WNBC-AM's coverage of John Lennon's death in 1980

[Channel Surf]

...for that matter, when did *anyone* last listen to WNBC nighttimes? Perhaps when Wolfman Jack (first tenure) or Long John Nebel were there (late '60s to mid-'70s)?...

I listened to them regularly late at night the final year or so that they existed when Jay Sorensen was doing that amazing overnight oldies show, as part of their "Time Machine". One of the best presentations of an oldies format,
with a deep playlist that I have ever heard...Before that, I never listened to WNBC....

 

[MCNDRWS]

I Remember Listening To WNBC Overnights In 1975 When Dick Summer Was Doing His "Lovin' Touch" Stuff And

"Mouth VS Ear" Trivia Challenges.

 

[mgpt6]

Was watching the Patriots-Dolphins Monday Nite Football game on ABC. Howard Cosell read the bulletin during a break in the play. later watched the coverage after the game on ABC news Nightline.

 

[chuckydoll]

It affected all NYC radio, not just WNBC

I was about to go to bed when the news hit. Didn't know about it until I bought the New York Post the next morning and the front page screamed "Extra -- John Lennon Shot Dead".

Can't vouch for how WNBC handled the story that overnight and the next day. WNBC did have to re-edit "American Top 40" the following Sunday (12/14) as a result.

My car radio back then was AM only, so I tuned in WABC on Tuesday because of its Beatles legacy. WABC played Beatles and Lennon songs commercial-free at least for that morning. 77 also delayed its new survey to the following day.

 

[Boardengineer12]

Good evening. I was wondering who was on the air and who broke the news of John Lennon's shooting and death on WNBC 660 on the night of 12/8-9/80 and did the station played all Beatles music after word of his shooting and death . If anyone happened to record WNBC radio coverage from that night, can you post audio of it here?

The Jock on the air at the time was Allen Beebe. The Station was scheduled to sign off the air that evening for transmitter maintenance which they did at 1am. I remember the overnight on-air engineer, expecting an easy shift ended up carting up Beatles music for the Imus show for the entire shift.

 

[Jul]

The Jock on the air at the time was Allen Beebe. The Station was scheduled to sign off the air that evening for transmitter maintenance which they did at 1am. I remember the overnight on-air engineer, expecting an easy shift ended up carting up Beatles music for the Imus show for the entire shift.

Talk about bad timing. The station should have stayed on the air all night because of what happened to Lennon.

 

[beatlenut]

I was looking to post something about WABC the night John Lennon died, and found this thread.

I actually heard the skip in Virginia, December 10th... WABC-AM had what I thought was a facinating special on Lennon, in which they played the live updates on Lennon's condition. I have some of that broadcast on a cassette somewhere... I've been looking on the Internet and eBay to see if somebody bootlegged it. I even wrote the GM about its existance... didn't hear back... somebody somewhere has to have a clean copy of that show.

 

[chuckydoll]

The Station was scheduled to sign off the air that evening for transmitter maintenance which they did at 1am.

WNBC was a network O&O, thus a normal signoff would have been Saturday night/Sunday morning or Sunday night/Monday morning.

John Lennon was shot dead on a Monday night. If 66 went off that night it would have been for emergency transmitter work on High Island.

 

[gr8oldies]

Checking in from Ohio here, and I was doing country when I heard the bells ring on the AP machine and saw (and announced) the news. When i got home I tuned in WABC, I'm not sure if Check Leonard was still on, but they actually replayed their initial audio of the announcement (coming out of Barbara Streisand and Barry Gibb's "Guilty".)

 

[chuckydoll]

More from the night John Lennon died

I'm not sure if Check Leonard was still on, but they actually replayed their initial audio of the announcement (coming out of Barbara Streisand and Barry Gibb's "Guilty".

You would have heard Howard Hoffman before midnight or (maybe) Bob Cruz after midnight. Chuck Leonard was fired from WABC in the Thanksgiving Purge of '79.

 

[Boardengineer12]

The Station was scheduled to sign off the air that evening for transmitter maintenance which they did at 1am.

WNBC was a network O&O, thus a normal signoff would have been Saturday night/Sunday morning or Sunday night/Monday morning.

John Lennon was shot dead on a Monday night. If 66 went off that night it would have been for emergency transmitter work on High Island.

You are partially correct in that the station was a O & O and normal signoff was limited to Weekends; however, and i can't recall exactly, they had something that had immediate priority for that evening and had to be done. I was on the engineering staff at the station at that time, so thats why I'm passing along the information.

 

[bigradiodaddio]

Well, the truth is, I, Allen Beebe, was on the air the night that John Lennon got shot. We did a story on it when it broke. However, the station was scheduled to go off the air, which it did, for a "prooof of performance", which was required by the FCC at that time. Since it was already scheduled and usually done at that time of the year, it went down as usual. I gotta tell you, though, I was shocked and just couldn't believe what I had just heard. I really don't think the news of his death settled in till the next day.

 

[BobSmolarek]

One thing I remember the next day, Pat St John on WPLJ was playing Beatles music and he said, "I don't even feel like doing this". I really gained respect for the man for saying that. You know who was really great that afternoon? Hy Lit on WKXW 101.5. He did a real releaxing show, talked a ton about the Beatles, about Lennon, it was great. I looked for Cousin Brucie on WRAN 1510 and he wasn't on.

 

[Mike Schwartz]

Re: More from the night John Lennon died

I'm not sure if Check Leonard was still on, but they actually replayed their initial audio of the announcement (coming out of Barbara Streisand and Barry Gibb's "Guilty".

You would have heard Howard Hoffman before midnight or (maybe) Bob Cruz after midnight. Chuck Leonard was fired from WABC in the Thanksgiving Purge of '79.

In December 1980, Howard Hoffman was already doing overnights on WABC and Bob Cruz did afternoon drive (Ingram was still on in am drive at that time). Several years ago, WABC rewound played scoped excerpts from both Hoffman's show and Cruz's the next afternoon. An hour of the Dan Ingram show featuring call in and lots of news updates can be found around the web on collectors lists. BTW, the jock from WABC who would have been on that night at 11:00 PM was Sturgis Griffin/Sergio Dean, though I have never heard an aircheck of it.

 

[MarkO]

Well, the truth is, I, Allen Beebe, was on the air the night that John Lennon got shot. We did a story on it when it broke. However, the station was scheduled to go off the air, which it did, for a "prooof of performance", which was required by the FCC at that time. Since it was already scheduled and usually done at that time of the year, it went down as usual. I gotta tell you, though, I was shocked and just couldn't believe what I had just heard. I really don't think the news of his death settled in till the next day.

I wonder if the guy who started this comment thread will ever be aware of this informative response from the jock who was live on WNBC at the time. It looks like the last time he checked in here was over five years ago. He should have been more patient! (ha, ha)