Music of Your Life
Encyclopedia
Music of Your Life is a satellite-delivered radio network featuring the Adult Standards
music format. Created by record executive and jingle writer Al Ham
, and now under the direction of Marc Angell, Music of Your Life has more than 50 AM, FM and HD-2 radio station affiliates, and has been in continuous operation since 1978.
The format is hosted by well-known celebrity DJs including TV game show
host and singer/entertainer Peter Marshall
as well as singer/entertainer Pat Boone
. Other on-air personalities include Lorri Hafer (a recording artist and member of the Hillside Singers who is also the daughter of the format's founder, Al Ham), Al Hardee, Johnny Magnus and singer Steve March Torme, son of legendary entertainer, Mel Torme, Telarc Records artist, Tony DeSare, Gold Label singer, Ryan DeHues and from Sydney Australia, Ben Starr. Les Brown, Jr. recently returned to the network with his own Friday, Saturday and Sunday show.
Over the years, the Radio Network has featured a "Stars Play the Stars" on-air lineup that has included such well recognized talent as TV game show
host Wink Martindale
, Gary Owens
from Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
and 1950s pop
superstar Patti Page
, as well as Southern California broadcasting's Chuck Southcott. A typical hour of music may include a wide variety of artists, ranging from Frank Sinatra
to Dean Martin
, Nat King Cole
to Tony Bennett
and Ella Fitzgerald
to Michael Bublé
, Nora Jones, Harry Connick Jr. and Jamie Cullum, to pop songs by artists like The Beatles
, The Association
, Petula Clark
, Elvis Presley
, the Carpenters
and Neil Diamond
.
, a veteran recording executive, decided to change careers in 1978. First he took time off from actual work, moving from New York City
to Huntington, Connecticut. Realizing that many of the songs he liked could not be heard on the radio, he decided to give the many fans of nostalgia/big band
music what they wanted to hear. Ham approached Dick Ferguson
, general manager of the Bridgeport, Connecticut
radio station, about changing the format. Ferguson agreed, and positive results followed. Ham continued to work toward improving the format, including asking listeners to submit a list of three favorite songs. With thousands of responses, Ham put together a list of 20,000 songs and "Music of Your Life" was born.
That same year, 1978, the name "Music of Your Life" was trademarked, the only radio format to do this. In fact, the original Music of Your Life jingle is one of the first sound recordings to be trademarked along with the 3-note NBC TV jingle.
Because the target audience
of this music was listeners over 50, Ham had difficulty selling the idea of syndication. Finally Jim West listened. West and Ham had both played bass—West in Las Vegas
, and Ham in the orchestras of Tex Beneke
and Artie Shaw
. Both men wanted to see their favorite music on the radio again.
Together, they convinced Bob Lappin of WMAS in Springfield, Massachusetts
(now WHLL) to play the music. After a year, the format had three stations. But the success of the format attracted many more affiliates. The original format consisted primarily of big hits by standards artists like Frank Sinatra
, Bing Crosby
, Peggy Lee
, Andy Williams
, McGuire Sisters, Four Aces
, Perry Como
, Mel Torme
, Lena Horne
, Tony Bennett
, Nat "King" Cole, Patti Page
, Johnny Mathis
, Barbara Streisand, Mills Brothers
, among others. Also Big Band
s of the 1930s and 1940s were played several times an hour and this included artists like Glenn Miller
, Duke Ellington
, Tommy Dorsey
, Artie Shaw
, among many others. The format also played a very limited selection of baby boomer pop. Most of these artists were quazi rock and rollers such as Connie Francis
, Ray Charles
, Pat Boone
, Bobby Vinton
, Platters, Bobby Darin
, Tom Jones
, and others. They played only a few songs by artists like Neil Diamond
, Barry Manilow
, and Elvis Presley
. More of this music would be added in the late 1990s.
