J. Michael Wilson on WKNR Detroit | November, 1966 (8:04) Scoped
J. Michael Wilson - Don’t think I’ve ever heard him before, but this is an excellent quality representation of 1960’s WKNR. Main competition: Of course, RKO’s CKLW across the river. Many CK alumni passed throught these hallowed portals either on their way in or out of the Big 8. One guy who got noticed here: Pat St. John. Although he’s not featured on this aircheck (he’d get there in the early 70s), he did less than a year before heading to New York City and WPLJ.
The bass response on this aircheck is a bit high, turn down your speakers or prepare to get blasted across the room!
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Actually it is J Michael Wilson who later worked at CHUM in Toronto.
Actually this aircheck is from near the end of WKNR’s reign as Detroit’s number one hit station: CKLW, which had already been Top 40 for several years, switched to the Drake format in April 1967 and obliterated Keener thereafter. At this time in Detroit’s history, there were three Top 40s: WKNR, CKLW and WXYZ, which would soften its sound to something of a Personality/Hot AC as “The Sound of the Good Life” in February of ‘67.
Let’s not forget the most famous Keener alumnus who later went to CK’… Dick Purtan! Purtan started his Detroit radio career at WKNR in 1965. He left for WBAL Baltimore not long after the “Big 8″ began to knock the living daylights out of Keener but was there only a few months before coming back to Detroit at WXYZ and helping the station formerly known as “Wixie” to find some new ratings success as an Adult Contemporary station. After WXYZ went to a talk format around 1977 or ‘78 was when Purtan went over to CKLW, which also started to tweak its sound in a more Hot AC direction around that time.
Great air-check. I had the opportunity to work with J. Michael at Keener 13 for a
number of years between ‘64 thru ‘67. The line-up then included Dick Purtan, Ted
Clark (whose voice you hear doing the ID) Jerry Goodwin, Bob Green, J. Michael
and Paul Cannon. One of the GREAT rock stations of all time.