If it seems that an inordinate amount of time has been spent on this blog highlighting stations from the Youngstown area, you're right. For whatever reason, most of the submissions to NEO Airchecks have concerned the market's two Top 40 rivals of the 1970's, WHOT/1330 and WFMJ/1390. Your editor has enjoyed these airchecks, as it's been fun and educational to hear the personalities and formatics of the era. That having been said, don't feel as though we're shutting out other areas of the region. Again, any airchecks of northeast Ohio stations from the past or present are welcome here. Be sure to e-mail ideas or sources to neoairchecks@mail.com.
With that in mind, our friend Jerry Coleman brings us another of his high-quality WHOT recordings. This time we travel back to January 1, 1970. Allen Scott is spinning the top 100 tunes of 1969 on this first day of the New Year. Art Jordan, the future news director at WFMJ-TV, provides the headlines.
Allen Scott left WHOT not long after this broadcast. Taking over his slot was K.C. Martin, who came from WHLO/640 in Akron. According to our source, Martin died in an accident several years ago. Your editor has no confirmation of this, but would appreciate any assistance from our readers. As for Scott, longtime WHOT program director Dick Thompson has said that the onetime evening jock eventually became a priest.
Showing posts with label WHOT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WHOT. Show all posts
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
When the Music Stops, That's News
Just to prove that we're not a one-trick pony (and to provide some continuity), we're featuring a sometimes-overlooked member of the stations of yore: the newscaster. Amid the often bigger-than-life personalities that frequented radio stations of the past, it was probably easy to take the news anchor for granted. Most radio stations of that era had a news department, due to regulations that have long since fallen by the wayside.
WHOT's newsmen had a reputation for being among the best in the Mahoning Valley, often scooping more-established stations in the area. In this aircheck from June 3, 1965, WHOT anchor Ed Reddinger (sp?) reports on a riot at Geneva-On-The-Lake. This event was mentioned in modern-day comments included in the previous Jolly Rodger aircheck. This recording is another provided to us courtesy of Edward Woodward.
To provide some context, here's a link to a contemporary Time Magazine story mentioning the riot.
WHOT's newsmen had a reputation for being among the best in the Mahoning Valley, often scooping more-established stations in the area. In this aircheck from June 3, 1965, WHOT anchor Ed Reddinger (sp?) reports on a riot at Geneva-On-The-Lake. This event was mentioned in modern-day comments included in the previous Jolly Rodger aircheck. This recording is another provided to us courtesy of Edward Woodward.
To provide some context, here's a link to a contemporary Time Magazine story mentioning the riot.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Youngstown Airwaves: Part 1
For the blog's latest installment, we remain in Youngstown, but move across town from WFMJ to its onetime rival, WHOT 1330. Jolly Rodger (a.k.a. Rodger Skinner) is featured in this aircheck from June of 1964. While WHOT would successfully move its Top 40 format to FM in the 1980's, this recording dates from a period when 1330 was the undisputed king of the market.
Skinner came to WHOT after previous stints at WBLF and WPIC in Pennsylvania. At 1330 he was a part-time on-air personality, a position he held until midway through 1966, when he was fired for playing Bob Dylan's "Rainy Day Women #12 and #35" for four hours straight, sans commercials and news. Skinner then briefly held down mornings at WEEP in Pittsburgh as "Johnny Breit" before moving on to evening gigs at WIRK in West Palm Beach, Florida and WQAM in Miami in 1968. He used the on-air name John Paul Roberts in the latter stop. According to a message posted by Skinner on 440int.com, he retired in 2000 after selling his low-power television stations and other businesses in Florida.
Special thanks to Ed Woodward of Williamsburg, Virginia for contributing this aircheck, which includes some recent comments interjected by Skinner himself near its conclusion. Additional material from this period of WHOT, including news coverage of the riot at Geneva-On-The-Lake mentioned by Skinner, will be featured in future posts.
Editor's note: Jolly Rodger should not be confused with another Youngstown area radio veteran who used a similar name. "Jolly Roger" (a.k.a. Roger Luscombe) was the longtime program director of WSOM/600 and WSOM/105.1, the latter now known as country powerhouse WQXK/"K-105". After coming out of retirement, he became Johnny Kay's successor at WSOM/600 in 2007. Luscombe's position was one of several that later fell victim to budget cuts implemented by the stations' current owner, Cumulus Broadcasting.
Skinner came to WHOT after previous stints at WBLF and WPIC in Pennsylvania. At 1330 he was a part-time on-air personality, a position he held until midway through 1966, when he was fired for playing Bob Dylan's "Rainy Day Women #12 and #35" for four hours straight, sans commercials and news. Skinner then briefly held down mornings at WEEP in Pittsburgh as "Johnny Breit" before moving on to evening gigs at WIRK in West Palm Beach, Florida and WQAM in Miami in 1968. He used the on-air name John Paul Roberts in the latter stop. According to a message posted by Skinner on 440int.com, he retired in 2000 after selling his low-power television stations and other businesses in Florida.
Special thanks to Ed Woodward of Williamsburg, Virginia for contributing this aircheck, which includes some recent comments interjected by Skinner himself near its conclusion. Additional material from this period of WHOT, including news coverage of the riot at Geneva-On-The-Lake mentioned by Skinner, will be featured in future posts.
Editor's note: Jolly Rodger should not be confused with another Youngstown area radio veteran who used a similar name. "Jolly Roger" (a.k.a. Roger Luscombe) was the longtime program director of WSOM/600 and WSOM/105.1, the latter now known as country powerhouse WQXK/"K-105". After coming out of retirement, he became Johnny Kay's successor at WSOM/600 in 2007. Luscombe's position was one of several that later fell victim to budget cuts implemented by the stations' current owner, Cumulus Broadcasting.
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