Hello

[yonkstur]

You are indeed a true NEPA radio legend with one of the best voices in the biz.

Did you know the first song Tom Woods ever played on WARM was "Let Me In" by the Sensations? I grew up listening to Tommy Woods. His first theme was "Stompin' At the Savoy", the second was a take off of the Hullabhoo TV theme song. I have been fortunate to work or have a connection with members of the Sensational 7. Serving on BiCentennial committees with Double G, being hired by Joey Shaver at Cable Rep, having Harry West be a toastmaster for various events I was involved in and testifying at Terry McNulty's lawsuit in Federal Court against my old pals at Citadel. But the most fun I had was working with Tom Woods in the 80s when he was the voice of WBRE TV. Naturally, the biggest non profit, United Way got Tom to do its video light shows at events as well as the public service radio and TV spots. (Back when stations actually ran public service commercials). My cohort in United Way begging and crime, Frank Pasquini and I imposed on Tom's voice to no end but he always came to our career aid but also to the aid of the community. Tom worked at EdMedia Tech for profit in those days but I bet he did more in non profit stuff than he did for profit. And my God he was always on the mark, flawless. Outside of the United Way, I'd run into Tom at Phillies Caravans (back when they had true events, not just drive bys at a Mall) and even have a photo of Tom interviewing Mickey Mantle at the old Station hotel. The last time I saw Tom was at Barnes & Noble on Christmas eve a few years back. He looked well and rested and a one minute conversation turned into a long one. Did you know Tom is also on the WB Twp Board of Supervisors or Council, do I have that right? Tom's presence on this board is a welcome sight and I'm so glad that so many people remember him and his WARM days. For me, it was a thrill to be a contemporary and a bit daunting. When he'd walk out of a United Way meeting or deliver a spot to us at the last minute, I'd think, "holy ****, that's Tommy Woods, 6pm to 9PM nightly and of course 11AM to 3PM Sundays on wonderful WARM". Then I'd usually snap out of it.

Yonkstur

 

[Tom Woods]

Thank you David....

I appreciate all those kind words. You my friend are the radio encyclopedia of Northeastern PA radio. I remember quite well the United Way cmpaign. That was a lot of fun.
I still see a few of the guys...Harry West, Joey Shaver, and recently George Gilbert. Those were sure fun days. There's no way to bring them back only through memories. In many ways radio itself is still the same...A lot of great talent is still around..and management seems to never change. always searching for that special format that will double their ratings. ;D ;D ;D

Thanks again for your friendship

Tom

 

[warmland]

Thank you David....

I appreciate all those kind words. You my friend are the radio encyclopedia of Northeastern PA radio. I remember quite well the United Way cmpaign. That was a lot of fun.
I still see a few of the guys...Harry West, Joey Shaver, and recently George Gilbert. Those were sure fun days. There's no way to bring them back only through memories. In many ways radio itself is still the same...A lot of great talent is still around..and management seems to never change. always searching for that special format that will double their ratings. ;D ;D ;D

Thanks again for your friendship

Tom

Hello Tom:

I wanted to ask if you left WARM to join Mutual Radio or did you take some other offer? I remember you were on the air one day and gone the next.

Thanks

 

[Tom Woods]

I left WARM in 1969....I kind of lost intrest in the music and that was affecting my on air performance. I went to WNAK for a while and was offered a job as operations director at WTOP which at the time, and I believe still is an all news station. After about a year and a half I joined the Mutual Broadcasting System and really enjoyed working with a lot of the people I listined to while operating the board at WBAX...It's like the old Hank Snow and Johnny Cash song "I've Been Everywhere Man" ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

 

[masterg]

I left WARM in 1969....I kind of lost intrest in the music and that was affecting my on air performance.

Let your imagination soar, Tommy, and just try and get a feel for the disinterest in the music that had developed among staff in the 70s and 80s. By that time, we were lucky to have a dozen currents to play, and the oldies library had been decimated by local management who feared "home office" might disapprove of some songs we were playing. I can till see a certain PD walking into the control room and arbitrarily removing oldies carts, 6-8 at a time. I still have bad dreams about it.

 

[yonkstur]

I can till see a certain PD walking into the control room and arbitrarily removing oldies carts, 6-8 at a time. I still have bad dreams about it.

If you were a WARM listener in the 80s, you could count on these three oldies, "Raindrops" by Dee Clark, "Sunshine Lollipops" by Leslie Gore which was 1:48 and Harry would run up to the 8am news and "Mahogany" by Diana Ross in its most ponderous rendition. That was it as far as I can recall.

Yonkstur

 

[NEPA_radiobored]

If you were a WARM listener in the 80s, you could count on these three oldies, "Raindrops" by Dee Clark, "Sunshine Lollipops" by Leslie Gore which was 1:48 and Harry would run up to the 8am news and "Mahogany" by Diana Ross in its most ponderous rendition. That was it as far as I can recall.

Yonkstur

But you cannot forget the "Oldies sounding" Sea of Love by the Honeydrippers. That song was absolutely played into the ground on WARM The Full Service AC format of the John Hancock era did improve things though IMO.

 

[warmland]

If you were a WARM listener in the 80s, you could count on these three oldies, "Raindrops" by Dee Clark, "Sunshine Lollipops" by Leslie Gore which was 1:48 and Harry would run up to the 8am news and "Mahogany" by Diana Ross in its most ponderous rendition. That was it as far as I can recall.

Yonkstur

But you cannot forget the "Oldies sounding" Sea of Love by the Honeydrippers. That song was absolutely played into the ground on WARM The Full Service AC format of the John Hancock era did improve things though IMO.

