WQXA FM (105.7) Overnight weekend and swing shifts 2002-2004(Learned to avoid the wrath of Claudine)WTPA FM (93.5) Harrisburg Weekends and swing shifts 2006-??(Learned to appreciate a steady PD) ;D
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Your First Central PA Gig
- Thread starter Alan Criswell
- Start date
Does Reading count? If so...85 AM Stereo WEEU/Reading (12/91-7/93) Weekends/Swing $6/hr.If Reading is out, then...The New Sound Of FM97/Lancaster (9/93-11/93) Late Nights $200/wk.Ahh, memories!
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Captain Happy
Guest
Well, my 1st gig went something like this, I worked for WQXA ( 105.7 the X ) in 5/1999 and I came in as an intern and promotions, slowly I worked my way into being an on-air intern, but I was male, and had fun and that's how somehow I pissed off Claudine and got bounced out.then I found myself across the market at 93.5 WTPA as an board-op for the Hershey Bears back when 92.1 was a simulcast of 93.5I got on the air for saturday late, 12mid to sunday 6am. It was a blast and Chris James is the best PD to work for. While I was there, Coffee and Jammer re-united again, and did I mention that I had a blast working there for $6.00/hrSometimes I think back and realize listening to Dave Michigan call a Bears game on the air is just as good as being the on-air jock, especially when he gets to the fighting. Gooood times.......Ahhhh, Gooood Times!
A cup of coffee at 960/102.3 WHYL-AM/FM, Carlisle in '73, then a big gulp at The Mighty 1590/WCBG, Chambersburg the next year. From high atop Radio Hill, working for Your Buddy Bud Messner & his erstwhile wife, Molly. Akin to Ray's experience at Shippensburg--in fact Ray was there, too--sort of a Hot AC interrupted by an awful mid-morning talk show called "Molly & Me," featuring the ex-Mrs. Bud and PD Bob Huff. Kicked into high-gear Top 40 at night--FM was just a rumor--but still featured NBC News... a half-hour news segment at 6PM voiced ENTIRELY by whoever was on duty at the moment--absolutely grueling for both the jock and the (one) listener. Graduated (?) to the final days of Top 40 @ 14/FEC just in time to segue to Country...
That would've been during FM97's Hot AC era, which didn't last very long.Jeffrey T. Mason said:
That is correct. A very odd time for FM97. In mid 93, they blew out almost all of the staff, and brought in Scott Shannon to consult. Garret Michaels from WZPL/Indy was hired as PD. Airstaff wentAgingXer said:
5:30-10a) Mark Summers(10a-3p) Greg Carpenter(3p-6p) Garret Michaels(6p-10p) Chad Brueske(10p-3a) Jeff Mason(3a-5:30a) various jocks...week to week.We were playing a LOT of 80's, and currents too. Though, we ran an excessive amount of a very LIMITED gold category. "Blinded By The Light," "Brown Eyed Girl," "Twist & Shout" (Beatles version), and "Play That Funky Music" really stand out in my mind. I was hired to do part-time, but was promoted to late nights. Once Garret Michaels was hired away by Y100/Philly, I moved to 7-midnight. THEN, they "promoted me" again to mornings on the AM, plus overnights on the FM making a whole $250/wk. That was my ticket OUT. I was let go the day before Thanksgiving, 1993. I was hired by WIMX/Harrisburg within an hour. I'll never forget when I was doing overnights at FM97, Kelly King was working 6p-1a weeknights!!! 7 hours? NO THANKS! The station was a fustercluck to say the least.Gene-Jay Money (Josh) was 15 when I first interviewed him at WIMX. He was about to turn 16, and his mom brought him in just after we flipped Mix from AC to CHR. Sylvia (his mom) was working with RJ Harris on Kool 94.9 at the time. He made a GREAT impression, and I knew he had talent. I was very lucky to be given a break at age 15 myself, so I gave him a shot. Turned out pretty good (even though he did serve some time on Centre St in Pottsville ;-). He was the last jock ever on Mix, and eventually went on to do some fill-in work for me in Chicago. Now, he's in law school full-time, and doing weekends at 93-3 FLZ in Tampa. I'll privately email you his addy.
