Radio Goes To War

With Americans observing this week's anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, it's appropriate to feature some airchecks made in the wake of the incident that launched the United States into World War II. The first segment is a partial recording of an NBC news roundup of the events of December 8, 1941, 71 years ago today. An unidentified announcer summarizes the Japanese attack on Manila, President Franklin Roosevelt's address to Congress and the subsequent vote to declare war on Japan. This broadcast, which was captured on a Wilcox-Gay home recording disc and eventually discovered by the editor, appears to have been made in the late afternoon or early evening of December 8th. While it's not clear which NBC affiliate was recorded here, this program was undoubtedly heard in northeast Ohio. WTAM in Cleveland was an affiliate of NBC's Red Network, while WAKR in Akron and WFMJ in Youngstown were affiliates of the Blue Network.

The second aircheck was found on the flip side of the same disc. A different announcer on an unnamed network provides a similar account of December 8th. Any assistance with identifying either announcer or pinning down the time of broadcast would be greatly appreciated by the editor.

Solid Gold For Your Ears

NEO Airchecks wishes its readers a Happy New Year. Better late than never, right?

This time around the blog features Warren, Ohio's WRRO/1440. In this scoped aircheck from circa 1986, Ron Leader is filling in for longtime morning man Ron Fantone. Leader, perhaps best-known to listeners of that era as raucous Saturday night oldies guru "Dr. Rock", presents the same music in a much more relaxed manner here. Midday host Evelyn St. Clair is also heard in commercials for the upcoming Italian-American Heritage Festival.

WRRO began life in 1941 as WRRN/1400 before moving to its current dial position by the 1950's. Helen Hart Hurlburt, longtime publisher of Warren's Tribune-Chronicle newspaper, purchased the station in 1948. The call letters were quickly changed to WHHH, a reflection of her initials. When Hurlburt sold WHHH to Warren Broadcasting in 1981, the WRRO calls were implemented, and would remain there until 1998. By the 1990's, the oldies format heard in this aircheck was phased out in favor of news/talk and later still, sports talk. The station went through a few more changes in ownership and call letters before finding its way into the hands of current owner Salem Communications in 2001. Now known as WHKZ, 1440 primarily is a simulcast of WHKW/1220 in Cleveland.

Another Auld Lang Syne

In the past, the blog has marked the arrival of each New Year with an aircheck from a previous New Year's Eve. 2012 is no different. NEO Airchecks revisits Youngstown Top 40 rivals WHOT/1330 and WFMJ/1390, as heard forty years ago this week. In the two-part recording provided courtesy of friend Jerry Coleman, K.C. Martin spins the big hits of 1971 on WHOT and takes a call from one listener wishing to burn Donny Osmond at the stake. Just listen, and you'll see what we mean. Martin's approach to his show is much more loose than that of his co-workers heard in airchecks from roughly the same period.

Ted Alexander and Steve "Baby" Michaels are heard doing a similar year-end countdown on WFMJ, and taking repeated shots at WHOT. Later on in the aircheck, personalities from at least one other Youngstown area station pile on, no doubt encouraged by Michaels' poetry concerning WHOT overnight personality "Big Al Knight", otherwise known as longtime PD Dick Thompson. Be sure to listen for cameo appearances by PD Ron Davidson and newsman Gary Gunther.

The New Kid In Town

As NEO Airchecks awaits the entrance of 2012, the humble blog looks back to the end of another year. This time it’s 1976, when a small FM in Sharpsville, Pennsylvania took to the airwaves. WFAR/95.9 was the FM counterpart to WFAR/1470, licensed to Farrell, Pa. Both stations were founded by Sanford Schafitz, doing business as Farrell-Sharon Broadcasting.

In this aircheck, an anonymous announcer presents a commercial-free mixture of mostly lite rock hits of the era. WFAR/95.9 began broadcasting on December 28, 1976. The specific date of this recording is unclear, but it appears to be from the station’s first few days on the air. [Editor’s note: It’s merely my opinion, but WFAR’s format sounds like a sleepy, loosely-executed version of Adult Contemporary.]

After Schafitz’s death in 1979, WFAR/95.9 and 1470 were sold to Broadcast Service Communications. When the new owner couldn’t make either station fly, they were sold to National Communications System in 1982. This buy-sell trend would continue well into the 1990’s, along with a slew of format changes and call letters.

