Something in the Air: Radio, Rock, and the Revolution That Shaped a Generation

by Marc Fisher

A sweeping, anecdotal account of the great sounds and voices of radio–and how it became a bonding agent for a generation of American youth

When television became the next big thing in broadcast entertainment, everyone figured video would kill the radio star–and radio, period. But radio came roaring back with a whole new concept. The war was over, the baby boom was on, the country was in clover, and a bold new beat was giving the syrupy songs of yesteryear a run for their money. Add transistors, 45 rpm records, and a young man named Elvis to the mix, and the result was the perfect storm that rocked, rolled, and reinvented radio.

Visionary entrepreneurs like Todd Storz pioneered the Top 40 concept, which united a generation. But it took trendsetting “disc jockeys” like Alan Freed, Murray the K, Wolfman Jack, Cousin Brucie, and their fast-talking, too-cool-for-school counterparts across the land to turn time, temperature, and the same irresistible hit tunes played again and again into the ubiquitous sound track of the fifties and sixties. The Top 40 sound broke through racial barriers, galvanized coming-of-age kids (and scandalized their perplexed parents), and provided the insistent, inescapable backbeat for times that were a-changin’.

Along with rock-and-roll music came the attitude that would literally change the “voice” of radio forever, via the likes of raconteur Jean Shepherd, who captivated his loyal following of “Night People”; the inimitable Bob Fass, whose groundbreaking Radio Unnameable inaugurated the anything-goes free-form style that would come to define the alternative frontier of FM; and a small-time Top 40 deejay who would ultimately find national fame as a political talk-show host named Rush Limbaugh.

From Hunter Hancock, who pushed beyond the limits of 1950s racial segregation with rhythm and blues and hepcat patter, to Howard Stern, who blew through all the limits with a blue streak of outrageous on-air antics; from the heyday of summer songs that united carefree listeners to the latter days of political talk that divides contentious callers; from the haze of classic rock to the latest craze in hip-hop, Something in the Air chronicles the extraordinary evolution of the unique and timeless medium that captured our hearts and minds, shook up our souls, tuned in–and turned on–our consciousness, and went from being written off to rewriting the rules of pop culture.

Genres: Music, History, Nonfiction, Cultural

400 pages, Hardcover

First published January 9, 2007

About the author

Marc Fisher is a senior editor at The Washington Post, where he has been the enterprise editor, local columnist, and Berlin bureau chief, among other positions over thirty years at the paper. He is the author of Something in the Air, a history of radio, and After the Wall, an account of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany. Fisher wrote several of the Washington Post articles that won the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting in 2016 and the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2014.

For the writer of medical books please see this profile.

Reviews

[Andy Marlow]

As a person who spent 40+ years in the radio business, this was a very interesting book. The evolution (or devolution) of radio from my early listening days in the 1950s until retiring in 2009 was well documented. It was a bit New York and huge market centric for me. There was a lot of interesting stuff going on out here in the heartland that barely gets mentioned, and the role of public radio gets short shrift. I have never stayed in my car to listen to something on a commercial radio station that I just couldn't leave. That is exclusively a "public radio moment". But his thesis that "research" has meant the dumbing down, commodifying and homogenizing of radio (even, or especially, public radio) rings true. I felt myself alternately nodding my head and shaking it as I read through this book. I most frequently listen to my iPhone music (even though I have Sirius XM in the car), because it gives me a variety of music, not just the same old stuff. I get bored easily even with the variety of channels offered by satellite radio because they are so consistent and so canned. All in all, an enjoyable and interesting read from a particular perspective of a died-in-the-wool East Coaster.

[Tom Bass]

I love this book. I was one of those kids who jammed a hard plastic earplug in my ear at night, listening to far away clear channel AM stations like WLS Chicago, WKBW in Buffalo, WOWO in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and WABC New York from my bedroom in the tiny agricultural town of Edenton, NC (the colonial Capitol of North Carolina.) I played radio with my vast record collection accumulated with my paper route earnings, and ended up working on my local AM, WCDJ ask thru high school. I kept going, my first "cool" job was my last part time gig, at 100,000 watt WSFL in New Bern, NC (coincidently the town that took over Edenton's role as North Carolina's Capitol), then I was all around the dial: WHCN Hartford, WPLR New Haven, 3WV Charlottesville, Rock 107 in Scranton, before I realized what many of my peers realized - you love Radio, then one day you find out Radio doesn't love you back. People ask me if I miss radio, I do not. But I desperately miss what it used to be! I lived it for well over thirty years. I wouldn't change a thing. This book took me back. Read the book! We lost something great that we will never get back, but they can never take it away from this of us who lived it from either side of the dial.

[Laren]

The evolution of radio in the last century is explored in this comprehensive study. How it started, when/why DJs were kings, payola scandals, talk radio, public radio, deregulation of the airwaves, channel consolidation, the internet and satellite radio are all covered. The author drew on hundreds of sources, including personal interviews with many of the big names in radio history who can now comment with the benefit of historical perspective.

[Jrobertus]

This book details the story of American radio, from its birth in the 1920's through networks, to AM top 40, to the FM breakthrough and stereo/album rock, to talk radio, to subscriber radio,to satellite radio, and on to private podcasts. We meet a lot of characters along the way. My only complaint about the book is that, alth0ugh a work of love, it is just too long.

[Alissa]

When radio started, they didn't play the same song in a 24-hour time period. People didn't like that, they wanted to hear the same song over and over. We have those early American radio-listeners to thank for the fact that every time I turn on the radio, I have to hear that Sean Kingston song.

[Brent]

Devoured this from the library after reading a review in The Nation... I loved this overview of radio, and how the medium went from the "diverse cornucopia" of early FM - quoting WREK - to the wasteland of most of the current electromagnetic spectrum. Read this for perspective on possibilities...

[Marc Davis]

For anyone who grew up on Top 40 radio, especially in the '60s and '70s. It's no accident that AM/FM evolved the way it did. A fun read that takes readers from the birth of radio to XM and beyond. Entertaining and informative. Well done!

[Jim Bremser]

if you spent a lot of time listening to the radio as a kid, this is for you.

[EB]

Very interesting!

[Hapzydeco]

Well-written and researched history of radio.

[Laurie]

For those interested in radio and its history, this is the book for you. A very informative look into how radio got started, how it changed with society, and where it is today.

[Robert]

Nice evolution of radio programs.

[Lauren]

An extremely engaging, extremely well written history of radio. I particularly enjoyed the discussions on race.

[Amanda]

This book was written for dorks like me. I kept thinking, "These are my people!" Loved it, especially the chapter about overnight radio.