Meeting An Old Friend For The First Time

bob hardt and geoff fox at lunch

I had lunch with Bob Hardt today. Bob and I have so many friends in common it’s amazing we hadn’t met until today.

It’s funny how age difference shrinks as you get older. Back when I was finishing high school, Bob came to New York City where he anchored news on WABC Radio and later the ABC Contemporary Network.

I’m not sure he knew it at the time, but he came to what was America’s most influential radio station. WABC was a blowtorch. There will never be another station like it.

He sounds exactly the same. Based on the on-air kidding he used to get about being thin, his shape hasn’t changed either.

We swapped stories and commiserated about radio’s death at the hand of corporations. That part’s sad. We both love what radio was. It was a huge part of our lives.

Mostly it was a good time… a chance to connect with someone I should have known for years. And, I now have a new friend in Palm Springs.

This Calls For A Blog Entry

I was twenty and skinny. I looked like I was 14. I had a 1960 VW that mostly didn’t run. My apartment in Lake Worth had no air conditioning. Brutal.

I was program director at Mother. It was more like being a traffic cop.

My email often contains unexpected treasures. I am easy to find.

Dear Geoff-

I ran across your site a few years ago but did’nt feel the urge to write until I realized that time is of the essence and we’re not getting any younger (how about those cliches?).

Since you were the first PD at Mother, I figured you would be able to help me out. I grew up in South Florida and lived in Lantana when WMUM was on the air so it was about the only station we listened to and responsible for alot of my tastes in music to this day,for better or worse.

I was wondering if you have any airchecks from the station which could be posted on your site or maybe Youtube or somewhere else? I’ve been looking for years with no luck and as I’m now in my sixties I would love to try to recapture some of that special time before it’s too late.

Sorry that this sounds so dire,but I think you get my drift. Thanks for any help you can give- Pete

For readability I have added paragraph breaks to Pete’s email.

Good god! I went to WMUM sometime in 1970. What a strange trip that was!

More on that momentarily.

Hi Peter,

First, thanks for listening. Thanks for remembering. It’s been over 40 years.

Someone sent me a few airchecks while I was in Connecticut. I’m not sure they made the move. If I come across them, I will make a copy for you.

I haven’t thought about WMUM in a while. This calls for a blog entry.

All the best,
Geoff Fox

Culturally, the early 70s can be considered “the sixties.” The sixties ended when Nixon resigned.

I was working part time in Fall River, MA. I’d dropped out of college. The company I was with offered me a job in Florida at their FM station.

$160 for a six day week. Imagine.

FM was just getting a toehold. The ‘big stations’ were still all on AM. Most cars only had AM radios.

We called the station “Mother.” Our format was “underground.” We spoke in soft whispers. We played inside tracks.

We were pretty far left in our politics. It was the height of the Vietnam War. We ran PSAs for clinics helping men avoid the draft.

WMUM was located on the beach in Palm Beach, Florida. Walk out our front yard–next stop Europe! The fire red Sun rose from the sea in our large picture window every morning.

The property later became a private residence. It’s now a medium rise condo.

Our property ended at the south edge of the Lake Worth municipal beach. Hence&#185, a year round stream of scantily clad young women.

I was twenty and skinny. I looked like I was 14. I had a 1960 VW that mostly didn’t run. My apartment in Lake Worth had no air conditioning. Brutal.

I was program director at Mother. It was more like being a traffic cop. I may have fired someone for smoking a joint in the studio. Only a fuzzy memory. I make no claim at being a good administrator. I didn’t know what I was doing.

It was a quirky station. The format proved mostly unsuccessful nationwide. I moved on to more mainstream radio.

&#185 – This is my first unforced “hence” usage.

What Satellite Radio Has Taught Me About Terrestrial Radio

Before the switch I listened mostly to NPR talk. Now it’s mostly music… mostly oldies–60s through 00s.

Is this proof a high commercial load drove me from music radio? I think it is. Thirty percent of the hour is stuff I don’t want to hear. I now have options.

Stereo-ControlsMy new car has satellite radio. It has AM, FM and weather band too.

Too late. I have moved.

Before the switch I listened mostly to NPR talk. Now it’s mostly music… mostly oldies–60s through 00s.

