Hey, just all this talk about 'CMF lately.....I was just wondering what do the call letters WCMF stand for? I'm pretty familiar with Buffalo's calls and what they stand for...ex: 'GR, BEN and 'KB. Just wondering 'bout 'CMF. Thanks.
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WCMF Call Letters
- Thread starter Bill Myers
- Start date
Not sure about the "F", but as I recall the "C" was Community and the "M" was Music. Maybe the "F" was for "Foundation".
Early on, the station was relatively low-powered and owned by a local group of investors. Programming consisted of a mish-mash of block programming, maybe with unpaid, volunteer hosts.
My recollection is that the first rock music appeared on the air, when a fellow named Bob Francati (Bob Drake) began playing it in the late '60s.
Early on, the station was relatively low-powered and owned by a local group of investors. Programming consisted of a mish-mash of block programming, maybe with unpaid, volunteer hosts.
My recollection is that the first rock music appeared on the air, when a fellow named Bob Francati (Bob Drake) began playing it in the late '60s.
It's likely that WBEN has the most validity as to representing... obviously, the Buffalo Evening News.
WKBW? Doc Churchill most likely gave those call letters some meaning after they were assigned, coming up with Well Known Bible Worker or some variation of that.
WGR? Well, the myth is they stood for George Rand. Not so. The FCC assigned them randomly, but Rand, being the capitalist and financier that he was, never denied the call letters were in honor of him. Would you? Heck no!
The Rand building (or, Grand Rand Building, as the Hound would expound) was at one time, home to WGR, but that's the closest WGR came to George Rand. Interestingly, John Otto, if the subject was broached, would vehemently deny that WGR had anything to do with George Rand, "Utterly false! No truth to the rumor, none at all... fabricated..." Must have been issues there that "nettled him to the core." Go ahead, inflect those quotes in your head as only John Otto could say them. Priceless.
Years later, Larry Anderson connected WGR to the slogan "We're Great Radio."
Correctamundo! CMF means "Community Music Foundation"...it dates back to the 60s when it was a...CLASSICAL music station!
Hi Jim,
Thanks for your input. Just wanted to clarify - and I don't mean to correct you-but WKBW was Well Known Bible Witness. Not Worker.
Which seemed pretty ironic when they ditched the religous format and went rock 'n' roll which some DJ's back then pronounced that 'Rock 'n' Roll has got to go'. WKBW going R&R '58 and onward. And that R&R was the devil's music. Then when they switched to WWKB - the calls went to Well Worked Known Bible.
Sorry, just kiddin'. I couldn't resist to insert my own slogan in there.
Regarding WGR - Wasn't WGR call letters given to an offshore ship or something offcoast prior to 1922? But when that didn't pan out then Buffalo got the calls. I heard the same thing - Stood for George Rand, etc, etc. But, you're right, I think that it finally settled on Wonderful Great Radio. That's what Mike Roszman told me. I also found that to be true when I was snooping in some storage cabinet they had in the basement - filled with old black and white photos and other very old promotional material, bumper stickers and the like. Didn't take any but it was fun to look at.
Thanks for your input. Just wanted to clarify - and I don't mean to correct you-but WKBW was Well Known Bible Witness. Not Worker.
Which seemed pretty ironic when they ditched the religous format and went rock 'n' roll which some DJ's back then pronounced that 'Rock 'n' Roll has got to go'. WKBW going R&R '58 and onward. And that R&R was the devil's music. Then when they switched to WWKB - the calls went to Well Worked Known Bible.
Sorry, just kiddin'. I couldn't resist to insert my own slogan in there.
Regarding WGR - Wasn't WGR call letters given to an offshore ship or something offcoast prior to 1922? But when that didn't pan out then Buffalo got the calls. I heard the same thing - Stood for George Rand, etc, etc. But, you're right, I think that it finally settled on Wonderful Great Radio. That's what Mike Roszman told me. I also found that to be true when I was snooping in some storage cabinet they had in the basement - filled with old black and white photos and other very old promotional material, bumper stickers and the like. Didn't take any but it was fun to look at.
Hey Bill, regarding the WGR call sign and ships, I believe it was actually the WMAK call sign that was assigned to a ship, as was WACJ, as Keith Luke noted, once used on 104.1
*** As an aside, I missed the Mike Rozman discussion and wanted to add that he was a salt of the earth guy. Great production, good human being. Decent co-worker. When 97 Rock was blown up in '85, I stayed to do production. Mike said, "just keep doing what you do..." no dictates or mandates, basically, just keep doing your job. He was one of the most well-read guys with whom I ever worked. He could discuss philosophy, electronics or Madd Magazine with ease. He's missed. ***
Back to call letters, it sometimes surprises me how we in the business take them for granted. We went through that whole WWOL and WUSJ discussion not long ago which opened my eyes and ears to the thoughts of other posters.