Ham put the best of his music on reel-to-reel tapes
and used a scheduling method called matched-flow sequencing, which arranged songs according to regular chord progressions. The scheduling worked by giving local DJs a regular formula to employ. For example, one could play a song from Tape A then follow with a song from Tape C, but not from Tapes B or D. Ham's strategy worked very well. Most radio stations reported that people listened for 3 hours. Ham's stations achieved numbers four to five times that amount. More and more stations joined the network during the 1980s. Another strategy developed by Ham was having recorded messages by the very stars being played, such as, "Hi, this is Tony Bennett
, and I'd like to thank you for making the music of my life, The Music of Your Life." Then Ham, known for the State Farm commercials, added a theme song which the great stars also recorded.
Competing satellite networks of radio stations began. Stardust (now Timeless
by ABC Radio) and AM Only (now Dial Global's "Adult Standards," a/k/a "America's Best Music
"). Ham and West had to take advantage of the new technology in order to remain successful. Unistar Radio Networks, which distributed AM only, bought a majority interest in Music of Your Life and made it a satellite format in 1990.
Unfortunately, the new distributors of Music of Your Life wanted listeners in the 25 to 54 age group (the most desired audience for advertisers), while the music had been designed for listeners over 50. Ham, who had wanted to retire, had to take over once again. He realized that as Americans aged, perhaps advertisers would take an interest in the older audience once again. Ham redesigned the music, since someone 50 years old in the 1990s would be of a different generation than the 50-year-old he targeted in 1978. The job of finding affiliates came next.
Kerry and Tammy Fink worked at Mix 106 radio in northeast Georgia
, a station whose owners had taken over management of the troubled WCGX
. The area was becoming a popular place to retire and the Finks realized they should go after older listeners. Tammy, who was younger than the average fan of adult standards, had worked at a station playing this style of music and enjoyed listening to Music of Your Life with older relatives, persuaded Kerry to play this music. Others who worked at Mix 106 also enjoyed this music. Kerry contacted Ham.
WCGX became a test station. Record companies were taking advantage of new technology, and digitally remastered versions of the old songs became available, allowing the recordings to sound as good as when they were new. With only compact discs, the new Music of Your Life targeted older listeners as well as people like Tammy.
Kerry told Ham this format could be a success if he resumed satellite delivery to stations around the country. Kerry Fink started Music of Your Life Radio services Inc., which marketed Al Ham Productions' Music of Your Life. Later their company became Music of Your Life LLC.
The new station depended heavily on volunteers. Station manager Tim Johnston agreed to take charge of sales. Frank King, a member of the Mix 106 sales staff, had worked for Music of Your Life in St. Louis and took the morning shift, receptionist Kathy Lightfoot took the afternoon shift. WCGX asked listeners to tell others about the station and it soon became profitable.
One major development that showed promise for the format was performers such as Tony Bennett showing up on MTV
. Also, younger artists such as Harry Connick, Jr.
were making the music popular with young people. Films such as "Sleepless in Seattle," and a number of commercials, had used the music found in the adult standards format.
To overcome advertiser reluctance to go after the 50-plus audience, Ham and Fink studied successful adult standards stations from around the country, as well as the problems of those stations that were not doing well. They asked WBYU
New Orleans general manager David Smith to develop a training program for affiliates. WSAI
Cincinnati general manager Peter Zolnowski created a newsletter. Affiliates would be given whatever help they needed.
Ham knew Chuck Southcott, who had worked at Music of Your Life affiliates KPRZ and KMPC
in Los Angeles
. Southcott was working at KJQI, a successful adult standards station when Kerry and Ham asked him to develop a new version of Music of Your Life. Distribution required the highest quality, and Fink knew people at Dalet Digital Media.
And if the music was not supposed to be "old", neither were the announcers. Ham wanted DJs who had the attitude of radio personalities playing today's music. Ham and Southcott contacted two friends who were also radio veterans: Gary Owens
and Wink Martindale
. Jones Radio Network would distribute the format from Denver. The redesigned Music of Your Life made its debut from Los Angeles June 15, 1996.
When Frank Sinatra died in 1998, Music of Your Life played 36 straight hours of his music. Since more people listened to this special programming than to what the format usually aired, the popularity of the music with a new audience was reinforced.