Is this proof a high commercial load drove me from music radio? I think it is. Thirty percent of the hour is stuff I don’t want to hear. I now have options.

I hear Cousin Brucie on satellite. I’ve listened since I was a teen. I met him while I was in high school. He was a very big deal.

He is currently doing the best work of his career on Sirius/XM. This is the perfect format for him, a guy who was always nice to everybody. The show is built around him, not the reverse.

I’ve also found myself listening to old radio shows. This is way before my time. I enjoy hearing the credits. Some big show biz names used to do network radio dramas.

In those less enlightened times, cops often did things that would be frowned upon today–or so said the scripts. Entrapment and street justice were the rule!

I am disappointed by the fidelity on some channels I listen to. Each is separately compressed to squeeze more content onto the satellite. The cost for that is music that has fewer highs and bass bottom. Some news channels sound like they’re on the phone! I’d sacrifice some choice for higher fi.

Sirius/XM covers network commercials on CNN, FNC, MSNBC, etc. with ‘per inquiry’ ads for dubious products. There are no commercials on the music channels, which is why it doesn’t annoy me to the point of cancelling.

I will renew when my free period ends.

Peter Is Here–It’s Radio Days

IMG_0041Peter Mokover is in town. Sunday, he and Nancy came over. I invited a few others. Helaine prepared a feast.

It was radio days!

Peter has an unbelievable collection of great New York City radio moments on-tape. As a teen he was obsessed. He recorded WABC’s Dan Ingram show open and close EVERY day! He still has those recordings.

I remember a shelf in Peter’s apartment in Cherry Hill. Box-after-box-after-box of white 5″ audio tape. Nicely leadered. Peter had an archivist’s touch.

That wall is now a tiny piece of Peter’s hard drive. Properly cataloged in a tree like directory structure, Peter is no less obsessed than he was at sixteen.

He played a few airchecks today. These are recordings, often made in the studio, which only roll when the mic is on. No songs… except the opening and closing few seconds. You’re listening to the disk jockey.

We listened to the iconic news sounders WCBS used in the 70s and 80s. Then some jingles and more airchecks.

Peter and I were driven to get into radio. It was as if we had no free will. It sucked us in.

Radio’s not like that anymore. That’s a shame, because it used to be a fun way to earn a living.

Peter (never Pete, sometimes Petey–as his mom called him) was my boss in Philadelphia, though we first met in Cleveland. Peter showed me my first pocket calculator. He kept me company the night I got to fill-in on WNEW’s Milkman’s Matinee.

Once, in his office, he told me I should stop telling the jokes that weren’t funny. I’m sure I’ll get over that meeting at some point.

Tomorrow, armed with a trusty thumbdrive, I’ll clone that amazing collection. Life is good.

If You Ain’t Heard Your Name By This Time, It’s Probably Cause It Just Don’t Rhyme!

My messy office at home

Helaine has declared it spring cleaning time. There’s no excuse for me to be a slacker. After 23 years in this house we’ve accumulated a lot of crap. Everything must go!

OK–not everything, but if I haven’t looked at it over the last decade (or possibly two) it needs to be tossed. Fair enough.

The anti-intuitive part of cleaning and straightening is the first step is to make things messier! I have two wall units. I pulled most everything to the floor.

That’s tough love cleaning. It becomes easier to toss than return!

From time-to-time a discovery is made. Like most archaeological digs, most of what was unearthed in my room was worthless. Not everything!

I have audio tapes. Reel-to-reel. No player. I couldn’t toss them. OK–I tossed a few unlabeled boxes.

There were audio cassettes too. That’s where this afternoon’s KGB aircheck came from.

Tonight there are audio CDs and three gems I have to share. Indulge me.

Part of what made radio so special was the production of it all. The premier production element was (and is) the jingle.

I’ve written about and linked to the work of Jon Wolfert. He is the King of Jingles. Irrefutable. He is the keeper of the flame.

Alas, none of what I’m posting is his. I hope he doesn’t think I’m cheating.

First up the PAMS copyright notice. A jingle company could have printed its copyright notice on the label. Not PAMS. They chose to sing theirs!

