.

How did the WKNR Music Guide compare to the industry standard Billboard Hot 100? Visit the Motor City Radio Flashback site to see a 1964 example.

For those who came of age in Detroit anytime before the 1970s, the phrase “TYler 8-7100″ likely resonates in memory. That was the phone number for the “We do good work” folks at Belvedere Construction. The use of “Exchange Names” as a way to help remember telephone numbers had its genesis in England in the 20s. By the 50s we were using the 2 Letter – 5 number format to delineate phone numbers across the Detroit area.

We called TOwnsend 9-2800 for Marathon fuel oil. You could get a few extra dollars until payday by calling Friendly Bob Adams of General Finance Company at WOodward 5-0043.  ”You can have worry free, home delivery” when you called Twin Pines at TExas 4-1100. TIfanny 6-5666 was the number to call if you had a Keener Lucky License Number. And one of the most memorable of all phone numbers for Keener fans was WOodward 3-8925, the WKNR hit line.

Elieen Trombley Glick’s fantastic Detroit Memories website has a side bar where she has collected the magic words associated with every Detroit telephone exchange. There’s also a great discussion on this topic going on right now on the Detroit Memories Facebook Page. Do you remember these?

~ ARlington ~ AVenue ~ BRidge ~ BRoadway ~ BRown ~ CAdillac ~ CApitol ~ CEdar ~ CHerry ~ CLifford ~ COngress ~ CRestview ~ CRestwood ~ DIamond ~ DRexel ~ DUnkirk ~ EDgewater ~ ELgin ~ ELmhurst ~ EVergreen ~ FAirmont ~ FAirview ~ FEderal ~ FIeldbrook ~ FItzroy ~ FOrest ~ GArfield ~ GEneva ~ GLenview ~ GReenleaf ~ HOgarth ~ HOward ~ HUnter ~ IVanhoe ~ JEfferson ~ JOrdan ~ JUniper ~ KEnwood ~ LAfayette ~ LAkeview ~ LEnox ~ LIberty ~ LIncoln ~ LOgan ~ LOrain ~ LUzon ~ MAdison ~ MArket ~ MAyfair ~ MElrose ~ MIdwest ~ MUrray ~ MUlberry ~ MYrtle ~ NAtional ~ NIagara ~ NOrthlawn ~ NOrmandy ~ OAkland ~ OLive ~ ORegon ~ ORleans ~ OXbow ~ PArkway ~ PIngree ~ PIoneer ~ PLaza ~ PRescott ~ PRospect ~ RAndolph ~ REdford ~ REpublic ~ ROckwell ~ SLocum ~ TAshmoo ~ TEmple ~ TEnneyson ~ TErrace ~ TExas ~ TIffanyc ~ TOwnsendc ~ TRiangle ~ TRinity ~ TRojan ~ TUxedo ~ TUlsa ~ TWinbrook ~ TYler ~ UNiversity ~ ULysses ~ VAlley ~ VEnice ~ VErmont ~ VInewood ~ WAlnut ~ WArwick ~ WEbster ~ WEstwood ~ WHitney ~ WOodward

For uber fans of Exchange history, there’s an on-line database with a searchable nationwide collection of words/numbers.

If Mrs. Knorr thought that Tommy James’ “I Think We’re Alone Now” was a little too much for the Keener airwaves, then “Jungle Fever” by the Chakachas was well over the edge of the envelope. That it became a hit at all is one of those improbable stories that seem to proliferate in the music business.

Listen to the record, or look at any of the promotional material and you’d be certain that the band was African American, or Afro-Cuban. In fact, they were a bunch of white guys from Belgium, who first got together in the 1950s. By 1965 they had gone their separate ways and it wasn’t until 1970 that producer Roland Kluger pulled the bulk of the group back into studio to record one of the most infamous records of the Keener era.

