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WLVL 1340 History

T

thebeach33445

Hey Guys:

Would anybody know when in 1985 WLVL went to Oldies as "Great Golden Oldies"?

I see that in 1985 they changed PD's from Henry P. Nevins to Bob (Robert) Rooney.

Thanks

T.J.
 
Was that when Hank Nevins went to KB?
 
I think Hank Nevins was at KB before that.

He was at WBEN in the in the late 1980's into the 1990's as program director and did some on air work. For a while he had a weekend music show he co-hosted J.R. Reid. It kind of floated around the schedule as I recall - I think that was the early 1990's, maybe 1990, 1991. I think it was oldies - 1950's oriented. They also had the big band show hosted by Ralph Irene airing on the weekends in those years.
 
Out of curiosity I checked this station for a few days. With the exception of the morning show which is one of the few local and live shows, WLVL sounds like a mash-up of uninteresting third rate syndicated shows and local features like tradio which is live in the morning and re-played in the afternoon. I guess in Lockport it's popular with old people who never heard of Craig's List or the interweb to sell, trade or buy somebody's abused lawn mowers and dining room sets. WBEN, WGR, WBFO and the Canadian stations can be heard in Niagara county and have far better programming.
 
Hello. I worked for a (very) short time at WLVL in (as best I can recall) 1986+/- 1 yr. Greene owned the place (who had just bought a Datsun/Nissan 280Z). Bill Masters did mornings. News was done by Tom (last name I don't recall... started with a "P", I think) and a woman who was (at the time, at least) married to someone in Buffalo radio. There was a woman selling air-time named "Karen." That's all I can remember. There were two other (young) on-air people that I thought had big radio potential.

One was a guy that used the on-air name of "Dave Quinn" ("Quinn" said to be a tip-of-the-hat to VJ Martha Quinn). I don't know his real last name. Tall thin guy, IIRC. And I remember that he was somehow associated (campaign volunteer, maybe?) with politician Robin Schimminger.

The other was a young woman who was a recent college graduate (Fredonia, maybe?) that did either overnights and/or weekends. No recollection of a name. But I think she lived with her family in Snyder off Main Street near Amherst High School. (Funny the odd bits of info that stick with you!)

Does anyone recall who these people are/were... and/or where they may have landed in radio (if at all)??
 
Tom Prohaska (sic?) was the news guy for several years. For quite a long time the morning show was "Good Neighbor Dave" - Dave Marmon as I recall was his full name. Was Bill Masters the same one that worked at WBEN? Good Neighbor Dave would have come later in the '80's/early 90's. Was "Dave Quinn" Tom Langmyer by any chance? He worked at WBEN, WGR and ended up as GM of KMOX and later WGN. He is now a big wig at Scripps and WTMJ. If that was him you were right that he had potential.

Not much chance anymore for someone to use WLVL to break into the business. Quite a few did in the past. The number of locally owned businesses in the Lockport area has probably decreased over time making it harder to sell local advertising so local programs have gone by the wayside. Dick Greene has owned the station forever now so I'd assume he owns it free and clear which probably helps.

I just remember back in the day the morning talk show with everyone calling in all PO'ed about whatever small town issues were bothering them. Also remember Mike Melody who did music shows on the weekends until they went all syndie talk. Now that they have an FM translator wonder if they would try to do something like that again.
 
spt87 said:
Tom Prohaska (sic?) was the news guy for several years. For quite a long time the morning show was "Good Neighbor Dave" - Dave Marmon as I recall was his full name. Was Bill Masters the same one that worked at WBEN? Good Neighbor Dave would have come later in the '80's/early 90's. Was "Dave Quinn" Tom Langmyer by any chance? He worked at WBEN, WGR and ended up as GM of KMOX and later WGN. He is now a big wig at Scripps and WTMJ. If that was him you were right that he had potential.

Not much chance anymore for someone to use WLVL to break into the business. Quite a few did in the past. The number of locally owned businesses in the Lockport area has probably decreased over time making it harder to sell local advertising so local programs have gone by the wayside. Dick Greene has owned the station forever now so I'd assume he owns it free and clear which probably helps.

I just remember back in the day the morning talk show with everyone calling in all PO'ed about whatever small town issues were bothering them. Also remember Mike Melody who did music shows on the weekends until they went all syndie talk. Now that they have an FM translator wonder if they would try to do something like that again.
Click to expand...

Thanks, spt87! I googled Langmyer. Fairly sure he was the "Dave Quinn" guy. Kinda looks like him... y'know, age adjusted & stuff. lol Wow! He certainly did well for himself. Very cool. Still stumped on the overnight/news girl. I'll bet she did pretty well, too. Yes, Prohaska was the news guy at the time.

