The Hologlobe Press -- WKMH-AM and WKNR-AM (first as 1540 and then as 1310 on the AM dial): Another Detroit-area Radio History Story

    WKMH-AM and WKNR-AM
(first as 1540 and then as 1310 on the AM dial):
Another Detroit-area Radio History Story

by
Victor Edward Swanson,
publisher

The Hologlobe Press
Postal Box 5263
Cheboygan, Michigan 49721
The United States of America

copyright c. 2021

December 10, 2021
(Version Thirty-Three)
(Draft version)

    In September 1971, I began to attend Wayne State University, and on the first day there, I became a member of the student-run radio station at the university, which was called WAYN-AM [Note: To learn about WAYN-AM and radio history of Wayne University or Wayne State University, see my document entitled WAYN-AM 860 RADIO of Wayne State University, which can be reached through this WAYN-AM link and which also talks about what I think is the most important house related to the Detroit entertainment field--"The Historic Owen Stanley Fawcett House of 1894".]. From 1971 to 1977, I did a lot of things at the radio station, such as be a disc jockey, teach disc-jockey stuff to new students, be a janitor-like guy, clean out the basement of the building, be a program director, and the general manager. Over those years, I collected some reel-to-reel tapes of things, such as my disc-jockey shows at WAYN-AM, the WAYN-AM jingle package, the Gary Bridges Top 40 disc-jockey teaching tape, the Victor Swanson Top 40 disc-jockey teaching tape, and a WKNR-AM jingle package (one of the last for the Dearborn-based commercial radio station). Since 1977, I have had the tapes (on five-inch or seven-inch reels) in storage, and I have done nothing with the tapes, but in the spring of 2021, I thought about converting at least some of the material that I have on audio tape to the digital format, though I did not know if the tapes are even alive any more (having gone to pot but not potentiometer). I began to look on eBay in June 2021 to see what type of reel-to-reel tape recorders were being sold, and I was not looking for an expensive machine, since the tapes that I have might be dead issues. On June 22, 2021, I talked with a neighbor in the Detroit area (one of the areas in which I live in a year), and he said that he had a reel-to-reel machine in a closet, which he noted that I could have, and about one-hour later on that day, he showed up with the machine (which surprised me), and the machine is an Akai M-9, which he had used in Vietnam during the Vietnam War and which had been made some time in the late 1960s. The Akai M-9--I would soon find out through research--was the first solid-state reel-to-reel machine put out for sale with the "Akai" name (but it was not issued in the United States of America), and I saw the machine needed some work and care, since, for instance, it was dirty and some parts needed to be repaired. In the evening of that day, I discovered the machine could not be fired up, and I found that the main fuse was blown, and on that evening, I captured a copy of the owner's machine and a copy of the service manual for the machine through the Internet, and I found that the blown fuse in the machine was undersized, being only a one-amp fuse. The machine required a two-amp fuse, which I bought the following morning, and on the following morning, I got the machine to fire up, but in the afternoon, I went away, heading out on a 270-mile drive to my other residence in Michigan. I began to get parts for the machine, such as from people tied to eBay, and I began to do research on WKMH-AM (of the Detroit area), which later was renamed WKNR-AM ("Keener 13"), as this document will show later. In addition, I downloaded the latest version of Audacity from the Internet (which is an audio or music processing program), and I learned in a few hours how to use the program; I had plans to later download a version of Audacity for the computer that was down in the Detroit area. I bought a Behringer UCA202 (an interface piece of equipment) that could be connected between the reel-to-reel tape machine and either computer that I had so that I could change analog information to digital information and make the digital information useful for the computers, and, all the while, I was yet unsure if the reel-to-reel machine was going to work well enough to accomplish my goal, which was to at least make some of my audio files into digital files, a few of which might be put on YouTube, such as some audio related to WAYN-AM of the early 1970s. Of course, if the reel-to-reel Akai M-9 would never work, I had plans to get another used machine and take parts from the second machine to make one machine that would do what work I wanted done, or I had plans to simply get another reel-to-reel machine. While thinking about converting the analog material to digital, I thought about making a document that would give a bit of history information about WKMH-AM and WKNR-AM, especially if I could get the WKNR-AM jingles converted to digital because then I would have a companion document that would help explain some history related to the stuff from WKNR-AM that I had, and there is at least one tie-in between WAYN-AM and WKNR-AM that I know about. I really began to listen to WKNR-AM (a name that showed up in 1963) in the middle of the 1960s, and, for instance, I remember that, in the summer of 1967, while making a Heathkit radio (a GR-81 short-wave radio) in the basement of a house at 295 Biltmore, Inkster, Michigan, I was regularly listening to WKNR-AM, which, by the way, then began to get real competition from CKLW-AM ("The Big 8"), which was based in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, because of a format change that was designed to take on WKNR-AM [Note: Heathkit was a company that made electronic kits that people could make, such as a metronome kit (the finished product of which I still have) and a car-engine-analyser kit, both of which I also made in the 1960s.]. Because of copyright issues, I probably will not provide any WKNR-AM jingles over the Internet, such as through YouTube, but I do plan to have them available in some way to show radio history, such as to friends. It must be remembered that I am the best Detroit-area television historian in the world and one of the best national television historians in the country, and radio history is sort of a side thing to television history, especially since, in the early days of television in the Detroit area, it was commonplace for radio people to do television shows, and, yes, this document does have some Detroit-area television history in it. [Note: I do report that there is a website called "keener13.com", but I have not found any of the jingles of the jingle package that I have at the website; the keener13.com website does have a bunch of audio material for people to listen to.]
    My story about WKMH-AM and WKNR-AM is not designed to show what people at the radio stations (really the one radio station) might have been bad people, such as drunks or jackasses; the story is simply designed to give an overview of what was done at the radio stations and show what people were heard on the radio stations, going beyond other articles that exist on the Internet, and it should provide many more names than you might see elsewhere (but it do not provide all, of course). [Note: Because information is hard to find about when people were at the radio stations, the information presented about when a person was at the station should often be thought of as in the "at least" information category, unless information is really made clear.]
    Commercial radio in Detroit began in 1920, and between 1920 and 1946, the number of radio stations increased in the Detroit and the names of radio stations were changed from time to time, ending up with usually a four-letter format (as devised by the Federal Communications Commission of the federal government, and the frequencies of radio stations got changed from time to time, such as by the Federal Communications Commission (or the FCC), and especially since the late 1920s, radio was a big thing, since stations could have orchestras or small bands to play music, and stations could be tied in with national radio networks, such could offered listeners all types of radio programs, such as radio dramas and concerts and big-band performances). Generally speaking, each radio station had a wide variety of programs, from news shows to music shows, from sports shows to cooking shows, et cetera, and no one radio station was devoted to only one thing, such as only sports, but some stations could be focused well on one type of programming, such as sports, as WKMH-AM did in the 1950s. In the middle of the 1900s, some of the big radio stations or the most well-known radio stations in the Detroit area were WJR-AM, WWJ-AM, WJBK-AM, and CKLW-AM (of Windsor, Ontario, Canada), and FM radio or FM-type radio stations had yet to really become big-deal things.
    The story of WKMH-AM and WKNR-AM for this document is broken down into three main periods here. The first period ran only about two years. On December 29, 1946, WKMH-AM was fired up for the first time; the start had been delayed for a couple weeks for several reasons, such as a big snow storm in December 1946. The radio station was only a 1,000-watt radio station. The frequency was 1540 on the AM dial (related to "amplitude modulation"), as opposed to the "FM" dial ("frequency modulation"), and the station was a daytime-only station (which means it broadcast, in essence, from dawn to dusk, the hours of which varied depending on the time of the year). So the station started out as a small thing, which should not surprise anyone, and around this time, the owners were Fred Knorr, Bill McCoy, and Harvey Hansen, and the program director was Kirk Knight (who, in the late 1940s (starting in 1948) and in 1950s and 1960s, would be a main newscaster for WWJ-TV, Channel 4), and Prudence Butterfield headed the women's department [Note: It would be in late 1959 when Frederick Knorr (who was a graduate of Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Michigan, which is an anti-communistic and anti-socialistic school yet today) would get full control of the station from William McCoy and Harvey Hansen in a buyout process.]. On Monday, August 16, 1948, at 6:30 a.m., the station became a bigger station, since the station was now at 1310 on the AM radio dial, and the station went from a daytime-only station to a 24-hour-a-day station; from the end of broadcasting on August 16, 1948, to the start of broadcasting of August 17, 1948, the transmitter for the station was moved eight miles to an new antenna site, having a four-tower array, and around May 1950, the power of the air signal would be increased, and the station would then be broadcasting at 5,000 watts (and would be considered the most power "independent" station in Michigan at the time). The final period for this document began on October 31, 1963, when the station became known as WKNR-AM [Note: By the way, the changes to the signal strength of a radio station and any change in name had to go through an approval process with the FCC.]. The station as WKNR-AM ended on August 25, 1972, when the station became known as WNIC-AM [Note: I may yet have audio of this transition--from a rock-and-roll station to a easy-listening-music station, but the website called "keener13.com" does have a good-quality audio clip of the transition.]. Although history of, in essence, WKMH-AM and WKNR-AM could cover WNIC-AM and more, I stop at August 25, 1972, at 8:00 a.m., the point in time of the change.
