Comments on: RIP: Radio & Records last issue Friday

By: Lori Clapper

Lori Clapper — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:10:56 +0000

I can’t believe R&R is gone by the wayside! I loved reading the articles and getting ideas and just learning the biz better. I was part of the morning show that was featured i 2002 (that Joel referred to in his tribute) It was 7 years ago..but I still have it framed and, hands down, it’s a source of pride.

Thanks to R&R’s writers, editors and staff for all the valuable information through the years!!

By: Chet LaPrice

Chet LaPrice — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 03:49:44 +0000

Dan, you have singles in your collection that that Joel Whitburn needs for his

By: Dan Sheldon

Dan Sheldon — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:24:23 +0000

I am a chart junkie! Billboard for many years, scratch that, many decades was THE chart! As the 90’s approached and less singles were issued for songs, it was apparent that it affected the singles charts. Many songs got airplay without singles. Billboard didn’t rank these songs. Some big hits weren’t in their charts. That’s where R&R came into play. They charted what was on radio nationwide! They became THE charts! Even as of last week they were THE charts, Billboard still seemed less of what we were listening to. I hope Billboard continues to chart songs the way R&R did with radio play and have their seperate chart for sales.

By: Laura Faeth

Laura Faeth — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 14:57:13 +0000

Many fond memories of R&R when I was a research analyst at Katz radio in NYC back in the late 1980s. We’d circulate our copy around the department, and put our initials at the top after you’d read it and put it in the next person’s in-box. I was always walking around the office yelling, “Who’s got the latest R&R? I need it!!”

I even begged my boss to let me go to the R&R convention in Dallas (think that’s the city) but he said no. I was totally bummed to see my favorite band’s photo with a female convention goer in an issue about two weeks after the gig. The band had been milling around the convention and lots of people got their photos taken with them. I ran into his office screaming, “Look, Look! I told you I should have been at the R&R convention!” and I shoved the picture of the band (which everyone knew I was obsessed with) under his nose. He could have cared less. But I was pissed!

Though no longer in the biz (I’m an author now and published a book about my spiritual awakening with a famous rock band…go figure) R&R holds a special place in my heart. So sad it’s going to be gone forever.

By: Chet LaPrice

Chet LaPrice — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 22:49:51 +0000

The first issue of R&R I ever picked-up was in the old Schuster Theatre at Gannon University on West 7th. As an industry publication it pretty much covered all the bases (great shot of you posing with your article, Joel!). As Jim said above, it took time for the jocks to be able to get their hands on it and it was well-used by that time–sometimes with the “Jobs” section ripped-out . Articles and columns by Joel Denver, Lon Helton, Dan O’Day: lots of great stuff on the CONTENT side of the biz as well as the financial. During my days as WXTA Music Director the R&R Hot Fax (fax? What’s a fax?) was THE hot-off-the-press guide to national airplay, and being a Reporting Station got you status (as well as your name on the “Adds for the Week” page). My students use (used) the website regularly to help gauge which singles to add on WERG (hi, Zach!). It was a shock on Wednesday to hear that R&R was suspending operations immediately, and it will be missed. I got the news from AllAccess.com, a website which stands to benefit from the loss, and I’ve already heard that the format charts will turn-up in some form at Billboard.

By: JimGriffey

JimGriffey — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:51:26 +0000

Back in the 80’s, R&R had a “Grammy prediction” contest and the prize to whomever predicted the most winners was a year’s subscription to R&R.

I won it. And for a whole year I not only had R&R delivered right to my mailbox, but I also got all the promotional goodies that went along with it.

As I noted elsewhere R&R was great for many reasons, but chiefly because it presented the whole story of the business. Plus the music charts were very reliable…moreso than Billboard was back then…because they were based solely on airplay.

And the jobs section…which often took up 3-4 pages…was the reason most PD’s kept current issues hidden from the jocks.

Another end of an era…in a year in which there have been TOO MANY eras ended.

By: zach

zach — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:17:04 +0000

Joel, though I was at GU a few years after you, I share your memories of R&R– though for me it was the online version and at the 7th and Peach studio in the Walker Building. As a programmer in training, R&R was my bible! Sad to see it go!