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ROCKOLLECTIONS: WOR-FM, THE FIRST COMMERCIAL FM ROCK STATION PT.7

Getting ready to wrap things up at the late great WOR-FM with these last two chapters, and we will drastically go from joyous celebration to the people responsible for the station’s success being fired.
This time out I’ll start with a set that begins with an old group you may remember called Sagittarius and their semi-hit, My World Fell Down, with its fantastic harmonies.
Only WOR-FM played it here in NYC.
The DJ’s also were allowed to play songs by groups better known for their Top 40 hits but were stretching out and expanding themselves, attempting experimental things- those hidden album cuts that were amazingly progressive for their time!
You’ll hear Rosko reading poetry, as he frequently did by a guy with an exotic name that I had never heard of!
And I will begin to re-create a 1-year Anniversary Concert that WOR-FM held on June 11, 1967.
That poster above only lists three acts- in fact there were FIVE acts, and I will get to all of them.
By the way, if you ever wondered what song I use as the theme music for this show, you will get the opportunity to hear it in its grand entirety!
As things would turn out, happy as this event was, those evil, greedy “consultants” were shortly about to swoop down at WOR-FM and ruin everything!
Let’s put that aside for now, and just enjoy some truly wonderful Music!

Mike

Tags: "consultants", June 11 1967, My World Fell Down, Rosko, Sagittarius, WOR-FM 1-year Anniversary Concert

ROCKOLLECTIONS: WOR-FM, THE FIRST COMMERCIAL FM ROCK STATION PT.6

Alright, with this chapter, Murray the K goes off, after playing a song you will know, that WOR-FM was the first in the country to play, and for a good while it was the only station to play it.
Rosko comes on, doing some scat singing to an instrumental I cannot identify, and he is doing his show live from a club called The Cheetah- I don’t know precisely how long that continued.
Now he was the one we didn’t know from other stations, and he was the biggest surprise,
His real name was William Mercer, often talked about how he had been a men’s room attendant in New Jersey, and went by the name Rosko on air.
He had a very interesting delivery, and did unusual things on his show, some of which I will get to.
For instance, that scat singing to open his very first show here in NYC, and then there was a Lee Michaels song he loved.
He frequently would sing along with it, sometimes in the background other times in the foreground.
I’ll play that song, and I expressed my regret that I didn’t have an actual tape of him singing with it.
So naturally today I found one…ah life, lol!
If you are interested, in this episode I will play THE song that changed my life!
It was Rosko who played it, and I was completely drawn into it.
I don’t know if that has ever happened to you, but it did to me in 1967- and it was when I still didn’t have an FM Radio, still listening to someone else’s, but now…now it was imperative that I get my own!
So after serious thought, I can confirm what I always suspected and play for you the song that changed everything for me.
And was responsible for my deep and abiding love for our Music that continues to this day.
I just hope YOU like it, lol!
It is almost as if I am trapped in this series, I keep getting new ideas and memories and finding more airchecks
I’d like to do just ONE more hour after this one, but to relate the history of the fascinating WOR-FM properly I may need two more.

Mike

Tags: , 1967, FM Radio, lee michaels, Murray the k, NYC, Rosko, The Cheetah, William Mercer

ROCKOLLECTIONS: WOR-FM, THE FIRST COMMERCIAL FM ROCK STATION PT.5

It is such a shame that their call letters no longer even exist, but the celebration of WOR-FM continues with some more Murray The K.
Murray would do what he called “Attitude Blocks”- sets of music with a common thread tying them together.
Something I have taken to an extreme, lol!
But I do sets of music within my…I guess you’d have to call them “Attitude Series”!
Here’s what resident Radio Authority Alan Sniffen had to say:

Murray the K was the guiding light for the first year.  His dedication to breaking new music became a theme for the station.  Murray pushed records that he believed had potential to become hits such as Ike and Tina Turner’s “River Deep, Mountain High”.  While it never became a U.S. hit (it was a hit in England), WOR-FM’s dedication to playing the song did have an impact on New York record sales.
Murray the K had the highest rated FM show in New York; a 4 share on one ratings survey, a 3 on the next. This was higher than many AM shows and a terrific FM rating for New York. 

