Y
yonkstur
Guest
passed away 12 years ago today.
Yonkstur
Yonkstur
-
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J
jrdub
Guest
Jim Ward. what a character! I worked for him just before he took the radio station talk. Andy Somebody (I don’t remember his last name) was the “big gun” brought in. Jim did his “Coping Connection” in the mornings. Sam Ligouri with his garage sale. In the winter of ’81, It was talk Monday thru Friday and Sat & Sun was “Polka Weekend”. I did a little weekend work until I found the announcing gig at WGBI – WDAU. The one thing I remember about the WARD studios was that horrible shag carpet all over the walls, and those double doors to get into the studio..kinda like an air lock. And you had your back to those doors, so you never knew who came into the control room whan you were on the air. WARD. What a hoot and a half.<P ID="signature">______________
"Play The Hits"
-rip Duke Norton-</P>
"Play The Hits"
-rip Duke Norton-</P>
E
ElectricNoodle
Guest
> passed away 12 years ago today.
> Yonkstur
>
"...Buy a sofa - Get a pie!"
EN
> Yonkstur
>
"...Buy a sofa - Get a pie!"
EN
> passed away 12 years ago today.
> Yonkstur
>
I have a great Jim Ward memory.....Imagine myself, Ron Schacht, and Jim Ward being the mobile DJ's for a wedding reception. We played at Joe Fabian's reception back in the 1980's....Jim did all the announcing...Ron and I did the music. Jim was great, the only time I ever met him. We talked for a long time.....just a great guy....and a real fun time too.
Kevin
> Yonkstur
>
I have a great Jim Ward memory.....Imagine myself, Ron Schacht, and Jim Ward being the mobile DJ's for a wedding reception. We played at Joe Fabian's reception back in the 1980's....Jim did all the announcing...Ron and I did the music. Jim was great, the only time I ever met him. We talked for a long time.....just a great guy....and a real fun time too.
Kevin
For those who never heard Jim Ward do a morning show, trust me, you missed one hell of an experience. Somewhere in the mid to perhaps late 70s he was doing mornings on what had become his very own radio station. I cannot even begin to explain what he did and how he did it, it was totally unbelievable. And it was a well kept secret, WARD never pulled a number worth bragging about. Too bad, really. And although I don't remember it at all, Jim Ward was once The Morning Mayor of Wilkes-Barre; yes indeed, he did mornings on WILK. That must've been late '50s/early '60s...
> Jim Ward. what a character! I worked for him just before
> he took the radio station talk. Andy Somebody (I don’t
> remember his last name) was the “big gun” brought in. Jim
> did his “Coping Connection” in the mornings. Sam Ligouri
> with his garage sale. In the winter of ’81, It was talk
> Monday thru Friday and Sat & Sun was “Polka Weekend”. I
> did a little weekend work until I found the announcing gig
> at WGBI – WDAU. The one thing I remember about the WARD
> studios was that horrible shag carpet all over the walls,
> and those double doors to get into the studio..kinda like an
> air lock. And you had your back to those doors, so you
> never knew who came into the control room whan you were on
> the air. WARD. What a hoot and a half.
>
> Jim Ward. what a character! I worked for him just before
> he took the radio station talk. Andy Somebody (I don’t
> remember his last name) was the “big gun” brought in. Jim
> did his “Coping Connection” in the mornings. Sam Ligouri
> with his garage sale. In the winter of ’81, It was talk
> Monday thru Friday and Sat & Sun was “Polka Weekend”. I
> did a little weekend work until I found the announcing gig
> at WGBI – WDAU. The one thing I remember about the WARD
> studios was that horrible shag carpet all over the walls,
> and those double doors to get into the studio..kinda like an
> air lock. And you had your back to those doors, so you
> never knew who came into the control room whan you were on
> the air. WARD. What a hoot and a half.
>
N
NEPAstach
Guest
The best Jim Ward story I remember is the time both he and Sam where doing the morning show. This one morning, they were having a hard time trying to get anyone to call in. Jim Ward got desperate and as the story goes, said "The next person to call in will get a chance at a mink coat"...no one called. Then Jim and Sam looked at each other and said "Did YOU turn the transmitter on??? Neither one did.
Who can forget those spots saying "Hurry down Grandma, Grandpa and Moms and Dad's to the Globe Warehouse Sale?
Who could forgot that terrible dirt road with huge pot holes leading up to the station?
