HARRY WEST ON WILK

[yonkstur]

Shadoe Steele interviewed Harry West today at noon on WILK. Played a few Harry soundbites including the one where Harry had his non compete enforced by the Sheriff's Department. The program will air again in two weeks at 9AM as part of Steele's Close Up series on Entercom.

Yonkstur

 

[masterg]

I would LOVE the opportunity to interview Harry. And I mean go at him with the gloves off, both his gloves and mine. Not an attack interview, mind you, but one in which hard questions demanding hard answers could be asked. Harry has a story to tell, and I suggest that at this time and place in his life, he has earned the right to tell it frankly.

My first question would be, "Harry, if you'd continued until retirement at WARM, it would've been a day to be remembered, it would've been Harry West Day across NE PA. After an enormous and jam-packed farewell dinner, Susquehanna would have sent you on an around the world cruise as a retirement gift, you would have gone out king, and deservedly so. So, tell me Harry, why in the name of God did you ever leave WARM as you did?"

 

[warmland]

What is the story of Harry leaving WARM?. I had heard that his contract was not picked up again. Was he just let go or did he leave on his own?

 

[masterg]

What is the story of Harry leaving WARM?. I had heard that his contract was not picked up again. Was he just let go or did he leave on his own?

Since it did get dragged publicly through the court system, Harry's situation was hardly confidential. The short of it is that contract negotiations broke down and Harry walked. Both Harry and his story deserve much more attention, maybe he can get in here, or through someone else, fill in the details.

 

[scmidlapp]

Well, I was working at WARM when Harry left----The way I saw it, his wife was behind the move. She had him convinced that he deserved more than Susquehanna was willing to give him and talked him into making the jump to WILK. I was merely an observer, mind you, but I talked to him every morning and that's the impression I got.

 

[masterg]

That would've been his second wife, now ex-wife. (Come to think of it, she might've been his third wife.) I was gone from WARM by that time, but my understanding is that it had more to do with philosophy than it did cash dollars. Whatever they were paying Harry, it wasn't enough, he was the goose that kept laying the golden egg. Apologies(if necessary) to Harry for offering my observations here, but it's my understanding that he wanted complete and total control of the morning show, and the crew steering the ship at the time would not make that concession. There was a time when that show was Harry's, and no one, and I mean NO ONE, interfered.

 

[crmc]

And he left for a one year contract.With his then new( now former) wife as his agent. I always believed that the folks at WILK( way pre-Entercom) smartly, though kind of evil, offered him more than Susquehanna chose to pay in a one year deal with renewal options. That way if it worked...hoo ray for WILK . And if not( which it didn't), it was a strong blow to WARM, hastening it's decline. Sort of making Harry a pawn in this game for reigning AM station. What WILK's then management underestimated, in my humble opinion, was the unsung hero like strength in the creative genius of Terry McNulty(may he rest in peace) and the brand image of WARM News. If they stayed focused on these two elements, perhaps their run would have had a much better outcome.
Any insights on this?

 

[NigelWick]

A program director wanted to move Harry out of WARM morning drive in the mid 80's. He looked at the Arbitron diaries and discovered people tuned in at 6:55 and were gone at 7:10. Same thing at 7:55 and 8:10. Listeners wanted the news, mediocre as it was. Harry got credit for having a huge audience. He hapened to be at the right place at the right time. Nothing more.

 

[masterg]

If they stayed focused on these two elements, perhaps their run would have had a much better outcome

I loved Terry and his remarkable view of life, which is from where he drew his humor. For me, it was magnificent, he was an idol worthy of worship. Terry was a disc jockey's disc jockey, perhaps the highest of praises, to be held in great esteem by one's peers. Terry could see something funny in situations where "funny" never occurred to me, and for that I was always envious.

If there was any shortcoming it was that he lacked broad appeal, and WARM always demanded broad appeal from its personnel. (More accurately, WARM wanted all of its people to be whitebread, non-offensive, totally vanilla types.)

You either got Terry or you did not. And if you didn't get him, you didn't necessarily dislike him, he just left you scratching your head. Happy to say, I was among the many who did indeed get Terry, and think the world could use more like him. In fact, I told him many times, and I continue to believe it; Terry McNulty belonged in, and would have thrived in, a large market.

 

[MACK184]

While you're absolutely correct that Terry was a very talented man, and a wonderful person, I disagree that he would have done well in another market. Not because he lacked talent, but because he was NEPA. He was in exactly the right market, talking about people and situations that he knew. Nobody did it better.

 

[warmland]

While you're absolutely correct that Terry was a very talented man, and a wonderful person, I disagree that he would have done well in another market. Not because he lacked talent, but because he was NEPA. He was in exactly the right market, talking about people and situations that he knew. Nobody did it better.

You also have to take into account the "National PD" at Susquehanna who took Terry off his DJ duties and placed him back into the news department, or from the news dept. back on as air talent several times. Whomever it was had no idea of what NEPA wanted or a taste for this market. Terry was able to do both very, very well.

 

[scmidlapp]

I'm not going to say that Terry wouldn't have done well in a larger market. While it's true that he was a NEPA favorite son and was very very good at talking about what he knew, I think given the opportunity in a larger market he could have used that to his advantage. Once he found his bearings and grew accustomed to the area he would have done quite well. While I agree there is a lot about this area that you don't find anywhere else in the country, there is also a lot that is common to everyone everywhere.
Now back to Harry---why didn't he find some old rich widow that could keep him in the life to which he is accustomed. He should be playing golf in Florida every day!!!!