Second, the iconic news opening from the Johnny Mann produced package that ran on stations consulted by Bill Drake (and a few others). After the third note, just say (in your ballsiest voice), “It’s twenty minutes before three. I’m Byron MacGregor, CKLW 20-20 News.”

Finally, a jingle company’s tribute to itself and its clients. This is the TM Song. This blog entry’s title, “If You Ain’t Heard Your Name By This Time, It’s Probably Cause It Just Don’t Rhyme!” is included in the lyrics!

I love this stuff. Radio and I were very close.

My Favorite Jingle, Version 3.0

When you’re a kid and not feeling well you’re likely to get gifts. Hey kids, adults are guilt ridden!

Actually, when you’re a grown-up you get get well gifts as well. We just got a delivery of amazing brownies. Earlier last week I got a beautiful fruit/goodies basket from the folks at work. And then there’s the jingle.

A jingle isn’t a traditional get well gift. In fact this jingle probably wasn’t even meant as a get well gift. It is one anyway.

When you’re a kid and not feeling well you’re likely to get gifts. Hey kids, adults are guilt ridden!

Actually, when you’re a grown-up you get get well gifts as well. We just got a delivery of amazing brownies. Earlier last week I got a beautiful fruit/goodies basket from the folks at work. And then there’s the jingle.

A jingle isn’t a traditional get well gift. In fact this jingle probably wasn’t even meant as a get well gift. It is one anyway.

My jingle comes from JAM Creative Productions in Dallas. JAM makes the jingles radio stations play between songs.

We use the finest team of vocalists, musicians, writers and producers, and our custom-built facilities, to create musical images heard around the world. – JAM website

JAM stands for Jon and Mary Lyn. I have known them since the 70s.

This jingle started its life before JAM existed! It was originally PAMS Series 29 Cut 6 and was customized for morning drive at WABC. I played it when I did nights on 1100 WBT Charlotte. Back then the lyrics were:

From Canada to Florida, Carolina and the USA. 11-10. Double-youuuuuu Beeee Teeee

When I worked in New Haven, Jon cut a custom version for me. Now at FoxCT it’s been sung again. Each version has become my all time favorite jingle! How could it not?

I love this jingle on a variety of levels. Yes, I worked on a 50,000 watt station heard from Canada to Florida… and we bragged about it! Yes, it’s very cool to know singers have sung your name.

This must be a get well gift because I can’t play it on-the-air until I get well. I’m hoping one more week will do it.

Thanks Jon and Mary Lyn. It’s even cooler than you think.

Go ahead, play the jingle!

PAMS Series 29 Cut 6 / Canada-to-Florida custom! by Geoff Fox 1

My First Fulltime Job

I’m really not sure why I went looking for this, but this is my first ever mention in the ‘trades.’ This article was from the February 28, 1970 issue of Billboard. WMUM was my first fulltime job in broadcasting!

The article (sorry that’s as large as it gets) mentions the Knight Quality Stations. As it turns out many weren’t on at night and most had little relationship with quality.

Damn, that’s a long time ago!

I Know What That Is

No more turntables. No more cartridge machines. Nearly everything I used when I was in radio was gone.

I drove down to the Cox Radio studios in Milford this afternoon. Bob Alvine from Premier Subaru and I were cutting a radio spot. We were escorted into a spotlessly sterile production room with three beautiful studio microphones.

After the session I walked around to the ‘business’ side of the mixing console. No more turntables. No more cartridge machines. Nearly everything I used when I was in radio was gone.

There was one exception. In the corner of the room sat an analog reel-to-reel tape deck.

“I know what that is,” I said to the production director as I stared down at a slotted metal slab affixed to the deck’s surface. It was an edit block.

Back before sound was ingested by computers and sliced up digitally we’d actually find where a specific sound ‘lived’ on audiotape and edit it with a razor blade! I was pretty good as an editor–able to remove the “s” from tomatoes and seamlessly cut music on the beat.

No one does that anymore. The Cox production director works with Adobe Audition. Even more people use Pro Tools. With a few clicks of the mouse sound is displayed as waves then expanded to easily find an edit point.

I guess editing with tape and a razor is another now worthless skill I possess. Seeing the edit block was like being reintroduced to an old friend.

