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Item 794: 00794_Berlin, Paul_Houston Radio

 Item — Box: 14

Interviewer: Debbie Harwell

Project: University Of Houston

Radio personality Paul Berlin discusses his broadcasting career from his high school days in Memphis to his sixty-three-year (and counting) career in Houston. He discusses the changes in musical trends from the big bands and vocalists of the 1940s through rap and popular music today. The particularly emphasizes the 1950s and early 1960s as an era that produced the best popular music of all time with the greatest diversity until the drug culture of the mid- to late-1960s ushered in a change. Berlin talks about the openness of the radio studio at KNUZ, which invited high school students to come in and watch the show, make requests, and contribute the occasional school cheer. He mentions the many artists that he brought to Houston‟s music venues such as the Plantation Ballroom, the City Auditorium, Music Hall, and Coliseum. He explains how he selected records to play and how his choices impacted the careers of people like Mickey Gilley and the Big Bopper, J P. Richardson. Additionally he explains how the independent record shops were hurt by the larger department stores selling records as lost-leaders to get people in their stores. Lastly, the conversation takes up the absence of oldies stations on the radio, even in diverse, big-market cities like Houston and Los Angeles. Berlin explains that this was a product of advertisers targeting young, impressionable consumers.

Dates

  • 1996-2017

Conditions Governing Access

Open for research.

Oral history interviews are only available for use when the University of Houston Libraries is in possession of a release form signed by both interviewee and interviewer allowing for such access.

Extent

From the Collection: 25.0 linear feet

Repository Details

Part of the University of Houston Libraries Special Collections Repository

Contact:
University of Houston Libraries Special Collections
MD Anderson Library
4333 University Drive
Houston TX 77204-2000 USA
713-743-9750