***A note to air check traders. Please do not record these air checks and try and trade. I have the original tapes many of which I recorded myself and thus the authenticity can not be in doubt and can be easily traced.

One of the charms of listening to old radio air checks is the period piece commercials . These two air checks do not have those but are interesting none the less. The first clip features the great David Wisdom on the show Nightlines on CBC  Stereo. He had a unique sense of humor and a broad knowledge of music. Just about anything could be heard on his show.  He featured a lot of indie artists on the most obscure labels but also great pop and rock music from all eras. He  came up with some great contests and this is one where he plays small bits from 100 of his favorite songs. Some are relatively easy and others may be a bit more challenging. Have a go and guess the songs and artists. Contest starts at 5:34.

The second clip features Lee Rosevere on CBC Radio Two on a night when he’s playing covers and you will hear a couple of obscure Beach Boys covers and then another contest. He plays bits from various artists doing Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides Now. The 2001 air date of this clips makes it the most recent featured on this site. Contest starts at 13:34.

Both these air checks are from a time when creative rock radio programming was disappearing from the commercial air waves but CBC Radio Two continued to carry the torch of the free form era.

I have a follow up tape from the first clip where David Wisdom announces all of the songs and artists played and will upload that at some point in the future.  You can search the site for some tape from Nightlines from the early 1980’s when it was hosted by Ron Robinson.

More from the 1979 weekend special on San Jose’s KOME FM. This clip features DJ’s Laurie Roberts and Gary T ( Torresani) The music played is stellar and includes a number of free form era and classic rock nuggets with a smattering of top 40 hits. A full air check with no edits or interruptions.

https://youtu.be/Zh9Gx6dPgaw

These clips were uploaded to the site earlier  but I have been able to improve the quality of the digital transfer and have included some additional content. Time permitting I may post updated and improved versions of other early uploads to the site.

The first clip provides a good look into the rock radio dial in Western New York during the summer of 1982. Things get started with selections played on the Import/Export show on WCMF FM – Rochester, New York with Unkle Roger hosting. Alternative rock and some of it never played in Toronto (cuts by The Dream Syndicate, Fleshtones, The Cramps and Chesterfield Kings). CFNY was not big on this type of garage rock but WCMF’s Import Export and WUWU gave well deserved exposure to the genre.

You also hear a bit of mainstream AOR by way of WCMF and 97 Rock from Buffalo All of the tracks are recorded off the radio but the announcements for some are missing unfortunately,

The best part of the clip is near the end when we hear Jeff Gordon on WUWU playing a comedy cut by George Carlin and a special dance mix of Our House by Madness called Madhouse.  Creative programming could still be heard in some quarters in 1982 and Jeff Gordon’s segment is a great example.

Listen also for a syndicated segment from Pete Fornatale of WNEW FM. He was one of the legendary free form Jocks and in later years hosted the “Mixed Bag” program on WNEW and WFUV.

The second clip features an interview on CFNY by Jim Reid with the Mael Brothers of Sparks during their 1983 tour with Rick Springfield. Their single Cool Places had been released recently and they discuss how they got together with Jane Weidlin of the Go Go’s and their work with the Belgian group Telex. Some interesting and prescient comments about rock videos at the start of the MTV revolution.

An XMAS set taped off Toronto’s Q107 and CFNY during December 1982. Taken from the same tape and the quality is not great. The CFNY segment was taken off two separate broadcasts.

You can listen to a longer and better quality CFNY XMAS broadcast on the site here and I still have part two of that one to post in the future.

Here’s a clean and longer segment of Q 107 from 1982 and some long stretches from the early 90’s here and here. There a bit more Q content on the site with more to come.

***A note to air check traders. Please do not record these air checks and try and trade. I have the original tapes many of which I recorded myself and thus the authenticity can not be in doubt and can be easily traced.

Another interesting air check from the Boston area AOR/Top 40 Hybrid WVBF FM from 1973. The first 17 minutes are all from one air check but the remainder consists of fragments. DJ’s featured include Ron Robin, Big John Gillis and Bud Ballou.

