My parents also liked WADV, although Dan Lesniak's show wasn't a regular part of the Sunday menu. That's when they (radio BS word alert) "sampled" CHSC, St. Catherines @ 105.7 or WBNY-FM @ 96.1, which like WADV, played jazz, big band, swing 'n shmaltz. Why does Sammy Davis come to mind? "Groovy, bay-beee!"
WADV. CHSC. WBNY (BS, "Before Shulke"). Lighting up the Stereo Pilot Light. How cool. I liked the Beatles, Hendrix and the Stones, but I learned early on to appreciate Sinatra, Bennett, Dinah Washington, Herby Mann, George Shearing and so many others (including the Hollyridge Strings, which covered every Beatles hit) and as a result, appreciated WADV, CHSC and WBNY. Our family had a big GE console stereo in the living room and WADV always sounded sweet. That was one of my father's simple pleasures. Read a book, have a cold Utica Club and turn on the stereo.
But just for a minute, especially us radio geeks, think about how WADV positively affected how Buffalo and Western New York listened to FM radio. The jingles were jazzy and cool: "First in Stereo... WADV." Next, think about what WADV and to an extent WBNY and CHSC did by motivating parents (read, "older people who grew up on AM") to tune to FM. That, in my opinion, is momentous.
It was an era (and I know this sounds like ancient history to some, but it's history nonetheless and to be appreciated) when, if you dig through the Buffalo (Evening) News radio listings, AM was incredibly dominant. Most FM stations were step children. Some FM stations signed on at 7 a.m. and signed off at midnight. ("And now, another broadcast day comes to an end... W*** operates with 50 thousand Watts horizontal radiation and 50 thousand Watts vertical radiation, in full multiplex stereo, on a frequency of ** megacycles as assigned by the Federal Communications Commission in Washington, D.C...")
I remember WADV personalities like Rick Bennett (great, powerful voice), Ken Ruof, Voice Guy Jack, Glenn Beck, Fred Klestine, even my friend Charley Seitz (later QFM97 news with Jim Santella) did a weekend show on WADV as did Ken Harris. There are many others whose names would ring a bell if they appeared here.
WBUF on 92.9 was the home of "Blended Music" and the Empire State FM Network (broadcasting from a studio just feet away from big blue GE transmitters that held x-ray emitting mecury vapor rectifiers behind lead striated windows) at the transmitter site on Cole Road in Boston.
Tom Talbot owned WJJL, Niagara Falls and put WBNY on the air @ 96.1, (I worked there for about six months, totally unworthy) broadcasting first from the 17th floor of the "Grand Rand" then moving to the 26th floor, directly across from Channel 17's transmitting antenna. Even though the cables were shielded, grounded and sometimes wrapped in aluminum foil or steel conduit, Channel 17's RF bled into everything in the WBNY 26th floor studios. One can only wonder if the jocks who worked in thoe WBNY studios where adversely affected by the RF. You could damn near hit the Ch 17 antenna with a well thrown baseball. Maybe a stretch, but not so much.
WBNY attempted to take on WADV with a "Stereo For Moderns" approach but WADV was the first station in the game and established itself by virtue of Dan and Nancy Lesniak's local ownership, their presence in the Polish community, the big band, jazz, shmaltz format, the personalities and the ever present "First in Stereo" audio signature. Clearly, it was a great radio station that deserves its place in the anals of Buffalo broadcasting history.
Like Frank said on Live At the Sands, "What are all these people doing in my living room?"