Within a few years, there were nearly 200 stations, including WGUL
in the Tampa
market, whose chairman Carl Marcocci held the same position with Music of Your Life. Affiliates were learning that going after over-50 listeners was nothing to be ashamed of; these people were active and had lots of money to spend, and advertisers could reach them if they just made the effort. One of the most successful was KGIL in Los Angeles. Other success stories included WLUX
in Long Island
.
Part of the format's success was adding more contemporary artists such as Beatles, James Taylor
, Linda Ronstadt
, Rita Coolidge
and The Association
, as well as swing bands such as the Brian Setzer Orchestra and the Bill Elliott Swing Orchestra.
One of MYL's on-air slogans is "Where the Stars Play the Stars", featuring well-recognized personalities such as Wink Martindale, Gary Owens, Peter Marshall, Pat Boone and Patti Page serving as DJ's, and other performers featured on "Celebrity Weekend" including Steve Allen
, Lou Rawls
, Glen Campbell
, Shirley Jones
and Marty Ingels
.
In January 2008, Jones Radio Network created their own network of "Adult Standards" and entered into agreements with many Music of Your Life affiliates, bringing in their own DJ's and continuing as "Adult Standards".
Music of Your Life LLC entered into a Letter of Intent with entrepreneur Marc Angell and Concierge Technologies Inc. to acquire the assets of Music of Your Life - including its Music of Your Life brand and affiliates. A new distribution deal was made with Clear Channel Satellite Services, new automation equipment was purchased from Tune Tracker and Google Radio Automation (Scott Studios), with receivers coming from XDigital and Premiere. As the January 18th deadline hit, Music of Your Life emerged with just 12 affiliates.
Angell brought-in his own production and technical team, made programming and talent changes and set-out to rebuild the Music of Your Life brand. Despite a recessive economy and a faltering industry in general, Music of Your Life has quadrupled its affiliate base in just two years to more than 50 AM and FM and HD radio station affiliates in the US, with listeners on the Internet in 110 countries via the company's website http://www.musicofyourlife.com. Music of Your Life can also be found streaming on Apple's iTunes, FlyCast.fm, TuneIn.com, the Blackberry, iPhone, iPad, Android and Palm Smartphones.
Music of Your Life continues to add affiliates at the rate of 1-2 per month. With the advent of Arbitron's People Meter ratings system, the Adult Standards stations are actually seeing much higher ratings than previously noted. Combined with a steady stream of new recordings from singers of the Great American Songbook such as Jamie Cullum, Monica Mancini, Renee Olstead, Nikki Yanovski, Tony DeSare, Jane Monheit and a fifth installment from Rod Stewart, Music of Your Life is succeeding once again. The current on-air team is made up of entertainer Peter Marshall, best-known as the former host of Hollywood Squares; legendary recording artist, Pat Boone; Steve March-Torme, son of Mel Torme; record producer and big-band leader, Les Brown Jr.; Telarc recording sensation, Tony DeSare; Gold Label recording artist Ryan DeHues; the talented singer and award winning violinist, Calabria Foti; Lorri Hafer, singer and daughter of MOYL founder Al Ham; and radio vets Johnny Magnus and Al Hardee.
Adult standards
Adult standards is a North American radio format heard primarily on AM or class A FM stations.Adult standards is aimed at "mature" adults, meaning mainly those persons over 50 years of age, but it is mostly targeted for senior citizens...
music format. Created by record executive and jingle writer Al Ham
Al Ham
Albert W. Ham was an American composer and jingle writer. He was notable as the composer of the Move Closer to Your World music package used since the 1970s on WPVI-TV's Action News broadcasts in Philadelphia, as well as many on many other newscasts in the United States throughout the 1970s and...
, and now under the direction of Marc Angell, Music of Your Life has more than 50 AM, FM and HD-2 radio station affiliates, and has been in continuous operation since 1978.
