KHJ Boss-93 Countdown NOW

[Lkeller]

I thought they all censored songs

KHJ mostly edited long songs for length, but KRLA would not. Examples I can think of were MacArthur Park and Those Were the Days, and I don't think they were official 'short versions," like Light My Fire because I never heard them anywhere else.  So I think they were probably edited by somebody in the Drake organization.

KHJ would not play some songs with supposedly objectionable content - one example being The Ballad of John and Yoko, which  was never played on the Boss stations - I assume because of the line "Christ, you know it ain't easy..." Some stations would play it with the "Christ" edited out (which was awkward), KRLA played it without edits.

Interestingly, KHJ did play Itchycoo Park which was about cutting school and taking drugs. Never understood that.

[DavidEduardo]

So I think they were probably edited by somebody in the Drake organization.

The KHJ edits were done by Ron Jacobs' production folks. The "Drake Organization" was, until they went into syndication with Hit Parade in about 1968, just Bill Drake and Gene Chenault for all practical purposes.

It was also pretty common for radio stations of the importance of KHJ to get labels to make them a version that fit in a certain time limit "or we won't play it." That "whooshing" sound in LA was not the Santa Ana winds... it was record ducks rushing to produce a short version.

Some years later, KRTH wanted "better" copies of the oldies they played, and got the labels to pull the masters so they could make second generation copies for KRTH. That's the power of a major market station in that era.

[Bryan Simmons]

Seems that the RKO stations continued making their own versions of hit songs into the 70's.  KFRC made their own version of ELO's "Turn To Stone" by mixing a lift from another song on the album with the intro so that the song had a distinctive and much louder start, rather that fading in like the original. Many stations tried to come up with edits of "Do You Feel" by Peter Frampton when it started to get airplay as the album track at just over 14 minutes was just too long for the mostly AM Top 40 stations of the era.  While the record company did eventually come up with their own edit to bring it down about 7 & a half minutes or so, KFRC's edit was far superior to that of A&M/PolyGram. It preserved parts of the song that A&M edited out and actually sounded cleaner.

When I arrived in LA our sister station was KFI in it's Top 40 incarnation and they were at that point in the habit of "asking" for reel to reel dubs of the master from record companies to get clean sounding product. We did as well.  Oh and we had edits and mixes of our own at 103.5.  I recall being asked to edit a Hollies song that had just been released and I heard later that Graham Nash called the station wanting to know why we did it? I was told that his response was very positive.  He was apparently receptive to our reasons.  Guess it was a form of research for him.

I see the practice of doing your own edits as being a lot more common than many think it is.

[Lkeller]

Seems that the RKO stations continued making their own versions of hit songs into the 70's.  KFRC made their own version of ELO's "Turn To Stone" by mixing a lift from another song on the album with the intro so that the song had a distinctive and much louder start, rather that fading in like the original. Many stations tried to come up with edits of "Do You Feel" by Peter Frampton when it started to get airplay as the album track at just over 14 minutes was just too long for the mostly AM Top 40 stations of the era.  While the record company did eventually come up with their own edit to bring it down about 7 & a half minutes or so, KFRC's edit was far superior to that of A&M/PolyGram. It preserved parts of the song that A&M edited out and actually sounded cleaner.

When I arrived in LA our sister station was KFI in it's Top 40 incarnation and they were at that point in the habit of "asking" for reel to reel dubs of the master from record companies to get clean sounding product. We did as well.  Oh and we had edits and mixes of our own at 103.5.  I recall being asked to edit a Hollies song that had just been released and I heard later that Graham Nash called the station wanting to know why we did it? I was told that his response was very positive.  He was apparently receptive to our reasons.  Guess it was a form of research for him.

I see the practice of doing your own edits as being a lot more common than many think it is.

Interesting insider info - thanks, Bryan.  What I could never understand was why stations didn't edit American Pie by Don McLean. Now there was a song (IMO) that needed editing.

[Bryan Simmons]

Funny, hadn't thought about American Pie much in that respect Lew, but it did beg for a short version didn't it? 

When I was at KROY in Sacramento in the late 70's we actually had two versions of many of the newer releases. The short version was played during the day with the album versions getting airplay at night. But what was aired for that long version wasn't always the exact album cut.  Again at KROY we played Boston's "Long Time" and although we played the album version we didn't start it with Foreplay, the cut that segues into it as most AOR stations did.  We actually started our long version with the light synthesizer that plays between the two cuts for a minute or so. I felt it really killed the forward momentum of the station as it had no beat and little energy. It was a somewhat experimental time for Top 40 stations as they endeavored to sound as hip as their FM rock counterparts.

[landtuna]

What I could never understand was why stations didn't edit American Pie by Don McLean.

In a word?  Potty break.   

[Bryan Simmons]

What I could never understand was why stations didn't edit American Pie by Don McLean.

In a word?  Potty break.  

That's a very good reason and brought on a chuckle!  We had a competitor in Sacramento that had to operate from their transmitter site.  It was in a double wide trailer on stilts.  It was built that way to stay dry when the whole area would flood as it did every winter. They had to use an outhouse across the dirt road. We knew when they would take their breaks. It was usually when "Freebird" or "Stairway To Heaven" came on. I can't even imagine what they did in the flooded season as you had to take a boat to get there.

[Marv-L.A.]

The single version of 'American Pie' which was #1 for a month nationally 40 years ago last month ran 4:11; nowadays, KRTH & KOST both play the full-length version, which runs 8:27.

Don't ask me why KOST has that song in their library; I have no clue.

[calguy]

The single version of 'American Pie' which was #1 for a month nationally 40 years ago last month ran 4:11; nowadays, KRTH & KOST both play the full-length version, which runs 8:27.

Don't ask me why KOST has that song in their library; I have no clue.

They played it in the 80's and then every so many years it comes back.  They play the long version. 

[landtuna]

"American Pie" has a special meaning for me.

Back in '72 I was living in Queens, NY and working 50 miles away in Rye.  I had just bought a brand new '71 Triumph TR-6 and was really enjoying that long drive when.....on a Friday evening during rush hour the bottom water hose popped off the radiator just as I cleared the toll booth.  No place to pull over so I decided to try to make it to the top of the Whitestone Bridge then I could coast off the freeway and get it fixed. 

"American Pie" was playing as the old TR started a knocking and I knew it wouldn't be long.  It died just short of the top. 

The song finally ended when the radio jock announced, in very serious tones, "a stalled sports car in the right lane of the Whitestone Bridge IS BLOCKING TRAFFIC!"

I just waved at the helo.   Whatta gonna do?