[BC] Why FM took off in the 70's

[Barry Mishkind]

At 12:58 PM 10/23/2005, Rob Atkinson wrote
>AM was okay (in fact only weirdoos listened to FM) when rock was all 
>short little numbers no more than 4 min. long.  then around 1967 
>concept albums started coming out like sgt. pepper with loooong cuts 
>that AM didn't want to deal with except with short versions the 
>purists rejected (light my fire).

         "... didn't want to deal with..." ???

         Around that time, given the income off
         each spot, most stations were forced
         to run 12-18 minutes an hour. No one
         had yet thought of running 10 spots in
         a row.

         We (KRLA-AM) played sets as long as 30
         minutes or more in hours that were not
         sold out. Full length versions, Moody Blues,
         Yes, Led Zepplin, etc,

>FM stations started broadcasting whole album sides, long hairs and 
>flower children dug it, and that started the end of AM rock and roll.

         FM had no spot loads to speak of at first.

         That helped in many places... where
         there were no KRLAs.