***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 a an interesting lot of tapes which seem to have been made by recording from microphone to radio and not direct via patch cords. The quality is not great. They include some content from WBBF AM which was Rochester NY’s first and most successful Top 40 station. The first clip includes that and may have been recorded in late 1963 and early 1964. The DJ patter is short but the highlight is the intro to the Trashmen’s Surfin Bird.
The first clip also has a few ads recorded in 1972 during the airing of a Beatles special in 1972 on WAXC AM. The station went onto competition with WBBF as a top 40 outlet in 1972. The special was produced by CHUM radio in Toronto and you can hear the CHUM production credit near the end of the clip.
The second clip consists of ads and other content that was recorded during the airing of a BBC Beatles special in April 1973 on WCMF FM. WCMF at the time was a free form station that I would tune into when I could get it in Toronto. The clip includes a few different versions of ads for a Frank Zappa and John McLaughlin concert and a Ten Years After, Strawbs and Eagles show. There’s also stereo store ads and a PSA for the Wounded Knee reservation plus some other WCMF content about the Beatles special. The CMF DJ sounds like Buffalo and Rochester radio legend “Unkle” Roger. The only thing I have copied from the Beatles special is a Murray the K intro to the Beatles song Happy to Dance With You and a part of a WABC jingle.
WCMF was a wonderful station during the free form era and it’s the first station I heard Lothar and The Hand People and I think it may have been the only station I heard that group other than perhaps WZIR and WUWU from Buffalo. The third clip has CMF during the tail end of the free form years in 1975. I recorded this myself and have uploaded it previously. Musical highlight for me is near the end when The Beach Boys free form era classic Feel Flows is played. The DJ on the clip is Bernie Kimblel I believe.
Corrections and input welcome.
Regarding your WCMF post, Bernie Kimble (real name Kimpel) recently passed, after spending the last few years in Cleveland as PD and announcer at a smooth jazz station and heading up a college radio station. Sounds like Unk, in your other clip from CMF. The late Unkle Roger McCall. Unk was inducted, posthumously, into the Rochester Music Hall of Fame this Spring. He was a tireless, enthusiastic supporter of local artists and bands and always encouraged people. He was killed quite a few years ago, and there’s never been an arrest. I did the morning show on CMF from ’76 to ’80, and I was doing weekends in ’75, having been hired by Bernie Kimble. Slowly the days of underground radio wound down, and what was interesting was that all of us, until 1978 or so, were music people first, radio people second. There are some airchecks of CMF and photos on my website at http://www.hearchucknow.com.
Thanks for the comments Chuck. I remember your name.
WCMF was a great station and in those pre-internet days it provided another option in addition to the Toronto and Buffalo stations. I first heard Unkle Roger on WPHD in Buffalo and continued to listen to him on WCMF. He had a show called Import/Export later in the 80’s when CMF was AOR but that show covered alternative and off the beaten track rock. I have some audio of the show on the site.
There was a fair bit of movement between Buffalo and Rochester DJ’s. John MaGan who is mentioned in the middle clip was also heard in Buffalo. Jim Sotet worked at WPHD and then I remember him on WCMF.
I think I hear Gary Whipple on one of the ads on the middle CMF clip and I also remember a DJ, I think his name was Pollis and he went by the name Part Time Pollis.
I just found a sheet from 1975 where I had written down the names of some of the WCMF DJ’s and in addition to the ones already mentioned I have Suzanne King, Horton and Peltman.
WCMF was a fabulous station during the free form years and I will check out your site and would love to hear more air checks from that era.
Hello… I have a strange, random question regarding WBBF. I grew up in Spencerport, NY and I remember listening to BBF. I was just sitting around today talking with my family and I mentioned one of their contests in the 70’s. My family said I was crazy when I claimed they did something where people could win stuff if they wore a button that said “BBF, coat walking ticket”. I was a kid, so I don’t understand what that meant, but I know I remember that. Is there anyone who remembers that or knows how I can confirm that? I would not begin to know how to research this. I live in PA now and from what I can tell, WBBF is not in Rochester anymore.
Mary there was a “WBBF Money Button” – which you can google. There was also a blue “I Listen to The New Sound of BBF” button. https://picclick.com/Music-Pin-Pinback-Button-Wbbf-Rochester-302256423877.html They also had numerous bumper stickers, window (litter ) boxes and even first-aid kits.
I’m looking to make a YouTube video using 1970s WBBF 95 radio as Audio,with bits and pieces of the music with a slideshow of old pictures.How do I do this? I know I need the WBBF recordings.From the recording uploaded to YouTube.
