I remember some CHUM jocks from the 60s occasionally ventured into the recording studio. Tunes like "Ringo Deer" by Gary Ferrier or a few recordings by the Chummingbirds all got played on 1050, although nowhere else. 

So how then to explain why when soon-to-be nationally famous DJ Rick Dees recorded his infamous novelty hit "Disco Duck," he wasn't allowed to ever play it on his own station in Memphis? The record was supposed to be a satire on the repetitiveness of disco music and it quickly caught fire, becoming a huge hit across North America. 

But listeners in "The Volunteer State" rarely got to hear it.

"Dees was not allowed to play it. Nor would competing stations in Memphis, as they didn’t want to promote another station’s DJ. He happened to mention the song on his show one day, and got fired due to a “conflict of interest.” After a short time, Dees was hired at crosstown WHBQ, where he was finally allowed to play his own song."

I often wondered how many times this happened over the years. CHUM even had its own record label for a time and seemed to have no trouble playing its own artists. Plus it was a great promotional tool that no other radio station in the same market could touch.

I hated Disco Duck as a song but as a publicity gimmick for Dees, it should have been a slam dunk. Yet somehow it was the only tune he couldn't play on his first big radio station. 

Others, like Buffalo great Joey Reynolds or L.A.'s Wink Martindale both put their voices on vinyl. Why was Dees not allowed to cash in?

He's since gone on to bigger and far better things in his career, but having a #1 hit on Billboard is something few announcers can ever claim.  And for a while, he wasn't even allowed to mention it. Imagine how frustrating that must have been. 

How KIIS-FM’s Rick Dees came to LA and became a radio legend