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This is a long one, so buckle up!
Several times since I started this blog back in October of 2019, I've mentioned how lucky my childhood friends, classmates and I were to have grown up during the '60s and '70s in such a musically diverse area (Toledo). Without us consciously knowing it, we were introduced and exposed to music of all types and genres.
During any given hour on stations like CKLW, WOHO, WKNR and WTTO, we could hear the latest from Motown (just 50 miles away), Philadelphia soul music, the best rock bands from the USA and Canada (just across Lake Erie), British Invasion music, disco, country, folk and an occasional Gospel tune.
What I HAVEN'T mentioned up to now is the culture shock I experienced when I moved to Western Wisconsin.
I was told upon arrival –and quickly discovered it to be true—that stations in my new home area of America's Dairyland played almost every genre I listed above, except “Urban” music. In other words: No Motown, soul or disco music. Literally.
Why? Because it was felt that “rural” listeners wouldn't like it! My response was along the lines of, “How do you know they wouldn't like it, if they've never heard it?" No satisfactory answer was forthcoming. Note the word “satisfactory.” I was dumbfounded and more than somewhat offended by the whole “Urban vs Rural” thing. I still am.
The point was driven home even more in 1976 when She-nannigans opened its doors as a disco dance club. Those of us on the original crew of DJ's (Check out the picture in the comment section to see 3 of us!) came equipped with all the latest “Urban” Disco Dance Tunes and slow “Soul” songs, but we also had a library of rock and country music we could dip into.
She-nannigans was (and still is) located just off the University of Wisconsin campus in Eau Claire, so our clientele was a mix of “townies” and students who came from Madison, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and Chicago (among other "urban" areas.)
What we noticed IMMEDIATELY was that the “townies” would dance to the Rock & Country, but instantly leave the floor the moment any Disco or Soul was played. They were replaced by the students who couldn't get enough of it. It was like night and day.
After a while, however—thanks in part to Saturday Night Fever, and the fact that Casey Kasem's “American Top 40” was playing “urban” songs on stations that wouldn't play them otherwise—we noticed more of the townies were mixing with the students on the dance floor, REGARDLESS of what genre we were playing. (We still played Rock & Country sets every night (nothing wrong with that, by the way), but they were less frequent and a few songs shorter.
In the end, I truly believe that once so-called “rural” people were exposed to all types of “urban” music, they realized what they might have been missing—and liked it. Of course, personal taste always comes into play and some folks still hated “urban” music, (and that's fine!) but, for the most part, they were certainly more tolerant.
Area radio stations, however, were very slow to follow what was happening in all the dance clubs that started popping up in the '70s and '80s, but eventually, if you listened closely, you might hear a soul or disco song outside of Casey's Top 40. Finally, one station actually went to an all disco format for a while!
Were any of us club Djs personally (or collectively) responsible for the “change of musical taste” in “rural” Wisconsin? Perhaps in a small way...but the greater truth is that the music itself was responsible. We (and especially Casey) were just the messengers...and personally, I was just happy that people were finally being exposed to the entire musical spectrum.
Still with me?
Today's “Great Song of the '70s” was a HUGE hit in most of the US, but never got played in “rural Wisconsin.”
In I971, “Mr. Big Stuff” by Jean Knight spent 5 weeks at #1 on Billboard's Soul Chart, and peaked at #2 on the Hot 100. It sold TWO MILLION copies, and was named the #1 Soul Song of the Year!” Jean was also nominated for “Best Female R&B Performance at the Grammy Awards!
In recent years, the song has been sampled on hits by Heavy D, Queen Latifah, Everclear, The Beastie Boys and even John Legend.
“Mr. Big Stuff:” a Big Hit, and a “Great Song of the '70s,” even if you've never heard it before!
Jean Knight:
For fun, here's Heavy D:
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