by Paul Schmidtbleicher

As a youngster, I became enamoured with electrical things and radio. I received my first radio for Christmas - a one transistor kit from Remco. I put up the fifty foot wire antenna, found a good ground pipe and was listening to the strongest station in Detroit, WJR. I could also get CBE Winsor, Ontario. The programing there was classical music and hockey games.

As I entered early teen years, I came across a treasure in the Detroit alleys walking home from school - an old clock radio. The cord had been cut, but I brought it home, attached a cord and plugged it in. Sparks flew as one of the tubes lit up like a Christmas light. It was the 35W4. My dad usually kept all his old tubes he had replaced at the corner drugstore and sure enough there was a 35W4. It said "weak' on the box. I plugged it in and tried the radio again. WOW - there was sound and I was in business.

Now there was WXYZ, CKLW, WKNR, and WJBK. I listened to Tom Clay, Joel Sebastian, Lee Alan, Bob Green, and all the WJBK DJ's. They soon became my favorites.

And WJBK would become my favorite station in the mid 1960's. I lived on the east side of Detroit only to find the signal dropping off the dial at sunset. Those days they broadcast an AM-FM simulcast. On a limited budget I could not afford an FM radio, so I built a one tube FM radio (superregenerative circuit) to listen to WJBK. The fidelity was fantastic. Later I saved to buy a standard FM set.

The exhibits in my collection are reel-to-reel recordings of the "Jack the Bellboy" show on WJBK-FM made with my one-tube receiver. One of the commercials features Joel Sebastian doing a "Detroit Dragway" spot. Other WJBK personalities are also included.

The Repository thanks The Reverend Paul Schmidtbleicher for sharing!

Bob Layne, WJBK-FM Detroit, January 11, 1964, Part 1 (50:06)

. . . Bob, on the musical Layne . . .

Bob Layne filled some of WJBK's "Bellboy" time slots on the weekends in 1964. As I recall, he played more music than most and the show was very fast-paced. This was also the period of the English "invasion" and the subsequent changes taking place in the Rock and Roll era as the Beatles and others came on the scene.

[Uncle Ricky adds:] What a great playlist - Definitely Detroit, with lots of surprises! Our friend Jim Hampton says that Bob Layne (Bob Liggett, Jr.) worked at a number of stations in Detroit, then became a group owner of stations in Michigan and California. He sold them and bought the Bob's Big Boy restaurant chain, where as of 2007, he was the CEO.

This aircheck was recorded by the contributor and contributed EXCLUSIVELY to REELRADIO. Do NOT copy, trade or sell this recording. Duplication or distribution is a violation of REELRADIO Terms of Service.

Bob Layne, WJBK-FM Detroit, January 11, 1964, Part 2 (56:00)

This Exhibit 'SCOPED (17:36)

Description by Uncle Ricky

Young Bob Layne really gets warmed up during this second hour of his Saturday night show on WJBK AM&FM from January 11, 1964.

Bob has assorted sounds and circular signals, including Diamond Disks from the hall of treasured tunes and lots of golden flashbacks. No explanation for the five seconds of silence, but check out the program lineup on WJBK-TV 2, The Star's Address For the Middle West, on Sunday night!

This aircheck was recorded by the contributor and contributed EXCLUSIVELY to REELRADIO. Do NOT copy, trade or sell this recording. Duplication or distribution is a violation of REELRADIO Terms of Service.

Robin Walker, WJBK-FM Detroit, March 27, 1964, Part 1 (55:51)

. . . We're the last of the big spenders, Diamond Jim JBK, that's what they call us . . .

Robin Walker was the weekday "Bellboy" in 1964 when I recorded this to take a snapshot of my "Top-40" years. I listened many hours to Robin Walker. With the clock radio, he put me to sleep every night.

There were several "bellboys" beginning with Ed McKenzie — who was before my time. However, I listened to Tom Clay, Dave Shafer, Terry Knight, and Robin Walker. I could only record Walker because I didn't own a tape recorder until the mid-60's. This show was competing against the mini-giant 5KW WKNR "Keener13" in Detroit, and Bob Green.

This aircheck was recorded by the contributor and contributed EXCLUSIVELY to REELRADIO. Do NOT copy, trade or sell this recording. Duplication or distribution is a violation of REELRADIO Terms of Service.

Robin Walker, WJBK-FM Detroit, March 27, 1964, Part 2 (56:00)

. . . This is Robin Walker on a high-speed ride through the night . . .

Here's Part Two of Robin Walker on Detroit's WJBK-FM from March 27, 1964. Robin was the weekday "Bellboy" in 1964.

He serves up another excellent selection of old-school Top 40 with a definite Detroit flavor.

This aircheck was recorded by the contributor and contributed EXCLUSIVELY to REELRADIO. Do NOT copy, trade or sell this recording. Duplication or distribution is a violation of REELRADIO Terms of Service.