Some of the coolest call letters I've had the opportunity to pronounce on the air were WKBW, WGRQ and WYSL; more recently, WHTT is a great set of calls as well, rolling easily off your tongue and it cutting through nicely... of course, we don't use them these days, except in the legal ID.
Ironically WGR, a classic three letter set, was not one of my favorites. (Huh???!!!) I found that the "R" had to be hyper-articulated or "muscled" whenever I did it, probably because I didn't want it to get lost after the sharpness of Double-u and G. Conversely, because of the cadence and what followed, W-G-R-Q just rolls off your tongue and slices through the ether.
Also, the "55" in WGR News Radio 55 was interesting because the "v" in "five" is easy to slide over and it can get lost. There were a few people (who will remain nameless here) who often articulated the "55" as "fifty fie" ("fitty fie" might sound hip these days) and when I was production director, I would sometimes add the "vuh" to the other person's "5" if it sounded like "fie" and fell at the end of the promo. Had to push that "v" in five.
When doing promos for WLVL Lockport, the last "L" had to be hyper-articulated as "ELL" because if it wasn't, it sounded like an "O" and got lost on the air. It would sound OK on the production monitors, but something in the processing swallowed it. WLVL isn't the "sharpest" set of calls. Good station, though I thought it was easier and cooler to say W-U-S-J.
Back to Buffalo, WMJQ was a cool call sign. Although I never got the chance to say 'em on the air, they sounded sweet as long as the jock articulated the "EMM" so it didn't sound like "ENN."
A forgotten call sign, WBCE (Buffalo Courier Express), briefly assigned to 94.5, was a cool set of call letters. W-BEE-CEE-EEE!. Coulda made a good call sign for a rocker.
Combinations of "K" "Q" "G" "X" "B" "J" "A" "B" "Z" "C" "T" "H" "O" and "Y" seem to make good, crisp, clearly identifiable call signs.
In Utica years ago, there was a monster signal FM with the call sign, WKGW. K-G-W were the initials of the owner's wife, Katherine Graham Woods.
By chance, I took a couple of basic speech pathology courses in college that helped me understand some of what's required to articulate some of the things we say. Hasn't stopped me from bungling things from time to time but at least I have a better understanding of why I did what I did.
*** As an aside, I missed the Mike Rozman discussion and wanted to add that he was a salt of the earth guy. Great production, good human being. Decent co-worker. When 97 Rock was blown up in '85, I stayed to do production. Mike said, "just keep doing what you do..." no dictates or mandates, basically, just keep doing your job. He was one of the most well-read guys with whom I ever worked. He could discuss philosophy, electronics or Madd Magazine with ease. He's missed. ***
Back to call letters, it sometimes surprises me how we in the business take them for granted. We went through that whole WWOL and WUSJ discussion not long ago which opened my eyes and ears to the thoughts of other posters.
Some of the coolest call letters I've had the opportunity to pronounce on the air were WKBW, WGRQ and WYSL; more recently, WHTT is a great set of calls as well, rolling easily off your tongue and it cutting through nicely... of course, we don't use them these days, except in the legal ID.
Ironically WGR, a classic three letter set, was not one of my favorites. (Huh???!!!) I found that the "R" had to be hyper-articulated or "muscled" whenever I did it, probably because I didn't want it to get lost after the sharpness of Double-u and G. Conversely, because of the cadence and what followed, W-G-R-Q just rolls off your tongue and slices through the ether.
Also, the "55" in WGR News Radio 55 was interesting because the "v" in "five" is easy to slide over and it can get lost. There were a few people (who will remain nameless here) who often articulated the "55" as "fifty fie" ("fitty fie" might sound hip these days) and when I was production director, I would sometimes add the "vuh" to the other person's "5" if it sounded like "fie" and fell at the end of the promo. Had to push that "v" in five.
When doing promos for WLVL Lockport, the last "L" had to be hyper-articulated as "ELL" because if it wasn't, it sounded like an "O" and got lost on the air. It would sound OK on the production monitors, but something in the processing swallowed it. WLVL isn't the "sharpest" set of calls. Good station, though I thought it was easier and cooler to say W-U-S-J.
