Smooth Jazz Started With Him

Frank Cody invented the Smooth Jazz format.  For that, the many enthusiasts of the genre owe him a debt of gratitude.  I owe him twice as much.  He created a category of music I found I adored and into which I’ve happily poured my passion and dedication the past 25 years.  And, by coming up with the Smooth Jazz format, he gave me the opportunity to enjoy a career in radio that has exceeded my grandest dreams.  These are gifts so great I won’t ever be able to return the favor.

Legendary Chicago radio executive John Gehron likes to stress the importance of people with ideas.  They are the ones who propel the industry forward and allow it to grow, he’s said to me on more than one occasion.  Well, Frank Cody is the quintessential idea guy.  But he is also the rare idea guy who can take an exciting new concept soaring at 30,000 feet and bring it down to the ground where it can then be implemented practically and successfully.  The Smooth Jazz format is a textbook example of that.

In 1986, after a distinguished career as an executive at NBC and ABC radio, he set out to create a radio format from scratch.  Going where no programmer had gone before, he decided to take a collection of artists who had traditionally gotten little airplay or none at all on commercial radio and turn them into the core of his new, largely instrumental format.  He placed upon artists such as David Sanborn, Grover Washington Jr., Kenny G, Earl Klugh, Acoustic Alchemy and George Winston the burden of doing the heavy lifting for what would be dubbed the “New Adult Contemporary” format.  Mr. Cody did the same thing in the vocal realm with Basia, Enya, Swing Out Sister and the like.  By February of 1987 he was ready to launch “The Wave” at KTWV-FM in Los Angeles.  Within months, KKSF in San Francisco and WNUA in Chicago debuted in their respective markets.  He programmed or consulted all of them.

Then, working with his team at Broadcast Architecture, a broadcast media and entertainment research/consulting firm he co-founded, he set out to make the format palatable to the general market, not just contemporary jazz and New Age enthusiasts.  He used a revolutionary digital-interactive music testing device his company created, the Mix-Master, to measure the appeal of every title on his extensive playlist.  It didn’t take long for the rough edges of the format to be trimmed away through his music research, and Smooth Jazz began to gain a solid foothold in the three biggest radio markets in the country, thanks to a stronger music mix.  Ratings, which were lukewarm at first, started to take off.

I remember Mr. Cody’s periodic visits to WNUA during the entire decade of the ‘90s.  He’d supervise the music tests the station would do two or three times each year, moderate our focus groups with listeners and preside over many a brainstorming session with WNUA brass.  I confess that, as an air talent, I found him to be both intimidating and inspiring.  On the one hand, he had such a brilliant creative mind I wasn’t always sure I was living up to his standards on the air.  On the other, he was constantly brimming with ideas I was dying to try, things I could never come up with in a million years.  He also reminded us in each of our meetings that Smooth Jazz was a unique format because listeners used it in two very different ways.  One group used the music for stress relief and relaxation.  The other group came to the station for discovery, to be stimulated by new artists and new music.  Therefore, it was our job to make WNUA fit into the comfort zone of both groups.  By following his vision and building on the rock solid foundation he built for the format, we were able to turn WNUA into a powerhouse.

Today, Frank Cody lives in Abiquiu, New Mexico, about an hour north of Santa Fe.  He is currently undergoing treatment for a serious illness.  I ask Smooth Jazz fans everywhere to say a prayer for him and send positive thoughts his way.  If you are on Facebook, you can send him a get well message there.  It’s the least we can do for a man whose creative genius has brightened our lives for more than a quarter century.

~Rick O’Dell (FmAm1@aol.com)

Our Smooth Video of the Day:  Would we even know about this group if Frank Cody hadn’t created a format for them on the radio?

 

Comments

[Maurice Wright]

That's quite a tribute, Rick. Well said.

[Art B.]

Rick, my hat's off to you for a Great story and my hat's off to and Prayers go out to the man who invented the Smooth Jazz format, Frank Cody, we are indebted to you for bringing us such Beautiful music , such as " Carribean Breeze ". I would have to admit that I fall more into the 1st catagory, those who listened for stress relief and relaxation which led to listening to new artists and new music ... I've been hooked ever since, Thank You to Frank Cody for inventing the format and Thank You Rick O'Dell for bringing it to us all these years ... we really Appreciate it !!!

[Super Dave]

When a person has a "Vision", then actively puts that vision into reality, everyone benefits. Frank Cody had that vision. It's unfortunate that people in radio today are not only "Visionless" but totally "Clueless!" It could use more Frank Cody's, and other broadcasting pioneers that came before him. Wishful thinking.

[DJWoo]

Excellent tribute. Thank you, Mr. Cody! And, as always, my best to you Rick.

[CORA]

My ENDLESS GRATITUDE TO YOU MR. CODY. YOU brought us a timeless music format to treasure forever. You will be in my prayers, God Bless..... Wishing you well... And, to you Rick, THANK YOU so much for the great, interesting and very inspirational stories...

[Ollie]

Rick, thanks for passing on the information regarding Frank
Cody. My hat is off to Mr. Cody and you Rick, for all that the both of you have done for us. A special thanks to Frank, and my everyday prayers go out to him and his family. Love and good wishes to you both!

[Cyn Cooper]

Now you've shared how we came to be a group, a family and a force thru the Vision of Mr Frank Cody....what moving knowledge to have!! As I've said before, this blog has been like having a personal tape recorder so we could follow you around while you were on a long break, and learn the backstory of an experience we all enjoyed. Now, arriving at the start of it all, very fitting that we pray for and pay tribute to the person who manifested his own "What If". Sending gratitude & hope to Frank Cody and his loved ones today and always. Peace.

[Cody]

Rick, thank you! This is a remarkably generous post. I'm really touched by your largesse and the warm response from your followers, friends and well wishers. Let me top it with a joke: Old man visits his doctor. Doctor says, "The tests are back and I'm sorry to report, you have cancer and Alzheimer's disease." Old man looks at the doc and says, "Well, at least I don't have cancer."

[Darryl]

Cody is in my sincere deepest prayers. I know that by the Lord's stripes He is healed. The doctor may say he has an illness, but that's not God's final report! It is not in His will that Frank Cody perishes; he is healed!
I give much love and support to Frank Cody. Without the introduction of Smooth Jazz to the commercial market, we would have never been introduced to a wide array of talented artists that performs this music from the heart; plus, we would have never been introduced to the radio personalities that would make an impact on a city. Rick O'Dell and Bill Cochran are prefect examples. Both of them are radio personalities suitable for this format that just can't be replaced.