Time for a musical Bill affair (Listen to the jingle). Bill was still with us in the late 70s with a neat brew of swing. Bill was the one on "Quarter Century of Swing" for AFRTS. We lost Bill in 1993 to heart failure. Bill graced KMPC, 1951-59; KGIL, 1965-66; KRHM, 1966 and 1969; KGIL, 1973-75.
Bill Stewart was another of the KMPC talent that had the AFRTS gig, He was the Bill of the KMPC jingle..."Ira, Johnny, Bill and Dick!" Bill graced LA playing his mixture of Swing, jazz and MOR at several great stations.
KMPC, 1951-59; KGIL, 1965-66; KRHM, 1966 and 1969; KGIL, 1973-75. For Armed Forces Radio he hosted "A Quarter Century of Swing." In 1969, the 30-year veteran was honored with a concert at the Palladium. For 20 years he did in-flight airline music programming. Bill died in 1993 of congestive heart failure.
Don Browne has some insights: Not all AFRTS-LA radio show hosts methodically recorded their programs at the beginning of the RU8-week cycle-to-air. Of course, all AFRTS stations and networks held the RU "on the floor" for an additional 3-weeks as a protection for four-class mail delays enroute. The only exception was AFVN in Saigon, RVN who aired the RU and RP ("Date With Chris") the week that it was received. Saigon had daily flights from Travis AFB, CA and didn't have to worry about delay in four-class mail deliveries.
Bill Stewart, and a few other hosts, recorded and stored their shows at AFRTS-LA for four to six months prior to air. Although the programming was 5-55:00 at the beginning, it was considered "ever green" by the LA producers. Bill Stewart never mentioned "it's the Monday edition" or "it's the Tuesday edition" the way Roger Carroll did for his 5-55:00 series. I believe this was due to the inordinate delay in recording the Bill Stewart Shows. He just didn't know what day the show was to be aired!
When Bill Stewart says "this song is a new release", it really isn't. . .it's four to six months old!
Because of the long "lead-time" in recording the Bill Stewart Shows (at the request of Bill himself), I reviewed and logged a year of the Bill Stewart Show to determine if there was a detrimental effect on the program. This took about two weeks of auditioning the pristine discs in the Library of Congress. I saved the "Bill Stewart logs" when I retired from AFRTS in January 2001.
Bill Stewart is back for another swinging hour. It's a little jumpy near the beginning but it fills the Bill..
There were a lot of interviews. The biggest stars found time to talk for the troops. Bill Stewart talkd with Mel Lewis from the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra in 1969.
Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday and Leonard Feather
Bill Stewart swung. He played a lot of the best of jazz. AFRTS had a lot of famous guests on the radio shows. Leonard Feather had a unique role in the history of jazz, responsible for a lot of legendary recordings. By the 1950s he was documenting the "Encyclopedia of Jazz" with a lot of first hand knowledge and friendships. In 1969 volume two had come out and Leonard made an appearance on the Bill Stewart show..
Great jock, swinging tunes. It's time for your Musical Bill Affair! Bill was also a successful record producer that played a lot of his songs on the air at KMPC. That became an issue.
We counted them down. The first rock countdown show was Rocketing Rhythms, usually hosted by Jack Brown. Today Jack is on vacation and KLACs Bill Stewart steps in with the hits from the pages of Cash Box. Here are the pre-Beatles years hits!
It's time for a "Musical Bill Affair," a phrase that's as intriguing as it is mysterious, originating from a jingle. Bill was a renowned talent at KMPC during 1951-59, and subsequently worked at KGIL and KRHM. His acclaim extended to record production, culminating in a celebrated concert at the Hollywood Palladium in 1969. Bill also curated in-flight music programming. Sadly, we bid farewell to Bill in 1993, when he passed away due to congestive heart failure.
We counted them down. The first rock countdown show was Rocketing Rhythms, usually hosted by Jack Brown. Today Jack is on vacation and KLACs Bill Stewart steps in with the hits from the pages of Cash Box. Here are the pre-Beatles years hits!
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