    The WKMH-AM/WKNR-AM radio station was a Detroit-area radio station, but it was really based in a suburb of Detroit--Dearborn--and the last location for the main studios was at 15001 Michigan Avenue, Dearborn. Between 1946 and 1963, the radio station was considered a general-purpose radio station, having various types of shows, from disc-jockey shows (during which records were played) to sports shows, and as was commonplace for radio stations to do between 1946 and 1963, WKMH-AM aired local newscasts (something that is done by only a few radio stations regularly in the Detroit area today.)   In the the late 1940s and early 1950s, when live shows (such as with folk-music bands) and talk shows were commonplace, some of the names of local programs were Tell It to Your Family, which was a Social Security program with Robert G. Mish of the Dearborn Social Security Office (circa 1948), Thought For the Day (circa 1948), KMH Capers (circa 1949), Musical T.N.T., Dearborn Church Hour, Motor City Melodies (circa 1949 and 1950), Melody Farm Time, Patterns in Organdy (circa 1949 and 1950), Seventh Day Service (circa 1950), Jewish Hour, Gray's Breakfast (circa 1951), Mr. Mystic Show (from about April 1949 to August 1949), and Morning Frolic, and in at least parts of 1949 and 1950, the station aired a program called Polish Melodies, which featured Mitchell Jachimski and a live band (one member of which was Eddie Nabozny), and in the period, not much was done in relation to broadcasting sports programming, though the station did some sports shows, such as sports-news shows [Note: In about 1933, Mitchell Jachimski began doing radio shows, and, for example, he was involved with Polish Hour of the Evening for WJLB-AM in the late 1930s and early 1940s at least.]. Sports was a big part of the programming in the 1950s, and, for example, the station aired baseball games, such as those of the Detroit Tigers, and the station had Detroit Lions football games for a short while, such as around 1957, and the station aired college football games, college basketball games, harness racing (for a short while), and Detroit Red Wings hockey games (for a short while). Between the early 1950s and the early 1960s, when sports was not on the air, music shows were often on the air (usually relying on records), and the days of playing hillbilly music and "Harlem" music and things popular in the 1930s were passé. WKMH-AM aired programming from national distributors, such as the Mutual Radio network in the early 1960s, and the station had some programming for a short while from the CBS Radio network (such as Arthur Godfrey's nationally distributed radio show and Sam Levenson's radio show), and it aired some syndicated programs (or "transcription" programs). On Sundays, of course, the station had religious programs or church programs, as did many radio stations of the Detroit area between 1946 and 1963.
    [Note: It looks as if WKMH-AM carried pre-season Detroit Tigers baseball games in the spring of 1952.]
    Here is a more detailed look at shows and personalities for WKMH-AM. In the late 1940s, two of the first "stars" who were doing record shows for the station were Mickey Shorr, who, for example, started out doing Breakfast at Shorr's in June 1947 (a format that had been inspired by Breakfast in Hollywood, which had featured Tom Breneman, who had died in California before his network show of Wednesday, April 28, 1948, was to go on the air) and was doing Mickey's Madhouse from 12:05 a.m. to 4 a.m. on weeknights in around October 1948, and Robin Seymour, who started out at WKMH-AM on June 1, 1947, and who would work at the WKMH-AM or WKNR-AM till the middle of 1965, outlasting Mickey Shorr at the station, who, for instance, would move on to WJBK-AM (doing Party Line) in the early 1950s and would be at WXYZ-AM from about 1956 to November 1959 [Note: Mickey Shorr's name would later be tied to radio stores (such as with stereo car-radio radios) in the Detroit area in the late 1900s.]. In 1947, Tim Doolittle was a part of "Tim Doolittle and his Pine Center Gang" (which had done stuff on WJR-AM), and he was on WKMH-AM. On Sunday, October 26, 1947, listeners heard records done by fraternities of Hillsdale College, Michigan State College, Albion College, Hope College and the University of Michigan as part of the "State of Michigan Interfraternity Sing," and the listeners learned the song by the Phil Delta Theta fraternity of the University of Michigan was the winner of the contest. In around 1948 at least, the station had an opinion show called Opinion Unlimited (moderated by Edward "Barney" Schweikardt, who was a newsman at the station at least in the late 1940s) on the air on Sundays (such as at 1:30 p.m.). In around 1948, Laura Marxer had two shows on the air on WKMH-AM--Laura Marxer's Kitchen and Over the Backyard Fence (which was a gossip-type program that ran on a Monday-through-Friday basis), and Fred Pardon was hosting a show about where jobs were available in the Detroit area, and the station had a weekly public-health program. For a short while in 1948, the station aired a live show from Willow Run Airport (which is near Belleville, Ypsilanti, and Ann Arbor, Michigan) that was called Take Off Time, and a main feature had Fred Fisher talking with travelers [Note: From May 7, 1951, to August 10, 1951, the same "live" idea from the airport would be used by WXYZ-TV, Channel 7, through a program called Flying Start, which would be hosted by Todd Purse.], and in around 1948, Patricia Hobar was doing work on the air for the station, as was Dorothy Daraday. In around 1948, Walter W. Fuller (who would go on to work for The Detroit News) did a program called Fraternally Yours, and Father Stanley Borucki did a show of news every week in conjunction with the Michigan Catholic. In around 1948, Edwin G. Nicholas (who was informally known as "Uncle Nick") was doing a show on WKMH-AM; Uncle Nick had started on on radio in the Detroit area in 1929, and he became known for doing talent shows featuring children and young adults, and starting on July 8, 1951, he would begin to host a television show on WWJ-TV (Channel 4) called At Uncle Nick's, which would last about a year. From 1948 to 1951 (at least), WKMH-AM presented a program for women called Bess Wright's Kitchen. (more formally known as the Bess Wright Cooking School of the Air), and it was hosted by nationally known "home-economist" Bess Wright. Around September 1948, Alan Douglas left WJLB-AM and showed up at WKMH-AM as a disc jockey. On October 4, 1948, a well-known "Big Band" leader of the Detroit area--Bob Chester--began to do a show on the station, such as from 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. on weekdays, and it was on the air for only a short period of time. From 1948 to 1950, Kay McCoy had a morning-offered show called Sunshine Express. In March 1949, Robin Seymour began to host a show called Robin's Record Room on WKMH-AM, and it ran with a midnight-start time at least every weekday, but over the years, people would think more about Robin Seymour's Bobbin with Robin (one way in which the title was presented in advertisements and such) on at least weekdays in the daytime, such as in the afternoons [Note: In the fall of 1949, running for 13 weeks, Robin Seymour and Dick Kelleher (another disc jockey at WKMH-AM at the time) hosted a talent show--a stage show--at the Harbor Theater in Ecorse, Michigan, which is a suburb of Detroit, on Wednesdays, and the show was billed as Bobbin' with Robin.]. From about April 1949 to June 1949, Art Lazarow ("Art, the Disco Kid") was on the radio station; he had just come from WEXL-AM of Royal Oak, Michigan. From about April 1949 to October 1949, Slim Williams (who had come from WTRH-AM, Houston, Texas) hosted a folk-music-type show. Around 1949 and 1950, The Terry Williams Show was broadcasting on weekdays. At least in parts of 1949 and 1950, the station had a regularly scheduled program on the air that focused on a famous museum--Greenfield Village (of Dearborn, Michigan). Around 1950, Bob Norwood hosted The Bob Norwood Show, and Graham Prince hosted a show [Note: Graham Prince had been well known for headlining bands or dance bands, such as Graham Prince and his Specialty Boys, at clubs and on radio in the Detroit area, a history that dated back at least to the middle of the 1920s.]. In 1950 and 1951, Bob Rothwell had a show on the station. From 1949 to 1961, Dick Buller was a regular at the radio station, and, for instance, he did a Sugar and Spice music program at least around 1955; around 1949, Dick Buller had done sportscasts, and at times, while at the station over the years, he did sports editing and news editing. On August 18, 1952, Fran Pettay (a man) began to work for WKMH-AM, doing the time slot of from 6:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. on a Monday-through-Saturday basis and the time slow of from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on a Monday-through-Friday basis, and he would be at the station for about two years; Fran Pettay had been doing Music Hall for WJR-AM before that, starting out on that in 1948. Incidentally, around November 1952, Robin Seymour was working six days a week on the radio station, doing shows from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.. Around 1953, Marc Williams was one of the regular voices on the station; in the 1955-1956 television season, Marc Williams hosted a movie show on Channel 7, WXYZ-TV, called 3-Bar Ranch, which aired at 11:15 p.m. on Tuesdays, and the show was sponsored by H.R. Marsh & Sons, which was a Chevrolet dealership based at (mainly) 21711 Michigan Avenue, Dearborn, Michigan. From about 1954 to 1958, Joe Van (who was fully known as Joseph Van Doninck) was a regular at the radio station (and he would move on to New Orleans and then would be at CKLW-AM for a while in the 1960s); in 1954, his show on WKMH-AM was considered Van for Breakfast. The First Unitarian Church (which was based at 1917 Washtenaw Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan) had a weekly Sunday program on the air at 10:15 a.m. on WKMH-AM around April 1956. In much of 1958, Frank Sims hosted a show called Across the Plate (a sports show); in October 1958, Frank Sims moved on to other work, and Marty McNeeley [often reported as "McNeely"] took over the hosting duties. From about May 1958 to November 1959, there was a show broadcast in the evenings called Trader Bob (with Bob Longwell), and the host provided listeners with music and with stories about his global travels, and the program came out of studios in the Sheraton-Cadillac Hotel in Detroit. From about July 1958 to July 1959, Marty McNeeley hosted a morning show called Marty's Morning Beat; one show of around September 1958 was done from a ship on the Great Lakes, and it was considered the first show to be broadcast live from a ship, and the show was done on The S.S. Aquarama, which sailed between Detroit and Cleveland (Ohio) each day. Starting on May 7, 1958, Ross Mulholland (nicknamed "The Barefoot Boy") did a show from the studios at the Sheraton-Cadillac Hotel from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. for a short while; Ross Mulholland had already become known for making or hosting television shows, such as travel shows and Sidewalk Parade, for Detroit-area viewers. From about November 1958 to April 1959, Conrad Patrick hosted a music show (Pat's Platter Place) on weekdays that began at 10:00 a.m., and after Conrad Patrick's short stay at WKMH-AM, he went to CKLW-AM (later in 1959) [Note: In the 1960s, Conrad Patrick hosted several series or shows on CKLW-TV, one of which was a weekday movie show called Win, Place & Showtime.]. Around 1960, John "Madman" Michaels worked for the station for a short while; he had been in radio in the Detroit area a few years previously for a short time. From 1960 to about 1962, Lee Alan was an employee at the station, and then he moved over to WXYZ-AM. From August 1961 to the start of WKNR-AM, Dave Prince (who had previously worked at WPAG-AM, Ann Arbor, Michigan) was on the air at WKMH-AM. From about the fall of 1961 to the start of WKNR-AM, Paul Cannon was a regular voice on the station, and during that period, Jim Sanders (who had been known as Jim Beasley at Cass Tech High School from about 1951 to 1956 and had been at Wayne State University from 1955 to 1957 and a staffer at WDET-FM) was a regular voice. And in 1962 and 1963, listeners could tune into radio shows of music presented by Bill Phillips.