And, yes, it was the same Bill Masters that had been on so-called bigger stations years before. Apparently, WLVL was his "getting-back-in-the-business" gig after some personal issues. Seems to me that I heard years ago that he passed away.

WLVL was - for me - quite a trip. As I commented, I worked there for no more than a few weeks and I jumped ship on the job, the station, and the industry. Not for me.

Oh, wait, just remembered there had been a sales guy there... that was supposed to be God's gift to radio sales people everywhere. Hahah. Vito(?) something - started with a "B", i think. Had some (prior?) association with Greene, as I recall... maybe WBEN?

Wow. Haven't thought of that episode in years.
 
four4rock said:
One was a guy that used the on-air name of "Dave Quinn" ("Quinn" said to be a tip-of-the-hat to VJ Martha Quinn). I don't know his real last name. Tall thin guy, IIRC. And I remember that he was somehow associated (campaign volunteer, maybe?) with politician Robin Schimminger.
Click to expand...

Tom Langmyer was never tall and thin as far as I know. But there was a tall, thin young guy named Dave Quinn from the area that ended up getting a job as production director at a big country station in Youngstown, Ohio in the late 80s.
 
I did mornings there in 1965 when it was WUSJ and owned by the Union Sun and Journal. The news director was Clip Smith. Evenings were J.R Reid and the PD was John Casciani who went on to sales at WBEN and later bought a number of stations. Many people got their start in Lockport including Tom Jolls, John Murphy and Dave Thomas. It was a different world back then.
 
Looking over this old thread and wondering if the Bill Masters mentioned here and WBEN was the same one that was at WROC 1280 Rochester in September 1976? I was there to visit relatives in the area and stayed for a disastrous weekend audition at WROC/WPXY (Beautiful 98). The Bill I met briefly was a real old veteran, with as they say great pipes. Made me sound like a 5th grader! The PD at WROC was Jim Connors also a great guy and the inspiration for Harry Chapin's "W-O-L-D" a fact I learned much later on.

WROC was a mess at the time. They had gone through a very rough AFTRA strike that summer and having only worked in Florida I had no idea about unions. I wanted to move back North closer to family....After the experience I can honestly say they didn't want me and I didn't want them! Turns out they went all news as WPXN soon after anyway.

I know that Jim Connors became the PD of an FM in Cape Cod, we stayed in touch for awhile, I know he also died up there a couple years later. Whatever happened to Bill Masters?
 
I probably shouldn't type this - but here I go ::: This post and the numerous replies were delightful to read.
The difference between this topic and others ? the content, nope. The Interesting discussion of the topic... nada.

C'mon, noBUDDY knows ?! LOL - no drama leads to less trauma.
 
Interesting factoid, 1340 has been "WLVL" for more years than it was "WUSJ." It's been owned and operated by Culver Communications longer than it was owned by the Lockport Union Sun and Journal ("USJ") and Hall Communications combined. The station first signed-on as an FM on 99.3, a year later obtaining the 1340 frequency that was abandoned in Buffalo when WEBR moved from 1340 to 970. It let the FM go dark a few years later, but twice had a chance to reclaim the FM license in the mid-late 50s and early 60s, but passed. It now has a 250 watt FM translator on 105.3. WLVL-WUSJ has a rich history as the springboard for so many men and women who began their careers in Lockport and moved on the Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Atlanta and Pittsburgh. Pages here could be written by and about those careers. John Murphy, Clip Smith, Jack Horohoe, Tom Joles, Dick Kelsey, Steve Mitchell, Bob Taylor (of Taylor & Moore), Tom Donahue and countless others.
 
If you'd REALLY like to go back a long time, a WUSJ alumnus who made it quite big was John Szczepanik who was known on WUSJ as Jack Kelly. He left WUSJ in July of 1958 to do the all night program on WKBW which had just switched to Top 30 rock. John remained at KB for about a year and then joined the old WBNY-1400 where he remained Jack Kelly. In the mid 1960s he became the second man to be known as Sean Grabowski on WYSL. For awhile he was on WMMJ in Lancaster. At some point he moved to Milwaukee and I believe he died there. He was a very talented radio pro with an excellent "one on one" approach to radio.
 
Tall Thin One said:
Tom Langmyer was never tall and thin as far as I know. But there was a tall, thin young guy named Dave Quinn from the area that ended up getting a job as production director at a big country station in Youngstown, Ohio in the late 80s.
Click to expand...

There is an old picture somewhere of him working at WBEN and he was indeed thin - think he was a teen at the time. As for tall hard to tell from the picture but he certainly is not short.
 
spt87 said:
There is an old picture somewhere of him working at WBEN and he was indeed thin - think he was a teen at the time. As for tall hard to tell from the picture but he certainly is not short.
Click to expand...

Tom is a little below average height. He would not qualify as "tall".
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