For David Eduardo: a rebuttal on Cleveland

[bigwoody]

> Nathan:
>
> You forgot one other positive attribute about Cleveland.
>
> Mike Douglas began his TV show there as a local program on
> the then-KYW-3 in 1961. Within two years it went into
> national syndication, and many top entertainers got their
> first national TV exposure on his show. While in Cleveland,
> many of the early Motown acts made their national-TV debut
> on the Douglas show because Cleveland was only about a
> five-and-a-half-hour drive from Detroit.
>
> Douglas' show moved to Philadelphia in 1965, but it was not
> his choice. The FCC ordered Group W and NBC to undo a swap
> almost ten years earlier which gave Group W stations in
> Cleveland and NBC stations in Philadelphia. As a result,
> Group W once again had stations in Phildelphia (both the KYW
> calls and Mike Douglas' TV show went to the City Of
> Brotherly Love) and NBC once more had stations in Cleveland.
>
>
> Were it now for the FCC ordering Group W and NBC to undo
> their 1956 swap involving Philly and Cleveland, "The Mike
> Douglas Show" may have remained in Cleveland for several
> more years. I consider him as much a broadcasting icon of
> Cleveland (despite his show's short stay there) as Alan
> Freed and Bill Randle.
>

Phil Donahue is a Clevelander as well. A St. Edward High graduate, who grew up on Riverway Avenue in Lakewood (Cleveland burb). Went to Notre Dame and got his tv start in Dayton, and eventually went national. A stretch, but a Clevelander nonetheless. And...he dated my aunt. It's in his book.<P ID="signature">______________
Everyone is entitled to my opinion.</P>

 

[bigwoody]

> WGAR, in the early 70's under Lund, was really the gold
> based, soft adult CHR that was the basis for today's AC
> formats. While WMMS was very famous and very good, I do not
> see it necessarily any more significant than, say, She in
> St. Louis to name one case.
>

WMMS, in the late 60's/early 70's, was one of the 3 most influential AOR's in the country, next to WNEW and KSAN.

WGAR AM or FM? WGAR FM was then WNCR, an AOR. First PD was Billy Bass, who eventually became PD at WMMS before leaving radio for records and going to L.A. Eventually he'd discover Huey Lewis and manage Luther Vandross' career for over a decade before heading back to Cleveland to do nights at WMJI (1998).

WGAR AM was a top 40 in the mid/late 70's. Who can forget JR Nelson and "The Real" Bob James, who later went to WNBC and also founded ACN, American Comedy Network. Bob James was a great Top 40 jock. I put him up there with Tom Kent and Jack Armstrong. His sense of humor and bits set him apart.

JR Nelson, later the VO of WMJI from about 1991-1997, is a Port Clinton native. Just heard him on some WOMC Detroit Reunion ID's three weeks ago while driving back to Toledo from a Randy Thomas (Oscars) VO Seminar. JR is semi-retired. Perfect oldies VO delivery. I'd rather have JR than Charlie Van Dyke. JR was the first Voice of MTV when it started. Dean Thacker, GM of Z100 mid 80s, when offered ownership in WMJI from Carl Hirsch (Next Media), brought JR to WMJI to be Prod Director. Mitch Todd later replaced JR around 1992 when JR went freelance. JR...what a temper. Used to throw triple deck cart machines out the window at the old studios by the Greyhound station. Didn't even look to see if there was anyone out there, lol!


<P ID="signature">______________
Everyone is entitled to my opinion.</P><P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by bigwoody on 10/09/05 03:44 AM.</FONT></P>

 

[bigwoody]

