poppys said:

This is what Genesia said that I was co-signing. Is it better if I say agree with? It's just an expression.

.... You could just turn on the radio in the 70s and hear a much wider variety of music than you can today. And you could hear records everywhere - even neighborhood drug stores and five-and-dimes had record departments where you could ask them to play a record. People had house parties where they played records and there were record hops (dances) at school where they'd hire local DJs to spin. Kids who had stereos would put the speakers in the windows of their houses and blast the music outside, to listen while they were playing basketball or washing the car or whatever.

As far as I can tell from reading this thread, she is close to Prince's age. I am his age, and what she said above resonated with me too.

living in Minneapolis no matter our ages is the difference. I went to Florence South Carolina in 1985 and they were being New York by a jump. I had stuff they never heard of.

KUXL for example played a wide array of music late 60s into the 70s. Prior their was no 'rnb' radio playing. KUXL had time slots for all the music so if you missed the time slot you didn't hear. Diverse station, limited listening.

poppys said:

This is what Genesia said that I was co-signing. Is it better if I say agree with? It's just an expression.

.... You could just turn on the radio in the 70s and hear a much wider variety of music than you can today. And you could hear records everywhere - even neighborhood drug stores and five-and-dimes had record departments where you could ask them to play a record. People had house parties where they played records and there were record hops (dances) at school where they'd hire local DJs to spin. Kids who had stereos would put the speakers in the windows of their houses and blast the music outside, to listen while they were playing basketball or washing the car or whatever.

As far as I can tell from reading this thread, she is close to Prince's age. I am his age, and what she said above resonated with me too.

And the issue of access to music in the 70s vs 2019 ...

I said what I personally experienced in reply #53, there were nuances to having lived it. It's not life or death if we don't all perfectly agree, is it? Certainly not for me at least.

BrownMark talks Prince & the Revolution, the bass in Purple Music & the Minneapolis scene/sound

Yeah um the Minn Sound was interesting in how it developed we really didn't have a lot of access to RnB Rhythm and Blues music or Black music as they say They had comm supported radio stations

I remember way way back what was it called... KULX it was sun powered, so you couldn't hear the radio unless the sun was out
And so um I think we grew up listening to alot of modern Rock at the time ACDC groups such as that Journey you name it Boston
And that was our influence,and then with the little bit of RnB and little bit of funk that we could get in

the Minneapolis Sound arrived from a mixure a melting pot of that

poppys said:

I said what I personally experienced in reply #53, there were nuances to having lived it. It's not life or death if we don't all perfectly agree, is it? Certainly not for me at least.

Why do you post disconnected to a conversation?

KUXL

The station signed on the air on October 27, 1961 as KUXL and has a long history of being a religion-oriented radio station. In the 1960s and 1970s, KUXL played gospel and R&B music, prior to becoming full-time religious. During this period and for many years after, the station was restricted to daytime operation. Its studios and offices were originally located at 4820 Olson Highway in Golden Valley and later on Duluth Street. The transmitter and antenna were first co-located with KQRS (AM) on Highway 100 and later on the station's own tower a block away from the Duluth Street studios, next to Highway 100.

In the mid-1960s, the station was operated by Marvin Kosofsky. Kosofsky hired Bob Smith (a.k.a. Wolfman Jack), who relocated from Del Rio, Texas, to run the station with a mostly R&B format. Also at KUXL at this time were Art Hoehn (a.k.a. Fat Daddy Washington) and former KDWB personality Ralph Hull (a.k.a. Preacher Paul Anthony and The Nazz). It was this trio of broadcasters who took control of "border blaster" station XERB 1090, in Baja California, in 1965. They operated the "Big X" from Minneapolis initially, then relocated to Southern California in 1966.

KUXL sponsored numerous concerts by such artists as Ike and Tina Turner, the Four Tops, BB King, Solomon Burke, the Temptations, Jimmy Reed, Jr. Walker, the Impressions and Fats Domino.

KUXL was a ratings success in the early 1970s. Some of the on-the-air talent from that era included Maury Bernstein, a noted musicologist/folklorist who later hosted for National Public Radio. Bernstein was the major authority on Scandinavian music in the U.S. Bob Allard was famed Twin Cities talk show host and television (KMSP) newscaster. Allard was one of the best-known voices in Twin Cities broadcasting history. Allard was known for portraying the character "Cactus Jim" on both radio and television in Iowa in the 1950s. Chris Robbins, also known as John Ryan, also worked for WTCN-TV. Brian Tolzmann was the youngest major market news director in the country at the time. He later hosted a nationally syndicated radio show, and worked with former KUXL manager Wolfman Jack on several national concert shows. Steve Blitz and talk show hosts Joe Barbeau and Jim King were also part of the staff.

The call letters changed to KYCR in May 1988.

OldFriends4Sale said:

poppys said:

I said what I personally experienced in reply #53, there were nuances to having lived it. It's not life or death if we don't all perfectly agree, is it? Certainly not for me at least.

