There was a time when Billboard Magazine was known as the Bible of the music industry. Maybe it still is. I remember reading it in the college library to see what records and artists were on the charts and on the horizon. When I started my radio show, knowing what was on the charts was more than a matter of curiosity; it helped make my program credible. And when “Celebration Rock” went into national syndication, it was even more important to keep up with the recording industry since music that was on the Richmond charts was often different from what would be on the hit lists in western Pennsylvania or St. Cloud, MN.
I didn’t have the big bucks to actually subscribe to Billboard for more than a year or two, so I’d buy an occasional copy at a local newsstand (a term quickly becoming archaic), or browse through a copy at a local radio station. I just checked on-line and saw that the magazine is sponsoring the 19th Annual Latin Music Awards. Back in the days when I did subscribe, I noticed that Billboard was inviting entries for the Billboard Radio Awards. Still heady over our Gabriel win, I decided to pay the entry fee, choose an especially good recent show (or was it to be a demo tape of segments of several programs? Memory fades…) and submit a tape. I believe the category was best nationally syndicated radio show, period. Not “for youth.” Or, “religious.” But just plain syndicated show.
I was very surprised to receive a telegram (another almost archaic term) announcing that “Celebration Rock” was nominated to be one of three finalists, along with Bill Huie’s “What’s It All About? and…oh-oh, Casey Kasem’s hugely popular “American Top 40.” It struck me as being a bit odd that two of the nominated shows were Presbyterian-produced! Who would have thought it possible? Then I wondered, of course, if there were a dearth of syndicated radio entries that year. Did Dick Clark not enter? Why else would Bill and I have made it to the finals against Casey?
Following up on the telegram was a letter with details, announcing that the awards banquet was to be held in Toronto. I barely was able to scratch up the money for the entry fee, so there was no way I could go to Toronto to lose an award. I called Bill and we congratulated each other on our nominations. I asked if he were going to the banquet, and if so (get this!) if he would be so gracious as to accept the award for me if “Celebration Rock” won. He laughed, a little too hard, and said he would be happy to.
Not surprisingly, Casey won the thing, and probably had won it many times before and many times since. But (where have you heard this before?) it was an honor just to…you know. I guess my lasting fantasy about the whole deal was imagining all those big radio and music celebrities sitting around their banquet tables in a ritzy Toronto ball room, tooth-picking the fillet Mignon from their molars, clinking crystal water glasses, and hearing an excerpt from my radio ministry played over the P.A. system. (I doubt they took the time to play excerpts; that’s why it’s a fantasy.) Nonetheless, I was in good company, glad to have been recognized for my work, and happy to let the Presbyterian media committee folk know that the entry fee hadn’t been a total waste.
One would have thought that I might have added a station or two because of the publicity, but I don’t recall anyone ever asking for the show as a result of the Billboard exposure. I never again felt moved to enter the program in other competitions.
In my next post, a list of the studios where the peripatetic ”Celebration Rock” found a home for recording. It’s of interest only to radio geeks, probably, but it includes the story of a tree frog who literally dropped in while the turntables spun the hits!
