A New 40¢ Stamp Could Honor Top40 Creator

If former disc-jockey and Top40 radio buff Richard W. Fatherley of Kansas City gets his way, the United States Postal Service just might put its stamp of approval on dedicating a new 40¢ stamp to the late Todd Storz (1924-1964) of Omaha, Nebraska, who sparked the success of the independent Top40 modern radio movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

According to Fatherley, Storz broke with network radio convention after his 1949 purchase of daytime-only KOWH-AM/660 in Omaha, and astonished broadcasters and media observers in 1951 when KOWH became the top rated radio station in the nation. Its success became the springboard to station acquisitions and a rocket-ride to the top of the ratings in New Orleans, Kansas City, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Miami, Oklahoma City and St. Louis. By 1956, the Storz "sound" was out of the bag, and changed the sound of radio in the United States.

"This year we're celebrating the fiftieth (50^th) anniversary of Todd's Top40 idea which found its name after he purchased WTIX in New Orleans in 1953, and his 1954 purchase of WHB in Kansas City," Fatherley said.

Fatherley says he's "…looking for lots of letters to the right people", including Terrance W. McCaffrey, Manager of Stamp Services, at the U.S. Postal Service, Suite 5670, L'Enfant Plaza SW, Washington, D.C. 20260-2435, urging McCaffrey to recommend to the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee that the name and image of Todd Storz appear on a 40¢ postage stamp to commemorate the fiftieth (50^th) anniversary of the start-up of Top40 radio.

Home | Image Gallery | Audio Gallery | Contact | Credits

Produced & Developed by Digital Lagoon