***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 days of total free form on WNEW FM were over by the time of this air check from  May 1985. More mainstream AOR was beginning to dominate but the diversity heard was still miles ahead of what we hear on most rock radio today.

This is part of the top 1027 countdown from 1985. You will hear WBCN alumni Maxanne Sartori, Dennis Elsas and Carol Miller on this iteration of the countdown which ran several times on the station.

Audio Note: The recording deteriorates for about 3 minutes starting at 26:20 but recovers.

Visit the site’s You Tube Channel to see this 1985 interview with REM:

***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.

Since  starting a You Tube channel I have been revisiting air checks that I recorded on VCR.  I have managed to improve some including the two above that previously suffered from tracking and audio issues.

The first clip is of David Pritchard on Q 107  from January 1992 with an appearance by John Gallagher at 130:39. The second clip is of Bob Magee and the 1050 CHUM morning team from October 1996.

Visit the You Tube Channel when you can here

Have been doing some revisions in the Oil of Dog Corner and have gone back to recordings that were previously uploaded and found additional content or have added a bit of noise reduction. I made the original recordings on slow speed reel to reel to capture as many hours as possible but to the detriment of the sound quality. The advantage was that a fair number of shows have been preserved.

Each of the above “revised” clips opens with a set of comedy and also includes a diverse set of music by  Nick Drake, The Strawberry Alarm Clock, The Grateful Dead, The Beach Boys, The Go Go’s, Kajagoogoo, Phillip Glass, Weird Al,  Alice Cooper and more. Also a nice station ID from an unknown female announcer at 12:40 of the second clip.  Visit the OIL of Dog Corner to hear more from a show that was amazingly available on commercial radio during the early 1980’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.

A high quality clip of Jim Bauer on Toronto’s Q 107 playing the Who alphabetically.  This comes from a time when Q 107 had shows with journalists Ritchie Yorke and Peter Goddard. Plus they had the famous in Toronto, Geets Romo, when he was temporarily teamed up with DJ Scruff Connors and Q actually had a Jazz show.

The A to Z  Who track list  will not disappoint fans of creative rock radio programming.  Watch this space for part two of this great broadcast.  More than two hours 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.

K101 FM owned by engineering graduate and broadcasting magnate James Gabbert was a rather wild station. Not free form but they had what could be described as an adult top 40 format with a deep playlist where you would hear all kinds  of music.  The station was very successful from the early to mid 1970’s. Mr Gabbert was  was not averse to climbing the antenna tower to  fix a problem and he took chances with the programming not satisfied with a cookie cutter and consultant driven formula.

He had a program called Anything Goes where you could literally hear anything and this clip is a great example of his offerings from the 1972/73 period.

https://youtu.be/2bsdkj_JkYs

***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 exceptional double play from the AM and FM sides of the dial in Los Angeles.

The first clip is the prequel to an air check already posted to the site featuring Humble Harve on KHJ from February 3, 1967 ( thanks to reader /listener Mike Hagerty for pining down that date). A fabulous selection of songs, ads and newscast featured on a station with a top 40 format in it’s prime. Interesting that it’s the only the second day that “hit bound” Penny Lane by the Beatles is played on the station, having been obtained a day earlier.

The second clip continues our series of Jimmy Rabbit air checks from free form and alternative KROQ. The set is from Nov. 1976 and features an eclectic set of music and Jimmy’s inimitable style. Nice to hear Neil Young’s “See The Sky About to Rain” from the original Byrd’s reunion album  from 1973 with Gene Clark taking the lead.

***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 vintage Alison Steele from the heart of the free form era on commercial radio. First set begins with Pink Floyd. Some interesting ads including one for a Renaissance album and another for the movie “The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat” with voice work by Scott Muni and when’s the last time you heard Griderswitch on the 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.

The first clip features the famed Dr. Demento on his KSAN FM show from the spring of 1980. The good doctor began his comedy show on free form KPPC FM in Los Angeles in 1970.  He was a musicologist with a vast knowledge and collection of comedy records. During the time of this show he was doing three shows. One live on KMET FM Los Angeles, one taped for national syndication and the last taped for KSAN FM.

KSAN FM in San Francisco was of course one of the pioneering FM free form stations in the country  and you also hear a short bit from a call in show at the end of the clip.

The good doctor has a web site where you can listen to many past shows and also stream the latest version.

The second clip features what I believe was a retrospective show heard on KSAN  ( date unknown but perhaps from 1974 based on the rerelease of the Jefferson Airplane song). You will briefly hear  Tom Donahue who was the founder of the station and  who  passed away in 1975 plus some other content. The station would unfortunately change formats by the end of 1980.

***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.

Presenting free form radio broadcaster Vin Scelsa.  A man who has had the honor of being named checked by the Ramones on their Pleasant Dreams album.

He’s worked at a number of radio stations in the New York area including WLIR FM,  WBAI, WABC FM, WYRK FM and WFUV FM. He has also been on satellite and internet radio and has  had two stints on WNEW FM.  Vin is perhaps best known for the program Idiots Delight which has aired on various stations.

This air check is from the tail end of his first stay at WNEW. He left the station in 1982 when they narrowed their format. The creativity is still on display here as New Wave is played along with other forms of rock to make for a most enjoyable listen.