Airplay The Rise and Fall of Rock Radio

Airplay: The Rise and Fall of Rock Radio is a very insightful look into the birth of Rock n Roll Radio in the 50's, starting with the WDIA (Memphis) DeeJays (which included the one and only BB King) all the way up to the birth of satellite radio in the 80's. From Elvis's first record through The Payola scandal and the birth of Top 40 radio the documentary is beautifully told through the DeeJays that lived the experiences; Casey Kasem, Alan Freed, Rufus Thomas, Dick Biondi, Jocko Henderson and Cousin Brucie to name just a few. 60's and 70's jocks tell about the opening of the FM dial and the newfound freedom to program radio shows as they saw fit. Murray The K, Pete Fornatele, Alison Steele, Tom Donahue, JJ Jackson, Jim Ladd, Scott Muni and others. The list goes on and on as DeeJays from all over the country were interviewed for the documentary. Rock stars, Grace Slick, David Crosby, Graham Nash and Stephen Stills also make appearances and share their stories and provide insight to the ever changing world of Rock Radio. Fast paced, very informative, highly entertaining and a great blast from the past. I could not recommend this more! I only wish it were longer or a multiple DVD series like Ken Burns' Jazz series. Read more

Very interesting, I don't think anybody with any interest in radio will be disappointed. I grew out of AM radio in my early teens. So the 1st half really wasn't all that interesting to me. It was the 2nd half when it got into FM that was of the most interest to me. I grew up in the SF Bay Area we had some really dynamic FM radio stations. It's very, very sad what SFBA radio has devolved into. It's all because of Clear Chanel I would have liked it if they would have talked more about how this mega corp has wrecked radio. It seems to me that the makers of this doc played it safe & talked very little about Clear Chanel & how they wrecked radio all over this country. Most people don't even know what Clear Chanel is watch this doc & then do a little research you'll find out how they wrecked radio & continue to ruin it for everyone. Norm K Read more

My dad grew up listening to a deejay in Philadelphia named Hy Litt on AM radio. Airplay was a gift for him. I watched it with him and was surprised how much I got into a film for the baby boomer generation. I am a music guy who listens to sixties music and enjoys the classics like Dead, Doors and Airplane. I came for the soundtrack and stayed for the movie because it was more than a baby boomer nostalgia trip. It's more about how artists in America wind up getting the boot of government and corporate America on their neck for bucking the powers that be with anything fresh and new. Also a not so subtle subtext of racism and how the DJs fought it in the music they played and the dances and concerts they held for teenage kids from the 50s and early 60s. I see the parallel between hip hop artists today and the early rock and roll DJs. Not as big a topic as "Inside Job" or "Waiting for Superman" but it has lots of appeal, with a different look than most docus. Editing rocks. Style reminds me of the Kid stays In Picture docu about Robert Evans, editing and design that's lots of movement and out of the ordinary. The basic story: Birth of AM Radio: The first part shows how the white AM station owners saw how much young people liked rhythm and blues sung by African American artists played by African American disk jockeys and imitated them with white Deejays. These personalities talked to kids and played them songs that drove their parents crazy. Personality DJs Across America: A tour of America's popular DJs in about 1960. Here's the kind of story told; a New York DJ named Cuz Brucie is sso tight with his teenage listeners, when a kid runs away from home, the DJ right on the air negotiates a way back with the kid and his parents. Imagine that happening today. Payola Scandal: This was a new one to me, and sad. This was not so much about paying DJs for playing records, which seemed to be legal at the time, as government control of the media. You can say it was a different time, like the McCarthy era, but you would be wrong. It's like a Congressional Committee calling in all the hip hop DJs and ruining their careers. You would have to say there's a hint of racism there. Liked this part a lot, with a very funny interview with Dick Clark na d a very sad one with Joe (Finney?) who lost his career. Top 40: After payola, deejays had to do what they were told by station managers and this killed any innovation on the air. Birth of FM: In New York and San Fran, a new crop of DJs began playing the music that became the Sixties sound, Airplane, Doors, Dead. They were the pioneers for the baby boomers who wanted to change society. Very funny stoned on the air stories from, and the iconic acts when they were just paying in dives. Death of FM: FM radio was a victim of two forces: owner greed which turned the stations into products with market research and so-called consultants who called the shots instead of the DJs and government meddling again in the hands of Nixon, the Watergate president's goons who threatened station owners with loss of license. 80s - Satellite; 80s music is something most people like and there was a revival of the personality DJ that got crushed when Reagan deregulate station owners who could now buy as many as they wanted. Clear Channel, run by ex used car salesman, pounded all the nails into the pioneering DJs coffin. Satellite radio goes from it's birth to merger of XM and Sirius. There could be more here. Airplay is a good gift for a parent of baby boomer generation because its very informative and entertaining. It has some of the irony of a Michael Moore documentary without MM hogging the scene himself. My father would go 5 stars, I would say 4 because I was not around then to hear the DJs the first time. Sorry I missed it now. Read more