WEEP AS A TALKER

[Bob E. Nelson]

I'm trying to fill in some gaps of an era when Pittsburgh was arguably one of the best radio markets in the country. WTAE was going gangbusters as was KDKA and, of course, 13-Q. Even WEDO was trying to make a go of it in a hotly competitive arena, although hampered by its daytime-only status.

The station of interest for this topic is WEEP. There was a span of time in the mid-70's when they flipped from country to talk on both the AM and FM if my recall is correct. I was out of the market by then, but it seemed they did very well for a book or two, catapulted toward a top five finish by the dismissal of Bob Prince from the Pirates broadcasts, a subject I heard discussed a lot on that incarnation of WEEP.

What do you remember during that short period when WEEP did talk? Who were the on air personalities and the PD? Was it really 24/7 on the FM or were there some periods of country still airing? What filled the weekends?

And when the talk era was over at WEEP, did the FM immediately become Daisy (WDSY) at that time?

Any other recollections would be helpful as I try to piece together a largely forgotten part of Pittsburgh radio history.

 

[Parttimer]

If I recall correctly, Jack Wheeler was part of the airstaff.

 

[Bob E. Nelson]

If I recall correctly, Jack Wheeler was part of the airstaff.

I only came back for an occasional visit but it seems that Roger Willoughby Ray, who was the GM during the prior years with the country format, also did a talk shift.

The country jocks from the early 70's were Don Evans (who also hosted the "Italian Hour" on the weekend) and Scott Porter, who came from WKBN. I think Kenny Lee (ex of WJPA) and now with RCS had already moved to WDVE as Ken Spector around that time. I don't remember if any of them stuck around during the brief span when 1080/107.9 was doing talk.

If Ed Salamon and Rick Starr drop by for a visit to this board, I'd bet a lot of the gaps can get filled in about this oft-forgotten part of what was a really good market from one end of the dial to the other.

 

[Boss Radio]

Ed would know. That was too early for Rick Starr.

Jack Wheeler and Mike Levine had both been dumped by KDKA and were the AM drive and PM drive hosts for WEEP talk shows. GM Roger Willoughby-Ray was in middays. The other shifts were filled by people who had been WEEP DJs, including Larry Clark and Larry Ford (Fiander). Some of the weekenders/part-timers were David Jay and Buddy Stevenson. I believe Stevenson was involved in the advertising business in town. They switched the talk to FM after the AM signed off. Nellie King did a Saturday morning sports show. They also had Butch Luick doing a Saturday show. Luick had gained a certain measure of fame as the funny caller "Lonesome George" on Wheeler's old KDKA show. Wheeler's producer, Bill Brunetti, may also have done a weekend show.

It did indeed get a big boost from the Prince firing, which was a very hot topic in October-November of 1975. I believe WEEP dropped talk less than a year later.

 

[cingram]

I can't add too much to this thread, but I'm sure WEEP was back to Country by 1977, as I believe that
was the year a fire temporarily displaced their studios in the Fulton Building. WDSY didn't come along
until 1980 or 1981.

C.

 

[Pratte4Life]

I've asked this before, but to clarify-

When did WEEP move out of the Sherwyn Hotel (now Lawrence Hall at Point Park), and was their studio in the basement (which was, last I knew, used as a fitness center)?

 

[Bob E. Nelson]

When did WEEP move out of the Sherwyn Hotel (now Lawrence Hall at Point Park), and was their studio in the basement (which was, last I knew, used as a fitness center)?

The Broadcasting Yearbook still showed them at 210 Wood Street in the 1968 edition. The address changed to the 107 6th Street Location (Fulton Building) the next year, 1969.

 

[Pratte4Life]

Makes sense. I think that's when Point Park acquired the building.

 

[california]

Speaking of the WEEP talk years, was Joe Goehring, "NO I DON'T AND I DOUBT IF YOU DO," a part of that illustrious airstaff?

 

[Bob E. Nelson]

Makes sense. I think that's when Point Park acquired the building.

That was about the same timespan that WWSW moved out of the Penthouse of the Sherwyn and into Allegheny Center.

In my teens, I used to take swimming lessons at the YMCA adjacent to the Sherwyn Hotel. I well remember WWSW being there and visited with Bill Hinds, George Boes and some of the other staff to learn more about radio. Yet, I don't even recall WEEP being there. If they had any signage, it was very low profile and for someone as eager to explore radio stations back then, WEEP being in such close proximity didn't even register with me. I do remember a neon sign for WPIT in the same general vicinity, a block away on Smithfield Street. I believe their sign stayed on the building for some time even after they moved to the Pick-Roosevelt.

Yes, there was a time when quite a few stations were within easy walking distance in the Golden Triangle.

 

[Bob E. Nelson]

Speaking of the WEEP talk years, was Joe Goehring, "NO I DON'T AND I DOUBT IF YOU DO," a part of that illustrious airstaff?

I am absolutely convulsed in laughter! Thank you Grandfather Clock (inside joke). By the way, I communicated with our friend in the flashcube and we're getting all set for a confab when the Summer Solstice sets in. So...dig out those cassettes of Ira, Merle, Joe and Buck!

 

[Pratte4Life]

I don't have a picture and WEEP would have been there far before I was even born, but there was signage of WEEP.