Back to Buffalo, WMJQ was a cool call sign. Although I never got the chance to say 'em on the air, they sounded sweet as long as the jock articulated the "EMM" so it didn't sound like "ENN."
A forgotten call sign, WBCE (Buffalo Courier Express), briefly assigned to 94.5, was a cool set of call letters. W-BEE-CEE-EEE!. Coulda made a good call sign for a rocker.
Combinations of "K" "Q" "G" "X" "B" "J" "A" "B" "Z" "C" "T" "H" "O" and "Y" seem to make good, crisp, clearly identifiable call signs.
In Utica years ago, there was a monster signal FM with the call sign, WKGW. K-G-W were the initials of the owner's wife, Katherine Graham Woods.
By chance, I took a couple of basic speech pathology courses in college that helped me understand some of what's required to articulate some of the things we say. Hasn't stopped me from bungling things from time to time but at least I have a better understanding of why I did what I did.
In Utica years ago, there was a monster signal FM with the call sign, WKGW. K-G-W were the initials of the owner's wife, Katherine Graham Woods.
Hey Jim, how about another not so monster signal in Utica?
WBVM W- Blessed Virgin Mary
Hey Jim, how about another not so monster signal in Utica?
WBVM W- Blessed Virgin Mary
Who?
Mr. Pastrick obviously belongs to the "Other stations? What other stations?" school of broadcasting.
"NEVER acknowledge the competition. There IS no competition."
Element9 said:
Mr. Pastrick obviously belongs to the "Other stations? What other stations?" school of broadcasting.
"NEVER acknowledge the competition. There IS no competition."
BV on the Rocks
I've heard that WBVM was a kick-a$$ little radio station for about a minute back in the day.
I'm trying to remember who told me that...
therealjm12 said:In Utica years ago, there was a monster signal FM with the call sign, WKGW. K-G-W were the initials of the owner's wife, Katherine Graham Woods.
Hey Jim, how about another not so monster signal in Utica?
WBVM W- Blessed Virgin Mary
I've heard that WBVM was a kick-a$$ little radio station for about a minute back in the day.
I'm trying to remember who told me that...
Well Rox, as every dog has his day, so we had ours at WBVM. A 1kW AM on 1550 without pre-sunrise authority, which meant the morning guy didn't have to wake up until 6 a.m. in December and January. It's been a long time, but I recall for one Spring rating book in ARB and Pulse, we were #3 25-54 Persons with a young Brian J. Walker (now Professor, ECC and WHTT weekends) doing middays. Them wuz the days.
And -9-, WBLK, WBUF, WJYE and WYRK would certainly qualify as "crisp, clearly identifiable call signs." Happy?
And -9-, WBLK, WBUF, WJYE and WYRK would certainly qualify as "crisp, clearly identifiable call signs." Happy?
N
Nick Seneca
Guest
Ah, let's not forget some of the coolest calls in Western New York radio history: the ephemeral "WINE".
Does anyone know anything at all about this station? I'm aware that they were on 1080, and may have been licensed to Kenmore. Beyond that, I draw a blank.
Nick Seneca
Does anyone know anything at all about this station? I'm aware that they were on 1080, and may have been licensed to Kenmore. Beyond that, I draw a blank.
Nick Seneca
Utica Club
I heard about this post from a friend, and dropped by to see it with my own eyes. I can't believe that WBVM came up, and that ancient history has been resurrected.
RealJM12, what on earth prompted you to remember WBVM? I worked there for Jim Pastrick, a true disciple of Jeff Kaye, who whipped me (darn near literally) into some semblance of a real air personality. He tagged me with the air name of "Dr. Don LaMarca", figuring that "Italian heritage" might help make it easier for a significant segment of the local population identify with me.
We worked hard and had fun. I got paid enough to (barely) pay the rent in a building (now gone) whose population rose quickly as the Utica State Hospital (similar to the Buffalo Psych Center) reduced its population in the middle '70s. We were up against WTLB and WRUN, two fine Top-40 rockers with much better signals and full-time allocations. We did manage to create a tempest with out little teapot for about a minute in Utica's radio history.
Who knew that Jim and I would be working in the same place 30 years later - although I'm just a bit player now. BTW, Jim, I'm not a Professor at ECC. The academic purists would chastise you severely for making such a statement. I think that I'm officially an instructor, or maybe an assistant professor. I'll have to check, but I know that I'm definitely not a Professor.
I lurk on these boards once in a while. I've read with sorrow about the decline of radio in Utica. I find it hard to believe that WOUR has been reduced to ashes under their new owner. The people that I knew in Utica, both in and out of radio, deserved better.
