WLSO.FM

ROCKOLLECTIONS: OLD ODDS & ENDS FROM 2007 PT.2 END

THIS IS AN ENCORE- I AM ON VACATION

Putting this out there early on a borrowed laptop, as I digest lunch and relax, then plan the next travel move.
And hey, since this is 4 tears old I have been doing the radio thing for over 13 years now, even twice won awards.
Who would have guessed?

I have a few songs for a Labor Day to open this chapter up.
The Manfred Mann show I did a while back was a very popular one, and on it I mentioned the first version of Bob Dylan’s If You Gotta Go I ever heard was in French by the Fairport Convention. They called it Si Du Dois Partir.
Don’t ask me to pronounce it, but I will play it.
From French to Spanish, with a song I haven’t played in decades by the Young Rascals.
It was, I believe, the flip side of Groovin’- and the Rascals, like all the truly good ones, were known for some amazing flip sides.
I can easily think of two or three more that are better than most A-sides!
Then some humble self-indulgence.
I started at my station on August 25, 1998- and miraculously have lasted now over 9 years!
I may seem like a sweetheart of a guy on the air, but…it was touch and go many a time, lol!
So two songs for that- one a great big thanks to any and all who listen or have anything to do with the show.
The other for my inspiration, Scott Muni.
I play music the way I do because of Scott, and of course several other muses.
But Scottso was the first that did it for me, and gave me the bug to present songs in a hopefully smart fashion- for a smart audience.
Beginning in December 1967, and lasting for I don’t know how many years, Scott ended his show every day with this song.
And in those early FM years, he used to be on SEVEN DAYS a week!
He would after that always play it on his anniversary show, and I would always tear up from all the great memories that radio, and true radio personalities (which are becoming extinct), can uniquely provide.
I still miss the guy, and I will do my weak, lame imitation of him to close this one out.
As I have been on the internet for only a short time, just think, you missed all the incredibly dumb and stupid things I have said and done in the years prior.
Be as thankful for that as I am so hugely thankful to you for listening now, lol!

Mike

Tags: A-sides, August 25 1998, Bob Dylan’s If You Gotta Go, December 1967, Engineer Ken Stanley, Fairport Convention, flip side of Groovin’, French, Labor Day, Manfred Mann, Scott Muni, Si Du Dois Partir, Spanish, Young Rascals

ROCKOLLECTIONS: WOR-FM, THE FIRST COMMERCIAL FM ROCK STATION PT.3

We will continue this week with the celebration of that First Commercial FM Rock Station, WOR-FM.
I mentioned last week, a union strike over a new pay scale for FM jocks prevented the hired DJ’s to go on the air.
They were anxious to go on that first day, July 30th 1966, but not allowed.
On the 2nd day, July 31st 1966, WOR-FM did a very strange thing.
They started running announcements explaining their position and predicament regarding this labor dispute.
Very very unusual in Radio, where silence rules the day!
You know what I mean- your favorite DJ suddenly disappears…and there is no explanation, hell no MENTION of him or her ever again!
But here was WOR-FM treating us as if we were intelligent, and giving us a look at what was going on behind the scenes.
That foretold well what was to come, as WOR-FM would treat Rock & Roll and us like adults- even if we weren’t yet adults, lol!
And I’ll have a continuing look at my Radio hero, not the only one but certainly the most important to me, Scott Muni.
You’ll hear Scott do a couple of short ads for concerts regarding then contemporary artists.
Back then there were virtually no concert venues, and the Fillmore East was 3 years away!
Concerts in New York City were limitted to discotheques (with dancing and a house band), small clubs in the Village, probably best of all were colleges, and long trips away from the city.
Also, I am sure you have heard of him as a Disc Jockey for many decades- but how about my man Scott as a Newsman/Sportscaster/Weatherman?
It’s in this episode…plus LOTS of Music Of The Period!
I hope you are enjoying this look at Radio History, because I am having a ball!

Mike

Tags: Disc Jockey, DJ's, Fillmore East, FM Jocks, July 30th 1966, July 31st 1966, Music Of The Period, Newsman/Sportscaster/Weatherman, radio, Radio History, Rock & Roll, Scott Muni, The Village

ROCKOLLECTIONS: WOR-FM, THE FIRST COMMERCIAL FM ROCK STATION PT.2

As the 45th Anniversary of WOR-FM’s July 30th 1966 going on the air approaches, I’ll continue with some fun old airchecks and music only from 1967 and before.
And I know there are radio freaks like myself who LOVE those old airchecks.
In many cases they bring back happier times better than music does!
The strike was settled, and the DJ’s began on Oct.8th 1966…a Saturday…rather odd!
They were feeling their way around as most of us would starting a new job, but possibly not aware of their iconic status as Firsts.
Scott Muni and Murray the “K” in particular had to re-invent themselves, not be the Top 40 people they were remembered as.
They did so very nicely, and by the time I got an FM radio in ‘67 were almost totally different- much more likable, laidback and friendly.
And they played music AM Radio wouldn’t go near, lol!
Enjoy the memories, or make some new ones!
 
