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WKNR's Sgt. Pepper Connection
By Scott Westerman

For many who grew up listening to Keener, the Beatles and WKNR were inextricably connected. Keener sponsored the concerts when the Four Lads came to town, and through a combination of hard work and serendipity, the Key Men were part of many Detroit Beatle firsts. So it's particularly strange that the Beatles most honored album never charted on the WKNR Music Guide.

If you're counting EMI releases, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was the the Beatles eighth album, recorded over a four month period at the famed Abby Road studios, beginning on December 6, 1966. The album's British release happened on June 1, 1967. It hit American record stores one day later.

Reaction was instantaneous and effusive. The Times of London's music critic Kenneth Tynan called the album "a decisive moment in the history of Western civilization." Everyone from Jimi Hendrix to Frank Zappa had an opinion on Sgt. Pepper and the LP quickly shot to number one on the Billboard charts, holding the top spot for 15 weeks and winning four Grammys, including album of the year.

So why didn't any of the songs chart on WKNR? First and foremost, none of the tracks were released as singles. This wasn't unique. 1965's Rubber Soul didn't include a single and it wasn't until later in 1967 that two tracks recorded during the Pepper sessions found their way to Keener playlists. Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields, both spent six weeks on the WKNR Music Guide, reaching the number 2 spot. George Martin originally wanted to include this double-A side in the Pepper collection and was pressured to release them in between Beatle albums. Both tracks were later included on the Magical Mystery Tour LP.

Although it didn't make a chart appearance, Sgt. Pepper got a ton of airplay on WKNR. Scott Regen was hired to record a commercial promoting the album which got national airplay and the Keener air staff featured album cuts throughout the broadcast day as Pepper became an instant classic.

An important dimension of the Paul is Dead story, amplified to the national stage on WKNR-FM by Russ Gibb, are the supposed clues to be found in A Day in the Life, where some say you can hear the sound of a horrific traffic accident. In fact the Sgt. Pepper album cover is laden with symbolism for Paul is Dead detectives. The left handed guitar, depicted in yellow flowers seems to show the word "Paul" with a question mark. The three strings on the typically four stringed bass could represent the loss of one of the four band members. Some say that two dolls have a McCartney connection, one with a "Welcome the Rolling Stones" shirt, a toy car on one knee and a bloody left-handed driving glove on the other. Another doll has a cracked head, symbolizing McCartney's supposed fatal head injury.

Sgt. Pepper is cryptically mentioned in Don McLean’s America Pie opus. In the “10 years we’ve been on our own” since “the day the music died,” the Beatles had become a dominant creative force which McLean notes with the line, “sergeants playing a marching tune.” McLean seemed to feel that the Beatles had moved music away from the danceable tunes of the Buddy Holly, Big Bopper era, saying, “We all got up to dance but never got the chance.”

There’s no doubt that the record did help redefine pop music, but it wasn’t until 1978  that Sgt. Pepper / With a Little Help From My Friends finally got it's due on the singles charts. The song with A Day in the Life as a B side was released in support of the film version, released that same year. It peaked at 71, eleven years after the album first burst onto the American scene.

Link: Scott Regen tells how the National Sgt Pepper Spot Happened
Link: Scott Regen's National Sgt Pepper Radio Commercial
Link: The Beatles in the Keener Photo Gallery
Link: Sgt. Pepper Wikipedia Entry
Link: Beatles Discography

Scott Westerman is curator and co-founder of keener13.com a website that celebrates legendary Detroit radio station WKNR.

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