Why do you post disconnected to a conversation?

poppys said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Why do you post disconnected to a conversation?

I mean come on, people are having a conversation. If it isn't that serious why not reply to a person. It's passive aggressive.
if 3 people are out having a conversation, you don't turn to the wind and talk to the air, hoping the others know who you're talking to/what you're replying to.

If it isn't that serious, see ya

http://twincitiesmusichighlights.net/kuxl/

KUXL

KUXL – 1570 kc

Unlike most metropolitan areas, the Twin Cities did not have a black radio station in the 1940s or ’50s. Minneapolis’ black population had been consistently at or below 1 percent from 1870 to 1940. In 1950 it was 1.3 percent, and in 1960 it grew to 2.5 percent. It wasn’t until 1964 that the community could support a station that played music that was primarily by and for the black community, and by that time young white listeners were embracing black music as well.

KUXL went on the air in 1961 at 1570 AM as a 1,000 watt, daytime-only station. The station operated out of the Golden Valley Inn, a motel at 4820 Olson Memorial Highway. That address does not compute, but below is a photo of the Holiday Motor Hotel from 1955, described as being taken in 1955. That building exists today with the address of 800 Lilac Drive, and I’ll bet it’s the same one:

In an interview given for the Rondo Oral History Project of the Minnesota Historical Society, Yusef Mgeni remembered that KUXL “was a strange hybrid type of station. They would play gospel, and they would play Rhythm and Blues. And they would play some jazz, depending on which of the announcers was on or what day of the week or what time of the day it was, you’d turn the radio on and hear something different.”

---

An ad in 1962 is pretty ambiguous:

Radio is Sound!

KUXL Radio is a BETTER Sound

Hear it Yourself – Tune up to 1570 on your radio dial where you are never more than 2 minutes away from the Hi-Fi sound of good music, Associated Press news on the hour and half hour, latest in sports on the quarter hour.

You will enjoy tuning up to the quality sound of sound radio programming on KUXL. Top O’ The Radio Dial

Sun Up To Sun Down

---

The station had religious programming in the morning, including the B’nai Shalom Jewish Radio Hour. There were also German and Polish hours. Names of programs in January 1964 may give an indication of what the station was like, apparently dispensing a lot of wisdom and advice.

• Smile Awhile
• Inspiration
• Women Ask
• To the Kids
• Like to Know
• Just Thinking
• Interesting
• Mothers Ask
• Happy Marriage
• Explain It
• Happiness
• Look Younger

On December 16, 1964, afternoons changed from jazz to Rhythm and Blues KUXL sponsored dances at the Marigold Ballroom, and brought in national acts such as Ike and Tina Turner, the Four Tops, BB King, Solomon Burke, Chuck Jackson, the Temptations, Jimmy Reed, Jr. Walker, the Impressions, Marv Johnson, Al Green, Syl Johnson, Wilson Pickett, James Brown, and Fats Domino. In 1965 one of the programs was Rhythm ‘n’ Blues Time, presented live from the Cassius Bar and Cafe, 318 So. 3rd Street in Minneapolis and hosted by Prime Minister Billy G.

In 1964 the station was owned by Marvin Kasofsky of Los Angeles and Bob Smith, aka Wolfman Jack. Smith had created the Wolfman in 1958 at the 250,000 watt “border blaster” station XERF in Mexico, just over the border from Del Rio, Texas. The antics of the Wolfman were documented in the 1974 film “American Graffiti,” and were punctuated with ads for baby chicks (100 for $4), glow-in-the-dark statues of Jesus, and oldies albums from Uncle George’s Record Shop, owned by George Garrett here in Minneapolis. Smith was General Manager of the station and never appeared on the air here locally, but continued to make Wolfman tapes in the Golden Valley studio and ship them to Mexico. In 1966 he sold out to Kosofsky and went back to Mexico, this time to XERB, a 50,000 watt station in Tijuana. In 1974 he was into many projects, including a weekly syndicated show that was broadcast here on KDWB.

Also at KUXL at this time were Art Hoehn (a.k.a. Fat Daddy Washington) and former KDWB personality Ralph Hull (a.k.a. Preacher Paul Anthony and The Nazz). Hoehn and Hull went with Wolfman to XERB 1090. They operated the “Big X” from Minneapolis initially, then relocated to Southern California in 1966.

KUXL went to all religious programming; an intervieww with Henry Joiner of KMOJ indicated that there was no black music radio in 1970. The call letters of KUXL changed to KYCR in 1988. See the story in Twin Cities Funk & Soul Newspaper, page 27.

1967 bumper sticker courtesy Curt Lundgren (aka Evan Curfew)

OldFriends4Sale said:

violetcrush said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

KUXL

The station signed on the air on October 27, 1961 as KUXL and has a long history of being a religion-oriented radio station. In the 1960s and 1970s, KUXL played gospel and R&B music, prior to becoming full-time religious. During this period and for many years after, the station was restricted to daytime operation. Its studios and offices were originally located at 4820 Olson Highway in Golden Valley and later on Duluth Street. The transmitter and antenna were first co-located with KQRS (AM) on Highway 100 and later on the station's own tower a block away from the Duluth Street studios, next to Highway 100.

