For those who listened to Detroit radio in the 60s, these four letters evoke a certain awe. For they were associated with a radio station. A station with a relatively weak signal and neglected facilities, licensed to a Motown suburb. A station that began life in 1946 and spent its minority years in obscurity.
WKNR was re-born on Halloween night, October 31, 1963, rocketing from nowhere to become the most popular dial position in Detroit, all in a mere 91 days. Bill Gavin, a rock radio observer who tracked these things called it the fastest turn-around in broadcasting history and for the next half decade WKNR dominated Detroit radio.
It’s basis seems incredibly simple in hindsight: A tight playlist, a format that featured what former Keener PD Bob Green calls “intelligent flexibility”, listener research, creative promotions and frenetic announcers who were encouraged to stretch the edge of the entertainment envelope. It’s the formula that Drake and Chenault cloned to create CKLW, KHJ and a myriad of imitators. It’s a recipe that virtually every radio station in today’s homogenized cardboard world of Kiss and Kool tries to emulate. But for WKNR, it was the right time, the right elements and the right place, and for an all-too-brief period it was Camelot. [ LISTEN ]
Keener was a career catalyst for legendary Detroit radio announcers Robin Seymour, Dick Purtan, J. Michael Wilson, Bob Green, Gary Stevens, Scott Regen, Tom Ryan and Pat St. John. It inspired programmers like Bill Hennes and set the standard of performance for dozens of others who dreamt of a broadcasting career.
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WKNR helped launch the Beatles, and between Russ Gibb and Paul Cannon, Keener “killed” Paul McCartney. Bob Green’s casual mention that he was hungry for pizza brought Michigan Avenue traffic to a stand-still. The Bell System threatened to cut off Keener’s phone service when Mort Crowley regularly jammed the Detroit exchanges seeking listener requests. WKNR’s innovative traffic reports were the precursor to today’s sophisticated traffic networks. WKNR-FM pioneered the album rock format that is still a fixture in nearly every major radio market. And Keener FM’s Stereo Island became the foundation for the WNIC soft rock concept that dominated Detroit radio a quarter century later.
At its height, the Keener phenomenon was so powerful that even with its deficient AM nighttime signal, WKNR had more listeners and made more money than CKLW.
1964 DJ Lineup [ LISTEN ]
"Daly Burger is the MOST!"
Gary Stevens cut this Daly Burger ad in 1964. [ LISTEN ] (:58)
The WKMH staff had been advocating a change for some time. According to Bob Green, “By 1962 we all knew what had to be done to make WKMH more competitive in the market, especially our program director, Frank Maruca. But management wasn’t about to listen. But Green knew what needed to be done. Play a tight top 40, or in this case, top 30, go with personality, contests etc etc.
It was time, and on October 31, 1963, WKNR launched with 24 hours of Halloween programming, followed by "The Battle of the Giants", where listeners were invited to request their favorite songs. Motown's interest peaked, "Keener 13" moved into the next phase - a short playlist (31 songs plus one "key" song of the week and a few oldies). With competitors WJBK, WXYZ and CKLW going with much longer playlists (80-100 songs at times), listeners opted for the familiar. By the end of the year - despite a weak signal that missed most of Detroit's east side - WKNR had vaulted to the number-one spot among Detroit-Windsor Top 40 stations.
MOTOR CITY MEMORIES OF 1970    | |
Pictured are DJs: Mack Owens, Jim Tate, Dan Henderson, Bill Garcia, Pat St. John, Ron Sherwood, & Scott Regan |
Keener was about more than just music - it was about great personalities. Jocks like Mort Crowley, Robin Seymour, Jerry Goodwin, Gary Stevens, Bob Green, Dick Purtan, Scott Regen, Tom Near (later Tom Rivers), J. Michael Wilson, Pat St. John, Jim Jeffries and others all played key roles in WKNR's success.
Another reason to listen was Gary Granger, who did evenings on Keener in 1969 and 1970. Granger, who was previously at WQXI Atlanta, left WKNR to put WSHE Miami on the air in 1971 and later served as president of Brill Media in Richmond, Virginia.
