590 FOREVER WARM RADIO

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #452

2012-01-15T10:27:00.000-08:00

PHOTO INDEX: Blog editor with the late Bob Crawford.

“I’M BOB CRAWFORD”

If you were a listener to WARM Radio in the 70s and were going out for a Sunday drive, chances are you’d hear a deep voice intone these words at the end of every newscast: “I’m Bob Crawford”.
Bob Crawford came to work at WARM as the Sunday news man. This was when radio stations actually took weekend news seriously and had news on the hour and half hour. Crawford went about his business in a no nonsense manner that belied the incredible sense of humor he had. Later Crawford did some public affairs programming and news for WMJW Radio. I was actually interviewed by Bob for a social service program that I was working for in 1980. (Thus the photo).
Bob was a school teacher in the Wilkes Barre area school district for many years. He was a popular teacher and adviser. Many people I’ve spoken to over the years remember “Mr. Crawford” for his long reach into their formative years as students. But just as many people who were WARM listeners remembered him as the weekend news guy on the Mighty 590. Bob passed away a few years back but he is still fondly regarded and is one of the mighty memories of WARM.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #453

2011-12-18T18:26:00.000-08:00

PHOTO INDEX: WARM GREATEST HITS ALBUM RELEASED IN THE EARLY 70s. JOCKS FEATURED ON THE ALBUM, LENNY WOLOSON, JOEY SHAVER, PETE GABRIEL, JIM DRUCKER AND TONY MURPHY.

WARM AND THEIR LP

For years WARM was known as the great promoter and purveyor of 45 RPM records. But as the 70s dawned, WARM introduced a long play album promoting the station. Other top 40 giants in the country had done it before, most notably WFIL in Philadelpia and WIBG. In Buffalo WKBW had one as well as the Canadian rocker CKLW. This WARM effort featured big photos of the WARM Good Guys on it. Absent was Program Director George Gilbert. The songs were recent hits from the WARM playlist like “Sweet Talking Guy” and “Judy in Disguise” on side one. Side two had “Brown Eyed Girl” by Van Morrison and “Cherry Cherry” by Neil Diamond. The album was on sale at various department stores ranging from $1.99 to $3.50 (depending where you went) and was given away during station promotions on and off the air.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #454

2011-12-16T20:57:00.001-08:00

PHOTO INDEX: TV AND RADIO.

WARM AND TV

Once upon a time there was a WARM TV. That was when WARM was owned by the Scranton family. After WARM was bought by Susquehanna, WARM stood alone as the radio ratings leader in northeastern Pennsylvania. But WARM personalities and staff made their way onto the big screen.
Two WARM disc jockeys, Tom Woods and Bob Woody had a stint as host of the Komotion Show on Channel 16, WNEP TV. Woody also hosted a Saturday night program aired at 7PM called “Comedy Classics” where “The Woody Guy” introduced Three Stooges shorts and displayed a lot of his own zany wit and humor.
Public TV took full advantage of the popularity of WARM personalities. After Bill Kelly matriculated from Avoca to Pittston as Vice President of Development in the mid 70s, he invited WARM personalities like Harry West, Tim Karlson and others to pitch for funds on Action Auction 44. Later former news director of WARM Jerry Heller joined the WVIA TV staff. Karlson later became sports director of WNEP TV.
The TV newsrooms were populated by former WARM staffers Mike Stevens, Andy Palumbo, Vince Sweeney, and of course Kevin Jordan.
Kitch Loftus, one of the first pioneering female reporters in the area has been producing documentaries with her husband Anthony Mussari for years.
So while WARM made careers in sound, many of those personalities who passed through those doors made their way on to TV with predictably successful results.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #455

2011-10-18T20:50:00.000-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: ME IN THE WARM STUDIO IN JUNE OF 1995. EXCEPT THAT IT WAS WKQV FM AND AM. (FORMERLY WARD AM).

THE SHADOWS OF GREATNESS

I never got to broadcast from the WARM Studios in the old WARM building in Avoca when WARM was king. I did an audition tape in a production room for Joey Shaver when I was entering Career Academy of Broadcasting. I remember the playback as the reel wound round and round and the look of unmitigated pride on my father’s face.
That summer of ’72 I wound up in Washington, D.C. and lived on Wisconsin Avenue in the Northeast end of the city. I stayed at a place called McLean Gardens which was then on its way to being a bonafide dump. I had one room with a bed, sink, and closet. There was a shared bathroom down the hall with the other tenants.
When I came back from D.C. I did become a radio guy making stops along the way. I interned at WARM in 1976 working in the News Department with Jerry Heller, Kevin Jordan and Kitch Loftus. I also did a week in the sales department riding with Joey Shaver, the late Tim Durkin, Phil Condron and a really cool guy named Marty whose last name I cannot remember.
WARM became part of my professional career when I worked in public relations for Youth Inc., the United Way and Luzerne County. I always tried to find a WARM angle, always tried to use the power of WARM.
When the station moved to 600 Baltimore Drive in 1995, I did get to work in the WARM Building for WARD/WKQVFM. The FM studio was the old WARM control room. The AM station, WARD was where I worked being a board man for Nascar Races as well as the Sunday Morning Polka Show filling in for Bruce Kreiger. I was on the air in June of 1996 when WARD’s signal was transferred to Susquehanna Broadcasting.
The night before the station was going to be switched over, I had my wife take pictures of me in the WARM control room. I just wanted one seat behind the board that the WARM Sensational Seven worked. The controls that Harry West and Len Woloson used. My wife laughed as she took the picture. I asked her what the deal was and she said, “You’ll see when you get them back from Phar Mor. (A drug store we got our photos developed back then). When I got the photo, I knew what she meant. I had this saintly look on my face. I was a pretender to the throne of greatness. I was sitting in the shadows of greatness. But I didn’t care because I was loving it. I never got to broadcast from WARM when it was the Mighty 590, but the night before as the station simulcast a long gone sports network, I was riding those slide pods. It would have been near perfect if only I had supersonic sound.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #456

2011-10-18T20:29:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: MY THIRD CLASS ENDORSED LICENSE.

WARM AND “THE TICKET”

For those who worked in radio in the 60s and 70s before deregulation, “The Ticket” was one of the most important thing you needed. “The Ticket” was the nickname for the FCC Third Class License required to be a broadcaster or failing that, being allowed to be left alone in a broadcast station. . There were 3 testing elements in it and the most complicated was the dreaded “Element 9”. If you were extremely non gifted in Math like I was, (I was told I had the lowest Math percentile in the entrance exams in the Scranton Diocese) Element 9 was downright scary. But I decided I wanted “The Ticket”. After attending Career Academy of Broadcasting in Washington D.C. in the summer of ’72 (Joey Shaver signed me up in February of that year) I took the test in October in Washington D.c. A bored bureaucrat took my information and I began the test. It was all or nothing. If you passed all three sections, you got the license with an endorsement. If you failed Element 9 you got a provisional which was akin to having training wheels in a triathlon. When I handed in my test, the bored woman scored it and blankly told me I passed. Elated, I said, “I’m now a broadcaster” and she retorted, “And I’m Diana Ross”.
The Third Class License gave me the opportunity to work at station with transmitters. I could read the meters (theoretically) and be left alone. “The Ticket” came in handy at my stints at WPTS, WARD, WRKC FM, WVIA FM, and WKQV AM and FM. I never got to use the License at WARM but I did wind up broadcasting from the sainted and iconic WARM control room. That story in our next 590 Mighty Memory.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #457

2011-09-15T20:41:00.000-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: TOP SPOT FAST FOOD JOINT UNDER WATER IN WEST PITTSTON DURING THE FLOOD OF 1972.

WARM AND FLOODS

As I took a break from all of the flood coverage last week by listening to WARM’s True Oldies Format, I found that WARM Radio was offering flood updates. Phil Galasso was giving updates throughout the day on river height, road closing and evacuation centers. This was extremely important to those in the Tunkhannock area where they were hit very hard. WARM of course carries well into that Wyoming County area.
Back in 1972 WARM Radio was a very big part of communication between those residents who lost their homes. WARM suspended programming and became the linchpin that people depended upon. A full staff was unleashed to cover the biggest story to hit WARMland since the Kennedy assassination. Sales manager Dick Bolin had his brother who was involved in civil defense take news reporters around in jeeps to survey the damage. Terry McNulty then a WARM newsman said, “I will never forget the mud and disease..the people who lost everything. It’s one thing to cover a story like that when you’re miles away, but when you’re in the middle of it, you’re really with these people”.
WARM later produced a record “River On A Rampage” which was a good audio starting point for future documentaries on Agnes. After the waters subsided WARM had banner sales months getting orders for businesses that needed to relocate and reopen. The Mighty 590 also was involved in community involvement and also played a jingle that sang out, “Wyoming Valley, coming back now better than ever, WARM the Mighty 590!”
Sam Liquori would be a future radio host and board operator at WARM in the late 90s and into the 231st century. But in 1972 Sam was doing mornings on WBAX Radio in Edwardsville. The water came up suddenly on Route 11 and Sam had to beat a hasty retreat with his car to get out of there with life. Hearing the WARM flood updates brought back those memories of Agnes and the Mighty 590.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #458

2011-08-14T11:47:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: THE LATE LEN WOLOSON.

LEGACY OF LENNY

How memorable were the guys at WARM? Well this week I received two e mail communications from people with fond memories of WARM, particularly Lenny Woloson. A woman e mailed me to see if I could provide her the sound from Woloson’s show where there was a gaggle of young girls cooing “Lenny, Lenny”. She wanted to put it in a type of time capsule/cassette for her husband's birthday. I sent her a soundbite from the You Tube video I did on WARM. , I hope it helped.
An e mail came from Maryland. Mike Lewis had this memory of WARM and Woloson.
I discovered WARM at the end of August, 1970, the week before I started eighth grade. It took only two songs to do it --War's "Spill the Wine" and Mungo Jerry's "In the Summertime" -- and I was hooked. Every morning that year, my
radio alarm woke me to the sound of Len Woloson's voice. For some reason, all through that January he played Todd Rundgren's "We Gotta Get you a Woman" promptly at seven a.m. I still remember his quirky sense of humor, which was much more subtle than any DJ I've ever heard. One example sticks out. That fall there was a song by the Flaming Embers called "My Brother's Keeper," and Woloson told a joke about a zookeeper who came across a chimpanzee who had a copy of the Bible in one hand and Darwin's Origin of Species in the other. "What are you doing?" he asks. And the monkey says, "I'm trying to find out if
I'm my brother's keeper or my keeper's brother." Somehow I can't imagine a DJ saying that today. Even 41 years later I remember the kind of intelligent wit that made waking up a very pleasant chore that magical year.
Woloson was not your typical punchline joke teller. He was more of an observer of the current scene and did a tremendous amount of work with “drop in” voices. Lenny would cue up a voice and have it interspersed with his bits. Some of his humor was so simplistic that it was funny. Plus Woloson used area towns as references to his show. One of his favorite tag lines was “winner of the Honeypot beautiful child contest”. Woloson did seem to play the same songs in rotation almost to the minute but I think that was more of a happenstance due to a crowded morning commercial log than anything else.
Four decades later…….the memories of Len Woloson and WARM just keep on coming.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #459

2011-08-02T19:36:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: SECOND ANNUAL REUNION.

WARM AND THE POCONO DRAG LODGE

Please join all fans of WARM for the Second annual WARMLAND Mighty 590 reunion, to be held at the Pocono Drag Lodge reunion, 648 Meadow Run Road, Bear Creek, on August 6, 2011 from 9 am to 5 pm. There will be a WARM display setup, and will be dropping the WARM jingles between the oldies. You might even hear the old Stop n' Go Burger commercial. We will have some WARM celebrities on hand, as well as some pictures, old surveys, and more WARM related material. Come help us celebrate the Glory days of the best station, ever, anywhere!! Plus witness the Old Drag Lodge come to life for a day! Food and memorabilia will be available. For more info, contact Charlie Hulsizer, email: ecoair9798@aol.com....BE THERE!!!!!

