Bob Berry is one of the rare announcers who has been able to sustain a successful on-air career for over three decades. He grew up listening to Keener, worked for a time at CKLW and is still spinning at Orlando's Big 100. He is also regularly points us in the direction of cool web resources that dovetail perfectly with what we love at keener13.com. Here's an example: If you were a WKNR-FM fan, you probably came across the "Rock Family Tree" books by Peter Frame. They trace who-played-with-whom in painstakingly drawn, detailed artistry that gives an instant understanding of different corners of rock's evolution. Peter rarely gives interviews, but when Bob sent me a JPG of the Byrds Family Tree recently, I went searching and found this translation of a conversation he had with an Italian magazine. He's one of those unknowns who had a big influence on the popular culture of the 60s.

We were scratching our heads when Lee Abrams let Dave Logan get away from XM Satellite Radio. He was one of the superb brains behind XM's ground-breaking concept and has never been afraid to break the mold and innovate. So the announcement of his return to the game as the new PD at WCBS-FM is great news. Dave is one of the programmers who gets it, and, as we heard when were in the Big Apple this week, CBS-FM needs a make-over. By the way, Keener alum Jim Kerr sounds terrific on Q 104.3. We still remember the first time we heard him on the air as Jim Curtis on WNRZ.

Are you sick of them yet? There are already so many anti-the-other-guy political ads on television that I'm thankful for TiVo and the ability to skip past the vitriol. Even when it comes to presidential ads, we tend to romanticize the past, remembering Frank Sinatra singing a jingle for JFK and animated spots touting how good things will be if we vote for the right guy. Take a look at this superb website for a look back at over 50 years of campaign advertising.

We often talk about how much of an art radio was in the 60s. Many of the format elements that are today's cliches were being spontaneously created by people like Bob Green, Gary Stevens and Scott Regen. And so it was with the music Keener played. At the outset of the decade a four track recorder was considered high tech and by 1970 the Studer 24 track two inch machines had become ubiquitous. In the beginning, the engineers who produced those four track mixes made a lot of decisions on the fly that are, today, the minutiae of post production. And that's what happened when a stock broker's son named Bones Howe ran the controls as the Mamas and the Papas recorded their first hit. It was built atop a backing track created by Hal Blaine's famed Wrecking Crew for Barry Maguire of "Eve of Destruction" fame. This fascinating article from Mix Magazine details how the artistry in the control room converged with the artists behind the microphone to make rock history.

Susan Whitall knocks another one out of the park with this Detroit News retrospective on the Four Tops.

"Our engineer is Howard Stitzel." How many times have we heard Ernie Harwell say that over the years? A lot. For more than 6 decades, Howard was the man with the screwdriver who kept the broadcast feed on the air for the Detroit Tigers in this profile from the Downriver News Herald, he talks about his long career, but one thing he doesn't mention is that he ran the dials at Michigan Stadium for Bob Ufer, too.

The late actor Robert Mitchum allegedly said, "I don't care what you say about me in the press, just spell my name right." That's old adage probably benefited bad boy Howard Stern this ratings period. His FCC encounters may have resulted in listener gains in the latest Arbitron survey of Motown listening habits. While WJR still leads the 12+ pack and Jim Harper's Magic is still chipping away at WNIC, the Infinity group, who owns Stern's Detroit home, WKRK, was a major beneficiary, moving into 5th place in the 25-54 age group. Infinity all-news WWJ was number two 12+ behind JR.

Is there a connection between Fred Jacobs' piece on NEO radio and John Hogan's announcement that Clear Channel will limit the number of commercial minutes on their stations? With XM and Sirius growing at a frenetic pace, commercial free psudo stations available on subscription music services like Rhapsody, and Internet stations like 3WK garnering growing support, perhaps radio's business model is about to change again.

Competition for satellite radio listeners is heating up as Sirius continues to enrich their content. Fans of Little Steven VanZant's Underground Garage program, heard Sunday nights in Detroit on WCSX will be drawn to his 24/7 iteration, Sirius' Underground Garage on Channel 25.

We've raved about Pat St. John's outstanding work on Sirius Classic Vinyl (Noon-6 every day on channel 14) and The Vault (6-Midnight weekends on channel 16). Now Pat has added duties as Program Manager on Sirius Blues, channel 29. Hear him there weekdays from 6-Midnight.

This begs the question, is he in the studio seven days a week, six hours a day? Pat tells us that the satellite art is a mixture of live and voice track. Some of his work is pre-recorded to facilitate the schedules of his many on-air guests. But so much of the show is so near to real-time that his programs have the laid back live spontaneity that he trademarked during his many years at WRIF and WPLJ.

Last week's premiere of the documentary on Richard and the Young Lions generated more praise for the seminal psychadelic band. Narrated by Keener's Pat St. John, the film drew raves from a packed house at it's New York showing. Now RATYL fans can own a DVD of the production by visiting the band's website. The site also features some great tribute links including this broadcast from WFMU-FM.

Ed Christian, is the President and CEO of Saga Communications, a Grosse Point Farms based broadcast group that operates properties in 24 markets. He also has a foot note in the Keener story as an executive at WNIC during the time Keener was briefly reborn as WWKR. In this Detroit Free Press commentary, The Wayne State grad talks about the unfulfilled promise of WDTR and how his alma mater might be able to turn this lemon into lemonade.