The notion of a “total station sound” was something that Bob Green had experienced first hand in Miami. It was a concept that was lacking at the other Detroit popular music stations. He returned to WKMH to help launch the newly minted WKNR, joining Gary Stevens, Mort Crowley, Jim Sanders, Bill Phillips, Paul Cannon and WKMH hold-over Robin Seymour as the core of the original Keener cast.
Gary Stevens said that the team didn’t buy into everything Mike Joseph had proposed and soon made a few changes. Bob Green agrees. “We simply kept the obvious universal truths inherent in any top 40 of the era, and got rid of the superfluous and silly features Mike had set in place. This was done about 3 days after we started.”
Program Director Frank Maruca is rightly credited as one of the architects of Keener’s success. A master of sales promotion, Maruca engineered WKNR’s launch plan. He committed $130,000 to promote the new station, including a thirteen day teaser campaign prior to launch, a series of full page newspaper ads, high school book covers, 500 hand made “Spooktacular” announcements mailed to ad agencies and clients, 2.5 million matchbooks and 50,000 Keener bumper stickers.
The late Mort Crowley was Keener’s first morning man. “We were hooked up in a battle with three other radio stations that were playing the same kind of music.. plus the rhythm and blues stations.. in perhaps one of the wildest markets.. I’ve ever been in,” he said. “It was up-and-at-em and get out of bed in the morning and go for that red meat everyday.”
Crowley remembered that the market was, “..highly competitive, highly spirited, tensions of course were very high. But personal drive and personal ambition were very high, too. There was a lot of esprit de corps at the radio station and that’s why they went so far with the people they had.”?
WKNR produced an oldies album every year and sold it in record stores, turning all of the proceeds over to a different charity every year. The station could sell 20,000 copies in 3 weeks.
From the beginning, response to the new WKNR was overwhelming. And it lead to a quick change in the critical morning drive slot.
One of Mort Crowley’s morning show shticks was a call in bit he did with factory workers. The segment regularly jammed the local phone exchanges, prompting the Bell System to threaten to disconnect WKNR’s telephone service. Frank Maruca remembers that, “Mort went on the air accusing the telephone company of being a monopoly, threw in the gas and electric companies for good measure and.. ultimately resigned on the air.”
Crowley was replaced by Frank “Swingin” Sweeney . Sweeney held the morning drive spot for a year before his chronic insomnia got the better of him. Sweeney was on track to leave the morning shift for a promotion to assistant program director. On Saturday, August 7, 1965, he arrived late to relieve Jerry Goodwin who was finishing a long overnight shift as substitute for Jim Jeffires. A control room argument escalated into a fracas and Swingin Sweeney found himself between opportunities.
WKNR-AM, once the dominate radio station in Detroit during the 1960s, signed-off the 1310 AM frequency for the last time on April 25, 1972.
Formerly WKMH-AM, the station made the switch to “the new Radio 13” on October 31, 1963. By early 1964, WKNR was by then the most popular radio station in Detroit and remained No. 1 in the market, still holding that status throughout the first six months through 1967.
WKNR, affectionately known as “Keener 13,” began it’s eventual slide from Detroit radio dominance in April, 1967. It was during this time WKNR saw their challenge met head-on by their other rival located across the Detroit river, CKLW.
The WKNR AM/FM studio facility at 15001 Michigan Avenue, Dearborn, in the 1960s.During that time, CKLW was totally being restructured into a radio powerhouse the Canadian station would become by year’s end.
No. 1 in 1965 according to this trade article.Paul Drew, the newly-appointed program director at CKLW, patterned the same “Boss Radio” format Bill Drake and Ron Jacobs had programmed on 93 KHJ in Los Angeles. By 1965’s end, Jacob’s KHJ was by then the No. 1 radio station in L.A.
But WKNR would not easily go down without a fight. While going against the “Big 8” giant, the legendary Detroit radio station’s ratings were found inside a downward decline, all the while battling against two major fronts.
WKNR music survey dated February 7th 1972.LISTEN!Bob Chenault March 27, 1972andJohn McCrae April 25, 1972.
CKLW officially became the No. 1 radio station in Detroit by November, 1967, according to a Radio Response Survey published in Billboard in November.
