I've told the "Littlest Angel" story before and it's a doozy.. do you recall the infamous church service where one of our newsmen let the most unmentionable phrases fly.. He thought he was listening to the FM, but the headphone jack was tuned to the AM... the whole congregation was listening to WQEQ waiting for the cue to start the mass,, the Live-read open.. but because he could not hear himself reading the live open, he thought there was a connection problem with the church. He let everything but the kitchen sink fly in a tirade of curses that must have raised Lazarus from the dead! Everyone in the church hearing curses that would make Andrew Dice Clay blush, while he thought nothing was broadcast because he had the wrong station tuned in. Then there was the Halloween party at the station where we had an "I'm Drug Free" sign up for kids and a Halloween parade in out parking lot.. right across the street from a cemetery. Sounded like a great idea, except we asked the sales department to get items from our sponsors to put in the kids treat bags. We thought everything went fantastic until we opened up a few of the leftover treat bags to find packs of playing cards.. with JOE COOL (Camel) on them smoking.. and hat pins from Miller, Budweiser, and Coors.. seems as if one of our salesmen went to the local beverage distributor and got some freebies... except they all dealt with either alcohol or smoking... and this was given out to the kids at the "I'm drug free" party. How about the famous "pencil switch" or one or my favorite stores... We had a new news person, who was just getting used to recording and our automation. One day I'm sitting by the monitor during the 10am news which was pre-recorded. Only I hear in the background the f-bomb repeated over and over and over.. maybe 20 times! Seems as if the new news-guy got halfway though his newscast and made a mistake, at that point he just said that nasty word over and over, for maybe 20 seconds. He then took out the cart and thought he both erased and cued the cart up just past the splice. The only problem is that he cued the tape up to the exact same place as his previous read, but never hit ERASE! When he re-read the news, he kept pace word for word with the previous read.. UNTIL THE MISTAKE.. at that point his second take kept reading the news while the first take just kept repeating the nastiest of nasty words in the background over and over and over! Yes, life was always interesting at the Q.
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Freeland FM
- Thread starter Metropolite
- Start date
N
normhill007
Guest
Then there was the Channel 16 Best DJ contest-they sent film crews to all the stations to get "vote for me's". Most were in studio but I did something a bit differant, thanks to the cemetary, some snow, a somewhat warmer morning that let fog form off the snow. I pulled into frame with my 83 Dodge 600 convertible, top down and did my spiel, complete with reflection of the cameraman on the door. Didn't win but I'll almost guarantee that was the most run video at the close of the newscast of any of the others.
B
Bob Farrow
Guest
This is really bringing back memories. I recall when WACM went on the air. A friend of mine got me the gig of recording the ID's and promo cuts.... all I recall anymore is the legal ID... WACM - Freeland.... and thinking to myself.... "WHACK-em"???!!!???!! This would have been maybe 1976.... I'm sort of thinking bicentennial.
bob...
we always called it 'whack'em" radio! the year was 76...it came on in april.
they bought a stero transmitter and mono board to start. the chief was a
local tv repair guy......what a place!
we always called it 'whack'em" radio! the year was 76...it came on in april.
they bought a stero transmitter and mono board to start. the chief was a
local tv repair guy......what a place!
When I first came on board, about 1978 or 79, the crew included Gary Behr, doing mornings, Paul Minda, afternoons, can't remember the girl, and I thing Jerry Trey, Jim Dino and Tom Ragan. News was done by Pat Ward. The PD was Joe Cepin. I did some overnights.. I don't think I was there for more than a few months and the owner got this great idea to go Satellite.. SMN, Satellite Music Network.. I don't think it was more than a few months later when everyone quit. I went from being a radio nothing to suddenly helping run the station full time. Trouble was I had no experience and wanted to keep my job. I must say that I became a "yes" man for the company.. If it saved money, I found a way to do it. Joe Cepin had left because of programming disagreements and the direction the station was taking. I on the other hand found myself as the PD, with no experience and no idea of what really to do. I let Sales and the owner dictate to me what they wanted, and I made it happen. Was it good programming.. NO! I'm proud of one thing.. I made things work with basically nothing for over 15 years. The equipment that early WACM jocks describe was there 20 years later... no improvements, no yearly budget, no real promotions... but our staff stood proud in the community. We had a staff that were no prima donnas.... we did what we had to do to make ends meet. We set up our own remotes, broke them down too. Our engineer, Bob Scacht, made McGyver look like an amateur. Our station was held together by bobby pins and duct tape. Looking back, I wish Joe Cepin had stayed and I could have had the chance to learn from a pro. It's too bad management turned to the satellite instead of staying "live" with a really good staff. I could have matured around some really talented individuals and "grown some", if you know what I mean. As it was, I still proud of what we accomplished with what little we had.