Bootleg Top-40 Lives

It wasn’t a conventional LP. It was a recording of airchecks–short snippets of disk jockeys talking over the intros and outros of top-40 hits. The actual songs were inconsequential. Once the disk jockey stopped talking the track cut to the next element.

The photo on the left arrived in my mailbox early this morning. Bill Dillane found it and wanted me to forward it to my friend Howard Lapides, the guy holding the album.

Done.

It’s probable you’ve never heard Bootleg Top-40, the album in Howard’s hands. It wasn’t a conventional LP. It was a recording of airchecks–short snippets of disk jockeys talking over the intros and outros of top-40 hits. The actual songs were inconsequential. Once the disk jockey stopped talking the track cut to the next element.

I was just getting started on-the-air when this album arrived. This was disk jockey porn! It was a collection of impressive jocks to rip off emulate… and I did.

I committed it to memory! I can still recite all the lines from WAKY’s Bill Bailey or KCBQ’s Rich “Brother” Robin along with dozens of others.

Like nearly everything else Bootleg Top-40 has found its way to the Internet. If you enjoyed listening to top-40 radio in the 70s (or want to hear what it was like) it’s worth a click.

WCBS-FM Is Number One Again. That’s Very Good For Everyone.

Not to use too many bird metaphors but CBS had killed the goose that laid the golden egg. Profits plunged. Nice going corporate bean counters.

Back in 1972 WCBS-FM became one of America’s first oldies stations. It was fabulously successful. That’s another way of saying it was very profitable.

By 2005 radio was changing. Though CBS-FM was still very profitable its operating costs were very high. Technology had enabled other stations to pare their budgets by cutting back on live disk jockeys. Profit is just as meaningful when it comes from diminished costs as it is from increased sales.

On June 3, 2005 CBS-FM became Jack-FM. The disk jockeys (the expensive disk jockeys) were gone. In their place was an automated station playing a wide variety of music.

The public took to Jack-FM like a duck takes to oil!

Not to use too many bird metaphors but CBS had killed the goose that laid the golden egg. Profits plunged. Nice going corporate bean counters.

To quote Wikipedia:

The “Jack” format experiment at WCBS-FM is widely regarded, inside and outside the industry, as one of the greatest failures in modern New York radio history, as the station fell to the very bottom of the ratings of full-market-coverage FM stations in the New York market.

That’s skill!

Seeing the error of their ways (and missing all that cash) CBS decided to go back to oldies on WCBS-FM in 2007. The switch paid off almost immediately. And now:

New York radio has a new No. 1 station. Classic hits WCBS-FM has taken the top spot in the ratings for May, according to the monthly ratings report from Arbitron, which was released Wednesday.

In the category of listeners aged 12 years old and up, WCBS beat WLTW-FM with a 6.4 share of the audience vs. Lite FM’s 6.0. Clear Channel Radio’s WLTW had been the No. 1 station every month since Sept. 2008, but while its numbers have held steady, CBS FM’s have climbed. – Crains New York Business

While companies like Clear Channel, Citadel, Cumulus and other large radio group owners have tried to make more by spending less CBS has decided to let superior programming and attention to local detail find its own level.

Don’t get me wrong. This is CBS. They are a corporation that mostly does things in a corporate type of way. They are not radio’s Mother Theresa, but they have come up with a winner in New York City by investing in the product.

Oh my God! Good triumphs over evil.

As an old radio guy (in every sense of that word) I have been disheartened by what radio has become. Too often you’re listening to someone who’s not live nor in your city. Local service is gone. One chain with a presence in Connecticut does their local news from Syracuse, NY!

I often moan that radio is dead. It was weakened at the exact time other technologies like iPods and Pandora were rising. And the death spiral was set in motion by heavily leveraged companies with neither the money nor desire to compete the old fashioned way.

The success of WCBS-FM could mean there’s still a pulse.

Entertained On The Plane

It was video coming down. It’s been audio on the way home. I just listened to “This American Life” then WNYC’s “RadioLab.”

Greeting from seat 4A. I have no clue where I am except it’s 10:01 PM and it’s dark outside.

I’m on Southwest which is old school as far as entertainment is concerned. There is no entertainment other than what you bring yourself.

