Rick Carroll: The Father of Modern Rock Radio

Radio Program Director Rick Carroll of KROQ in Los Angeles began a new trend in radio, starting in 1978. Terming his format "Rock of the Eighties", Carroll combined the existing AOR format with a mix of lesser·known, more eclectic artists who received little, if any, airplay on AOR or Top 40 stations.

Carroll had a knack for finding unknown groups and artist who, as he believed, had what it took to be successful in the Rock world. Right more often than wrong, Carroll helped artists like The Cars and The Talking Heads find success in the music world by becoming the first PD on a radio station to play their album tracks and get them exposure to the world. Some of these artists found success on Top 40 radio as well.

Elvis Costello released his first album, My Aim Is True, the previous year, 1977, and his second album, This Year's Model, in 1978. Early tracks receiving airplay on Rock stations include Alison, Watching The Detectives, Pump It Up, and Radio Radio. Costello's style varied mainly from New Wave to Punk, depending on the lyrical topic. Costello's Alison was also covered by singer Linda Ronstadt later in the year.

Watch the original videos for Watching The Detectives and Pump It Up.

The Cars, a band from Boston, was known for a sort of new wave/punk fusion sound slightly mimicking the 1950's. They released their self·titled album The Cars in 1978. Tracks receiving airplay on Rock stations include Just What I Needed, My Best Friend's Girl, Bye Bye Love, You're All I've Got Tonight, and Moving In Stereo, with the first two becoming minor pop hits, receiving airplay on Top 40 stations as well. The Cars would enjoy a career that would last for a full decade!

Watch videos for My Best Friend's Girl and Bye Bye Love.

Like Elvis Costello, mentioned above, The Talking Heads, who formed in New York City, also released their first album in 1977, Talking Heads: 77, and in early 1978, the track Psycho Killer began receiving airplay on Rock radio stations. Later that year, they released their second album More Songs About Buildings And Food, with Take Me To The River, a cover of an Al Green song, being the album's best·known track, which also received airplay on Top 40 stations and became a minor hit. The Talking Heads, although considered a new wave band, used more of a punk style with, at least in their early years, a slight disco beat. The band is also known for off·center lyrics. The Talking Heads' career lasted into the 1990's, with multiple band members involved in side projects over the years as well.

Watch the original videos for Psycho Killer and Take Me To The River.

Notable New Bands And Artists: Blondie, The Police, and Joe Jackson

Formed in 1974 in New York City, Blondie first saw success across the pond in the U.K. before arriving on the scene in their native U.S. When success did arrive in early 1979, it was huge! The band released Parallel Lines during the previous year, but the first single/track from the album, Heart Of Glass didn't hit the radio airwaves until the Spring of 1979. Heart Of Glass received plenty of airplay on Rock stations, but was also a number one pop hit, reaching the top of Billboard's Hot 100 chart in April. The band was known for a new wave-rock fusion sound, but their first track Heart Of Glass was a disco song. Blondie would see great, but short·lived success into the early 1980's, when lead singer Deborah Harry began battling a cocaine addiction.

The band The Police owe a great deal of their success to Boston's WBCN radio. Like L.A.'s KROQ, WBCN experimented with new bands and artists which no other stations were playing, believing the artists had what it took to be successful. WBCN became the first station in the U.S. to play The Police's Roxanne, eventually giving the band national exposure. The band became more of a staple on Album Rock radio than Modern Rock radio, but is worth mentioning here as part of the then·fledgling Modern Rock scene.

British singer/songwriter Joe Jackson released his first album in the U.S., Look Sharp! in mid·1979, with its best·known track Is She Really Going Out With Him receiving airplay on both Rock and Top 40 stations. Sporting a mostly punk sound, Jackson's lyrics, unlike most punk and new wave bands of the day, took on a more intellectual, and slightly sarcastic, tone. Jackson would see his success with Modern Rock audiences endure until the early 1990's.