NortheastAirchecks.com Comments and Commentary

Triple Pass

2008-03-06T06:44:00.010-05:00

Winters are hard.

Seems like more people pass away during the colder weather months than the warmer months. I wonder if statistics bare this out.

This winter has been most sad for radio folks. Three people, all radio people, who I was somehow connected with, passed on this winter. All three of them had some form of cancer. The "C-word" - the word that worries us all. All three of these individuals suffered - undeniably - through their illness.

There's definitely a sense of personal loss, and perhaps for me, even guilt associated for each of these passings. All and all, I wish I'd have paid more attention to each one of these individuals while they were still here with us.

Fred Horton - I never met him. But my friend Cary Pall spoke so highly of him so often, that I wished I had. Fred was one of those radio guys who would get into a station - one that was a real dog - and clean it up, get it sounding good despite the odds and turn it around. One outstanding example was WRUN Utica NY. The station had a great signal, but was a dog. Fred came in, tightened it up and quickly the station became a winner. (And incidentally, it slipped back to bein' a dog after he left.) Anoter station Horton fixed was WGNA Albany. That stations success as a tight highly produced Country station continues on to this day. Fred was also at WDRC, WYNY, WGNA, WTRY, WXTA, WGXK Memphis, TN, and WBEE FM Rochester. Horton was only in his mid 50's when he passed.

Jess Cain - Boston morning man and radio legend, the ultimate gentleman and listeners friend. His morning show on WHDH was filled with down right hilarity and subtle dignified humor. His 33 year reign started in the late 1950;s and ended in the early 90's. He was the kind of radio personality that regular listeners, after he retired, actually mourned his leaving. Cain was in a category of his own, although he also is in the category Boston greats, like Larry Glick, Carl deSuze, Gary LaPierre and Dale Dorman.

Gary Zoehfeld - Hudson Valley radio guy and super market cashier. I first heard Gary on WHUC Hudson, NY in about 1972. Incredibly, he replaced a guy named "Bob Evans" aka Al Bandiero. Upon hearing Gary, my reaction was wow - who is this guy? He sounded WAY BIGGER than Hudson NY. Like Bill Bailey on WLS. Ended up that Gary had been at WKNY in Kingston NY prior. I got to know Gary through buddy Neil Young. Gary was eccentric - a collector of stuff - radio and otherwise. Mostly, he loved radio. His radio career stretched the Hudson Valley and Albany areas on WSNY, WTRY and WPTR and he branched out to Connecticut and Western MA to work at WSPR, WAQY and WDRC. He lived his last 20 years in the Woodstock NY area and worked at WHVW, WHUD and at the Grand Union supermarkets in Woodstock and Tannersville NY. He bravely fought lung cancer for 2 1/2 years. He was sincerely touched by the support he got toward the end of his life from folks at WDST, WHUD, the Grand Union - and from that group of guys who worked with him at WHUC, all those years ago.

Spring can't come fast enough.

WRPI 50th Anniversary

2007-11-04T22:17:00.001-05:00

WRPI 91.5 Troy NY celebrated 50 years of broadcasting at the beginning of November.

WRPI was a favorite of mine growing up in Waterford, NY. I listened to Jerry Cohen playing jazz, Ed Dague doing talk and Chuck Phelan, Den Jackson and Dev Gualtieri on "Campus Session" every Saturday, where WRPI played Top 40 music.

I airchecked a four hour retrospective of the station that was broadcast. You can download it as an mp3 file by RIGHT CLICKING HERE. The file is about 120 mb, encoded at 64 kbps/22khz.

RPI Grad Den Jackson also wrote me about the anniversary:

"What a blast! All in celebration of the 50 anniversary of when WRPI started at 91.5 FM with 710 Watts, on November 1, 1957 with a GE Serrasoid modulated 1 kW beast of a transnmitter donated by the defunct WROW-FM. Today, at 10 kW from the old Channel 41 tower in Menands, it's one of the most powerful and interestingly programmed 100% student operated college stations in the country. People returned from RPI Classes of 1962 through 2004. All really great people! The current student staff and alumni office staff provided great hospitality and made us all feel very welcome! We all recorded promos and talked about old times and new. Richie Glassberg, the WRPI PBP announcer from when the RPI Engineers became national college hockey champs in 1984 returned to call the game against Yake Fri note (1-1 tie in overtime.)

