Michigan Governor George Romney – it was election year, after all. (Photo: Getty Images)
This post is primarily about the news events around May 14, 1964 – but, as many radio stations used to do at the time, roll the tape and record what else was going on five minutes before the news, and let it go a few minutes after the news. What you get is a fascinating glimpse into the goings on in a particular town on a particular day. This one happens to be Detroit and it takes place during campaigns for President for 1964. In this case, it’s the hopeful (on his part) consideration of Governor George Romney for Barry Goldwater’s running mate ahead of the 1964 Republican Convention.
Also of note are a few quotes from Robert McNamara over the situation in Vietnam, which at the time he felt confident it could be a long war. The irony is that this statement comes a full three months before the game-changing Gulf Of Tonkin incident.
Also on this day are reports from Paul Harvey and Howard Cosell along with most of the Morning Reports for each hour up until 10 am when the tape runs out.
And of course, there are the ads – everything from Camel Cigarettes to Kroger Grocery stores – everything an integral part of Detroit at the time not to mention wall-to-wall Car commercials (well . . .it IS Detroit).
So this post serves two purposes; one to let you know that May 14th was a news day, no what happened, and it was also a day in the life of a city and a slice of what it was like listening to WXYZ, one of the most popular stations in the Detroit area.
Interesting listening, no matter what.
