Radio & Records

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Author: Victor Stredicke

Former radio columnist for the Seattle Times (1964-1989). --- View other articles by Victor Stredicke
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5 thoughts on “Radio & Records

  1. In the “For The Record” listing of “The Top 20” in the Seattle area in March ’69 (based on sales information) #16 is “Tunesmith” by The Bards … a NW band originally from Moses Lake, whom I became acquainted with while I was PD/MD/deejay at KSEM-Moses Lake in the mid-60s. At the time they were known as The Fabulous Continentals because Ken McDonald, their then leader & drummer, was the son of the owner of the local Lincoln/Mercury dealership. Anyway, this particular song was written by Jimmy Webb, who was at the height of his career at that time … writer of such classics as “Galveston”, “Wichita Lineman” & “MacArthur Park”. The band chose Jeff Afdem of the Springfield Rifle (mentioned in the same section above) to arrange and produce that particular recording … which was released on Parrott Records (a U.S. subsidiary of London Records). The B-side of the record was “Good Time Charlie’s Got the Blues” which The Bards had hoped would be the A-side … and was written by another NW talent Danny O’Keefe, who would actually have a national hit with the song 3 yrs after The Bards’ version.
    Here’s a link to “The Tunesmith”:
    https://youtu.be/pb38_dRvRGg

    Perhaps The Bards most successful NW release was “The Owl & The Pussycat”.

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