WING Aircheck

[KFodor]

Jason - Listened to your station driving down I-675 on my way back to EVV from Springfield on New Years Eve.. enjoyed the music and hope you let me pull a shift next time I'm in town.

To respond, Great Trails as a company was a non entity. The success of their stations came from the efforts of the local manager. Steve Joos ran WIZE when I was a newbie and did a great job keeping a small market station tight and cooking. WING suffered from it's own success and hubris (remember Adult Radio? WING started using that liner after WGTZ signed on.) or it could have evolved the same way WKRC or others did.

When did Mike Joseph introduce Hot Hits around the country? That's one of the times that tight playlists hit (but I think that was later than 1968). Don't pay any attention to how many songs were on the printed chart. Many weeks, Q102 published a Top 30 or so, but we were only playing about 15 currents.

I never was in the studio at 717 E David, and for that I will never forgive you for rubbing it in.... . Have a great day..

Hey, Mark!

Thanks for listening! I appreciate the comments.

Oh boy, do I remember "Adult Radio 1410", what a turkey that was. But, AM stations of that particular time period were trying to distance themselves from the "kids" and tried to prove to advertisers that "we're really a 25-54 station". In the end, the wimpy music drove the kids away leaving the adults and lower shares. The kids, if they hadn't left for FM already, (like I did to some extent around, say, 1971 or so only to discover some station playing top 40 at 104.7 FM) moved 'cause that was the last straw.

It would have been interesting had WING re-invented itself like WKRC and, later WLW did.

My take on GTB, having worked there is along the lines that you speak. With all due respects to Alex Williams and Clark Davis (should they ever read this), I never had the impression they ever had a good "feel" for why WING worked when it did. WING was a "full service" station that was at it's best when it was allowed to be "full service". Randy Michaels understood this with both WKRC and WLW. GTB looked at "full service" eventually as a needless expense.

When they first went oldies in the mid to late 80's, WING was screwing it up big time. Trying to say "we're the station you grew up with", playing Sammy Davis, Junior and Dean Martin during the day. It was an automatic disconnect with the people who grew up with WING. WING was a top 40 station. Period. As an oldies station, it should have been rock and roll from the git-go. (It was just as silly when WING-FM used the same positioning, but playing Led Zeppelin and other "classic rock"...That wasn't WING ever.)

Then, a PD change was made and I was directed to rebuild the music library. Initially, I did it with my own record collection, but we eventually carted from CD's, once we got a trade. That was fun. I went to a CD store one day and spent about 2-grand, buying every legitimate "greatest hits" package I could. Too bad WING never took care of their record collection like WCOL in Columbus did. When I went there in 1990, WCOL still had darned near every 45 they ever played, complete with an index card catalog of every song. (Sorry, record collectors: that library got sold to a collectible store in the mid 90's).

What happened? Getting the music straightened out took the station from a 1.9 or so 12 plus to a 3.4.
At least WING had a detectable pulse then. But, the budget hardly increased. We wanted to increase the size of the news department and bring back news/sports, etc. in the evening, but that was a no-go by management. Too bad. It just might have worked. And a fatter news department in the morning would have helped Kirkie, too. He was at his best whenever he had people to bounce his material from. Nobody seemed to "get" that at GTB. (Or else, by then, the financial problems they were having were too formidable.)
Then, when your alma-mater, the former WDJX went oldies, instead of programming to "strengths", GTB hired a consultant who told us to play "10 great oldies in a row every hour after 9 am". We went straight in the dumper...and shortly went satellite. It was frustrating, to say the least, but, oh well...

I'm not disagreeing, but I remember seeing somewhere that some stations in major markets dabbled with tighter lists in the late 60's/early 70's. And, since I saw WING surveys back then with shorter lists, that's where I may have made the connection. So, you could very well be right on that account.

If I am recalling correctly, Mike Joseph and "Hot Hits" was an 80's thing. But, I could be off by a couple of years.