You heard this song on WARM back in the day, stop by this weekend and hear those great old memories.And see them too!

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #460

2011-07-23T12:21:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: TOMMY WOODS THEN AND TOMMY WOODS NOW.

TOMMY'S TUNE

Did you know that one of the Sensational 7 cut a record? Well Tommy Woods did and it was released and became a minor hit. Called "LIttle Lorraine" the song is a repetitive tribute to a girl who loves the 50s, 60s teen age party scene. Back in the day as the kids like to say, disc jockeys sometimes took a turn at doing a song. In Pittsburgh, my late cousin Ed Price took a turn at crooning. He had a pretty good voice and honed his skills in the service singing sat various USOs with a former local ad agency executive Gene Stone. But back to Tommy, "Little Lorraine" is on You Tube" and for all we know could go viral. Take a listen:

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #461

2011-07-06T13:57:00.000-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: WERNER ERHARD.

WERNER, WOODY AND ME

One of the classic Bob Woody stories I have is the way he embraced the teachings of EST. Werner Erhard was a new age guru who Woody really believed in. A few in the Woody circle went to a weekend seminar.
“The Forum” was the Werner Erhard seminar that Bob Woody persuaded his friends and clients to attend in Edison, New Jersey. Each
client Woody represented was given the opportunity to go to the event.
Some took kindly to his browbeating and others essentially threw him out of their offices. Woody did have the power of persuasion though and after the Twin Valley project, Woody got some of the committee members to go to New Jersey and partake in the seminars.
His sales pitch to me was that I needed something like “The Forum” to center my professional life. He felt that I needed to be more dynamic and serious in trying to get rich. I was told that I needed to have a better work ethic. This is where I disagreed with him. I had been working since the age of 14 and felt that one could work hard but have fun at the same time. He asked me to set down goals and mine were 1. Be more assertive in saying “no” to things like the Forum,
2. Less womanizing and
3. Losing 60 pounds.
I set out to Edison, New Jersey with a guy named George who was the Sales manager at KRZ FM. This was in 1989, March. Nice guy, drove a white Acura. We stayed at the Holiday Inn in Edison where the two weekend, 8am to 10pm seminar started. During the course of the weekend,
everyone there committed to “working on themselves”. The northeast delegation numbered about 12. The instructor’s name the first week was Randy who sat alone on a stage and made pronouncements. Then we each had to make our list and tell the group of 100 where we needed to “work on ourselves”. (100 times a $600.00 price tag equals $60,000 for the weekend).
There were people there (one guy who looked like Robert Palmer) who talked about the death of a son, another talked about his demons with alcohol and another woman talked about her problem with fidelity which caught the attention of most of the men there.
There were bathroom breaks but they were timed out tightly. And if you were late, you were locked out of the room and you were instructed to handle the situation. No excuses were broached. If you had your leg blown off that was not an excuse. “Handling it” meant accepting responsibility for your mistake of being late).
The second weekend we had an instructor named Lon. I knew I was getting bored when I began to silently sing the words to the Angels “My Boyfriends Back” substituting his name. (“Hey Lon, hey Lon, my boyfriends back”). Finally, graduation came and Woody, Rene and Bert Ayers drove down from Scranton to congratulate us. We were happy because we went through an endurance race. I had to admit it was a good feeling. After the ceremonies, each graduate was invited into a little room for a one on one personal coaching meeting. At this meeting you were congratulated and then had an offer extended to you. The offer was to do an 8 week “Forum Maintenance” program which would enhance the skills you garnered in the original one. It was an 8 week, 2 day a weekend, 12 hour day series that was essential to your further growth and education. In my meeting, I was slightly distracted because the woman with fidelity issues was in the office next to me and I was trying to eavesdrop on her. But in the end, I said no because I did not want to spend the time away from home on a weekend, I did not think my company would pony up any more money for this and I was at long last asserting my authority in saying “no” to people who were trying to persuade their belief systems on me. They called in the instructor, the coordinator and then Woody who used his oft quoted line, “you don’t know what you don’t know”. I replied that what I wanted more than anything else out of “The Forum” was to assert my authority to be able to say “no” and that I accomplished that goal. It was getting late and they knew I wasn’t going to budge so that was that. Me and George with his white Acura from KRZ went home and that was my experience with Werner Erhard, “The Forum” and Edison, New Jersey.

ANOTHER EXPERIENCE

Here's another person's take on their weekend with Werner.
http://www.rickross.com/reference/landmark/landmark269.html

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #462

2011-06-05T19:18:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: BOB WOODY, BLOG EDITOR DAVID YONKI IN MIDDLE AND BERT AYERS TALKING STRATEGY OVER WITH WOODY BEFORE A TWIN VALLEYS NEWS CONFERENCE.

WOODY, ME AND THE TWIN VALLEYS

In 1987, Bob Woody, by that time running the Ad Agency had a big idea. He felt that there was this big wall between Lackawanna County and Luzerne County and felt that something should be done about it. He was the ad agency for the Sheraton Crossgates at the time and the GM of that property was working as a volunteer as head of the tourism board. Bob wanted to bring the two regions together and took his idea to the chambers of commerce who were lukewarm to the idea. So he formed his own committee of people and it was called The Twin Valleys Committee. The first group of members were himself, as chairman of Lackawanna County and me as Chairman of Luzerne County. Board members were Bert Ayers, Lee Flynn, Rene Laspina (you already see how this is going don't ya!!) Dick Mackey, Dale Rapson from Pocono Downs, an older sales
rep from 22 who's name I don't recall, Mike Raymond from WSGD FM and Lisa Lebonson from Rock 107, a few hotel operators as well as some other people who came and went. The meetings were held every Friday at Pocono Downs at 10AM. If you were late, you had to give a reason why you were late. If you weren't coming at all, you had to send what Woody called "an emissary". Your emissary did not receive your voting power if we decided something, but the responsibility of the emissary was to make certain the absent person knew what went on at the meeting. The committee's charge was to bring the two cities together via a media message that we beamed to ourselves first and then hopefully to outside markets. The advertising would come through the Ad Agency (which got 15%) and most of the TV advertising wound up at WNEP TV (the sales rep (Lespina) got 15% commission for her efforts. Media sales reps populated this committee in the hopes of getting "a buy" from the Ad Agency. Some did, some didn't. (Right those without emissaries did not). In October of 1988 we pulled off this big event at Pocono Downs where we had all the radio stations lined up, crafters, food guys, etc. About 2000 people came. Then we had a tuxedo clad dinner at the Downs where 250 people came to enjoy the races. We were generating some excitement and some good publicity. Like any group or committee, the more people contributed, the more they wanted to give their input. Bob took some of this input as criticism. Less media people started showing up and less started sending "emissaries". The straw that broke the camel's back came in March of 1989 when we were having our weekly meeting at Pocono Downs. When Bob spoke, he wanted the entire attention of the room. Dale Rapson had given us the run of Pocono Downs for all of our meetings every week for about 2 years. One day, during a meeting, while Bob was speaking, Dale's beverage guy came in to take Dale aside to the back of the room and speak to him about an emergency at the Downs. Both went to the back of the room and began to confer. Woody stands up and says to Rapson, the guy who had been housing and feeding us for free, "Uh, we can't have two meetings going on here at once. Can you either take that outside or send in an emissary?" As soon as I saw Rapson's face and look of incredulity, I knew the next time we came to the Downs we were going to be paying admission. That afternoon, Woody's assistant called and said the new meetings were going to be held at Perkins in Pittston. The Twin Valleys concept lost a great deal of steam after that and eventually died a peaceful death. But a few months later Bob contacted the committee members who stuck it out through the end. He wanted us to meet a friend of his from Edison, New Jersey.
NEXT TIME: WOODY AND WERNER-the next big thing.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #463

2011-06-02T19:49:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: BOB WOODY.

WOODY AS A NEIGHBOR PART 2

WOODY'S BIGGEST REGRET

In 1980 I was on my way to Yankee Stadium for Old Timer's Day. The bus was sailing along when we were told we had to make a turn to come back and pick up some stranded passengers who's bus broke down. I became very good friends with a guy who was Woody's next door neighbor. Through the years this guy and I remained friends. In my visits to this guy's house, I saw Woody as the neighbor. Quiet, kept the place up, at one point had his parents living with him. In the winter when I had to pick up dubs in that box outside the studio it was an adventure going down that sidewalk on the side of the house when it was icy. I seem to remember getting dubs for Music Box Playhouse, Motor Twins and a few others. One time I asked Woody if in his long career he had any big regrets. He thought a moment and said, "I wish I hadn't driven George Gilbert as crazy as I did. I wish I was a little bit less confrontational and easier on him. I'd like to tell him "I get" what he was trying to say to me". I don't know if he ever told "double G" that but I'd like to think he did. The house at 317 Harrison Avenue belongs to someone else. My friend still lives at 309 Harrison. Because of my accident I can no longer make the steps but every once in a while when I drive down Harrison Ave to pick up my buddy for a Yankees game or a night out, I half expect Woody to be charging out of his house on some mission that he only "gets" in its full magnitude.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #464

2011-05-28T18:44:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: RING DING DING COASTER.

RING A DING WEEKEND

One of the best memories of WARM Radio is the weekend "Ring A Ding Ding" Stegmaier weekend. Airing on Saturday and Sunday nights, WARM actually played oldies. Well they were only just a few years old but WARM used the opportunity to play hits from 1956 on to the current day the show was on. The ubiquitous jingle:

"Ring A Ding Ding, do the Stegmaier thing in the Summertime" usually kicked off on Memorial Day weekend.

Also during the holiday weekends WARM gave safety tips to drivers making sure they stayed safe on the roadways. The station actually had a fatality count from the previous year to deter drivers from doing something silly.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #465

2011-05-23T18:05:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: PETE GABRIEL, (CIRCA 1971).

CORRECTION

Last year we were told by a former member of the WARM Sensational 7 (actually he came after the 7) that Pete Gabriel had passed away. We are happy to report that the information was erroneous. Joe Middleton just spoke with “The Mighty Gabriel” hours ago and the big guy is alive and well in the Midwest. We are sorry for the error and apologize if we caused any concerns or trouble with the information that was not true. Our source was adamant and it was confirmed by another person. But I later found out that the second source got the information from the first source. So once more, sorry and long live Pete Gabriel.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #466

2011-05-22T13:16:00.000-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: BOB WOODY AND KING'S COLLEGE CROWN NEWSPAPER EDITOR JILL KAY USKRAIT, CIRCA 1976)

THE WOODY GUY (Part 1)

Bob Woody came to WARM in the late summer, fall of 1972. I was not in town when he arrived but heard that his arrival was very much ballyhooed by the WARM suits. Woody held down the 3 to 7PM slot and had a manic and entertaining delivery. Woody made his mark as one of the most accessible and intensive personalities. At times he clashed with management over his style as well as his ancillary causes. Woody was big into humanitarian causes and while so was the Mighty 590, their commitment was sometimes closer to home. Woody talked of world hunger and discrimination. Back then those were issues that were hot button and worthy of discussion. But after the tragedy of the Agnes Flood and the need for residents to get back their lives, sometimes Woody’s efforts were placed on the back burner. Undeterred Woody used his show as a type of conversational bully pulpit and spoke about those issues anyway right in between playing records like “Bang a Gong” and “Nice To Be With You”. Woody became a close friend and confidant of the late singer Harry Chapin. Chapin was a message singer who was wildly popular. Even though many young college students were turning to FM Radio, Woody with his enthusiasm for social causes and wacky personality gave WARM’s drive time a special niche. Woody cultivated the college crowd by working with them on various concerts. He was a huge promoter of the Chapin concerts at King’s College in the mid 70s. One college newspaper reporter, Jill Kay Uskrait of Williamsport actually won a prestigious Collegiate Newspaper award because of an interview that she wrote with a local personality, one Mr. Bob Woody.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #467

2011-04-26T18:57:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: THIS BLOG EDITOR AND HARRY WEST, THE CHILI RECIPE IN THE WARM COOKBOOK> (CLICK TO ENLARGE).