Tommy, well said!!!
Tony, when I first heard of the "Q".. it was an interesting little station.. they read Q-Cards, did the Q-cast and had a nice staff. Everyone was well trained on the format that Joe Cepin fine tuned. It was a Freeland radio station, but had a really tight sound. When the decision was made to go satellite and everyone left, we still put together a fine staff. Norm Hill, Tony Pacelli, Jeff Gordon, Tom Ragan & His Son Tom Jr. We had a news staff that featured Lisa Ragazzi, Andy Mehalshick, Judy Paisley, Bob Sosar. Weekend show that included Bob Sacco's best of the Big Bands. Our problem was no signal outside of Hazleton and no real budget. Sales wanted to change things too often. Easy to sell country.. easy to sell oldies.. let's try talk... SELL SINATRA! Management never gave us the full range to do what we thought would work.. and lacked the kohunas to back up the things we did. I remember one day being told never to say "TGIF" on the air because the owner didn't like the reference to GOD on the air.. even it it was in an acronym! Did we every hear... "Guy's you are doing a great job, I don't care what the advertiser says.. I support what you're doing!" No it was more like ABC furniture doesn't like that song, pull it... or you have a news story with an advertisers relative mentioned in it... kill it.
The people who took over the station moved the antenna.. it now serves a bigger population in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area, but if failed at several attempts fly including the EZ Listening format. With all that Entercom has, they can't match the enthusiasm and commitment we put into our community. Rebroadcasting talk on the FM is just a slap in the face to the AM stations there. How many stations do they need broadcasting the same programming to get a blip in the ratings. Worse yet, how many broadcasters did they put of work and how many communities have been robbed of their local station. We all did some really funny, unusual, and creative things with far less that they have now.
The people who took over the station moved the antenna.. it now serves a bigger population in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area, but if failed at several attempts fly including the EZ Listening format. With all that Entercom has, they can't match the enthusiasm and commitment we put into our community. Rebroadcasting talk on the FM is just a slap in the face to the AM stations there. How many stations do they need broadcasting the same programming to get a blip in the ratings. Worse yet, how many broadcasters did they put of work and how many communities have been robbed of their local station. We all did some really funny, unusual, and creative things with far less that they have now.
I was working at WAZL in my senior year of High School when WACM came on the air. I remember "The Great American Birthday Party" 4th of July bash at the football stadium downtown. The WACM Winnebago was parked right below WAZL on Laurel Street and the crew was at the stadium. A couple of my friends grabbed some WAZL bumper stickers and pasted them on the back bumper of the Winnie. Not sure how long before they were noticed, but we had a good time laughing about it.
Years later, I worked at WQEQ and helped build 1300. I recall something about a dog doing morning drive on KC Country?!
Mike
Years later, I worked at WQEQ and helped build 1300. I recall something about a dog doing morning drive on KC Country?!
Mike
Yeah Tonto was number 1. Tommy I think you may have been at WARM, when I added "Heaven is a place on earth and was told not to play it again because it had the word Heaven in the title. Go figure. Were you there when Neil was doing live road reports with the Bronco during a nasty snowstorm? He was telling people how unsafe the roads were, he lost control of the Bronco goind down the Stockton Mountain and alll the listeners heard was a loud "aHHHHHHHHHHHHH I am spinning". Another great story. Some other people that were on the staff. Christa Stoffka, Karen Pingar (Tom Ragan Jr.'s partner on the air), MGT stopped them from doing some great bits. Thought they crossed the line. Some funny stuff came out of those 2. Kim Supon had her first job at the Q. Eddie Collins. Great people went through those doors.
