I'm Right Again Dot Com       

A New Commentary Each Wednesday          Feb 12, 2014

OH, DO I EVER REMEMBER THE BEATLES...

   I wasn't always right. I was reminded this week of how I made a huge mistake as regards fame and fortune. Both came knocking at my door, unheeded. All I had to do was say yes; "Okay, let it be." I Just needed to get out of the way and let it happen.

   It was January of 1964. For four years, I had been the Manager of KTKT, an AM radio station that had become Tucson's first rock 'n roll powerhouse several years before I came on the scene. It had captured an audience greater than all other Tucson radio stations combined before I was sent to manage it. My job was to see that Art Linkletter, then a leading radio and TV personality, was paid off by my employers - who were purchasing the station from him. My focus centered on one goal: To send Linkletter $5,000 each month.

   By the time I came to Tucson, KTKT already had several small sideline income streams, supervised by a hometown talent, Frank Kalil,* who ran the programming side of the enterprise, as well as being the leading on-air personality at the radio station. He chose the on-air staff and told them what to do.

    His share of the total Tucson radio audience tuned in during afternoon drive-time was in the 80-percentile range, according to more than one national audience measurement firm - so high, we were afraid to announce it, for fear it would not be believed.

   KTKT's main income of course was from advertising sales. It had also worked out an arrangement with a local roller skating rink, Sunset Rollerama, whereby lesser lights of the recording industry would appear from time to time. Tickets would be sold and we would split the profit with the owners of the roller rink. I need to tell you that at that time there was only one place in town that could seat 2,000 people and that was Centennial Hall at the University of Arizona. It was unavailable then for, ugh, rock n' roll bands.

   I cannot remember the name of any of the flash-in-the-pan recording-artists or their forgettable hits once their 15 minutes of fame, or one week on the "Billboard Magazine Top 40 Hit List" was over with, but most were booked at the rink for $100 to $200, and a bus ticket out of town, for a one-night gig.

   If I remember correctly, the maximum number of bodies permitted in the roller rink by the Fire Department had to be maybe 300 at the most. Attendance was regularly over-subscribed. It was a modest financial success for the radio station and the owners of the roller-skating rink on those nights when skating stopped.

   The radio station had also worked out a Midnight Movie deal with the local Fox Theatre, rented out two army surplus searchlights and the disk jockeys participated in hotrod demolition derbies at a local dirt track. None of this extracurricular activity made much money, but it was part of the rock n' roll milieu. We were "What's happenin'?"     (Be there, or be square).

   Alright, have I set you up properly for the great denouement?  

   I get this call from a New York booking agent for many third tier makers of minor hits. He tells me that he has first dibs on a group of young English rock stars. The Brits simply adored them, and they were catching on here in the Colonies. They might even appear on the Ed Sullivan show.

   "How much," I asked warily. I showed minimal interest, but who knows? (I certainly didn't)

   "How about you book them for one night for a $2000 guarantee, plus a share of the gate?"

   "Two thousand dollars!" I yelled down the line. "This is Tucson Arizona, Baby! You know, rocks, the big cactus things, cows and coyotes." (I heard later from the Long Distance Operators at Mountain Bell, who were listening-in).

   It was his thing to be persistent. "But you can book them anywhere, Phil. How about Phoenix, or Vegas, or even a big ranch? Can't you find a big hunk of desert out there someplace? I'm telling you, the Beatles are going to be hot!

   "The ...what do they call themselves?

   "The Beatles. B-E-A-T-L-E-S.

   "Nah!" I told the booking agent. "I'm not going to risk $2000 or more on some kids who can't even spell the name of their group right." It did not occur to me that perhaps this had something to do with "The Beat Generation," but maybe it didn't, after all. It didn't matter. They just as well could have pulled it off had they named themselves the "Mop Heads."

    Nevertheless, I can't tell how may times since their appearance in America 50 years ago that I regretted my off-the-duff decision. Later, it came to me that maybe I could have rented the University of Arizona football stadium or Old Tucson, the location where movies and TV series were being shot. (I did both later, but those are two other stories)

    The following summer, I had to take my two teenagers to Los Angeles. Yes, in order to attend a Beatles concert at the Hollywood Bowl. We got stuck in a traffic jam at Sunset and Vine, surrounded by millions of other frantic teens, some of whom were in scores of stalled busses. At times, we could hear bits of faint amplified music and the roar of the crowd, but couldn't get close enough to actually see the Beatles. When they played in Las Vegas, an entrepreneur in Tucson rented four Greyhound buses and sold the tour to hundreds of young people and their escorts.

 -Phil Richardson, Storyteller and Observer of the Human Condition. 

*Frank Kalil became the preeminent broker of broadcast properties and outdoor advertising companies, and remains in Tucson.

Phil's current post can be read at:  http://www.imrightagain.com

If you wish to comment, Phil can be reached at:  

k7os (at) comcast (dot) net

"AgainRight"

Our unending thanks to Jim Bromley, who programs our Archive of Prior Commentaries