    [Note: On Christmas Day for 1947, WKMH-AM played Christmas music all day, and the idea of playing a lot of Christmas music around Christmas time ended up being a format used by WNIC-AM for many years.]
    Who might you meet at the WKMH-AM if you were to visit the place in late 1940s, especially in 1948? You probably would meet Joanne Cline, the main receptionist. The president and general manager was Fred A. Knorr, and you might meet him, if he comes out of his office; he might be busy talking with someone on telephone, and the main topic could be the change of the station from 1540 to 1310 on the AM band and how the transmitter was moved overnight. Eleanore Britzke might walk by, and she was involved in scheduling programming material, such as commercials, and she might be walking with Patricia Hobar, who was the continuity director and was doing some radio shows (under assumed names). Fred Knorr's secretary was Verna Borsodi, and Helen Hawley was the bookkeeper. The sales staffer was made up of Walter W. Patterson (who was the commercial manager and who hosted a program called Songs and Patter), Rockwell C. Force, Edwin Huse, Charles Lane, and Alex Kochanowski. While you were sitting in the lobby, Johnny Sadrack might enter the building for some reason, and Johnny Sadrack had a band that did live polka music on the station, and another person who had a band was Johnny White of Johnny White and His Melody Knights, who did country music on the station, and the members of the Tony Dannon Trio might be around at some point while you were watching everything. Members of the production staff might be wandering about, and they were Larry Bruzzese, Mitchell Jachimski, Julia Shustakewich, and Nicholas Dhustakewich. During the horse-racing season at the Michigan State Fairgrounds, Eddie Miller was the announcer for the daily broadcasts, and he might be at the station. Oh, the regular mailman might show up for a few minutes, depending on what time you were there, to drop off mail and pickup up mail to be sent to wherever.
    I have pointed out that WKMH-AM was well-known for airing sports programming, especially in the 1950s. In the late 1940s, Richard Buller was the sports director and the program director at the station; he would mostly be known as a newscaster on WKMH-AM and WKNR-AM between the late 1940s and 1972. From the late 1940s to the 1970s, a famous sportscaster of the Detroit area was a man named Van Patrick, and he worked at radio stations and television stations doing sports reports or play-by-play of professional sports games. Between 1954 and 1963, Van Patrick was based at WKMH-AM, and, generally speaking, from 1964 to 1968, Van Patrick was based at WJBK-TV, Channel 2, which was associated with WJBK-AM; between 1949 and 1953, Van Patrick had been a sports director at WJR-AM. Another well-known sports voice at WKMH-AM was Frank Sims, and he was at station from 1949 to about February 1960, when he became the play-by-play announcer for the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team [Note: Either on August 30, 1950, or on a day in very early September 1950, Frank Sims was involved in a "first" by broadcasting four professional baseball games on the air in one day (two between Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees and two between Detroit Tigers and the Washington Senators, all of which were played on August 30, 1930). I cannot prove that the games were broadcast by Frank Sims on August 30, 1950, though they probably were. And I can only report that at least two of the games (the games with the Indians and Yankees) were recreated from wire reports, but all four games may have been recreations from wire reports, given I know not where Frank Sims was on the day, such as at the stadium for the Washington Senators in Washington, D.C., where the Tigers were because the games were away games for the Tigers, or in Detroit. By the way, the only article about the "first" done by Frank Sims that I have found ["WKMH 'Quad-header'." Broadcasting, 18 September 1950, p. 35.] was not written clearly enough so that a reader would know when the broadcasting took place and what games were recreations.]
    It is hard to explain what a disc jockey's radio show between 1946 and 1963 had, such as how the music was presented and what songs were played. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, a radio show might have songs that were called "Big Band"-type songs, featuring the bands of Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller, and there could be "standards" sung by individual artists, such as Doris Day, Dean Martin, The Andrew Sisters, Frankie Laine, Bing Crosby, Tony Martin, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Kaye, King Cole, Peggy Lee, and Perry Como, and there could be country-type songs or "folk" songs of the era (the early 1900s), and other people and groups who got airplay on the station were Eddie Fisher, Johnny Ray, Jo Stafford, Patti Page, Sarah Vaughn, Rosemary Clooney, and Guy Mitchell, and the Boston Pops was heard on the station. In the 1950s, especially the middle of the 1950s, the "rock-and-roll" era began, and it was music designed for young people, and some of the first super stars were Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Bo Diddley, Buddy Holly, Bill Haley, Duane Eddy, Elvis Presley, and Ritchie Valens, and the songs were fun and were often love songs, but rock and roll had yet to really dominate what was played on the station (which would happen in the WKNR-AM days), and the station played works of such singers and groups as Bobby Darin, Pat Boone, Paul Anka, Johnny Mathis, The Kingston Trio, and The Fleetwoods. In essence, the disc jockeys of each year played popular songs of the time, and they very likely also played past hits or popular tunes [Note: To see what songs were popular years ago, a person can look at the record charts of hits in such magazines as editions of The Billboard or Billboard, and The Cash Box, which are available in digital form on the Internet.].
    I have a good way in which a person can sort of learn what disc-jockey shows the station had in the 1950s--a person can listen to the group of "Cruisin'" albums featuring disc jockeys from around the county that were released, especially the recording that featured Robin Seymour. That record with Robin Seymour is entitled Cruisin' 1956, and it was release in June 1970, as were the other six albums. Robin Seymour's-focused album had some commercials of his day and music jingles, and it had songs that he had played, such as those by The Teen Queens, The Melo Kings, The Platters, The Cadillacs, Little Richard, and Chuck Berry.
    In addition, a person could sort of learn what was being played at WKMH-AM in the early days by listening to some tunes of performers who appeared at movie theaters in the Detroit area that had Bob Seymour as a host or emcee, and tunes might be found on YouTube. On May 3, 1949, Bob Seymour was the emcee for an event (actually two shows) at the movie theater called the Duke (which was located at Eight Mile Road and Wyoming, Detroit), and the featured musical group was T.J. "After Hours" Fowler and His "T.J.'s" Boogie Orchestra. On January 7, 1950, Bob Seymour and Johnny Slagel (who had an association with WXYZ-TV) hosted a show at the Broadway Capitol (which was located at 1526 Broadway in downtown Detroit and which is now the Detroit Opera House) featuring Kitty Stevenson (a blues artist), the Kenny Burrell Trio, and Billy Mitchell and His Be-Boppers, and the main movies being advertised at the movie theater at the time were Chicago Deadline (featuring Alan Ladd) and In the Good Old Summertime (featuring Judy Garland).
    Here I have some history notes to pass along. In the late 1950s, WKMH-AM was already involved in providing traffic reports to listeners [and more about the subject exists in my document entitled T.H.A.T. Special Edition--The First Helicopter-based Traffic Reporters for the Detroit-area of Michigan, which can be reached through this Traffic link, and more about the history of traffic reporting in the Detroit area can be found in my document entitled PORTRAIT OF THE AAA MICHIGAN NEWS SERVICES, which can be reached through this AAA link.]. In the 1940s, the station was known for being based in the WKMH Building (a.k.a. 22264 Michigan Avenue), Dearborn, and in around August 1949 (at least), the station also had studios at the Music Hall in Detroit. In 1956, people outside, maybe driving to a store, might see the "Mobile Broadcasting Unit" for the station, and the vehicle was a Ford F100 panel truck, which could, for example, get news reporters (such as Dick Buller, Mike Perrini, Bates Farrell, and Frank Goal) to the scene of some type of story rather quickly. Although WKMH-AM was officially a station based in Dearborn, Michigan, the station management opened up additional studio facilities high within the Sheraton-Cadillac Hotel in Detroit, Michigan, in May 1958, and from that studio location, staffers could see down into Briggs Stadium, which was the home of the Detroit Tigers baseball team and which would later be renamed Tiger Stadium. In 1959, the station management was promoting to listeners (and advertisers) that the station had a new remote unit for the disc jockeys, and the unit was shaped like a simple rectangular travel trailer with big windows, which could be pulled by a vehicle.
    Let me add to the story of Robin Seymour and Bobbin' with Robbin. Officially, Robin Seymour's regular work at the station began in the afternoon of February 2, 1948, and, of course, his work was to present a music show, presenting music from records. Really, the show began as Off the Record or Strictly Off the Record, and it was a telephone-request show, and in February 1948, it was on from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. or 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. (usually it seems). Within weeks, the regular start time was 2:15 p.m., and the show was regularly heard on a Monday-through-Saturday basis. Around 1948 and 1949, Robin Seymour was more likely to be called "Bob Seymour" or "Bob 'Robin' Seymour" (such as in advertisements for personal appearances, such as at movie theaters). For the moment, I can only report that the name Bobbin' with Robin was clearly being used for this afternoon show by the middle of 1949 (but the term may have been attached to the show before that) [Note: Maybe, the change in title took place in August 1948 when more airtime became available for broadcasting with the station going to a 24-hour-a-day schedule.]. In the 1950s, Robin Seymour sometimes did two shifts on the radio in a day; the two shifts might be on in the daytime and be wrapped around another program (maybe a sports program), or the shifts could be a daytime show and a late show, and the idea of two shows a day would never happen in the days of WKNR-AM for a disc jockey, and the daytime shifts for Robin Seymour did get called Bobbin' with Robin. In around August 1961, Bobbin' with Robin moved to mornings (from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.), and the afternoon shift at the station got filled by Lee Alan.
