I didn't see this until Sunday, Jan. 14th. Too bad. I was listening to WABQ and WJMO beginning in 1969.
Ernest L. James was a DJ and, I think, in an executive position at WABQ. I also remember a young Lynn Tolliver on WABQ around 1970. There was this hit called "Funky Nassau" by The Beginning of The End.
It was one of those records where Part one was on the A-Side, and a continuation "Part 2" on the B-side.
Lynn played the wrong side one time and came on the air and said comically... "Funky Nassau, part 2. Surprised you. Surprised me too!" The I remember my least favorite DJ on WABQ. His name was "Baby Dave". He tried hard to be a Top 40-like screamer, but wasn't good at it (imho). I recall one time at the beginning of what was supposed to be his shift, Ernest L James came on, gave the title and artist of the song and then went on to say, "Baby Dave", you've got to get to work on time. Funny!
I even remember where I was. I was in my high school auditorium, holding my little transistor radio to my ear, as I waited for some auditorium program to start. Then in 1973, during a controversy that may have taken the station off-the-air for some days, I remember tuning in just to hear what or was not going on and I heard "No", a minor R&B tinged song by the Rock group Bulldog. I was sitting in the kitchen dialing around on the table top radio for that one. I was a member of the WABQ "Tiger Club" and have the card to prove it. Knowing that they were giving away LP's, I was listening almost all the time. They called my name just after 8:00am on a Saturday morning, and I called in. That's how I got the Candi Staton LP that I still have, plus 3 others, one of which I lost somewhere along the line.
Then, the WABQ and WJMO music experimentation was always interesting. 1540 did two things for a while.
Due to listener interest, they added Black Gospel music to the format. They seemed to have worked hard to find ones that would mix well with the R&B which was the formats base. One of my favorite Gospel tunes of all time is "I Knew A Man" by The Rance Allen Group on the Stax Records subsidiary "Gospel Truth Records". I've got the 45 and still love it. Then WABQ decided that the kinda funky "Amos Moses" by Country star Jerry Reed would work and they played it. Cool, I thought. They also occasionally played some local R&B music. I fell in love with the song "What About Me" by Ruby Carter and the Exceptional Three. It was on the local Way Out label. When I got downtown I bought a copy and enjoy it to this day. I have lots of WABQ memories, but the last one for here, as this post is getting too long, was their airing of The Osmonds. They played the first hit "One Bad Apple" a lot. Then they added "Double Lovin'", but suddenly,after a short time, dropped it and never played another Osmond Brothers song.
At WJMO, which didn't come in as well and not at all at night (except presumably when they forgot to power down or go directional) I remember them playing The Carpenters in morning drive and the mid morning shift for awhile! 1973 was the year for my all-time favorite song I only heard on WJMO. "We're On The Right Track" by Ultra High Frequency on Wand Records (A Scepter subsidiary). It has this great choo-choo train moving on the tracks sound that blends perfectly with the beat. Wasn't Rudy Love one of the Dj's in the early 1970s? Much later, in the mid 1980s, when they still had local programming and DJ's, I found it interesting that WJMO played "Human" by The Human League. They were a Techno-pop group from England. I always thought that they played that song because the message of the song is a very good one. Then in 1988, they were doing this super-tight format where they couldn't have had more then 20 current songs being played over and over and over, and very few, if any, oldies". That's where I heard THE BEST women's lib song ever to come out of the Rap industry. "Turn off The Lights" by The World Class Wreckin' Crew. It's all about a woman in complete control of her relationship life, and demanding true love and commitment from all these guys who are, one by one, trying to hook up with her. A compelling piece of music, delivered expertly. Mi'chelle is the lady singer.