Holy cow! Don't forget Rhinestone Cowboy by Glen Campbell and Accu weather all the time :-\

 

[masterg]

Overall, Susquehanna had a music policy that defied any logic, reasoning, or input from those in the trenches, those working in individual markets. For a time, music policy was dictated by a guy named Jim Peacock, he worked out of "home office" in York. Peacock would actually take records that were huge national hits, then play them for focus groups before allowing them to be played anywhere in the group. If the group turned thumbs-down, or they were lukewarm, the song got trashed, banned.

There was no greater example of this absolute absurdity than Michael Jackson's Rock With You, one of the greatest pop hits of the last 30 years, and probably as inoffensive of a song you will ever find. Yet Susquehanna would not play it.

What happened here locally was that managers completely knee-jerk overreacted to York's guidance by trying to anticipate what York would and wouldn't like, which in turn led to the near evaporation of the oldies library. Managers who should have had some guts cared only about self-preservation, sacrificing not only a strong music presence, but also sacrificing their subordinates on several occasions.

By the mid 80s, I doubt there were 100 oldies left, and that's being generous, it may have been more between 50-75. The heartbreak of it all was that WARM was the station on which most everyone in NE PA heard any legitimate hit for the very first time, and maybe fell in love with it. Then, WARM flushed them down the toilet, refused to play them.

The causes for WARM's demise are numerous, but the idiotic and senseless music policy was a huge player in The Mighty 590 turning into a market joke. Yep, I'll readily admit that all of this is ancient history, but WARM failed its listeners terribly over and over again, so much so that now you cannot find this once great station with a microscope.

 

[Tom Woods]

Back in the 60's... a WARM GM and his wife vacationed in Hawaii. There they heard Don Ho and fell in love with the song "Tiny Bubbles". We had to play the song immediatly...and played it till it hit #1 in WARMLAND and played it while it dropped off the charts. The song never really hit #1 across the country...I think it made it to #93 in Billboard..... He wanted that song played as often as possible. I get sick whenever I here the damm thing which thank God is not very often.

 

[Tom Woods]

Overall, Susquehanna had a music policy that defied any logic, reasoning, or input from those in the trenches, those working in individual markets. For a time, music policy was dictated by a guy named Jim Peacock, he worked out of "home office" in York. Peacock would actually take records that were huge national hits, then play them for focus groups before allowing them to be played anywhere in the group. If the group turned thumbs-down, or they were lukewarm, the song got trashed, banned.

There was no greater example of this absolute absurdity than Michael Jackson's Rock With You, one of the greatest pop hits of the last 30 years, and probably as inoffensive of a song you will ever find. Yet Susquehanna would not play it.

What happened here locally was that managers completely knee-jerk overreacted to York's guidance by trying to anticipate what York would and wouldn't like, which in turn led to the near evaporation of the oldies library. Managers who should have had some guts cared only about self-preservation, sacrificing not only a strong music presence, but also sacrificing their subordinates on several occasions.

By the mid 80s, I doubt there were 100 oldies left, and that's being generous, it may have been more between 50-75. The heartbreak of it all was that WARM was the station on which most everyone in NE PA heard any legitimate hit for the very first time, and maybe fell in love with it. Then, WARM flushed them down the toilet, refused to play them.

The causes for WARM's demise are numerous, but the idiotic and senseless music policy was a huge player in The Mighty 590 turning into a market joke. Yep, I'll readily admit that all of this is ancient history, but WARM failed its listeners terribly over and over again, so much so that now you cannot find this once great station with a microscope.

I must agree...again I revert back to the 60's...The music was very controled. The lyric's had a lot to do with it. Ron Allen and I would pick out a group of records (yes that's all we had then) We would check Billboard's top 100...or go on the advice of a lot of record distributers....We then presented these to top management and they had the last word. Believe me both Ron and myself were disappointed many times when great song's were pushed aside for ones that fit only the fancy of the higher up's.

 

[writepa]

Hey Tom,
Mike Stevens here!
Thought I'd say hello as I haven't seen you in person for a couple years. The discussions about WARM are interesting and bring back some great memories. Funny, we (my news efforts in a small way) were making a mark in the history of radio in the region but never realized it...we were just having a great time working at a great radio station.

 

[Tom Woods]

Hey Tom,
Mike Stevens here!
Thought I'd say hello as I haven't seen you in person for a couple years. The discussions about WARM are interesting and bring back some great memories. Funny, we (my news efforts in a small way) were making a mark in the history of radio in the region but never realized it...we were just having a great time working at a great radio station.

Hi Mike...Nice seeing you on this site...Yes it has been a few years but I do remember the great times we had in radio...I still love all that it represents.Your career has really soared and I'm proud to say that I worked with you.

Tom

 

[travist102]

Hello cousins...

Of course, I wasn't around when elder Tom was on air... but I did work alongside him and the Mrs. at EdMedia. I last saw young Tom about 2 or 3 years ago.

Yes, I caught the radio bug and can't shake it just yet...

Good to see you here,
Travis Sparks

ps- Dad is doing great!

 

[Tom Woods]

Hello cousins...

Of course, I wasn't around when elder Tom was on air... but I did work alongside him and the Mrs. at EdMedia. I last saw young Tom about 2 or 3 years ago.

Yes, I caught the radio bug and can't shake it just yet...

Good to see you here,
Travis Sparks

ps- Dad is doing great!

Hi Travis...Long time no see....Hope all is well with you. Saw Mom and Dad recently at the "Little Flower Novena"...Dad is now Deacon Dad. "Abunna"