WARM reflections

[NigelWick]

Obviously, you don't remember two jocks on one shift, phone calls, Mutual News and Mutual features.

 

[masterg]

Obviously, you don't remember two jocks on one shift, phone calls, Mutual News and Mutual features.

Obviously, you have no idea how wrong you are. Duality, in-tandem, the corn cob pipe, blah, blah, blah.

 

[NigelWick]

Then you should remember how little music was played in that format, and when we needed a quick dub of something because a cart failed, we grabbed the record from the FM side and made a copy. I should know. I did it.

 

[masterg]

Then you should remember how little music was played in that format, and when we needed a quick dub of something because a cart failed, we grabbed the record from the FM side and made a copy. I should know. I did it.

I remember it well, and WARM was playing music through the mid 80s - mornings, mid-day(that needs explanation, hold on), afternoons, and depending on what garbage was being tried in the evening, there was music in the evening, too. Overnights, it was Larry King. When jocks doubled up(Kimble at his best), there was a lot of BS, but there was still music. Weekends, few spots, more music, and so little to choose from.

Now, about those mid-days. Kimble, seemingly on a lark, would sometimes try talk from 11:00 to Noon, but it wasn't always there. It'd be there for a week or two, then gone, then back, then gone. It was never promoted, it wasn't on the log, it had no name, it was just an hour of talk that would pop up from time to time. Then there was Andy Thomas, remember? He did talk for, what, maybe a year? Then he was gone, then it was back to music. Since MAGIC didn't appear until '85, perhaps you are right about borrowing music post '85. The use of music slipped away slowly during Kimble's tenure, then during Burnham's. Ron Allen was the one who pared the oldies library back to a shameful level. When music completely went away, I don't know...

 

[yonkstur]

How lucky you both were to be there!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Whatever the specifics and the memories.
Yonkstur

 

[masterg]

How lucky you both were to be there!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Whatever the specifics and the memories.
Yonkstur

Ya know, Yonk, yes and no. Despite what most think, WARM was not a great place to work. It might've been the best shop in the market, but, cripes, both Nigel and I could likely tell you plenty of horror stories. FWIW, I don't know who Nigel is, perhaps he could say the same about me. I do prefer the anonymity, at least for now. Thank you...

 

[NigelWick]

WARM of that era had more than its share of problems. It was tough watching idiot manager after idiot manager come in and kill the goose that laid the golden egg. Full service AM's still do well, but not great, in many markets across the country. That's especially true for heritage stations like WARM. Unfortunately, formats like that take money and they take talent. Management didn't see the need to stay local. There was many a day I wanted to take a sledge hammer to the satellite dishes in the parking lot.

In spite of it all, during my time, it was still the best shop in the market. I couldn't see working for the Lynetts or the Morgans or the fly-by-night outfit that owned KRZ at the time.

 

[masterg]

WARM of that era had more than its share of problems. It was tough watching idiot manager after idiot manager come in and kill the goose that laid the golden egg. Full service AM's still do well, but not great, in many markets across the country. That's especially true for heritage stations like WARM. Unfortunately, formats like that take money and they take talent. Management didn't see the need to stay local. There was many a day I wanted to take a sledge hammer to the satellite dishes in the parking lot.

In spite of it all, during my time, it was still the best shop in the market. I couldn't see working for the Lynetts or the Morgans or the fly-by-night outfit that owned KRZ at the time.

It all began when Bill Kimble walked through the doors of The WARM Building, itself long a landmark. Somehow, and it is still a mystery how, corporate had given him a free-hand to "fix" WARM. WARM wasn't broken. He left the place in total disarray, but still capable of recovery. Next came Rod Burnham, The Wonder Boy from WSBA. Burnham was on the property 2-3 days a week, ample time to fire probably about half the staff over the course of a year or so. He fired people for one reason - he wanted corporate to think he was REALLY getting things done in Avoca. He wasn't. In time, they figured him out, he was gone, and the slide continued. Nigel's right, a full-service heritage station like WARM should hold a respectable share of this market. Shamefully, it does not.

WARM was the best shop in the market because they always paid just a little bit more than anyone else. Not a ton more, just enough to get your attention. For all the names we can come up with who will always be associated with WARM's glory, there are as many names who came, hated the place, and were gone as fast as they could find another job.

 

[BigBob]

I was fortunate enough to have Bob Woody allow me into the building on Saturday nights (he worked the 8p-1a shift - or was it 2a?) Anyway, I got to cut my teeth producing his half-hourly newscasts and get the local sports scores for him. I recall the hotline in the WARM newsroom - all you had to do was pick up the handset and it would ring in the WNEP newsroom. Jay Kristopher did the 15 minute newscasts then (summer of 1974) and we would share stories. I remember one night I asked (and he allowed) me to come over and watch him do the news (it literally was a one-man newscast - including weather and sports). He did it from a lecturn at the time. They ran the news tapes from master control. He was nothing but a total pro in my eyes.

I used that to get a job in Lancaster...then York (WNOW and Q106), WGAL-TV and then my first GM gig in St. Croix (USVI). Then back to the states and to Arbitron, where I recently decided to take the summer off (I made 108 flights last year) and come back this fall. Great business...it is obviously changing a bunch...and they don't make the stations like WARM anymore. But I have Bob Woody (and Bill Kelly) to thank for letting me in the door - literally - to hang around and learn the business. I'm proud to say I have done that favor for a handfull or two of people in our biz.

Thanks for jogging the memory banks!
Bob Michaels