"We all recorded promos and talked about old times and new. The long time line represented made us all realize that station has metamorphosized over and over again through the years. When my Class of '68 group arrived in Fall 1964, "rock and roll" was taboo. The year after I graduated (1968), WRPI station became totally free-form progressive. It went through an era where community volunteers did most of the shows, to where it became a voice for underrepresented minority student groups, and back to all student run with some venerable community show-hosts remaining."

Your buddy Rick did some time at WRPI - as a board op for my cousin John in 1970. So - my 3rd Class License hung at the 15th Street Lounge for a short time.

Congratulations to WRPI on their 50th!

Gary's New England Radio Pictures... Boston

2007-06-09T19:21:00.000-04:00

The WBZ lobby, with the gallery of air talent, from 1974.

Ron Robin at the WVBF studio, 1974.

Larry Justice in the WBZ studio, 1974.

The WBZ newsroom, 1974.

The WKOX Framingham control room in 1974.

WBZ's control room, 1974.

Thanks to our friend Gary Tompkins for these great photos!

Gary's New England Radio Pictures... WAQY and WTYM

2007-06-09T11:55:00.000-04:00

Dave Lane in the WTYM East Longmeadow, MA studio, 1975.

The WAQY, East Longmeadow, MA control room in 1977. Note the CCA board, along with the ITC cart machines.

The Raytheon Board in WTYM East Longmeadow, MA main studio in the early 1970's.

WAQY East Longmeadow, MA automation system, early 1970's.

Building the WAQY, Springfield MA automation in the early seventies. Gary says: This is from when we upgraded the Schafer 901 (mechanical relay control) to 903 (digital CPU). The upgrade was a compable to changing a timing belt with the engine running.

Thanks to our old friend Gary Tompkins for these great photos!

Elvis Freak

2007-04-25T22:39:00.000-04:00

Received this in email:

"My name is Fabris G.Luca,40 years old,Italy.
I'm an Elvis Presley researcher expecially on the early days. At the
mo all my researches are in relation to a book/CD project for
the Elvis fan club network. It's a 3/4 CD 200 pages book about
Elvis stay at SUN records done by Ernst Jorgensen(BMG chief on Elvis music
catalogue) which I'm now helping detailing the period from July of 1954 t
hrough the end of 1955.

"The book will consist of more than 400 early photos - half of them
previously unpublished. It's not an attempt of once again write the story
of Elvis Presley, but more a collection of information, photos,
memorabilia and stories shared by fans who where there at the time.
The book will not deal in gossip or other unpleasant material,
it's all about the innocence of the time and the impact
of Elvis'music. We are trying to document every single show Elvis
did, and we have come fairly close.

So I'm looking for photos, recordings from Louisiana Hayride
(KWKH program transmitted also by KTHS) or Opry,or any live radio gig
or interview ....Saturday night Country Style CBS program,
Big D Jamboree ANYTHING IS WELCOME FROM THE 50s!!

I?m trying to locate DJ called Mr Red Smith. When he worked for
WBOK,New Orleans,LA in 1955 he organized many gigs with Elvis?.

Does anybody know his real name??

And then looking also for Mr Lynn McDowell.He worked for WBIP
in Booneville,Ms in 1955?.Could you help?

Do you have friends owning photos or recordings?

Your help,anyone's help is welcome!

Write soon

I hope this is not too much of an intrusion.

Sincerely yours
Fabris G.Luca
Elvis Researcher"

If anyone can help Mr. Luca, you can contact him through me.

Jim Lewis - early 1960's Boston Radio Personality?