And of couse we left out Bill Bell and the number one man for every season... Mark Hnasko, who still gets carded and can pass for an 18 year old kid! One story that makes me laugh was the time we created our own christmas show reels... Every sold block of Christmas music was sponsored. One year I had this great idea that each reel would have a cue tone on the end, so that when that reel ended the next show would start. We had an automation system set up with four reel to reels.. so you had just about two hours of shows that could run without having to do anything... sounds great, right? Well understand this one thing... when one reel stops, the next in the sequence starts, and so forth.. rrel 1 then 2 then 3 then 4... Well Judy Paisley was working the Christmas shifyt that afternoon and we were playing the Mormon Tabernacle Chior's "HALLAULEA CHORUS"... 98 percent of that musical performance is so quiet, we had to turn up the volume on the tape deck just to make the program barely audible. Trouble is when they finally get to the part where they start sining "Hallelulia!" it gets so loud that the automation sees it as a stop tone and immediatly starts the next deck... Elvis Presley!!! Judy jumps up and stops the Elvis reel, but that only starts the next deck with the Beach Boys, so she hits stop on the Beach Boys, only that starts deck #4... the Carpenters! She stops the Carpenters and the Hallelulia Choris comes back on, only they're still singing so loud that the roof of the cathedral is about to come off and AGAIN, the deck stops because the automation thinks it's the cue tone... so you have this wicked non-stop cycle... Hallelulia.. Elvis.. Beach Boys... Carpenters...Hallelulia.. Elvis.. Beach Boys... Carpenters.....Hallelulia.. Elvis.. Beach Boys... Carpenters... Hallelulia.. Elvis.. Beach Boys... Carpenters...Hallelulia.. Elvis.. Beach Boys... Carpenters.....Hallelulia.. Elvis.. Beach Boys... Carpenters!
I think Judy will never enjoy the holidays again because of that incident.
You mention Neil Rodino... No sandwich was safe with Neil nearby... "Tony, mind if I take a taste of your sub?"
"These fries are good... are you gonna finish them?" ... Rembeer the name Neil used for our road reports.. the SNOW BOSS. And Neil stuck more pens in his ear to clean out wax than I could count. "Can I borrow you pen Tommy... thanks.. here's your pen back!" .... "Er, no thanks Neil!"
How about Mr Blue Lips... the guy who would come and fix the AP machine! Ah, the good old days and fun people!
I think Judy will never enjoy the holidays again because of that incident.
You mention Neil Rodino... No sandwich was safe with Neil nearby... "Tony, mind if I take a taste of your sub?"
"These fries are good... are you gonna finish them?" ... Rembeer the name Neil used for our road reports.. the SNOW BOSS. And Neil stuck more pens in his ear to clean out wax than I could count. "Can I borrow you pen Tommy... thanks.. here's your pen back!" .... "Er, no thanks Neil!"
How about Mr Blue Lips... the guy who would come and fix the AP machine! Ah, the good old days and fun people!
Oh.. almost forgot. There was the day where were Oldies 103 and I get this call for a request. The call from from a very openly gay hairdresser in the Hazleton area... not that there's anything wrong with that, mind you. Now the request is for Connie Francis... I look at my sheet of songs on the reel I'm playing, and what do you know.. Connie Francis just happens to be next!!! Well I say, "You're in luck.. I'll play Connie just for you!"
I have only seconds, so I click on the mic and say "Ladies and Gentelmen, this song is going out to XXXXXXXX
.. here's Connie Francis!" Well, lord save me, the song is "Where the Boys Are!" I never looked at the title.. just the artist. Right then the door to the studio slams open and Joyce is leering at me... "You're playing this for WHO?"... almost at the same time the phone rings again.. it's the Hairdresser.. he's thanking me for playing such a nice song.. what a great choice!
I have only seconds, so I click on the mic and say "Ladies and Gentelmen, this song is going out to XXXXXXXX
.. here's Connie Francis!" Well, lord save me, the song is "Where the Boys Are!" I never looked at the title.. just the artist. Right then the door to the studio slams open and Joyce is leering at me... "You're playing this for WHO?"... almost at the same time the phone rings again.. it's the Hairdresser.. he's thanking me for playing such a nice song.. what a great choice!
I remember a singing ID jingle: "WACM...Freeland and the Great Northeast!"Bob Farrow said:This is really bringing back memories. I recall when WACM went on the air. A friend of mine got me the gig of recording the ID's and promo cuts.... all I recall anymore is the legal ID... WACM - Freeland.... and thinking to myself.... "WHACK-em"???!!!???!! This would have been maybe 1976.... I'm sort of thinking bicentennial.