The format is hosted by well-known celebrity DJs including TV game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
host and singer/entertainer Peter Marshall
Peter Marshall (game show host)
Peter Marshall is an American television and radio personality, singer, and actor.He was the original host of The Hollywood Squares, from 1966 to 1981. He has almost fifty television, movie, and Broadway credits...
as well as singer/entertainer Pat Boone
Pat Boone
Charles Eugene "Pat" Boone is an American singer, actor and writer who has been a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He covered black artists' songs and sold more copies than his black counterparts...
. Other on-air personalities include Lorri Hafer (a recording artist and member of the Hillside Singers who is also the daughter of the format's founder, Al Ham), Al Hardee, Johnny Magnus and singer Steve March Torme, son of legendary entertainer, Mel Torme, Telarc Records artist, Tony DeSare, Gold Label singer, Ryan DeHues and from Sydney Australia, Ben Starr. Les Brown, Jr. recently returned to the network with his own Friday, Saturday and Sunday show.
Over the years, the Radio Network has featured a "Stars Play the Stars" on-air lineup that has included such well recognized talent as TV game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
host Wink Martindale
Wink Martindale
Winston Conrad Martindale , known professionally as Wink Martindale, is an American disc jockey and television game show host.-Radio:...
, Gary Owens
Gary Owens
Gary Owens is an American disc jockey and voice actor. His polished baritone speaking voice generally offers deadpan recitations of total nonsense, which he frequently demonstrated as the announcer on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. Owens is equally proficient in straight or silly assignments and is...
from Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In is an American sketch comedy television program which ran for 140 episodes from January 22, 1968, to May 14, 1973. It was hosted by comedians Dan Rowan and Dick Martin and was broadcast over NBC...
and 1950s pop
Traditional pop music
Traditional pop or classic pop or standards music denotes, in general, Western popular music that either wholly predates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s, or to any popular music which exists concurrently to rock and roll but originated in a time before the appearance of rock and roll,...
superstar Patti Page
Patti Page
Clara Ann Fowler , known by her professional name Patti Page, is an American singer, one of the best-known female artists in traditional pop music. She was the best-selling female artist of the 1950s, and has sold over 100 million records...
, as well as Southern California broadcasting's Chuck Southcott. A typical hour of music may include a wide variety of artists, ranging from Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
to Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
, Nat King Cole
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
to Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
and Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
to Michael Bublé
Michael Bublé
Michael Steven Bublé is a Canadian singer. He has won several awards, including three Grammy Awards and multiple Juno Awards. His first album reached the top ten in Canada and the UK. He found worldwide commercial success with his 2005 album It's Time, and his 2007 album Call Me Irresponsible was...
, Nora Jones, Harry Connick Jr. and Jamie Cullum, to pop songs by artists like The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, The Association
The Association
The Association is a pop music band from California in the folk rock or soft rock genre. During the 1960s, they had numerous hits at or near the top of the Billboard charts and were the lead-off band at 1967's Monterey Pop Festival...
, Petula Clark
Petula Clark
Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
, Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, the Carpenters
The Carpenters
Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo, consisting of sister Karen and brother Richard Carpenter. The Carpenters were the #1 selling American music act of the 1970s. Though often referred to by the public as "The Carpenters", the duo's official name on authorized recordings and...
and Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
.
History
Al HamAl Ham
Albert W. Ham was an American composer and jingle writer. He was notable as the composer of the Move Closer to Your World music package used since the 1970s on WPVI-TV's Action News broadcasts in Philadelphia, as well as many on many other newscasts in the United States throughout the 1970s and...
, a veteran recording executive, decided to change careers in 1978. First he took time off from actual work, moving from New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to Huntington, Connecticut. Realizing that many of the songs he liked could not be heard on the radio, he decided to give the many fans of nostalgia/big band
Traditional pop music
Traditional pop or classic pop or standards music denotes, in general, Western popular music that either wholly predates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s, or to any popular music which exists concurrently to rock and roll but originated in a time before the appearance of rock and roll,...
music what they wanted to hear. Ham approached Dick Ferguson
Dick Ferguson
Dick Ferguson , is a former driver in the CART Championship Car series. He raced in the 1979-1985 and 1987-1988 seasons, with 26 career starts, including the 1980 Indianapolis 500. He finished in the top ten 5 times, with a best finish of 6th position in 1981 at Michigan.-External Links:*...
