***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.

This is an amazing encapsulation of the entire counter culture vibe which permeated the best free form radio stations in the US. You will hear a announcement for an anti war demonstration. A newscast covering the anti war movement by “news dissector” Danny Schechter. A song lampooning Spiro Agnew.

A wonderfully diverse set of music is played including a few  hits and some obscurities. Blues, Folk, Jugband and psychedelic rock are all in the mix. WBCN was known to play alternate and early versions of songs ( remember the never released Get Back album by the Beatles) and on this clip they play an early unreleased version of Dead Flowers by the Stones. Some fascinating commercials are featured as well. The clip dates from April, 1971 and the DJ is Jim Parry I believe.  Corrections welcome.

The thing I miss about commercial free form is the fact that you were exposed to such a great variety of music and it was often presented by people who had extensive musical knowledge and that’s certainly the case with this BCN clip.

Much more to come from WBCN FM so watch this space. In the meantime enjoy this clip and the others that have been uploaded.

The clip below is not the Stones but it is a great version of Dead Flowers and was played on FM radio.

***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.

I have unearthed seven hours plus of airchecks from Boston’s WBCN FM The station was one of the best original free form stations in North America. This air check features Charles Laquidara who is one of four DJ’s profiled in the new film about free form radio called  I Am What I Play.  The film has it’s Toronto Premiere on May 8th and also features local free form legend David Marsden.

Laquidara began at BCN in 1969 when he replaced Peter Wolf who was an early DJ at the station and who would go on to sing lead in the J Geils Band. Charles was doing the nigh time 10 to 2 shift at the time of this aircheck from April 1971. In 1972 he took over the morning shift with his, legendary in Boston, Big Mattress  show which was on the station for 25 years until it was replaced by the Howard Stern Show in the 1990’s.

A very eclectic playlist is featured and includes artist as diverse as Ronnie Spector, Freddie King and T Rex. Also some interesting ads for albums and concerts.

The BCN airchecks are a radio treasure and they provide a great window into the wonderful genre bending world of underground free form FM radio. Stay tuned for future editions.

OTHER WBCN CLIPS HAVE BEEN UPLOADED

This is the second and final installment of the Listener’s Choice show hosted by John Morris. I was the listener and played records from my collection and my playlist hearkens back to the CHUM FM free form days.

You will also hear a tiny bit of the program which followed called The Eclectic Spirit and also hosted by John Morris. That show continued with different hosts after Morris.

*I used new audio for the Beach Boys track. Only the second time that I have done that as I like to preserve the integrity of the original airchecks.

***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 double shot featuring vintage free form and classic top 40. The first  clip is from Dick Bartley’s  top 40 oldies show Solid Gold Saturday Night recorded off WBUF FM in the mid 80’s. The second clip features the great John Farrell on WZIR FM from 1981. Both announcers can be heard briefly near the end of the clips. Dick Bartley has just played a double shot of frat rock legends The Swinging Medallions.

Part two of the WBUF FM 60’s Sunday show from 1979 or 1980. The station had an AOR format at the time but were playing rock and oldies from the 60’s on a Sunday special. I can’t make out the last name of the announcer on the broadcast. They veer into the early 70’s with the Five Man Electrical Band’s Absolutely Right but the clip includes some great tracks from the 60’s. I will upload parts two and three of this in the future. Please note that the first two or three tracks are truncated but after that it’s the complete songs for the most part. Audio quality is inconsistent.

***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.

I  was the “listener” on this broadcast taped at the famous yellow house on Main Street in Brampton, Ontario. John Morris was the host and I got to meet David Marsden.  CFNY was transitioning from the David Pritchard  era to the Spirit of Radio. Keith Elshaw was also there that night. I went to the house a few times and I think it was during this visit that David Marsden mentioned getting a call from Terry McElligott  to say he missed NY. Terry M. had just moved from NY to CHUM FM that week.

The station’s format was still very eclectic, though a bit more structured than during the Pritchard era. Many of my musical selections hearkened back to the CHUM FM free form days. Please excuse some of my cringe-worthy moments but it was a thrill to be a small part of a very big station.

