'The ZOO Wants You' adKZEW began the year by bringing live music to the ZOO listeners. First the ZOO brings you "The King Biscuit Flour Hour" every other Sunday night at 9pm. Then on Monday nights in cooperation with ABC television, the ZOO and WFAA channel 8 brings "In Concert" TV simulcasts (a Dallas-Ft.Worth first). On Saturday nights at 10pm is the ZOO Saturday night concert with a hour of recorded live music.

The Poor People's Concerts were at midnights after a local appearance of a nationally known act, later known as the Concert Replay and Concert Echo.

The ZOO had the phone company hard wire twin (stereo) hi-fidelity lines to January Sound Studios and various venues including The Aragon Ballroom (later became The Electric Ballroom) and The Travis Street Electric Company. The ZOO would air live concerts from these venues for years to come.

Finally the ZOO brings acts to town that have never played the Dallas-Ft.Worth area. One of those acts would be Van Morrison.

Van Morrison 01-13-74 Concert Promo

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March 5th 1974 - Frank Zappa comes to the Dallas Memorial Auditorium on his Apostrophe album tour.

Frank Zappa 03-05-74 Concert Promo

Mark Christopher
Shortly after the show, Frank drops by the ZOO and sits down with KZEW's Mark Christopher for an interview.

Frank Zappa 03-05-74 Interview clip

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LorettaKen Rundel, Laural Oruish, Jon Dillon and Mike Taylor (seated)March 1974 - Ken Rundel vacates the morning slot to go on to do greater things at the ZOO. Jon Dillon takes over Rundel's 6-10am morning slot. Loretta Angeline joins the ZOO as KZEW's first full-time female DJ to fill Dillon's 2-6am slot. Known to zoofreaks as simply, Loretta, she also brings the New ZOO Review, showcasing new music to listeners Sunday nights at 11pm.

The new schedule...

Jon Dillon from 6am-10am - Morning spot.
Mike Taylor from 10am-2pm - Middays.
Mark Addy from 2pm-6pm - Afternoons.
Gary Shaw from 6pm-10pm - Evenings.
Mark Christopher from 10pm-2am - Late-nights.
Loretta from 2am-6am - All-nights

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Johnny Winter 03-18-74 Concert Promo

Joni Mitchell 03-30-74 Concert Promo

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April 11th 1974 - Dr John and the Bonnaroo Review live KZEW broadcast from the Aragon Ballroom at 1001 So Industrial.Ken Rundel The band was a little late coming on stage, so Ken Rundel with help from Gary Shaw and Mark Christopher keep the ZOO audience entertained with over 7 minutes of banter. This 7 minutes is still circulated among collectors as part of the concert.

Dr John 4/11/74 Aragon Ballroom clip

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June 1974 - KZEW hits the top 10 in the Arbitron ratings for April/May'74, above their rock counterparts KNUS, KAFM and KFWD, making KZEW the number one rock station in the market. KNUS would soon move to a more contemporary format. KAFM would go to a country format by the end of the year. Leaving only to battle with KFWD, a battle which would continue even after KFWD's change to KTXQ four years later.

The 1974 ZOO Cover StickerIn response to the ZOO's new popularity, KZEW releases the cover sticker, according to KZEW's program director Ira Lipson, "We noticed that a lot of people were still driving around with other stations bumper stickers on their vehicles. Our regular stickers had a clear background, so we decided to issue a limited edition of ZOO Freak Stickers with a white background to cover up competitors stickers with one of ours".

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Why did the ZOO crew love to work closely with the local clubs? Free drinks!The ZOO Canteen

Early 1974 - Purple Onion Club Spot

July 4th 1974 - Travis St. Electric Co. Club Spot

July 15th 1974 - Sneaky Pete's Club Spot

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July 5th 1974 The day after their 4th of July show in Dallas. Procol Harum stayed over to do a live KZEW broadcast from January Sound Studios. The afternoon before the show, Ken Rundel asks Procol Harum's lyricist Keith Reid to drop by to do a live on the air interview. That evening, at 8pm, Ken Rundell introduces the band and history was made. The FM broadcast became very popular among fans as the bootleg "Homburgs and Stetsons", which was prized for its interesting choice of songs.