Well, back to reality. But thanks for the memories. May the Mohawk Valley once again rise and prosper, and Schultz and Dooley quaff a Matts Premium fresh from the brew house.
JimPastrick said:
I heard about this post from a friend, and dropped by to see it with my own eyes. I can't believe that WBVM came up, and that ancient history has been resurrected.
RealJM12, what on earth prompted you to remember WBVM? I worked there for Jim Pastrick, a true disciple of Jeff Kaye, who whipped me (darn near literally) into some semblance of a real air personality. He tagged me with the air name of "Dr. Don LaMarca", figuring that "Italian heritage" might help make it easier for a significant segment of the local population identify with me.
We worked hard and had fun. I got paid enough to (barely) pay the rent in a building (now gone) whose population rose quickly as the Utica State Hospital (similar to the Buffalo Psych Center) reduced its population in the middle '70s. We were up against WTLB and WRUN, two fine Top-40 rockers with much better signals and full-time allocations. We did manage to create a tempest with out little teapot for about a minute in Utica's radio history.
Who knew that Jim and I would be working in the same place 30 years later - although I'm just a bit player now. BTW, Jim, I'm not a Professor at ECC. The academic purists would chastise you severely for making such a statement. I think that I'm officially an instructor, or maybe an assistant professor. I'll have to check, but I know that I'm definitely not a Professor.
I lurk on these boards once in a while. I've read with sorrow about the decline of radio in Utica. I find it hard to believe that WOUR has been reduced to ashes under their new owner. The people that I knew in Utica, both in and out of radio, deserved better.
Well, back to reality. But thanks for the memories. May the Mohawk Valley once again rise and prosper, and Schultz and Dooley quaff a Matts Premium fresh from the brew house.
Hi Jim,
Disclaimer: Bear with me here. It's almost 4am and I'm on break from work:
Regarding your post on call letter pronounciations:
I was brought up in radio to say your call letters like you're proud of them. They're who you are. I've heard some jocks, and even some morning guys who are supposed to be the best the station has to offer throw away the call letters when they say them. They'll say -- (For ex Warm 101.3 so fast it sounds like a garbled mess. Or: Joy96 WJYE. Or they'll say the calls real fast as almost it's a chore to have to say them. Or their voice will trail off at the end and you'll get Warm 101 point....???huh? That's like calling a radio station for their address and the kid behind the reception desk blurts out the address so fast you'd think you were asking just to see if they know where they work out of curiosity. Not thinking that maybe you'd be writing it down so you can send their PD a package.
Again, I only cite Warm or JYE as an example. Not picking on those jocks per se.
Regarding WGR pronounciation: Mike Roszman tought me to say 'em like:
W - G - R. Not W-Gee-are. Like all slurred together.
We had one girl that did news - she would say Double-U-Gee-arr. With the 'R' sounding typical Western New York accent. Like 'AH....
For ex: C-ah-r. To turn something on you would say: 'Ahnn'.
It should be WG-awr. That's funny what you said about the 55. Yeah, I've heard fitty fie also.
While we're on the subject of 'GR, I've gotta tell you something funny I heard one day. I almost drove off the road. I'm sure you've worked the McCurdy board at 'GR. To execute the EBS test you have to play the opening cart and then turn a key on the board, flip a couple of switches 2 different ways and then bring the tone up on the utility channel on the far right. The one we used to bring in the traffic copter, ABC news, etc.
One day, it was a holiday, and the female half of the morning team was working this particular Monday. She goes to do the EBS test - she plays the opening cart and I'm listening and listening. No tone. It must've been a full minute as she was scrambling to figure out how to get this tone over the air. Finally, she comes on the air and says, 'Let's just pretend we heard the tone, okay folks' and then finishes out her stopset.
I wonder who the next jock was that got screwed when he played the EBS test only to fire up the Close as the Opener. Could she have recycled the cart?......I doubt it. I almost drove off the road-I couldn't believe it. I also wonder if she signed off the transmitter log as executing the EBS test.
The male partner of that team looked like Righteous Bros. Bill Medley.