 

[masterg]

You also have to take into account the "National PD" at Susquehanna who took Terry off his DJ duties

I am unaware of any corporate PD who meddled that deep in WARM's affairs. To be sure, there were meddlers, but most came from WSBA, under whose wing WARM had somehow been placed. For years, Susquehanna's corporate PD was Rick McDonald - but he never dictated who was who talent-wise.

I think given the opportunity in a larger market he could have used that to his advantage.

Every region of this country is idiosyncratic, we don't have the market cornered here. Pushy and Reba lived in St. Louis as much as they lived in S. W-B. Terry could have adapted, but like so many of us, he chose to live his life here.

Now back to Harry---why didn't he find some old rich widow that could keep him in the life to which he is accustomed.

I'd guess he's open to any offers, if they're out there.

 

[warmland]

I am unaware of any corporate PD who meddled that deep in WARM's affairs. To be sure, there were meddlers, but most came from WSBA, under whose wing WARM had somehow been placed. For years, Susquehanna's corporate PD was Rick McDonald - but he never dictated who was who talent-wise.(/unquote)

There was a so called National PD out of York by the name of Dick something (can't remember his last name) This was during the time Terry was placed back in the newsroom. Terry had been doing 9 to noon at that time.

 

[warmland]

I am unaware of any corporate PD who meddled that deep in WARM's affairs. To be sure, there were meddlers, but most came from WSBA, under whose wing WARM had somehow been placed. For years, Susquehanna's corporate PD was Rick McDonald - but he never dictated who was who talent-wise.(/unquote)

There was a so called National PD out of York by the name of Dick something (can't remember his last name) This was during the time Terry was placed back in the newsroom. Terry had been doing 9 to noon at that time.

The guy I was thinking about was Dick Drury at Susquehanna in York (not sure of the spelling of the last name). This was cira 1975 or so.

 

[masterg]

The guy I was thinking about was Dick Drury at Susquehanna in York (not sure of the spelling of the last name). This was cira 1975 or so.

Know the name, not the man. By the late '70s, their corporate PD worked out of Atlanta. Why, I really don't know. I can only guess they were shifting their efforts, following the money, which meant larger markets. In York, however, they had their national Music Director, which in itself was an absurdity. This guy actually assembled focus groups, let them listen to new releases, rate them, then decide if they would get played, and where they would get played. It was an abomination. In time, even corporate saw the folly of this and eliminated the position.

 

[crmc]

The Corporate PD( Rick Mc Donald) was assigned to Atlanta when they first went into that market.He liked it and stayed.Interestingly, his grandfather was from Olyphant so he had a particular interest in NEPA.He helped make both WMGS and WBHT successful.
Anyone remember the " Modern MOR" format they concocted in 1994 or thereabouts? Show tunes and bad covers around news and an occasional caller discussing the issues of the day.It was not the best of times in the ups and downs of WARM programming.
And the format was designed and demanded direct from York.

 

[masterg]

Wasn't there a time, albeit brief, when they actually simulcast WARM on one of their FM signals? I somehow remember stumbling across it one afternoon when Frank Andrews was on the air(and that also begs an explanation). I also recall thinking, "Good God, here's an idea that should be great, and it sucks beyond belief." Technically, it was dreadful. Every wart and pimple that WARM had in its sound was magnifed ten-fold on an FM freq.

For crmc; you're the very first person I have heard say one good thing about Rick McDonald. Most spit at the mention of his name. Personally, I never met him, but he was not a popular guy, nor was he respected.

 

[crmc]

My take on it was that lots of the tough calls Rick made were probably not implemented or overruled by corporate.Change at WARM-AM was heavily influenced by the top brass in York . I also recall a "blame corporate" culture that seemed to be around that facility at that time. Rick was respected by Susquehanna enough to keep him 30+ years,until he chose to retire, in a company that didn't keep people that they didn't believe in.The WMGS and WARM 103 ( York) Soft Rock formats were from his specialty.Rick was known to call up the listen line and surprise critique the talent which from time to time rocked their world. Perhaps he was listening to Dallas or San Francisco and expected the same on-air talent level.
I'd bet the ones that disliked him either were on the receiving end of a tough critique or were lied to by weak local managers who were afraid to gulp and tell it like it was.

 

[crmc]

And as to the " WARM now on FM"...it was done twice. First in 1991 or early 1992 on 97.1. What interested me from afar was that it was heavily promoted as "now on FM", it scored a terrific book, and then " they" took it off and put a lame satellite Hot AC format called Y-97 on. Arbitron was still new with simulcasts and since the diary mentions just said WARM , the decisionmakers thought it meant 590 had a renaissance and they were wasting the 97.1 signal.Then WARM went back down ,listeners were sold on " Now on FM" then it was taken away...and they showed how "now you have it now you don't" is the death blow with listeners and advertisers. Y-97 failed, heads rolled and yet another tale of unfulfilled expectations filled the WARM building.
Technically, odds are that was the one you meant, because I recall it was snap crackle and pop( bad STL shot?), and without mic processing.Plus , that was when Frank Andrews worked there, I think. It's kinda blurry.
The second time was when it was on Cordaro's FM( 95.7?) and on 1550...an FM/ AM/AM/ trimulcast.
It sounded good and seemed to be doing OK to me. Terry in the AM, Rob Neyhard, Dr Laura, Bruce Williams at night,Joey Reynolds overnite, The Phillies ...Penn State. Perhaps by then the market was disillusioned by the sea of knee jerk changes that that once fortress had become.