This Day in Music

What Happened Today In Music

January 23rd

1991 - Led Zeppelin
John Sebastian, owner and general manager of KLSK FM in Albuquerque, New Mexico, played Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway To Heaven' for twenty-four solid hours to inaugurate a format change to Classic Rock. Police showed up with guns drawn: once after a listener reported that the DJ had apparently suffered a heart attack, and later because of suspicion that, this being eight days into the Gulf War, the radio station had been taken hostage by terrorists dispatched by Zeppelin freak Saddam Hussein.

This Day in Rhino

This Day in 1991: KLSK-FM’s “Stairway to Heaven” stunt

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

27 years ago today, a New Mexico radio station got a lot of attention – and simultaneously sent its listenership into turmoil – by playing a rock classic for 24 straight hours.

Based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, KLSK-FM had just switched formats: whereas they’d previously been playing all new-age music, all the time, now they were all about the classic rock. In an effort to make local listeners aware of this decidedly dramatic switch-up, John Sebastian – not the guy from the Lovin’ Spoonful, but the station’s owner and general manager – came up with the idea of playing “Stairway to Heaven” for an entire day.

The stunt worked insofar as it got KLSK attention, but some of that attention was of a different variety than had been intended: police were sent to the radio station on two separate occasions during the course of the 24-hour period. Why? Because rumors were running rampant about the reason for this marathon, including one which suggested that the DJ had had a heart attack, resulting in the constant repeating of the same track.

“I don’t remember exactly what all the rumors were,” Sebastian told Ultimate Classic Rock. “There were lots of them, which was the whole idea, to get word of mouth spread – and it certainly worked. [The stunt] spread the word so rapidly that even though we had like half a signal compared to the other Albuquerque stations, we went from nowhere to second in the market within just a couple of ratings periods. It really helped us to get off the ground.”

Stairway to heaven on Church organ - Led Zeppelin

Hannes Britz
1.51K subscribers

36,231 views Jul 20, 2014
Reisen wir ein weiteres Mal nach England, zu der Band Led Zeppelin und ihrem Song "Stairway to heaven". Viel Spaß!

Led Zeppelin When The Levee Breaks by Zepparella

Zepparella
101K subscribers

22,889,106 views Mar 17, 2010
Audio: http://www.zepparella.com/audiovideo....{bad link}

"When The Levee Breaks"
Written by Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe McCoy
Based on Led Zeppelin's version.
Performed by Zepparella
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Vocals: Anna Kristina
Guitar: Gretchen Menn
Bass: Nila Minnerok
Drums: Clementine

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Edited by Mahoko
Filmed by Brandon Katcher

Audio recorded and mixed by Robert Preston, GetReel Productions
Audio mastered by Mike Wells Mastering

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