95.9, now sporting the call letters WAKZ, is currently owned by Clear Channel. It broadcasts a rhythmic format branded as “Kiss FM”. 1470 was split from its longtime FM sister in 1999. Vilkie Communications recently announced its plans to purchase the station, now known as WLOA, from Educational Media Foundation.

NEO Airchecks realizes that this article spotlights a Pennsylvania station, but being just across the state line from Youngstown, it is considered part of the Youngstown-Warren market.

Rockin' In the Hall of Fame City

Sometime ago, NEO Airchecks promised an upcoming feature about Canton's onetime Top 40 powerhouse, WINW/1520. The aircheck in question was misplaced and therefore unavailable for posting here. Thankfully, another recording of the station commonly known as "Win-Wonderful" has found its way to the blog's editor. In this aircheck from May 1976, PD Jonathan Holly is at the helm for morning drive. This appears to be an edited version of a tape that was recently posted on Airchexx.com. Special thanks to Wes Boyd of Youngstown, Ohio for this submission.

Despite the restrictions of being a daytimer, WINW was still riding high in the Canton ratings book a little more than a decade after entering the market. Around the same time as this broadcast, Canton's WQIO/1060 switched to its popular "Q-10" Top 40 format. As a result, a significant number of WINW listeners defected to WQIO. While "Win-Wonderful" would soldier on under PD Keith London, WQIO's success would force WINW to leave the format by 1981. WQIO soon fell victim to the limitations of its daytimer status and emerging FM music formats in the market.

Repeated vandalism at the station's transmitter site knocked WINW off the air in September of 2010. Its urban gospel format briefly returned to the local airwaves, but again fell silent within a few months' time. The station's license was deleted by the Federal Communications Commission in March 2011. Owner Pinebrook pushed for reinstatement, and the request was later granted by the FCC. As of November 4, 2011, the station remains silent.

"Smokin' " In the Studio

When NEO Airchecks last visited Youngstown hit music station WHOT/1330, it was December 1971 and Michael C. Richards was at the helm for afternoon drive. This week the humble blog fast forwards to September 1975, where we find "Smokin' Bill" Cannon spinning the hits in the evening. Cannon would prove to be a steady presence at 1330 and WHOT/101.1, remaining there until the early 90's. He moved on to classic rocker WYFM/102.9, better known as "Y-103". Cannon stayed in the afternoon timeslot at Y-103 until budget cuts by owner Cumulus led to his exit from the Mahoning Valley airwaves in 2009.

The first thing that struck the editor about this aircheck is the utter lack of jingles. None. Nadda. Compare this recording with the aforementioned 'check of Richards, and you'll see what we mean. The cheery jingle packages that had been heard in previous years had clearly fallen out of favor, no doubt a response to the growing power of the more modern FM music formats of the era.

Speaking of FM, you'll probably notice mention of the simulcast of Cannon's show on sister station WHOT/101.1, previously known as WRED and a longtime home to a country format. (NEO Airchecks will have more on that incarnation at another time. )
By this time, FM was seeing a growing number of listeners, though overall listenership in the U.S. wouldn't overtake AM until a few years later. Notice, too, the promotion of Jerry Starr's overnight progressive rock program on 101.1, while the stalwart "Big Al Knight" (otherwise known as PD Dick Thompson) continued to present his brand of Top 40 on 1330.

Special thanks to Brian Gartland of Columbus, Ohio for making this aircheck available to the blog.

Your Leader in Cleveland

After visiting the modern rock genre in our most recent feature, NEO Airchecks turns back the hands of time to the golden age of Top 40. The focus is Cleveland's WKYC/1100 (now WTAM). Heard in this brief aircheck from 1967 is Jack Armstrong, a.k.a. "Big Jack". Based on WKYC music surveys from the era, this broadcast appears to be from early March.

WKYC had lured Armstrong away from market-leading WIXY/1260 in January, even though he was still under contract with WIXY. Despite his success in the evening timeslot, WKYC failed to obtain better overall ratings, and was therefore unable to dethrone its rival. A major stumbling block for its format was the fact that the station was owned and operated by NBC, meaning that it was required to air NBC newscasts and other network programming.

Armstrong ultimately moved on to other radio giants of the era, including WMEX/1510 in Boston and KFI/640 in Los Angeles. His last stop on the airwaves occurred in 2006 on Buffalo's WWKB/1520, over which he had been heard during its Top 40 heyday. Armstrong (born John Larsh) passed away in 2008.




Special thanks to NEO Airchecks friend Jeff Goodridge for providing this aircheck.