WACM,WXPX-Wow,you guys sure bring back a lot of memories.In 1963 I had worked partime at the original WXPX,while attending college.Hazleton's second AM station was WTHT with calls later changed to WHZN.A two tower directional located on laurel hill terrace,with I believe 1KW at the start of operation at 1300 kc.Absentee owner was from Richmond,Virginia. ( Lou Adelman ),Don Murray from WAZL was the GM,Fred Williams morning man later went to WAZL replaced by Frank Murman.Weekend afternoons were hosted by "Tex" Collins.Al Danko from the Standard-Speaker ran the Sales dept along with Don Murray.
WTHT had quite a good daytime signal.Paul Wensko and Eddie Deckman,who came from channel 28,ran the engineering dept.Very interesting place to work in the 1960's. Thank you for the memories.
Tim
WTHT had quite a good daytime signal.Paul Wensko and Eddie Deckman,who came from channel 28,ran the engineering dept.Very interesting place to work in the 1960's. Thank you for the memories.
Tim
please...more on wtht! when did it go off the air? how long was it around?
was ralph lockwood part of the staff? i worked with don murray at wmbt in the late 60s....also worked with fred williams. fred was part of the orginal airstaff at wacm. like all of us he only lasted a few months!
was ralph lockwood part of the staff? i worked with don murray at wmbt in the late 60s....also worked with fred williams. fred was part of the orginal airstaff at wacm. like all of us he only lasted a few months!
You mentioned Neil Rodino...I worked with him at WYLN for a couple of years...One time he was so tired, he fell asleep at his desk...His snoring was so loud, we had to close his door...another time he paged (using his phone) someone over the PA system and then ripped into the sales staff- dropping lots of F bombs...Of course, the page was still active so everyone in the building heard what Neil had to say- the salesmen, the staff...and the Boy Scout troop who was in the building for a tour!
Those were the days!
Those were the days!
Neil was famous for calling you up and asking what you thought of a co-worker over the phone.. when you said your piece, he'd say.. "Say Hello to... XYZ" and that would be the person he was asking you about... made you feel very wary whenever he called and on speakerphone.
By the way.. of all the big stations in this area, it seems as is this small station has generated some really great stories and memories... let's keep the good times going by chiming in with your favorite story or anecdote.
By the way.. of all the big stations in this area, it seems as is this small station has generated some really great stories and memories... let's keep the good times going by chiming in with your favorite story or anecdote.
Re: Freeland FM/Jim Bradley/WTHT Reflections (WHZN)
Hi Jim
WTHT,"The Twin Towers of Power"was located on Laurel Hill Terrrace in a wooded section adjacent to a residential area.It was about a half mile east of the Hazleton State General Hospital off of route 93.The elevation is quite high there and it was a most impressive sight at night with it's blinking red beacons,viewable from most sections of greater Hazleton.It went on the air in the early 1960's,perhaps 1961,at 1300kc with 1000 watts directional,daytime only.The equipment was new with a Collins audio board and a 1kw Collins transmitter.When I had worked there part-time,while attending PennState High Acres,(late 1963-1964) the owner and chief engineer were thinking of applying for a power increase to 5kw.The daytime signal was excellent with a directional pattern aimed northward toward Wilkes-Barre and Scranton.