, general manager of the Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in Fairfield County, the city had an estimated population of 144,229 at the 2010 United States Census and is the core of the Greater Bridgeport area...
radio station, about changing the format. Ferguson agreed, and positive results followed. Ham continued to work toward improving the format, including asking listeners to submit a list of three favorite songs. With thousands of responses, Ham put together a list of 20,000 songs and "Music of Your Life" was born.
That same year, 1978, the name "Music of Your Life" was trademarked, the only radio format to do this. In fact, the original Music of Your Life jingle is one of the first sound recordings to be trademarked along with the 3-note NBC TV jingle.
Because the target audience
Target audience
In marketing and advertising, a target audience, is a specific group of people within the target market at which the marketing message is aimed .....
of this music was listeners over 50, Ham had difficulty selling the idea of syndication. Finally Jim West listened. West and Ham had both played bass—West in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, and Ham in the orchestras of Tex Beneke
Tex Beneke
Gordon Lee Beneke , professionally known as Tex Beneke, was an American saxophonist, singer, and bandleader. His career is a history of associations with bandleader Glenn Miller and former musicians and singers who worked with Miller. His band is also associated with the careers of Eydie Gorme...
and Artie Shaw
Artie Shaw
Arthur Jacob Arshawsky , better known as Artie Shaw, was an American jazz clarinetist, composer, and bandleader. He was also the author of both fiction and non-fiction writings....
. Both men wanted to see their favorite music on the radio again.
Together, they convinced Bob Lappin of WMAS in Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...
(now WHLL) to play the music. After a year, the format had three stations. But the success of the format attracted many more affiliates. The original format consisted primarily of big hits by standards artists like Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
, Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and...
, Andy Williams
Andy Williams
Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams is an American singer who has recorded 18 Gold- and three Platinum-certified albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials, and owns his own theater, the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri,...
, McGuire Sisters, Four Aces
Four Aces
The 4 Aces is the quartet of passenger-cargo liners Excalibur, Exochorda, Exeter, and Excambion, originally built for American Export Lines by New York Shipbuilding of Camden, New Jersey between 1929 and 1931...
, Perry Como
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
, Mel Torme
Mel Tormé
Melvin Howard Tormé , nicknamed The Velvet Fog, was an American musician, known for his jazz singing. He was also a jazz composer and arranger, a drummer, an actor in radio, film, and television, and the author of five books...
, Lena Horne
Lena Horne
Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was an American singer, actress, civil rights activist and dancer.Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the...
, Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
, Nat "King" Cole, Patti Page
Patti Page
Clara Ann Fowler , known by her professional name Patti Page, is an American singer, one of the best-known female artists in traditional pop music. She was the best-selling female artist of the 1950s, and has sold over 100 million records...
, Johnny Mathis
Johnny Mathis
John Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standards, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status, and 73 making the Billboard charts...
, Barbara Streisand, Mills Brothers
Mills Brothers
The Mills Brothers, sometimes billed as The Four Mills Brothers, were an American jazz and pop vocal quartet of the 20th century who made more than 2,000 recordings that combined sold more than 50 million copies, and garnered at least three dozen gold records...
, among others. Also Big Band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
s of the 1930s and 1940s were played several times an hour and this included artists like Glenn Miller
Glenn Miller
Alton Glenn Miller was an American jazz musician , arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big Bands"...
, Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
, Tommy Dorsey
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
, Artie Shaw
Artie Shaw
Arthur Jacob Arshawsky , better known as Artie Shaw, was an American jazz clarinetist, composer, and bandleader. He was also the author of both fiction and non-fiction writings....
, among many others. The format also played a very limited selection of baby boomer pop. Most of these artists were quazi rock and rollers such as Connie Francis
Connie Francis
Connie Francis is an American pop singer of Italian heritage and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1950s and 1960s. Although her chart success waned in the second half of the 1960s, Francis remained a top concert draw...
, Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
, Pat Boone
Pat Boone
Charles Eugene "Pat" Boone is an American singer, actor and writer who has been a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He covered black artists' songs and sold more copies than his black counterparts...
, Bobby Vinton
Bobby Vinton
Bobby Vinton is an American pop music singer of Polish origin. In pop music circles, he became known as "The Polish Prince".-Early life:...
, Platters, Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin , born Walden Robert Cassotto, was an American singer, actor and musician.Darin performed in a range of music genres, including pop, rock, jazz, folk and country...
, Tom Jones
Tom Jones (singer)
Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer.Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records...
, and others. They played only a few songs by artists like Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
, Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...
, and Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
. More of this music would be added in the late 1990s.
Ham put the best of his music on reel-to-reel tapes
Reel-to-reel audio tape recording
Reel-to-reel, open reel tape recording is the form of magnetic tape audio recording in which the recording medium is held on a reel, rather than being securely contained within a cassette....
and used a scheduling method called matched-flow sequencing, which arranged songs according to regular chord progressions. The scheduling worked by giving local DJs a regular formula to employ. For example, one could play a song from Tape A then follow with a song from Tape C, but not from Tapes B or D. Ham's strategy worked very well. Most radio stations reported that people listened for 3 hours. Ham's stations achieved numbers four to five times that amount. More and more stations joined the network during the 1980s. Another strategy developed by Ham was having recorded messages by the very stars being played, such as, "Hi, this is Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
, and I'd like to thank you for making the music of my life, The Music of Your Life." Then Ham, known for the State Farm commercials, added a theme song which the great stars also recorded.
Competing satellite networks of radio stations began. Stardust (now Timeless
Timeless (radio network)
Timeless was a 24-hour satellite music service of Citadel Media . It has distributed a mix of soft oldies and adult standards to radio stations around the USA...
by ABC Radio) and AM Only (now Dial Global's "Adult Standards," a/k/a "America's Best Music
America's Best Music
America's Best Music is the on-air branding of an adult standards 24-hour radio network, known internally as Adult Standards and formerly known as AM Only, currently owned by Dial Global. It was one of the original Westwood One's Transtar networks...
"). Ham and West had to take advantage of the new technology in order to remain successful. Unistar Radio Networks, which distributed AM only, bought a majority interest in Music of Your Life and made it a satellite format in 1990.
Unfortunately, the new distributors of Music of Your Life wanted listeners in the 25 to 54 age group (the most desired audience for advertisers), while the music had been designed for listeners over 50. Ham, who had wanted to retire, had to take over once again. He realized that as Americans aged, perhaps advertisers would take an interest in the older audience once again. Ham redesigned the music, since someone 50 years old in the 1990s would be of a different generation than the 50-year-old he targeted in 1978. The job of finding affiliates came next.
Kerry and Tammy Fink worked at Mix 106 radio in northeast Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, a station whose owners had taken over management of the troubled WCGX
WAZX-FM
WAZX-FM is a radio station broadcasting a Regional Mexican format. Licensed to Cleveland, Georgia, USA, the station is currently owned by WAZX-FM, Inc....
. The area was becoming a popular place to retire and the Finks realized they should go after older listeners. Tammy, who was younger than the average fan of adult standards, had worked at a station playing this style of music and enjoyed listening to Music of Your Life with older relatives, persuaded Kerry to play this music. Others who worked at Mix 106 also enjoyed this music. Kerry contacted Ham.
WCGX became a test station. Record companies were taking advantage of new technology, and digitally remastered versions of the old songs became available, allowing the recordings to sound as good as when they were new. With only compact discs, the new Music of Your Life targeted older listeners as well as people like Tammy.
Kerry told Ham this format could be a success if he resumed satellite delivery to stations around the country. Kerry Fink started Music of Your Life Radio services Inc., which marketed Al Ham Productions' Music of Your Life. Later their company became Music of Your Life LLC.
The new station depended heavily on volunteers. Station manager Tim Johnston agreed to take charge of sales. Frank King, a member of the Mix 106 sales staff, had worked for Music of Your Life in St. Louis and took the morning shift, receptionist Kathy Lightfoot took the afternoon shift. WCGX asked listeners to tell others about the station and it soon became profitable.