The album itself is underrated, a Sergio Mendez-esque collection of funky Latin flavored soul that could stand on it’s one even without the last cut on side two, it’s title track. But that’s the one we talk about. Kari Kenton, the only band member who was anywhere close to Cuban,  provided the “vocals” that topped a pulsating, steamy, percussive instrumental background. And from the moment it was released as a single, it split the radio community right down the middle.

On the one side were the broadcasters who clearly believed that the thing was borderline smut. On the other were those who knew a hit when they heard one and decided to play “Jungle Fever” without regard for those they might offend.

Keener was firmly in the conservative camp. But across the Detroit River, CKLW had no such scruples. The week of February 7, 1972, “Jungle Fever” was hit bound on the Big 8 and the phones rang off the hook with requests to play it. In one Detroit area high school, a student was suspended for playing a verse over the public address system. And even at 15001 Michigan Avenue, listener requests were off the charts. But firm was the resolve in the front office and “Jungle Fever” never made it into the WKNR control room.

Even Polydor had a premonition that the record might crash and burn if the audience knew the racial make-up of the group. The only photos of Chakachas depict African American band members and when it came time to perform “Jungle Fever” live, an appropriately soulful group of impersonators took the stage at the Apollo. And no one was the wiser.

In the years since, “Jungle Fever” has been repeatedly sampled by hip-hop and dance artists. And a pristine CD version of the song was re-issued on the Dusty Groove label, outing the musicians true colors and giving us the chance to hear the other 10 tracks that make the “Jungle Fever” album a very listenable piece of rock history.

In 1964, America’s musical tastes had not yet fully polarized. While the wave of British hits washed over us, there was still an eclecticism to the WKNR play list that made it possible for a jazz legend to link up with a Brazilian samba singer and have a hit record.

Such was the unique story of the Stan Getz / Astrud Gilberto partnership. Getz came into the spotlight in the 1940s as the silky smooth tenor sax player in Woody Herman’s Thundering Herd big band. He was introducing bosa nova to American ears when he teamed up with Gilberto, who was a last minute choice to record the vocals for “The Girl From Ipanema”.

It was Astrud’s husband Joao who took the first crack at recording the lyrics in his native Portuguese. Legend has it that producer Creed Taylor smelled a smash hit and pressed for an English language version of the song. As Bill Janovitz notes in his AllMusic.com review of the record, ”Astrud, who was just along for the visit to New York, was the only Brazilian who understood English enough to sing the adaptation by famed lyricist Norman Gimbel. With no musical background, she stepped to the microphone and sang the words Gimbel had adapted (they are not a literal translation) with an authentic sense of innocence and austerity..”

And the rest, as they say, is history. ”The Girl From Ipanema” spent three weeks in the lower reaches of the WKNR Music Guide, topping out at Number 22 during the week of June 18 1964.

Here’s a trivia question: What blue-eyed soul band refused to sign with Motown but found fame thanks to three of Motown’s greatest contributors?

Of course we’re talking about Detroit’s own Flaming Ember. They first recorded for Ric Tic Records in 1967, but when Berry Gordy, Jr. folded Ric Tic into Motown, The Flaming Embers, as they were then known, decided to explore other options.

The label that they ultimately chose was Hot Wax, the brain child of Motown creative geniuses  Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Edward Holland, Jr.. They charted six times on Keener with “Mind, Body and Soul”, “Not My Brother’s Keeper”, “Westbound Number 9″,”Shades of Green” and  ”Sunshine”. Many remember “Westbound Number 9″ as their favorite Flaming Ember tune, but it was “Mind, Body and Soul” that was their only Keener Number 1.

As the 70′s came upon us, the Flaming Ember changed their name to Mind, Body and Soul, retreating to nightclub and bar gigs around Detroit for the better part of a decade.

Ironically, they earned a special footnote in history outside of R&B when they were inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in 1999. The Flaming Ember was last heard in 2004 when they reunited for the Tennessee Rockabilly Festival.