Naptown Rock Radio Wars, a 90 minute documentary about the rock radio war in Indianapolis, will be unveiled on public television January 14th. The feature film is a culmination of four years of work, dozens of interviews with former Indianapolis radio personalities and memorable radio airchecks. The focus is on the rock radio war that raged for nearly two decades in Indianapolis from the late 50's to the late 70's. Indianapolis earned the nickname Naptown during that era. The fight centered around two fierce competitors ? WIBC-AM owner Richard Fairbanks with a 50,000 watt blowtorch and the young upstart Don Burden who launched the promotion-oriented but low-powered, WIFE-AM. Entering the mix was WNAP-FM, "The Buzzard" also owned by Fairbanks.
The project is the brainchild of President of Videopoliis TV David Fulton and former WNAP-FM Program Director Al Stone. Four years ago Fulton reached out to Jon Quick who was still the Director of Operations at Emmis' WIBC. They asked Quick for help tracking down some of the old jocks and airchecks. Now, Quick owns his own public relations and marketing company called Absolutemax and he's helping Fulton get the word out. The final product will air in the Spring on Indiana Public Television, a special premiere, complete with many of the living legends behind the story is happening at the IMAX Theater in Indianapolis at 7PM on January 14, 2012.SEE THE TRAILER
Quick says what happened during this battle was truly a culture shift. "From loosely formatted to tightly formatted stations, the battle for listeners between WIBC, WIFE and WNAP is fascinating. The strategies and tactics the owners and managers developed and the on-air personalities implemented really changed Indianapolis, reflecting the same changes going on all over America at the time. For those who were around Indy at the time and for those who may not even remember a "45" this documentary is both entertaining and informative. It is the history of a time in a city when lives were changed and memories were made."
VISIT THE NAPTOWN WARS WEBSITE HERE
Quick says it's still fascinating to see and hear the passion and the excitement the personalities still have about those days. "Many of these radio personalities are still well known in the area, even though some have now been out of the business for years. It might be hard for many younger people to imagine that there was a day when radio personalities were huge stars, when their voices were instantly recognized in public, and when they were actually stopped for autographs on the street or in the supermarket."
Reach out to Jon Quick about the film via e-mail at QJon79@aol.com
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