Rhythm of Charleston Song.... Video

[CoolBreeze]

I ran across an old 45 that I bought many years ago. It was made for and sold for WKAZ radio in Charleston.
I have added photos just so you don't have to watch a record spinning around for 3 minutes. (I shot the photos) If you listen closely, you can hear the words "I see you on the Kanawha in summer". The photo of the girl on the banks of the Kanawha reflect this. As I have no professional video equipment, this is not the best but that's ok... because it's all about the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1IcVbW_Gh8


The song is sung by Jim Kirk. He was part of .....

TM PRODUCTIONS
TM Productions was the brain child of Jim Long and Tom Merriman, both whom started TM Productions in the back room at CRC in 1967.
Prior to TM Productions, Tom created and sold jingles as an independent producer, as a company owner, as a staff writer "creating work for hire" and in partnerships with others as sales agents. And he would wear more than one of these hats at a time.

All of these various creative positions for Tom resulted in some rather distinct groups of radio jingles and commercials. TM Productions represents a creative period for the company carrying Tom's name that stands apart from his other ventures. The work was the joint effort of a very dedicated staff of writers, arrangers, singers, and salesmen who were to create the "sound" of radio across America in the late 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s.

[Hoosier Daddy]

Oh! My! God! It's been 35 years since I've heard any variation of that song. TM did indeed handle WKAZ's imaging probably around 1977 or so, after the "All American" and the WABC/WLS style "MusicRadio" themes from PAMS had played out. WKAZ had a jingle package, KRT bus placards, and billboards designed around TM's theme. They used an accapella jingle "The Rhythm of the City is Ninety-Five K-A-Z" on the air during that period that usually went right into a song. A few years back, I talked to former WKAZ program director Charlie Cooper and even he had no idea what ever happened to any of the Rhythm of the City imaging remnants. You have an absolute *GOLDEN* find there, Jerry, on a piece of Charleston's AM radio history. Nice work with the photos for the YouTube video, too ...

For those who remember, TM also produced the "WGNT Sounds Like the Tri-State" imaging used in Huntington during the same time period. All of that got pitched when 'GNT suddenly went country in the early 80s.

[fearpeddler]

ALL WHO HAD PART IN THAT HANG YOUR HEADS.... HANG THEM IN DIRE SHAME, MY MONITOR AND SPEAKERS NOW SMELL OF PATENT LEATHER AND HAIRSPRAY FROM THE 90 SECONDS I FORCED MYSELF TO LISTEN TO THAT, YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED FOR EVER ADMITTING ANY PART IN THAT.... EWWW..... dont take it personal, I cant stand most anything that came out of the 70's..... I did love the pictures though, some of em were gorgeous....

that does inspire me to take some current pictures of the charleston I see and recut that..... bet mine would fit that nasty music....

[CoolBreeze]

Thanks! I got lazy and didn't pull my better photos from the 300 CDs that I have them on and add more variation. Maybe later I'll do that.

I think the song is cool simply from it's historical perspective.

[fearpeddler]

i dunno, maybe the more current pictures made me not like the song as much in terms of it being a histrorical piece.

[fmksey]

Really cool! Here is another version but for WCSC in Charleston, SC. Wonder if the talent ever got confused over the two Charlestons when recording?

http://www.wcscradio.com/audio.htm

[Clay JD Walker]

The master reel for that Rhythm of Charleston package /was/ upstairs up in the storage area at Bristol Broadcasting...I may still have a dubbed out copy of it somewhere on some hard drive...not great quality, but it gets the job done.

[CoolBreeze]

Does anyone know if they pressed 45s and sold them in every market that they offered the package?

[Hoosier Daddy]

Does anyone know if they pressed 45s and sold them in every market that they offered the package?

Well, yes. Sort of. It was available as part of the whole imaging deal from TM. WGNT didn't get the record pressed, but they did get a 3 minute reel-to-reel version of the "Sounds Like" song customized for Huntington. It was carted and played a handful of times on the air, but the song was too unweildy and really didn't fit the 'recognizable adult contemporary hits' format that 930 aired at the time, so it was quietly dropped.

[CoolBreeze]

That's what I thought. Not every market had the record. That makes it a little more valuable then. I'll have my great grandchildren put it on E-Bay 50 years from now and maybe get $25.

[RadioCriminal]

Thanks for whipping up this tasty concoction. Nice job with your photos. They really do convey a lot of feeling.

I had never heard the song or the jingle package. Clever of them to expand the lyrical hook into a full blown story. IMHO anything ever produced by TM deserves an attentive listen.

[Dave Allen]

Well, someone has to say it...who is the dark-haired girl?

[CoolBreeze]

Her names Rachael. She's the Drink Girl at Quaker Steak & Lube on Bike Night. She also goes to Marshall where she made the Deans List. She stands maybe 5 feet tall.

[Hoosier Daddy]

Sweet Jesus.

I never wanted to be a motorcycle seat so much in my life.

[CoolBreeze]

Yes she is!!

[Dave Allen]

She make make me forget "girl in the box"