    Here is an aside. It seems very likely that in the late 1940s, someone at WKMH-AM played a recording (a record) called When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along, and maybe the person was Robin Seymour, or maybe more than one person played the recording, one of whom could have been Robin Seymour. It was in 1926 when that tune, which had been written by Harry Woods, became a popular song in the country, and the song would be recorded by many performers between 1926 and 1949 (and beyond). There exists today a 1926 recording by Al Jolson, which is one of the most famous recordings today, and in 1926, Jack Smith, the Ipana Troubadours, Lou Good and his Orchestra, and Paul Whiteman were only a few performers who put the tune to record. Between 1947 and 1949, Eddy Howard and his Orchestra and Buddy Moreno were performers who had a disc released with the song. I wonder if Bobbin' with Robbin presented When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along.
    Here is yet another side note. A book entitled TV Land Detroit (which had been written by George Castelnero and was published in 2006 by the University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, Michigan) had material about what Robin Seymour's theme song was late in his time at WKMH-AM. On page 140, the book notes that the theme was called Bobbin' with Robin. The song was written by George Weiss and Bennie Benjamin and performed by The Four Lads and the Percy Faith Orchestra in 1956. I have looked in music publications, such as Billboard, to find information about the song and if the song got any mention in articles, and I have found nothing to pass along here yet, and a recording of the song is not on YouTube. I have never heard the song (it seems).
    On October 31, 1963, WKMH-AM became known as WKNR-AM, "Keener 13," and the station went on the air with a new format, which was about playing rock-and-roll or "rock" hit songs related to young people of the day and not playing a lot of sports and other programming (such as "soft"-standard records, which were liked by older persons and which had been the rule for about the previous year), and the station came on at the right time in history, right before The Beatles (of Liverpool, England) would lead at least the United States of America, Canada, and Great Britain in a pop music revolution, and that revolution really took off in 1964, when The Beatles showed up in America and on television shows in America, such as The Ed Sullivan Show (of CBS-TV). The Beatles sort of set a standard for song quality (musical and lyrically), and it was a standard that other musical groups (especially those composed of young people) of at least Great Britain, Canada, and the United States of America had to try and meet in order to get their songs played on the air. Over the next eight years or so, WKNR-AM aired songs from groups in Great Britain, such as from The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, The Animals, Herman's Hermits, The Who, and The Dave Clark Five, and the station aired songs from Canadian artists, such as The Guess Who, and the station aired songs from a lot of U.S. based groups, such as The Lemon Pipers, The Association, Dionne Warwick, Johnny Rivers, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Monkees, Gary Lewis & the Playboys, The Mamas & the Papas, Spanky and Our Gang, The Young Rascals, The Cowsills, The Fifth Dimension, Three Dog Night, The Beach Boys, and Sly & the Family Stone, and it even aired songs by artists based in Detroit, such as Bob Seger, The Supremes, The Temptations, Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels, The Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, Rare Earth, and Smokey Robinson. Many of the songs of the period from 1963 to 1972 that were played by WKNR-AM are still played on radio stations or through the Internet today, and, in a way, there are countless songs of that period that are played today, and they are still played because they are nice and fun as a rule and lack any really big political message--songs were usually made for fun and to have fun back in the 1960s. [Note: I could have spent hours writing down performers and musical groups whose records could have been played on WKMH-AM and WKNR-AM.]
    From the start, WKNR-AM was located at 15001 Michigan Avenue, Dearborn, Michigan, and it is a building that still exists today (now being an office building, having nothing to do with the radio industry). The one-story building at 15001 Michigan was built in 1952, and it was the headquarters for WKMH-AM and WKNR-AM from 1952 to 1972, though WKMH-AM did have studios in other locations [as I show in this document]. After 1972, the building was used by other entities, such as a radio station called WYUR-AM. In the 1950s, the building at 15001 Michigan was also the home for a company called Michigan Spot Sales, which had Charles Sitta as the president, and Frederick Knorr was associated with the company, such as as vice president, and the company represented a small group of radio stations and a couple television stations in the 1950s, and what the entity did, for example, was provide a place at which advertisers (such as "national advertisers" (advertisers who had nationally distributed products)) could set up contracts to have their advertisements put on the stations represented by Michigan Spots Sales.
    WKNR-AM basically was set up so that songs were the most important asset. The format had a group of disc jockeys work in shifts, such as three-hour shifts each day, and they had a list of records that they played, and, in essence, the songs were current hits and past hits. The songs were sort of played back to back to back in a non-ending way, though there were breaks for commercials or announcements or local newscasts or even comedy bits. In the 1960s, "jingles" were commonplace on radio stations, especially WKNR-AM, and "jingles" were short little tunes (put together by a company in the country) that might give the station name and a disc jockey's name, or a jingle might announce the start of the news, and jingles might be made to run in a fast tempo so that they could be played before an upbeat song, and jingles might be made to go from a fast-tempo song to a slow-tempo song (being a transition piece of audio). Each "jingle" was considered a part of a "jingle package", and over the years, WKNR-AM had several jingle packages (the number of which I know not). In essence, a jingle was a little song-thing that was used to help sell the station and the music.
    One of the famous lines from some WKNR-AM jingles is--"...'Music'--that's our middle name. W. K. N. R.--'Music!'--Keener thirteen....".
    I have to report that, when the transition from WKMH-AM to WKNR-AM came, the presentation was tighter--that is, there was less talk as a rule from disc jockeys--and that presentation type got even tighter when CKLW-TV adopted the "Drake" radio format in 1967, which other rock stations worked to compete with. In essence, for example, in the late 1960s, "dead air" (no sound) for even a moment was frowned on--something was going on or going out on the air every second. In addition, disc jockeys had to be sharp and perfect--sloppiness was not allowed as a rule (which sort of began to change with radio in the Detroit area in the late 1970s or so).
    [Note: This document is about WKHM-AM and WKNR-AM, but I have to talk about CKLW-AM and even Wayne State University to pass along perspective. Paul Drew was graduated from Wayne State University some time in the 1950s, and he may have been associated with the Wayne University Broadcasting Guild, and in 1955, he got is first job in radio, which was at WHLS-AM, Port Huron, Michigan. After that, he was least at WGST-AM (Atlanta, Georgia), then WAKE-AM (Atlanta, Georgia), where met Phil Yarborough (a.k.a. "Bill Drake"), and then WQXI-AM (Atlanta, Georgia). On March 3, 1967, Paul Drew as the program director of CKLW-AM put the "Drake" format (as it was called) into use at CKLW-AM, which focused on thirty hit records and some gold records (of course). So, CKLW-AM became a big deal with help of a man who sort of had come from Wayne State University, though he had come officially right from WQXI-AM.]
    Now, I have this special note. Generally speaking, in the 1960s and 1970s, WKNR-AM and CKLW-AM and a couple other stations (such as WXYZ-AM) were considered rock-and-roll stations using the "Top 10" format or "Top 40" format or the like formats. One idea of the format name is--a station was, for example, a station that might have a current list of hits that contained 40 songs, and from week to week, songs would be dropped out of the current list and put in the recent-hit list and new songs would be put in the rotation of some type. The theme was to play the current hit things--a small group--that people wanted to hear often.
    Here is an aside. In the middle of the 1970s, I was the programming director for the Top 40 hours at WAYN-AM. Each week, I listened to songs that came in to the station from record companies, such as A&M and Capitol and Columbia. I listened to every song (every 45-rpm record, that is) that came in. You would be surprised by how many bad songs came in in a week, being bad for lacking emotion, being bad for lacking good sound quality, being bad for sounding dead, being bad for having a singer who seemed to be tone deaf, being bad because the lyrics were trite, being bad because of odd notes, et cetera. When a good song showed up on the turntable, I could hear it. The good songs stuck out from the dozens that I listened to each session. From 1968 to at least 1972 (a portion of the time period for this document), Rosalie Trombley was the music director at CKLW-AM ("The Big 8"), and she did basically the same thing that I would do at WAYN-AM in the middle of the 1970s, and what she did was to listen to songs to decide what was worth playing on the air, and she was known by record people and musical performers as being fair and being right in what she passed along to listeners as hits on CKLW-AM. I report that many songs aired today, especially the "rap" or "gang rap" stuff (often stuff heard and seen on Saturday Night Live (a weekly television series on NBC-TV) and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (a weeknight show on NBC-TV)), would never have gotten on the air at CKLW-AM in the late 1960s and 1970s, since the songs are truly bad as a rule, but it seems few people have enough guts to say to the gutter performers that their stuff is crap. [Note: I do not know whether or not a good Top 40 station could be done today, since most of the music for young people today is crap, having, in essence, a tinny sound and the same dull beat from created by a computer.]
    When WKNR-AM came on the air in late 1963, the on-air staff or disc-jockey staff was changed a bit from what it had been at the end of WKMH-AM. New to the lineup were Mort Crowley (who had come in from WLS-AM, Chicago, Illinois), Gary Stevens (of WIL-AM, St. Louis, Missouri), and Bob Green (WQAM-AM, Miami, Florida). The schedule at the start for (at least the weekdays) was Mort Crowley (from 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.), Robin Seymour (from 9:00 a.m. to noon), Jim Sanders (from noon to 3:00 p.m.), Gary Stevens (from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.), Bob Green (from 7:00 p.m. to midnight), and Bill Phillips (from midnight to 5:00 a.m.). In March 1964, the lineup was made up of--Swingin' Sweeney (from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.), Robin Seymour (from 9:00 a.m. to noon), Jerry Goodwin (from noon to 3:00 p.m.), Gary Stevens (from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.), Bob Green (from 7:00 p.m. to midnight), and Bill Phillips (from midnight to 5:00 a.m.).
    Incidentally, in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, disc jockeys usually were photographed wearing suits or suit-coat outfits and ties.
