I Hate To Do This Again..But..Does anyone remember Yola on 97 Rock?

[Bill Myers]

I hate to ask another do you remember question....
But does anyone remember Yola on 97 Rock? I believe that was
back in the QFM- WGRQ days - back when they ran station jingles.

Guys, if a voice could depict what someone looks like....
Yola's sounded like a babe. I hope I don't offend any female
readers/posters. But Yola had a great set of pipes.

I know the whole thing about phone voices and then meeting them
in person. And how many a jock was deceived once they took their show beyond the control room - yikes. But it worked postive the other way too. That's how I met my honey and she's beautiful.

What was Yola's name? Any info on her?

Thanks. I'll put the do you remember scrapbook away for awhile.
Merry Christmas and happy New Year to you and your families.

Just one last question: What, I mean what! ..happened to 2007? Ugh.

 

[Buehly]

She was also on KB I think during the late 70s or early 80s if that helps.

 

[Bill Myers]

Thanks Buehly. Yeah I do remember seeing her in Jock shift
lineups on the net but I've never heard her on KB. Just QFM.
The Mighty Q.
Just a quick note about 97 rock....Remember when they dumped
the WRLT Lite format and went back to 97 Rock? They played
construction noises and sfx for about a week on 10 inch reels
simulating the idea that - 'We're building you a better radio
station Buffalo'. Non stop construction sounds. In fact I was
the last guy to put WRLT into the dumper. My last song?
Just a Song Before I Go - CSN. And I didn't hand pick it either.
It was actually programmed to play. I was also the last guy
to send WGR 550 and the Million Dollar Weekend into an
all news format.

 

[TVJunkie12]

I've got a copy somewhere of her jock shout from KB. I think the jingle package was from '79.

 

[JustPastBuffalo]

OK, sorry to be a bud-inski, but since I worked with her at Q-FM-97... here's my recollection of "Jola." Here last name was Smierz, although she didn't use her last name on the air at Q-FM-97. She emigrated to the US from Poland, spoke fluent English and Polish. Jola (pronounced Yo'la, for those who may not recall) later called herself Jola Simon when doing news at WEBR-WNED AM 970.

I don't recall her working at WGRQ during the Super-Q era, but she was an integral part of the news department at Q-FM-97 along with my friend Charley Seitz (sites), who was News Director there at the time. Charley did news with Jim Santella on Q-FM-97 and later with The Bearman, before leaving the station to work in Cleveland and go to law school. Charley is an attorney and still resides in Cleveland.

BTW, those were the Q-FM-97 "wind chime" days. The chimes played off two, rotating five minute endless loop carts (slot three of the second ITC triple decker, cart fader six) that were triggered when the mic switch was keyed on the QRK board. QRK was known primarily for its instant-start turntables, but also made or slapped its name on boards.

The wind chime carts were re-carted and replaced about once a month, every six thousand miles or whenever the tape within them turned shiny enough to see your reflection. I'd re-dub the carts from a master 7 inch reel which I wish I'd saved, especially for the benefit of the 97 Rock Veteran DJ Weekend we did last November.

Ugh! Carts. Cart pads, tension bars, shiny tape, Fidelipacs, Gray, Red and later, GoldCarts; AudioPro Blue Carts, the rounded and somewhat weird Marathon Carts and ScotchCarts. Them was the days boys 'n girls! (Pause, FX: Harp gliss) I don't miss carts at all... although there are boxes of drop-ins carts in the 'Archives (aka, junk in the basement) most of which have been transfered to hard drive, mini-disk and CD, including my prized and highly identifiable "Man, that's a lotta bread!" from Curtis Sharpe, off the NY state lottery TV commercial, circa 1985.

Back to Yola. who worked primarily as a news person at Q-FM-97, although she may have jocked as well. Later, she worked all nights at KB. Very talented, well-educated, and yes Bill, she would have, in your words, qualified for "babe" status.

 

[paulpallo]

I remember Yola and can't remember her last name. She worked before me as I can recall at WBUF. She WAS a babe and I always remember she had a fantastic body. I have a box of 1/4 tapes which I plan to dub to digital with past gems of everyone back then.