CHERRY BLOSSOM TIME!

WARM Radio always got involved with the Cherry Blossom Festivals in West Pittston and Wilkes Barre. In the 80s, WARM ramped up its coverage of the two concurrent weekend events and did live broadcasts. Usually the West Pittston Cherry Blossom Festival came first, then then the Wilkes Barre soiree. WARM personalities like Melanie Apple, John Hancock, Vince Sweeney, Steve St. John, Terry McNulty and the venerable Harry West did live broadcasts from the event. One year, in cooperation with the promotion of one of the releases of an edition of the famous WARM cookbook, yours truly made Cherry Blossom Chili. There were no ingredients apropos of the festival flowers but it was a good way to move the cookbooks and raise some money for some non profits. The recipe that was served to the folks in the 1987 Cherry Blossom Festival on the River Common in Wilkes Barre is in the photo index as well as the famous promotional picture of me and the great Harry West.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #468

2011-04-21T14:13:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: WARM EASTER SURVEY SHEET ANNOUNCEMENT OF WHO GOT THE BIG BUNNY!!!

WARM’S EASTER PROMOTIONS

Warm Radio also took the lead in promoting the Easter Season. As a prelude to the big day, WARM had an array of advertisers like Gertrude Hawk candies, markets selling hams and kilbossi as well as the involvement of various malls that put on gigantic Easter Egg hunts. WARM always did a promotional Egg hunt with Pocono Downs usually the day before Palm Sunday. WARM also gave away tons of chocolate. A WARM tradition was the giving away of a large Easter bunny. One year, a listener suggested that WARM give the big guy away to children who were a little more disadvantaged than the average WARM child. And so every year, from that listener seed, a local charity got a big bunny, courtesy of the Mighty 590.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #469

2011-04-14T20:46:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: FORMER WEJL AND WARM PERSONALITY KIM MARTIN.

RECRUITING TALENT

WARM Radio always had a reputation of recruiting on air talent from surrounding radio stations. Tommy Woods, Terry McNulty and Joey Shaver, three members of the Sensational 7 came from local radio outlets. Harry West came from Reading and became the morning man. When West left in 1968 to go to KQV in Pittsburgh, WARM looked to a former staffer Len Woloson to return to WARMland. When Woloson left WARM suddenly, for a time the Mighty 590 had George Gilbert fill in as the morning man. A nationwide search ensued for a new morning guy. Interviews went on and on until WARM decided on their new guy. It wasn’t anyone from a far away market but a guy broadcasting in Scranton on WEJL AM. To usher in the 70s WARM chose Kim Martin. Martin came to WARM in early ’71 and did the noon to 3pm (Double G’s old stomping grounds) initially. Then when Woloson left Martin did the mornings. Martin had an easy style about him which was a precursor to a subtle style in the new genre of WARM jocks. He was best known for gentle jabs like referring to WARM news reporter Kitch Loftus as Kitch Newsworthy. But that style was only on WARM for a short time because the big Philadelphia market came calling and Martin wound up there using the name McClintock. The instability of the WARM morning drive time show ended in July of 1973 when Harry West returned to WARM after working at KQV in Pittsburgh and WSBA in York.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #470

2011-04-05T18:47:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: THE FIRST WARM SURVEYS ON 8 AND 1/2 BY 11 PAPER, THE FIRST SMALLER SURVEY SHEET, THE NEXT GENRE WITHOUT PHOTOS, BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOS WERE ADDED AROUND 1965, A FEW YEARS LATER ARTIST RENDERINGS OF WARM'S JOCKS WERE ADDED, THE GOOD GUYS SHORTENED THE FORMAT BUT STILL KEPT THE RENDERINGS AND FINALLY IN 1971 PHOTOS WERE ONCE MORE ADDED.

FOR THE MUSIC GEEKS

By request here are some of the WARM survey sheets which highlight the actual music. Note the progression of the format from its earliest days to the final ones put out in 1971. (Click to enlarge to see).

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #471

2011-03-26T21:40:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: WARM SURVEY SHEET WITH ANTI DRUG MESSAGE.

WARM'S WAR ON DRUGS

As the innocence of the early 1960s faded, and long before Nancy Reagan launched her "Just Say No" campaign, WARM Radio utilized an anti drug message. Recognizing that the new, more progressive music had drug overtones, WARM carefully looked at its play list. Still, the station could not ignore popular music trends. However WARM proactively ran anti drug campaigns and even went so far as to "message" their philosophy on their weekly survey sheets. Where acne cream once reigned and news of dance "hops", WARM now had some pretty stiff anti drug messages. Click to enlarge on this survey sheet from the October of 1970. By the Way, the number 1 song in WARMland on this survey was the Jackson 5's "I'll Be There".

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #472

2011-03-16T15:23:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: SCRANTON FOR GOVERNOR LICENSE PLATE AND NEWSWEEK COVER OF BILL SCRANTON.

BILL SCRANTON AND WARM

What does a former Governor of the State of Pennsylvania have to do with WARM, the Mighty 590? Plenty. The guy owned it. Bill Scranton got involved in the broadcasting business in the fifties purchasing WARM TV and the 590 frequency. (The TV station would become WNEP). WARM with its impressive call letters as well as its 5,000 watts was an attractive entity for Susquehanna Broadcasting. (They had just got WSBA in York, Pennsylvania up and running. Lou Appel who was then associate with Susquehanna called Scranton up and asked him if the station was for sale. Scranton said yes but that he was in negotiations with a Ken Cooper from New York City for the outlet. True to his word, Scranton kept negotiating with Cooper even though his interest was dwindling. Appel and Art Carlson kept after Bill Scranton because they knew the potential WARM held. Finally, Scranton gave up on Cooper and began to negotiate the sale. Appel said that he could never get over the reaction of Bill Scranton during the business meetings which took place every time during a Scranton City sized snow storm. Scranton kept on reiterating that he (Scranton) was an honest and straight forward person who was a man of his word. Appel told Phil Eberly, the author of “Susquehanna Radio: The First Fifty Years” that he found this humerous because he had no reason to believe that Bill Scranton was any type of scoundrel in business or otherwise. The deal was done with the honest Mr. Scranton. Appel had his station, he put Art Carlson in charge of it and WARM began its assent as the top dog in NEPA Radio. And Bill Scranton? He went on to become a U.S. Congressman, Governor of Pennsylvania, Presidential candidate, Ambassador to the United Nations as well as a trouble shooter for many U.S. Presidents. He also appeared on numerous national magazine covers throughout his life.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #473

2011-03-04T19:33:00.000-08:00

PHOTO INDEX: ADS FOR RECORDS ON THE BACK OF WARM "GOOD GUY" SURVEY SHEETS. THIS WAS FROM THE EARLY 70s.

SELLING THE SONGS

WARM Radio got into the business of added revenue in the early 1970s. For years the major Top 40 Radio Stations like CKLW in Detroit, WCFL in Chicago, WFIL AND WIBG in Philadelphia as well as WMEX in Boston produced long play albums with, what else? The hits of the day. The albums were also walking commercials for all of the jocks on the radio station. WARM entered this arena with a “Good Guys Present 16 Greatest Hits”. It sold for about $1.99 in some stores and in a weird sort of way was a precursor to what eventually did WARM in, non stop music on the FM side. It was an album with no commercials or jingles and it was in stereo. But FM and the demise of Top 40 radio was a long way off as “The Good Guys” promoted their shows and music through these albums.
Another thing WARM did was promote various albums on the back of their top 40 survey sheets. WARM always sold advertising space on them but the early 70s gave the music industry new opportunities to promote cross over artists like Joe South. Popular in folk and country circles, South was the type of act that fit into WARM’s growing older demographic. Those teenagers who danced at Sans Souci now were getting married, slowing down a bit but still listening to a softer blend of music than the burgeoning progressive movement. Joe South was a natural.
Again, the Greatest Hits Album as well as the ads on the back for more mainstream artists exhibited once more how WARM changed with the times. But one constant was that whether it was a long play album with all of the hits or a new artist, either one, you heard it first from the Mighty 590 WARM.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #474

2011-02-26T18:43:00.001-08:00

PHOTO INDEX: WARM NEWS DIRECTOR JERRY HELLER. (FROM PHOTO PROVIDED BY KEVIN JORDAN).

EXCLUSIVE NEWS

Recently I was doing some TV coverage for a local TV station and I was struck by the fact that the media pretty much traveled in a pack. It got me thinking about how WARM news was covered back in their halcyon days. I was told by a news reporter that Jerry Heller the News Director at WARM urged his reporters to get exclusive sound from the subject of a news story. Let me explain: let’s say there was a government official talking about a budget cut. At a news conference with a whole room of reporters, everyone covering it there got the same sound. What Heller wanted, even demanded, was that his reporter linger behind and ask their own question to either get a different take of what was said, an entirely different perspective than what was portrayed or just a different way of saying what the subject said to the others. WARM sometimes required its reporters to phone in sound. This was done by going to a land line, unscrewing the mouthpiece and hooking up two circuits to the inside of the phone. You transmitted your sound that way through the phone lines. That way, the story was on the Mighty 590 even before the reporter got back to the newsroom. WARM Radio was always rated number 1 in news. It was because reporters were encouraged to work just a bit harder and get all of the story. WARM was for sure “First News First” but it also did its best to get the most exclusive sound they could. The WARM News Department operated on the age old broadcast principle, “what came out of that speaker was the most important thing you did”.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #475

2011-02-21T15:35:00.001-08:00

PHOTO INDEX: WARM'S LEN WOLOSON AND GEORGE WASHINGTON.

LENNY AND GEORGE

Today we celebrate President’s Day which is part of a traditional three day weekend. But once upon a time Lincoln’s Birthday (February 12th) was celebrated as well as George Washington’s Birthday. WARM Radio once ran a type of promotion that garnered a lot of attention in its fledgling days. WARM Radio’s Len Woloson (who was doing all nights) agreed to dress up as George Washington. To set this up, the station management arranged a bogus phone call that reported a figure looking like Washington was seen on the banks of the Susquehanna throwing silver dollars into the river. The management at WARM were no fools but also were very frugal. So Lenny just threw one or two for effect. The intrepid Frank Jay who doubled as a sales rep followed Woloson uh, Washington around reporting it as if it were a news story. Like children following the pied piper, the local media followed suit and reported the pilgrimage. Woloson then walked across the Market Street Bridge from Kingston to Wilkes Barre . The plan was for Woloson to walk into the always crowded Europa Lounge on Public Square in full Mount Vernon regalia and order a piece of cherry pie. People were making such a fuss that somehow Lenny never got around to ordering the pie. It has been reported that Len wasn’t making a lot of money at the time and opted for a few steak dinners while he was there instead the less inexpensive dessert. Whatever the case, WARM’s little promotion had its desired effect. That station with “the crazy kids music” had gotten the attention of the media, adult listeners and history buffs. Again, the promotion cost little but gained a lot. In future Presidential holidays, Tommy Woods visited lucky winners with Cherry pies. (See 590 MIGHTY MEMORY #561, February 15th, 2009) WARM also gave away those pies in subsequent promotions. But it all began with Lenny Woloson taking the bait and posing as our first President.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #476

2011-01-28T21:45:00.000-08:00

PHOTO INDEX: STOP 'N GO LOGO ON BACK OF WARM SURVEY SHEET.