Mike

Tags: 45th Anniversary, Airchecks, AM Radio, July 30th 1966, Murray the k, Oct.8th 1966, Scott Muni, Top 40

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: HOME FOR THANKSGIVING 2010 PT.2

As we continue with our Home For Thanksgiving series, the Free-Form Radio nature of this show led me to take the last song played in the previous half hour and expand on it a bit.
So we will take some rural back roads Home- with none of the selections sung by authentic country folk, lol!
Then another song written by, and I’ve said it before, that most underrated and underappreciated American songwriter in all of Rock & Roll, John Sebastian.
An absolute beauty from him and the Lovin’ Spoonful!
I will take us out this time with songs about those who can’t go home- the homeless, the drunks, the druggies, all those who have no Home to go to.
A bit somber, but I won’t shy away from a part of real life.
As I recall, Engineer Ken Stanley was very deeply affected by the first tune.
I mean surprisingly so- he couldn’t look at me.
And in the final song, you will hear the story of a man’s life in precisely 3 minutes!
Even after many years, and I first heard it in the 60’s when Scott Muni played it on WNEW-FM, that one still gets to me.
When the going Home continues next week, I promise I will counter this with a very Happy beginning.
Please do come back and join me to find out just what I mean.
But until then, I hope you enjoy what is played here.
You can always let me know.
 
Mike

Tags: American Songwriter, Back Roads, Engineer Ken Stanley, Free-form Radio, John Sebastian, Rock & Roll, Scott Muni, The 60's, WNEW-FM

RockRoll360 #124 - raDiOaCtiVe (Part 1)

 

Again with another brand new compilation I put together here
in the month of October 2010. This one also features great underground
freeform radio icons Scott Muni of WNEW FM in New York and Jim Ladd
in KMET radio in Los Angeles. This show also features a great
cut by Robert Plant & Allison Krauss, along with a new tunes
by Kings of Leon & Remy Zero.

Please click play to listen or right click on the download button to download,share, pass on and subscribe.

Music includes :::

DON’T CRY NO TEARS  /  NEIL YOUNG
THICKFREAKNESS  /  THE BLACK KEYS
WHITE ROOM   / CREAM
HOOCHIE COOCHIE MAN ( Live )    /  ERIC CLAPTON & BUDDY GUY
LAND OF A THOUSAND GUITARS    /   WILLIE NILE
I’M SO TIRED    /   THE BEATLES
RADIOACTIVE   -  KINGS OF LEON
AIN’T NOBODY BUT ME
            /  ( Intro from Scott Muni of  WNEW -FM ) / SUPERTRAMP
BLACKDOG (Acoustic)  -  ROBERT PLANT & ALISON KRAUSS
TIL’ THE END  /   REMY ZERO

Sound bites include :::

The Outer Limits   /  TV Theme Announcer Opener
KMET – Let’s do some Neil Young   /  KMET Radio Sound Bite
KMET – The change of the day ( Midnight)  /   KMET Radio Sound Bnite
KPPC – Frank Zappa doing commercial ( Records )   /  KPPC Radio Sound Bite
Movie Promo: Escape From Alcatraz from 1979  /  KMET Sound Bite

http://wlso.fm/mp3/RR360/124p1.mp3

Tags: aaa radio, allision krauss, Classic Rock, Cream, eclectic, Eric Clapton, escape from alcatraz, frank zappa, free mp3, freeform, kings of leon, kmet, mp3, music, Neil Young, progressive, remy zero, robert plant, Rock, RockRoll360, Scott Muni, supertramp, The Beatles, the black keys, the outer limits, willie nile, WLSO, wnew