Listen for the commercial break starting at 9:30. I think that’s the Fortunes singing for coke and right after that you will hear an ad for the current Sly and The Family Stone album.

***A note to air check traders. Please do not record these air checks and try and trade. I have the original tapes many of which I recorded myself and thus the authenticity can not be in doubt and can be easily traced.

The third installment from San Jose’s KOME FM features DJ Laurie Roberts who is still flying the free form flag in the San Francisco Bay area on KPIG FM.  You will hear a stellar set of music including some FM and Top 40 hits. Plus a few of the top San Francisco bands from the late 1960’s such as The Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead, County Joe and The Fish and The Steve Miller Band.

Listen for a syndicated  Direct News segment about The Police featuring WNEW FM’s Scott Muni. The bands’s first album had just taken off at the time of this broadcast from May 1979. The segment is heard at 11:48 on the second clip.

***A note to air check traders. Please do not record these air checks and try and trade. I have the original tapes many of which I recorded myself and thus the authenticity can not be in doubt and can be easily traced.

Two long clips featuring DJ Joe Kelly on San Jose’s KOME FM. The date of the clips is 1979 but most of the music featured is a throwback to the first wave of progressive free form radio. A veritable who’s who from the progressive era, including cuts by Dylan, Donovan, Moby Grape, The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield. Kooper-Stills Super Session, Spooky Tooth, King Crimson and more . Listen for the Who’s version of Baby Don’t Do It, an outtake from their Live at Leeds album. David Peel and The Lower East Side provide some comic relief with  “I like Marijuana.”

Stay tuned for more uploads from KOME FM’s weekend special “The LBJ Years.” Many more hours yet to come.

I will be uploading several hours worth of air checks from KOME FM 98.5 from San Jose, California.  These were recorded during a weekend special called the LBJ Years featuring music from the time when Lyndon Johnson was president. The music played however stretches the boundaries well past December 1968 and some of it veers deep into the Nixon era. In fact the track Mexico by the Jefferson Airplane, heard on the first clip, is about Richard’s war against drugs.

KOME started as a Free Form station in 1971 and by the mid 70’s the format had tightened and morphed into AOR. The Free Form ethos was however revived at the station in 1978  continued during the time of these air checks and beyond.

The music featured on the air checks includes favorites from the original free form era plus many well known classic rock staples and some top 40 pop rock.  These are complete air checks which include period piece commercials,  clips from LBJ era TV and movies plus a resurrected president Johnson. Some of the extras will be heard on later uploads.

The first DJ is Dennis Erectus and he sounds at times like a shock Jock well before the genre came into being. He can be heard pushing the envelope of rock radio in 1979.  The take off of the Berkeley Barb ads on the second clip for example. Jim Seagull takes over from him on the second clip.

Please note that the goblins that invade during the Janis Ian and Cowsill tracks are intentional interruptions.

Two new clips. The first is a fabulous set of oldies played by Dick Bartley on Solid Gold Saturday Night and the second, a compilation of radio contests from 1050 CHUM and CHUM FM. Uploaded to the Radio Miscellany Section – Scroll to the bottom of the page.

***A note to air check traders. Please do not record these air checks and try and trade. I have the original tapes many of which I recorded myself and thus the authenticity can not be in doubt and can be easily traced.

***A note to air check traders. Please do not record these air checks and try and trade. I have the original tapes many of which I recorded myself and thus the authenticity can not be in doubt and can be easily traced.

More WMMR FM from early 1974. The DJ featured during the first two breaks is the late Ed Sciaky. Some great music and interesting commercials are heard.  WMMR was one of the early supporters of Bruce Springsteen and you will hear a  bit of the Boss recorded live at the Main Point club  in Philadelphia. The full concert was originally aired on the station in 1973 and may have been one of the first  live broadcasts featuring Springsteen.

One of the ads is for Canadian singer-songwriter Murray McLaughlin’s album Sweeping The Spotlight Away which was given some promotion in the US.