It was in late winter or early spring of 1967 that I finally found a friend who had an FM Radio, and soon after, a girl who had one.
I would go over to one of their homes (I could stay later at the guy’s house) and try to be a fun guest, while simultaneously listening to their radio, lol!
One night, I heard Murray or Rosko play the album version of a song I was very familiar with- it was a huge hit on AM Radio.
But I had never heard THIS!
It was more than twice as long as that hit song I knew!
I didn’t even know there WAS a longer version- by the time that song was over, I felt like something was happening here and I was missing out, it blew my mind!
Songs could be more than 3 minutes long?
And still to this day I will not listen to that damn chopped up single that I had once childishly enjoyed.
WOR-FM was presenting a new kind of Rock Music, daring to do so with intelligence, and I was being carried along very willingly.
Some real memory busters in this chapter, hopefully some of those “Oh wow” moments for you!
Do enjoy!

Mike

Tags: AM Radio, Attitude Blocks, England, FM Radio, Ike and Tina Turner’s “River Deep, Mountain High”, Murray the k, New York, Radio Authority Alan Sniffen, Rock Music, Rosko

ROCKOLLECTIONS: WOR-FM, THE FIRST COMMERCIAL FM ROCK STATION PT.1

No theme, group or artist featured for the next few weeks- but a Radio Station!
A now-defunct Radio Station, WOR-FM, that had really only about 14 months of glory- and sadly, its call letters no longer even exist.
But it was the FIRST FM to play Rock & Roll, and it laid the groundwork for what was later to be regarded as the best Rock station ever, WNEW-FM.
It debuted on July 30, 1966, 45 years ago…and I didn’t even have an FM radio!
The year before, the FCC made perhaps the ONLY good ruling in their history, to make this extraordinary event possible.
And I will play the first song they played on that historic day.
After all the heat we’ve had and my brain being mush (surprised I could DO a show, lol!), I’ll let Radio Authority Alan Sniffen tell some of the story:
 

WOR-FM: A Brief History
by Allan Sniffen
 
In 1965 the Federal Communications Commission ruled that major market FM radio stations could no longer simulcast their AM sister stations.  FM had to become separate with individual programming.  This was deemed necessary to allow FM to grow and develop its own audience.  The ruling put radio station owners in a bind.  They needed to come up with new formats for these weaker and less desirable stations. Since FM was more difficult to receive,  its universe of potential listeners was much smaller… and so was its billing.  The new formats therefore had to be both different and relatively inexpensive to program. 
 
It was in that environment that RKO General Broadcasting launched its new WOR-FM  (98.7Mhz) “Hot 100” format on July 30, 1966.  The name is deceiving because, in fact, it was the first Progressive Rock station in the country.  It marketed itself as stereo as a way to distinguish itself from AM radio.  The problem was that many of the records played by the station were not in stereo.  While it was true that most record albums were stereo, singles were not.  Since the singles came out before the albums, much of the new music it was breaking was in mono. 
 
The original WOR-FM disc jockeys were Scott Muni (formerly of WABC and WMCA), Murray “the K” Kaufman (formerly of WINS), Rosko (Bill Mercer) and Johnny Michaels.   Even though the format began on July 30, the disc jockeys did not.  There were union problems with AFTRA.  RKO did not want to pay FM disc jockeys the equivalent pay of their AM counterparts.  As a result, the station segued from one record to another (except for taped promotions by the DJ’s) until Saturday, October 8 1966. 
 

