Think back, Boomers. Once upon a time, listening to the radio meant one thing: listening to AM radio.
Now perhaps you had a father like mine, who enjoyed tuning in shortwave broadcasts from all over the world. That could mean a possibility that selecting stations on the home radio might mean switching bands. But dad, proudly geeky in his own blue-collar way, was the exception. Most families under the charge of WWII vets had AM radios in the house. And obviously, the push-button car radio of the 50's and 60's only pulled in AM signals.
But somewhere along the line, we started listening to FM.
Perhaps the experience was an epiphany for you. Perhaps you tuned into an FM station for the first time and noticed that the sound was decidedly clearer, that it was practically unaffected by lightning static, and that you could hear music in true stereo.
Such wasn't the case with me. I don't recall my first experience listening to FM. My first car, a 1966 Ford Falcon, had AM. My bedroom radio could pull in monophonic FM, but what was the point when WLS was the greatest (AM) radio station on the planet?
FM radio wasn't a new invention. Patented in 1933, it wasn't broadcast in the US until 1941. FM suffered from the get-go, due to corporate shenanigans by RCA. FM's inventor, Major Edwin Armstrong, sold his patents to RCA with the understanding that they would develop and spread the technology. However, RCA, heavily invested in AM broadcasting, instead basically sat on the patents and stifled the development of FM. Their sleaziness didn't stop there, either.
Armstrong saw that he had been screwed over, so he cut his ties with RCA and concentrated on developing FM radio on his own. He also sold rights to manufacture FM radios to several companies.
But RCA zapped him again. The corporate giant pressured the FCC to change FM radio frequencies. They knew that this would instantly obsolete all of the existing FM radios, and would also cause the medium's inventor to lose his personal investment in FM development. On January 31, 1954, with FM still largely unadopted, the deeply depressed Armstrong committed suicide.
Hmm, perhaps there's a movie in there somewhere?
The superior sound of FM eventually caused the medium to take on a life of its own. 1960 saw a record number of stations, and that number was to skyrocket as the decade progressed. Oh, and guess what? RCA started dumping millions of dollars into the now-profitable technology.
So as the 60's began, FM was still very much in a niche market. but by 1970, it had gotten huge. And it began systematically picking away at AM's musical fanbase.
Early FM stations would often play music that was not Top 40. In fact, Fayetteville, Arkansas's KKEG, the first FM station I listened to regularly, would often play entire album sides. I thought that was pretty cool, hearing music which wasn't being played by every other station on the airwaves. They also had a "recording session" show on Sunday nights. You called in your requested song, and for two hours, the DJ would announce the length of the tune, whether its ending was faded out or cold, and then play it with a second or two of silence at each end. Listeners, cue up those tape decks!
Speaking of corporate criminals, no doubt the RIAA would sue any station that tried that now.
Thus, FM attracted many of its earliest listeners by staying out of the mainstream. Colleges often had student-run FM transmitters, and the music you would hear on them would frequently be all over the map. I remember one central coastal California station that I once heard play a 1940's Ink Spots tune, immediately followed by some Uriah Heep acid jam.
Thus, more and more people started buying radios that would pick up FM in addition to AM. Detroit started putting AM/FM stereo radios into many cars as standard equipment around 1970. AM/FM transistor radios began to be marketed in the 60's.
The rise in popularity of eight-track tapes coincided with the 70's explosion of FM's popularity. Many of us removed the push-button AM radio from the dashes of our first (often 50's or 60's vintage) cars and replaced them with AM/FM/8-track players.
And that's not all we did when we started listening to FM every day. We also stopped listening to AM. Thus began a curious evolution. As FM got more popular, it also became more mainstream. By the 80's, there were few stations left that would do things like play entire album sides. On the other hand, every town in America had at least one Top 40 station, and it seems to me like most of them had a Z in their call letters (Z93, Z98, etc.). So much for diversity.
On the other hand, AM stations which have chosen to avoid their own mainstream fare of talk, religion, ethnic, or sports have sometimes resorted to non-mainstream musical broadcasting. Sound familiar?
Such is the story of FM radio; the product of a genius who lost control over his invention. It was also a product that came into its own during our Boomer generation.
Comments (6)
Gee, I did not know FM had such an ugly history, also. Greed & Power together is certainly a Monster Marriage at times. RCA (NBC) also used leverage to get their color TV system approved over that of CBS' as well.
Just this week I was reading about the Berliner Gramophone Company. There was a 30 year format battle over Gramophone's discs vs. Edison Company's cylinders! The victor in that struggle became Victor Talking Machines, and ultimately wound up in the hands of, you guessed it, RCA (as in RCA/Victor). David "The General" Sarnoff was noted as an A-1 caliber self-promotionist.
