Tuesday, July 7, 2020

The 93 KHJ-LA Complete Boss 30 - 1973





KHJ 1973 - BOSS By Name(but, not by Nature)
Since radio was a very straight forward entity when KHJ began the BOSS Top 30 in mid-1965...it is easy to see and hear that by 1973 the realm had changed dramatically. It is not so easy to explain in words but anyone listening should understand that things were not so simple anymore.

First of all, radio had already been laid to rest when television became the medium of choice with the fickle public consumer base. When KHJ created the BOSS campaign, radio had not yet realized how wide open the horizon actually was. Thus, from 1965 until the early 70's radio was still trying to figure out what it wanted to be.

Along the way, FM radio had also elbowed its way into the competition and had brought entirely new concepts to the realm. Many of the FM philosophies were giving AM radio a serious run on the claim for the high stakes that were piled up on the table. To say the ante had been upped into astronomical proportions would be a most conservative estimation of the situation.

Never before had KHJ had so much to keep abreast of. This may have even given birth to a God Complex whereby the station was adamant about its superiority and its inability to fail. This usually results in an overabundance of confidence that takes on the form of cockiness that has always been dangerous to apply to the typical practice.

 In this case, those practices were what had always been KHJ's bread and butter...its formula for success. Here's where things can go terribly wrong. What starts as confidence becomes an unwillingness to bend. From there, everything becomes self-parody. So, this is the rut that KHJ would have to navigate/negotiate if it was going to keep itself from falling completely into it.

Where FM had started to present more vanguard approaches to radio playlists, formalities, protocol and even the identity stamps of station jingles...KHJ had more and more format decisions to make. Would it not bend an inch? Would it make the DJs take on even more flamboyant personalities? Would it start and end every dialogue, every sentence with "93 KHJ" from the mouths of the Disc Jockeys? Would they play station jingles only at news breaks? Would they even cover news anymore? Should they do away with traffic and weather? Do they need to focus even more on contests that were no longer meaningful enough to pursue? Did they need to endorse the community at all? Perhaps they should play only music and do away with DJs and Station Jingles!

All of these things were non-decisions in 1965. Now, 1965 seemed so far behind 1973...and the BOSS was starting to seem archaic. First of all, there was much more music being made and therefore more diverse types of music/sub-genres. This was a logistical challenge all its own. How to support the music industry AND remain loyal to your own existence. Had KHJ BOSS Radio outlived its own usefulness? Did the industry even need creative commercialism? And, could music survive without them?

These are but a few of the reasons that NOTHING lasts forever. Gimmicks become gambits and overconfidence becomes an Achilles Heel that is not just an idiomatic reference...but something quite physical. BOSS Radio was so good at what they had created...it seems impossible that it could actually end. And, somehow, it seems that KHJ would be the last to know!  Kwai Chang


1972 to 1972   Yandex    Zippy
1973 Part 1 (January-February)   Yandex     Zippy
1973 Part 2 (March-April)    Yandex    Zippy
1973 Part 3 (May-June)    Yandex    Zippy
1973 Part 4 (July-August)    Yandex    Zippy
1973 Part 5 (September-October)    Yandex    Zippy
1973 Part 6 (November-December)   Yandex   Zippy


You can see the Playlist getting tighter, and things are really changing for top-30 AM radio. Nevertheless,  some classics and a whole lotta rare single-only mixes. I wish the quality of the available airchecks were better. All in all, an interesting, entertaining, but possibly not essential year.

The final year in this series will be in about 2 weeks.

21 comments:

DK said...

Thanks again Frank! I'm so glad you saw this through to get to 1973. Now if only this was NY and the station was 77 WABC... This was the summer I got my first portable AM radio that followed me everywhere. Glorious summer for radio!

Chi-Town said...

Thank you very much Frank, Kwai Chang, & Santa's little helpers. It feels like Christmas in July. I too am glad that 1973 is on the way.

monkeeboy said...

Genius project. You have my utmost appreciation and respect in putting this together.

Silvio said...

Thank you, guys...as always...cheers...

hotrodmike said...

