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ceaser
Guest
Hey shark long time no see.You sound great at the new 92.Why did you guys change that format?I feel like I got jacked.Love my oldies.SharkeySharkDog said:
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yonkstur
Guest
Good call, Yonk, Kimble was himself a disaster. A small slice of trivia for you - one of the first(maybe thee first and only)PM drive teams in this market was Vince Sweeney and Steve St. John. Billed as - St. John and Sweeney - it was a pretty good pairing, but like everything else Kimble did, it lasted maybe a couple of months, if that.
Steve St. John actually started at WRKC FM and then WVIA FM where he was trained to run an automation unit. I could tell he had great potential and loved radio. He was just wonderful on WARM. But he got frustrated with the suits. He's the best sounding law enforcement officer in town, I can tell you that.
Holy God, the Harry and Jim "in-tandem" broadcast was painful; Harry is the ultimate solo act, and although Jim was a great guy(anyone know where he is?), he justifiably hated being Harry's whatever the hell it was he was supposed to be.
I remember that show. Gannon was Dale Duncan on WBAX and had a great voice. As listeners, my wife and I both said when we heard them, "They sound as if they don't like each other". Looking back, I think Harry just never played well off of people. He was great on his own but never really probed any interaction too deeply. He'd tell you about a celebrity he met, then when you wanted to get a personall insight from him, he'd say, "and that Neil Diamond, heck of a nice guy!" I loved him but the pairing was as you say, painful.
Great thread, Yonk, very enjoyable. Thanks!
yonkstur
Steve St. John actually started at WRKC FM and then WVIA FM where he was trained to run an automation unit. I could tell he had great potential and loved radio. He was just wonderful on WARM. But he got frustrated with the suits. He's the best sounding law enforcement officer in town, I can tell you that.
Holy God, the Harry and Jim "in-tandem" broadcast was painful; Harry is the ultimate solo act, and although Jim was a great guy(anyone know where he is?), he justifiably hated being Harry's whatever the hell it was he was supposed to be.
I remember that show. Gannon was Dale Duncan on WBAX and had a great voice. As listeners, my wife and I both said when we heard them, "They sound as if they don't like each other". Looking back, I think Harry just never played well off of people. He was great on his own but never really probed any interaction too deeply. He'd tell you about a celebrity he met, then when you wanted to get a personall insight from him, he'd say, "and that Neil Diamond, heck of a nice guy!" I loved him but the pairing was as you say, painful.
Great thread, Yonk, very enjoyable. Thanks!
yonkstur
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yonkstur
Guest
Banana Joe
Banana Joe's dad passed away last week. Banana Joe was in from L.A. for the funeral.
Yonkstur
Banana Joe's dad passed away last week. Banana Joe was in from L.A. for the funeral.
Yonkstur
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yonkstur
Guest
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Nigel. THANK YOU!!!!
Dale Denver. Everybody who knew him back then knew it was a stage name and then when Duncan came to town.............honest mistake for an old guy. I wonder what PD over at WBAX gave him his name or did he think it up on his own???
Yonkstur
P.S. Dale Duncan's voice was never as good as Dale Denver's!!!
Dale Denver. Everybody who knew him back then knew it was a stage name and then when Duncan came to town.............honest mistake for an old guy. I wonder what PD over at WBAX gave him his name or did he think it up on his own???
Yonkstur
P.S. Dale Duncan's voice was never as good as Dale Denver's!!!
When Mike Rudolf went there, he had to become Michael Carter, for some reason. I think that's the name.
NigelWick said:Legend has it that WBAX had some old jingles/shouts in house. When Jim got the job, he had to change his name to one of the jingles that WBAX already had. His real name is neither Gannon nor Denver. The story may not be true, but that was the story going around.
"Stock" names were pretty common at one time in many markets, but not so much here. In some places, it wasn't unusual for a station to have 5 or 6 "Scott Michaels" over the course of as many years. Now, I think I have this right about the name Gannon, the name Delvecchio(as in Don Delvecchio), and also Rod Raeger, all former WARMies. Then-PD Ron Allen went through a kick where he was naming jocks after popular television characters; Gannon as in "Joe Gannon"(Chad Everett) on Medical Center, Delvecchio was a short-lived detective show, and Raeger was a play on Alex Reiger from Taxi. And both Reiger and Delvecchio were played by the same actor, Judd Hirsch. There were very few WARM jocks up through most of the 80s that used their given name. Sitting here right, I can think of only three.
Steve St. John actually started at WRKC FM and then WVIA FM where he was trained to run an automation unit. I could tell he had great potential and loved radio. He was just wonderful on WARM. But he got frustrated with the suits. He's the best sounding law enforcement officer in town, I can tell you that.
