Raised On Radio: National Disc Jockey Day

by Kevin Burton    The other day I was researching music and stumbled upon the Raised On Radio podcast. I thought, yeah, wish I had thought of that.    That’s me. I was raised on radio.    When I got back online to find it again, I found something entirely different called Raised On The …

Musical Genius Thom Bell Dead At 79

by Kevin Burton    Just as Philly Soul is unfairly overshadowed by Motown and Stax, Thom Bell didn’t always get the credit he deserved.     The producer, arranger and songwriter died Dec. 22 at the age of 79.  I never heard his name mentioned in the 70s when I was soaking in his Sound of …

Christmas Top 40: Up On The Housetop

by Kevin Burton    We don’t have Santa images at my house.  For us, Christmas is about Jesus.    But there is one Christmas song I have always loved that doesn’t fit that mode.  Hundreds of artists have recorded it. Possibly the most famous version was made by Gene Autry in 1953.     It was …

The Bible Is What’s Happening Now

by Kevin Burton    The late comedian Flip Wilson had an ongoing gag featuring a hip, fast-talking preacher who strayed for comedic effect, far from a right interpretation of the Bible.    His Flip Wilson Show aired Thursday nights on NBC from 1970 to 1974.  The recurring preacher segment came from what he called “The …

Disco Tunes That Rockers Can Tolerate

by Kevin Burton    Found another story last week on the animosity toward disco from rock and rollers in the 1970s.  This one contained a little surprise.    The story was under the headline, “Surviving the 70s: 12 disco songs even rock fans enjoy.”  It was written by Greg Brodsky on the Best Classic bands …

Of OSSB And A Bright Sunshiny Day

by Kevin Burton    How do you get to 50 years? It starts with a day, or a night.    Then, you turn your heart toward the sunrise, again and again.    There was a night when my parents put me into the family Delta 88 and drove me from our home in Yellow Springs …

K&J Points: Our Mercurial, Floating Currency

by Kevin Burton    I was born in the heyday of S&H Green Stamps. By God’s grace I have lasted into the era of bitcoin.    I learned barter by baseball cards before I ever heard the word barter. I used to get fistfuls of Pesos for teaching Mexican nationals how to speak idiomatic American …

Make It Happen For God Today

by Kevin Burton    The first time I ever heard the phrase “make it happen” was in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ fight song in the 70s.    The 70s-era Cavs are my all-time favorite pro basketball team.    A few years later the staff at the Frontiersman, the newspaper in Wasilla, Alaska where I worked, got …