-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
WEEX
- Thread starter Bobby5
- Start date
Maybe just to fill in some blanks....
WEEX was first an FM-only station. Then the WHOL frequency thing took place and the AM/FM simulcast days were born, with the FM on 99.9 at 13KW. The AM signal was directional (mostly north/south).
One day, while I worked there in about 1971 or so... We made the switch on the FM to a new, 50KW transmitter, in stereo. At about the same time, the simulcast stopped, as I recall, and the Beautiful Music 99.9 - Stereo FM was born. The switch took place at night, and I think was successful after a false start or two. Engineer at the time was Craig Kingcaid (aka "Buzzy"), now deceased.
I worked at WEEX during the first Community Spirit Day. Mickey Hagerty wsa PD at the time. The city of Easton couldn't come up with the money for fireworks for July 4, so the station held a telethon to raise money, and the first Community Spirit Day was born at Hackett Park. It was a huge success, with Zambelli Fireworks providing the BIG bangs including some mortars which at the time were enormous (24" of ground-thumping BOOM!).
And yes, there was a reunion at WEEX/99.9FM back on 9/9/1999 (get it?). I was there, like in the old days, reading news on Sunday Morning while Mickey played the hits. We reminisced, visited with old friends on the air both live in studio and on the phone. Long ago, I had a tape of the event, but no longer. I wish I did now.
Mickey has died, Joey too. time passes. Still, many of us remember our days very fondly, when Tom Tyler reminded us every hour that we were "On TOP of The Rock (from Easton!).
Bob
WEEX was first an FM-only station. Then the WHOL frequency thing took place and the AM/FM simulcast days were born, with the FM on 99.9 at 13KW. The AM signal was directional (mostly north/south).
One day, while I worked there in about 1971 or so... We made the switch on the FM to a new, 50KW transmitter, in stereo. At about the same time, the simulcast stopped, as I recall, and the Beautiful Music 99.9 - Stereo FM was born. The switch took place at night, and I think was successful after a false start or two. Engineer at the time was Craig Kingcaid (aka "Buzzy"), now deceased.
I worked at WEEX during the first Community Spirit Day. Mickey Hagerty wsa PD at the time. The city of Easton couldn't come up with the money for fireworks for July 4, so the station held a telethon to raise money, and the first Community Spirit Day was born at Hackett Park. It was a huge success, with Zambelli Fireworks providing the BIG bangs including some mortars which at the time were enormous (24" of ground-thumping BOOM!).
And yes, there was a reunion at WEEX/99.9FM back on 9/9/1999 (get it?). I was there, like in the old days, reading news on Sunday Morning while Mickey played the hits. We reminisced, visited with old friends on the air both live in studio and on the phone. Long ago, I had a tape of the event, but no longer. I wish I did now.
Mickey has died, Joey too. time passes. Still, many of us remember our days very fondly, when Tom Tyler reminded us every hour that we were "On TOP of The Rock (from Easton!).
Bob
how sad that the top of the rock was id'd as easton and years later the q100 legal had the gm mumble wqqq easton and after that the jingle singers sang "lehigh valley" i don't know why there was a stigma of being an easton station. hell the lehigh valley encompasses allentown bethlehem and easton or as the waeb call letters stood for allentown easton bethlehem. but the thing that always cracked me up was the easton folks calling bethlehem....beth lee um. although...i have heard some south side bethlehemites and a former bethlehem mayor call the town name that too.
Did WEEX call itself the Big X all throughout or did they change that some time in the 70's before they flipped?
I distinctly remember a commercial where Mickey was saying that WEEX had a better brighter sound on AM than other Lehigh Valley stations. I remember thinking that was true, but as we all know they had a tough time with a good AM signal in Allentown. If I remember correctly, a little after that it was all over for WEEX.
I also remember a DJ when I was a kid, Jim Lloyd.
I distinctly remember a commercial where Mickey was saying that WEEX had a better brighter sound on AM than other Lehigh Valley stations. I remember thinking that was true, but as we all know they had a tough time with a good AM signal in Allentown. If I remember correctly, a little after that it was all over for WEEX.
I also remember a DJ when I was a kid, Jim Lloyd.
I started at WEEX in 1971, and we were known as The Big X at that time. As far as I know, we used "Big X" through the decade, sort of interchangeably with the regular calls.
There was a short period of time when we tried to use "Radio 123". It didn't last, as I recall.
You might remember that during this period, WKAP began to use "Super K" as an alternative to the calls. When I went to work at WAEB, and then to the FM at WXKW, we jokingly called the FM "The Big X-Super K"!
WEEX's signal was oriented north and south (mostly north). The nighttime signal was pretty weak, and I had a hard time listening to the station at night, driving in to work from Bethlehem. The simulcast FM was 13KW, and that was the signal that covered more of the valley. When we changed from 13KW to 50KW, we also stopped the simulcast. Had we kept the format alive with the 50KW signal, my opinion is we'd have kicked some major butt. Coulda/woulda/shoulda.
