I'll kinda reply to this backwards:
The part-timers at WMAL were, sometimes, as famous or moreso than the full-time staff. John LYON, Paul Anthony, Mac McGarry, Mike Collins, Bill Clark and Karen Henderson. Bob Hughes (who did afternoons at WPIK/WXRA for a long time) also worked a few part-time shifts; so did WMAL Promotions Director Rick Fowler. I'm sure I've left out a couple. To this day; I believe Mac McGarry may have been the best MOR personality the market ever had, regardless of station.
My association with WMAL goes back to 1958. I was three when my parents and I moved here from Ohio. My dad, Jim Hall, did afternoons at WMAL for about 18 months. Frank Harden and Jack Weaver were not yet together; both were staff announcers. Frank had been at WMAL since 1947; Jack since 1942. They were not a duo until 1960. There was a book published in the mid-70s called "On The Radio;" their "autobiography" of sorts. It hasn't been in print for years, but I read my copy cover-to-cover many times before it got lost in a move.
Middays were covered by not just Tom Gauger, but Johnny Wilcox and Jim Evans, who may have been the only WMAL personality of that era fired and rehired. Evans, at his best, did the quintessential MOR midday show...but at times said things on-air that ruffled many feathers. At the time; DC was still the sleepy town showing the same movies all summer and all the drugstores still had luncheonettes. Metro was still on someone's drawing board and streetcars still took people to work. Johnny Wilcox also did afternoons before Bill Trumble and ended up the booth voice of "Face The Nation" for years. But I always thought Tom had the most talent of the three.
Bill Trumble did afternoons for most of the heyday; of course, later paired with Chris Core, who, originally, was his newsman. But Bill was so good on his own many asked why that ever happened. I think it was the age of "more is better..." Chris has survived; Bill is retired and loving it. And should.
The late Felix Grant was one-of-a-kind. No one knew the music as he did, nor did they know the musicians who played it. UDC has server space with many of his long-form interviews on .mp3. I used to have a login but that was a few years back. Interesting fact about Felix Grant...and this relates to the power of a radio audience. When WMAL moved to fire Felix in the 80s, he wasn't doing all that well at night...maybe a 2 or 3 share. By then, FM dominated the dial. But it was Felix's loyal audience who wrote letters in droves and ended up keeping him on-air a while longer. There was only one Felix Grant. Jazz owes him a big debt. So does Brazil. Grant was instrumental (pardon pun) in bringing the Bossa Nova to the US.
Bill Mayhugh did overnights for something like 31 years. Midnight-6. He got to nap when the engineer would track the Broadway LP. A truly nice guy. Mayhugh retired to Culpeper and worked at the little standards station out there with Karen Henderson. He and Larry Krebs made sure the streets were safe.
Harden and Weaver were the backbone of a unique radio station. Not just a full-service MOR giant, but, truly, at its peak, a media force. WMAL was the "go-to" station for everything. They were the "given." WMAL was so successful--it bankrolled the Evening Star, which owned WMAL AM/FM/TV for years. The Star folded in 1976 after selling WMAL AM/FM to ABC and Channel 7 to Albritton.
Frank and Jack didn't just dominate morning drive. They WERE morning drive. A 1970s WMAL sales brochure may have said it best, when it called them "wacky and zany" in the 60s...then called them "incredible" today. Harden and Weaver never did anything shocking or distasteful. They just had an astonishing chemistry and were truly nice people on and off air. They did not hang out together. Yes; they were friends, but they kept their distance outside the building to keep their relationship on-air.
Consultants used to fly into DC, set up an AM radio and reel-to-reel tape recorder in their hotel room and record hours of the show. Then, they'd return to Ypsilanti, or whereever, and try to duplicate it there. Then, they'd scratch their heads, trying to figure out how something sounding so simple on-air was so difficult to emulate, let alone duplicate. The reason was it couldn't be duplicated. Harden and Weaver were a singularly unique combination. I think of Lohman and Barkley as being at or near their level. For their time, it was just great morning radio.
Because of my dad's association with WMAL; I knew Frank and Jack fairly well--and got to visit them on-air fairly often, both at Greentree Road and Jenifer Street. I'd go in, sit down, exchange hellos and what's new's...then Frank would start telling a joke off-air. It was usually fairly dirty. Jack would chime in with part of the joke. Then, Frank would do the punch line, the mics would come on and, of course--I'd be left laughing but unable to speak since the room was live. All this during "and it's 8 before 9 WMAL time..."
Frank and Jack made great money, although by today's standards it probably wasn't all that much. But, at the same time-they made an absolute fortune in outside benefits: The yearly vacations, virtually unlimited lunches and dinners, Frank's country club memberships (I think he's still a member at Kenwood), etc. I don't know if Tony Adelfio is still alive--but H and W made his Bethesda Travel a gold mine. All the H and W listener trips went through that agency.
Jack Weaver was a Type 1 diabetic. Even though he was fastidious about self-care, his kidneys eventually failed and he died in 1992 at 72. Frank went it alone with Tim Brandt and Andy Parks until 1998, when he retired after 50 years with WMAL. WMAL was going to have a big party for him, I hear--but he left that day barely without saying goodbye and never looked back. Frank's still around; in his 80s, splitting time between here and Sweden, where his wife is from.
I once asked Frank and Jack why they worked Saturdays. Frank: "People expect us to be here when they turn on their radio."
WMAL news was legendary. Sadly; just one member of that "crew" is still there; Mark Weaver. I remember Bud Steele, Ed Meyer, Marge Kumaki, Jim Gallant, Len Deibert and others. That was before computers, before digital audio, but smack dab in the middle of dull razor blades and caked grease pencil on tape heads.
WMAL sports: At its peak, WMAL had The Redskins, Maryland Football and Basketball; The Caps (albeit for a short time). I don't know what kind of deal WMAL had with the Redskins, but I'm sure, proportionally--today it could fund a station's yearly payroll. I still think Frank, Sam and Sonny, at their peak--had no peer in NFL coverage. Again; chemistry. Johnny Holliday, Len Hathaway (who recently passed), Steve Gilmartin, Mal Campbell all come to mine. My time is up; I thank you for yours, as Mal would say...
I've been very lucky to, recently, email several times with Harold Green, who programmed WMAL early on, then was GM before Andy Ockershausen. He's told me some great stories. I played in a couple of celebrity golf things with Andy some years back, who also told me about "the good old days." They were something--and as anyone who's writing about them now will attest--were worth remembering. And, we should--as that kind of radio will never happen again in our lifetime.
sean hall
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When I use to visit DC in the 70's....I always listened to WMAL. Where is a good place on or off the Web to find history and updates on the station and the announcers?
My memory of the airshifts were:
- Hardin and Weaver 6-10AM
- Tom Gauger 10AM-2PM
- Bill Trumble 2PM-6PM
- Felix Grant 7PM-12M
- Bill Mahew 12M-6AM
There were several fill-in announcers including John Lyons. Others?
Are there airchecks or old promotional info on the Web?