In the mid-1960s, the station was operated by Marvin Kosofsky. Kosofsky hired Bob Smith (a.k.a. Wolfman Jack), who relocated from Del Rio, Texas, to run the station with a mostly R&B format. Also at KUXL at this time were Art Hoehn (a.k.a. Fat Daddy Washington) and former KDWB personality Ralph Hull (a.k.a. Preacher Paul Anthony and The Nazz). It was this trio of broadcasters who took control of "border blaster" station XERB 1090, in Baja California, in 1965. They operated the "Big X" from Minneapolis initially, then relocated to Southern California in 1966.

KUXL sponsored numerous concerts by such artists as Ike and Tina Turner, the Four Tops, BB King, Solomon Burke, the Temptations, Jimmy Reed, Jr. Walker, the Impressions and Fats Domino.

KUXL was a ratings success in the early 1970s. Some of the on-the-air talent from that era included Maury Bernstein, a noted musicologist/folklorist who later hosted for National Public Radio. Bernstein was the major authority on Scandinavian music in the U.S. Bob Allard was famed Twin Cities talk show host and television (KMSP) newscaster. Allard was one of the best-known voices in Twin Cities broadcasting history. Allard was known for portraying the character "Cactus Jim" on both radio and television in Iowa in the 1950s. Chris Robbins, also known as John Ryan, also worked for WTCN-TV. Brian Tolzmann was the youngest major market news director in the country at the time. He later hosted a nationally syndicated radio show, and worked with former KUXL manager Wolfman Jack on several national concert shows. Steve Blitz and talk show hosts Joe Barbeau and Jim King were also part of the staff.

The call letters changed to KYCR in May 1988.

Great info!! At the first P&M show at PP, when Prince began playing and speaking about his early life in conjunction with the songs, he talked about radio being “cool” back then and he mentioned 2 DJs who knew how to pick the right records to play. He said one was “almost as funky as James Brown”, so he must have been listening to a lot of funk music. When he was talking about learning to sing and he started singing a few lines to a couple of R&B covers. I’ll have to listen to that again and post specific quotes. * Agreed also about Wendy and Lisa’s exposing Prince to music he hadn’t heard. I heard the story about Public Enemy as well. [Edited 5/17/19 19:22pm]

Okay, since (per poppys) I have a lot of posting stamina and I don't like to paraphrase or quote the wrong information, and I'm a pretty fast typist....here are the verbatim comments by Prince at his first P&M PP show January 21st, 2016 - one of my favorites:

*

Loud vocal echo introduction with Prince singing "My name is ??????? My only mission is to make you cry (whispers) happy tears of joy." "Electrified!! whispers ??????"

*

(whispers) "I wish I could play piano...he's only 3 yrs old. Maybe if I was bigger. Hmmm, maybe I'll just watch TV." (crowd cheers).

*

(whispers) "Here comes Dad...not supposed to touch it... but I wanna play it SO bad. There goes Dad....him and Mom are getting divorced now. I'm actually happy to see him go. But I'm only 7 yrs old. But, now I can play..."

*

(plays theme from Batman, then partial theme from The Man From U.N.C.L.E)

*

(whispers) "I can't play the piano like Dad though. How does Dad do that??"

*

(plays one of his Dad's piano riffs)

*

(whispers) "I wish I could sing....I wish I could....I guess I'll just listen to the radio."

*

(crowd boos and says "NOOOOO!!")

*

Prince says "Back then radio was cool though. Back THEN, radio was localized. We had a DJ named Ferrell Black, and Kyle Ray, and Jack Harris. Jack Harris had his own band - that's how funky he was. His band was as tight as James Brown's band, or close. I used to hear his music. He would choose what we listened to."

*

(plays and sings a bit of I Second That Emotion)

*

(whispers) I can't sing...(crowd cheers) Prince says "those guys could SING"

*

(plays and sings partial of Who's Loving You in his beautiful falsetto)

*

Prince says, "well, I gotta write some songs. That's how I'm gonna get in there."

*

(plays Baby and breaks down how he composed the song on the piano)

*

(plays I Wanna Be Your Lover)

*

Well on my way...trying to figure things out. One thing though...other than the story about the radio, I was on my own trying everything I could to find out who I was..."

*

(plays Dirty Mind)

*

So, it seems from Prince's words here that he and his Father did not bond at all with the music in his early childhood. That came later - after his success. Really quite sad that his Father did not support him and help him learn. Although, that probably gave him even more drive and determination to succeed.

*

I really love, love, love this show. It is Prince literally walking through bits of his early childhood desire to play music, and his rise as a musician/star through his words and his songs. I'm guessing he was working out his story for his Memoir around this time too. It's also very sad, as it seems he was letting go - as Lisa Coleman stated - she felt he was saying goodbye