Disclaimer: Bear with me here. It's almost 4am and I'm on break from work:
Regarding your post on call letter pronounciations:
I was brought up in radio to say your call letters like you're proud of them. They're who you are. I've heard some jocks, and even some morning guys who are supposed to be the best the station has to offer throw away the call letters when they say them. They'll say -- (For ex
Warm 101.3 so fast it sounds like a garbled mess. Or: Joy96 WJYE. Or they'll say the calls real fast as almost it's a chore to have to say them. Or their voice will trail off at the end and you'll get Warm 101 point....???huh? That's like calling a radio station for their address and the kid behind the reception desk blurts out the address so fast you'd think you were asking just to see if they know where they work out of curiosity. Not thinking that maybe you'd be writing it down so you can send their PD a package. Again, I only cite Warm or JYE as an example. Not picking on those jocks per se.
Regarding WGR pronounciation: Mike Roszman tought me to say 'em like:
W - G - R. Not W-Gee-are. Like all slurred together.
We had one girl that did news - she would say Double-U-Gee-arr. With the 'R' sounding typical Western New York accent. Like 'AH....
For ex: C-ah-r. To turn something on you would say: 'Ahnn'.
It should be WG-awr. That's funny what you said about the 55. Yeah, I've heard fitty fie also.
While we're on the subject of 'GR, I've gotta tell you something funny I heard one day. I almost drove off the road. I'm sure you've worked the McCurdy board at 'GR. To execute the EBS test you have to play the opening cart and then turn a key on the board, flip a couple of switches 2 different ways and then bring the tone up on the utility channel on the far right. The one we used to bring in the traffic copter, ABC news, etc.
One day, it was a holiday, and the female half of the morning team was working this particular Monday. She goes to do the EBS test - she plays the opening cart and I'm listening and listening. No tone. It must've been a full minute as she was scrambling to figure out how to get this tone over the air. Finally, she comes on the air and says, 'Let's just pretend we heard the tone, okay folks' and then finishes out her stopset.
I wonder who the next jock was that got screwed when he played the EBS test only to fire up the Close as the Opener. Could she have recycled the cart?......I doubt it. I almost drove off the road-I couldn't believe it. I also wonder if she signed off the transmitter log as executing the EBS test.
The male partner of that team looked like Righteous Bros. Bill Medley.
Brief History of WINE
Nick, you're correct on the freq, and the licensing. For a brief history of WINE, check out Steve Cichon's excellent staffannouncer.com blog. Scroll toward the bottom of the blog. Here's a link:
http://www.staffannouncer.com/blog/
Just think, if the the call letters were still in Buffalo, Rosa's Home Stores would be a natural fit....
The Days of WINE and Rosa's....
Nick Seneca said:
Nick, you're correct on the freq, and the licensing. For a brief history of WINE, check out Steve Cichon's excellent staffannouncer.com blog. Scroll toward the bottom of the blog. Here's a link:
http://www.staffannouncer.com/blog/
Just think, if the the call letters were still in Buffalo, Rosa's Home Stores would be a natural fit....
The Days of WINE and Rosa's....
RealJM12, what on earth prompted you to remember WBVM? I worked there for Jim Pastrick, a true disciple of Jeff Kaye, who whipped me (darn near literally) into some semblance of a real air personality. He tagged me with the air name of "Dr. Don LaMarca", figuring that "Italian heritage" might help make it easier for a significant segment of the local population identify with me.
Well, I used to come to visit you at that bar you DJ'ed on Wednesday nights. I came with my co-workers at WRUN.
By the way I was the last live voice on WBVM. I was doing afternoons after I got canned at WRUN. The actual last voice was Jim Pastrick on cart doing the sign off at sunset. I put the cart in the machine. The new owners (WOUR)came in the studio while the cart was on. They told me what a great job I was doing and told me how much they were looking forward to working with me. I went home and a couple hours later got a phone call from Chip Chapman (the P. D.) that the station was going to a beautiful music format and changing the calls to WUTQ and my services were no longer required. That was on Tuesday and I was back on the air again at WRUN/WKGW on Saturday. What a business. By the way, WBVM was in the old St. Lukes Hospital building and it still stands.
Well, I used to come to visit you at that bar you DJ'ed on Wednesday nights. I came with my co-workers at WRUN.
By the way I was the last live voice on WBVM. I was doing afternoons after I got canned at WRUN. The actual last voice was Jim Pastrick on cart doing the sign off at sunset. I put the cart in the machine. The new owners (WOUR)came in the studio while the cart was on. They told me what a great job I was doing and told me how much they were looking forward to working with me. I went home and a couple hours later got a phone call from Chip Chapman (the P. D.) that the station was going to a beautiful music format and changing the calls to WUTQ and my services were no longer required. That was on Tuesday and I was back on the air again at WRUN/WKGW on Saturday. What a business. By the way, WBVM was in the old St. Lukes Hospital building and it still stands.
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