    It can be said that regular disc-jockey change was commonplace between at least 1946 and 1972 in radio, and I say--So it goes in show business or so it goes in radio. The reasons for the changes were many; disc jockeys could get offers for more money from other radio stations, and disc jockeys could want leave for better yearly weather, and disc jockeys could be stupid and get fired for doing something stupid, and managers of radio stations could have personal conflicts with disc jockeys (which could have nothing to do with on-air work quality of jocks), program directors could be stupid, et cetera. Between 1963 and 1972, there were changes at WKNR-AM; for example, Dick Purtan became the regular host for from 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. on August 9, 1965, and he would be at the station for a little over two years (and he would work in the Detroit area for many decades, such as on CKLW-AM, WXYZ-AM, and WOMC-FM, and he would do some television shows, such as Michigan lottery-based shows), and Dick Purtan replaced Frank "Swingin'" Sweeney, who had replaced Mort Crowley, and Robin Seymour left WKNR-AM in the middle of 1965, and on August 9, 1965, Robin Seymour joined CKLW-AM, doing the 1:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. weekday slot, which was work beyond what he was already doing at CKLW-TV. In February 1966, the weekday lineup at Keener 13 was Dick Purtan (from 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.), Ted Clark (from 9:00 a.m. to noon), Jerry Goodwin (from noon to 3:00 p.m.), Bob Green (from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.), Scott Regen (from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.), J. Michael Wilson (from 10:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.), and Jim Jeffries (from 1:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m.), and Paul Cannon had a Saturday shift.
    In the middle of the 1960s, WKNR-AM released albums for sale, and it was done to raise money for Muscular Dystrophy; people bought the albums, which had former hits songs on them, and the money that was raised was given to charity. So far, I only know that four albums were released, and on the back of volume one, volume two, volume three, and volume four, there were the photographs of the then disc-jockey teams. Volume one had this team listed--Dick Purtan (5:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.), Ted Clark (from 9:00 a.m. to noon), Jerry Goodwin (from noon to 3:00 p.m.), Bob Green (from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.), Scott Regen (from 7:00 p.m. to l0:00 p.m.), J. Michael Wilson (from 10:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.), and Jim Jeffries (from 1:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m.). Volume two had this team listed--Dick Purtan (5:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.), Ted Clark (from 9:00 a.m. to noon), Jerry Goodwin (from noon to 3:00 p.m.), Bob Green (from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.), Scott Regen (from 7:00 p.m. to l0:00 p.m..), J. Michael Wilson (from 10:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.), and Jim Jeffries (from 1:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m.). Volume three had this team listed--Dick Purtan (from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.), Ted Clark (from 9:00 a.m. to noon), Jerry Goodwin (from noon to 3:00 p.m.), Bob Green (from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.), Scott Regen (from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.) J. Michael Wilson (from 10:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.), and Jim Jeffries (from 1:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m.), and Paul Cannon had a Saturday shift.   And volume four had Dick Purtan (from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.), Ted Clark (from 9:00 a.m. to noon), Jerry Goodwin (from noon to 3:00 p.m.), Bob Green (from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.), Scott Regen (from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.), J. Michael Wilson (from 10:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.), and Steve Robbins (from 1:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.), and Paul Cannon was on the air on Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.. The albums were known informally as Oldies but Goodies, and they had songs from the past, such as songs from such performers as The Dixie Cups, Ronnie Dove, The Cheffons, Bobby Rydell, Jerry Butler, Ritchie Valens, The Association, The Five Americans, The Lovin' Spoonful, and The Isley Brothers.
    Incidentally, the heyday of the WKNR-AM was the middle of the 1960s; in the very late 1960s, WKNR-AM was already behind in the ratings to CKLW-AM, which would get knocked down in the 1970s because of, for one, Canadian socialistic rules, in which a radio station was required to play at least a given amount of Canadian music each day, and that resulted in Canadian performers being given a lower standard in which to meet to get songs on the radio--they no longer had to meet, for example, a standard set by The Beatles (the British).
    Here I will present some Detroit television history. In late 1964, plans were in the works for Gary Stevens to host a dance show for the soon-to-debut WKBD-TV, Channel 50, in Detroit. The Gary Stevens Show showed up on Channel 50 at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, January 24, 1965, and it ran for thirty minutes each time, and it would run for thirty minutes each weekday till April 1965. In late March 1965, Gary Stevens announced that he was leaving WKNR-AM, and he would take up doing the 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. weekday show on WMCA-AM in New York City, New York, starting on April 5, 1965. In essence, the dance show continued on, though Gary Stevens left Detroit, but the show was continued on as The Bob Green Show, and the last known episode of that series was on Friday, May 7, 1965. Lee Alan, while not a member of WKNR-AM, did some work on Detroit television; for example, he hosted three specials called The Swingin' Kind on WXYZ-TV (on August 11, 1965; October 13, 1965; and December 8, 1965). While a member of WKNR-AM and not a member of WKNR-AM, Robin Seymour hosted a number Detroit-area television shows; from April 11, 1964, to September 4, 1965, Robin Seymour hosted a Saturday series called Teen Town on CKLW-TV, and from June 28, 1965, to September 3, 1965, Robin Seymour hosted a weekday series (airing for one hour starting at 4:30 p.m.) called Swingin' Summertime for CKLW-TV, and from September 6, 1965, to September 27, 1968, Robin Seymour hosted a weekday show called Swingin' Time for CKLW-TV (and there was a Saturday version for a while), and in 1969, Robin Seymour did another Swingin' Time show, and it was aired by WXON-TV, Channel 62, and he hosted some other shows on television in Detroit, such as some one-shot specials, one of which was Robin Seymour's New Year's Eve Show (in 1967), and he did a weekly Saturday series called Gettin' Together (for CKLW-TV in the 1970-1971 television season).
    In the late 1960s and early 1970s, WKNR-AM still had good disc jockeys. In at least a part of 1968, WKNR-AM had this weekday lineup--Tony Randolph (from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.), Ron Sherwood (from 9:00 a.m. to noon); Dan Henderson (from noon to 3:00 p.m.), Sean Conrad (from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.), Mark Allen (from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.), Alan Busch (from 10:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.), and Dale Forester (from 1:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.), and Paul Cannon did the 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. show on Saturday regularly. In the summer of 1971, the station had these guys as the regulars on the weekdays--Jim Tate (from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.), Robin Stone (from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.), Pat St. John (from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.), who was the brother to Michael Stevens, Mark Darin (from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.), Michael Stevens (from 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.), who was the brother to Pat St. John, and Gary Kent (from 2:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.) [Note: In around August 1971, Bob Green left the position of program director, and Bill Garcia took up the position of program director.]. Some of the other guys who were on the air as disc jockeys in the very late 1960s and early 1970s were Dan Henderson, Ron Sherwood, Mac Owens (the man with the super-deep voice), Gary Granger, Bob Dearborn (in 1968 and 1969), Alan Busch, Scott Regen, Tom Neal, Chris Ryan, Dick Thyne, Bob Chenault, Chuck Bennett, Bill Garcia, Bob Elliott, and John McRae. WKNR-AM had only one air personality who came from WAYN-AM, based on my research so far, and it was Gary Bridges (who used "Gary Kent" on the air), and he was at the station very late in the period--in 1971 and 1972 [Note: That is the one tie-in that I mentioned in the early part of this document. However, Robin Seymour, who had been born Seymour Altman, did attend Wayne University after World War II had ended and he had done work for Armed Forces Radio, and when Robin Seymour was going to Wayne University, he was a member of the Wayne University Broadcasting Guild (or WUBG)--at least between October 1943 and August 1946 (with a break in the period for being in the military with the artillery service and Armed Force Radio). To learn about the Wayne University Broadcasting Guild, see the document entitled WAYN-AM 860 RADIO of Wayne State University, which can be reached through this WAYN-AM link. By the way, in March 2011, Gary Bridges began to provide the voice of "Mr. Puff" of The Puffballs characters in the shorts known as Words with Puffballs from Sesame Studios. I have to add here information about the Gary Bridges Top 40 teaching tape. Although I call the tape the Gary Bridges Top 40 teaching tape because Gary Bridges was the voice on the tape, I report that Steve Lawrence was the producer of the tape, and Steve Lawrence used the tape in the very early 1970s to show radio beginners (like me) how to do Top 40 radio, and later I used the tape to show beginners. Steve Lawrence was born around March 1951 as Stephen Michael Lawrence to Steve Lawrence (senior), who was then a booth announcer at WXYZ-TV, Channel 7, in Detroit, and Steve Lawrence (senior) left Detroit in around March 1952 for a short while (going to Chicago, Illinois), and Steve Lawrence (senior) returned to Detroit in about 1955 and worked for a short while at WWJ-AM, and he worked for about 25 years as a booth announcer for WWJ-TV (a job that ended in 1981 with his retirement, when the station was WDIV-TV (a name that has existed since July 22, 1978)). Steve Lawrence (the son), who had gained a "BA" in mass communications at Wayne State University from 1969 to 1973, worked in the engineering area of WXYZ-TV from about 1975 to August 2010 (when he retired).]
    Here is a faraway tie-in between WKNR-AM and WAYN-AM. I have a photograph of a "WKNR News Cruiser," which was a Ford Motor Company E-Series Econoline van. There is no date on the photograph, but the Econoline E-Series of vans like that shown in the photograph were made from 1961 to 1967 (and it is nearly impossible or it is impossible to tell when a particular van was made because, basically, there was no change with the outside design). Specifically, the van was "No. 4", and the style was the "panel-truck"-like version, which had no extra windows on the sides (only the doors had windows). It seems to me WKNR-AM then had at least four "WKNR News Cruisers," and they probably were all made out of Econoline vans. The "WKNR News Cruisers" were designed to get news reporters to the scenes of news and promote the news department. Well, let me leave the 1960s and go to April 1974. I have an April 1974 photograph of an E-Series Econoline van that is painted yellow, and in the driver's seat is a man named Wendell D. Davis. This photograph is evidence that in and around April 1974, WAYN-AM (of Wayne State University) had a remote van (and I was in it at least once). The side of the van shows that the sponsors of the van were "Verne's bierstube" and "Motor City Custom Vans, Inc.". I have not determined when each van talked about in this paragraph was produced (the year), but I know that both were the "Heavy Duty"-type version of the panel-truck-like Econoline. [Note: In April 1974, "Verne's Bierstube" (the name shown in advertisements at the time) was located at 35 West Warren, Detroit.]