Paul Palo
[email protected]

Happy 2008

 

[mleach]

Yola was doing the all night show on WKBW the night John Lennon was murdered in 1980. Actually I think it was from listening to Yola where I first learn Lennon was shot.

I think Yola was on KB from Midnight to either 4 or 5 then WKBW aired some kind of hour long newsmagazine show ( maybe 2 hours ) before Danny took over at 6. I think it was called something like "Good Morning in the Morning" but not totally sure. I forgot who hosted it.

One thing I do remember about that news program though, the jingles WKBW aired during that show were NOT the same as they aired during the other dayparts. The jingles sounded much older.

 

[Bob1370]

"I think Yola was on KB from Midnight to either 4 or 5 then WKBW aired some kind of hour long newsmagazine show ( maybe 2 hours ) before Danny took over at 6. I think it was called something like "Good Morning in the Morning" but not totally sure. I forgot who hosted it."

Absolutely right. Starting about 1975, the KB all-night show went from midnight to 5 AM, first with Beverly Burke (who later went to LA as a TV reporter and wound up in DC as a news anchor), and then with Yola starting around the end of 1977 after Bev left town and went into TV work.

"Good Morning in the Morning" was a taped hour-long news and feature show that played from 5 to 6 AM, put together from shorter features the newsroom did, along with network features from AP and ABC. IIRC it was produced in two sectons, a 5 to 5:45 segment and then a final 10 minutes to run from 5:50 to 6; the gap was filled by a live 5 minute newscast at 5:45, the first one of the day from the KB newsroom. It would always be put together by the previous afternoon before broadcast day, with Monday's show taped no later than the previous Friday. Sometimes when the material was available at hand they'd assemble several days' shows, or even a whole week's, at one sitting. The intro tracks for the various segments were done separately, and all the elements were edited together and put on a big 10 inch reel afterward.

It was put in the schedule to replace the nighttime newscasts dropped in 1975 but keep 'KB's overall news and public affairs program time commitment fulfilled for the FCC. It was also supposed to pull some adult listeners away from WBEN's 5 AM Farm and Home Show with a more urbane approach, and be a lead-in to Danny for the over-25 listeners 'KB was trying to get. Jim McLaughlin hosted it from the start until he left early in '78, then Jim Fagan picked up the hosting chores until the show disappeared sometime around 1979 or 1980.

The show served its purpose well for the five or six years it was on. But I've been told it became increasingly difficult to do after Jim McLaughlin (who gave himself no other daily on-air role and performed largely as an off-air news director) left for WBEN and the remaining staff had to pick up the slack. So it was eventually dropped. When Jim went to WBEN one of the first things he did (after hiring me to join the morning crew) was to remake the content of the Farm and Home Show to more closely mirror Good Morning in the Morning, though he did not take over hosting it--it remained a show with a live host pulled from the morning show news crew, Jack Ogilvie until his passing in 1979 and later Pat McMahon. Of course that's all gone now too; WBEN's morning news show with John Zach and Susan Rose has been getting a 5 AM kickoff for years, with no separate farm and home show.

 

[JustPastBuffalo]

"Good Morning in the Morning" debuted in early 1974 and ran from 5 a.m. to 6 a.m. Initially, it was produced on the fly, with pre-recorded features on cart, which were set up, front and back sold by the venerable Jim McLaughlin. Henry Brock and Jim Fagan contributed with live and pre-produced reports and features. It was part of the all night jock's repsonsibility to run the board and produce the show, which fell to me for the first few months of its run before I departed KB in August '74. GMITM was an entertaining show, more aggressive and more broadly-based than WBEN's "Farm and Home Show." McLaughlin wanted a news magazine approach and incorporated a lot of pre-recorded shorts in the program.

Jim is no doubt well respected and highly regarded, but he was also a character. I can remember him walking into that big cave of a studio at 1430 Main Street at about 4:59 a.m. wearing egg-shaped Ray Ban sunglasses, maroon pants, white belt, white shoes and a plaid sport coat (imagine Herb Tarlock, WKRP.) I recall curiously looking at him through the glass (with what must have been a "WTH?" look on my face) only to have Jim deadpan on the intercom during one of the features, "What? It's bright in here!" I responded, "...should have left the jacket in the news room." He gave me one of those classic wry grins, hit the mic and did the next live break without breaking stride.

