590 MIGHTY MEMORY #403

GOOD FRIDAY AND WARM 

It is but a distant memory. Years ago on Good Friday stores would close. TV's were turned off. Radios too. But WARM Radio promoted a 3 hour devotional solemn program in the mid 60s to mark the day. This ended around 1968 but prior to that, WARM shut down the rock and pop and devoted the noon to 3 pm time slot to the day that Christians consider it be one of the most important in their liturgy.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #404

TOM AND FRAN AT 50 

Our congratulations to Tom Woods and his lovely wife Fran on the occasion of their 50th anniversary. These two crazy kids were married when Tom was a personality on the Mighty 590 and Fran was at WNEP TV. Their love has endured and that is a great thing. 

Here is a photo of Tom and Fran today. 

Friends made a special cake featuring their Wedding photo. 

And when Tom and Fran tied the knot, On the Billboard Hot 100 dated 50 years ago this - April 4, 1964 - the Beatles made history as the only act ever to monopolize the chart's top five positions. The Billboard Hot 100, April 4, 1964 was:
1, "Can't Buy Me Love" No. 2, "Twist and Shout" No. 3, "She Loves You" No. 4, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" No. 5, "Please Please Me" .

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #405

PEARLY WHITES AND WARM 

Okay, how does a radio station in Wilkes Barrie Scranton get involved in tooth whitening? One word: advertising. Since WARM was the dominant station in the Wilkes Bare/Scranton market, it got first crack (and sometimes the only chance) at national Radio buys. As an added extra, WARM threw in advertising on the back of its popular survey sheets. 

WARM ran Macleans ads in teen day parts, mostly from 3 to 11 at night as well as a ads in the popular morning program. Macleans was a tooth paste that promised you a white set of teeth, a fresh minty breath and a winning smile. All the things a teen needed to make an impression on the WARMland dating scene. To my knowledge, Maclean’s is no longer distributed in the U.S,. but people can get it in Canada and the UK. And then of course Amazon sells it as well as EBay. But back in the heyday of WARM, Maclean’s had a major presence as one of WARM’s top national advertisers.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #406

ANOTHER WARMLAND MAYOR??? 

Former WARMland personality Tommy Woods in the back seat in Wilkes Barre's 34th Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade. Woods was Honorary Mayor for the day, Mayor Carl Kuren is in the front seat. Wilkes Barre Township always participates in the City of Wilkes Barre's St. Patrick's Day Parade.

It appears that former WARM personality Tommy Woods now can add one more title to his illustrious career. Mayor. Tom was the honorary Mayor of Wilkes Barre Township today, the day before St. Patrick’s Day in the 34th annual Wilkes Barre St. Patrick’s Day parade. Woods rode in the spiffy red Cadillac with his wife Fran as well as Wilkes Barre Township Mayor Carl Kuren. Woods spent many a St. Patrick’s Day at WARM playing the likes of the Irish Rovers and Carmel Quinn. Good to see a WARM personality getting this honor on the day of the wearing of the Green!

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #407

LETTER FROM LENNY 

When I was writing my Rock and Roll column for the Sunday Dispatch, and doing some promotion work for a record company, I kept in touch with Len Woloson for help in getting records played in the West. The company was small and went nowhere. But things happen for a reason and now 43 years I found this letter. 
In a letter from the fall of 1971 Woloson was quite candid about his departure from WARM. Len was “The Morning Mayor” at the Mighty 590 and left after a few years in that position. Woloson confided that he felt the General Manager (Jack Herr) at the time felt that anyone could do the morning show at WARM and said that he felt he was underpaid. More poignantly, Lenny wrote: “I must confess that I AM HEARTSICK ABOUT NOT BEING IN THAT AREA because it is my home. And above all the nicest people live in the Scranton, Wilkes Barre area. I mean that Dave. I can’t tell you how much I miss everybody." Referring to Las Vegas where he moved to Woloson wrote: "This is a GREAT town. I do all the production for KENO and for the fun of it…work the weekend." 
Woloson also mentioned that he won an amateur talent contest. "A few weeks ago I entered an amateur contest at the Holiday Inn and won! Which in turn got me to appear as a comic at the Casbar Room of the Aladdin Hotel ..on the strip."
In the rest of his letter Woloson confided that WARM was at its ebb and the halcyon days were over. But in closing he reiterated this message, "PLEASE give my REGARDS to everyone".
Len also sent an article that was in the Vegas newspapers too. I scanned it and hope you could access the contents.  There were a few things in Lenny's letter I did not repeat because he was quite unhappy with a few managers at the Mighty 590 and even though his is deceased, I have chosen to respect his thoughts. I also kept the capitalization in my reposting of Lenny's letter to emphasize how much he missed WARMland.
The interesting thing  about this letter as well as some others from the personalities at WARM are eye opening. Len was very candid, seemed homesick and banged it out on an old manual type writer. Having used one and how laborious they could be in comparison to what we have today, I am more grateful than ever for these letters. 

Above is an article that featured Len in a Las Vegas newspaper. 

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #408

THE WOODSMAN ON THE RADIO 

Tom Woods then. 

Tom Woods now. 

WARM's Tommy Woods will be back on the radio this Friday night as a guest on the Beatledd Radio hour on WRKC FM, 88.5 on your dial. The Beatledd Hour has turned into one of the most popular programs on the Fab Four and Woods will recount the days and months of 1964 when he Beatles topped the charts on the Mighty 590. It will be great listening. 

http://wrkc.kings.edu

 And your host..................................................Beatledd!

 Woods on the radio with Moon Dog and Beatledd. (Photo: Beatledd Facebook page). 

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #409

LETTER FROM HARRY 

WARM's Harry West. (Photo: 590 Forever archives).

WARM’s Harry West took a little detour in the late 60s and early 70s. Harry went to KQV Radio in Pittsburgh but by his own admission was not happy there. Harry wound up at WSBA in York and when I was writing a column for the Pittston Sunday Dispatch, I gave him a little shout out. Harry responded with a very gracious letter. I have it up on the 590 Forever site but in case you can’t read it, here are the key points. 
WARM thanks for your nice Christmas card and sentiments. I really appreciate hearing from the old camping grounds of WARMland. Since leaving WARM, I spent two horrendous years in Pittsburgh trying to “fit in” playing way out rock and after two years I finally figured out that my format and that music did not mix. I did not renew my contract in Pittsburgh and was offered a job with Susquehanna and here I am! I will certainly be looking for your column in the mail and if you like you can tell my former listeners ( if any of them remember me!) that I o miss them but am firmly entrenched in the morning show on WSBA from 6 to 9AM Again thanks for your correspondence and if you are ever in WSBAland, we’re at 910 on the dial…and I’d love to have you stop by for a chat.
Sincerely, Harry West WSBA Radio 

Amazing. If any of my listeners remember me? Wow. That was vintage Harry. Even though Harry was content when he sent me this letter, he did return to the Mighty 590 on July 16th 1973 and remained at WARM until the early 90s. Harry's response was a thrill for me because as a Senior in high school he was the reason for my interest in radio. Through the years I had the opportunity to interact with him and was grateful for his kind words. Harry is and will always remain one of the legends of WARM.