Ron-Remember WVON
Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 10:09 pm
Ron-do you remember the other great station Chicagoland's WVON, THE VOICE OF THE NEGRO, 1450 ON YOUR RADIO DIAL, the great R and B station? They would almost always be the first to air ANY Dionne Warwick single in the midwest. Here I Am from the summer of 65 went to around number 1 at WVON in the summer of 1965 as did Alfie in 1967. The following sums up my feelings about those who say (but don't really know) that Dionne did not appeal to black audiences.
A lot of people compare Dionne Warwick and Aretha Franklin. Is there a female singer around past or present with as deep a catalog as Dionne Warwick? I honestly can’t think of many. You might say Aretha Franklin, the first female inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Is Aretha deserving? You betcha. Aretha is an icon and also an anomaly. Aretha’s catalog is pretty deep. Aretha sold albums and singles by the millions beginning in 1967. But honestly, can the average person with an average knowledge of popular music name more than a handful (maybe five or 6 of Aretha Franklin’s singles? I can, for sure, because I know her catalog so well.
Aretha had lots of radio hits but it is Aretha herself that is remembered so well and not necessarily her vast catalog. I am making the argument that comparing Dionne and Aretha are like comparing a fine wine to the best dinner you could ever have. I say each stands on their own, yet a fine wine complements that meal very nicely. There is room for both. Dionne has even been criticized for “selling out†and being too popular with white supper-club audiences. That Dionne Warwick’s music could not be pigeonholed into the R and B category is the anomaly. Black artists struggled for years to gain acceptance across the board, Dionne was, if not the first, among the very first black female singers in the rock era to gain that acceptance. She did it by being herself, and not allowing the public or critics define who she was or should be. The public loved Dionne and did not care what bag she was in. Yet that same acceptance branded her as “selling out†and being “too whiteâ€. It is also interesting to note that it is only after the arrival of Aretha on the scene in 1967 (the Atlantic Years), that Dionne began to be criticized for “not being black enough†and usually by white critics! As Cissy Houston, Dionne’s aunt stated “How black is black enough?†Dionne, a strong independent black woman, broke down doors that later Aretha, Diana Ross and those after her would walk through. Yet she receives little credit and has not even been considered by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to date. What a crime.
Does anyone know that Dionne’s records charted consistently well on the R and B charts? As an R and B female artist, she is second only to Aretha. A study of the R and B charts from 1962 through 1974 reveals the truth. Dionne’s fan base crossed all boundaries and she was as popular with blacks as she was with whites. How may of you know Alfie, a seminal single release in Dionne’s catalog, actually charted at number 5 on the R and B charts and number 15 on the hot 100? ALFIE?? In early 1967, a disc jockey at the top R and B radio station in New York City stated that he would not play Dionne Warwick records on his stretch of morning drive time because she was “too white and sold out.†Not long after that, in the summer of 1967, Dionne’s Alfie became the number one single on that particular radio station and callers deluged the station with requests to play the tune. The DJ played Dionne’s hit over and over! Dionne called the DJ and stated, “Who is that white girl you keep playing on your radio station?†The DJ stated, “Oh that’s not a white girl, that’s Dionne Warwick. She’s a black girl.†Dionne answered, “Well, this IS Dionne Warwick and you said I was too white to play on your radio station, so take my record off your station!†The DJ promptly apologized to Dionne on the air!
This also tells me that we can not pigeonhole black record buyers in the sixties, or make assumptions that Dionne was not popular with a black audience. What other surprises does an examination of Dionne’s chart history reveal? Out of 69 chart hits from 1962 through 1998, 54 placed on the r and b charts. Dionne placed 19 of those singles in the r and B top twenty! Some black folks somewhere liked Dionne. Is it not sort of racist to assume that Dionne was too “uptown†and “too white†to appeal to blacks? This is just my editorial opinion!
A lot of people compare Dionne Warwick and Aretha Franklin. Is there a female singer around past or present with as deep a catalog as Dionne Warwick? I honestly can’t think of many. You might say Aretha Franklin, the first female inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Is Aretha deserving? You betcha. Aretha is an icon and also an anomaly. Aretha’s catalog is pretty deep. Aretha sold albums and singles by the millions beginning in 1967. But honestly, can the average person with an average knowledge of popular music name more than a handful (maybe five or 6 of Aretha Franklin’s singles? I can, for sure, because I know her catalog so well.
Aretha had lots of radio hits but it is Aretha herself that is remembered so well and not necessarily her vast catalog. I am making the argument that comparing Dionne and Aretha are like comparing a fine wine to the best dinner you could ever have. I say each stands on their own, yet a fine wine complements that meal very nicely. There is room for both. Dionne has even been criticized for “selling out†and being too popular with white supper-club audiences. That Dionne Warwick’s music could not be pigeonholed into the R and B category is the anomaly. Black artists struggled for years to gain acceptance across the board, Dionne was, if not the first, among the very first black female singers in the rock era to gain that acceptance. She did it by being herself, and not allowing the public or critics define who she was or should be. The public loved Dionne and did not care what bag she was in. Yet that same acceptance branded her as “selling out†and being “too whiteâ€. It is also interesting to note that it is only after the arrival of Aretha on the scene in 1967 (the Atlantic Years), that Dionne began to be criticized for “not being black enough†and usually by white critics! As Cissy Houston, Dionne’s aunt stated “How black is black enough?†Dionne, a strong independent black woman, broke down doors that later Aretha, Diana Ross and those after her would walk through. Yet she receives little credit and has not even been considered by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to date. What a crime.
Does anyone know that Dionne’s records charted consistently well on the R and B charts? As an R and B female artist, she is second only to Aretha. A study of the R and B charts from 1962 through 1974 reveals the truth. Dionne’s fan base crossed all boundaries and she was as popular with blacks as she was with whites. How may of you know Alfie, a seminal single release in Dionne’s catalog, actually charted at number 5 on the R and B charts and number 15 on the hot 100? ALFIE?? In early 1967, a disc jockey at the top R and B radio station in New York City stated that he would not play Dionne Warwick records on his stretch of morning drive time because she was “too white and sold out.†Not long after that, in the summer of 1967, Dionne’s Alfie became the number one single on that particular radio station and callers deluged the station with requests to play the tune. The DJ played Dionne’s hit over and over! Dionne called the DJ and stated, “Who is that white girl you keep playing on your radio station?†The DJ stated, “Oh that’s not a white girl, that’s Dionne Warwick. She’s a black girl.†Dionne answered, “Well, this IS Dionne Warwick and you said I was too white to play on your radio station, so take my record off your station!†The DJ promptly apologized to Dionne on the air!
This also tells me that we can not pigeonhole black record buyers in the sixties, or make assumptions that Dionne was not popular with a black audience. What other surprises does an examination of Dionne’s chart history reveal? Out of 69 chart hits from 1962 through 1998, 54 placed on the r and b charts. Dionne placed 19 of those singles in the r and B top twenty! Some black folks somewhere liked Dionne. Is it not sort of racist to assume that Dionne was too “uptown†and “too white†to appeal to blacks? This is just my editorial opinion!