Greetings from yours Truly, Sam in Toronto Canada. I am totally blind and have always loved listening to granite state radio stations. This was back in the sixties though, when radio stations throughout the state were still owned and programmed locally. From 1965 to 1972, we lived in Burlington Vermont and my dad worked for Gulf Oil at the time. His territory included all of the green mountain state and about two thirds of the granite state, including Cheshire, Sullivan, Grafton, Coos, Belknap, and part of Caroll counties. He sometimes let me go to work with him, so while he was inspecting the various Gulf service stations in whatever city he had to go to that day, it might be Keene or Claremont or Laconia or Littleton or Berlin, I would inspect both the AM and FM radio dials, wherever we happened to be located that day, and I found it absolutely fascinating to listen to radio stations throughout New Hampshire.
One particular radio station that tickled my fancy, but which is long gone now, was WBRL, 1400 in Berlin. It was a top 40 station and I just loved the sound of this station. It had a certain quaintness to it, a small town charm that you just don't ever hear on local radio stations any more. I enjoyed being in Berlin so much and listening to the city's two radio stations during the summer of 1967. That September, I wrote to WBRL, and they promised me an aircheck of the station. Unfortunately I never received that aircheck and I kept writing them every year or so, because for some reason wBRL absolutely fascinated me.
Finally in 2002, I found someone who started his radio career at WBRL. His name is Jack Casey, and last I knew he was working at WPLM in Plymouth Massachusetts. He actually sent me an aircheck of himself on WBRL from way back in 1966, but when I played the cassette, alas, it was completely blank. So, I know I am probably seeking the impossible here, but I am wondering if anyone on this forum has, or knows someone that has any airchecks of WBRL from any time at all. If so, I would love to hear them, as well as any airchecks of WMOU or WZPK, "the Peak" in Berlin.
Another granite state radio station that I always loved and found absolutely fascinating to listen to, was little WEMJ, 1490 in Laconia in its top forty days. It seemed that every time I tuned into that station, something really exciting was going on in town. In June of 1967, Laconia was gearing up for bike week. In February of 1968 during a real cold snap in Laconia when I thought sure that nothing exciting would be happeining at all, Laconia was in the midst of a winter carnival and WEMJ was doing live remotes from downtown Laconia. And then on July 18, 1968 when I was visiting the city, a street car that had been made in Laconia was being taken to a museum in Kennybunkport Maine. But first it was driven one more time through the streets of downtown Laconia. And you guessed it, WEMJ was doing remotes and following the progress of this street car as it made its way through the downtown area. This was truly local radio at its best, and it made a real impression on my fourteen year old mind, and I still remember listening to WEMJ back then as if it were yesterday. Here again, if anyone has any airchecks of WEMJ from 1965 through 1968, I would love to hear them. These were wonderful little radio stations, that for some reason there seem to be virtually no audio recordings of at all, and that's really a shame. It's a piece of granite state history that was never saved for all to hear and enjoy.
Sam in Toronto
One particular radio station that tickled my fancy, but which is long gone now, was WBRL, 1400 in Berlin. It was a top 40 station and I just loved the sound of this station. It had a certain quaintness to it, a small town charm that you just don't ever hear on local radio stations any more. I enjoyed being in Berlin so much and listening to the city's two radio stations during the summer of 1967. That September, I wrote to WBRL, and they promised me an aircheck of the station. Unfortunately I never received that aircheck and I kept writing them every year or so, because for some reason wBRL absolutely fascinated me.
Finally in 2002, I found someone who started his radio career at WBRL. His name is Jack Casey, and last I knew he was working at WPLM in Plymouth Massachusetts. He actually sent me an aircheck of himself on WBRL from way back in 1966, but when I played the cassette, alas, it was completely blank. So, I know I am probably seeking the impossible here, but I am wondering if anyone on this forum has, or knows someone that has any airchecks of WBRL from any time at all. If so, I would love to hear them, as well as any airchecks of WMOU or WZPK, "the Peak" in Berlin.
Another granite state radio station that I always loved and found absolutely fascinating to listen to, was little WEMJ, 1490 in Laconia in its top forty days. It seemed that every time I tuned into that station, something really exciting was going on in town. In June of 1967, Laconia was gearing up for bike week. In February of 1968 during a real cold snap in Laconia when I thought sure that nothing exciting would be happeining at all, Laconia was in the midst of a winter carnival and WEMJ was doing live remotes from downtown Laconia. And then on July 18, 1968 when I was visiting the city, a street car that had been made in Laconia was being taken to a museum in Kennybunkport Maine. But first it was driven one more time through the streets of downtown Laconia. And you guessed it, WEMJ was doing remotes and following the progress of this street car as it made its way through the downtown area. This was truly local radio at its best, and it made a real impression on my fourteen year old mind, and I still remember listening to WEMJ back then as if it were yesterday. Here again, if anyone has any airchecks of WEMJ from 1965 through 1968, I would love to hear them. These were wonderful little radio stations, that for some reason there seem to be virtually no audio recordings of at all, and that's really a shame. It's a piece of granite state history that was never saved for all to hear and enjoy.
Sam in Toronto