Who can forget those spots saying "Hurry down Grandma, Grandpa and Moms and Dad's to the Globe Warehouse Sale?
Who could forgot that terrible dirt road with huge pot holes leading up to the station?
Andy Somebody (I don’t
> remember his last name) was the “big gun” brought in. Jim
> did his “Coping Connection” in the mornings. Sam Ligouri
> with his garage sale. >
"Andy Somebody" was probably Andy Thomas. If my memory is any good, Thomas' entree into this market was via WARD. He did talk, he wanted to be Larry King, and used to speak often, on the air, of how he humbly hoped to someday "emulate" Mr. King. Kimble wooed him over to WARM as part of his strategy to fix the Mighty 590, which of course, was Kimble's dismantling of the place. Andy was, well, unusual. He left WARM for the PBS station in Buffalo, I believe. One Andy Thomas story that always cracked me up went like this; he'd gotten into some beef with his landlady, a woman in her 60s. Push came to shove, literally, and she ended up knocking him down a flight of stairs. He often referred to himself in the third person as "Old Andy," an attempt at some sort of warm, fuzzy, mature familiarity. I won't comment as to how warm and fuzzy he was, but will say he was no more than thirty at the time, probably more like twenty-five. Oddly enough, I just googled him and look what I found http://americasradioshow.com/page1.html
<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by masterg on 03/23/06 03:49 PM.</FONT></P>
> remember his last name) was the “big gun” brought in. Jim
> did his “Coping Connection” in the mornings. Sam Ligouri
> with his garage sale. >
"Andy Somebody" was probably Andy Thomas. If my memory is any good, Thomas' entree into this market was via WARD. He did talk, he wanted to be Larry King, and used to speak often, on the air, of how he humbly hoped to someday "emulate" Mr. King. Kimble wooed him over to WARM as part of his strategy to fix the Mighty 590, which of course, was Kimble's dismantling of the place. Andy was, well, unusual. He left WARM for the PBS station in Buffalo, I believe. One Andy Thomas story that always cracked me up went like this; he'd gotten into some beef with his landlady, a woman in her 60s. Push came to shove, literally, and she ended up knocking him down a flight of stairs. He often referred to himself in the third person as "Old Andy," an attempt at some sort of warm, fuzzy, mature familiarity. I won't comment as to how warm and fuzzy he was, but will say he was no more than thirty at the time, probably more like twenty-five. Oddly enough, I just googled him and look what I found http://americasradioshow.com/page1.html
<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by masterg on 03/23/06 03:49 PM.</FONT></P>
S
ScottSanfilippo
Guest
Ah Yes! The shag carpeting, the hole in the control room ceiling, the "portable space" sales office, the production room with equipment formerly used by Marconi and the black-hole back room loaded with junk and an old transmitter. I spent 10 years driving up that dirt road knocking the front end out of alignment on a constant basis. What a place full of memories. I'm sure Yonk and I can tell a tale or two of what went on at 83 Foote Ave!! Yonk, you want to start?
Y
yonkstur
Guest
> Ah Yes! The shag carpeting, the hole in the control room
> ceiling, the "portable space" sales office, the production
> room with equipment formerly used by Marconi and the
> black-hole back room loaded with junk and an old
> transmitter. I spent 10 years driving up that dirt road
> knocking the front end out of alignment on a constant basis.
> What a place full of memories. I'm sure Yonk and I can
> tell a tale or two of what went on at 83 Foote Ave!! Yonk,
> you want to start?
>
Where do you start? When I was 15, I did some stuff at WPTS.
Years later I came to WARD, building never changed except for
the pre fab sales office. One good thing about the equipment
though was that the knobs were big and not complicated on the
equipment. When I did board work for the Allen Colmes Show and
Red Barons baseball....this was one of those hot summers, the
ivy on the building attracted an army of catterpillars which
covered, literally covered the building. You had to keep your
car windows closed when you parked there or you'd have a family
in your front seat. As for the Home Shopper, Jim always referred
to "the bank of computers that held all the wonderful merchandise
for our great, loyal WARD home shoppers". One day, Dave Stroud and
I went looking for the computers. Jeff Gordon was on the air and
we asked him. He looked at us as if we were nuts and held in his
hand about fifty index cards and a Mead notebook. "Here's your
computer!!!!" But as Tom Carten is fond of saying, "It's what
comes out of those speakers that count!!" And Jim Ward lived by
that mantra.
