***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.
An intriguing clip from the days of true free form featuring Detroit media personality Russ Gibb. There’s one point in the broadcast where Gibb asks listeners to tune into competitor WABX FM while they figure out how to air an audio montage prepared by a listener. They do figure it out and that montage is quite creative and fits in well with the format. The station was on FM but broadcast in mono.
***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 first clip features Toronto’s Q 107 from the fall of 1978. There is one short segment with a regular DJ and then another with I believe Richie York interviewing Roger Hodgson of Supertramp.
The second clip features Don Daynard and Brian Master on CHFI Toronto from New Years eve 1988. They play a great set of oldies and I have much more tape from that evening to upload in the future.
The original hit version of Sugar and Spice by the Searchers is played on the second clip and below is the hit cover version by Chicago’s Cryan’ Shames. I remember Brian Master playing this version when he filled in for John Donabie on CHUM FM’s Sock Hop show sometime in the early 1970’s.
***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 from WBCN FM one of the best commercial free form stations in the US. The DJ is Charles Laquidara with help from Captain Squid and station PD Norm Winer. Fantastic and genre bending music by way of Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, Tom Rush and more.
***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 first clip is from Sept 7, 1980 and is a continuation of a tape I uploaded earlier of ( Doctor ) Doug Podell on WWWW FM and a show devoted to the music of the 1960’s called 1060’s. Toronto radio fans – if Roger Ashby’s Sunday morning Oldies had been combined with Psychedelic Sunday this might be the result.
The second clip features Detroit AOR station WLLZ ( Detroit’s Wheels ) from late 1981. A good example of the AOR format at the time with tracks by Led Zeppelin, The Stones, The Cars, The J Geils Band and more. The station became Detroit’s top rocker for a time. The DJ is Harv Blaine and a big thanks to Mega Hertz at the Michigan Radio and TV Buzzboard for identifying him.
Bonus Addition: Third clip added after initial post. Doug Podell on WWWW FM with another slice on the 1060’s. Not sure of the date of this one and it may also be from September 1980. A great set of music including the rarely heard Michigan area band Frost.
Also head over to Radio Miscellany to listen to WCLS ( Class FM) featuring the music of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. A soft-rock/AC type format and the air check is from the mid 1980’s. Tracks by Cat Stevens, Jackson Browne, The Beatles, Bread, The Beach Boys and James Taylor make it palatable. DJ is Kim Carson. Air check is the latest addition to radio miscellany and you will have to scroll down the page to find it.
Facebook Likes and Share Button Update : were reset to zero for each blog entry when I added additional security to the site last week. A shame as there were literally more than a thousand but feel free to Like and Share again.
***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.
These relatively recent air checks were recorded digitally back in 2008 and 2009. They are from Toronto’s 1050 CHUM and Q 107 and feature radio contests. The air checks were on a crashed hard drive which has now been recovered. All previous air checks on the site were sourced from analog tapes.
Very happy that the memory of the popular contest Riffer Madness, as heard on Q 107’s Psychedelic Sunday, has been preserved. You will also hear Gord James on 1050 CHUM.
The Q 107 content is relatively short but the CHUM air checks are longer and contain more than just the contests.
Please excuse the online goblins that turn up during parts of clip number 4. Also perhaps clip number 3 was originally a bad cassette recording that I digitized.
I was almost certain that the 1050 CHUM internet stream was in stereo but that does not seem to the case on these clips. Even though these clips are only 9 and 10 years old I don’t remember making them except the first Riffer Madness clip.
Facebook Likes and Share Button Update : were reset to zero for each blog entry when I added additional security to the site last week. A shame as there were literally more than a thousand but feel free to Like and Share again.
The first clip from July 1968 was made during a trip to Texas from Charlotte NC. This section has top 40 stations from Charlotte, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas and more. A most fascinating snapshot of southern top 40 radio at the time. This clip covers line 1 in the picture below with more to come in the future as I have 6 hours on the one four track mono reel to reel. I have not edited the tape at all.
Thew second clip is much shorter and features Johnny Mitchell and Scott Carpenter on 1050 CHUM from early 1971. Recorded on cassette when that format was relatively new.
Things start with a hit by Tommy James and the Shondells and then veer into less commercial territory with the folk rock of Judy Collins and her cover of a Sandy Denny tune. Then the great Sandy Denny and Fairport Convention from the strangely named “Unhalfbricking” album with a Dylan cover. Also Joan Baez with another Dylan cover.
All over the map after that including forays into punk/new wave, jazz and even comedy with Monty Python and a great skit about buying argument time. Also look out for early Steve Miller Band and Fleetwood Mac before mega fame.
The Firesign Theatre and Doctor Whiplash are not heard on the clip but you can catch them below:
***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 first air check is from Detroit AOR station WLLZ FM from 1982 and a program called Night Rocks where local free form and alternative music is played including Bob Seger’s first national hit and also the Stooges and more.
The second clip is recorded off LP and to the eight track pictured below. The song is Looking at Tomorrow by the Beach Boys. I heard the track on Sirius XM Deep Tracks yesterday which prompted me to dig out the album to test the recording capabilities of the machine.
The final clip is from easy listening stations CKQT FM in Oshawa and CHAY FM in Barrie. This is from an eight track from 1979 and was transferred to digital via the machine below.
I got lucky with two vintage thrift store purchases last week when I picked up the Pioneer eight track and the Akai cassette decks pictured below. Both were left for dead and had issues that were fixed without much difficulty and with the help of some You Tube videos.
The first clip from WKNR FM is from April 1969. The station broadcast in mono. You will hear “Uncle” Russ Gibb and Martin Bell. The air check is partially scoped because of an annoying percussive sound that I believe originated at broadcast.
The second clip continues the countdown of the top songs of 1968 with song number 66 to 55. Recorded in December of 1968. The DJ’s are Dan Henderson and Alan Bush.
Interesting air check snippets mostly from a station in Springfield Ohio. WAZU ( The Zoo). A rather cool station in a college town. Interesting and playful ads and ID’s. You will also hear Graham Nash doing a promo for the No Nukes benefit LP. Music played varies from Chuck Mangione, the Jags and Warren Zevon. The content is sourced from a 38 year old eight track tape. Air checks are on the first two clips and the last clip is of the B52’s Rock Lobster from a factory recorded 8 Track. Not the best format in terms of sound but the air checks have survived.