There seems to be a problem with volume 2 March -April. It's showing May-June in it's place and there seems to be no link for volume 2. Could you check and see? I think there's a problem but maybe the heat is just getting to me. lol In any case, thanks once again for these.

Anonymous said...

... also with We transfer : 1.6 Gb but download is 1.4

Thanks, for everything.

Len said...

Thank You for all these!!! Fantastic !!!

Len said...

Wondering if second avenue by Art Garfunkel charted out there in 1974 and if so , will the original single (4:59) be the version that did?

Kwai Chang said...

Until BlankFrank gets around to it...
this should bring completeness to this volume!
KHJ 1973 Part 2(March-April): https://we.tl/t-HjRvGO4A9w

Kwai Chang said...

Here is ALL of KHJ 1973...
(just in case there is any difference in the individual parts)
WeTransfer links are only active for seven days!
Thanks.

0. https://we.tl/t-6G8GYFBzjb
1. https://we.tl/t-GFooyvgkF5
2. https://we.tl/t-HjRvGO4A9w
3. https://we.tl/t-TtBLXmA4gn
4. https://we.tl/t-E28VXMoZGO
5. https://we.tl/t-n3LYsLxAwq
6. https://we.tl/t-2QD2CKc7qL

Anonymous said...

Hi!
Another wonderful comp!
I note that Jamabalaya is not numbered. I assume that it should be track 51?
BMinNZ

BlankFrank said...

KC, thanks for your quick fix! I was having trouble when I was generating Yandex links. I should have double-checked. So sorry for the trouble. Also, @BMinNZ Jambalaya is track 51 and has been fixed in both WeTransfer and Yandex. Those who have already DL'ed 1973 can get the updated Jamalaya by going into the Yandex "1973 Part 1 (January-February)" folder and getting the song individually.

Once unzipped, 1973 is 1.6 gigs

Thanks everyone for your comments. It's really much appreciated. It seems no matter how closely I look, stuff like this still happens!

The Chairman said...

... and this unique journey through time goes on and on. Just plain wonderful. Many thanks again, BF, from: The Chairman

hotrodmike said...

Many thanks to Frank and KC for getting it straightened out. Glad I haven't lost my mind yet...

Jukin' said...

Hi BlankFrank,

What a fantastic amount of work on this document of KHJ Boss 30. I have a question. On the September 22, 1965 chart, the Beatles' "I'm Down" makes an appearance with "Help" at No. 9. Was it included in the set? I'm scratching my head, because I've looked everywhere and can't find it.

Thanks for all.

Kwai Chang said...

@Jukin'...
I'm pretty sure that the only Beatles songs featured on the 1965 volume of this series were Help, Yesterday, We Can Work It Out, Day Tripper!
I was confused by the clever use of The Beatles' moniker to keep the survey contents FRESH! Although the "I'm Down" title got added to the survey...I have my doubts about the song receiving any actual airplay even though it WAS listed on the survey. I might be wrong...but just look what they did to the Yesterday single listing in regards to the artist's NAME. I think it was a razzle-dazzle effect meant to keep the BEATLES inclusion strong while using the actual reference to them at a minimum. So, I don't think I'm Down was included for that reason. They even listed the Help LP as a HitBound on survey #5 when the surveys were 'purely' to promote songs that were played on the radio.
I didn't see/hear I'm Down on the BlankFrank series, either!

BlankFrank said...

@Jukin "I'm Down" is track 71 of 1965. The post was updated after I initially posted it (without notice) because that's what I usually do whenever an error is found. In this case, as I remember, "I'm Down" was listed in the Boss-30 only once like week number 10. Or something like that. Speaking of The Beatles and KHJ, "Ballad Of John & Yoko", a US top-10, was ignored by KHJ

Jukin' said...

Thanks, BlankFrank! Fantastic!

jgmoney said...

Blank Frank. I love your blog. Will there be future installments? I check every week... is there another place that you post?

Mrpitiful57 said...

Please Come Back - You are like a fine wine that is hard to live without.
And if you are unable to come back , good luck , god speed , and thank You for all you have shared.

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