Blame It On John...!

So many folks found ways to get around the rules and regulations established over the years, I thought we should look at one of them. Mr. John Brinkley. He actually made quite a name for himself as the man responsible for the spread of country music across parts of America.

John Brinkley

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

John Brinkley was a charlatan, but he had a product to sell. He advertised goat testicle transplants for the scrota of infertile men. Though this treatment was unmedical, he performed more than 16,000 surgeries. Brinkley advertised this procedure on his radio station KFKB, America’s fourth-ever station. To pay for his radio channel, he spoke about the wonders of product for 30 minutes at a time. These spots are now considered the first infomercials. Like the infomercials we know today, they were long, rambling, and usually misleading.

Because he was lying on the airwaves, the US government shut down his practice. Brinkley simply moved his operations to Mexico. He built the largest and most powerful tower in the world to advertise from Mexico into the United States. On the new radio channel, he played entertainment in between his infomercials. Brinkley was the first person to broadcast country music across the United States. His station was the first to play the country music legends the Carter Family. Brinkley’s radio station is credited with popularizing the genre outside of its regional limits.

By moving country out of Appalachia and into Texas, Brinkley created the country-western sound that would dominate the genre from then on. When he died decades later, his seat at the radio station was replaced by Wolfman Jack. Wolfman Jack helped spread rock and roll across the country.

You have to give the man credit. He may have been a snake oil salesman, but having done 16,000 operations involving goat testicles, he was pretty good at it! I came across this article over at Listverse.

Coffee inside once again.