Title: Bill Gavin Reports
Inclusive Dates: 1958-1976

Creator:

• Gavin, Bill

Call Number: Micro 683

Quantity: 5 reels of microfilm (35mm)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Reports on music trends prepared by Bill Gavin, a radio program consultant, for use by program managers and disc jockeys in programming. Included in these bi-weekly reports, chiefly 1958-1971, are record evaluations and recommended playlists, information on personnel changes among local San Francisco Bay Area radio stations, and Gavin's comments on radio programming and the music industry.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-micr0683

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Bill Gavin, a radio program consultant in San Francisco, hoped to provide an information service to radio program managers and disc jockeys to aid them in their programming. His Gavin Reports provided a means for broadcasters to exchange information on the latest regional trends in music. The reports were based on telephone and mail reports of subscribers plus supplementary information obtained from listening audiences, distributors, and record sales reports. A final bi-weekly report, in addition to a weekly summary, listed the relative programming value of current records. (The reports were not concerned with the records' comparative national sales.)

Although their format changed through the years, the reports' essential elements remained: a recommended playlist; lists and evaluations of top, new record prospects; notes on personnel changes and general news of local radio stations and disc jockeys; and Gavin's comments on radio programming and the music industry. The reports in later years became specialized as separate record listings were provided for adult, rhythm and blues (R & B), country, and top 40 stations.

The bulk of these Gavin Reports span the years 1958-1971; there is only one report each for 1966 and 1976. In addition to listings of current and potential hits the reports provide an insider's perceptions of the changes the record industry underwent from 1958-1970 and their effects on radio programming. The reports discuss the payola scandal; the need for more constructive and varied programming to insure the exposure of new artists and sounds; the trend to listener rather than buyer-oriented programming; the growing popularity of country music and of rhythm and blues sounds, the latter formerly thought to appeal only to black audiences; the Beatles phenomenon and the increasing influence of British recording groups; the growth of album sales at the expense of single record sales and the effects of sub-teen domination of single sales; the rise of the protest song; the role Los Angeles R & B disc jockeys played in the Watts riot; the emergence of new progressive sounds on FM stations and rockless radio (an unnamed musical format) which posed a threat to top 40 AM stations; the efforts of news and program directors to reduce tensions with non-inflammatory reporting during the summer of 1968; the problems created by suggestive, controversial, and drug-oriented lyrics or album covers; and the efforts to design programming to appeal to varied demographic age groups.

The following chronological listing summarizes some of the major programming issues which Gavin mentioned in his reports:

1959	Discussed the payola scandal and the formation of Disc Jockey Association, Inc., a proposed professional organization. Discouraged the use of local retail record sales as a barometer of the public's music preferences.
1960	Encouraged stations to adopt varied programming rather than adhere to a rigid playlist format which made exposure for new artists and sounds difficult.
1961	Maintained that programming should make its strongest appeal to the widest cross-section of listeners.
1962	Discussed the growing advance of R & B music and the general problem of record distribution.
1963	Maintained that a station's best hope for the widest appeal was to combine teen-oriented sounds with “smoother” sounds. Believed that “rockers” and R & B selections had very limited mass appeal at this point.
1964	Criticized the overly tight playlist and noted a trend toward greater variety in musical selection and toward talented air personnel and showmanship. Discussed radio programming problems caused by the initial Beatlemania craze, the possible negative effects of concert tours on record sales, the growing impact of R & B on top pop programming. Acknowledged that British artists (Beatles, Rolling Stones, etc.) were not a fad and that American music was imitative rather than creative with R & B music being the exception.
1965	Noted the growth of country and R & B music and that they threatened to move into pop programming. Maintained that stations should select those R & B hits most acceptable to an average cross-section of the audience and that 100 percent R & B music would almost certainly lower ratings. Discussed the effects of local R & B disc jockeys during the Watts riot, particularly one disc jockey whose slogan, prior to the riot, had been “burn, baby, burn.” Reported on the emergence of the protest song in popular music and the growing strength of album sales over singles.
1967	Reported that the “color line” between R & B and top 40 music was fast disappearing. Discussed the change in top 40 stations which had become less adult and more teen-oriented and noted that as sub-teens began to dominate the singles market, the top 40 stations had more problems in reaching mass audiences.
1968	Mentioned the overall decline of single records and the domination of the sub-teen buyer in this category with the result that adult listeners abandoned the top 40 stations. Noted that AM stations which remained captive to the rating system lost the loyalty of the 15-25 age group to FM stations. Noted that album buyers were mostly young adults. Discussed reporting guidelines that were designed to reduce tensions during the summer of 1968, when many urban riots occurred.
1969	Expressed a desire for a formula which would capture adults and hold the younger listeners at the same time. Maintained that the top 40 format was repetitious and closed the door on variety. Noted the increasing problem of drug and sex-oriented lyrics.
1970	Discussed the broadcasters' problems with suggestive, controversial, and drug-oriented lyrics or album covers. Examined the programming music content of top 40 stations and noted that R & B and progressive FM stations were challenging them. Noted the lack of creativity in programming that was based on ratings. Discussed stations' efforts to win various demographic age groups via their programming.
1971	Maintained that national sales should not determine the relative programming value of records.

Acquisition Information

Originals loaned for microfilming by Bill Gavin, San Francisco, California, 1977. Accession Number: MCHC77-104

Processing Information

Processed by Christine Rongone, April 1978.

Reel   1 Frame   1	1958
Reel   2 Frame   147	1959
Reel   2 Frame   367	1960
Reel   2 Frame   569	1961
Reel   2 Frame   1	1962
Reel   2 Frame   307	1963
Reel   2 Frame   615	1964
Reel   3 Frame   1	1965
Reel   3 Frame   297	1966
Reel   3 Frame   303	1967
Reel   3 Frame   715	1968
Reel   4 Frame   1	1969
Reel   4 Frame   445	1970
Reel   5 Frame   1	1971
Reel   5 Frame   541	1976