CKLW, with it’s massive 50,000-watts of transmitted radio power covered 3 Canadian provinces and at times, their night-time signal spanned across 28 States. In contrast, after sundown, WKNR’s 5,000-watt signal was commonly known to be absent from the radio dial in areas east of Detroit and, more so, deficient in night-time coverage and strength.
By now, major changes had begun at WKNR both in the management and personnel level. In January of 1968, J. Michael Wilson was by then doing mornings on Keener. Dick Purtan had left WKNR for Baltimore. By the first week of April 1968, WKNR radio greats Bob Green, Jerry Goodwin, Ted Clark and Scott Regen were no longer there. Sean Conrad, Edward Alan Busch, Tony Randolph, Ron Sherwood, and Dan Henderson were to be the new voices on Keener 13.
By March of 1967, Keener was printing money, and becoming vulnerable. Bloated with 18 minutes of commercials per hour, listeners were almost as likely to tune in to a stop-set as they were to hear the music and personality mix that had been WKNR’s secret to success.
BEATLES AT OLYMPIA STADIUM Across the Detroit river in Windsor, Paul Drew had joined CKLW. Under the guidance of Bill Drake, Drew copied the Drake formula that had turned around Los Angeles’ KHJ. And the Motor City took notice.
The Big 8 had fewer commercials, played quick shotgun jingles and held the air staff to strict formatics that kept the focus on the music. CK’s play list featured more of the R&B sounds that were increasingly popular on Detroit stations like WCHB and WJLB. And the station’s 50,000 watt signal made it a ratings contender throughout Michigan and Ohio. WKNR turned again to the programming talents of Mike Joseph, who instituted similar restrictions on the personalities that had been Keener’s life blood.
By December, billing had decreased dramatically and management decided to cut expenses. Ted Clark, Jerry Goodwin, Bob Green and Scott Regen, the core Keener’s popular talent pool, were all jettisoned.
Despite a weak signal that missed most of Detroit's east sid, in the mid-60s WKNR had vaulted to the number-one spot among Detroit-Windsor Top 40 stations.
Keener 13 sailed along at the top until April, 1967, when ironically it was beaten by its own formula. CKLW adopted the super-tight Drake format and, with its powerful 50,000-watt signal, moved past WKNR into the top spot.
Jerry Goodwin, one of the “original early greats” on ‘Keener 13.’
By April 1968 more changes became evident at WKNR-AM, both in staff and the management level. By that time ‘The Miami Four’ Bob Green, Ted Clark, Scott Regen (from WFUN; Miami) and Jerry Goodwin were no longer on board on AM Keener 13.
In 1968 Goodwin took to the new “underground” movement by crossing over to the WKNR-FM side. But the station’s “free-form” run would be entirely short-lived. It was replaced with an “easy-listening,” MOR music format the station dubbed as “Stereo Island.”
August 23, 1966. [ LISTEN ] (13:37)
Near the end of 1971, according to a Detroit Arbitron radio rating for the period Oct./Nov., WKNR-AM had a 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. cume of 377,300 in total listenership during a given broadcast day. For WKNR, those numbers represented a reduction down to a 15 to 12 total market share. In comparison, WABX-FM ranked just under in total rank, with a cume of 330,000 during those same hours.
WKNR, who by then revamped its playlist to include some album-oriented tracks, also made much of their attempt to pull away from the “same as” CKLW all-pop music format. No longer were the top 31 songs part of the playlist rotation. Slashed in half, WKNR’s new playlist focused primarily on the top 15 hits instead, while “previewing” the other 16 songs or so for the week.
By late 1971 and early 1972, WKNR now was promoting itself as the new “American Rock and Roll” radio station. An obvious affront towards the dominance that was CKLW located in Windsor, Ontario.
As the last few bars of the Byrd’s “Turn, Turn, Turn” began to fade, the magic that was once WKNR faded away with the song. But the memories, the events, the music, the great names, the faces and voices who crafted the Keener legacy a long time ago, remain in many a hearts and minds yet even still, to this day.
WKNR was a radio station that went on to impact nearly a decade the many lives of a community it once served. It knew its listeners. And if only but for a short time, WKNR also was the station that knew the city of Detroit well by way of its prestigious award-winning news department informing and staying “on top of the news” during the station’s Top 40 reign here during the 1960s and early-1970s.