One major development that showed promise for the format was performers such as Tony Bennett showing up on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
. Also, younger artists such as Harry Connick, Jr.
Harry Connick, Jr.
Joseph Harry Fowler Connick, Jr. is an American singer, big-band leader/conductor, pianist, actor, and composer. He has sold over 25 million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top 60 best-selling male artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with...
were making the music popular with young people. Films such as "Sleepless in Seattle," and a number of commercials, had used the music found in the adult standards format.
To overcome advertiser reluctance to go after the 50-plus audience, Ham and Fink studied successful adult standards stations from around the country, as well as the problems of those stations that were not doing well. They asked WBYU
WBYU
WBYU is the New Orleans, Louisiana affiliate of Radio Disney and is owned by the American Broadcasting Company's Radio Disney Group. The station broadcasts at 1450 kHz with 1 kW-Unlimited power.-History:...
New Orleans general manager David Smith to develop a training program for affiliates. WSAI
WSAI
WSAI is an AM radio station broadcasting out of Cincinnati, Ohio. Its studios are in the Towers of Kenwood building next to I-71 in the Kenwood section of Sycamore Township and its transmitter is located in Mount Healthy.WSAI is known as "Fox Sports 1360," including The Dan Patrick Show and The...
Cincinnati general manager Peter Zolnowski created a newsletter. Affiliates would be given whatever help they needed.
Ham knew Chuck Southcott, who had worked at Music of Your Life affiliates KPRZ and KMPC
KSPN (AM)
KSPN is an all-sports radio station based in Los Angeles, California. It is owned by Disney. It is an ESPN Radio owned-and-operated station.-Play-by-play:...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. Southcott was working at KJQI, a successful adult standards station when Kerry and Ham asked him to develop a new version of Music of Your Life. Distribution required the highest quality, and Fink knew people at Dalet Digital Media.
And if the music was not supposed to be "old", neither were the announcers. Ham wanted DJs who had the attitude of radio personalities playing today's music. Ham and Southcott contacted two friends who were also radio veterans: Gary Owens
Gary Owens
Gary Owens is an American disc jockey and voice actor. His polished baritone speaking voice generally offers deadpan recitations of total nonsense, which he frequently demonstrated as the announcer on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. Owens is equally proficient in straight or silly assignments and is...
and Wink Martindale
Wink Martindale
Winston Conrad Martindale , known professionally as Wink Martindale, is an American disc jockey and television game show host.-Radio:...
. Jones Radio Network would distribute the format from Denver. The redesigned Music of Your Life made its debut from Los Angeles June 15, 1996.
When Frank Sinatra died in 1998, Music of Your Life played 36 straight hours of his music. Since more people listened to this special programming than to what the format usually aired, the popularity of the music with a new audience was reinforced.
Within a few years, there were nearly 200 stations, including WGUL
WGUL
WGUL is a radio station broadcasting a News Talk Information format. Licensed to Dunedin, Florida, USA, it serves the Tampa Bay area. The station is currently owned by Salem Communications and features only syndicated conservative weekday programing from Salem's talk radio network, as well as the...
in the Tampa
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
market, whose chairman Carl Marcocci held the same position with Music of Your Life. Affiliates were learning that going after over-50 listeners was nothing to be ashamed of; these people were active and had lots of money to spend, and advertisers could reach them if they just made the effort. One of the most successful was KGIL in Los Angeles. Other success stories included WLUX
WLIE
WLIE is a radio station licensed to serve Islip, New York. The station has had a long history on the bottom end of the AM dial. During its early years, it was a daytime-only station, with Christian programming, using the WLIX call letters. Starting in 1983, it was permitted to broadcast after...
in Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
.
Part of the format's success was adding more contemporary artists such as Beatles, James Taylor
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
, Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...
