I Listen to the New Sound of 13Q

Of all the things I could've found amidst the flotsam of my dad's recent cleaning out of his attic (and subsequent garage sale), nothing could've made me happier than finding this (click to enlarge):
 

That, my friends, is a gen-yoo-wine Q-sheet, dated 11/8/1975.

There was a time period of about three years, approximately 1974 - 1976, when I lived to go to the mall, once a week, to pick up my weekly chart listings from 13Q.  When we went away on vacation, I made arrangements with friends to pick up my sheets.  I think it's safe to say that I had a complete collection of Q-sheets for those years.

At least, I did until some point in High School, when I had moved on to 'DVE, and made the monumental mistake of pitching my collected Q-Sheets.

But three of the things fell out of one of the books I brought back from my dad's.  I didn't realize they were in there until I got to work the next day, looked into the back seat, and saw them sitting there.

Look at what was on the charts in November, 1975!  Disco was well represented, of course, by KC and the Sunshine Band, Tavares and Silver Connection.  Elton, Bowie, Kiss and Bad Company representin' rock and roll.  Some country-tinged pop from The Eagles and John Denver.  R&B from The Spinners, AWB, and the Richie Family.  And some plain old pop for pop's sake from Abba, Sedaka, Four Seasons, and Bay City Frikkin' Rollers.

Over on the album charts, the only truly listenable Jefferson Starship album sits at #1.  Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here," Springsteen's "Born to Run," Eagles "One of These Nights," and Paul Simon's "Still Crazy After All These Years."  Friggin' awesome.

I don't think there even is such a thing as Top 40 radio these days -- but even if there is, can you imagine any of today's top hits getting much airplay in 2036?  Look at that chart again.  By my count, fully 16 of the Top 30 get regular airplay on the airwaves in 2006.  Amazing.

Here's the front side of the Q-sheet. 

Clearly 13-Q knew its audience -- look at that Clearasil ad.  I was a major consumer in 1975.

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Update:  On a completely unrelated note, I'd like to share the first line from what is now my favorite Nigerian email scammer ever.  Enjoy:

I am Mark james, the only Son of late Mr and Mrs James. My father was a very wealthy cocoa Farmer and cocoa merchant before he was killed to death by his pollitical associates on one of their outing to make pollitical dialoug.

No!  The fact that this innocent cocoa farmer was killed is bad enough -- but killed TO DEATH?  What times are these in which we live?

Comments

[Joe]

That is amazing. Great point about the longevity and staying power of that music from that era.

Here's what's also amazing from my perspective. It was that very week that I went whole hog and purchased FOUR 45 singles. I wasn't a big purchaser (I may have only bought around a dozen singles ever). But that week I bought: Eagles "Lyin Eyes, Sedaka's "Bad Blood", Sweet's "Ballroom Blitz" annnnnd John Denver's "Calypso"! That was one heck of a week for pop music that compelled me to buy so much variety.

Of course...there won't be music on the radio in 2036. Music gets to people by different means nowadays.

For example...I recently bought David's Bowie's "Fame" on iTunes!

Oh. That was on that list in '75, too!

[Janet]

Oh, how fun! I grew up in Oil City (listening to Y103 out of Youngstown), but whenever we came to Pittsburgh to visit my grandmother, we listened to 13Q.

[Ding]

I, too, listened to the "new sound of 13Q", but I completely forgot about those sheets. I used to get them from a little shop that sold some 45's and some clothing in the plaza where Panera is on McKnight Road, next to what used to be Zayre's. Wow. Great flashback!

[Culli]

I pre-date you to the days of "fun lovin' KQV, audio 14....keep listening!" with Chuck Brinkman and Dave Scott, and Jeff Christie (the erstwhile Rush Limbaugh).

I'd forgotten about those hit sheets - how we waited for them to arrive at the record marts. Great memory!

[Joe]

Looking back on that sheet I just realized that I also bought the Spinners "Games People Play." That whole lot, 5 singles, must've cost me, what, 3 bucks?

Maybe because we were really tuned into pop music at that time, but I know most of those songs, except for 3rd Rate Romance (I can't place that) and the Ritchie Family song kinda rings a bell, but not very loudly.

[Bob]

I have two more of the sheets, which I'll be posting in the near future. Unfortunately, they're all from consecutive weeks, so there's not a whole lot of difference in the charts.

Culli, I do remember Top 40 on 14K. They were still in that format during the very early days of 13Q -- it would be my guess that it was 13Q that drove 14K to a different format. In my mind, 13Q was supplanted by WPEZ, which in turn was done in by...ummm...whatever was on 96.1 FM. 96 KX (pronounced "kicks") perhaps? Perhaps Mr. Togyer will chime in on the subject.

There's an excellent Web site out there with some 13Q memories -- including, I believe, some soundchecks (audio clips of the dj's doing their thing.) I'd link you to it, but when I looked at it last night, it had one of the most pernicious pop-up ads I've ever come across -- so I can't, in good conscience, link to it. If anybody wants to see it, just google "jeff roteman" and "13Q" and I'm sure you'll find it. But I warned you about the pop-up.