Keener battled on for the few more years but fading ratings brought an end to the WKNR era on April 25, 1972. Here's Gary Granger's program when Keener was still #1 on March 17, 1970. [ LISTEN ] (29:25)
Dan Henderson on September 10, 1970. [ LISTEN ] (53:38), Scott Regan, Bill Garcia, and more on October 3, 1970. [ LISTEN ] (1:45:51), and some more from Scott Regan later that day. [ LISTEN ] (1:18:15)
Dan Henderson on September 10, 1970. [ LISTEN ] (53:38), Scott Regan, Bill Garcia, and more on October 3, 1970. [ LISTEN ] (1:45:51), and some more from Scott Regan later that day. [ LISTEN ] (1:18:15)
As to a generation who grew up listening to top 40 radio in Detroit during the 1960s, one may actually say many of those “happiest radio memories” folks recall having heard on WKNR belongs to many of them today just the same.
WKNR. Those call letters would come to embody one sensational story. A story of a Detroit radio station’s historic top 40 run to number one status (in short-order all within 9 weeks) after having signed on in October 1963.
MONKEES CONCERT POSTPONED
The National Guardsmen patrolling Detroit’s Grand River Avenue in front of the Olympia. Thursday, July 27, 1967
J. Michael Wilson reads the bulletin on July 26, 1967.
In Detroit, the Monkees scheduled concert at Olympia Stadium was immediately canceled days earlier due to widespread rioting, shootings, fires, and block-to-block looting — affecting local and federal mandated curfews imposed over the entire city through a four day period, week of July 23-27. Sponsored and scheduled by Dick Clark Productions and WKNR for Saturday, July 29, the concert would be rescheduled for another date in August.
Keener was history. But across the Detroit river, another AM powerhouse would soon become a memory. The Canadian Radio and Television Commission, Canada’s version of the FCC initiated strict content rules requiring all Canadian stations to devote a significant portion of their airtime to “Canadian Content.”
At CKLW, that meant playing lots of Joni Mitchell, Blood Sweat and Tears (David Clayton Thomas was Canadian), Neil Young, Paul Anka and the Guess Who. Even with Keener legend Dick Purtan holding up the morning drive numbers, this draconian regulatory approach, coupled with the dominant popularity of higher fidelity FM signals spelled doom for The Big 8.
There’s an interesting postscript to our story. For a brief time, Keener was reborn. Paul Christie convinced Ed Christian to put classic top 40 gold and the Keener 13 moniker back on 1310 AM in the late 70s.
Jim Jeffries doing his thing at WKNR.Steve Schram worked at the rejuvenated Keener and, after a few career stops along the way, returned to WNIC as the general manager, taking the former WKNR-FM to the top of the Detroit radio ratings. Once again, there was a number one station at 15001 Michigan Avenue. Steve made sure that the 100.3 FM staff was always aware of the creative legacy that permeated the former home of WKNR.
The very first WKNR Music Guide issued on November 7, 1963.For two magic weekends in 2002 and 2003, the authentic Keener sound was again heard on the same 1310 KHz transmitter that had originally broadcast WKNR across Detroit.
Clear Channel Communications wrote the final chapter in the Keener story. The oligopoly consolidated their Detroit radio facilities at the former A&W Detroit headquarters. The old Keener studios in Dearborn were abandoned and no longer echo with the sound of broadcast excellence.
WHO WORKED AT WKNR? Here is the list: Mark Allen, Paul Cannon, Ted Clark, Mort Crowley, Gary Granger, Jerry Goodwin, Bob Green, Bobby Harper, Sam Holman, Jim Jeffries, Gary Kent, John McRae, Dick Purtan, Scott Regen, Russ Gibb, Tom Rivers, Chris Ryan, Jim Sanders, Pat St. John, Gary Stevens, Michael Stevens, Frank “Swingin” Sweeney, Jim Tate, Dick Thyne, Sean Conrad, Edward Alan Busch, Tony Randolph, Robin Seymour, Ron Sherwood, Dan Henderson, Bill Garcia, and J. Michael Wilson.
Some materials found on this page were originally published by the following: Keener 13, Odd Stuff Magazine. No copyright infringement is intended.
