Gold Star Oldies Radio Studios in OKC
A Brief History of Black Heritage Month
Black Heritage Month traces its origins to the early 20th century, when historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson recognized that the achievements of Black Americans were largely ignored in mainstream history. In 1915, Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (later ASALH) to promote the study of Black history and culture.
In 1926, Woodson and ASALH launched Negro History Week, choosing the second week of February to align with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, two figures deeply connected to Black freedom and civil rights.
Check Out the Station Directors they have been Updated
Valentines Day Saturday on the 14th
DOT RECORDS — THE TRUE ORIGINS (1950–1953)
Dot Records didn’t start as a national pop label. It began as a tiny Gallatin, Tennessee operation founded by:
🎙️ Randy Wood
-
A radio engineer and record-store owner
-
Ran the “Record Shop” in Gallatin
-
Took listener requests from WLAC’s 50,000‑watt nighttime R&B broadcasts
-
Noticed that many of the songs listeners wanted were not available on records
So he did what any great early‑50s entrepreneur did: He started a label to fill the gaps.
THE EARLY DOT SOUND (1950–1953)
Dot’s first years were not Pat Boone, Gale Storm, or the big pop hits. The early catalog is a mix of:
1. Southern gospel
-
The LeFevres
-
The Statesmen Quartet
-
The Oak Ridge Quartet (pre–Oak Ridge Boys)
2. Hillbilly & country boogie
-
Billy Vaughn (before he became Dot’s arranger)
-
Jimmie & Johnny
-
The Willis Brothers
3. Regional R&B and teen novelties
This is the part you’ll appreciate most — Dot issued local Tennessee and Kentucky R&B that bigger labels ignored.
Broadcast Bulletin (Daily Updates)
Gold Star Oldies Radio Steaming Directories
Legends Remembered & Celebrated — Sunrise Concerts and Tributes
The History of the new Gold Star Oldies Radio and it's Mission
Birthdays Singers and Song Writers
1942 - Peter Tork
Peter Tork, American musician with The Monkees who were brought together for an American TV series in 1966. They had the 1967 UK & US No.1 single 'I'm A Believer' plus other hits including 'Last Train to Clarksville', 'Pleasant Valley Sunday', and 'Daydream Believer'. Tork was diagnosed with a rare form of tongue cancer in 2009. He died on February 21, 2019 age 77.
1920 - Boudleaux Bryant
Boudleaux Bryant, songwriter with his wife Felice. They wrote The Everly Brothers hits, ‘Bye Bye Love’, ‘All I Have To Do Is Dream’ and ‘Wake Up Little Susie’ as well as ‘Raining In My Heart’, which was a hit for Buddy Holly. Bryant died on June 25th 1987.
1919 - Tennessee Ernie Ford
American recording artist and television host Tennessee Ernie Ford, who had a 1955 US No.1 & 1956 UK No.1 single with ‘Sixteen Tons’. It was Capitol Records’ first No.1 of the rock era. Ford died on October 17th 1991 age 72.
1969 - Paul McCartney
A launch party was held for the release of Mary Hopkin's album Postcard at the Post Office Tower in London. Guests included Jimi Hendrix, Donovan and Paul McCartney with his new girlfriend Linda Eastman.
1967 - The Beatles
The Beatles released the double A sided single 'Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane' on Capitol Records in the US. The single spent 10 weeks on the chart peaking at No.1. The video for the track presented the Beatles' new group image, since all four now sported moustaches, following Harrison's lead when he left for India in September 1966. In addition to a horseshoe moustache, Lennon wore his round "granny" glasses for the first time as a member of the Beatles.
Music News For The Week
February 14, 1847 — A saxophone school is created in Paris, France at the military band school Gymnase Musical one year after the instrument's Belgian inventor, Adolfe Sax, patents the instrument. For decades, the sax is limited mostly to military bands and classical orchestras, mainly in Europe, until American vaudeville, ragtime, and jazz expand the demand for it in the early 20th century.
February 15, 1961 — Jackie Wilson is shot in his New York apartment by either a zealous female fan or a jilted girlfriend (reports differ). He survives, but loses a kidney.
