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May 21, 2017 10:15 pm  #1


Has Anyone Seen This Radio Documentary & Chart Site?

I'm not sure if WNED in Buffalo ever showed this, and it was apparently on three years ago if they did. But somehow I missed it, only now stumbling on reviews for a PBS documentary called "Airplay: The Rise and Fall Of  Rock Radio." It was about the classic days of Top 40 radio and featured a number of legendary jocks, including Alan Freed, Bruce Morrow, Rick Shaw, Jerry Blavat, Dan Ingram and more.

It's unfortunately not online, but I'm wondering if anyone ever saw it. The trailer certainly looks interesting. 



It may be on Netflix, but I'm not sure if it's on the service available in Canada. I'd be curious to know if anyone here watched it and if they thought it was any good. Parts of it appear to have turned up in a video series called "The History of the DJ," a multi-part documentary made by a company in England. (There's a very brief shot of a CHUM photo at about 7:45 in, although that's the only time it's even referred to.)



The original doc has another related website with it and that's still online. It's called "The Airplay Channel" and features very short aircheck samples from a host of legendary jocks, ranging from The Real Don Steele and Robert W. Morgan to Wolfman Jack and Brother Bill Gable. There are also interviews with dozens of well known DJs, including Joey Reynolds explaining why he left Buffalo.

And since this has come up a lot in the last few days, there's a page displaying samples of vintage music charts from more than 100 stations. It's a fun time waster and you can start wasting that time here. 

It doesn't appear to be updated any more, but there's a lot there to look at if you've never visited, 

The Airplay Channel