[Bob]

Joe -- like you, I was probably never more attuned to pop music than during this particular period. I remember the Richie Family song in name only -- couldn't hum the chorus if I had to, but I suspect I'd recognize it if I heard it. I only remember one line of "3rd Rate Romance." It goes something like "3rd rate romance -- low-rent rendezvous."

I only had two of these on 45 -- "Bad Blood" and "Rock and Roll All Night." I had the Elton song, of course, but as always I bought the album (Rock of the Westies). Which is one of Elton's worst, by the way.

I spy an Ohio Players album over there on the charts. One of their best album covers ever -- and they were all pretty good.

I think Zep's "Physical Graffiti" makes its debut on the next chart I'll be posting.

[Joe D.]

I think everyone's missing the most important aspect of this archeological discovery. Finally, we have access to the complete lyrics of the Bay City Rollers' "Saturday Night."
Invaluable.

[yellojkt]

That was great music. I stumbled onto Casey kasum this weekend he is down to counting down the Top 10 and the show has become over 50% filler (long distance dedications, #1 hits from the past). I remember listening to AM Top 40 on my clock radio with the lights out so I could here the Top 10 at 10 every night.

[Jason]

I was a WIXZ Pixie, myself.

Actually, that's not true ... I came along a little bit too late. We were Solid Gold 'TAE listeners, except when Dad controlled the radio, when we were in WEEP Country.

BTW: That is one white-bread list ... except for The Spinners, it is notably lacking in pigment. Some of those people are so white, they glow in the dark ....

[Julie]

I guess I must be too young to remember that station. My earliest memories of listening to the radio are of the early 80s. I also remember being very jealous of my friend Lynn who was the first person I knew to get MTV.

[Jason]

> It would be my guess that it was 13Q that drove 14K
> to a different format. In my mind, 13Q was supplanted
> by WPEZ, which in turn was done in by...ummm...
> whatever was on 96.1 FM.

Since you goaded me into responding, I'll say I think this is a fair summary (from what I know), and yes, it was "96KX" ("96 Kicks") complete with funky '70s purple disco logo: http://user.pa.net/~ejjeff/kix1.html

As I understand it, 96KX did itself in by playing too much disco and too much white rock, leaving the field clear for B-94 to come in and take the teeny-bopper Top 40 crowd.

There was a long discussion of this on the Pittsburgh Radio Nostalgia board some months ago: http://www.voy.com/152202/2895.html

Then, 96.1 started a long, slow slide, going through a Variety (ha-ha!) of different formats. The current "Kiss FM" --- which, ironically, helped do in B-94 --- is probably the most successful format on that frequency.

[Jeff]

This warms to cockles (sp?) of me heart! Approaching age 40 in the next year or so I've been doing a lot of soul searching and reminiscing about these exact years (mid 70's). WOW, what carefree times they were for me. Thank you for posting this Mr. Subdivided!

[Clarke Ingram]

Just found this thread. I grew up listening to 13Q and was later on the air myself on both 96KX and B94. 13Q is one of those few radio stations that still holds up today when I hear it on old tapes, or "airchecks," as we call them in the radio industry. Notwithstanding the occasional Donny Osmond song, it was one hell of a station.

Just for the record, 13Q beat KQV in its first three months on the air, and while KQV hung on for several more years, it never recovered, and tried a number of variations (including "14K") before switching to all-news in 1975.

WPEZ came on not long after 13Q did, and was a thorn in the side of 13Q for several years, but never seriously challenged them in the ratings. When 96KX signed on in 1977, it was two Top 40 FMs against one AM (plus the continued ascendancy of WDVE and FM in general) and 13Q began to fade. They reverted to WJAS in 1981.

Since WPEZ had changed to "3WS" on Labor Day 1980, 96KX had the Top 40 field to itself for a brief while, until B94 signed on in April 1981. It took about two years for the "B" to get the best of us. 96KX died in early 1983 when it changed to WHTX. In its prime, 96KX had the highest ratings the 96.1 frequency has ever gotten.

Hope this history is of interest to y'unz guys.

And, I STILL listen to the New Sound of 13Q.

[Jeff Roteman]

For those of you looking for the great Top 40 stations from Pittsburgh radio history, here are the links to my sites. Hopefully, you will find fewer pop-up issues with my new links.
http://14kqv.andmuchmore.com
http://13Q.andmushmore.com
http://1250wtae.andmuchmore.com

Jeff

[Stephanie Christensen]

Just a quick note to let everyone know that I DJ for a Pittsburgh-based Internet Radio Station that plays a lot of the music that 13Q played. We even play some 13Q jingles and airchecks. We even play indie artists and groups. Check us out. Would love to play some promos from former 13Q DJ's! Email me! [email protected]

http://www.live365.com/stations/sharc