Louis Adelman of Richmond,Virginia was the absentee owner.The first general manager was Neil Conway,who previously had been the manager of the Capitol movie theater in downtown Hazleton.When he left,Don Murray came over from WAZL.Don had an outstanding "radio" voice.Some of the alumni were Fred Williams from West Virginia and his morning AM talk show "Open Mic"!He was later stolen away by WAZL.Frank Merman,I believe replaced him.Frank,a nice gentleman,owned a weekly newspaper somewhere near Mountaintop.Tex Collins,a rather interesting personality,performed weekend duties.And good ole Ralph Lockwood came from WAZL where he did an afternoon show called "Lockwood's Locker".He later worked at WBAX-1240 and ended his radio career with WSBA in York.I ran into Ralph at a shopping center remote in York about eight years ago.He was released by Susquehanna broadcasting a few years ago when they went "right wing" talk.His wife had passed away this summer.He is a good guy.Paul Wensko,an electronics teacher at HHS Vo-Tech,was the chief engineer,and Ed Deckman of channel 28 was his full-time assistant.I remember running down to Moyer Electronics on Vine street for new tubes for the transmitter.The music was a potpourri with Don Murray selling 15 minute blocks of singer Shirley Bassey show.Lots of trade deals also.Cooking with " Beverly" was a local favorite in Hazleton.FCC violations and lack of support and money,improper maintenance,all contributed to the demise of WTHT.(WHZN)It had been rumored that WAZL was instrumental in contacting the FCC !When WTHT first went on the air,Vic Diehm,owner of WAZL panicked somewhat and hired "Alan Roth"from NBC to program his station.He was an elderly gentleman and I do not know how successful he was or how long he stayed at WAZL.I do know that there was no love lost between the two stations in town.I believe WTHT (WHZN ) signed off sometime in the late 1960's.I had returned to Hazleton for a Christmas visit and gone were those statuesque "towers of power".What remained was an empty building that looked like it had been strafed by the military.A housing development now occupies that "hallowed" ground.It is rumored that the ground radials were never removed and on moon-lit nights,with the wind blowing slightly,residents nearby swear that they can hear an old female singer:some say Shirley Bassey,singing for 15 minute intervals ?????????
Wistfully yours
Tim
Hi Jim
WTHT,"The Twin Towers of Power"was located on Laurel Hill Terrrace in a wooded section adjacent to a residential area.It was about a half mile east of the Hazleton State General Hospital off of route 93.The elevation is quite high there and it was a most impressive sight at night with it's blinking red beacons,viewable from most sections of greater Hazleton.It went on the air in the early 1960's,perhaps 1961,at 1300kc with 1000 watts directional,daytime only.The equipment was new with a Collins audio board and a 1kw Collins transmitter.When I had worked there part-time,while attending PennState High Acres,(late 1963-1964) the owner and chief engineer were thinking of applying for a power increase to 5kw.The daytime signal was excellent with a directional pattern aimed northward toward Wilkes-Barre and Scranton.
Louis Adelman of Richmond,Virginia was the absentee owner.The first general manager was Neil Conway,who previously had been the manager of the Capitol movie theater in downtown Hazleton.When he left,Don Murray came over from WAZL.Don had an outstanding "radio" voice.Some of the alumni were Fred Williams from West Virginia and his morning AM talk show "Open Mic"!He was later stolen away by WAZL.Frank Merman,I believe replaced him.Frank,a nice gentleman,owned a weekly newspaper somewhere near Mountaintop.Tex Collins,a rather interesting personality,performed weekend duties.And good ole Ralph Lockwood came from WAZL where he did an afternoon show called "Lockwood's Locker".He later worked at WBAX-1240 and ended his radio career with WSBA in York.I ran into Ralph at a shopping center remote in York about eight years ago.He was released by Susquehanna broadcasting a few years ago when they went "right wing" talk.His wife had passed away this summer.He is a good guy.Paul Wensko,an electronics teacher at HHS Vo-Tech,was the chief engineer,and Ed Deckman of channel 28 was his full-time assistant.I remember running down to Moyer Electronics on Vine street for new tubes for the transmitter.The music was a potpourri with Don Murray selling 15 minute blocks of singer Shirley Bassey show.Lots of trade deals also.Cooking with " Beverly" was a local favorite in Hazleton.FCC violations and lack of support and money,improper maintenance,all contributed to the demise of WTHT.(WHZN)It had been rumored that WAZL was instrumental in contacting the FCC !When WTHT first went on the air,Vic Diehm,owner of WAZL panicked somewhat and hired "Alan Roth"from NBC to program his station.He was an elderly gentleman and I do not know how successful he was or how long he stayed at WAZL.I do know that there was no love lost between the two stations in town.I believe WTHT (WHZN ) signed off sometime in the late 1960's.I had returned to Hazleton for a Christmas visit and gone were those statuesque "towers of power".What remained was an empty building that looked like it had been strafed by the military.A housing development now occupies that "hallowed" ground.It is rumored that the ground radials were never removed and on moon-lit nights,with the wind blowing slightly,residents nearby swear that they can hear an old female singer:some say Shirley Bassey,singing for 15 minute intervals ?????????
Wistfully yours
Tim
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