Ron Allen "discovered" Steve on WILK where he was doing, I believe, seven to midnight. Steve managed to survive that last round of multiple firings at WARM, but quickly became very unhappy and left for WEJL. He was at WEJL maybe a year, then took the civil service test, scored very high, and kissed radio good-bye. Jim Gannon came to WBAX from WLYC in Williamsport, but had worked at several stations on SE PA and in Atlantic City, if my memory is any good. Steve and Jim, both good guys. For those of us old enough to remember, WBAX was making some serious noise in the early to mid-70s, which is why WARM started to hire away their people.
Ron Allen "discovered" Steve on WILK where he was doing, I believe, seven to midnight. Steve managed to survive that last round of multiple firings at WARM, but quickly became very unhappy and left for WEJL. He was at WEJL maybe a year, then took the civil service test, scored very high, and kissed radio good-bye. Jim Gannon came to WBAX from WLYC in Williamsport, but had worked at several stations on SE PA and in Atlantic City, if my memory is any good. Steve and Jim, both good guys. For those of us old enough to remember, WBAX was making some serious noise in the early to mid-70s, which is why WARM started to hire away their people.
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yonkstur
Guest
Ron Allen "discovered" Steve on WILK where he was doing, I believe, seven to midnight.
Yep, Steve kissed that automation unit goodbye the moment he got the opportunity to go on WILK.
Steve managed to survive that last round of multiple firings at WARM, but quickly became very unhappy and left for WEJL.
I did not know that. When did that round of firings occur? WAs it the purge that involved Elizabeth Fields or was this earlier?
He was at WEJL maybe a year, then took the civil service test, scored very high, and kissed radio good-bye. Jim Gannon came to WBAX from WLYC in Williamsport, but had worked at several stations on SE PA and in Atlantic City, if my memory is any good. Steve and Jim, both good guys. For those of us old enough to remember, WBAX was making some serious noise in the early to mid-70s, which is why WARM started to hire away their people.
WBAX really had their act together from about 75 to 1979. Tight playlist top 40, 2 very professional news people, David Kush and Maddie Fitzgerald, I want to say their lineup had Christopher Starr doing afternoon drive, Rick Walker was doing mornings for a while, Bob Marini at nights, a guy by the name of Vince overnight, I want to say there was a guy who went by Jack Tripper, Ripper, something like that. can't remember the rest of them. Denver of course, good sales staff that was underselling WARM but making up for it in volume. The pronlem was the signal sank to 250 watts at night but at one point they placed number 3 in the book. The GM was Dick Booth then Dave Donlin. Donlin in the late 70s brought in Yankee baseball, then in 1980 they went country. Then Joe Frank bought it in the 80s.
Yonkstur
Yep, Steve kissed that automation unit goodbye the moment he got the opportunity to go on WILK.
Steve managed to survive that last round of multiple firings at WARM, but quickly became very unhappy and left for WEJL.
I did not know that. When did that round of firings occur? WAs it the purge that involved Elizabeth Fields or was this earlier?
He was at WEJL maybe a year, then took the civil service test, scored very high, and kissed radio good-bye. Jim Gannon came to WBAX from WLYC in Williamsport, but had worked at several stations on SE PA and in Atlantic City, if my memory is any good. Steve and Jim, both good guys. For those of us old enough to remember, WBAX was making some serious noise in the early to mid-70s, which is why WARM started to hire away their people.
WBAX really had their act together from about 75 to 1979. Tight playlist top 40, 2 very professional news people, David Kush and Maddie Fitzgerald, I want to say their lineup had Christopher Starr doing afternoon drive, Rick Walker was doing mornings for a while, Bob Marini at nights, a guy by the name of Vince overnight, I want to say there was a guy who went by Jack Tripper, Ripper, something like that. can't remember the rest of them. Denver of course, good sales staff that was underselling WARM but making up for it in volume. The pronlem was the signal sank to 250 watts at night but at one point they placed number 3 in the book. The GM was Dick Booth then Dave Donlin. Donlin in the late 70s brought in Yankee baseball, then in 1980 they went country. Then Joe Frank bought it in the 80s.
Yonkstur
There was a time when WRKC, WBAX and some other station were tied for men 18-24 or men 18-34, I forget which. Arb doesn't measure noncoms, so it must have been Birch or RadioStat. Birch, I think. That was the time when some idiot at WILK told the RKC crowd that if 88.5 ever seriously challenged 980 in the ratings, they would have RKC's license taken away. Took me a long time to convince the kids that the record spinner over there was a flat-out liar and/or an idiot.
