It's been great hearing WCBS-FM back on the air in New York City (via webstream for me, of course), and even better reading the comments by listeners from all over the place on the message boards. The outpouring of support, and emotions, from folks is really something to behold. If people thought radio was something to take for granted and doesn't have the ability to touch the listeners' souls, these posts will prove otherwise.
But I must say, also on the dial in New York is a great show on Saturday night that I never had a chance to listen to until last night. I know these things are around, but I always have to be reminded to actually get in and listen. WABC, one of the great classic top 40 stations of all time in its heyday, sets aside its now talk format on Saturday nights for a Saturday Night Oldies show hosted by Mark Simone, a DJ I also listened to for many years. It will actually serve as a complement to CBS-FM, as it plays songs that fall outside of CBS' 60s-80s format. Anyhow, last night the guest was the great Dan Ingram. His wit was as quick as ever, and the audience was clearly thrilled to hear him again.
It's been a great week. The spaghetti days end on Monday as I take on a new long term temp assignment which should be interesting. But I sure was glad to be freed up last Thursday and Friday to hear radio history happen.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Oldies Fans Vindicated In NYC
It's a great day for oldies fans in New York today.
Two years ago, the heart was ripped out of New York oldies fans (and some of us long-distance transplants elsewhere) when its beloved legendary station WCBS-FM was "JACK-ed" to the mixed music format and all of its air personalities gone without a chance to say goodbye. It was like a death in the family to many of us who loved the station and its jocks. We feared it may be gone forever.
But, two things happened. First, the audience continued to speak and remain fiercely loyal, due in part to a New York Radio Message Board forum provided by Allan Sniffen. That gave fans a vehicle in which to continue to share with one another and carry the flame for the music they loved. Second, JACK-FM's ratings in New York continued to slide. Ultimately, CBS Radio President Dan Mason had the courage and vision to right a wrong and restore WCBS-FM's format with a 60s-80s playlist and the return of some of the familiar names like Bob Shannon, Mr. G, Dan Taylor and others. One person said Mason should be given a parade on 5th Avenue.
For me, it's just not New York City without WCBS-FM. It was like cutting a big chunk out of the city and throwing it into Long Island Sound or something. When I would fly into New York on my way to Connecticut to see family, the one thing I looked forward to the most was getting on the Metro North train and tuning my radio into WCBS-FM and enjoying it for as long as I could until the signal started to fade.
WCBS-FM officially returns to the airwaves at 1:01 p.m. Eastern time today. Nice work, everyone who made this happen.
Two years ago, the heart was ripped out of New York oldies fans (and some of us long-distance transplants elsewhere) when its beloved legendary station WCBS-FM was "JACK-ed" to the mixed music format and all of its air personalities gone without a chance to say goodbye. It was like a death in the family to many of us who loved the station and its jocks. We feared it may be gone forever.
But, two things happened. First, the audience continued to speak and remain fiercely loyal, due in part to a New York Radio Message Board forum provided by Allan Sniffen. That gave fans a vehicle in which to continue to share with one another and carry the flame for the music they loved. Second, JACK-FM's ratings in New York continued to slide. Ultimately, CBS Radio President Dan Mason had the courage and vision to right a wrong and restore WCBS-FM's format with a 60s-80s playlist and the return of some of the familiar names like Bob Shannon, Mr. G, Dan Taylor and others. One person said Mason should be given a parade on 5th Avenue.
For me, it's just not New York City without WCBS-FM. It was like cutting a big chunk out of the city and throwing it into Long Island Sound or something. When I would fly into New York on my way to Connecticut to see family, the one thing I looked forward to the most was getting on the Metro North train and tuning my radio into WCBS-FM and enjoying it for as long as I could until the signal started to fade.
WCBS-FM officially returns to the airwaves at 1:01 p.m. Eastern time today. Nice work, everyone who made this happen.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
4th of July week
Hope all had a happy 4th of July holiday. I watched the Nashville celebration at Riverfront Park on TV rather than go down there live. CMA week was still fresh in mind for me. The sound was a bit off in spots and the cameras should have been showing shots of the fireworks in places they were focusing on the orchestra members, but it was good. I remember watching this event a couple of years past on TV and wishing I was living there. Who knew. In fact, I did a little driving around earlier yesterday, with not a lot of traffic, with WSM on the radio, and just thinking about how much I am enjoying life here, even in the midst of spaghetti days.
Pondering: I wondered how many of those orchestra members, most of whom had their backs to all the fireworks action, were tempted to take their eyes off their scores and take a peek at what was going on? I'm sure they are all very professional and very focused. All the same, it made me curious.
I did take in one event this week and another coming up later but I will detail those in the Nashville Blend blog as soon as the second one is done.
Update on the last post on the Mark and Tony taping: there is some backstage footage of the taping at marklowry.com . Thanks, guys, for the two seconds of fame!
Pondering: I wondered how many of those orchestra members, most of whom had their backs to all the fireworks action, were tempted to take their eyes off their scores and take a peek at what was going on? I'm sure they are all very professional and very focused. All the same, it made me curious.
I did take in one event this week and another coming up later but I will detail those in the Nashville Blend blog as soon as the second one is done.
Update on the last post on the Mark and Tony taping: there is some backstage footage of the taping at marklowry.com . Thanks, guys, for the two seconds of fame!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)