At WBAX in the late sixties, he was known as "The Morning Mayor"
from 10AM to noon. That line up was Johnny Margas 6am to 10a, the
Morning Mayor 10am to noon, Pete Rinker from noon to 4pm, Dave
Garrett from 4 to 8pm, Jim Nicholas 8pm to 10pm, Jones Evans with
"Speakup" from 10pm to 12midnight and Dick Whitaker doing the overnights.
Jim was a great guy to work for and will always be part of local
broadcast legend.
My favorite Jim Ward story comes from me as a listener. I cannot
tell it here but I'll do so in person for anyone, anytime.
Yonkstur
> ceiling, the "portable space" sales office, the production
> room with equipment formerly used by Marconi and the
> black-hole back room loaded with junk and an old
> transmitter. I spent 10 years driving up that dirt road
> knocking the front end out of alignment on a constant basis.
> What a place full of memories. I'm sure Yonk and I can
> tell a tale or two of what went on at 83 Foote Ave!! Yonk,
> you want to start?
>
Where do you start? When I was 15, I did some stuff at WPTS.
Years later I came to WARD, building never changed except for
the pre fab sales office. One good thing about the equipment
though was that the knobs were big and not complicated on the
equipment. When I did board work for the Allen Colmes Show and
Red Barons baseball....this was one of those hot summers, the
ivy on the building attracted an army of catterpillars which
covered, literally covered the building. You had to keep your
car windows closed when you parked there or you'd have a family
in your front seat. As for the Home Shopper, Jim always referred
to "the bank of computers that held all the wonderful merchandise
for our great, loyal WARD home shoppers". One day, Dave Stroud and
I went looking for the computers. Jeff Gordon was on the air and
we asked him. He looked at us as if we were nuts and held in his
hand about fifty index cards and a Mead notebook. "Here's your
computer!!!!" But as Tom Carten is fond of saying, "It's what
comes out of those speakers that count!!" And Jim Ward lived by
that mantra.
At WBAX in the late sixties, he was known as "The Morning Mayor"
from 10AM to noon. That line up was Johnny Margas 6am to 10a, the
Morning Mayor 10am to noon, Pete Rinker from noon to 4pm, Dave
Garrett from 4 to 8pm, Jim Nicholas 8pm to 10pm, Jones Evans with
"Speakup" from 10pm to 12midnight and Dick Whitaker doing the overnights.
Jim was a great guy to work for and will always be part of local
broadcast legend.
My favorite Jim Ward story comes from me as a listener. I cannot
tell it here but I'll do so in person for anyone, anytime.
Yonkstur
B
berniek
Guest
I am new to the board but had to join on this one. I worked with Jim and Joe in the middle part of the 80's, some on-air and some sales. A couple of fond memories...
1. Watching Jim cut a radio spot. He would go into the production room/closet with a newspaper ad for Kurlanchek's pull out a record and without a script produce a spot in under 5 minutes...
2. Watching the bugs run when I turned the lights on first thing in the morning to sign the station on...
1. Watching Jim cut a radio spot. He would go into the production room/closet with a newspaper ad for Kurlanchek's pull out a record and without a script produce a spot in under 5 minutes...
2. Watching the bugs run when I turned the lights on first thing in the morning to sign the station on...
N
NEPAstach
Guest
> I am new to the board but had to join on this one. I worked
> with Jim and Joe in the middle part of the 80's, some on-air
> and some sales. A couple of fond memories...
>
> 1. Watching Jim cut a radio spot. He would go into the
> production room/closet with a newspaper ad for Kurlanchek's
> pull out a record and without a script produce a spot in
> under 5 minutes...
>
> 2. Watching the bugs run when I turned the lights on first
> thing in the morning to sign the station on...
>
You even catch Sam Ligouri listing in on phone calls from the control room?
> with Jim and Joe in the middle part of the 80's, some on-air
> and some sales. A couple of fond memories...
>
> 1. Watching Jim cut a radio spot. He would go into the
> production room/closet with a newspaper ad for Kurlanchek's
> pull out a record and without a script produce a spot in
> under 5 minutes...
>
> 2. Watching the bugs run when I turned the lights on first
> thing in the morning to sign the station on...
>
You even catch Sam Ligouri listing in on phone calls from the control room?
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