KEWB Channel 91, Oakland
Fabulous Forty Survey
September 26, 1959
This Fabulous Forty Survey features a photograph of rising legend Gary Owens, who was honing his formidable radio skills at the Bay Area’s KEWB (“Color” Channel 91) prior to being turned loose in Southern California at KFWB (Channel 98) in 1961, and even greater national fame as the bizarre announcer on NBC-TV’s “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” (1968-1973).
On the survey itself (below), The Fleetwoods‘ “Mister Blue” has made the big leap from #8 into the top spot, while Paul Anka continues his string of hits, moving up to #2 with “Put Your Head On My Shoulder” even as Bobby Darin‘s signature tune “Mack The Knife” begins to move down the chart.
Elsewhere on the chart we find a cross-section of what Top 40 radio was like at Big Bay Radio as the 1950s drew to a close: everything from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir‘s “Battle Hymn of the Republic” to “Love Potion Number 9” by The Clovers, with healthy doses of Fifties stalwarts Pat Boone, Conway Twitty, Ricky Nelson, Connie Francis and Frankie Avalon to season the mix.
SOURCE: Bay Area Radio Museum Collection.
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