STOP 'N GO

Before there was a Wendy's, Burger King or McDonald's in WARMland, there were Stop 'N Go restaurants. The chains sported yellow roofs and very inexpensive hamburgers. Stop 'N Go did a promotion with WARM giving out "Ballad of WARMland" records. But just like those big fast food chains we know of today, "The Ballad of WARMland" had a precursor. And that of course was the melody from the Stop 'N Go commercial. The vocal is by vocalist Terry Lee who also did "The Ballad".

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #477

2011-01-22T09:23:00.001-08:00

PHOTO INDEX: WARM'S DON STEVENS AND A PHOTO FROM THE KNOX MINE DISASTER.

WARM/ KNOX MINE DISASTER

When you work at a radio station there are clearly delineated roles. And never the twain shall meet. Except of course for emergencies. And one such huge challenge occurred in WARM Radio’s infant stages into the foray of Top 40 radio. On Jan. 22nd, the Knox Mine Disaster happened. For reasons that still remain a mystery, there was no one available in the WARM News or Programming Department. Bill Musser a salesman at the time went to the disaster and was the first reporter on the scene. He had the savvy street skills to obtain the only phone from a house next door to the disaster in Port Griffith.
As time went on, the national and statewide news arrived. The house was set up as a makeshift newsroom. Don Stevens who was Program Director at the time marshaled every available employee into the equation. WARM Radio dominated the news coverage. 27 men trapped and no end to the impending tragedy in sight.
While other reporters were trying to get their bearings, Musser, Stevens and Art Carlson were near the collapsed mine shaft. Suddenly there was a scream saying that the surviving miners were on their way out of the deadly shaft. There was a washed out railroad track near the mine shaft where the miners were coming out. The lanky Stevens ran on the remaining track bed to see the exit from danger. Stevens called the station and gave the first eyewitness report. Art Carlson said that Stevens had a penchant for saying the word “Yes Indeed” whenever he was exited. On the last report from the mine disaster, Stevens in those deep down dulcet tones said, “Yes indeed! This was the miracle of Port Griffith!!!!"
Don Stevens remained at WARM for another half dozen years after that fateful day in January. While I’m sure the rest of his tenure was fun filled and action packed, nothing could match the day that Don Stevens and Don Musser broke the biggest news story in WARMland that year.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #478

2011-01-17T18:32:00.001-08:00

PHOTO INDEX: THE ROCKY GLEN BANDSTAND.

LUNCH WITH BEN

WARM Day at Rocky Glen Park didn’t just happen. First off there had to be a central location. What better place than in the mid point of Wilkes Barre and Scranton. Rocky Glen Park was a natural. The late Al Kornish said the only way Rocky Glen owner Ben Sterling would meet was over lunch in the park president’s office. Kornish related that Sterling would take his desk, clear it and put a checkered table cloth across it. Sterling would then order lunch, which in the summer was amusement park fare and for a few hours the duo would discuss the world, the nation and what have you. Kornish related that in his very first meeting with Sterling, the amusement magnate said that the WARM Sales Manager should buy his book. Sterling solemnly said it was a type of biography entitled “What I Have Learned About the Amusement Business In Forty Years”. Kornish eagerly said he'd buy the book and Sterling said he’d send it to him. A few weeks later Kornish got a package COD (Cash On Delivery) for $14.95. When he opened it up, he saw Ben Sterling’s Book, “What I Learned About the Amusement Business In Forty Years”. When Kornish sat down to read the book, it turned out there were hundreds of blank pages following the title page.
This story is illustrative of how sales people, and yes sometimes General Managers used to interact with some clients. While the public saw the glitz and glamour of WARM Day, and the radio personaltites rubbed elbows with the stars, all of that would never have happened without the time, effort, bonding and comraderie cemented over a checkered table cloth. And of course, a little practical joke also had to be thrown into the equation. That never hurt either.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #479

2011-01-13T17:44:00.001-08:00

PHOTO INDEX: DON IMUS ON HIS FIRST VISIT TO WARM (THE ONE WHERE HE ACTUALLY STAYED) FROM LEFT TO RIGHT, THE BLOG EDITOR, THEN PROGRAM DIRECTOR GREG FOSTER, THE "I MAN" HIMSELF AND WARM SALES MANAGER GREG STROM.

BOTTOM PHOTO IS A WARM SALES HANDOUT FEATURING THE ENTIRE TALK LINE UP. (CLICK TO ENLARGE).

WARM TALK

During the 80s WARM developed what the late Sales Manager of the Mighty 590 Tim Durkin called a “hybrid format”. During that time WARM had music in the morning and then after the Sports Line with Ron Allen which alternated between being on at 5 or 6pm, WARM went talk all night.
It wasn’t until the mid 90s that WARM went all Talk. By the end of the decade WARM had been in a battle with WILK AM for Talk Show supremacy in the market. WARM featured the syndicated Don Imus program followed by Ron Nyehard and Kevin Lynn and then having the very liberal Tom Likus on at night. Later on due to budget cuts Nyehard was moved to sports exclusively and Lynn became the sole local talent. WARM continued its popular remotes with Lynn doing remotes for Pittsburgh Steeler games. Rob Nyehard continued his popular series “Rob On the Road” where he went to various businesses. WARM had lost the Eagles and Penn State football in a bidding war but continued sports with the acquisition of the Steelers.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #480

2011-01-09T19:19:00.001-08:00

PHOTO INDEX: THE LATE ALAN KORNISH. (PHOTO FROM TIMES LEADER).

AL KORNISH

While personalities heard on a radio station get the bulk of recognition, people behind the scenes also make a great radio station. WARM had a succession of very good general managers who helped guide the station through the business waters. One was Alan Kornish. The secret of Kormish’s success at WARM was that he let his people under him manage. There was some direction but he let the ideas fly.
Alan E. Kornish, 74, of Exeter died Thursday, Jan. 6, 2011, at home. Born Sept. 28, 1936, in Scranton, he was the son of the late Alex and Helma Trager Kornish. He was a graduate of East Stroudsburg University with a degree in teaching. Alan's lifelong career was in broadcasting and he was formerly employed by Susquehanna Broadcasting "WARM" radio. Kornish started out as a Salesman at WARM in the early 60s. He was promoted to General Manager in the late 60s. Under his stewardship WARM continued to grow ratings wise as well as in sales. He was instrumental in the transition from Harry West as Morning Man to Len Woloson in early 1969. Working closely with WARM program director George Gilbert, Kornish gave the okay to expand the WARM News Department. Old friends and co workers attended his wake in Plains and once more remembered one of the human the building blocks that built The Mighty 590.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #481

2011-01-03T16:45:00.000-08:00

PHOTO INDEX: WARM COFFEE MUGGED.

MUGGING IT UP

One of the most sought after WARM collectible was the WARM COFFEE MUG. WARM gave them away sparingly at first, afraid that they’d run out of them. But cooler heads prevailed in management and at one point in the 90s the WARM coffee mug became the most ubiquitous office accessory in WARMland. At first the station gave away the mug with a tin of Folgers coffee. Then they became prizes at event. Finally at trade shows the WARM mug went corporate as a gift to business leaders and followers for that matter. Through the years, the once coveted WARM mug has been on sale at yard sales and even once there was a rumor it was on E Bay. (I looked, couldn’t find it). The WARM mug stands as a testament to what a little promotion will do in radio. Oldsters drank their coffee, kids drank their hot chocolate and Lord knows how many dates, harassment suits, hiring, firings, promotions, corrective actions and staff meetings went on accompanied by the venerable WARM mug. Long gone, but kept by a few pack rats in WARMland, the WARM coffee cup is another WARM memory.
This song by Frank Sinatra says it all about coffee, and Sid Marks weekly Sinatra program is heard Sundays at 10AM on the current reincarnation of the Mighty 590.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #482

2010-12-23T19:44:00.001-08:00

PHOTO INDEX: WARM'S NORM HILL.

A WARM CHRISTMAS MEMORY

First off, I have been fortunate to have never had a bad Christmas. Through pain, personal loss, chemo therapy, crazy things that happened to me, I can honestly say I never had a bad Christmas. But there was one year in the early 1990s when I was having one of those holiday seasons where everything was going wrong. No matter how hard I tried, there was no way I could please anyone. It was Christmas Eve and I was down. Naturally I had my radio on after having to work on Christmas Eve. Driving home my car stopped. Electrical failure. . Christmas Eve, 4:45Pm, a few miles away from my house. Thank goodness I was near a pay phone. I hoofed it to the phone and called Triple A. I had one quarter left. Earlier in the radio, before the car fiasco I was listening to Norm Hill on WARM. Norm hosted “The WARM Hall Of Fame Show” from 7 to midnight for a while. Later he worked in traffic, did mid morning and was also a swing man. Norm was saying on the air how much he missed being home on Christmas Eve. (WARM then went with pretaped Christmas music after the 6PM newscast) So with the change I had left, I called Norm. We had been familiar with each other because of my appearances on WARM for public relations projects I had been working on. Norm had also done some voice overs for me too. I explained to Norm my situation and after he asked if he could help, I told him I had the car situation under control but that if he wanted he could play something for me, hell for us, two guys stranded on Christmas Eve. When I got back to the car, Norm was still in commercial break but when he came back on the air he said, “This song goes out to a good friend of WARM Radio, Dave Yonki who will, sooner or later like me, be home for Christmas”. The auto club came and I did get to my destination but the great thing was WARM played a song that made me laugh out loud, made me smile and think that “Hey this is still Christmas Eve!” My problems were minor compared to the stuff other people were trying to handle. And WARM Radio, whether it was Norm Hill or any of the talented jocks who commanded the airwaves was there to fill the void in whatever Christmas spirit was missing. After all these years, I remember Norm Hill, this incident and especially this song that came on WARM, the Mighty 590 during that challenging Christmas Eve trek home.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #483

2010-12-17T20:09:00.000-08:00

PHOTO INDEX: LOIS KOMENSKY AND DAVID LISCOV AT THE ST. JOHN'S FORMAL. CLASS OF 1970 BOYS CHORUS AT ST. JOHN'S CHRISTMAS CONCERT. (PHOTOS COURTESY CHARLES DAVENPORT, ST. JOHN'S CLASS OF 1970).

WARM, CHRISTMAS & THE KIDS

This weekend WARM Radio “True Oldies Channel” will feature the most spectacular Christmas songs of all time. Listening to the promos, I thought about those holidays past and how WARM played a major role in them. WARM had Christmas promotions and shopping sprees. (Mrs. 590 Forever won a trip in the 90s). WARM also promoted incessantly Christmas high school concerts. Now they did not rebroadcast them, that would be breaking format but they would promote the dickens (no pun intended) out of them on the PSBB. Another thing WARM did, way before it was fashionable and on everyone’s radar screen was the pleas to teen drivers to be cautious while going to those Christmas proms. Most likely you heard this Public Service Ad during every Prom Season but WARM made a special effort to promote safe driving in these and all other high traffic times for teeners.

And most likely you heard this song on WARM Radio every Christmas. Our pictures are courtesy of Charles Davenport an avid WARM listener. The year Charles graduated St. John’s (Class of 1970) Jose Feliciano debuted this Christmas classic.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #484

2010-12-10T18:36:00.001-08:00

PHOTO INDEX: JOEY SHAVER CIRCA 1966.

GREAT GOOD NIGHTS

We got a question from a reader of the WARM blog. Shirley Marquez asks:
For years, back in the days when radio stations actually went off the air late at night, Joey Shaver always played a recording of "Goodnight My Love" as his last song. I haven't been able to identify whose version he played; can you or somebody out there help?
Back in the mid 60s, WARM personalities not only had a sign on theme, they also had an end theme. George Gilbert had the Lettermen I believe doing an outro, and up until maybe 1968 Joey Shaver ended each nightly broadcast with the classic hit from 1954 called "Goodnight My Love" Shaver played it at the end of his shift making way for the all night deejay. Here's Jesse Belvin and "Goodnight My Love".