> > > Difference was WGAR was very personality oriented.
> > >
> >
> > Which I think transferred into the success of WMJI, also.
> >
>
> Not quite so easy as that, since John Gorman (and the staff)
> were under alot of influences when making Majic.
>
> WGAR was no doubt a factor--Lanigan was AM drive a the Big
> 1220, and was morning man at Majic for 6 years already when
> Gorman took over. Plus, WGAR 1220 had been scuttled within
> the decade, so memories were pretty fresh.
>
> Everyone who was C-Town born and bred was a WIXY fanatic.
> Although you consider it "average," it was influential well
> into the 90s with Clevelanders. (Even today, WMJI still
> does the WIXY Lost Super Hit at 6.30pm--songs which aren't
> really "lost," but no matter.)
>
> WHK "Solid Gold" in the mid-80s was WMJI before there was
> WMJI (so says Gorman). It was really a Malrite testing
> ground for oldies in Cleveland. Before that, the only
> source for it was WMJI's gold AC and Boom Goldberg's Sunday
> morning show on 'MMS.
>
> I guess you could project the Buzzard as an influence on
> WMJI too--but that would really be Gorman channelling
> Gorman. He had J.R. Nelson do some pretty blue and
> in-your-face promos for WMJI, some more reminiscent of WMMS
> in the 70s or any rock station rather than white-bread
> oldies stations.
>
> But I think Cleveland in the 70s and 80s was blessed with
> some very personality-oriented stations--WIXY, WGAR, WMMS,
> G-98, 92Q (WRQC), WBBG. In some respect ALL influenced WMJI
> at some level--remember, Gorman left town for just one year
> between 1973 and 1991 (when he took over Majic). In that
> time, he saw everything that was happening in Cleveland and
> in Cleveland radio. It gave him alot to work from and upon.
> Which was why Majic was so successful from the start. He
> KNEW Cleveland (despite being a Boston native).
>



Also influential in the WMJI design was "The Big 8" CKLW/Detroit, often #1 in Cleveland. News Director Chip Kullick's news delivery is very reminiscent of the sensational "20-20 News" that 'CK did. Also influential was KHJ. KHJ's Drake formatics were incorporated in WMJI early on. Oldies specialists E. Alvin Davis had a major impact on WMJI, as well as WGRR/Cinci, a great oldies station when programmed by Marty Thompson. Thompson also involved in the WSAI "experiment" of a year ago.
<P ID="signature">______________
Everyone is entitled to my opinion.</P>

 

[davideduardo]

>
> WMMS, in the late 60's/early 70's, was one of the 3 most
> influential AOR's in the country, next to WNEW and KSAN.

I think you will find that the greatest influence in AOR was Lee Abrams. The independent stations that were not Superstars clients were definitely more edgy, but nothing did more nationally for the genre than Lee.
>
> WGAR AM or FM? WGAR FM was then WNCR, an AOR.

AM, under Lund. Very influential station, copied or emulated by many all over the country. when softer adult CHRs were being called "chicken Rock" WGAR was a very solid approach to doing contemporary music for folks over 25.

>
> WGAR AM was a top 40 in the mid/late 70's. Who can forget JR
> Nelson and "The Real" Bob James, who later went to WNBC and
> also founded ACN, American Comedy Network. Bob James was a
> great Top 40 jock. I put him up there with Tom Kent and Jack
> Armstrong. His sense of humor and bits set him apart.

It sure seemed like an AC then, what with ... what was it... WZGC (whatever the General cinema station calls were....) doing very high energy CHR on FM.

 

[MikeDane]

> JR Nelson, later the VO of WMJI from about 1991-1997, is a
> Port Clinton native. Just heard him on some WOMC Detroit
> Reunion ID's three weeks ago while driving back to Toledo
> from a Randy Thomas (Oscars) VO Seminar. JR is semi-retired.
> Perfect oldies VO delivery. I'd rather have JR than Charlie
> Van Dyke. JR was the first Voice of MTV when it started.
> Dean Thacker, GM of Z100 mid 80s, when offered ownership in
> WMJI from Carl Hirsch (Next Media), brought JR to WMJI to be
> Prod Director. Mitch Todd later replaced JR around 1992 when
> JR went freelance. JR...what a temper. Used to throw triple
> deck cart machines out the window at the old studios by the
> Greyhound station. Didn't even look to see if there was
> anyone out there, lol!
>

JR Nelson is one of my idols in this business. Great voice,
Great delivery, Great skills. Just one of the best. I was
crushed the night he announced his leaving the MJI air staff
and was moving to accounting. Not to mention playing Mean
Woman Blues 9 times in a row (if I remember right).

Mike Dane
WSTB-FM 88.9
SundayOldiesJukebox.com