, Rita Coolidge
Rita Coolidge
Rita Coolidge is a multiple Grammy Award-winning American vocalist. During the 1970s and 1980s, she charted hits on Billboard's Pop, Country, Adult Contemporary and Jazz charts.-Career:...
and The Association
The Association
The Association is a pop music band from California in the folk rock or soft rock genre. During the 1960s, they had numerous hits at or near the top of the Billboard charts and were the lead-off band at 1967's Monterey Pop Festival...
, as well as swing bands such as the Brian Setzer Orchestra and the Bill Elliott Swing Orchestra.
One of MYL's on-air slogans is "Where the Stars Play the Stars", featuring well-recognized personalities such as Wink Martindale, Gary Owens, Peter Marshall, Pat Boone and Patti Page serving as DJ's, and other performers featured on "Celebrity Weekend" including Steve Allen
Steve Allen
Steve Allen may refer to:*Steve Allen , American musician, comedian, and writer*Steve Allen , presenter on the London-based talk radio station LBC 97.3...
, Lou Rawls
Lou Rawls
Louis Allen "Lou" Rawls was an American soul, jazz, and blues singer. He was known for his smooth vocal style: Frank Sinatra once said that Rawls had "the classiest singing and silkiest chops in the singing game"...
, Glen Campbell
Glen Campbell
Glen Travis Campbell is an American country music singer, guitarist, television host and occasional actor. He is best known for a series of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for hosting a variety show called The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television.During his 50 years in show...
, Shirley Jones
Shirley Jones
Shirley Mae Jones is an American singer and actress of stage, film and television. In her six decades of television, she starred as wholesome characters in a number of well-known musical films, such as Oklahoma! , Carousel , and The Music Man...
and Marty Ingels
Marty Ingels
Marty Ingels is an actor, comedian, theatrical agent, and, by many, best known as the voice of many cartoon characters and commercials. Born Martin Ingerman in Brooklyn, New York, he is the son of Jacob and Minnie Ingerman.His voice-overs and commercials include those for Paul Masson wines, with...
.
In January 2008, Jones Radio Network created their own network of "Adult Standards" and entered into agreements with many Music of Your Life affiliates, bringing in their own DJ's and continuing as "Adult Standards".
Music of Your Life LLC entered into a Letter of Intent with entrepreneur Marc Angell and Concierge Technologies Inc. to acquire the assets of Music of Your Life - including its Music of Your Life brand and affiliates. A new distribution deal was made with Clear Channel Satellite Services, new automation equipment was purchased from Tune Tracker and Google Radio Automation (Scott Studios), with receivers coming from XDigital and Premiere. As the January 18th deadline hit, Music of Your Life emerged with just 12 affiliates.
Angell brought-in his own production and technical team, made programming and talent changes and set-out to rebuild the Music of Your Life brand. Despite a recessive economy and a faltering industry in general, Music of Your Life has quadrupled its affiliate base in just two years to more than 50 AM and FM and HD radio station affiliates in the US, with listeners on the Internet in 110 countries via the company's website http://www.musicofyourlife.com. Music of Your Life can also be found streaming on Apple's iTunes, FlyCast.fm, TuneIn.com, the Blackberry, iPhone, iPad, Android and Palm Smartphones.
Music of Your Life continues to add affiliates at the rate of 1-2 per month. With the advent of Arbitron's People Meter ratings system, the Adult Standards stations are actually seeing much higher ratings than previously noted. Combined with a steady stream of new recordings from singers of the Great American Songbook such as Jamie Cullum, Monica Mancini, Renee Olstead, Nikki Yanovski, Tony DeSare, Jane Monheit and a fifth installment from Rod Stewart, Music of Your Life is succeeding once again. The current on-air team is made up of entertainer Peter Marshall, best-known as the former host of Hollywood Squares; legendary recording artist, Pat Boone; Steve March-Torme, son of Mel Torme; record producer and big-band leader, Les Brown Jr.; Telarc recording sensation, Tony DeSare; Gold Label recording artist Ryan DeHues; the talented singer and award winning violinist, Calabria Foti; Lorri Hafer, singer and daughter of MOYL founder Al Ham; and radio vets Johnny Magnus and Al Hardee.