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #485

2010-12-06T18:36:00.001-08:00

PHOTO INDEX: JOEY SHAVER AT THE KINGSTON ARMORY, CIRCA 1967.

WAR AND WARM

WARM Radio did its part for the troops during the Vietnam War. As our nation fights an unadvertised war in Afghanistan in this century, in the 60s WARMland's young men and women wound up in Vietnam. There are countless stories about parents and brothers and sisters and cousins sending reel tapes of the WARM personalities to their loved ones overseas. In the fall of 1967 WARM Radio was at a business event at the Kingston Armory (it was the annual Wilkes Barre Chamber of Commerce trade show). WARM's Joey Shaver manned a booth asking people if they wanted to send a taped message to one of the overseas patriots. As with everything WARM did back then, it was wildly successful. And it didn't cost much to set up some equipments and garner the good will of listeners far and wide/. No matter what your political persuasion, what your opinion about the war, WARM reached out to those families who had someone fighting and sometimes dying in that long ago conflict.

Here are two of the songs WARM played, two different philosophies if you will during this time period in American history:

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #486

2010-11-29T18:30:00.001-08:00

PHOTO INDEX: FORMER WARM JOCK CHRIS STARR IN AN AD FOR HIS STATION IN BALTIMORE AND IN A STATION PROMOTION SURROUNDED BY A BEVY OF BEAUTIES.

CHRIS STARR RESPONDS

Our last WARM Mighty Memory featured Chris Starr who used the name Chris O'Brien from WARM. We heard from him and posted this response from him. In his response he talks about his days and interactions at WARM.

Jim Gannon was one of the nicest people to know. Maybe someone will see your post and he'll get in touch.
I remember by first jock meeting at WARM, the guys told me to shut up and just listen, because it was all a waste of time. Ron Allen after the meeting got under way and looked at me and said "Chris, you don't know this place was so screwed up do you?"
When I was a PD at WEJL and then WSCR and later WSCR (13 Q) the our favorite The Woody Guy, he told us that WARM was a "Well oiled machine" That wasn't true. There were plenty of Friday's nights when there wasn't even a jock schedule placed up for the weekend. We call to call to find out what the air shifts were.
So, after BAX, I went to WICK with Woody, then WEJL, I was PD there, then to WSCR with about 6 or 7 other EJL staff members including Jack Griswold. I coined the call letters "Why Even Jack Left" LOL.
So, after WARM, I went to Maryland, guess I'm one of the "lucky" few to make it to a major market, then Voice of America. That place is huge. Had people there who used to work for the BBC, Good Morning America, we had 2 of Larry Kings ex engineers (they hated him). Guys from The Tonight Show crew, Mike Douglas, you name it. The Voice America was considered the final step up. A federal Government job, great retirement and so on.
My final job in DC was.....ready? Working for Present Clinton and Air Force One. Can't say mush about that because it has a high security clearance and Nation Security issues. THAT was an amazing job. I did get to talk to Hillary once, her Grandfather worked with my Uncle in the old silk mill in Scranton years ago.
So, it was an interesting career. I also wrote for some national Magazine, was Editor-in-Chief of The W.C. Fields Magazine for the Fields family. We worked with A&E on the Fields biography. If you ever see it, look for me and my real name on the credits. I go them just about everyone to interview for the show. When they first called me, they asked if Fields really drank. So, they had no idea.
Jerry Heller was also very nice to work with at WARM. Ron Allen was always kind and considerate to me as well. Terry, I only worked with maybe twice, so I never got a chance to know him well. But he was a true professional and good to work with. It's so sad to see that so many of them have passed away.

ON WFBR……….

They took me and bought me 20 tuxedo's for a promotion when a limo driver would take me around Baltimore. I'd go into restaurants, pick up peoples checks and give them money. I had thousands on me each day. I couldn't believe it. When they took me for the tux, there were 5 promotion girls that worked there. I asked "Do I just bring the tux's back when I done?" they said "No! there yours!!!". That was a shocker. I was used to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where everything was a trade out. This station at the time was owned at John Gambling "Gamblin with Gamblin from WOR in New York. I'd work 4 hours a day and was home my 10:30 am ...amazing.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #487

2010-11-19T19:56:00.000-08:00

PHOTO INDEX: WARM'S JIM GANNON, AKA DALE DENVER, WARM'S CHRIS O'BRIEN, AKA CHRIS STARR.

THE BOYS FROM ‘BAX

WARM Radio very rarely wooed people away from other stations in the 1960s. True Terry McNulty came from WSCR, Tommy Woods from WNAK and Joey Shaver from WBAX but it was a given that if a new personality came from out of town it was from another city. In the mid 70s WARM started recruiting more aggressively locally. Around 1977 WARM went jock shopping at WBAX. In the mid 70s after Jim Ward left the station to start WARD, the Merv Griffin group still owned the station. They put an aggressive campaign to market themselves as a top 40 station. They featured twenty twenty news and had 6 disc jockeys who did 4 hour shifts.
Jim Gannon was known as Dale Denver on WBAX. Starting at 2am and ending at 6, Denver was the all night disc jockey who kept on moving up when people moved on. He went to WARM in the late seventies doing all nights, then afternoons. In the early 80s when WARM had Bill Kimball as a Program Director, it was decided that there would be tandem shows. Gannon was paired with Harry West in the morning. West who always was his own act was not happy. Gannon gamely tried to carry on in the mix but it just wasn’t clicking. After Kimball went on his way. Gannon did afternoon shifts.
Chris O’Brien came to WARM after spending a few years doing drive time on WBAX. He was best known as Chris Starr and was mischievous. His double ententes with then news woman Madeline Fitzgerald were way ahead of the Howard Stern Robin Quivers talk. Starr and Fitzgerald never went over the line..much and jelled well. O’Brien went over to WARM doing night and drive time. O’Brien later worked at WEJL AM which I think might have been his last radio gig in this area.
I was on my first day on an internship from King’s College when morning man Rick Walker got into an argument with a pompous GM named Dick Booth. I was talking to Walker when Booth made a smart remark and its was on. Walker left the building. I felt horrible because I thought I precipitated the firing. The Receptionist Lenore Brace later told me this was brewing long before I got there. (She and Starr later married). Walker wound up at WARM as Don DelVechio doing 10am to 2pm. Ron Allen gave him his name due to the popularity of a long gone, little remembered detective show on ABC.
Keaton one of my readers send me photos that his mom copied. He writes, "My late Mother made copies of them for me from Jim Gannon who was working with her about 10 years ago at a telemarking company in the old Scranton Dry Company. Gannon was close friends with Chris O'Brien and apparently had kept in touch over the years. They both had worked at the old WBAX. When Chris O'Brien left WARM in the 80's, he went to WFBR Baltimore and did mornings,later worked at WQSR Baltimore and finally at The Voice of America in Washington, DC. Gannon worked at WDSL I think it was after WARM. Where they both are now, who knows?”
At last report DelVechio was on the Exeter Police Force.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Thanks to "Keaton" for the WARM memory and photos.
REVISED FOR CONTENT: Sunday Nov. 21st, 2010, 12:21PM Eastern Time.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #488

2010-11-07T07:52:00.001-08:00

PHOTO INDEX: BUCK OWENS AND THE BUCAROOS AND THE ROOFTOP SINGERS.

WARM’S DALLIANCES

In the 60s music was changing almost every month. If you take a look at a 1962 survey sheet from WARM you saw songs from standards singers Tony Bennett on it. Then there was the emergence of the “girl groups” and the “Wall of Sound” from Phil Spector. One of the biggest and popular arrivals on the scene was the era of folk music epitomized by the Rooftop Singers, Peter Paul and Mary and the Seekers. WARM decided to capitalize on this new folk wave by running a program ON Sunday night entitled “WARM Hootenanny”. It wasn’t anything that was in depth or probing. It was just an ancillary program filled with that type of music sponsored by a business and then promoted by WARM throughout the week. Not wanting to rock the cash cow boat WARM created with Top 40 and News and Information, the show was safely tucked away on a Sunday night sandwiched between the Stegmairer Oldies Show and the WARM public affairs block that ran at 11PM Sundays until signoff.
A few years later WARM also introduced a TOP Ten countdown of the Country Hits in the nation. Again, it was sponsored but not put in any place to change the outcome of their main format.
These two attempts were clear demonstrations that while being number 1 with a major share of audience. WARM had its ear to the ground trying to make sure they weren’t missing anything in the pop music field. This dalliance into niche broadcasting was shortlived since those Hootenanny hits and country songs crossed over into the regular top 40 rotation. But it is worth noting that WARM, even in the 60s was looking to make sure they kept themselves in the music game. According to my records and interviews with people, (albeit very sketchy) The Hootenanny Show ran from '62 to about late '63 and the WARM Country Countdown lasted about 6 months from January 1966 to about mid May).

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #489

2010-10-31T08:22:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: JACK O LANTERN.

HALLOWEEN AND WARM

Did WARM Radio revel in Halloween? Oh yeah.
Big time. WARM in the 60s had various Halloween dances for the teenagers. None of the Sensational 7 ever dressed in costume. In the 70s and 80s as that teen audience aged, WARM began to participate in safe Halloween events at both the Viewmont and Wyoming Valley Malls. These were huge promotions usually held on Thursday and Friday nights before Halloween. All station personnel were on hand to organize the event with the Mall Marketing Directors. There were tons of kids, parents, candy, goodie bags as well as educational events on childhood safety and protection during the Halloween season. Joey Shaver, former WARM personality in the 60s was the Account Rep for both Malls. He was an integral part in setting up the events and keeping the MIGHTY 590 in the forefront of the Halloween season. In the mid 90s, the teenagers who rocked out in costume in the 60s showed up at the Mall properties with their grand children! And as always on WARM, there was a musical constant on Halloween. And it was of course this tune that blared on the radio and through the Malls and the Mighty 590.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #490

2010-10-29T21:07:00.000-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: WARM'S BRIAN HUGHES.

SUNDAY MAGAZINE

Every Sunday morning, Brian Hughes of WARM Radio hosts "Sunday Magazine". It is a half hour public affairs show that features guests from every walk of life. This week I'm happy to announce that I am Brian Hughes' guest. We'll be talking about politics in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Show time: 9:30AM on Sunday. We'll discuss issues that I write about on The LuLac political Letter.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #491

2010-10-23T13:15:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: PETE GABRIEL LAST YEAR AT COOPER'S IN PITTSTON AND ON THE WARM SURVEY SHEET CIRCA 1971.

PETE GABRIEL DIES

Pete Gabriel who was a day time disc jockey for the Mighty 590 in the early 1970s passed away recently. Gabriel came to WARM in late 1968 transitioning into the mid day 10am to 1pm slot. Later Gabriel worked the 1pm to 4pm shift. Gabriel was a towering figure. He loved sports and was a very integral part of the WARM Softball Softies of the early 70s. Gabriel was a good hitter and fielder but because of his size, he also served as a type of enforcer/peacemaker for the Softies. The WARM guys came out to play for charity events. But they didn't want to appear to be lovable losers either and had a very good team. Sometimes opposition members tried to take out their frustrations on the visiting WARM personnel. Gabriel never let that happen. Gabriel returned to the area in 2009 for a reunion with former co workers. (See Mighty WARM memory #548 ). He was reported to be in ill health but his death was still a jolt to WARMlanders.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #492

2010-10-08T21:56:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: WARM SPORTS BROADCASTER KELLY REED AND FLOYD RAYFORD OF THE RED BARONS (CIRCA 1990) AND KELLY AT AN OUTDOOR BOXING EVENT ON A RAINY NIGHT.