    [Special note: Make sure to read the "Addendum" section near the end of this document, which has very special history information related to "Bob Seymour" and the WAYN-AM van and Kern's (a department store) and the Kaye-Halbert brand of television.]
    I have mentioned that WKNR-AM released some record albums featuring old hits songs, and now I have some information about news-related albums put together by the radio station, and I know about three for this edition of the document, and they were put together by the news staff--the "WKNR Contact News" staff. The back cover of the album jacket for Detroit 1967 noted that the news staff was Philip Nye (the news director), Erik Smith (the assistant news director) [Note: Erik Smith would go on to work in the news department as a reporter and such for WXYZ-TV for many decades.], John Maher, Dick Buller, Pat Kelly, Mike O'Neill, and Doug Fernlock. The back cover of the jacket for Detroit 1968 reported that the news staff was made up of--Philip Nye (the news director), Bill Applegate, Mike O'Neill, Al Koski, George Hunter, Dick Buller, and Brian Wood. And the back cover of the album jacket for Detroit 1970 had these persons as the members of the "Contact News" staff--Al Morgan (the news director), Vince Smith, Dick Buller, Paul Roberts, Jim Booker, Brian Wood, and Scott White.
    "For the record," the document does not list all the on-air people who worked at WKMH-AM and WKNR-AM on the air, and this document probably has more missing from WKMH-AM than from WKNR-AM. Here, I present a few other names of people at WKMH-AM while not knowing clearly when they were at the station--Paul Juntunen (as a newscaster, such as in early 1948, when he was doing what was called the Bob Ford Reporter, which was sponsored by a car dealership that was run by Bob Ford and was located at 14585 Michigan Avenue, Dearborn), John Momeyer (as a newscaster, such as in 1948), Jim Brown (as an announcer early in the period for the station), Dale Marr (as a newscaster early in the period for the station, who left the station around June 1952 to go to WJR-AM), Lee Tarien (as a newsman around 1950), Jerry Sherman (as a staff announcer early in the period), Art James (as a disc-jockey in 1951 and 1952, a man who would go on to be one of the famous hosts of game shows on national television or shown on television nationally), Bob Runyon (at least as a news director late in the period, around May 1958), Bob Cordell (as a disc jockey very early in the period, suc as in around 1948, when he was hosting a show called Something for the Girls), Tom Finn (as a disc jockey, who showed up at the station around September 1953, doing two shifts every weekday (from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.)), Al London (as a disc jockey, who was at the station in around 1960), Paul Carnegie (as a disc jockey, who showed up around August 1961 to do shows on Saturday and Sunday), Louis "Lou" J. Lobsinger, Russ Gibb, Ray Otis (as a disc jockey around 1961), and Tom Crane (as a news reader and news director late in the period, such as around August 1959 when he was appointed to the job of news director). And here are other guys that worked at WKNR-AM--Sam Holman (as a disc jockey), Gary Mitchell (as a disc jockey), and Sean Conrad (as a disc jockey). [Note: Art James, who had been born in Dearborn, Michigan, on October 15, 1929, was graduated from Wayne University in 1952, and he may have been associated with the Wayne University Broadcasting Guild during his time at the university.]
    [Note: In the late 1950s or early 1960s, a man named Art Cervi was a board operator (or "board op") at WKMH-AM. By the way, the "board" was an audio console or audio console board or audio control board or even an audio mixing board, which was used to get audio (or audio feeds) of a studio, for example, from microphones and turntables and cart machines on the air. Art Cervi was known for being the second man to play Bozo the Clown on Detroit-area television stations for a long time, the first of whom was Bob McNea (and there was at least one other man who played the character for a very, very short while). Around 1966, Art Cervi was the talent coordinator for Swingin' Time (with Robin Seymour), the version aired by CKLW-TV, Channel 9. I must add that sometimes people call a "board operator" an "audio engineer" or simply "engineer," though the person may not actually be a true engineer (such as with an electrical-engineering degree from a college or university). At the time that WKMH-AM was built and fired up, C. E. Leedy was the chief engineer (a real engineer who would leave the station in around 1947 and go to Stavid Engineering Co. in Plainfield, New Jersey), and Jerrold L. Martin (a.k.a. Jerry Martin) helped construct WKMH-AM in 1946, and he was the second the chief engineer (and he would stay with the station at least to the start time of WNIC-AM), and other original members of the engineering team were Don Oswalt and Matt Dumovich, and some of the other engineers who were at the station when the transmitter was moved in 1948 were Al "Jay" Fairman, Harry Wingerter, and Jack Jones (and they may have been members of the engineering staff at the beginning of the station). Fred Remley (who lived from May 20, 1929 to October 22, 2019) was a real engineer when he worked at WKMH-AM in 1951.]
    On April 25, 1972, I had a reel-to-reel tape recorder, but at this moment, I cannot remember the brand name or the maker of reel-to-reel tape recorder. On that morning, I got the machine ready to record the change from WKNR-AM to WNIC-AM, and I was going to record off a console stereo in the living room of where I lived. It was in the morning of April 25, 1972, that John McRae spoke the last words on behalf of WKNR-AM, and a former hit song by The Byrds called Turn, Turn, Turn was played.

    The big question at this time is--Can I salvage anything from the old reel-to-reel audio tapes and will the Akai M-9 (a historic unit) help in the process?
    Now, I have a section that was added on July 29, 2021. The heart of this document is about WKMH-AM and WKNR-AM, but those radio stations--which make up one radio station really--are only a part of the radio history story that makes up the entire document. On July 27, 2021, I went to the "storage" place and picked up the stored boxes of audio tapes (reel-to-reel tapes) that I have had since October 1977. I made some unexpected discoveries. I do indeed have a good copy of the Gary Bridges Top 40 teaching tape, in which he called himself "Joe Format" (a name that I had forgotten about), and the production was new for the fall of 1971, and it showed off the new Top 40 format at WAYN-AM being supervised by Steve Lawrence; I have two copies of the product, one of which is on a two-inch-and-seven-eights reel, which I would soon discover would not play on the Akai M-9 reel-to-reel tape deck (or tape machine or tape recorder). I found that I have about 40 seven-inch reel-to-reel tapes related to WAYN-AM, and a little over a dozen have air-check material with me that cover the period from June 1972 and October 1977, and to most people, those tapes of me have little value, but the tapes do show what was being done at WAYN-AM (at Wayne State University) in the period, which is history that ties in with the document about broadcasting at Wayne State University and WAYN. I do have WAYN-AM jingles on tape. I have a tape that seems to have all the comedy episodes of The Adventures of Hotdog and Wiener (which featured Mike Schuff, who wrote the episodes, and me). I have some production material made by me, such as promotional announcements. I have jingle material related to WDRQ-FM, Detroit, and the material ended up in my hands because of Rick Klos (who had been a member of WAYN-AM and was on WDRQ-FM for a while). One tape has WKNR-AM jingle material, and it seems I have materials of the "Series #31" and the "Series #32" and the "PAM 1971" jingle packages. I ran across a tape that I had received from Pat Schneider on June 15, 1978 (the sent date is June 14, 1978), who was working at WKHM-AM, Jackson, Michigan, and the tape seems to have material related to WKNR-AM of the 1960s. By the way, in 1951, the owners of WKMH-AM fired up WKHM-AM as a "sister station" to WKMH-AM, and a "sister station" is a name for another radio station that makes up a group of stations owned by the same entity (and if you see a "WKHM-AM" in a sentence that should be "WKMH-AM" in any of my writing, it can be attributed to my having read hundreds of radio reports to WKHM-AM in the 1970s, and I sometimes flip letters while writing, but sooner or later, I catch the problem). I fired up the Akai M-9 to run tapes for the first time on July 29, 2021, and that was done to see what did and did not work and to see what parts I might yet have to make or buy. I put on a few of the tapes that are, in essence, scrap material, and I found that the M-9 does work, and tapes will play in the machine, and the tapes seem to be in good enough condition so that they will not fall apart or break easily while being played, and that is even though the tapes are 45 years to 50 years of age; some of the tapes are Scotch brand, and one is an audiotape brand, and there are other types, such as a few tapes that WAYN-AM received with public-service programs on them, an example of which is a tape from RODEL Audio Services that had a program on it at one time called Men and Molecules (a documentary) from the American Chemical Society [Note: Radio stations around the country received such programs over the years of the middle 1900s (at least regularly before about the 1980s it seems) and used them as filler programs or for airing in public-service time slots.]. I have yet to demagnetize the heads and tape-travel-related parts of the Akai M-9, but I have a new demagnetizer from Turntable Lab (of Lexington, Kentucky) on hand now. I have yet to make all the cabling that I will be need to connect up the Akai M-9 to the computer, but I do have the interface device, and I have two computers set up with Audacity; it looks as if I will have to make cables for a cassette machine, since a neighbor is thinking about using the interface device to transfer church material that is on cassette tapes to computer. When the Akai M-9 and all the other pieces of equipment are ready, then I will run tapes through in the Akai M-9 in earnest (which might not be for months). And that is that for now, since I am off on another long-distance drive in Michigan and will be away from the Akai M-9 project for a bunch of weeks. Oh, it does seem I should order a speed sleeve for the capstan related to 15 inches per second so that the machine is complete.

    P.S.: I am aware that WKMH-FM and WKNR-FM existed, and, by the way, there was even a short time when programming on WKNR-AM was simulcast on WKNR-FM, but I have left those two FM stations out of the story.