When I was a kid, I managed one time to get a copy of the record "sales report" that WING would send into record stores to help them tabulate their charts. It was interesting, to say the least. At least they did try and come up with a legitimate, local survey (which was, of course, only as good as the record store manager who was supposed to fill the thing out).

And, not to rub it in...(well, not much anyway), but looking out the big picture windows at the towers late at night at 717 East David was pretty cool.

I could tell a WING overnight story that happened to me that could have gotten me a death sentence from the FCC (or, at least Alex)...but I'm already way off topic here!

Wow, wow, and wow! Great stories from the past at 717 E. David Rd. Any stories from when you did 10P-2A on Z-93 in '90?
I wonder if they kept all of their music library that you put together for WING-AM. Also wonder if the entire Z-93 music library from that station is still there...Also the WING-FM music library.
The big window is pretty cool, at least looking out from the 'GTZ studio...I have actually been in 92.9's studios as both Z-93 and Fly 92.9. I was told that the 'GTZ studio was remodeled sometime in 2000 or so. Everything was reversed inside when they remodeled it...the entire console was shifted in the opposite direction than it was before. I was last in there in early October of last year. If you're in the air chair it's real easy for someone to sneak in the studio behind you and scare you to death if you're not careful. ;D
I also miss the reverb on 92.9 in the mic. I believe Will Bevis, the engineer at the time, was the genius behind that if i'm not mistaken.

Well, about Z, I can remember a few things.

Jeff Ballentine was a demanding PD. He wanted, and expected perfection and flawless execution of the format. And, yes, it would be fair to say he rubbed some people the wrong way back then, being the "perfectionist" that he was. But, I won't be too hard on him, despite a few of the things I know, but don't feel are right to say here. He put Z-93 to a 12 share, 12 plus...that's the "proof of the pudding", so to speak. I remember he would obsess over the music logs trying to get the right "flow" and "feel" of the music...sometimes he'd walk into the studio during the hour and make a change on the fly.

Though Jeff had an abrasive personality toward some on the staff, for some reason, he never was that way to me. I don't know, maybe it was because I was older than most of the rest of staff, or perhaps he saw something in me he thought he could bring out. I can remember he tried to change my delivery when I first came on board. But after a couple of weeks, he called me into his office and said, "Jason, I was wrong. Go back to doing your show the way you want to do it. I like it better that way."

I also remember when he called me into his office and told me they were changing format on 92X in Columbus to oldies and offered me the job doing middays there. Of course, I jumped at the change to go from market
48 (yes, that what Dayton was then) to market 34, and a daytime shift no less. Jeff's next words to me?
"Congratulations! Your position here is being eliminated!" (Good that I took the Columbus gig, huh?)

I remember playing "Ice Ice Baby" about every 45 minutes (or less) back then. Yikes! I can remember waking, occasionally, Dr. Dave up at home when he overslept. (Fortunately, he lived across the street from the station then.) Sometimes I'd be kept on shift all night to help facilitate a morning show remote. And, sometimes I'd do that on about 12-24 hour notice.

The WING music library, for the most part, went to Columbus with me and Rob Ellis, who first became WCOL-FM's PD as an oldies station. We were told "take everything you think you might need". We also took some of the tapes of WING jingles out of fear they'd be thrown away, as we had been given the impression anything we left was headed for the dumpster. For a while anyway, those tapes were in Rob's possession. I have some digitized copies of them here at the house and have saved them for posterity sake.

The Z and WING carted libraries...well...I'm not sure of their whereabouts. I know they were at the station for a long time, but I don't think they have them anymore. Or else, it's all been reused . I've been at the station in the last year, and I'm sure if that stuff was still there in boxes, they'd have been brought to my attention. Some people there have been kind enough to let me go through and hold on (temporarily) to some of the photo albums of pictures and newspaper clippings from the past for my work with the Dayton Broadcasters Hall Of Fame. I am very careful with this material, and I am thankful for their kindness and generosity in allowing me to go through the boxes of material they have. It has been very helpful on a number of levels.