KELLY REED

Since this is my favorite time of year in terms of sports, (baseball playoffs and the emergence of the NFL season) I thought it fitting to profile a leader in area sports casting. She was a pioneer. Kelly Reed existed long before Pat Porro or Charlotte McBride from WNEP TV. She was a ground breaker in pioneering women’s sports broadcasting. Reed started out as a night time disc jockey on Magic 93 but gradually matriculated over to WARM Radio. She did the Morning Sports during drive time in the late 80s and early 90s and was a frequent fixture at Red Baron games, high school football and basketball events plus any sport the Mighty 590 wound up covering or promoting. Whether it was an Old Timer’s Day at the ballpark or female boxing, Kelly Reed was there to lend her expertise and perspective. Kelly Reed was one of those broadcasters who made an impact on WARM and its audience. Reportedly she is back in the New York area still doing sports.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #493

2010-10-02T11:30:00.000-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: COVER OF THE WARM JOKE BOOK, SOME OF THE JOKES SENT IN AND COMMENTS BY THE WARM AIR STAFF ON THE BOOK. (CLICK TO ENLARGE).

LAUGH LAUGH

Before there was such a designation of LOL (Laugh Out Loud) WARM Radio hit the funny bone of every citizen in its listening area. WARM employed jokesters but also solicited jokes from the listening public. WARM published a joke book in the mid 70s and it was a popular item among high school and college students, people gathering for family events as well as just a little something to put a smile on a WARMlander's face. Plus there were rumors that even a few area toastmasters of note resorted to usage of the WARM joke book.

Here's the ultimate Laughing song:

And as you well know, the jokers always went wild.

And finally, everybody, just about everyone, loves a clown.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #494

2010-09-25T04:54:00.000-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: WARM VEHICLES THROUGH THE YEARS.

STATION VEHICLES

The lifeblood of any radio station is the ability to get out to the public. For years radio stations have used promotional vehicles festooned with logos and big colors promoting the radio station. WARM Radio knew that better than any other entity in this market. WARM had numerous vehicles for their news department. Terry McNulty used to say that WARM had news cruisers 6, 7 and 8 numbered instead of 1, 2 and 3 to give the illusion there was a fleet. Many times WARM news staff used their own cars to cover a story. WARM had vans, and two big RV type motor vehicles. One big unit came from KLIF in Dallas, Texas. Most of the news cars came from auto dealerships with trade accounts (barter for advertising) and I understand that the bigger units were bought either second hand or some sort of promotional deal was cut to paint and style them. WARM made a splash and presence everywhere it went. WARM Radio coined the term "making tracks."

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #495

2010-09-20T18:15:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: WARM COVERAGE MAP.

TRIBUTE VIDEO

Drew Techner did a fabulous video that is up on You Tube. The sound is from a WARM 50s weekend. It was also during the momentous Hurricane Gloria rainstorms that virtually flooded the Tripp Section of Scranton and caused havoc. This is a great snapshot of what WARM was in the 1980s.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #496

2010-09-17T19:19:00.000-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: PHOTOS FROM DREW AND TOM'S EXCELLENT WARM ADVENTURE. DREW TECHNER STANDING IN FRONT OF WARM VAN AND TWO PHOTO'S OF STEVE (OLSHEFSKI) ST. JOHN AND VINCE SWEENEY.

FAN'S MEMORIES OF WARM

One of the hallmarks of WARM Radio’s legacy is the connection people felt to it. The Mighty 590 was a major draw to teenagers coming home from a Prom Date or Basketball game. Kids would peer into the studio windows to see the on air personality. WARM also had its share of fans from outside of the area who made pilgrimages to their favorite radio station. In the spring of 1985 Drew Techner and his friend Tom Parker took a drive up north and took a chance on dropping in on the staff of the Mighty 590. They were in luck because two of the WARM “young guns”, Steve St. John and Vince Sweeney were in the house. Here’s Drew’s story:
My friend Tom Parker's family has a cabin in Promised Land and he spent every summer there growing up. He always loved WARM and tried to catch it when back in Philly. Both Tom and I became DX listeners of AM and FM back in high school. We made so many aircheck tapes and had a great time getting QSL cards and letters. These were the days before the Internet and it was such a thrill to listen to stations far away that nobody else knew about. On or about March 1, 1985: Tom drove us up to Scranton in his yellow 69 Dodge Dart for several days in the Poconos. We made an impromptu visit at WARM and found Steve St. John and Vince Sweeney obliging hosts. Vince gave me his business card. We were surprised that they just let us like that. Vince noted that he had decided to "dress up" that work day and had a three-piece suit. Maybe he expected advertising clients that week, who knows. But there we were... inside the broadcast studios of the Mighty 590 WARM. I was working at Franklin's Family Restaurant at the time. They had 12 restaurants and I worked at the one in Philly. After our visit at WARM, we went for lunch at Franklin's in Scranton. Remember the fresh Strawberry pie or the "Big Ben" burger? Tom and I were both on WRDV-FM in Warminster, Pa. for a few years in the late Eighties. We still listen to the radio and pull in WARM when we can. ...that's me standing in front of the WARM-mobile.
NEXT TIME, DREW'S VIDEO OF WARM.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #497

2010-09-13T17:58:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: P.S.B.B.

PUBLIC SERVICE BULLETIN BOARD

When you listened to WARM in its heyday, you heard all about your friends and neighbors through The Public Service Bulletin Board. A personality may have been coming out of a record or into a commercial, whenever but you could count on hearing about a blood drive, church picnic or event happening in WARMland. Dubbed “P.S. B. B.,” at one point the feature even had its own jingle. Community groups knew that by having a blurb on WARM, then the number 1 station, the event broadcast would get good publicity. Around 1970 WARM dropped the jingle and in 1976 Elden Hale and WNEP TV co-opted Public Service Bulletin Board as Channel 16’s own. The late Tim Karlson who worked at WNEP TV in Sports and later Production told me he was surprised WARM never fought WNEP on taking the name. He also said when he had to cut a spot for it, he thought of WARM.
Currently WARM Radio continues the tradition of community service by having broadcasting “The WARM Community Calender”. At least three times an hour WARM runs announcements on events going on in the area. A tradition of “community” continues on WARM. Whether it was P.S.B.B. or the current programming, WARM keeps you updated on what’s happening in town.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #498

2010-09-10T21:58:00.000-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: "STOP 'N GO" RESTAURANTS.

STOP ‘N GO

One of the places closely linked with WARM Radio was a fast food restaurant called “Stop ‘N Go”. Long before McDonald’s or Burger King came into the area, “Stop ‘N Go” was the place for 15 cent hamburgers and good crispy fries. “Stop ‘N Go” was one of the unofficial burger hangouts as well as a place where WARM listeners could get the weekly WARM survey sheet or even a copy of that now famous 45, “The Ballad of WARMland.” “Stop ‘N Go” eateries left the WARMland road map in the 70s with the addition of places like “Top Spot”, “Carroll’s” and the major chains. But in the memories of WARM listeners, “Stop “N Go” was the place to have a snack as you headed out to a game, date or cruise with the Mighty 590 tuned on the radio.
Brian Hughes, News Director of the current incarnation of WARM (the station airs Scott Shannon's True Oldies Channel) wrote this note about Pal's Restaurants. "Don't forget about "Pals" among the fast food joints. They had 2 locations, at the top of Moosic Street in South Scranton, where Dunkin Donuts now stands, and at the Viewmont Mall in Dickson City, just down from the old "Barrells Whiskey & Rhyme".
http://www.warm590.com/.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #499

2010-09-05T08:07:00.000-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: WARM FOOTBALL TEAM RANKINGS.

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

When WARM Radio was making the oh so very subtle transition from Top 40 station to community based adult operation, high school football became a very important piece of the move. In the late 60s after WARM started 20/20 sports in drive time, WARM on the weekends began to report the scores on high school games during the weekend.
When WARM began the weekly Sunday Night Sports Line with Ron Allen and Pete Ericson, a large portion of the show was dedicated to high school sports. WARM even had weekly team ranking which intensified the rivalries among school districts. In the 80s when WARM had a hybrid format, (music in the 6am to 5pm period) and in the 90s when they want talk, WARM carried actual live games. Before Ron Allen left the station, one of the most highly anticipated sports programs was his Friday night wrap around where various WARM reporters (staffers and imports) reported games as they happen to Allen. The kids who began to listen to WARM as teenagers now tuned in to hear their own kid’s names and gridiron exploits mentioned on the Mighty 590. WARM stopped broadcasting high school football games around 1999 because they were not bringing in the revenue the new company wanted. But for over 30 years WARM Radio and High School football were synonymous.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #500

2010-08-27T18:33:00.000-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: ROCKY GLEN ROLLER COASTER POST CARD AND WARM SURVEY SHEET PROMOTING WARM DAY.

WARM DAY

The highlight of the summer for every listener to WARM Radio was WARM Day at Rocky Glen Park. There are numerous stories that have been told over the years about the event.

Frankie Valli and the 4 Seasons pre rehearsing at the WARM Studios.

The personalities being mobbed by the general public.

Entertainers being imported through the crowd by ambulances.

Incredible crowds and excitement.

First name acts that were at the top of the charts. At one time WARM Day had more than a few acts that were in the top ten at the same time.

Little Eva snarling art Harry West.

WARM Day was a culmination of the summer which the radio station cagily built on. By the time WARM Day rolled around at the end of August, it was considered the last big party, the last big blast before hitting the books in high school., going to college, the service or getting a job. WARM Day was a testament and a celebration of the youth of Northeastern Pennsylvania, the youth of WARMland.

From one of the later WARM Days, the Ides of March, a top ten headliner. I think this was WARM Day, 1970.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #501

2010-08-17T19:30:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: SCENE FROM POCONO DRAG LODGE REUNION (TIMES LEADER), JOEY SHAVER CIRCA 1966, TOMMY WOOD THEN, TOMMY WOODS NOW.

PDL REUNION

Tommy Woods has lived in Wilkes Barre Township for quite a while. The Township is known for the great Giant's Despair Hill Climb Ride. So Tommy knows all about race cars. Joey Shaver, a long time resident of Harvey's Lake is no stranger to cars. A long time Corvette owner, Shaver was in the thick of promoting outings at Pocono Drag Lodge when he was the popular night time jock on the Mighty 590 in the 60s. This past weekend Tommy and Joey, members of the WARM Sensational 7 participated in the second annual PDL reunion. Here's John Gordon's story from the Times Leader:

Do you remember that catchy television commercial from 1974? You know, the one that goes: “baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and Chevrolet.” It is a musical piece of Americana that resonates with many people from that beloved era. It brings back many nostalgic memories.
On Saturday, at the second annual Pocono Drag Lodge Reunion in Bear Creek Township, the lyrics might have been a bit different, but the Americana, memories and atmosphere were undeniable.
If the song played yesterday, it surely would have had a Northeastern Pa. feel to it, and gone: “Drag racers, potato pancakes, apple turnovers, and yes, Chevrolet.”
More than 250 supercharged autos, including Fords, Chevrolets, and a multitude of other makes and models, lined the edges of the deteriorating NHRA quarter-mile drag strip off Meadow Run Road.
There were a variety of Gassers (racing cars that run on a mixture of alcohol and nitromethane) and AFX cars (factory experimental cars donated by auto companies in the 1960s for drag racing) on display for the estimated thousands of spectators to photograph, sit in, and gawk at. They could simply dream of a time long passed.
The 1958 Everly Brothers hit song, “All I Have to Do Is Dream,” played over the event speakers early in the day and set the tone for many at the reunion.
“It’s like that movie, ‘Field of Dreams,’” said racing legend and enthusiast Wally Bell. “If you build it, they will come.”
Bell chuckled after that statement, sharing the laughter with event organizer, Charlie Hulsizer, and complimented his efforts.
“Charlie brought the racers back, back to drink that wine,” Bell said.
The appetites of many in attendance were satisfied with good foods that ranged from french fries and potato pancakes to apple turnovers and muffins. Booths lined the track from the, still visible, starting line, to the finish line, 1,320 feet away.
Vendors sold T-shirts, model cars, racing DVDs, car parts, and a variety of books and car manuals that added to the enjoyment of those in attendance.
“These people are such a great group of folks and car enthusiasts,” Hulsizer said. “They have a special camaraderie and come from all around the area. Some even hiked all the way here.”
Tom Vanchuri and his 3-year-old son, Luke, might not have hiked to the classic site, but their trip from Plains Township was family time, well spent.
“I’ve had an interest in cars since I was very young,” Vanchuri said. “I’m trying to get my son interested now.”
Young Luke simply bobbed his head up and down with a precocious smile when asked if he liked the show.
Tom’s father-in-law, Robin Brown, of Mountain Top, even had a grin on his face when asked about the reunion.
“I’ve been a car nut forever. I’ve built a lot of cars over the years and to see this place reopened is great,” Brown said.
Charlie Hulsizer and his wife, Darlene, reopened the drag strip for the event after seeing how well preserved the area was a few years back.
“We were tripping over old car parts at the site and looked at each other and just said, we can do it, we can do this reunion,” said Hulsizer.
Kevin McHugh, from Langhorne, Pa., was a former racer who started his career at the Lodge and said the reunion brings back many memories.
“Wally Bell was driving his racer back to the pit area one day and opened his car door to give me a ride,” McHugh said. “It was my first ride in a race car and the sound of the engine was in my blood from there on out.”
The former Kingston resident went on to work at the lodge from 1965-1972. He worked the starting line and handed racers their time cards at the end of races.
After the track closed down following the flooding from Hurricane Agnes, McHugh would practice at the lodge with his 1972 super stock car.
WARM radio closed its doors in 2009. However, the sounds of the station would echo throughout the 300-acre drag lodge lot once again on the crisp and cool summer afternoon. Music from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s blasted from the speakers at both ends of the drag strip.
“The records from back then just sounded great on 45s over the AM airwaves,” said Joey Shaver, from Harvey's Lake.
He was one of the disc jockeys of the station back when the lodge and racing were at their peak.
“WARM fit the nostalgia back then,” Shaver said.
The spokesperson for WARM went on to say he hopes that the station will make a comeback one day.
“I miss playing old songs like my favorite, ‘I Only Have Eyes for You’ by the Flamingos,” Shaver said.
Charlie Hulsizer emphasized the personal importance of WARM radio and its connection to the racing track and lodge.
“As a kid I would visit my Grandma in Wilkes-Barre and my ears would be glued to the radio and WARM station,” Hulsizer said. “When I hear old WARM broadcasts on CDs now they bring tears to my eyes.”
He went on to praise all of the people that made the show a hit once again.
“My relatives, the vendors, the parking attendants, the racers, they all did a great job this year. The show is very organized today and a huge success,” Hulsizer said.

EDITOR'S NOTE: WARM RADIO IS STILL BROADCASTING 24/7 WITH A FORMAT CALLED THE TRUE OLDIES CHANNEL WHICH BROADCASTS THE HITS OF THE 60s, 70s AND 80s.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #502

2010-08-13T11:32:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: A WARM REUNION AT POCONO DRAG LODGE THIS WEEKEND. (SAT, AUG. 14TH).

POCONO DRAG LODGE REUNION

This Saturday the second annual reunion of the racers, fans, spectators and former WARM personalities will take place. Here are the details:
Time: August 14, 2010 from 9am to 5pm

Location: AT THE POCONO DRAG LODGE SITE

Street: MEADOW RUN ROAD

City/Town: BEAR CREEK, PA

Phone: 845-635-3662
Take PA 115 S from PA TPK about five miles, left on Meadow Run Road about a 1/4 mile.
Organizers tell us that some former WARM personalities will be on hand to meet and greet the public. Pocono Drag Lodge, in its heyday was another major component of WARM Radio. Since WARM had very good coverage in the Pocono Mountains, many dragsters listened to the Mighty 590. WARM also promoted the weekend events every summer.
Here are two videos posted on YOU from last year’s reunion. And of course one of the Princes of Drag Racing Music, talking about his music and his motors.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #503

2010-08-10T18:33:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: THE KIDS LIMNING UP FOR DANCES AT SANS SOUCI PARK. (PHOTOS COURTESY OF TWIG).

WARM AND SANS SOUCI

A lot has been made of WARM Radio and Rocky Glen Park, the WARM day crowds and all the happenings. But WARM had a major presence at Sans Souci Park hosting concerts and dances. The appearance of a WARM disc jockey packed them in. It wasn't Palisades Park but it was close. One of the featured bands were the Mel Wynn Trend. Here's one of their biggest hit, "Stop Sign". Ironically while WARM promoted the local bans and their concerts, the music list rarely got local songs on it.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #504

2010-08-03T18:00:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: GEORGE GILBERT, JIMMY DURANTE AND TOMMY WOODS IN TOP PHOTO, FRANKIE VALLI AND TOMMY WOODS IN BOTTOM PHOTO. (PHOTOS COURTESY OF BOBBY DAY AND TOM WOODS).

STARS MEETING STARS

One of the by products and perks of being a member of the WARM staff in the 60s was meeting some pretty famous people. When Tommy Woods was at WARM, he had the opportunity to meet iconic figures of that era. On the photos above, Tom tells it this way: "In 1963...Jimmy Durante had a hit song.."September Song". It was the title of an Album he put out. The record distributor put on a party in Philly and George Gilbert was invited and he asked me to go along. We had a ball and Jimmy was really nice. He was just as I imagined him as a kid. I never thought I would meet him in person."

On Frankie Vallli, of the 4 Seasons fame, Tom adds: "This was not known about the Four seasons...Frankie and the guys would practice in the Warm Studios in Avoca. They had been up for a few WARM-Days and asked if they could use the studios to practice and record the sessions. I would run the tape for them while I was on the air. I could not tell a soul that they were in the studio. Frankie would come into the on air studio and talk while the records were playing. About 4 years ago..Fran and I went to the Poconos to see him. We went back stage along with Joe Middleton and had a lot of fun talking about the "Old Days" It was a lot of fun meeting these guys and there were many many more...Remember..at WARM days...we had 8 of the top ten artists at the time....Great days". Indeed.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #505

2010-07-27T17:53:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: WARM NEWS REPORTER KEVIN JORDAN AT TED KENNEDY RALLY FOR PRESIDENT IN 1980.

KEVIN JORDAN-WARM NEWS

I first met Kevin Jordan when I was on a College Internship from King’s College with WARM Radio. (Actually they had us go to WARM, WILK, WBRE AM & FM, and WMJW –FM). My first week at WARM was spent with the sales department. (That’s a future WARM Memory). By the second week I was in the newsroom with a very skeptical Jerry Heller who most likely had seen his share of lightweight interns. For the first day I re-wrote news copy and much to my surprise I found that it wasn’t edited that much. The next day I covered Luzerne County with Kitch Loftus. On Wednesday I was told I’d be out with Kevin Jordan, then barely 19 and one of the rising stars of WARM Radio. He was then working the 3 to 11 shift so I killed about 5 hours and then went on the road with him. It was one of those cold January days where the temperature barely broke 12. We sped up 81 to Scranton City Hall for a Council work session. As I stated earlier it was a bitter day but the January sun was blinding. To this day I don’t know how he did it, but he squeezed his little red car (a fire engine red Pinto) into a parking space with little room to spare. The sun was so intense that I swear he parked the car by intuition. In City Hall, Jordan literally lunged for then Mayor Peters, got his sound bite and then spotted Deputy Mayor Jim McNulty who was on the verge of resigning to run the Frank Elliott for Senator campaign. More sound. We then went to the Police Station and in what could only be described as a scene out of Law and Order, Jordan talked with two City Detectives about an ongoing murder investigation. More sound. Not wanting to relinquish his parking spot, we sprinted (when I could sprint) to the Lackawanna County Court House. Jordan saw Commissioner Charlie Luger and got his take on water tables up near Moosic in an area that was destined to be Montage Mountain. More sound. We then paid a visit to Register of Wills Sam Cali asking him about a new state regulation regarding probate of wills for senior citizens. More Sound. We then made our way down to Moosic where there was a small fire at Glenwood Products. Talked to the Fire Chief, water and smoke damage. More sound. In one afternoon Jordan with his trusty recorder got 6 stories for WARM News. He called “sound” in on the fire, aired three of them and back logged two of them for future use on WARM News. We got back to the Studio at 5:30PM, and after a brief lunch break Jordan anchored the WARM newscasts until 11:30PM. It was an amazing display of how WARM News reporters worked. It gave me an insight on how Jerry Heller insisted that a beat be covered efficiently and dare I say prolifically. Jordan was at WARM from 1975-1979. He came from WILK and returned to WILK as News Director. In 1981 WILK won the Joe Snyder Award for the year 1980 as the best medium market radio news department in the state. Jordan says “That was due in no small part from the training I got from guys like Jerry Heller and David DeCosmo” Jordan later went on to anchor and report news on WYOU TV.
It would be my good fortune to interact with Kevin Jordan many times in the future most notably when the Professional News Media Association was in existence. Anyway, back to the story. The next day I walked into the WARM News Department and Heller glanced at me obviously frazzled looking ahead to a busy day of news. “Got your car?” he asked. “Yep” I replied. Hurling a tape recorder at me, he said, “There’s a big meeting down at the Host Inn to plan a visit for this peanut farmer from Georgia that thinks he can be President. Get some sound and then call it in if there’s anything good”. Puzzled, I asked, “How will I know if it’s good?” He replied intently typing, not raising his head, “You were out with Kevin yesterday, you’ll know”. And I did.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #506

2010-07-22T18:42:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: TRUE OLDIES CHANNEL LOGO AND THE OLD TRANSISTOR RADIO

WARM UP

Ratings are the lifeblood of any radio station. In the 60s WARM Radio pulled about 48% of the total radio audience in the coverage area. There was WARM and everybody else. WARM has declined in the ratings through the years. My philosophy in ratings has always been that you need to stick with one type of programming to build an audience. WARM has been running The True Oldies Channel format now for about three or four years. It is a good mix of classic oldies music and the weekends are segmented with interesting variations like a “one hits wonder” or “girl’s name on a song” weekend. It’s not the Stegmaier “Ring A Ding Ding” Fling but it is creative. This week on the Radio Info Board it was revealed that WARM was up a point in the ratings. Naturally I got busted by old radio friend Dave McAndrews who wrote this,
"WARM Jumped Up A Full Point ... Did Yonki Have A Diary?"
Not this time Dave but I did have one a few years back. McAndrews was one of the heritage broadcasters in classic rock in this area being one of the founding jocks on Rock 107 as well as WEMR in Tunkhannock. He spoke of the influence of the Mighty 590 in his radio career.
"WARM Was The Foremost Reason That I Got Into Radio, Along With The Progressive Radio Stations Such As WPLJ-FM And WNEW-FM That I Listened To While Visiting Relatives In The New York City Area. I Always Enjoyed Meeting The WARM Jocks At Live Appearances ... You And I More Than Likely Were At Some Of Those Same Live Broadcasts When We Were Kids."
You bet we were and at least it kept us off the streets and out of trouble. WARM Radio did that for a lot of kids. And I hope some of those same kids that grew up with WARM get a few more of those Arbitron diaries. It’ll never be 48% but I’m not that picky about the issue.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #507

2010-07-15T19:10:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: THE RADIO MICROPHONE.

