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The Color Radio format actually began at radio station KELP in El Paso Texas. Chuck Blore was put "In Charge" of the station and actually started using the term before moving to KFWB "Color Channel 98" in Los Angeles, and implementing it on January 2, 1958. It was Chuck Blore's idea, and some call him the best radio program director of all time. Though not much of a DJ himself, Blore had a vision of top 40 radio that would soon sweep the country. Why Color Radio? It was likened to color TV at the time. Why not color radio? He had the DJ's, and he developed a high-energy, fast paced format, that almost made the music secondary. Jingles, spots, weather, news, and promos filled each hour and left the DJ's about 6-8 minutes for their personalities to shine through. Some of the records were even shortened so the format could be executed. Before the format change, the DJ's were used to spinning their own records and winging it as they went.This changed everything. Soon,the format was sweeping the country. Stations like KXOX-St. Louis, WTRY-Albany, WXYZ-Detroit, WMEX-Boston, WGH-Newport News, and sister station to KFWB, KEWB in Oakland,CA, were full-on Color Radio stations. Jingles sung by the Johnny Mann singers were standardized in format, and custom made for each station's call letters. And the call letters were sung the same way each time for easy identification. The Color Radio format continued on for several years, and in the radio world where formats change as often as the weather, it was proof of a format that worked. Incidentally, KFWB continued with funky,innovative jingles right up until March 1968, when the station went to twenty four hour news, which it continues to this day.The very distinctive K-F-W-B chord changes can still be heard today.