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theORIGINALCadillacJack
Guest
Then I was hired in April of 94 as OM/Mornings, and in that position, finally brought WLAN back to the forefront in the ratings battle. We were #1 12+ almost continuously from 1995-2000, when I left. A big thanks to Dave Skinner, Jordan Walsh, and Vince DiBella as my very successful PDs. We kicked ass.Jeffrey T. Mason said:That is correct. A very odd time for FM97. In mid 93, they blew out almost all of the staff, and brought in Scott Shannon to consult. Garret Michaels from WZPL/Indy was hired as PD. Airstaff wentAgingXer said:
Cadillac!You were always "just East" of me! When I was in Reading, you were on Eagle 106 in Philly. Then, when I was in Harrisburg, you were the big star at WLAN. I hope you're having a blast in Philly working with my ole' pal Big Ron O'Brien! Cuz, if you were just East of me now, you'd be in the Atlantic ;-)Oh, by the way...I miss our 3am "Name That Tune" phone sessions! We need to start those back up.
January 1978 - January 1979WRHY-FM "Starview 92" 7pm-MidnightSalary: can't remember. Probably around $200/week but there was no weekend shift.Also in the cast at that time were R.J. Harris, Linda Pintek, Hunt, Kauffman, and Lisa Richards along with some really talented and motivated part-timers.We enjoyed every minute of it and had a ball creating some great radio (at least we thought so) for the era.Station was owned by Al Dame, managed by John Dame, and programmed by R.J. who did the morning show.
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theORIGINALCadillacJack
Guest
LOL! Damn right! Apparently, we can now do country songs.Jeffrey T. Mason said:
Anybody remember FM-97 in the Reagan years? I was hired in '83 for the overnight show, and got bumped to middays and music director that fall. After another year, I left for greener pastures, but I always loved that great town, that peculiar station and the odd assortment of folks on the staff. Where are they now: Gary Maxwell (7p-mid and he sold me his car), Joe Columbo (AM Drive), Eric the Christian guy who wouldn't play anything that rocked (PM Drive), Diana Rixx (middays/promotions with a voice as smooth as silk), RJ Heim (short stint on middays and who could forget his Reverend Bob bits?), Ellen Wascou (news)? Man, we pulled some mighty numbers for a station that was truly seat of your pants radio, with a library full of cue-burned vinyl. And I sure miss working above a liquor store....And oh yeah, whatever happened to Kix? We sure played the hell out of their tracks (when we weren't playing Julio Iglesias).
RJ Heim is now at NBC10 Providence RI. He's contributed a bunch of airchecks on reelradio.
Greetings, fellow former Starview employee. Did you work at the mobile home studio,or the studio on the mountain?stillwater said:
Right. After the flip, there was an SS-voiced sweeper explaining that the DJs were sent away to DJ camp.Jeffrey T. Mason said:
Sure. An early memory would be the Maxwell Mini-Concerts (three songs by the same artist). Example, three tunes from AC/DC when BIB was new. John St. John/John Saint John (Q-106, FM97, etc.) voiced the open and close for MMC.OldNumber7 said:
We may've heard ya in Science class; sometimes the teach flipped on WLAN.
I remember Gary... Joe Columbo worked for 98YCR in the '90s, IIRC.
KIX called it quits around 1995. I don't remember hearing KIX on FM97... unless it would've been their 1983 single "Body Talk." Locally, they were basically Starview / 'TPA / 98-Rock turf, until '88.Or were you spinnin' "The Itch?"
We we playing "Body Talk" and "Cool Kids" a lot and something else (?), but only at night, because the station was so heavily dayparted. The arrival of the real CHR format in fall '83 at WHTF (Starview) pushed us and Q-106 into more serious CHR formats. Until then, were were AOR crossover at night (with Maxwell's CHR presentation) and HOT AC during the day. Really odd. When Michael Jackson's "Beat It" came out in early '83, Maxwell vetoed it for the night show and it was considered too hard for daytime. It only got played on overnights until after it peaked at #1 nationally. Bizarre. By the following year, the station was more contemporary in all dayparts. BTW, remember those hokey FM97 bumper stickers? Just a simple black italic typeface on a yellow background. They were the most uninspired radio station stickers ever, but they were visible all over town.
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theORIGINALCadillacJack
Guest
He actually made a comeback at WLAN in the 1990's. He was there, running the AM, when I arrived in 1994. It was a contemporary Christian format when I was there, until 1995 or 1996. After that, God only knows what happened to him.
First gig?WGET-AM in 1978...I was the janitor in the summertime, sweeping floors and emptying trash cans in the morning, did afternoons on the air from 12noon - 6 PM and then Saturdays from 3 PM - Midnight. All for the incredible hourly wage of $2.90....working almost 60 hours a week in the summer, I thought I was a millionaire!After school started, I split nights with Rick McCauslin (now OM of WYCR/WHVR)...I did three nights, and he did three nights (the seventh night was done by a sales guy)....he was going to college. We used to get our homework done from 10-12 midnight while "Serenade in the Night" played on pre-recorded reel-to-reel tapes.Those were the days
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