I know this because the only reason I know WEEP was there (1080 on your dial!) was from an old photograph they have in the Point Park archives from the Sherwyn Hotel days.

There was WEEP signage on the permanent awning (for lack of a better term) over the entrance of the hotel, which would now be the entrance to Lawrence Hall on Wood Street. This would have been located where the walkway over Wood Street now is.

 

[hypwr]

WEEP actually moved to the Fulton Building in 1967. Fred Sand (CE of WLOA) and I wired up the new studios and switched over the xmtr audio and remote control lines after sign-off one night. J. Albert Dame was the GM. I remember Don Evans and Round Bob Williams (Bob Logue) as two of the DJs.

 

[cingram]

I do remember a neon sign for WPIT in the same general vicinity, a block away on Smithfield Street. I believe their sign stayed on the building for some time even after they moved to the Pick-Roosevelt.

Indeed it did. That sign was still standing in the late 1970s when I attended Point Park College. My
bus stop was across the street.

C.

 

[Bob E. Nelson]

To fill in some of the final missing pieces of the WEEP talk era, here are just a few more questions:

1). Of course, WJAS had flipped a few years earlier to 13-Q and thus the fulltime talk format was gone from the market creating a void for WEEP to fill. So, was WEEP essentially without competition in the mid-70's?

2). Aside from a few suburban stations (Bob Williams "Beeline" on WASP and maybe Davey Tyson on WHJB), were there any stations sprinkling in a talk show during the day?

3). Had John Cigna started doing the 6-9 PM slot on KDKA by the time WEEP gone talk?

 

[Parttimer]

Not sure about the timing on KD, but somewhere before Cigna started, didn't Bill Steinbach do a nighttime talk show called "Contact"? (Or did it run before Party Line?)

Also pre- Roy Fox, Jim Horn did a brief stint with an evening talk show where he basically hung up on everyone. That didn't last too long (believe me, it couldn't), and then he moved to afternoons playing music.

 

[Boss Radio]

Not sure about the timing on KD, but somewhere before Cigna started, didn't Bill Steinbach do a nighttime talk show called "Contact"? (Or did it run before Party Line?)

Also pre- Roy Fox, Jim Horn did a brief stint with an evening talk show where he basically hung up on everyone. That didn't last too long (believe me, it couldn't), and then he moved to afternoons playing music.

Mike Levine left for NY in 1967, and Steinbach took over the evening talk show. When Levine came back to Pittsburgh, Steinbach went back to news. It was called "Contact," which was a name Westinghouse gave its talk shows in those days, both on radio and TV.

Jim Horne did a spoof of talk shows that ran for a brief time on Saturdays. Levine's show was "Open Mike," so Horne called his show "Open Mouth." It was a satire, never intended to be a serious talk show. Horne never gave up the music show. The PD at that time, Neil McIntyre, liked to give Horne and Terry McGovern opportunities to stretch out and do other things.

 

[Boss Radio]

To fill in some of the final missing pieces of the WEEP talk era, here are just a few more questions:

1). Of course, WJAS had flipped a few years earlier to 13-Q and thus the fulltime talk format was gone from the market creating a void for WEEP to fill. So, was WEEP essentially without competition in the mid-70's?

2). Aside from a few suburban stations (Bob Williams "Beeline" on WASP and maybe Davey Tyson on WHJB), were there any stations sprinkling in a talk show during the day?

3). Had John Cigna started doing the 6-9 PM slot on KDKA by the time WEEP gone talk?

1. Nobody else was full-time talk then. KDKA was talk from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

3. Cigna did 9-midnight on KDKA. Roy Fox replaced Mike Levine in 6-9 p.m. Cigna started at KDKA in 1973, so he was in place when WEEP switched to talk.

 

[Parttimer]

Not sure about the timing on KD, but somewhere before Cigna started, didn't Bill Steinbach do a nighttime talk show called "Contact"? (Or did it run before Party Line?)

Also pre- Roy Fox, Jim Horn did a brief stint with an evening talk show where he basically hung up on everyone. That didn't last too long (believe me, it couldn't), and then he moved to afternoons playing music.

Mike Levine left for NY in 1967, and Steinbach took over the evening talk show. When Levine came back to Pittsburgh, Steinbach went back to news. It was called "Contact," which was a name Westinghouse gave its talk shows in those days, both on radio and TV.

Jim Horne did a spoof of talk shows that ran for a brief time on Saturdays. Levine's show was "Open Mike," so Horne called his show "Open Mouth." It was a satire, never intended to be a serious talk show. Horne never gave up the music show. The PD at that time, Neil McIntyre, liked to give Horne and Terry McGovern opportunities to stretch out and do other things.

Thanks for clearing that up... I was 9 years old in '67...

 

[filenz]

When did WEEP move out of the Sherwyn Hotel (now Lawrence Hall at Point Park), and was their studio in the basement (which was, last I knew, used as a fitness center)?

The Broadcasting Yearbook still showed them at 210 Wood Street in the 1968 edition. The address changed to the 107 6th Street Location (Fulton Building) the next year, 1969.

When they moved into the Sherwyn Hotel, they were at street level with WEEP in big letters. The one problem with that location was that when a streetcar would pass by, it would cause some records they were playing to skip. so the engineer had puchased Sure Dynetic tone arms (they were thin with a button that would lift up the cartridge head) very low mass but it worked.