ROCKOLLECTIONS: PSYCHOTHERAPY LEFTOVERS PT.1

Well well, August 25 is the 12th Anniversary of my being at the same station.
12 years…those people there REALLY need Psychotherapy!
These are some of the Psychotherapy Leftovers we never got to in the other chapters, and I must tell you, this is one of the strangest half hours of musical selections I have ever done.
Certainly the most somber in those 12 years!
I just went where the free-form Muse took me, and that was a weird place.
So you are forewarned, and the next and Final episode will be much different, more normal.
I started with a song for me, one that has been an old friend for many years.
Then, for some reason last week, I flashed back to a time in 1970 or 1971 when Scott Muni, then with the 2-7PM slot and also the Program Director at WNEW-FM, chose to replace for a day Jonathan Schwartz who couldn’t make it for his 10AM-2PM show.
Scott was unbelievable that day, maybe because it was a different time with possibly a different audience.
He played fantastic old sets he had done in the past where the music went together perfectly, plus terrific new ones.
It was great Radio!
And another of those defining moments that set the stage for how I present music.
One 2-song set stayed with me for all these years, an incredible segue that I will re-create here.
Janis Ian’s “Insanity Comes Quietly To The Structured Mind” into Dory Previn’s “Mr.Whisper”.
One a song about a ledge-jumper suicide, the other dealing with a Mr. Whisper who has an “apartment” in a lady’s head!
Normally I don’t tell you what I am going to play and ruin the surprises, but in this case I figure no one will know those songs anyway, so what the hell, lol?
That’s it, I am tired of writing, so you are on your own.
But I cordially invite you to hear undeniably the oddest, but not the worst, first half of a show I have ever done!
And that’s saying something for me, lol!
There is a Darkness here, and I DARE you to listen!

Mike

Tags: 12th Anniversary, 1970, 1971, Darkness, Dory Previn, Insanity Comes Quietly To The Structured Mind, Janis Ian, Jonathan Schwartz, Leftovers, Mr.Whisper, Program Director, radio, Scott Muni, The Free-Form Muse, WNEW-FM

RockRoll360 #050 - Fresh Air - (Part 1)

 

Ok - Time for a little fun - another special program !

When progressive radio appeared on the airwaves from coast to coast around 1967 throught the early 70’s, it was like a breath of fresh air that filled our mind and spirit with comedy, music and even maintained a strong counterculture reputation. It was a great moment in radio history for the baby boomers.

Let’s make believe we have gone back in time and
we are on a progressive radio time warp. Enjoy the way radio was,
very laid back with great tunes. I have some great moments with some of other
radio stations beside WBCN - Enjoy great progressive radio DJ’s-Scott Muni,
Tom Donohue and Malcolm-Gault Williams.

Music Includes

STRANGE DAYS - THE DOORS
I’M GOING HOME  (LIVE) - TEN YEARS AFTER
MANNISH BOY - MUDDY WATERS
IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING - KING CRIMSON
FRESH AIR - QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE
EARLYBIRD - EAGLES
ROLL OVER BEETHOVEN ( Long Version  ) - ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA
SOUTHBOUND TRAIN - DAVID CROSBY AND GRAHAM NASH
Sound bites include

-Nephew Scott Hervieux WLSO.FM RockRoll360 Intro from North Carolina
-WNEW FM - Scott Muni promotes Woodstock
-My father was a barber - Very Quick Sound Bite from Charles Laquidara
-KSAN- Radio Tom Donohue - A PSA From Tom Donohue OF KSAN
also
-Malcolm Gault Williams on KTYD backannounce and sabotage by Dave Heffner. Dave comes in while he’s on mic with an old KZFM T-shirt. he preceeded Dave at KZFM
broadcasting briefly in 1972. When he worked KZFM in 1974 they were a
mere shadow of the freeform station Jay Harrison has spearheaded in ‘72.
-Mel Brooks promo for Dwayne Glasscock on WBCN

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Tags: charles laquidara, david crosby, dwayne Glasscock, eagles, eclectic, ELO, freeform, Graham Nash, jay harrison, king crimson, malcolm gault williams, mel books, mp3, muddy, progressive radio, quicksilver messenger service, Scott Muni, ten years after, The Doors, wbcn, WLSO, wnew

ROCKOLLECTIONS: THE GHOST OF NEW YORK RADIO PAST

THE GHOST OF NEW YORK RADIO PAST

One last piece of unfinished business in our Salute To Radio.Here is a classic Radio Montage I wish I could say I put together, called The Ghost Of New York Radio Past.

In fact, it was done by WFUV’s Pete Fornatale with help from Don Feergard and Peter Mocover.(That’s Fornatale at the end, when he was a student at Fordham University’s radio station.)

And what a job they did!

It is without a doubt a grand, nostalgic trip down Memory Lane for listeners of New York City radio, but is a priceless piece of history no matter where you are from.

WOR-FM, WNEW-FM, the AM stations, the FM stations, Alan Freed, Murray the K, Cousin Brucie, Scott Muni, Mad Daddy, B. Mitchell Reed, Bobaloo, and just about anybody else you can think of will be represented here.

But of course, you will not hear ME, lol!

No where, no way!

This brilliant time capsule is now at the Museum Of Television & Radio.