2007-04-09T23:57:00.000-04:00

Listener Emily R writes:

Rick, I know you are the one who can help me.
I am looking for ANYTHING on tape from
the radio that my father did. His name was Jim
Lewis. He was a DJ in the late '50's I know
at one time he was Fenway!  My brother was
born in Boston in (I think) 1961. Before that they were
in Northern California; San Francisco and
Sacramento. I have demo tapes from his
voice-over days in the '70s and '80s in Chicago
but I really want to hear him doing
Schtick on the radio. I have searched him on the
nternet like crazy and don't seem to get
anywhere. Yours is the most promising
website I've seen! Can you help me?

I've made a couple of contacts, but so far, can't seem to be able to
identify the station he worked at.  If anyone has an idea,
please email me.

Allen B. Shaw Jr in WPTR's Studio, 1966

2007-04-09T23:47:00.000-04:00

Wow.

I remember Allen B. Shaw Jr. Pretty good jock, and there will be an aircheck of him, along with some very interesting history of his life AFTER after WPTR in the future. In the meantime, dig Allen suckin' a cigarette in his skinny tie, those HUGE cart machines, and the Gates "Yard" Board.

WAQY Time...

2007-04-03T20:57:00.000-04:00

I love it when people send me photos about radio. No really, I do. Here's a cool one: the main control room of WTYM East Longmeadow, MA from 1975. That Bob Brooks sitting in front of the board, with morning man Dave Lane in the foreground. The WTYM studio later became the main studio for WAQY, WACKY 102 while I was there. It's interesting to see what was recycled for the WAQY re-build. The cart carosel (left and in back of the board) was used at WACKY; so was the phone. As for Brooks and Lane, that is probably for another time. Feel free to send me your radio photos that pertain to the northeast area.

Super Market(ing)

2006-10-29T07:06:00.000-05:00

So, I'm over at the local grocery store picking up my daily avocado, and what greets me on my windshield but this thing. It's interesting that Entercom went to such lengths to get the word out about the new station. I don't listen much to talk radio, but so far it has been kinda neat to have WEEI/WVEI on in Springfield. The signal does NOT seem particualrly great... and of course multi-path and picket fencing are always more prominent on a signal with no music. I wish them luck.

Roll Tape

2006-10-22T22:43:00.000-04:00

Listener Tim McIntyre writes: "Maybe you can help me. I'm actually trying to find a tape of a very recent show on WTKK - October 19, to be exact.So far, I haven't heard back from the producer or program director, but I heard that if there is tape, they probably don't keep it long. Where would be the best place to track such a thing down? It was the Jay Severin show from 10/19 - specifically where he talked about a guy who was too fat to hang.I would really appreciate the help! Thank you a million!" If anyone can help, lemme know.

Mic Ritchell

2006-10-06T16:19:00.000-04:00

So... Ric Mitchell is now on Albany's B95. I remember him way back from his days at WTRY in the mid 1970's. He and John Gabriel were the best jocks on the station then, under the old Herb scott regime. In his travels, it seems to me that he has been back to 'TRY a couple of times, along with WKLI, WGFM (remember "99 The Light"?) and at 1240 WVKZ (which I will always think of as WSNY). My ol' buddy Steve West of airchexx.com has an aircheck of Ric from 1979 on his website. You can listen here.

He was the Dean

2006-09-16T00:00:00.000-04:00

The Dean of Talk Radio, actually... Jerry Williams was such a beloved (and in some circles, disliked) Boston radio personality that he ended up getting his own website, jerrywilliams.org. I love the site because because it features tons and tons of audio... some of it going back to the very early days of Williams career.

I got a real nice email from Alan Tolz, who I met a few years ago at one of Len Zola's Media gang get togethers. Alan is the curator of the Jerry Williams site, and a good guy very dedicated to jerry's memory. he is co-authoring a biography of Williams that should be out next year.

If you ever want to listen to a folks doing real compelling talk radio, check out the Jerry William site, or listen to one of the airchecks of David Brudnoy or Larry Glick on this site. These guys made it good.

Searching for Charlie Quintal

2006-09-15T08:31:00.000-04:00

My new buddy, Joe Martelle sent me an interesting plea yesterday...

