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Rock 103

FM Sales said:
bev hart said:
The only comment I have about Rock 103 is this: I will forever cherish the talented people with whom it was a privilege to work; and as I move forward - ecstatic with my present opportunity - I will always remember my time there with fondness.

That said: I'm torn between the Bavarian Cream & the Cheesecake..... I do miss you Jeff!

...and now I'll make like a tree...

;)
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Bev, I have always believed, and this post backs it up, that you are pure class. Nice reply.
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And that, dear children, is why I consider it a privilege and high honor to be called "her friend"
 
To begin with, the shift to CHR on FM in the mid 80's, as has been recently harped upon in Memphis posts, wasn't necessarily a bad programming decision. Just not with THAT station!!! I was there before the switch to CHR and returned for a couple of years following the change back to AOR.

The "WEGR" calls and the "Eagle" thing can be linked back to then manager Craig Scott, who had already set KIX 106 in motion, and was interested in giving them what so many on this board yearn for... some competition. But 98 tried to pick up the alienated Album Rock listeners 103 had cavalierly tossed out with the trash, and were making noise with their "Lion" thing. 103 jumped back into rock, with Art Wander (who was close to retirement age then, seems to me) at the helm of both WREC and 103. I came back into the picture as afternoon drive guy, and eventually interim PD, prior to Howie Castle's arrival.
 
bev hart said:
That said: I'm torn between the Bavarian Cream & the Cheesecake..... I do miss you Jeff!
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Miss you, too. :'(


EDIT:....wow, did that come out lame! Ahh well. Give a hug to Angie for me, too.
 
robgrayson said:
...103 jumped back into rock, with Art Wander (who was close to retirement age then, seems to me) at the helm of both WREC and 103. I came back into the picture as afternoon drive guy, and eventually interim PD, prior to Howie Castle's arrival.
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Oh Rob! My apologies for not remembering (let's just say youth & the associated wildness have taken their toll on my memory!)... and...as I recall, Art Wander was way past retirement age then!
 
I was playng golf at Galloway with Art one Saturday during his tenure. Art made a putt on the 17th hole and bent over to retrieve his ball and the top of his head fell off! Actually it was his toupee, but I had never noticed he wore one. I was shocked, Art was embarrassed and we both had a laugh. Oh, and he beat the socks off me that day...geezer or not!
 
The recent ratings of the Wakeup Crew and Rock 103 speak volumes. 103 used to be a power and now it simply is not. As a rock fan, it just doesn't offer me much. I get sick of the same old songs anc can't believe most others don't feel the same.
 
Art Wander, "The Tiny Tot of the Kilowatt" I worked with Art back in KC when Summit owned KCMO-AM and KCMO-FM in addition to the Memphis cluster. Jerry Cagle was the OM, Harry Nelson was the morning guy and other great talent was on the air. Pete Shulte and his crew sold the KC cluster and Art was "transferred" to Memphis along with GM Craig Scott.

Last I heard, he was back in Buffalo. Anybody heard anything else?
 
When Rock 103 was Z-103, and Memphis was without an AOR format station, I was one of the listeners to KHFO 98.1 that was barely reaching Memphis with their album format. There was a nice article in the Commercial Appeal by Tom Walter and it told how the small town station from Osceola was making big waves in Memphis. About this same time, my brother was in the service stationed at Lowry AFB in the Denver area. He was sending me tapes of a station in Denver (KAZY FM) that was superb, playing all kinds of album rock, new and old (it was here I first heard of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions). Anyway, as the tapes from my brother continued to roll in, I wrote the station and got a nice reply from the station and Art Wander was copied on it. Seems he had just gotten this station up and running in their format. I believe the lady's name who wrote the letter from the station was Ellen Burke (I've got the letter here someplace but can't find it at the moment). A friend and I visited the station once and got the royal tour from Ellen. Later, when Rock 103 rose again as WEGR, I learned that Art had a hand in it.
 
I had a conversation with Art Wander when he was interim PD at Rock 103. I was just barely 20, so he seemed very old to me at the time.

I was very impressed with his knowledge of music, didn't matter if it was big band or modern rock. He was telling me how wonderful Suzanne Vega was and this was about a year before Luka.
 
There certainly have been some wonderful posts on this subject. From funny to sad...great talents to questionable programming decisions...lost brain cells to life changing experiences.

Anybody remember Steve Christian? He was tabbed by Bill Thomas as the Boy Wonder PD for Z103. Wait, don't want to make anyone mad, Bill was GM so I assume Christian was his choice. :)

Anyway, in spite of the fact that I was part of the original crew at Rock 103, Steve and I got along. He needed someone for morning news, I needed a job and the combination resulted in me hooking up with Mark Kessler...one of the truly special talents I was fortunate enough to encounter in radio. Of course, Steve's "my way or the highway" demeanor and Craig Scott's arrival on the scene led to the Hot Hits debacle being scrapped and 103 being returned to its rightful format. Great memories! Weird times...but great memories nonetheless.
 
Art was really something, and for all I know he may still be! He was in New York radio at the time it was rocked by payola scandals, and they profoundly affected the way he related to the record industry folks. Art was in programming at WMGM, and was one of th pioneers of "progressive rock radio" with WOR-FM. He once showed me a personal letter he had received from Brian Epstein, which had accompanied an advance acetate from the Beatles.
 
Good stuff, Dano. Thanks for the links on Art.
 
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