Thank you Alan, and more from you coming.
The words GROOVE, GROOVY,  and particularly HAPPENING will pop up frequently during these shows.
As usual, I don’t know how long the series will go.
I just have a bunch of records, actual airchecks, and a desire to re-create what was the first vague inkling for me that I wanted to play music like THIS!
For oldsters and youngsters alike, I invite you to join me, because “The Sound Is WOR-FM…New York!”
 
Mike

Tags: Bill Mercer, FCC, FM Radio, GROOVE, GROOVY, HAPPENING, Johnny Michaels, July 30 1966, Murray “the K” Kaufman, Progressive Rock Station, Radio Authority Alan Sniffen, Radio Station, RKO General Broadcasting, Rock & Roll, Rosko, Saturday October 8 1966, Scott Muni, wabc, WINS, WMCA, WNEW-FM

ROCKOLLECTIONS: A ROCKOLLECTIONS LOOK AT WOODSTOCK PT.4 FINAL

Beginning this our final look at the Woodstock Festival, I will again take you back to WNEW-FM.
In 1969, Rosko was still working the 7 to midnight shift there, so we will hear him briefly sell you on the Festival- followed by another report from their newsman Mike Eisgrau.
I thank Dennis Elsas again for these snippets, and he has a website www.denniselsas.com that is well worth visiting.
After that, the Band didn’t make onto that old original vinyl album, but we have them here.
A couple from them, starting with a song you should know by Johnny Cash, although I believe it was written by Lefty Frizzell.
I suppose I could look it up, but I am still lazy, lol!
So go ahead, you look it up!
And don’t forget, Woodstock was the Band’s neighborhood- they did Music From Big Pink there.
I’ll have a list of folks who either canceled or declined to play at Woodstock that I am sure you will find very interesting.
Some of the reasons are good ones, some are not.
More music, coming almost full circle, and finally, one of the guys who thought up Woosdstock had an idea as to how he wanted to end the Festival.
He couldn’t…but we can!
I hope you enjoyed our little look at that historic weekend.
Next, something completely different…that’s the plan anyway!

The audio clips used in this series were obtained from the archives of Dennis Elsas of WFUV, and they can be heard there along with much more, at Dennis’ website www.denniselsas.com.
I personally thank him for the memories.

Mike

Tags: Dennis Elsas, Johnny Cash, Lefty Frizzell, Mike Eisgrau, Music From Big Pink, Rosko, The Band, WFUV, WNEW-FM

ROCKOLLECTIONS: IN THEIR OWN WORDS- REMEMBERING GEORGE & JOHN 2008 PT.2 END

Odd, how life and history affect us.
To one generation, today Dec. 7th brings memories of the bombing of Pearl Harbor- and they can tell you exactly where they were and what they were doing when they got the news.
To many of the next couple of generations, they can do likewise for tomorrow Dec. 8th, when they heard of the senseless killing of John Lennon.
So now it is John Lennon’s turn In Their Own Words- and of course music too!
For some reason, all Lennon’s appearances on WNEW-FM are highlighted…except this one.
It took place on May 30, 1969 when he phoned Rosko (Bill Mercer), who was then on the air.
What followed was a far more incisive interview than when he talked to the others.
John talks about being a tough kid, not wanting to hear You Can’t Do That.
Then again, I didn’t like hearing that either, lol!
Oh, I mistakenly said it was a live track. Wrong, sorry- just made to sound that way. But a good remix!
John talks more about being a troublemaker with a chip on his shoulder.
But he found his peace.
Rosko asks him flat-out about his use of Christ in The Ballad Of John & Yoko, and you may be surprised with his answer.
Some more music and conversation, and I will close this year’s remembrance with a beautiful song by John.
Let’s all meet here next year, and I’ll have some more off the beaten path recordings by two guys who meant an awful lot to me!

Mike

Tags: , Bill Mercer, George Harrison, John Lennon, Pearl Harbor, Rosko, The Ballad Of John & Yoko, WNEW-FM, You Can't Do That