Yes, the former Z studio has been turned 180 since the old days.

And, of the story I want to tell, someday, about my potential "death sentence" at WING? It has something to do with an album that was not properly marked and a live version of a song I wish to God I had completely previewed before I played it. Film at 11.

 

[alans613]

Wow is all I can say. Great stories of the good old days!
I did run a lot of tape back in 89-90 on Z in their 12-13 share days...so at least I still have that to remember the good old days of Z-93. Unfortunately, most of my tapes are of liners and music, and an occasional jock break. At least I have something, though...and YES, I do have a piece of personalized liner of "Jason Roberts...Z-93! Remember those? All the jocks had them during that time period. If I recall, the lineup back then(Summer of 90) was The Z Morning Zoo-Alan Kaye and Joe Momma, Middays with Ron Scott(Not Rockin' anymore...It seemed as though his Rockin' title was dropped when Ballentine came on board in the Fall of 89), Afternoons with Randy Ross, and nights with Kidd Kraddick(Not THAT Kidd Kraddick, but another guy with the same name)and later that summer Flyin' Brian, with Jason doing the second part of nights. Not sure but I think Janet From Another Planet was doing 2-5A back then...or at least she was briefly in 1990.
Z was EVERYWHERE in the Summer of 1990...I even remember JCPenney selling Z-93 T-Shirts for crying out loud. No wonder they were doing 13 shares. Man was that station firing on all cylinders back then or what?
Didn't Ballentine bring in Fast Art Simpson/Todd Hudson after you left in '90 to do 10P-2A? I know the shift was blown up in late 1991 when they moved Todd to afternoons to replace the departing Randy Ross, making the afternoon shift 3-7, and made the night shift 7P-Midnight with Wilbur Wright at the helm. Then Todd left in early 1992, being replaced by the legendary Sean Roberts, who did an awesome job. 8)

 

[KFodor]

Wow is all I can say. Great stories of the good old days!
I did run a lot of tape back in 89-90 on Z in their 12-13 share days...so at least I still have that to remember the good old days of Z-93. Unfortunately, most of my tapes are of liners and music, and an occasional jock break. At least I have something, though...and YES, I do have a piece of personalized liner of "Jason Roberts...Z-93! Remember those? All the jocks had them during that time period. If I recall, the lineup back then(Summer of 90) was The Z Morning Zoo-Alan Kaye and Joe Momma, Middays with Ron Scott(Not Rockin' anymore...It seemed as though his Rockin' title was dropped when Ballentine came on board in the Fall of 89), Afternoons with Randy Ross, and nights with Kidd Kraddick(Not THAT Kidd Kraddick, but another guy with the same name)and later that summer Flyin' Brian, with Jason doing the second part of nights. Not sure but I think Janet From Another Planet was doing 2-5A back then...or at least she was briefly in 1990.
Z was EVERYWHERE in the Summer of 1990...I even remember JCPenney selling Z-93 T-Shirts for crying out loud. No wonder they were doing 13 shares. Man was that station firing on all cylinders back then or what?
Didn't Ballentine bring in Fast Art Simpson/Todd Hudson after you left in '90 to do 10P-2A? I know the shift was blown up in late 1991 when they moved Todd to afternoons to replace the departing Randy Ross, making the afternoon shift 3-7, and made the night shift 7P-Midnight with Wilbur Wright at the helm. Then Todd left in early 1992, being replaced by the legendary Sean Roberts, who did an awesome job. 8)

Gees, Alans: I had forgotten about the jock liners. If you ever have the chance to MP3 that, shoot it to me, if you could. You're probably right about the succession of DJ's. By, '91 though, I was up in Columbus, so I wasn't paying a lot of attention to what was going on. But Dave and Alan, and later Alan and Joe were the big guns (Joe, by the way was one especially nice guy.) Likewise, Randy and Ron. Kidd, as you explained was not the "Kidd Kraddick" of syndicated fame. He was a young guy (much younger than me, probably in his early 20's or so) who did a good job.

