Saturday, July 6, 2013

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #423

WARM Radio Survey letterhead, circa 1961. (590 Forever WARM archives). 


A GEM OF AN AIR CHECK!!

One of the great things about doing the 590 Forever blog site is that the more I write, the more I hear from fans of 60s era top 40 radio who viewed stations like WARM as "The MODERN Golden Age of Radio" . 
Just as there are people of a certain age (ahem us!) who treasure the hits from '55 to 85, there are many others out there that really cherish the creativity and freedom of the radio talent who brought us that music. When someone talks about the classic top 40 stations like WCFL, WLS, WKBW, CKLW, WIFIL, WIBG and WARM, the Mighty 590, the music will almost always be secondary. Fans will bring up a particular personality, "Do you remember Ron Allen?" , "Hey how about that Harry West"? or "That George Gilbert was so smooth". That is a true testament to the power of personality in the top 40 era. 
I came across this gem from a reader of 590 Forever and it is an incredible piece on the history of WARM. It is a 15 minute rewind of a winter morning of 1961. You'll hear commercials from Shorten Dodge, Acme, Genesee, weather, a bit of Mother Fletcher and you'll never believe who is doing the news live at 55!!!! (Hint, see Mighty Memory #424) Courtesy of a top 40 radio fan,
check this out on You Tube. 

 

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #424

WARM's Harry West in the late '50s. (Photo: WARM Radio) 

HARRY THE NEWSMAN 

Did you know that long time morning man Harry West started at WARM Radio as a Newsman? It’s true. Harry did the Morning News Live at :55 before he became the Morning radio host. George Gilbert manned the shift while Harry did the news.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #425

DOG GONE 

Do you know that in the late 1950s and early 1960s, if you lost your dog WARM Radio would help you find it? It’s true. WARM had a feature called “DOG GONE” And they gave a description of your lost pooch and a call back number. And those exchanges were Glenwood and Olympic. Those were the days!