Black Appeal Radio Stations
Just as independent record labels depended heavily on jukebox operators to buy their products, they also relied on "Black appeal" radio stations that appeared after World War II to make the new Black audiences aware of new records and artists.
The development of "Black appeal" radio stations (or stations that sought to appeal to Black listeners) in the post-war period was also a result of television introduction. In 1945 there were only six television stations licensed in the United States. By 1955 that number had risen to 411 stations, with most executives in the broadcasting and advertising industries believing that television was the way of the future. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the three major U.S. radio networks began to sell off local affiliates at rock bottom prices.
Between 1947 and 1955, the total number of AM The process of transmitting an audio communication by altering or varying the strength of the carrier wave. This was the initial method used to disseminate audio over broadcast radio. (Amplitude Modulation) that were network affiliates dropped from 91 percent of all radio stations to 31 percent. During the same time, total radio station advertising income fell 38 percent, yet the number of radio stations in most markets nearly doubled as mid-level entrepreneurs entered the radio business. In the early 50s, the world of broadcasting was a frenzy of probes, experiments, deals, and adjustments. Everything was in flux due to losing audience and programs to television.
Needing to reduce their overheads, these new entrepreneurs hired disc jockeysAlso referred to as a "DJ": a person who is often hired to perform at weddings, events or nightclubs to play pre-recorded music. They often use records and turntables to mix together multiple songs, manipulate, and edit music. to spin records rather than pay for live music performances or produce original drama or comedy shows, as mentioned earlier in this lesson. These new station owners also needed to differentiate their stations from their competition to attract what little advertising money did exist, finding new and targeted audiences in the process.
Like the success of the previously mentioned King Biscuit Show, in the fall of 1948, WDIA, a radio station based in Memphis, Tennessee, was broadcasting a typical mix of pop and country music. Facing bankruptcy, its owners, John Pepper and Bert Ferguson, both White, decided out of desperation to experiment by hiring a Black disc jockey and programming R&B records for the local Black community. Half of the listeners who could hear WDIA's signal were Black and WDIA hired the first Black disk jockey in the South. The video "Hidden History: WDIA Radio - The "Heart And Soul Of Memphis" provides some history about WDIA Radio.
Hidden History: WDIA Radio - The "Heart And Soul Of Memphis"
WDIA's experiment proved to be tremendously successful. WDIA soon became the second-best station in Memphis. After a switch to all-Black programming, WDIA became the city's top station. In June 1954, WDIA's powerful signal reached the Mississippi Delta's dense African American population. Listeners tuned in from the Missouri Bootheel to the Gulf Coast. The station reached 10 percent of the African American population in the United States. Many music legends got their start by working at WDIA, including B.B. King and Rufus Thomas. In 1949 there were four such "Black appeal" stations. Five years later, there were 200, and by 1956 there were over 400 "Black appeal" stations in the United States. Tellingly, only three were Black-owned.
Big Mama Thornton's "Hound Dog"
The lyrics are metaphorically about a "man," Although she refers to him as a hound dog, with lines such as "Daddy I know, you ain't no real cool cat" and "you ain't lookin' for a woman, all you're lookin' for is a home" she is speaking about a man.
Elvis Presley's "Hound Dog"
The lyrics are about the animal "hound dog" and how it's no friend of Presley's because he's often crying, is not high class, and has never caught a rabbit.