It’s been a year since the last issue of Radio & Records, a realization that comes as almost as much of a surprise as the sudden closing of the publication itself. R&R was a big part of my education in the radio business. Its demise prompted one of the columns that I remain proudest of, and the extensive response it evoked from a wide variety of industry people showed just how wide-ranging R&R’s impact had been.

In that year’s time, some of the key players from the last R&R staff have fanned out throughout the industry: Paul Heine at Inside Radio, Kevin Carter and Keith Berman at RAMP, Ken Tucker at Country Weekly, Carol Archer to All That Jazz’s site. Others, like Darnella Dunham, Jackie Madrigal, or R.J. Curtis have gravitated to radio or records. I’m fortunate to work at Radio-Info.com with R&R’s Henry Mowry, Kristy Scott, Melissa Garn, and Jessica Harrell. And as with the workplace in general, there are others who should be back in action now and are not.

As with every format change, the closing of R&R probably reflected the priorities of its owners as much as any external factors. But it certainly took place at a discouraging time for the industry—and at a time when the radio programming culture that R&R once gave voice to had been devalued. A year ago, there were radio station general managers who felt that the advertising climate was so dire that improving your ratings or finding a new format didn’t matter. Radio’s global issues haven’t disappeared—but even before the recent advertising upturn, broadcasters had come to the realization that they had to live their lives and run their radio stations.

The programming dialogue that R&R once fostered was vitally important a year ago and remains so now, as radio heads into a wider-open future than ever. (On June 3, 2009, for instance, listening to Internet radio in your car was still mostly for the very determined.) I hope that this column and Radio-Info.com overall have been a part of keeping that dialogue open. We appreciate all your contributions and your support over the last year—something that it’s clear cannot be taken for granted.

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“It still seems particularly hard to accept that the death of a magazine/newspaper would be indicative of trouble in Radio (and Records!) That, however, was/is obviously the case. Your stuff is always interesting and it is wonderful to have Radio-Info to carry it on.” – Lindsay Wood Davis, Broadcast Management Strategies (and Radio-Info contributor)

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“Thank you for keeping the memory of R&R alive. R&R was a tremendous place not only for the magazine itself but the the passionate team of people that worked there. It was always an integral part of my weekly education in our ever evolving industry and truly a sad day at its sudden and unceremonious demise. I was fortunate to have not one, but two runs at the ‘Industry’s Newspaper’ and worked with some of the best in the business, making some lasting friendships along the way and experiencing music up close and personal. It is those memories that will live on and will be cherished always.

“You hit the nail on the head – ‘And as with the workplace in general, there are others who should be back in action now and are not,’ and more seem to be cast to the side throughout our beloved industry on a weekly basis. The best we can do is to do exactly what you are doing, keep those voices fresh. R&R was helpful in creating programming dialogue that is vital for keeping our industry moving forward. Thank you for picking up that torch! ” — Michael Vogel

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“Thanks for your thoughts about the year since R&R died. My career in radio started in 1962 so I have seen the rise and fall of many radio publications. I re-read your column written when R&R ceased publication and it was as I remembered it; a wonderfully quick and easy trip through time. The column gave an excellent feel for what R&R was and what it became. And, you did it without a lot of detail; pretty amazing. By reading your remembrance, young people who didn’t experience R&R from Bob Wilson through Erica Farber, could hopefully feel the significance of it.

“R&R was one of the ‘must read’ publications for those of us in programming and those of us who became upper management through the programming side of the business. Upper management who came up from the sales side of the business were equally drawn to it. I remember many times when I was the Program Director of KIKK in Houston back in its glory days in the late 70s and early 80s that then GM Nick Trigony would come blasting into my office with R&R in his grip, pointing to an article or a song add saying, ‘Why aren’t we doing this?’ or ‘Are we playing this song?’ It was one of his lifelines to the programming side of the business.

“You make the point I continually try to make, that the problems in the radio business, like the problems in many businesses didn’t happen overnight. The issues began nearly a couple of decades ago when some of the passion had to be replaced by another ‘p’ word…profit. Unfortunately, too many times when passion was diminished, so was profit. Everything in the world is tied together and when one of the steps in a ladder is missing, something stumbles.

