Anyone have a history of wilk dj's?

[ceaser]

I took notice that the wvia presentation of the history of warmland seems to have stopped around 1968.That is when wilk flipped to pop 40.Coincidence?mabye.Anyway with all the posts about the mighty 590 does anyone have anything about the history of wilk and a list of all the jocks?Mark Michaels.Frank E Warren,Terri Stevens,Jimmy Coles and countless others are names that I grew up with.Thanks.

 

[yonkstur]

I did a story on WILK at 60 on my blog. Here's the link to that edition:

http://lulacpoliticaletter.blogspot.com/2007/02/lulac-edition-152-feb-12-2007.html.

There were hundreds of people who passed through there but when WILK changed over in 1968 I believe the lineup was
6AM To 10AM, Don Bruce.
10AM to 2PM, Bill Dennis.
2 to 6PM, Tom Owens
6-7Pm, newsblock
7 to 1AM Jamie. (who was Jamie Morgan, the son of the owner Roy. E Morgan and later the GM himself.) The station signed off at 1AM.
Banana Joe Montione did a stint there at night, many, many others.

Yonkstur

 

[travist102]

I remember during the '92 Radio Greats Reunion hearing airchecks of Chuck McCann, John Bugby, Dr. Don Bruce, Brother Brucey (same person), and Frank Ceretta from 1975. They also mentioned Mark Thomas "Marko" and The Mighty Quinn. I'd love to hear '70s & early '80s airchecks from them.

 

[ThomasCarten]

We had a guy here at WRKC who worshipped the ground WILK was built on. If I can remember his name and find where he is, he might have some checks. It's been a while.

 

[masterg]

I remember during the '92 Radio Greats Reunion

It's painful for me accept that the reunion was that long ago, but it was a blast. WARM attempted a reunion during John Hancock's tenure as PD, but so many people who'd left WARM had done so under a dark cloud that no one wanted to participate. Most who worked at WARM hated the place.

 

[warmland]

I remember during the '92 Radio Greats Reunion

It's painful for me accept that the reunion was that long ago, but it was a blast. WARM attempted a reunion during John Hancock's tenure as PD, but so many people who'd left WARM had done so under a dark cloud that no one wanted to participate. Most who worked at WARM hated the place.

WARM did do a reunion back in the late 70s or early 80s. They had Bob Oliver, King Arthur Knight and a few others. I believe Bob Oliver passed away some time ago. I was surprised Oliver did the reunion, having been fired from there by GG.

 

[masterg]

WARM did do a reunion back in the late 70s or early 80s. They had Bob Oliver, King Arthur Knight and a few others. I believe Bob Oliver passed away some time ago. I was surprised Oliver did the reunion, having been fired from there by GG.

It had to be earlier than that, because I was there during the time period you mentioned, and there was no reunion. I thought Oliver had one of the best soft-sell voices ever. He was the voice of Gertrude Hawk Chocolates for many years, and Martz Trailways too.

 

[ppatrol]

Back when I spent some time at WILK around 1980, the names I remember, though not the shifts was...Tony Rose...was also the PD, Pete Piper (Bob Leidigh)(sp?), Jimmy Bosh, Steve St.John (Steve Olshefski), Eric Thomas, Mike Moran. News included Kevin Jordan, Karen Harch, Kathy Bozinski, Marge Stevens (Marge Stefaniak). Sports Director was Rick Gaydos...Jim McCarthy was also there. Don Bruce was in sales at the time. Scooterman Frank Ceretta also did some sports work and sales. This was the time of the "New 98" at WILK. I'll try to remember more or find some other info and post.

 

[warmland]

WARM did do a reunion back in the late 70s or early 80s. They had Bob Oliver, King Arthur Knight and a few others. I believe Bob Oliver passed away some time ago. I was surprised Oliver did the reunion, having been fired from there by GG.

It had to be earlier than that, because I was there during the time period you mentioned, and there was no reunion. I thought Oliver had one of the best soft-sell voices ever. He was the voice of Gertrude Hawk Chocolates for many years, and Martz Trailways too.

It was something like their 10th or 20th anniversary, so most likely it was earlier than I remember. Bob Oliver was the voice of Hawks and also Sarno & Sons for some time. I don't recall him doing Martz though fro some reason. He was a very nice guy and very talented.

 

[Call Me Sherlock]

Is this the same Bob Oliver that programmed WHFM-FM in Rochester, NY about 1970? If so, he was a nice guy and very talented. I worked at a competing station and remember having dinner with he and his wife at their home one evening.

I had heard that he ended up working in Chicago sometime later, but I lost track of him over the years. I've often wondered what became of him. Sorry, to hear of his passing.

If this is the same guy, can someone fill me in on his career after Rochester?

 

[masterg]

I don't recall him doing Martz though fro some reason

By the late 70s/early 80s, The Guest-LaBar Agency was handling Martz. Guest was Bill Guest, LaBar was Frank LaBar. They created the "Your Easy Chair to Anywhere" campaign for Martz, and Bill Guest did the voice work almost exclusively. It was a great jingle, a great catch phrase, and I'd guess, it was considered very successful. Bill Guest was a really nice guy, but I couldn't tell you whatever became of him, nor could I tell you what his broadcast history was. Frank LaBar died a few years ago, he was likewise a really nice man, and possessed a spectacular set of pipes. For years, Frank was the voice of WNEP's news open. Frank also had a long and colorful history in local broadcasting, and was truly one of NE PA's television pioneers.