"Do you have an e-mail address or phone number for Charlie Quintal. Charlie was a frequent guest on my oldies show and a good bud, whom I've lost contact with. I'd like to invite him as well. Any help, as always, is appreciated. Charlie had a regional hit with 'Take Me As I am,' that I'd feature on the Oldies Show. Folks loved the song and Charlie. I can't seem to locate him anywhere in Mass. The phone number in Carver, Ma--which is listed on the back of his CD, 'The Charlie Quintal Collection' is no longer in service. "

So, if anyone could help out... please send me an email.

Flamingos from the 50's...(not the pink ones)

2006-08-27T13:41:00.000-04:00

My comments about the Flamingo's song on the Peter Wolf aircheck from WBCN prompted some comments from contributor Mikel J s some history about the group, and the production of their work.

"One of their greatest, but slightly lesser known songs was written by Sam Cooke. It's called 'Nobody Loves Me Like You Do'. Quickly, the founder of Gone, End, Rama & Gee Records was George Goldner (I actually did a tribute to him the night he died when I was at WENE) who created that 'Sound' you're talking about. It was predominant in the Chantells, Little Anthony (Tears On My Pillow...) The Dubs (Could This Be Magic), The Channels (Thats My Desire), The Cleftones (Little Girl Of Mine, also Heart & Soul) & a lot of other product from sessions he produced. I think he was at his best w/Shimmy Shimmy Ko Ko Bop. Eventually he sold out to Morris Levy who owned Roulette Records. Thats' why hundreds of compilation Lp's came out on Roulette in the early 60s. Those featured the aforementioned groups/artists in addition to The Crows, Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers and many more of GG's discoveries & records he produced. These words come because of your mention of that sound which I attribute to one fellow that was in the record business who really know what he was doing, found great talent and created some fantastic records. Stay well Buddy!"

And thanks for your comments, and history lesson, Mike!

Joe Martelle Oldies Show Update

2006-08-27T13:34:00.000-04:00

Mr. Martelle and I have been trading emails regualarly about his upcoming show, and northeastairchecks.com listeners have come through in a big way with audio files for Joe to utilize. he supplied me with this update:

It's a special return to 'SATURDAY NIGHT 'LIVE' at the OLDIES with JOE MARTELLE'...

Saturday night, October 28th at Anthony's Hall in Malden, Ma. A charity event, sponsored by 'The Joint Committee for Children's Health Care," to raise funds for children without health insurance. If more info, regarding ticket costs, tables etc., please contact Dr. Peter Masucci at drpeter@comcast.net

Northeastairchecks will be posting a great aircheck of Joe from the early 1980's in October in honor of this special event. Keep listening and check... and mark your calendars for this great event for a great cause!

One Night Stand in Boston for Joe Martelle

2006-04-23T16:29:00.000-04:00

Joe writes:

"Later this year, I've been asked to do a special benefit, back in Boston. It's a one night oldies show and I'm wondering if you or any of your contributors can supply me with any jingles from the original WROR, The Golden Great-98.5-ROR. I aired these jingles for 13 years on my oldies show, 'Saturday Night 'live' at the Oldies' from 1980 until 1993. Any help, including the names of folks to contact, would be greatly appreciated. My last gig, (after 41 years on the radio) was AM-Drive at 'Sunny' in West Palm Beach. Because of voice problems and nodules on my vocal cords I was forced to step down in April 2004 and have been on long term medical disability since that time. I'm restricted to how much and how long I can use my voice, but wanted to help raise funds for children in need of medical care in the Greater Boston area. Because of my own disability, I will be assisted by a d-j during this special one night only oldies benefit.

I Love your site. It brings back many happy radio memories of so many great personalities.

Thanks for your time and all my best,

Joe Martelle, former AM-Drive,host of ROR's Joe N' Andy Family and Boston's All Request Oldies Show, Saturday Night 'Live' at the Oldies."

I'm figuring that a lot of those WROR jingles are still under copyright, but if you think you can help Joe out, send me an email using the link above. It sure was great to hear from him!