“I find it interesting that so many companies are touting radio as a content business as if that is some new idea. Unless my memory is failing me, that’s what most of us silly programmers felt through the whole rise and fall. Maybe finally the pendulum is swinging back and the imaginative radio folks who are still around can once again shine as they find new portals for their creativity. It’s possible that in a couple of years we will be writing about the rise, fall, and rise again.” — Charlie Ochs, Ochs Media, Lutz, Fla.

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“It was clear to many of us that once the people at Billboard assumed control of R&R, it was just a matter of time before they deep-sixed the magazine that had been their major competitor.

“Before R&R, it was Billboard and Cash Box magazines and the Gavin Report that were used by Programmers, but once the integrity of R & R was established, the other publications, excepting Gavin, didn’t have a chance.

“R&R grew from a weekly music sheet to a full-fledged, trusted publication that was not only read by Programmers, but by Management people as well. The talented staff were dedicated to their jobs and worked hard to consistently improve the product.

“I never got into the on-line R&R offerings as much as some, but I do miss the magazine that was part of my weekly ongoing education in our business. As I say, I expected it’s demise, but the sudden end was still a shock.

“When R&R stopped publishing, those who had existing subscriptions were switched to Billboard. I wonder how many of those have been renewed. ” — Hal Widsten, GM, KWED/Seguin Daily News, Seguin, Texas

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“You know how you have dead people in your cell phone directory you just can’t bear to delete? I got the same thing with going with R&R. I refuse to take them off my laptop’s ‘Favorite Places.’ Its kinda like if I leave it in there, maybe, just maybe, it’ll come back.” — Anne Gress, PD, WOGL Philadelphia

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“I've had a long career in broadcasting, and throughout that time, reading "The Trades” was part of my routine. Since I go back to the 60s, I can remember when it was mainly Billboard, Cashbox, and Record World. I spent my first thirteen years in radio as a music director, so reporting station adds to the trades was a standard part of my work. Sadly, many of the editors to whom I sent my reports are no longer with us, and their sheets are also gone. (I wonder if anyone saved them or archived them.) Among the publications I recall are Walrus, Fred, Pulse of Radio, the Hard Report, The Hamilton Report, the Gavin Report, and Bobby Poe’s Pop Music Survey. I also read Jack the Rapper’s Mello Yello, a wonderful resource on black music and pop culture. Billboard has survived, as has Friday Morning Quarterback, but I am sure your readers can recall some other trade publications we all used to read—– there once were so many. And while I am glad that a new generation of publications (including yours) is now available online, I still remember how exciting it was to receive the newest editions of the trades in the mail— snail mail is considered so slow and outmoded today but not that long ago, it was a really big deal.

“It’s no exaggeration to say that Radio and Records was special. An industry newspaper, focusing on both the music end and the programming end, it featured some outstanding writing and some dynamic (and outspoken) columnists, some of whom I'm still in contact with. And I still have some of the early issues of R&R in my personal collection; I'm a media historian and it’s fascinating to go back to the mid 70s and see who was writing for them back then. Thanks for commemorating R&R, and thanks for keeping that spirit alive. Radio is not dead, nor is the need to have interesting trade publications!” — Donna L. Halper, author, educator, media historian, radio programming consultant, Assistant Professor of Communication, Lesley University, Cambridge Mass.

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“I really, really, really miss R&R. The commentary was always very sage and ahead of the curve—very inside stuff. And, the charts kept any station employee—from the part-timers to the PD—at the very vanguard of what was hot, and what was cooling off where current tunes were concerned. It was a truly valuable tool, with enlightening tutorials offered every week. The rado and records industry still feels a great emptiness from the loss of R&R. The magazine’s intelligent and passionate staff has yet to be equaled by any other publication, though Billboard offers enough sustenance to keep most professionals going.”—Larry Hollowell

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“I miss R&R. It was the Bible of the broadcasting industry.” — Roshon Vance