Addendum:
    I am a television historian, as I have noted, and this addendum was put into the document to show some really odd history related to radio and television in Detroit. On Monday, June 5, 1950, Bob Seymour (as he was listed in, for example, an advertisement in the Detroit Free Press on page 12 for the day) was on the Fourth Floor of Kern's (a department store then located at 1048 Woodward Avenue in downtown Detroit, about where Campus Martius Park is located today) from at least 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.. Bob Seymour was at the store doing a remote radio show for WKMH-AM, and he was at the store to promote Kern's and especially some new television sets that were for sale at Kern's. By the way, Kern's started out as The Ernst Kern Dry Good Company in 1883 (at a different location from that of 1950), and the building that Bob Seymour was in in 1950 had been built in 1929, and Kern's would be sold in 1957, and what the store was in 1959 was shut down 1959. The television sets that were being promoted were, in essence, a new line of television sets--the Kaye-Halbert brand (which would only be produced from 1950 to 1956). At the time of the remote event, two of the sets that Bob Seymour was helping to show off were the "Hideaway" and the "Cambridge," the latter of which was a high-end set, which a person could buy for about $399.95 [which is information based on a several advertisements for the set in newspapers around the country]. In 1950, the Kaye-Halbert brand also included the "Normandy" and the "Windsor," which may have been shown off at Kern's on June 5, 1950. In 1954, Kaye-Halbert Corporation (which had first been located in Los Angeles, California, and was mostly located in Culver City, California) was in Chapter XI bankruptcy protection. It seems, for one, the Kaye-Halbert brand of television set did not catch on with the public, even though, in June 1950, the "Cambridge" set was being touted as being in the homes of such Hollywood-type stars as Dorothy Lamour, Andy Devine, and Jerry Colonna. My research shows that, from 1947 to 1950, Detroiters were used to buying television sets generally known as RCA-Victor sets, General Electric sets, DuMont sets, Magnavox sets, Motorola sets, Westinghouse sets, Crosley sets, Zenith sets, and Philco sets (the last group of which were types of sets that received about the first big push into the Detroit area, such as through television advertising, especially on Philco Television All-Star Revue, which was broadcast by Channel 7 (WXYZ-TV) from the Arts Institute in Detroit on October 9, 1948, and which featured Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra, Frances Langford, Georgie Price, Raye & Naldi, Gail Maison, Earl Wild, "Sugar Chile" Robinson (a local child pianist), and The Hartmans), and some of the lesser known brands of sets that were in Detroit-area houses in the period were Scott sets, Stromberg-Carlson sets, Capehart sets, Farnsworth sets, Tele King sets, Hallicrafter sets, Teletone sets, Temple sets, and Muntz sets (all of which had short life spans in the marketplace). It looks as if Kaye-Halbert Corporation had a short life span because the marketplace was loaded with television sets from which consumers could choose. Now let me get back to Kern's. I have reported that WAYN-AM had a remote van in April 1974. What was the van used for? I do not remember clearly. I know the radio station did a remote broadcast at the "Kern Block" (about where the 1929 Kern building had been till 1966); that is, in around the early 1970s, the station did a broadcast from a remote unit at the Kern Block spot for at least one day (and, to get home, I rode on a public bus from about the Kern Block area to Inkster, Michigan, via Michigan Avenue). The remote unit may have been the van. What happened to the WAYN-AM van? I believe the clutch unit went to crap, after only a few months of being used, and it was deemed that no money should be put into the problem to fix it. It looks as if that event at Kern's on June 5, 1950, also had a disc jockey from another radio station making an appearance, and it was Larry Gentile, who had been doing radio in Windsor or Detroit since the middle of the 1930s (at least) and who was the brother to Joe Gentile [Note: "Happy Joe" Gentile had a long radio and television career in the Detroit area/Windsor area, and the career began in the middle of the 1930s at least.].
Addendum 2:
    I have some information about radio equipment at WKMH-AM, based on photographs that I found while doing research.
    On July 15, 2021, I went on eBay and used "wkmh" as a search term to see what would pop up. One of the things that showed up was a photograph that was for sale and was useful to me. Robin Seymour was pictured in a studio (what studio is unknown) related to WKMH-AM, and the photograph was dated April 9, 1958, and in the photograph was also an unidentified young man. I looked at the photograph and recognized some of the equipment, having done research on some of the studio equipment that was used at WDET-FM (of Wayne State University) in the 1950s. Robin Seymour had a microphone in front of him, and it was a "Shure 55"-type. The "Shure 55" came in several versions over the years, and I cannot report exactly which version was being used by Robin Seymour. By the way, none of the equipment that was shown in the photograph could be identified exactly, since no model numbers could be seen on the equipment. The other man in the studio had an "RCA 44"-type microphone before him, and the microphone was probably--specificially--an "RCA 44-BX". Two turntables were shown--partially. Their design was familiar to me. I think that the turntables were "RCA 70C"-type models, based on, for instance, the curved corners of the table tops that I could see [Note: In the broadcasting business, the turntable or a turntable does not include the tone arm, and later in this section, I will talk about tone arms.]. Also in front of Robin Seymour was an audio console or audio mixing board or "board" or whatever you wish to call it. Not much of it could be seen. The mixing board was an "RCA" board--that I know. The "board" was an "RCA 76B" or an "RCA 76C" or an "RCA 76D", and it was not an "RCA 76A" [Note: The units were often referred to as "consolettes" by RCA.]. Although I cannot make exact determinations, I have presented you with information that you can use to see what was used (roughly) in at least one studio tied to WKMH-AM in around 1958. [Note: "Shure" and "RCA" the are names of companies, and "RCA" stood for "Radio Corporation of America".]
    Here is an aside. In the 1940s and 1950s at least, there were records called "transcription" records. In one case, a transcription record could be made at a radio station, and what was done was a blank record was made into a record having something on it by using an add-on unit to a turntable. A transcription record was played with a needle that was used with a 78 RPM record, the type of record that had been the rule for music before 1948.
    On July 16, 2021, I began to hunt down the equipment that was shown in a photograph that existed at the website called Motor City Radio Flashbacks (mcrfb.com), and the photograph was on a page called "A Robin Seymour WKMH 1310 Radio Memory! 1956". There was a microphone in front of Robin Seymour in the 1956 photograph, and the microphone was an Electro-Voice 664 type [Note: In the 1950s, Electro-Voice (or, simply, "EV") was located in Buchanan, Michigan. Incidentally, in the 1956 photograph and the 1958 photograph, the microphone stands or holders seemed to be made out of half-inch water pipe or gas pipe.]. Of course, in the 1956 photograph, Robin Seymour had an audio console in front of him, and it was an RCA type. By the way, in the 1950s, a company called "Altec" had some audio boards that sort of looked like RCA audio boards, and, generally speaking, one difference between the Altec board and the RCA board was the side of RCA board sort of had a group of lines or grooves (eight grooves). It is hard to determine what the board in the 1956 photograph was, given a person has to keep in mind that a station engineer might have the manufacturer take a basic model and make slight adjustments to the structure so that it would do what the engineer wanted the station to have [Note: In addition, the Internet does not have an example of every type of RCA audio console made.]. I think the audio console was a version of the "RCA 76B" or "RCA 76C" or "RCA 76D". Robin Seymour had three turntables near him in the 1956 photograph, and two of the turntables had two tone arms, and one turntable had only one tone arm (it seems). In 1948, the "LP" (related to long play) record, which was played at 33-and-a-third revolutions per minute, began to show up in the marketplace, and in 1949, the "45 RPM" (revolutions per minute) record hit the marketplace, and the 45 RPM record was designed, basically, to have one song on each side; up to 1948, radio stations and consumers only had had 78 RPM records. Incidentally, in around May 1950, RCA began advertising that radio-station people could buy a conversion kit related (model MI-11883) related to speed for their RCA turntables that could not play 45 RPM records, and the people could also get a fine-groove tone arm (if they wished or needed to). A "fine" stylus or needle (attached to some type or brand of tone arm) was used to play records of the 33-and-a-1/3 RPM format and the 45 RPM format. Generally speaking, a tone arm with needle for 78 RPM records and "transcription" records existed on the right side of a turntable in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and if another tone arm was added to an existing turntable, it was mounted at the back of the turntable. It looks as if at least two of the turntables with Robin Seymour were outfitted with tone arms to play 45 RPM and 33-and-a-1/3 RPM records and to play the older type of records [Note: Of course, newer turntables from RCA and other companies that were then put in the marketplace were designed from the start to play all the types of records, and turntables would evolve into having only one tone arm and be designed to have three speeds (since new 78 RPM records were being phased out in the 1950s).]. Each tone arm of each of the turntables with two tone arms had a different needle set-up. In the 1956 photograph, all the tone arms that can be seen were products of Gray Research & Development Company Inc. (the headquarters for which were located in the 1950s at 555 Fifth Avenue, New York 17), and the tone arms were different from those that could be seen in the 1958 photograph, and the model of tone arm cannot be determine, since the tone arms match several types made by "Gray" (the informal name), such as the "106-B", the "106-SP", and the "108-B" (the last in the group that I have noted at least could be used with all speeds and sizes of records), and such tone arms could be called "transcription" tone arms by Gray Research and Development Company Inc.. Since the date of the 1956 photograph ties in with, in essence, the end of new 78 RPM records, it seems very likely to me that the tone-arm set-up in the 1956 photograph had the tone arm on the right side set up for 45 RPM and 33-and-a-1/3 RPM records and had the tone arm in the back set up for 78 RPM records and transcription records (which the station still probably had in the music library, not wanting to throw them away yet). WKMH-AM seemed to have a lot of RCA equipment, but the turntables in the 1956 photograph are not RCA units. It looks as if the turntables--based on the structure of the platter on each (the piece on which a record sits)--were Fairchild Equipment Company units. Around 1953, Fairchild Equipment Company was doing advertising related to the "530" transcription turntable, which had three speeds. Certainly, the tone arms in the 1956 photograph were from Gray Research & Development Company Inc., and the turntables were from Fairchild Equipment Company, and the turntables were probably "530" units (based on the cabinet shape--at the top) [Note: In the late 1940s, Gray Research & Development Company had the "524" unit for sale.]". So far evidence suggests that the tone arms shown in the 1958 photograph were "universal" tone arms, probably the ones known as the RCA MI-4875-G units. No "cart machines" were on display in the 1956 photograph, which is not surprising to me, so things like recorded jingles and record commercials were played from records, which was why Robin Seymour had three turntables next to him (he had to have enough turntables). By the way, it was not till 1959 when "cart machines" began to show up in radio stations, and a cart machine would play a "cart" or "cartridge" (such as a "Fidelipac"-brand cartridge) with sound recordings stored on one-quarter-inch-wide magnetic tape, which had been set up in like a continuous loop (which involved a cue-tone system for stopping), and the "cart" was physically shaped like what would show up the marketplace later in the country called the "eight-track cart," which would be really popular in the late 1960s and in the 1970s with consumers, who might have an "eight-track player" in, for example, an automobile to play tape versions of "albums."