Procol Harum - January Sound 07-05-74 Intro

Procol Harum - January Sound 07-05-74 Conquistador

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The ZOO Sounder - Long before the elephant trumpet was heard on the ZOO. KZEW had a different sounder used during station IDs. A lion's roar.

KZEW Lion's Roar Sounder

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July 29th 1974 - Mama Cass Elliot of The Mamas and the Papas, dies at age 32 in flat No.12 at 9 Curzon Place, London. The same London flat that 'The Who' drummer Keith Moon would die in, in fact the same room four years later.

July 31th 1974 - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Beach Boys and Jesse Colin Young rock Texas Stadium

C.S.N.Y./The Beach Boys 07-31-74 Concert Promo

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Summer 1974 - KZEW artist Dan Philips creates "The Adventures of ZooLoo...The Radio Elephant", the ZOO comic strip.

August 1974 - Long before KZEW's sponsorship of Buddy Magazine. There was Phonograph Record Magazine.

August 8th 1974 - Richard Nixon resigns as President. The next day Gerald Ford is sworn in as president. Ford pardons Nixon on September 16th

September 15th 1974 - Uriah Heep, Elvin Bishop & Suzi Quatro play the S.M.U. Moody Coliseum. Gary Thain of Uriah Heep badly hurt during the performance of 'July Morning', suffering a severe electrical shock and burns.

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The New'74 ZOO StickerSeptember 18th 1974 - KZEW celebrates it's one year anniversary on top of Dallas-Fort Worth rock radio. The ZOO begins it's second year with a new ZOO sticker design and matching T-shirt design. Pictured right (left to right) are air personality Jon Dillon, Program Manager Ira Lipson and General Manager John Dew. Click picture to see the rest of the 1974 ZOO office staff.

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Mark AddySeptember 26th 1974 - John Lennon spent the day of the release of his album, "Walls and Bridges" at his New York apartment on the phone with various radio stations across the country. KZEW's Mike Taylor was the fortunate one to receive this assignment. Mark Addy remembers, "I answered the phone that day for Mike Taylor, and John Lennon was on the other end. I think that's one of the few times I was speechless. He was my favorite Beatle". Mike Taylor greets John Lennon asking him how the weather is? in New York, John Mike Taylorreplies that it is getting warm and has been a nice day. After these niceties Taylor gets down to business. The interview lasts approximately 15/20 minutes and is said to have been lively, upbeat and concise. A copy of this interview, mislabeled as from KTXQ, was recently sold at a London auction house.

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October 12th 1974 - Traffic & Little Feat play the Tarrant County Convention Center.

Traffic 10-12-74 Concert Promo

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October 17th 1974 - Rush appears in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for the very first time at the Travis Street Electric Company.

Rush 10-17-74 Concert Promo

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November 1974 - Meanwhile over at Lake Highlands in North Dallas. High school student George Gimarc writes an article for the school newspaper on the subject of radio. Researching the story, he interviews DJs at KZEW, WFAA, KVIL, KAFM and KLIF. George says, "it was my first stumbling step into the industry."

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The 1974 T-shirt design

George Harrison 11-22-74 Concert Promo

Yes 12 04-74 Concert Promo

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December 26th 1974 - Country music on the ZOO? Yes, it did happen. The day after Christmas 1974, Willie Nelson did a live KZEW broadcast from January Sound Studios. Joined by Tracy Nelson (no relation), they played numerous country standards as well as a number of Christmas tunes, including Santa Claus Is Coming To Town. This concert would become a ZOO staple and was re-broadcast on Christmas Day throughout the seventies. Pictured left to right are KZEW's Ira Lipson, January Sound Studio engineer Bob Pickering, KZEW's Mike Taylor & Mark Addy, Willie Nelson and Tracy Nelson (seated).

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December 30th 1974 - The Beatles are legally disbanded, 4 years after suit was brought.

To be continued...

Last Chapter - "ZOO Year 1973"Next Chapter - "ZOO Year 1975"