These are great memories! Not sure when some of these were recorded but the WBBF recordings sound like 1963 with Nick Nickson (Sr.) and Jerry “Jerome” Sherwin. Nick was part of WBBF from its days as WARC in 1947 until he was “retired” from the airwaves in 1966 -then went on to a great sales career. Bob “Drake” (Francati) rocked WCMF in 1970’s afternoons. He came from WSAY and was the first in town to play “Let It Be”. WCMF was a variety station at the time-Drake’s show was followed by “Candlelight And Wine” – with soft jazz and easy listening music at night. Jerry Sherwin was on WSAY as “Jerry Jerome” – and left for WGVA. He wanted to keep “Jerry Jerome” but Gordon Brown wouldn’t let him. That was the point where Gordon P. developed a series of names for his jocks that included “Tommy Thomas”, “Jerry Jack”, “Mike Melody”, “Bob Bell”, “Mac McGuire” and “Glenn Gordon”. The voices would change but the names stayed the same. I used 3 of those names during my 18 months at WSAY. Drake had been Mike Melody at WSAY and always showed interest in Rock ‘n Roll. He should be credited for what became the future of WCMF. WAXC was the successor to WHEC radio when Gannett (owners of WHEC TV/Radio) sold the radio station. The station showed great promise with a better nighttime signal than WBBF and great talent. It was doomed when the financial contributor of the station passed away. BBF then acquired general manager Day Clayton and PD Marc Driscoll to basically put WAXC under. Those were fun times though.
Thanks for all the BBF lore here.
I worked at WBBF part-time in 1971-72 before going to WOLF in Syracuse for a full-time position. It was the most exciting station I ever worked at, with engineers that had First Class licenses. When I first got there Ferdy, my idle, came up and asked me to fill in for him so he could go to the Christmas party.
A large news dept with Alex Lemutis, Forest Lewis, Bob Bohrer, Ed Little and Dick Demeco. Lanny Frattare on sports. Then the lineup couldn’t be beat…Jack Palvino, Tim Griffin, Jim Rivers, Ferdy and Tom George.
All on the 8th floor of M8dtown Tower. THOSE WERE THE DAYS.
Don’t forget “Brother Love” the first Black top 40 DJ in Rochester who worked 12 pm to 6 am weekdays and 6 – midnight on Saturday…a real line-up of talent and entertainment!
And I was the first rock morning dj on WCMF in early 1974 when “Brother Love” was hired by the new R&B station, WMLK. Bernie and Jim brought me in from Boston.
Don Cohen
lol does this bring back the day, take 1 hit purple mic dot one quart of jenny beer and listin to the after the rose rere new album on wsay at 7 oclock my god heard some manny great rock tunes i always though wsay was the better channel
Wow, so glad you recorded and posted these gems. WCMF shaped my musical tastes when I was in High School in the early 70’s. The third clip was the soundtrack of my teens. Thanks!
clip 2 has 2 b from spring ’72, not ’73 as dj john mcghan is mentioned & he moved to california b4 spring ’73. (also because sat 5/6, mentioned in concert commercials, occured in ’72, not ’73. i did afternoon drive from 7/72 thru winter ’74, following mcghan (middays) at first, and pd tom teuber after mcghan left & a few months of overnights in spring ’75 when idiot interim pd jim sotet deemed my broad musical tastes too esoteric for prime time, instead of talking 2 me about it. sotet used 2 post memos to the dj’s on the studio door and always ended them with…’& if u don’t like it, u can find somewhere else to work.’ nice management style, eh? what a jerk.
Hi Walt,
I found a YT clips where the date of May 5, 1973 is mentioned for the Frank Zappa concert and if you look up a calendar for 1973 you will find that May 5 was on a Saturday as mentioned in the AD.
https://youtu.be/1Jt9heUyJZE?si=yqRdvOqaFs3uYcdm
I am fairly sure that the Mahavishnu Orchestra opened for Zappa at that show (I was there)
Loved BBF growing up. Listened every night to the Nick Nickson countdown. One afternoon myself, two friends, and my mom (1) flooded the voting with new tune ‘the night has 1000 eyes’ by Bobby Vee. We managed to get it to #3 that day which totally surprised Nick. We knew why! The lineup I most remember was Jerry Fogel, Joe Deane, Jack Palvino Nick Nickson, Leon Marguarite, and Bill DeMarse. Wish we had a tape of an entire day with those guys. Such great memories.