I just thought of the weekend ID.... "On top of the rock, on a MILLION-dollar weekend! (from Easton)! tommy Tyler, you were the best!
There was a short period of time when we tried to use "Radio 123". It didn't last, as I recall.
You might remember that during this period, WKAP began to use "Super K" as an alternative to the calls. When I went to work at WAEB, and then to the FM at WXKW, we jokingly called the FM "The Big X-Super K"!
WEEX's signal was oriented north and south (mostly north). The nighttime signal was pretty weak, and I had a hard time listening to the station at night, driving in to work from Bethlehem. The simulcast FM was 13KW, and that was the signal that covered more of the valley. When we changed from 13KW to 50KW, we also stopped the simulcast. Had we kept the format alive with the 50KW signal, my opinion is we'd have kicked some major butt. Coulda/woulda/shoulda.
I just thought of the weekend ID.... "On top of the rock, on a MILLION-dollar weekend! (from Easton)! tommy Tyler, you were the best!
If this make sense, if WEEX would have continued on 99.9 after the change on 50,000 watts, it is possible that 99.9 would be today's B104.
Ah, you can't look back. Anyway, with what they play on B104 today, I wouldn't listen now!
In a way, 99.9 is like WEEX anyway. They are playing "oldies", just not middle 60's and early 70's oldies.
I often wonder why someone calls songs oldies from the 60's and classic from the 70's and 80's. I guess the answer is everything has to have a label.
If 99.9 would open up its playlist a little and try to take the best of what WEEX had and modernize things, they would be number one. "From on top of the rock in Easton, 99.9........."
After all, the calls are WODE. Isn't that a play on the word oldies?
Ah, you can't look back. Anyway, with what they play on B104 today, I wouldn't listen now!
In a way, 99.9 is like WEEX anyway. They are playing "oldies", just not middle 60's and early 70's oldies.
I often wonder why someone calls songs oldies from the 60's and classic from the 70's and 80's. I guess the answer is everything has to have a label.
If 99.9 would open up its playlist a little and try to take the best of what WEEX had and modernize things, they would be number one. "From on top of the rock in Easton, 99.9........."
After all, the calls are WODE. Isn't that a play on the word oldies?
Can't help you on the 'oldies' v. 'classic' thing. Too widely open to interpretation.
They keep the 'ODE calls mostly because anything based on "Hawk" (their current moniker) isn't available.
B104 was bad, and they've only gotten worse by co-opting their midday weekdays to that lame "Seacrest" pseudo-format. People who want the real, live Seacrest go listen online anyway.
If Big John Andrews is still around, he IS doing traffic/news updates on Hawk and ESPN-AM 1230/1320.
They keep the 'ODE calls mostly because anything based on "Hawk" (their current moniker) isn't available.
B104 was bad, and they've only gotten worse by co-opting their midday weekdays to that lame "Seacrest" pseudo-format. People who want the real, live Seacrest go listen online anyway.
If Big John Andrews is still around, he IS doing traffic/news updates on Hawk and ESPN-AM 1230/1320.
D
djgirl
Guest
Bob Farro said:
I was doing a search for "Joey Mitchell" and found one in Sacremento, but he said he was not the same guy but there was a Joey in Pittsburgh. I'm sorry to hear that he passed away from cancer a few years ago. I believe he might be a guy my father worked with in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area aroun 1972-ish at WBAX. Could you confirm? I have an old photo of him, in fact. Thank you.
Re: WEEX AND JOEY MITCHELL FROM WBAX
I need to jump in with a clarification about the Joey Mitchell from WBAX; I knew both Joey Mitchells, but the guy from WBAX is named Tom Latimer. Tom replaced me as AM Drive at WAMS in Wilmington, when I went to WCAU-FM in Philly; a year later, I came back from WCAU-FM and I replaced him. He moves onto WIFI-FM in Philadelphia doing mornings under Bob Hamilton, then into sales at WIFI, then onto General Cinema's station in Chicago, WEFM, then ultimatley spending most of his career in sales management in the Salibury-Ocean City radio market. Tom used to call himself "Morning Mitchell".
I need to jump in with a clarification about the Joey Mitchell from WBAX; I knew both Joey Mitchells, but the guy from WBAX is named Tom Latimer. Tom replaced me as AM Drive at WAMS in Wilmington, when I went to WCAU-FM in Philly; a year later, I came back from WCAU-FM and I replaced him. He moves onto WIFI-FM in Philadelphia doing mornings under Bob Hamilton, then into sales at WIFI, then onto General Cinema's station in Chicago, WEFM, then ultimatley spending most of his career in sales management in the Salibury-Ocean City radio market. Tom used to call himself "Morning Mitchell".