Growing up "Boomer, "I thought radio, records & TV were the greatest "toys" of my generation, and RCA was tops. Now that my beard's gone gray, I'm not so sure.
Posted by NCeddie | May 4, 2009 2:03 AM
Posted on May 4, 2009 02:03
This was a great story, Ron. Actually, There is much more to the story of Sarnoff and RCA/NBC as the previous poster brought up. But I suspect you may know about that, too. It involved the greatest scientist and engineer of the modern era or maybe even any, Nikola Tesla, who was betrayed savagely by those who rule over us, and in the process, they screwed the people, us, as well. And there is Farnsworth and his TV, the FM you brought up and much more. Most modern technology is involved in that nasty mess. There have been some things on PBS/Nova on those things and maybe Frontline, too.
Now, as for the change to FM, it was about time. I don’t think the world of maybe 1940 really saw the importance music would come to have to many of us. But with FM cam many other changes. Better broadcasting quality and better portable mediums like 8 tracks and cassettes brought yet one more great change you need to write about. You may already have it in mind. It was one of the things about the 80s I appreciate the most. The portable stereo player more commonly known as Sony’s Walkman.
The Walkman was small, far better sound quality, far less power consumption, and quiet for others around you. The cassette helped make it possible. We would not have the iPods and other stuff if Sony had not first given us the walkman, with copycats to follow. Praise the walkman. How odd that even radio is dwindling in popularity and necessity as TV commercials and the internet help spread music now. Indeed, our entire material culture is revolutionizing our way of life. 1965 is barely recognizable to most now. Soon it will be as distant as the dinosaurs. The world will never know what they missed. Only we old boomers will know and lament.
I am so glad this site came about. Its bound to grow in popularity over time. You just wait and see. Later gang!
Posted by Scott I | May 4, 2009 10:57 PM
Posted on May 4, 2009 22:57
I remember our am push button radio in our 1966 Ford Fairlane. I don't remember either when I first heard FM. I do know the station we listened to went to FM. WWDC and WPGC in the Washington area market. In my amateur radio hobby, I still use FM on allot of my contacts. High Frequency on AM is still used to transmit, but it is so wide in it's band wigth. I still listen to AM broadcasts occassionally at night as it picks up distant far away stations. Living in Washington DC area, we constantly battle on the dial between DC and Baltimore. Thank goodness for the clearity of FM! Listening to Johnny Holliday on WWDC was my first DJ listenings as well as Harv Moore on WPGC! I also listen to shortwave broadcasts also. I have many of QSL cards from listening to distant am broadcast stations! QSLing broadcast stations is almost a thing of the past these days! FM stations generally didn't qsl?
Posted by Rivers End | May 5, 2009 9:23 AM
Posted on May 5, 2009 09:23
There is still a FM station in Weirton, WV that plays the entire album of various groups. it is the River 106.3 FM. every night at 7pm, they play 1 side of an album; then they have a commercial and play the other side. last night, they played "Doors" album. They have also played "Chicago", "Boston", etc. Also, they have 2 all-music hours each day. 8:30am-9:30am and 8:30pm-9:30pm these are a full hour of music without commercials.
Posted by David Holley | May 15, 2009 4:57 PM
Posted on May 15, 2009 16:57
Love the article and the comments!
I grew up about 30 miles west of Cleveland and the only decent (in our young, critical eyes) AM station was CKLW out of Detroit/Windsor. So while everyone else was into the beach and hot rod music, my crowd was imitating the Temptations and the Supremes in our garage. Motown was all we knew.
Then CKLW changed their format and we were lost. Enter WMMS - 101 FM - Home of the Buzzard. That station commanded such loyalty that it became the barometer of our bi-partisan system - MMS: yes / no (circle one). Yes, you were an automatic friend and received all rights therein; no, and you were to be avoided at all costs.
Life was much simpler in the 70's.
Posted by Cathy | May 25, 2009 8:30 AM
Posted on May 25, 2009 08:30
I first heard FM when someone at school spread the word about KFH-FM out of Wichita about 1970 or so. They played music that definitely was not Top 40. Too bad it didn't stay with that format very long, maybe a year or so. When I moved to Ft Worth, a new FM station came on just as moved there. KZEW 98FM. Never listened to AM music after that. Too bad 'music consultants' & programming directors ruined that too.
Posted by CL1053 KS | September 14, 2009 11:34 PM
Posted on September 14, 2009 23:34