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yonkstur
Guest
Tom,
What amazed me aboiut the early 70s and WRKC FM was how seriously a few people at WILK took the station. Thanks to you instituting the RHV, people got trained reading and pronouncing before they even saw a board. Then the broadcast day was expanded until 3AM. WILK hired Banana Joe, Mike Zarzinski, Shivaun, Jill Uskrait, (Jill Kay) Brian Carey, Steve St. John, Pat Finn, Hugh Finn, and more people I can't even remember. WRKC also had weekly shows that never moved. The Mad Drummer every Sunday Night, (he was doing song parodies long before Jeff Walker) the late Ed Rowan, Brother Breeze's
soul deal (King's cage standout Breon Williams) on Sundays, Pat Fadden Tuesday nights, Brian Porter and Joe Whalen (Whalen Joe) on weekdays, my piece of crap "Something Special" friday nights, and Theresa R's show on Saturday nights from 10AM to 2PM. It was a niche audience, not because we were so great or polished but there was a commitmenmt to be there every week. And people found it. And stayed. And listened. We took college radio and kept it progressive (some of us, I always got hell for trying to slip in a Temptations or Frankie Valli thing and calling it alternative..........."but Steve, nobody ever heard this B side of the Temptations, really!!") and took a page out of top 40 radio of that time and had a consistent lineup that never changed as well as some clever imaging. It got to the point once in late 74 where the GM held a meeting and banned the playing of "Freebird", "Stairway To Heaven" and "Strutter" because we got listener complaints that those songs were overplayed.
Yonkstur
P.S. And at Wilkes Radio, WILK recruited Kathy Bozinski and Karen Klucitis (Harch) who later went on to TV.
What amazed me aboiut the early 70s and WRKC FM was how seriously a few people at WILK took the station. Thanks to you instituting the RHV, people got trained reading and pronouncing before they even saw a board. Then the broadcast day was expanded until 3AM. WILK hired Banana Joe, Mike Zarzinski, Shivaun, Jill Uskrait, (Jill Kay) Brian Carey, Steve St. John, Pat Finn, Hugh Finn, and more people I can't even remember. WRKC also had weekly shows that never moved. The Mad Drummer every Sunday Night, (he was doing song parodies long before Jeff Walker) the late Ed Rowan, Brother Breeze's
soul deal (King's cage standout Breon Williams) on Sundays, Pat Fadden Tuesday nights, Brian Porter and Joe Whalen (Whalen Joe) on weekdays, my piece of crap "Something Special" friday nights, and Theresa R's show on Saturday nights from 10AM to 2PM. It was a niche audience, not because we were so great or polished but there was a commitmenmt to be there every week. And people found it. And stayed. And listened. We took college radio and kept it progressive (some of us, I always got hell for trying to slip in a Temptations or Frankie Valli thing and calling it alternative..........."but Steve, nobody ever heard this B side of the Temptations, really!!") and took a page out of top 40 radio of that time and had a consistent lineup that never changed as well as some clever imaging. It got to the point once in late 74 where the GM held a meeting and banned the playing of "Freebird", "Stairway To Heaven" and "Strutter" because we got listener complaints that those songs were overplayed.
Yonkstur
P.S. And at Wilkes Radio, WILK recruited Kathy Bozinski and Karen Klucitis (Harch) who later went on to TV.
I did not know that. When did that round of firings occur? WAs it the purge that involved Elizabeth Fields or was this earlier?
Relying on my fuzzy memory brings no guarantees of accuracy, but here's what I recall...
The first round of firings came to be known as Axe Wednesday and took place, I do believe, in the Spring of 1985. Axe Wednesday saw Mark Thomas, Jim Gannon, and the late Guy Randall getting dumped without warning and for no good reason. It was a pure bullshit move by corporate meddler Rod Burham, and he messed with three lives to make himself look good. The next round came in January of '86, and was another Rod Burnham inspired bloodletting. Pete Mitchell, Vince Sweeney, and someone else(sorry to not remember)were tossed, again without warning and for no good reason. Steve St. John did not get fired, instead they demoted him. He'd had a title with responsibilities, they took it away. Steve should've immediately gone to PM drive, instead they hired John Hancock. In my mind, these occurences were the harbingers of The End Days at WARM. John Hancock's stay was brief, and the reasons for his leaving are unknown to me, and certainly his business alone.
Now, about Elizabeth Field - when and why she was let go is another unknown, I simply do not remember the circumstances at all. As much as I hope this provides some answers, I'd be every bit as pleased if it raised more questions and kept this going. Thanks for listening...
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