Soul on the Air #17 - Herb Kent, 1971

Free Music - Download Audio - Herb Kent, WVON Aircheck, Ma...

It occurred to me that it's been over a year since I presented a new "Soul on the Air" feature on the blog. I decided that I'd put a shorter aircheck up here as an appetizer for what I hope will be a series of posts putting more of these great R&B airchecks out there.

I kicked off the "Soul on the Air" series a WVON aircheck featuring Radio Hall of Famer Herb Kent, and I return to the "Kool Gent" and 'VON today. Here's sixteen minutes of Kent from 1971, spinning mostly Chicago-related soul records, namely "If You Find a Fool Bump His Head" by Bill Coday (which, though recorded in Memphis and given national release on Galaxy, was a product of Denise LaSalle's Crajon Productions, which was based in Chicago), "A Bumpy Road Ahead" by The Lovelites, and "Shadows," a Nickel 45 produced by fellow 'VON "Good Guy" Richard Pegue on the South Shore Commission, a group that hit nationally in 1975 with the disco classic "Free Man."

I say that the playlist is "mostly" Chicago-bent because, after the newscast at the top fo the aircheck, Herb plays "Brown Sugar" by the Rolling Stones, punctuated by interjections about a "5,000-foot chicken." As you may recall, the 1970 aircheck previously posted included a rock item, so it's clear that Kent was not antipathetic to the genre. (On that point, it's interesting to note that at one point after Kent had departed from 'VON, he actually played punk rock on another station!)