The Bullfighting Campaign Ends

2006-02-11T09:03:00.000-05:00

I noted with sadness that Bill Edwardsen died this past Monday.

I have several vivid recollections of Edwardsen: it seems to me he left WGY in about 1970 when WGY started playing contemporary music (I remember Hy Agens playing "Signs' by the 5 Man Electrical Band, which blew my mind). He complained often about the revised music policy. Also, he did a bit in the 1960's to bring Bullfighting to the Capital District, I recall he even had bumper stickers printed. When he came back from Cleveland, he was on in the afternoon on WQBK, and was of course later at WMVI and WABY. Sad to see him go.

Another Albany radio vet, Mikel J, set me this ad for WGY from the 60's. The obit as noted in the Albany Times-Union:

ALBANY Bill Edwardsen, 78, died at St. Peter's Hospital on February 6, 2006 after a short illness. He was the long-time area morning radio host of Breakfast with Bill starting at WGY from 1954-1970, followed by WQBK, WMVI, WABY, WGNA and WVCR. After serving in the Navy in the Pacific Theater during World War II, Bill worked at several jobs until he found his true calling in 1949 working for WNLK in Norwalk, Connecticut. He then moved to radio stations in Bridgeport, Conn. and Albuquerque, N.M. and to a TV station in Fresno, Calif., before coming to WGY. He did an afternoon radio show at WJW in Cleveland from 1970 to 1972. Bill was well known for playing the Great American Standards by Frank Sinatra, Mel Torme, Ella Fitzgerald, the Four Freshmen, Duke Ellington, and others, although he also hosted a radio talk show from 1976 to 1982 on WQBK. Bill was an avid golfer and belonged to several area golf courses throughout the years and until recently, played an average of four to
five days a week in season. To his delight, he played the Old Course at St. Andrews twice. Bill loved to travel and hosted several listener tours to Europe and one to South America to hear the Bossa Nova played. He also traveled extensively with his wife to Europe, China, Tahiti, and Costa Rica. Survivors include his wife of 24 years, Jean Stern Edwardsen of Albany; his daughters, Melody and Elizabeth; and three grandchildren. A memorial service will be held later in the spring at the convenience of the family. Donations in Bill's name may be made to the Capital City Rescue Mission, 259 South Pearl St., Albany, NY 12202; The Peter G Young Foundation, PO Box 1338, Albany, NY 12201; or to a charity of the donor's choice. Funeral arrangements are by the Hans Funeral Home, Albany

RIP, Bill.
.

Here, There and No Where

2005-12-17T08:37:00.000-05:00

I have gotten a number of emails about the update for December, 2005.

First of all, I'm fine.

I have been very very busy with family and work matters... illness, work and life in general.

December 2005 was the first time I hadn't updated the site on a monthly basis in seven years. That's how busy I've been.

Feel free to email me about the site or radio happenings in general, and if approved, I'll post them here.

Have GREAT HOLIDAYS!

Rick Snyder of 1960's WTRY Appears

2005-11-28T23:00:00.000-05:00

...and I got a real nice email from him, where he says:

The WTRY air check had Ed Reily, Jim Lord's voice,
Lee Gray and Rick Snyder.  What fantastic memories
and what a great station we had.  Even
though my experience at WTRY was 40 years ago,
I still maintain
friendships with WTRY colleagues  from that era.

Of course it was wonderful to hear Dan Ingram and some
of the great Boston DJ's of the 60's.
And to hear some of the smaller market stations
with great local talent (some of whom are still
around) was terrific!

Keep up the good work.  I'll be back to hear more.
I was at 'TRY from June of "64 to November of "66,
a little more than 2 years and I wish I had stayed.
However, all things being equal, I think I've
had a personally satisfying, great career
and a greater even time.

He's working in Public TV in Florida... great to hear that he is doing so well.

Chapter, the First

2005-11-28T22:56:00.000-05:00

I'll occasionally post interesting emails or commentary here. Please go to the home page if you like to send me an email contribution. Thanks.