1969 — Hairstylist Vickie Jones is arrested for impersonating Aretha Franklin at a club in Fort Myers, Florida. Asked to sing in the courtroom, the Virginia native sounds so much like the Queen of Soul that the judge spares her because the audience couldn't tell the difference.
February 16, 1963 — The Beatles top the British rock charts for the first time with "Please, Please Me," their second record.
February 17, 1955 — Little Richard sends an audition tape to Specialty Records in Los Angeles "wrapped in a piece of paper looking as though someone had eaten off it," according to a label producer. Later in the year, the Macon, Georgia native would blaze a rock 'n' roll path on the label singing "Tutti Frutti."
February 18, 1940 — Rudy Wiedoeft, the dynamic early 20th century saxophonist most responsible for popularizing the instrument in pop and jazz, dies at age 47 in Queens, New York. Before him, as noted above, the sax had been played primarily in military bands, but he is one of the first musicians to blow it for popular entertainment.
February 19, 1878 — Inventor Thomas Edison patents the phonograph.
1952 — Seventeen-year-old Gene Vincent of Norfolk, Virginia enters the U.S. Navy under his real name, Vincent Eugene Craddock.
1956 — The Five Satins record the doo wop classic "In The Still Of The Nite" in the basement of Saint Bernadette Church in New Haven, Connecticut.
1958 — Carl Perkins leaves the small Sun Records in Memphis to join the major New York label Columbia as its first rockabilly artist. He has no hits there. In fact, he has had none since his second Sun release, "Blue Suede Shoes" in 1955, became the first record to appear simultaneously on the pop, R&B, and country music charts (reaching #1 or #2 on all three), but he is a major influence on the Beatles and other rockers and is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
1958 — The Miracles' first single, "Got A Job," is issued by End Records on Smokey Robinson's 18th birthday. It's an answer to the Silhouettes' #1 hit, "Get A Job," but it does not chart.
1981 — ABKCO Music, owner of the publishing rights to the 1963 Chiffons hit "He's So Fine," is awarded $587,000 from George Harrison, who had been found guilty five years earlier of subconsciously plagiarizing the song in his 1969 composition "My Sweet Lord," which he said he had written in praise of the Hindu god Krishna.
Sources:
Eight Days a Week (Ron Smith)
On This Day in Black Music History (Jay Warner)
Chronology of American Popular Music, 1900-2000 (Frank Hoffman)
calendar.songfacts.com
onthisday.com/music
The History of Sunrise Radio (Gold Star Oldies)
As Told in the Tradition of Classic AM Broadcasting
In the early days of the station, before the sun rose on its true identity, the signal carried the call letters KVRA — Keep Vinyl Records Alive. It was a small station with a big idea: to preserve the sound, the spirit, and the craftsmanship of the records that built American radio.
KVRA operated with the same pride as the powerhouse AM stations of the era. Real call letters. Real curation. Real radio.
But as the station grew, something became clear. While other online broadcasters used simple titles and playlists, KVRA carried the weight of a heritage operation — a station with a mission, a memory, and a curator who understood the value of a 45 spinning under a warm stylus.
And so, in the finest tradition of AM evolution, the station stepped into a new identity. The call letters remained part of its foundation, but the broadcast name changed to reflect its purpose.
Today, that station is known as Sunrise Radio.
A place where forgotten singles, regional teeners, R&B promos, and rare artifacts are given a home once more. A station built on the belief that some music isn’t just entertainment — it’s history.
Sunrise Radio proudly carries the motto: “You Can’t Find This Anymore.”
But every sunrise has a beginning and the sun also set's. For this station, that beginning was KVRA — the call letters that lit the first spark and set the tone for everything that followed. The new branding has started we are now Gold Star Oldies Radio.
Vault Vinyl and Stories behind the songs
Don and Phil Sign with Cadence Records
February 1 1957
20-year-old Don Everly and his 2-year-younger brother Phil sign a recording contract with Cadence Records. During their career, The Everly Brothers will have thirty-five Billboard Hot 100 singles
Gold Star Oldies Radio power comes from Live365 24/7 365 Days