I heard from Janet through a relative of hers not too long ago, and was pleasantly surprised to hear from her.

And Andrew ("Wilbur") Wright, who worked for me for a while at Star in Columbus, according to the last e-mail I got from him, was working for WBNS-FM (97.1).

And you're right. Z-93 was powerful when it launched, but by that period from around 1989-1992, it was everything we portrayed it as: Hot rockin', Flame-throwin'...and "Eaton/Dayton and Springfield alive!" It was just a shame to see how the combination over the years of increasingly poor managers and poor owners allowed the thing to come apart in the later years.

 

[hdtvnewbie]

And you're right. Z-93 was powerful when it launched, but by that period from around 1989-1992, it was everything we portrayed it as: Hot rockin', Flame-throwin'...and "Eaton/Dayton and Springfield alive!" It was just a shame to see how the combination over the years of increasingly poor managers and poor owners allowed the thing to come apart in the later years.

I agree. In fact, I have to say that Z-93 had a better sound to it (for my tastes, anyway) than the old 92-X did, and 92-X is one of my favorites of all time. It's a shame that both are gone.

 

[radio30]

I'm glad to see all this discussion about WING here on the board. I was born in Dayton in 1960 and lived there until 1977 at which time my father retired from Standard Register Company and we moved to Southern Kentucky (Big culture shock for a 17 year old) to where my Mother was from.

I grew up in a house with an older brother and sister who listened to WING and thus, I listened as well. I have lots of memories of the station. Going into the Elder Beerman Store in Trotwood and seeing those weekly surveys complete with the jocks pictures and program schedules on them. I remember listening early, very early in the morning just before Kirk came on. There was always a minister on for just a few minutes. Rev Harvey Hawn (if I remember the name correctly). Too young to think anything about it at the time but later in life thought that it was a bit odd to have a Rev. with a show on a top 40 station.This was usually followed by the announcement something to the effect of "this is WING in Dayton Ohio followed by the frequency, output power owned by Great Trails Broadcasting and such. Remember also Gene "by Golly" Berry, the Duke of Dayton those great jingles, the music,the mic reverb, the enthusiasm and so very much more. Too much to list here. After moving to Kentucky, I heard the station several times through the skip at night on my car radio but it never lasted for long. I got just enough to remind me of home. Guess that 5000 watt directional signal at night just could not cut through.

Things really have changed a lot (not for the better) since those days. It's a shame to see a station that once commanded a huge audience be reduced to being a sports talker and finishing near the end of the ratings. I know the advance of technology and and F.M. radio had much to do with the slide but it is still sad to see. I have never been in the facility at 717 East David but to this day would like to go in and see it because a whole lot of great radio came from there back in the day.

WING was, i suppose, responsible in my getting into radio in 1980. First day on the air after about a weeks training was on January 18th 1980. (Tomorrow in fact is that anniversary). Working part time while in college and going full time afterward. I remained in radio at various stations in Kentucky and Tennessee working in various formats from country to rock, a/c, gospel and finally talk until the last day of 2005 at which time I realized that the reality of making a good living in full time radio these days and in this climate was slim to none. I still love it and it is still "in the blood". I would not have missed it for the world and have lots of great memories of my own of being on the air.

These days, In addition to working the "day job" in the local school system here in Eastern Tn, I have a small home studio in which I still do e-mail based work. They send me an e-mail of copy, liners or voice tracks, I do them and mail them back.

Maybe one day I'll get back on the air part time somewhere in a small station but as I've said before, my radio ride for 25 years was quite enjoyable. Thanks for the great memories of WING and the posting of the aircheck. They just do not do radio like this anymore and the industry is sorrier for it.

Also thanks Jason for the Dayton Hall of Fame Site. Great Stuff.

Radio 30.