There’s a laptop in my bag in the overhead, but it’s the iPhone I writing this blog entry on that’s been stocked to entertain.

It was video coming down. It’s been audio on the way home. I just listened to “This American Life” then WNYC’s “RadioLab.”

What sets these two podcasts apart is their ability to tell a story in a full and richly detailed way. You just don’t hear radio like this ever. It’s a shame. It’s really entertaining. I’d say it’s also educational, but that would probably turn you off.

The first story was about a young girl who became General Manuel Noriega’s pen pal. The story was fascinating and I’d never heard it before. Second up was a woman whose imprisoned husband wrote a letter every day for eight years. Not as good. Finally I heard the story of a assisted living facility in Germany that erected a faux bus stop to catch wandering patients. I couldn’t stop listening.

Maybe this is an acquired taste? I’m not scared to listen. I can’t see my daughter doing this willingly. She’d probably enjoy them anyway.

“Sully” says 50 miles to go. I can now see New Haven under the plane. Almost home.

It goes more quickly when you’re entertained and busy.

They Fired Joey Reynolds

Whereas most radio stations and disk jockeys had jingles cut in Dallas by Pams or TM (or now by my friend Jon Wolfert at Jam) Joey had a jingle sung by the Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons!

Word came last night WOR radio let Joey Reynolds go. I can’t help but feel bad because Joey is one of the reasons radio attracted me so much and why I made it my career for 11 years. Though I lived in Queens and had both WMCA and WABC at my beck and call I gravitated to WKBW in Buffalo, a station I could only hear after dark.

Joey was having a party in the studio and I was invited night-after-night. As good as Dan Ingram, Cousin Brucie and Gary Stevens were they were never as approachable as Joey seemed. I sent my self addressed stamped envelope off to Buffalo to get my purple membership card in the Royal Order of the Night People. I wanted in!

I remember hearing about Joey at other stations as his career bounced up-and-down after ‘KB. At one point he was selling jingles (or so I remember) made to be sung over the intro to records. There are some songs I can’t hear today without hearing some now defunct station’s call letters sung over the front!

A few years ago Joey went to WOR New York where he held down the free form all-night talk show. He’s still that party guy I remember with an infectious laugh that’s instantly recognizable.

Even in the best of times you don’t make money keeping a radio station on-the-air 24/7. Nowadays all-nights are a liability in an otherwise awful economic time for radio. Joey was replaced by a syndicated show–one host for scores of stations across the entire country.

Among the things I remember most about Joey is a jingle from his show. Whereas most radio stations and disk jockeys had jingles cut in Dallas by Pams or TM (or now by my friend Jon Wolfert at Jam) Joey had a jingle sung by the Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons!

I’ll bet you I haven’t heard this in 40+ years–until now.

[pro-player height=”30px” type=”MP3″]https://www.geofffox.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/joey_reynolds.mp3[/pro-player]

Oldies But Goodies Return

CBS seems to have seen the error of its ways. The rumor is, sometime next week oldies will ring out again from 101.1 FM in New York.

I’ve been in TV over 25 years, yet my heart is still in radio. I loved being a jock. It was what I wanted to be when I grew up!

Back then, I thought I was pretty good… though I cringe today when hearing some airchecks. I got as far as doing mornings in Philadelphia. That’s not so awful.

A few years ago, CBS decided to change the format of WCBS-FM. For decades it had been a New York City fixture as ‘the’ oldies station. Though not the top station in the city, it had a very salable audience.

It was, alas, expensive to run. I would guess WCBS-FM had the most expensive jock staff in New York City, some of whom still needed board ops.

One day CBS just pulled the plug. Oldies gave way to ‘Jack,’ an automated format with a wide mix of music. Lots of people were upset.

As it turns out, New York City voted with its feet! Ratings slid and revenues dropped (much more than costs dropped).

Now CBS seems to have seen the error of its ways. The rumor is, sometime next week oldies will ring out again from 101.1 FM in New York.

I’m happy about the change. I’m happy the bean counters were wrong. I’m happy live jocks will return. I’m happy fun entertainment on the radio is valued.

“You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone” – Joni Mitchell.

Hey, CBS-FM. If you’re looking for a fill-in weekend jock, I have a set of headphones ready to go.