By Walter Sabo
A.K.A. Walter M Sterling, Host
Sterling Every Damn Night, WPHT, Philadelphia
Sterling On Sunday, TMN
A grim day. They fired the whole band. You know who “they” are! Bloated management. The future of radio… ruined!
Year: 1936. Bandleaders took WNEW, New York, to court claiming that it was illegal to play recorded music on the air. Recorded music, conductors believed, stole performance rights fees from musicians. Consequently, Radio stations hired live bands to play music and networks offered live bands to affiliates until the court made a decision on the complaint.
Ultimately, the courts said that as long as a radio station owned the record, they could play it on the air.
Local bands were fired, network bands were fired. The radio industry embraced recorded music when it realized that WNEW’s
DJ Music show, “The Make-Believe Ballroom” was pulling a 25 audience share.
Airing recorded music was legal and moral. But many talented, capable, often union musicians lost their jobs. The radio industry changed. That change resulted in the viability of modern radio. Recorded music birthed the business of top 40. Kids in an Akron record shop discovered “race” music in the back of the store and bought it with passion and speed compelling the retailer to reveal the phenomenon to local DJ Alan Freed. Freed put the songs on the air for a few hours a week… then he labelled the music rock ‘n’ roll.
Rock might never have defined our culture if music selection had been left up to the in-studio live bands. And a one and a two.
But a lot of musicians were fired in 1936.
This month, tragically at the holidays, many of our colleagues have lost their jobs. Time to challenge the aging legacies and rock.
The stage awaits.
Consultant Walter Sabo A.K.A. Walter M Sterling has a nightly show “Sterling Every Damn Night” heard on WPHT, Philadelphia 10:00 pm – 1:00 am. His syndicated show, “Sterling On Sunday,” from Talk Media Network, airs Sundays 10:00 pm – 1:00 am ET, and is now in its 10th year of success. He can be reached by email at waltermsterling@gmail.com or Sabowalter@gmail.com.
