I’ve never been a fan of the iHeart Radio app that you can download to your smartphone. I always thought it too cumbersome to use compared to alternatives, and I don’t like the way iHeart restricts its own stations to its own app rather than allowing them to be available on other apps as well. If iHeart really believed in the app, why do they not let it compete on an even playing field?
But I broke down and started using it recently. Keep in mind I still don’t actually like it, but there is a reason to use it … American Top 40.
Yes, the very same AT40 you can find on SiriusXM channels 7 — for the 1970s version — Saturdays at 3 a.m. and 9 a.m., Sundays at 6 a.m.; or our own semi-local KOLA (99.9 FM) which airs the ‘80s version Saturdays at 5 a.m. and Sundays at 7 p.m.
But what if you want to totally live in the past and listen to nothing but AT40, the countdown show hosted by former original KRLA (now KRDC, 1110 AM) personality Casey Kasem, launched on July 4th, 1970 on but a handful of stations, and eventually heard on stations around the globe as the most popular countdown show … ever? If that’s you, the iHeart Radio app — or iHeart.com on a computer — has you covered.
A special channel called Classic American Top 40 plays old AT40 countdowns continuously. The ‘70s followed by the ‘80s followed by the ‘70s, etc. 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As I write this they are just starting a replay from 1983 after the completion of a week from 1973. Audio heaven, for those who grew up listening to the classic program … and a major reason to use the iHeart app.
Ryan Seacrest, by the way, hosts the current version of AT40 heard locally on KIIS-FM (102.7), starting at 6 a.m. Saturdays, 8 a.m. Sundays.
No static at all
This is an old story, but it comes from former KHJ (930 AM) Production Director (among other stations) Douglas Brown.
When the song “FM” by Steely Dan was released in 1978, according to Brown, many top-40 stations were still on the AM band, including in the Los Angeles area, KHJ, Ten Q (KTNQ, 1020 AM), KFI (640 AM), and KEZY (1190 AM).
Many of the stations across the country didn’t want to play a song that hyped the FM band, so a few figured out that the “A’ in Steely Dan’s song “Aja” matched the note well, and simply changed the song so that it played as “A-M, no static at all.” Which, of course, is somewhat absurd.
The more powerful and influential stations, such as KHJ, convinced the musical band’s record company at the time to produce a special version of the song, one in which the radio band is not mentioned at all. The resulting song simply says “no static at all.”
A testament to the power that AM radio once held over American culture.
Mailbag
“WABC has come back from the radio graveyard twice: First when Rick Sklar created the legendary MusicRadio77 and now. In ratings released today, the station is #9 with a 3.7, the first AM rated in NYC. They gotta be doing something right!” — Steve Moravec
“To paraphrase a movie line: If you play it (great local content), they will listen. Local: News. Weather. SPORTS (high school and college). Talk with and by local leaders and personalities. City and county government. One station doing this and while still learning is doing it well is KYCA-AM in Prescott, AZ. AM will not die in spite of Detroit.” — Dusty Baker
“I agree with every word you wrote. I hate Google, and all this ‘new’ approach to radio … for auto manufacturers to go along with this travesty is unconscionable. Keep up the good work and clear writing on this subject. — Beverly Riggs, La Habra (who describes herself as “a devoted sincere radio junkie for 40+ years” and says that “radio has always been my ‘preferred passenger’ since I first learned how to drive”).
“I wanted you to know how much I enjoy your articles about radio in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune … always informative, interesting and your passion for radio come thru loud & clear. Yes, my wife & I are with you…keep AM radio in our autos!
I grew up in the ‘40s and ‘50s with radio; we listened to music and live shows in the evening on a Farnsworth that become mine at about 8 years old when we finally got a TV and Pop set up his own ‘stereo’ system in the living room. But I still used my homemade crystal set with a surplus store military ear-phone.
I remember driving Van Nuys Blvd between Bob’s Big-Boy and A&W Root Beer with my radio blazing away was a real treat. Work/home/yard/shop, the radio was always on – and still is much of the time, albeit much lower and slower music these days. In the car, my wife is addicted to AM talk-show radio. Again, thank you for sharing your passion about a media that was most impactful during most of the 20th century.” — Drexel Smith
Richard Wagoner is a San Pedro freelance columnist covering radio in Southern California. Email rwagoner@socalradiowaves.com.