    On July 19, 2021, I began to analyze photographs in a 1948 publication put out by WKMH-AM--The Detroit Market and WKMH [Note: The publication, which was aimed at advertisers and the public, is not dated, but the publication talked about the radio program from Willow Run Airport, and this document shows when that program was on the air at the station.], and I learned the station, which was then located in a two-story building (the WKMH Building) along Michigan Avenue in Dearborn had at least three rooms that could be called studios. On the page that can be called page seven (if the cover page is called page one), there were a number of photographs showing the what seemed to be the disc-jockey studio (for playing records), and in that studio, the disc jockeys were using RCA turntables with RCA "universal" tone arms, and the microphone shown was an RCA 44 type (probably the RCA 44-BX), which was on a table stand, and the mixing board was a "76"-series board, but it was not the "76A". In the publication, there was another studio shown (on pages 10 and 11), which was called a main studio, and it was basically a fairly big room with a piano and chairs, and it seemed to be the site for providing live music shows by bands and such, and this studio had an RCA 44 type microphone (most likely an RCA 44-BX) and an RCA 77 type microphone (most likely the RCA 77-D, which had been put in the marketplace in 1944). Another studio was presented in the publication on page 12, and that studio, which was small (being a small room), was called studio "B", and it was designed to be used for, for one, the presenting of newscasts and interviews. I have no idea what type of mixing board was used for the studio with the piano and for the studio designed for news broadcasts. [Note: Based on several photographs in the publication, I get the impression that the studios were located on the second floor of the WKMH Building.]
Addendum 3:
    I have a preliminary discussion here about the location known as 22264 Michigan Avenue. I am unclear about when the building--a two-story building--that stood there in very late 1940s had been built. It seems 22264 Michigan (in western Dearborn) was the second floor of the two-story building in the late 1940s, and the lower floor of the building was 22266 Michigan Avenue. From at least 1949 to about 1960, John Gagnon Furniture Company was located at 22266 Michigan Avenue, and it seems once WKMH-AM left 22264 Michigan, John Gagnon Furniture took over the second floor, and the 22264 Michigan Avenue address disappeared. From about 1961 to 1978, T.H. Eurich Company was at 22266 Michigan, and from about 1978 to 1984, Reeber Furniture was located at the location. I stop the discussion there (for now).
Addendum 4:
    I have not provided all what WKMH-AM and WKNR-AM became after WKNR-AM became WNIC-AM in 1972, but I note here that, in the end, the station ended as WDTW-AM, which was an entity providing talk-show programs that focused on promoting communism, socialism, progressivism, Marxism, liberalism, and other such rotten political systems as good, and in 2010, the owners of the station filed for bankruptcy, and in early 2013, what remained of the tower system (the history of which went back 1948), which was located along I-94 near Telegraph Road, Taylor, Michigan, was torn down, and that is what communism and socialism and progressivism and Marxism and liberalism and such lead to--nothing or death.
Addendum 5:
    I have a document on the Internet that is about the broadcast services of AAA Michigan, covering the period of time from 1965 to 2009, and the document can be reached through this AAA Michigan Broadcast Services link. WKNR-AM had a publication called Inside Keener, and the edition for July 23, 1969 (volume 2, number 27), talked about the AAA Michigan's "Bring 'em Back Alive Holiday News Service." The edition of Inside Edition (which had Grace Potts as the editor) noted--"On June 26, the Automobile Club of Michigan sent a notice to all their Detroit area Department Heads and Division Managers which stated: 'Please alert your employees to the following: All employees who can do so are urged to listen to radio station WKNR, 1310 on the dial at 10 p.m. Sunday, June 29, or WKNR-FM, 100.3 on the dial, at 10 a.m. Sunday, July 6. WKNR has done a half hour documentary showing how our "Bring 'em Back Alive" Holiday News Service Works. This program is not being paid for by Auto Club. It is a public service work of Station WKNR that is a tribute to your club and its good public service.'". For many years, I worked as a writer and announcer for the AAA Michigan broadcast services.

###

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"In the Public Interest." Broadcasting, 2 January 1950, pp. 38 and 39.
"News." Broadcasting, 2 January 1950, p. 62.
"Our Respect to: Frederick Austin Knorr." The Billboard, 4 September 1950, pp. 38 and 68.
"People." Broadcasting, 10 November 1958, p. 92.
"Phil Delta Win All-State Sing." The Michigan Daily, 28 October 1947, p. 1.
"Phillies Hear Sims Talking." Broadcasting, 12 February 1960, p. 39.
"Platter Spinner Patter." The Cash Box, 15 March 1952, p. 5.
"Platter Spinner Patter." The Cash Box, 12 September 1953, p. 5.
"Platter Spinner Patter." The Cash Box, 12 August 1961, p. 21.
"Quick Change." Broadcasting, 30 August 1948, p. 83.
"Robin Seymour Disc Jockey Veteran at 25." Detroit Free Press, 27 August 1951, p. 29.
"See 4-Way Det. Battle." Billboard, 16 November 1963, p. 46.
"Sponsored Events." The Billboard, 6 September 1947, p. 78.
"Talk of the Trade." The Billboard, 30 August 1947. p. 15.
"Technical." Broadcasting, 25 August 1947, p. 58.
"Ten Shows Sponsored by Detroit Druggists." Broadcasting, 3 May 1948, p. 76.
"The Audition Winners: Five Named." Detroit Free Press, 2 August 1965, p. 14.
"Tom Breneman Mourned by 5 Million Housewives." Detroit Free Press, 29 April 1948, p. 20.
"Views at Every Newscast on WKMH." Broadcasting, 26 May 1958, p. 92.
"Vox Jox." The Billboard, 26 February 1949, p. 23.
"Vox Jox." The Billboard, 24 June 1950, p. 24.
"Vox Jox." The Billboard, 14 August 1971, p. 22.
"WDTW (AM)." Wikipedia, 7 July 2021, 17:27 (UTC).
"Western Waxwheel." The Billboard, 11 December 1948, p. 39.
"WJBK, WKMH to air Tigers' spring games." Detroit Free Press, 3 March 1952, p. 27.
"WKHM Makes Debut." Broadcasting, 10 December 1951, p. 56.
"WKMH Loses CBS Following MBS Deal." Broadcasting, 13 June 1960, p. 87.
"WKMH 'Quad-header'." Broadcasting, 18 September 1950, p. 35.
"WKMH to Adopt New Frequency." Detroit Free Press, 15 August 1948, p. 1.
"WKMH To Air U-M Grid Games." The Detroit Tribune, 26 August 1961, p. 7.
"WKNR is New Name for Station WKMH." Detroit Free Press, 31 October 1963, p. 39.
cmarcucci. "WDTW-AM radio towers come down in Detroit (video)." rbr.com, 14 January 2013.
Chandler, Michele. "Rolling with Uncle Russ Gibb--to the top of Cable TV." Detroit Free Press, 21 April 1983, p. 207.
Goldsborouth, Bob. "Marty McNeeley, 1926-2013." Chicago Tribune, 3 April 2013, p. NA.
Hall, Claude. "Bandstand TV Scene Bears Watching." The Billboard, 22 October 1966, p. 34.
Hall, Claude. "Promo Men Valuable Tools, Asserts CKLW." Billboard, 30 September 1967, pp. 34 and 36.
Kiska, Tim. "Art Cervi, Detroit TV's Bozo the Clown in the 1960s and '70s, dies at age 86." freep.com, 18 February 2021, 6:48 a.m. ET.
Osgood, Dick. "Backstage Reunion Spent Watching TV." Detroit Free Press, 11 January 1952, p. 27.
Osgood, Dick. "Spring Brings Talent Shuffle at WXYZ." Detroit Free Press, 1 April 1952, p. 25.
Osgood, Dick. "WKMH Steers Clear of Baseball Fight." Detroit Free Press,, 6 May 1952, p. 29.
Peterson, Bettelou. "Joe Van Now, About Good Music." Detroit Free Press, 7 November 1966, p. 66.
Press, Heidi. "Audio to Visual." The Detroit Jewish News, 10 August 1984, pp. 80 and NA.
Sippel, Johnny. "Folk Talent and Tunes." The Billboard, 1 March 1949, p. 39.
Sippel, Johnny. "Folk Talent and Tunes." The Billboard, 9 April 1949, p. 29.
Baber, David. Television Game Show Hosts: Biographies of 32 Stars. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2008.
Palazzolo, Laurie. Horn Man: The Polish-American Musician in Twentieth-century Detroit. Detroit, Michigan: Wayne State University Press, 2003.
Note: I saw a webpage related to "Radiowworld.com" called "Engineers Martin, Shore Are Honored by Michigan Association", which was dated March 12, 2008.
Note: I saw obituary information for Fred Remley, which had been published in the Ann Arbor Press on October 27, 2019, and I found a version tied to "Localwiki.org".
Note: I saw obituary information on the Internet for "Louise 'Lou' J. Lobsinger" related to "temrowskifamilyfuneralhome.com".

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