Merciful lord, that was a long time ago. I'd bet the demo of this board is 45-64. We need some more people like Yezi and his text-typing hip-hop pals to get back on the board to bring the demo down.

_________________________________________________

Sidebar: I wanted to add my thoughts to the Classic Hits thread, but thought it best to refrain. Maybe after January 17th. ... uhnnnnahhh... prob'ly not.

 

[mleach]

"Good Morning in the Morning" debuted in early 1974 and ran from 5 a.m. to 6 a.m. Initially, it was produced on the fly, with pre-recorded features on cart, which were set up, front and back sold by the venerable Jim McLaughlin. Henry Brock and Jim Fagan contributed with live and pre-produced reports and features. It was part of the all night jock's repsonsibility to run the board and produce the show, which fell to me for the first few months of its run before I departed KB in August '74. GMITM was an entertaining show, more aggressive and more broadly-based than WBEN's "Farm and Home Show." McLaughlin wanted a news magazine approach and incorporated a lot of pre-recorded shorts in the program.

Jim is no doubt well respected and highly regarded, but he was also a character. I can remember him walking into that big cave of a studio at 1430 Main Street at about 4:59 a.m. wearing egg-shaped Ray Ban sunglasses, maroon pants, white belt, white shoes and a plaid sport coat (imagine Herb Tarlock, WKRP.) I recall curiously looking at him through the glass (with what must have been a "WTH?" look on my face) only to have Jim deadpan on the intercom during one of the features, "What? It's bright in here!" I responded, "...should have left the jacket in the news room." He gave me one of those classic wry grins, hit the mic and did the next live break without breaking stride.

Merciful lord, that was a long time ago. I'd bet the demo of this board is 45-64. We need some more people like Yezi and his text-typing hip-hop pals to get back on the board to bring the demo down.

_________________________________________________

Sidebar: I wanted to add my thoughts to the Classic Hits thread, but thought it best to refrain. Maybe after January 17th. ... uhnnnnahhh... prob'ly not.

JimPastrick & Bob1370: Thanks for the info on Good Morning in the Morning !!! I had no idea that show was taped !!!

I lived in Maryland and West Virginia back in the 70s and early 80s ( today in Virginia ) and KB was even as late as the early 80s, still quite popular down here. Back in 1980 when I was 13 I actually wrote a fan letter to WKBW. Didn't expect KB to answer some letter from a goofy pre-teen but imagine my surrpise that not only WKBW did respond to my letter but they sent me this huge package full of KB stuff. Folders, newspaper clippings, tons of bumper stickers and photos of the airstaff.

Yola went one step further. Not only did she sign her photo addressed to me but even wrote me in her own handwriting a nice letter on KB letterhead thanking me for listening to her show on WKBW and how it was nice to know that she had listeners way outside of Buffalo etc...it was a very nice letter !! And yes she was babe !!! It was around this time I decided to get into radio when I get out of school so yes..it was Yola who helped me to decide ( for better or for worse ) to get into radio !!

Funny thing about all of this, in 1992 I took a job at a country music station in Winchester, VA ( WUSQ Q102 ). The second day I was there WUSQ brought in a new GM. Tom Barney !! When WUSQ made the announcement of Barney coming onboard they mentioned in his bio that he worked at WKBW. Of course I asked him if he knew Yola, he didn't ( Barney was there I believe some 5 to 10 years before her ) but he did speak highly of the staff he worked such as Sandy Beach and of course Danny. Barney sadly didn't last at WUSQ as he was gone within 6 months. He was nice to me but he made some big ( and sadly questionable ) changes to WUSQ that didn't sit very well with most of the other airstaff as well as the owners which I believe resulted in Tom leaving WUSQ after a short time.

I think Yola left KB sometime in 1981 ( I could be wrong about the year ) but I do remember she was gone by 1982. In March 1982 I actually called KB ( still remember the number 716-644-9850..I think thats right ) during Tom Donahue's Saturday night oldies request show. I asked the girl who answered the phone whatever happened to Yola. She said she didn't know her whereabouts and she didn't think she was still in Buffalo.

