KSHE Classics...let 'em PLAY!!!

The following is a comprehensive 'quick history' with reference material that defines the "KSHE Classics" phenomena. I wrote this originally for a series of compilations I assembled for some music forums I'm active at; the series is still active, and I'm working on number 3 now.

What are KSHE CLASSICS you may ask? Unless you grew up in Midwestern America during an era that encompasses the very late 60s through the mid 80s, you may have no idea. Some music fans on the east or west coast (and in many cases, the south) may have seen inconspicuous bins of very high-priced collectors’ LPs bearing this label at record conventions and wondered “why would anybody pay $20 for a Doucette album?”…

KSHE 95, located in St. Louis, Missouri, was just a tiny dot on the FM map in the sixties when it single-handedly pioneered what is known today as AOR Radio (album-oriented rock), a largely anti-commercial radio format that focused more fairly on any given band’s catalog for airplay than upon Billboard top 40 charts. The local popularity of this format resulted in a wave across the nation (and, subsequently, the WORLD) that systematically shunned record industry data to generate listener interest by showcasing more cryptic matter by bands that were just as important (if not more so) than what was being played on larger stations with better frequencies.

Even during the mid-70s, when AOR was truly in its stride, all parties involved continued to look toward KSHE for inspiration as a template for AOR format success. This format gave us the best of the best, even when they achieved chart and/or commercial success. The list of acts graduating from AOR to mega-stardom is way too long; just think of everything from RUSH to DEEP PURPLE to SAGA to RAINBOW to LOVERBOY to TRIUMPH to MONTROSE and all points in between as a guide. 70s and 80s rock would NOT have happened without the auspicious influence of AOR radio, and KSHE was the definition of this format, from the beginning through modern times, as they still include the “classics” as part of their programme.

While I was growing up, I remember my local AOR station, Y95 (WYFE, Rockford, Illinois) as a shining lynchpin of my rock n roll heart. Never following their example as much as heeding their guidance, this station launched a hundred entries into my youthful record collection, and injected a million solid memories from my childhood and adolescent years from their endless stream of “whos” and “whats” from that era. Y95 came in strong, 24/7, on any radio available back then…but KSHE came in loud and clear mostly at night, when radio interference was lessened. My father’s pimped out hi-fi in the living room picked up the station beautifully (although ambiently fuzzy and staticky) during the evening hours; the reception was good enough for me to rig secondary speakers from the family hi-fi into my basement bedroom just for late-night forays into the KSHE universe.

KSHE had a knack for identifying and exposing bands not only from other states and countries, but also from tapping into the stream of unknown Midwestern rock acts for its airplay. Many years later, as a frequent participant at local record conventions, I found myself selling records (and buying as well) for very high prices when I marked selections in a bin labeled “KSHE CLASSICS”…people from all over who grew up in the area know and love this very special segment of the rock world, and as we all age we ache more and more from that fantastic music and those wonderful feelings of yesterday.

While some KSHE purists have set ‘rules and regulations’ on what IS a KSHE Classic and what ISN’T, I am not that discriminating. What I’ve collected over the years in various formats are KSHE Classics from my perspective. You can find many playlists and information on the internet regarding the vast ocean of these treasures, but everyone’s recollection is a little different. Again, personal taste and experience has something of an influence, but I feel that what I consider "tr00" KSHE Classics doesn’t suffer from any hindrance associated with this.

For more info on KSHE:

KSHE Classics – “Mama Let ‘em Play” –great informative article from the Classic Rock Homepage

KSHE Classics Listing Page –excellent resource and listing with links