And what in heck ever became of Tony Rose? Tony was infamous for taking a job at one time in, I believe, Nebraska. Nothing remarkable in that, except that he took the job sight unseen, he never set foot in or laid eyes upon the place until he moved better than half way across the country to show up for work.

 

[ThomasCarten]

.

Nothing remarkable in that, except that he took the job sight unseen, he never set foot in or laid eyes upon the place until he moved better than half way across the country to show up for work.

Actually, that may be the better way of doing it. When you think of all the toilets we've worked in, saying, "Ok, I'm here; gotta make the best of it" isn't such a bad idea.

 

[warmland]

Is this the same Bob Oliver that programmed WHFM-FM in Rochester, NY about 1970? If so, he was a nice guy and very talented. I worked at a competing station and remember having dinner with he and his wife at their home one evening.

I had heard that he ended up working in Chicago sometime later, but I lost track of him over the years. I've often wondered what became of him. Sorry, to hear of his passing.

If this is the same guy, can someone fill me in on his career after Rochester?

I ran into Bob in 1977 at Chick's Diner in Scranton. At that time he was an on the road salesman for the Tanner (Pepper-Tanner) Jingle Company out of Tenn. He originally was working at Susquehanna's Rhode Island station WICE before coming to WARM in the 60s. He was doing news at that time and was later given the 3 to 7 PM jock shift at WARM. He was fired for saying something about the newspapers complains about the garbage the kids made at a local event and that was against Susquehanna policy and he was fired. At that time he was working 7 days a week because he badly need the money.

 

[yonkstur]

Bill Guest was a really nice guy, but I couldn't tell you whatever became of him, nor could I tell you what his broadcast history was. Frank LaBar died a few years ago, he was likewise a really nice man, and possessed a spectacular set of pipes.

Guest did weekends on the old WBRE AM station until the station switched over to all news. He was one of the people who did the Sunday morning show from the Hotel Sterling where you could look in and see the jock doing his thing. Guest kept his ad agency until the mid 1980s, in the mid 80s I had some opportunity to work with him creatively. Smart, nice man. A year later, he merged his agency with some people from out of town and the next thing he knew, GuestWorks, as it was called was belly up. Last I heard he was doing well working for Thompson Education Direct in Scranton.

Frank Labar was a trip. He did a few voice overs for me when I had my public affairs show on WBAX. He did weekends on WVIA FM, had a weekend stint on WARM too. Frank's biggest wish was to have WVIA TV give him a cooking show. He was always pestering the bejesus out of the suits there but it never happened. He wore Dickie Navy Blue work clothes when he was jocking. He told me he did it on purpose so that people would think the janitor had a weekend gig.

Yonkstur

 

[emo474]

"And what in heck ever became of Tony Rose?"

The story I was told... Joe Montione (Bananna Joe) wanted one his buddies in at the station and set up a scenerio where Rose was offered a position at another station (I was under the impression that it was in Ohio). Rose jumped at the opportunity and left for what he thought was an honest offer, I heard Tony once while passing through Ohio and that reaffirmed my recollection. Anyway, it appears his leaving was all a plan by Joe to make room for one of his pals. I found Joe to be one of the darker sides of radio... back door deals, rumors of drugs and everything he was involved with in shambles when he left. This is the same guy who posted a position at WILK only to include the every detail of a friends resume as the requirements for that position, so his hiring seemed the perfeft match (Don Tandler).

Anyone remember newcaster Gayle Delano?
Also Mark Michaels, weekends.. always wore a jumpsuit (still at WILK I believe).

 

[ThomasCarten]

He was fired for saying something about the newspapers complains about the garbage the kids made at a local event and that was against Susquehanna policy and he was fired. At that time he was working 7 days a week because he badly need the money.

Y'know ... there are some things you just don't do when you need the work. Like, first off, you don't do really stupid things that will get you fired.

 

[masterg]

Frank and Bill not only co-owned an agency, they also owned a janitorial service together. I think it was called "The Clean Team." Or maybe it was "The Kleen-Team." Whatever, it's true; besides doing some great sound work during the day, they went around at night cleaning offices. And that likely explains why Frank had easy access to those Dickies outfits. Frank sold his interest in The Guest-LaBar Agency, but kept his interest in the janitorial deal. Don't you just love this business? Hey, you could never accuse either of these men of being pretentious, they had no problem with being radio pros during the day, and emptying waste baskets by night.

Does anyone here remember who, besides Bill Guest, was part of the line-up on WBRE-AM or WBRE-FM? At one time, they were both music stations, but just who were the jocks?

 

[ThomasCarten]

Dennis somebody, who used the name Tommy Sommers.

 

[ColorRadio]

Does anyone here remember who, besides Bill Guest, was part of the line-up on WBRE-AM or WBRE-FM? At one time, they were both music stations, but just who were the jocks?

I remember Bill Bachman was on during the early to mid-seventies when the radio operation was in a glass enclosure in the rear lobby of the Hotel Sterling. I later worked with him at WNEP. As I recall, he was in sales, and did occasional on air fill in work (i.e. "Dialing For Dollars"). The last I heard, he was operating a small ad agency. He had a very smooooth delivery.

Hi Bill!

 

[masterg]

Dennis somebody, who used the name Tommy Sommers.

Now that is going to drive me nuts, because the name is really ringing a bell, but I can't get a grab on it.