I would love to hear an old aircheck of Yola !! People talk about how great New York's WABC was and while I agree with them. Even in the late 70s and early 80's, I always believed WKBW was a few notches better than Music radio 77.

 

[Bill Myers]

Thanks for all the posts regarding Yola.
Yeah, I'd love to hear an aircheck of her if anyone has a copy
and also maybe a picture of her.
I don't really remember her on KB just on 97Rock when it was
QFM WGRQ.
Thanks...

 

[Bob1370]

Couple things...first of all, it was considered something of a surprise when Yola left 97 Rock (or QFM97 as it was known then)...the buzz around the biz then, was that it must have been for the bucks, although she handled CHR just as well as she did album rock. Does anyone know why she made the move, which was almost unheard of back then (although lots of CHR jocks were going the other way to AOR to break free of the format's constraints)?

And as to Jim Pastrick's comments about Good Morning in the Morning...I hadn't known that it was a semi-live show in its early days. Of course, by 1977 when I got to KB it was fully pre-recorded except for that 5:45 newscast...I sat in on Jim's voicetracking session once, and occasionally kicked in a feature piece or two. When I think about it, it sounds like some of the techniques of putting Good Morning in the Morning together in the early days when it was live-anchored, were brought over to WBEN later on to help structure the routine of airing the Newsday show at noon (although most of the content of that show was always live through its entire 20-year run).

And it was interesting to read this about my former boss; "Jim is no doubt well respected and highly regarded, but he was also a character. I can remember him walking into that big cave of a studio at 1430 Main Street at about 4:59 a.m. wearing egg-shaped Ray Ban sunglasses, maroon pants, white belt, white shoes and a plaid sport coat (imagine Herb Tarlock, WKRP.) I recall curiously looking at him through the glass (with what must have been a "WTH?" look on my face) only to have Jim deadpan on the intercom during one of the features, "What? It's bright in here!" I responded, "...should have left the jacket in the news room." He gave me one of those classic wry grins, hit the mic and did the next live break without breaking stride.'

ROFL.

By the time I came to work for Jim a few years later the shades and Herb Tarlek blazers were behind him. He still had the dry wit, but was projecting a more sedate image with button-down shirts, dark ties and tweed sportcoats. Almost like he was already preparing in his mind and personal style in the summer of '77 for that move to WBEN which we would both make the following spring.

 

[dansley]

Your post is from almost nine years ago and maybe no one cares anymore but Yola (WBUF and WGRQ) is the amazing woman who remains a snapshot from my life. In the summer of 1977, she worked overnight at WGRQ. I called her often to request LA Woman. Eventually after several conversations she agreed to meet me. I was a geeky Sophomore at UB and I had fallen in love with her voice. A voice that I thought sexier than Lauren Bacall. When I met her, the voice was, perhaps, her slightest attribute. She was (and still may be) the most beautiful woman I ever saw. Radiant, Sexy, Sophisticated ...and that voice. Obviously, a simpler time where not everyone was a stalker. She spent some time together, she taught me about radio and introduced me to a brilliant WBUF alum, James Braun. As much as I wanted more Yola and I became friends. ( she was way out of my league). It seemed as though she knew everything. We spent a lot of time together but until I read your post I had no idea she was from Poland (so am I). It was a different time and as quickly as we became friends we drifted apart. By 1980, I had graduated from UB on was on my way to NYC. The last thing I remember was seeing Yola do "feel good" spots on WKBW TV. Until I stumbled on this site, I had forgotten about that part of my life. Now, at 58, I realize she was one of the more amazing people I met. Her agreeing to meet with me, a crazed listener who was up late and like The Doors, gave me a renewed hope for my life. At the time, she was the most famous person I knew and she befriended me. A truly good, trusting soul. I hope she is doing well. Buffalo's own "Night bird"

 

[Javed Jafri]

I was listening to a old radio tape I recorded back in 1975 and there was a few seconds of Yola on the tape from Progressive station WBUF FM which was a favorite of mine. I googled to see if I could find info about her and ended up here.

Anyway here is Yola and sadly I don't think I have any more of her but I do have quite a bit of WBUF on my site:

Yola 1975