Mike

Tags: Alan Freed, B. Mitchell Reed, Bobaloo, Cousin Brucie, Don Feergard, Fordham University, Mad Daddy, Murray the k, Museum Of Television and Radio, Pete Fornatale, Peter Mocover, Scott Muni, the AM stations, the FM stations, WFUV, WNEW-FM, WOR-FM

ROCKOLLECTIONS: BROKEN AND BREAKING RADIOS

CHAPTER EIGHT: BROKEN AND BREAKING RADIOS

Continuing the Salute to Radio and my 10 Years as the host of Rock Lives, Rockollections or anything else you want to call it…as long as it’s nice, lol!
I am going to pick up exactly where we left off, and even on my feel-good show, not all love stories have happy endings. Under our BIG umbrella of what I consider Rock & Roll, the great George Jones will sing.
Followed by a short set regarding Broken Radios.
Then going in the other direction, how Radio can do the Breaking- unknowingly breaking your heart!
How many times have you had the radio on at home or in the car, a song comes on and you are transported back to a sense of sadness or loneliness over the loss of an ex-love?
Just another example of Radio being a part of, and affecting, our lives.
I’ll play a beautiful song by Merrie Amsterburg, and a rocker by Roy Orbison to illuminate that circumstance.
Got a song that Engineer Ken turned me on to, and a Beatles’ theme they did for their own BBC show.
Finally, I am very much aware of the special relationship- the attachment- that forms between the listener and the guy on the radio. I have had a part in both sides of that.
So, I will close this episode with a tradition born on Dec. 18, 1967- the day Scott Muni started at WNEW-FM, and stayed for 31 years!
For his first 3 to 6 years- I wish I could recall precisely- he would end his show with this song, 7 days a week, and making it easy for me to tell when it was a few minutes till 7PM.
After that, during his remaining years there, he would always use the song to end his anniversary shows, and always leave me with a huge lump in my throat.
For a man who provided such a musical style and education for me, I could do much worse than to close my own 10th Anniversary with it in honor of him.
I am sure there will be 2 more parts to this Salute To Radio, so I will have more gratitude to express.
But for now, to anyone who has EVER listened to my little radio show/podcast, a great big thank you!

Mike

Tags: BBC, Beatles, Engineer Ken, George Jones, Merrie Amsterburg, Rock Lives, Roy Orbison, Scott Muni, WNEW-FM

ROCKOLLECTIONS: THE FALL OF FM RADIO

CHAPTER SIX: THE FALL OF FM RADIO

Anyone who has ever listened to my show or podcast knows that I do not have any rules about what I am going to play.
Most times doing a theme, the opening or the last song comes to me, sometimes both.
After that, I think of every song I can on the topic.
Then the most important part- I play them!
And while one is playing, the song that should come next becomes apparent to me.
No other song will do.
I have spent days looking for that next song- it HAS to be that one!
Most times I find it, sometimes I have to give up and think of what might be the 2nd best song to play next.
Sort of like an artist searching for a particular color, but I am not so egotistical as to regard that as a real comparison.
Then I go to the station, and sometimes because of time, I have to cut that song from the set, lol!
But for me, that is how I play the music.
No playlist, nobody tells me what I can or can’t play.
I am very aware of how lucky I am.
However, there was a brief time when that was the accepted way of doing radio.
For example, we had two commercial free-form stations here in New York- WABC-FM/WPLJ and WNEW-FM.
At ABC/PLJ that free-form format lasted less than 3 years, 1968-71.
Scott Muni, bless him, fought the good fight at WNEW-FM from 1967, as Program Director and just because he was the way he was, for himself and all the other DJ’s, until 1981!!!
If you detect some lingering animosity and bitterness on my part, you are correct.
Now, I will go after those sleazy beancounters who changed all that.
First up, a song about a guy after my own heart, who will hang up on you if you question why after Madonna he played George Jones.
Because he WANTED to!
And notice the statio he was at is WANT…as in what the people WANT?
Then the highlight, the centerpiece of not only this chapter but the whole series.
An epic poem by the singer/songwriter Mike Agranoff- Ballad Of The Sandman.
If you have never heard it, you are in for a treat and will never forget it.
If you have heard it, it is like a fine brandy, taken out on special occassions and savored.
In any case, it captures what 1960’s radio was like better than I ever could.
It is just a BRILLIANT piece of work, and I always get a huge reaction when I play it.
I will close this episode out with a song concerning something we all have experienced; losing our favorite DJ!
They hardly ever say anything and we are reduced to searching for him or her Around The Dial.
Now in this case I will admit to some ego in the lyrics, “you never gave in to fashion, you never followed any trend”.
Yeah, that’s me- just trying to play what I think is the best music!
There’s Magic in the Radio, Enchantment in the Ether!
Come join me for a look at how good the Radio COULD be, if it would DARE!

Mike

Tags: Around The Dial, Ballad Of The Sandman, George Jones, Madonna, Mike Agranoff, Scott Muni, WABC-FM, WNEW-FM, WPLJ