Mr. Morris was a very relaxed and gracious host that weeknight for the taping . The show aired the following Sunday. I had a stereo reel to reel copy which I unfortunately recorded over as  I was somewhat embarrassed at my performance. All that survives is a mono cassette copy. Will upload part two in the future.

***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.

This is part three of the Radio London tape that I rescued from obscurity at a used audio store.  The DJ is unfortunately cut at many points but this will give you some indication of what records charted on Radio London’s Fab 40 chart during the week of April 10, 1966. Somebody Help Me by the Spencer Davis Group was at number 1 and this was well before they ever cracked the top 40 in North America.

You can see the complete Fab 40 Chart for April 10, 1966 at the Radio London Website.  Somebody Help Me is the song which has made the most appearances via air checks on this site. This is the fourth time around.

A new upload of the Oil of Dog from WUWU FM has been updated to the OIL OD DOG CORNER. Enjoy the great music and comedy as brought to you by the one and only Gary Storm.

***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.

WZIR FM ( Wizard Radio) was one of the best free form stations in the area but it only lasted for one year. The first clip is from the station that succeeded Wizard and is  from 1981. They had changed to a classic rock format and were previewing the new Neil Young album, Re-ac-tor. You can hear a station ID at 2:54 and a unidentified female announcer at the end.

WBUF FM was the longest lasting free form station in Buffalo and also a fantastic station in their prime. This clip is from 1979 and the station had changed to a regular AOR format. The clip features them playing 60’s music on a weekend special.  There’s two announcers on the clip but their identity is also unknown. This was the 60’s weekend but a few cuts from the 70’s are featured.

Note at the end the announcer promotes a show called Anything That’s Rock’n Roll hosted by Paul Hines. I used to listen that as it featured alternative music and still have a tape of music recorded off the show.  Sadly, like WCMF’s Import/Export show,  alternative  and non mainstream rock was relegated to special segments. I commend the station for playing oldies as I doubt that many current rock or classic rock stations would play some of the songs featured on the clip. I have maybe 90 more minutes of this broadcast that I will upload in the future.

Please let me know if you know the names of the announcers featured on these clips. Regarding the WBUF segment, the first name of each DJ is mentioned by the other. I have an idea about the first announcer, a Jock from the top 40 era, but I’m not certain as it does not jive with the first name that is mentioned.

https://youtu.be/LHF2LHtHt78

***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 Blasts From The Free Form Past !

The first clip is of CHIC FM 102.1 from Brampton Ontario. This was the predecessor to CFNY FM, operating at low power and for time a free form album rock station. This clip is from  the early or mid  70`s  during the  time they played entire albums only interrupted by the occasional ad and station ID’s as they flipped album sides. You can hear a very brief segment of an ad as well as the station ID as they changed sides on LP’s by the Moody Blues and Grateful Dead. I used to listen to the station on cable FM and by 1976 they had announcers and a full blown free form format. I think All Night Andre and Bruce Heyding were the only ones that made it to the launch of CFNY after the power increase in 1977.

Addendum: The CHIC FM  clip above is part of my tape collection but I could not have recorded it as it seems to be from a time prior to my cable FM hook-up and that’s the only way I could receive CHIC/CFNY before the power increase in 1977. I went over the full tape again and all the tracks are from albums released in the early 70’s or late 60’s.

The second clip is an exceptional example of free form radio with David Marsden and his renowned Christmas show. This is the 1985 edition. I have about 90 minutes of this broadcast and will be posting a part two in the future.

The broadcast finds David Marsden at his holiday best with wide  ranging music from Jona Lewie, Mike Oldfield, Bing Crosby, top 40 oldies, National Lampoon and more. You will also hear Don Berns on a station ID and an Xmas greeting by Jim Reid. Plus a character named Willie Crinkle.

This is one of the longest vintage clips of David Marsden available on the net and a reminder about why the free form format on commercial radio is sorely missed today. Stay tuned for part two which also includes a great eclectic assortment of free form music.