D
djgirl
Guest
I'm still confused. Is the Joey Mitchell I'm asking about actually Jay Snyder who is now deceased? Or Tom Latimer?? If I could post a photo here I would so you could possibly identify him.
D
djgirl
Guest
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss291/MomOfFiveKids/SHERYL/Daddy/wbaxgold-diggersprogram-1.jpg
This is the guy I knew, or that my dad knew in 1972 at WBAX.
This is the guy I knew, or that my dad knew in 1972 at WBAX.
D
djgirl
Guest
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss291/MomOfFiveKids/SHERYL/Daddy/wbaxgold-diggersprogram.jpg
This was the line-up @ WBAX in 1972-1973. Their names are noted in the file above. My father is Sam Liguori, who worked with Jim Ward for years before Jim died. First @ WPTS (Pittston), then WBAX (WB, then Edwardsville) and then WARD when Jim bought WPTS. My father has been semi retired and was working weekends @ WARM the past few years doing a Country-Western show by the moniker "Maverick" and doing a Sunday Polka show. Recently, he decided to fully retire at age 71. Citidel can't get their act together where WARM is concerned.
This was the line-up @ WBAX in 1972-1973. Their names are noted in the file above. My father is Sam Liguori, who worked with Jim Ward for years before Jim died. First @ WPTS (Pittston), then WBAX (WB, then Edwardsville) and then WARD when Jim bought WPTS. My father has been semi retired and was working weekends @ WARM the past few years doing a Country-Western show by the moniker "Maverick" and doing a Sunday Polka show. Recently, he decided to fully retire at age 71. Citidel can't get their act together where WARM is concerned.
djgirl...
That pic does look like the WEEX Joey Mitchell, albeit when he was younger than when I knew him. I am pretty sure Jay Snyder did work at WBAX, but it's been a long long time.
Bobby... I went to Moravian... you may be thinking of Ed Fiedler who worked at WEEX when I was there, and went to Lehigh.
That pic does look like the WEEX Joey Mitchell, albeit when he was younger than when I knew him. I am pretty sure Jay Snyder did work at WBAX, but it's been a long long time.
Bobby... I went to Moravian... you may be thinking of Ed Fiedler who worked at WEEX when I was there, and went to Lehigh.
Wish I could say I was tall and thin! I had brown hair, 6' tall... just kind of average. Went to moravian. Worked with Walt Mitchell, John Price, Mark "Spleen" Dean, Lori Gerasim, and then Jane Farmer, Steve Wilson, Jake Lewin, Matt Kerr. started at the newsroom in the Express building on 4th st.... then moved up to the top of the hill. Sounded better up there since we didn't have to do the news over phone lines. Anything ringing a bell?
Bob
Bob
D
djgirl
Guest
THANK YOU!!!!
Gentlemen, I would like to say you have my respect and adoration for the hard work and many jobs you've held in your broadcast years. I saw my Dad work strange hours, split shifts, weekends, missing school events and family dinners and dedicated his life to the dying art of LIVE radio. If I wanted to spend time with my father, I tagged along to his remotes at businesses and events. I also think it's a thankless job, not by your families or by your listeners, but by the owners of the stations. I realized this when I got bigger bonuses at my job than my father got after 30-40 years of service at his. ???
For my dad, his listeners were like family. They've followed him for years and loved his shows and I believe their loyalty and friendship was HIS biggest reward. Like my father, you must stick with it because of your love of radio and you love what you do. As I've mentioned somewhere before on this forum, I grew up with radio the way it used to be...and I miss it.
No matter who we are, and what we do, we hear plenty of negative feedback about what we arent' doing, or how we could have done it better, but we rarely hear "good job" or "you're making a difference" or a simple "thank you". So, I just wanted to thank you for your dedication to radio. It does matter.
Gentlemen, I would like to say you have my respect and adoration for the hard work and many jobs you've held in your broadcast years. I saw my Dad work strange hours, split shifts, weekends, missing school events and family dinners and dedicated his life to the dying art of LIVE radio. If I wanted to spend time with my father, I tagged along to his remotes at businesses and events. I also think it's a thankless job, not by your families or by your listeners, but by the owners of the stations. I realized this when I got bigger bonuses at my job than my father got after 30-40 years of service at his. ???
For my dad, his listeners were like family. They've followed him for years and loved his shows and I believe their loyalty and friendship was HIS biggest reward. Like my father, you must stick with it because of your love of radio and you love what you do. As I've mentioned somewhere before on this forum, I grew up with radio the way it used to be...and I miss it.
No matter who we are, and what we do, we hear plenty of negative feedback about what we arent' doing, or how we could have done it better, but we rarely hear "good job" or "you're making a difference" or a simple "thank you". So, I just wanted to thank you for your dedication to radio. It does matter.
- Status