TIM EARL REMEMBERS

If you are of a certain age in WARMland you of course remember the greats on WARM. But there were other radio stations and personalities in the market. One guy wildly popular with young music fans was WILK’s Tim Earl. Earl did fills in during the week but hosted very popular weekend shows which went head to head with WARM Radio. Years later, Earl says he owes that success in no small measure to his co workers at WILK but also members of the WARM family. Here are his thoughts:
I must tell you, the folks of WARM radio were directly responsible for my career choice, my life in broadcasting and a life-time of wonderful memories. Their kindnesses to their listening audience were extraordinary. I was fortunate enough to work with so many in the WB-SCR market who worked for, against, with, or through the wildly successful Susquehanna Broadcasting (then) station. Now pushing 60, I find myself wondering more and more about what took place behind the doors at WARM: The management line-up, the corporate attitudes, their planning and decision-making. We have all known about the on-air talent, the news department reputation, the promotional excellence and the ability to sell this great radio station. I’d like to know more about, what David Letterman refers to as, the “pin heads” (broadcasting executives) who actually ran this battle-ship of broadcasting in the 60’s and 70’s. George Gilbert, Harry West, Pete Gabriel, Joey Shafer, Terry McNulty, Bob Oliver and Jerry Heller (he NEVER misspoke or stumbled…..not in all the many, many years I listened to WARM) just a few of the many names I remember so fondly. We lived on a farm in Carverton. Reception gave us WARM because, as I later found out, your antennae array was line of site to our farm. We could see the blinking red towers every night. When I asked my parents what they were, they told me they were put there to keep planes from flying into the mountain. They did not know. How could they have known? The lights were in the direction of Falls, PA. We had an old radio in the cow barn and it, too, received WARM’s signal the strongest so it was on every morning and every night seven days a week. Radios (ambient sounds) keep the cows content during the feeding and milking process. Not exactly a promotional tool, I’m sure (!). We listened to WARM all during my school years. I’d prepare for school (Dallas school district) listening to Harry and, for a period of time, Len. I believe Harry took his shot at Pittsburgh as I learned much later in life.
Harry West gave me the inspiration to search out more in the 60’s evolution of radio broadcasting. While doing a remote in Edwardsville, I skipped band practice to go watch the live broadcast. Charlie Morgan was the engineer and was running the “board” while Harry did the show and mingled. Harry took a few minutes to talk with me (not on the air). The advice he gave was priceless. He told me you had to have a “thick skin” to be in the business. At the time, I really wasn’t sure but had a pretty good idea what it meant. He certainly has had to live that literally and figuratively over the years. When they had time for a break, he and engineer Morgan walked away for awhile and asked me to “watch the equipment” while they were gone. My God, they could have handed me million dollars and it would not have had the impact of those few minutes! Just one of those moments that will be with me forever. Thank you, Harry.
I will also remember the day one of my buddies and I drove to the studio in Avoca and looked in the window of the studio just to prove to ourselves that The Pineapple Feature really was a put-on. Oh, Terry McNulty, what a funny, funny guy with his weekly spoof. I loved it. And, of course, we had to endure the Weekend Ring A Ding Ding weekends for Stegmaier Beer.
As I started to fantasize on being a radio announcer, I searched some of the other stations while working on all the homework in Jr and Sr High. I found WILK and in the evening hours started to pick out some of the clear-channel powerhouses like WBZ and WOWO. Listening to Dan Ingram on WABC was a treat as well. I was really starting to like this radio thing and luck would have me meeting WBAX Polka Weekend DJ and sports announcer, Dick Whittaker. He invited me to run the board and spot for him during the football games. By that time, I was hooked on radio. Joey Shaver recruited me to the Radio Academy (I don’t recall the actual name). I was just about to commit and decided, on the advice of friends, to do the Penn State-Lehman broadcasting program and, at the last minute, went in that direction and actually switched, before the first day of class into Electrical and Electronics Technology instead of broadcasting.
Well, I’ll cut to the chase, WARM gave me the inspiration for a career in broadcasting. I worked for Bob Neilson at WNAK (my first on air and I believe Tommy Woods was working there after WARM as well), the Fioranni’s at WPTS and Roy Morgan at WILK. Eventually I got to Erie, PA for most of my career (after a short stint in Kentucky… Berea and Winchester). I, too, got a shot at Pittsburgh (like Harry) and got beat up pretty badly there (figuratively). That is where I really found out what “thick skin” was all about. I had about 10 years of radio and 15 years as a TV Weatherman (WSEE and WPXI). Just as Harry West, Charlie Morgan and Dick Whittaker helped me get started, Art Pallen (KDKA Radio) and Bob Kutzma (KDKA TV Meteorologist) helped me decide on the switch from radio to TV many years ago. After years with WRIE Radio, WSEE-TV and WPXI-TV, I left broadcasting and now live in Dallas, TX working for my own little company as a placement firm for IT and Telecom professionals.
Thanks to all who take a moment of their time to lend a hand, say a few words, offer advice to younger people seeking career advice and input. You never know how a small gesture will be received, appreciated and used to help and guide. Mr. Gilbert, you helped make a radio station one of the true Great Ones. I was so fortunate to enjoy the station and receive some very sincere advice from more than one of your staff. Many, many thanks!

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #508

2010-07-08T15:35:00.000-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: WARM NEWS BILLBOARD.

WARM NEWS

One of the biggest draws to WARM Radio was its news department. When WARM transitioned from Fifties style easy listening to Rock and Roll the innovators decided the best way to bring along the moms and pops was to establish a strong news department. WARM had “editions” of News. At 12:30AM you would hear “The first Edition of WARM News. At 1:00AM you’d hear the second Edition of WARM News”. As the turbulent 60s came about WARM increased its news department. Terry McNulty was the news director when John Kennedy was shot and brought that news to WARMland. Jack Donniger headed the news team in the 60s and was known for his back and forth repartee with morning show Harry West. In 1969 Jerry Heller became the WARM News Director. From Missouri, Heller built a news team of rookies and veterans that rivaled any major market. TV station news departments as well as newspapers monitored WARM Radio.
By the late 60s WARM News dropped the live at :55 casts and did news at the top and bottom of the hour. That tradition continued through the 80s, 90s and right before WARM went to Satellite programming. Now WARM does an ABC News feed at about 10 minutes before the hour with its “True Oldies” Format. (Some weekend mornings you'll hear former WNAK newscaster and Wyoming Valley native Brian Carey doing the 'cast). For many years WARM Radio News was an institution. Women and men going to work would know they were late if they were still in the house after the 8AM Newscast. When a major event happened, listeners tuned in to the Mighty 590 to get the latest news. WARM had reporters on the scene for major murder and corruption trials. They had beat reporters that covered both Wilkes Barre and Scranton City Halls. In its heyday the WARM news department had 6 or 7 full and part time people. Their names became as familiar as the on air personalities. That alone is a testament to the important role WARM News played in the history of the Mighty 590.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #509

2010-07-07T20:44:00.000-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: OUR FEEDBACK LOGO.

POLL RESULTS

In WARM MIGHTY MEMORY #510 we took a poll to see which version of "The Ballad of WARMland" people liked and which version people thought was the original. Here are the poll results:
1. Which ballad of WARMLAND was the original?
A. The version by Terry Lee. 80%.
B. The version used in the TV 44 documentary. 20%.

2. Which Ballad of WARMLAND do you like better?
A. The Terry Lee version. 25%.
B. The version used on the TV 44 documentary. 75%.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #510

2010-06-30T19:33:00.000-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: THE MUSICAL NOTES FOR THE BALLAD OF WARMLAND.

WERE THERE TWO?

Good friend and old Radio guy Scott Sanfillippo shot me a message on FaceBook asking whether there were two "Ballads of WARMland". Here's what he wrote on his blog:
Those who live in the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton area of northeast Pennsylvania will remember WARM 590 radio. It had a very rich history during its heyday and unfortunately was left hung out to die on its own by its license holder, Citadel Broadcasting. Dave Yonki, who I happened to work with at WARD AM several years ago, maintains a blog called “590 Forever WARM Radio. ” I’m going to have to put a shout out to Dave to see if he can help with this bit of WARM trivia. While cleaning my office today, I discovered an old 45-LP that I picked up several years back but never played. It’s contains the Ballad of WARMland, a station promotional jingle, on one side and a commercial for the old Stop N Go drive-in restaurants on the other. I became confused as it started to play, as it was not the Ballad of WARMland that I have heard over the years. The one on this record was a PAMS jingle and sung by Terri Lee.
So which is the real Ballad of WARMland?
Here's Scott's blog link by the way.
http://www.scottsanfilippo.com/2010/06/the-ballad-of-warmland-or-can-there-be-two/.
I told Scott that I thought the one by Terri Lee was the one that was sold or given away at the old Stop 'N Go fast food joints and thought the second one, with more lush arrangements was the second recording. The latter was used on the fine WVIA TV Documentary. If there are any old WARM employees out there, weigh in on this. Here are the two courtesy of Scott:

I think this was the original. Here's the second one released later.

TAKE THE POLL

Which song did you like better? Take the survey.
Click here to take survey
After taking survey, hit DONE and close out of survey page.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #511

2010-06-25T13:19:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: WARM-WSGD PERSONALITIES AT RED BARONS GAME 1991.EDDIE EGAN, TOMMY WOODS, RJ HARKINS, TIM KARLSON, PAUL CILIBERTO, BOBBY DAY, TOM(TOM MICHAELS)SOSSONG. (PHOTO COURTESY OF BOBBY DAY).

WARM REUNIONS

The Mighty 590 was so big a factor in this community that every time a few people get together and talk about their youth you can classify it as a WARM Reunion. Last year Pete Gabriel passed through the area and a few late era WARM staffers got together with him. The Pocono Drag Lodge is going to focus on a WARMland reunion this year after their highly successful Drag Lodge get together last year. In the mid 90s 0ne of the most significant WARM reunions of talent took place when staffers from WSGD FM, then a powerhouse Oldies Station run by the late Ron Swanson hosted a group of WARM members. The reunion actually came about because of this first reunion at a Red Barons Baseball game in 1991. When the WSGD FM On Air Reunion took place in the mid 90s, it was like a rekindling of the old days and magic that was WARM. There are actual tapes of those broadcasts that exist to this day. The photo above is just a snapshot of the talent that passed through the doors of the Mighty 590, WARM. That’s why WARM is going to live on in the hearts and mind of many people who were touched by the station in some way shape or form. WARM played this song by Tommy James and the Shondells called oddly enough "Gettin' Together". When that song was popular, no one imagined how real the sentiment of this song would be.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #512

2010-06-20T18:10:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: PETE ERICKSON AND BOBBY DAY AT A SOFTBALL SOFTIES DINNER. (PHOTO COURTESY OF BOBBY DAY.)

THE CONTEST WINNER

WARM Radio in its heyday had thousands of contests but none was more controversial and talked about than the one where WARM issued a hunt for the biggest sports fan in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Amidst much ballyhoo, WARM sounded the clarion call for all fans to register with the Mighty 590 for this contest. Men, women, former athletes, college students, working Joes and Josies wrote in and declared why they should be WARM Radio’s biggest fan. The promotion was done to make the transition in the 70s from a full service top 40 AM to more concentrated sports coverage. You’d still hear Harry West, and the current hits but there would be an incremental increase in the hours of sports programming. Ron Allen’s 20/20 Sports became “The Sunday Night Sportsline”. For a time George Gilbert co-hosted with Allen but the thought was that Allen’s sidekick would be “WARM’s Greatest Sports Fan”. No one knows for sure how it happened. My friends at WARM say their memories are very foggy but Pete Erickson became the number 1 Sports Fan in WARMland. Erickson then co-hosted the show with Allen for many years. When Allen had a heart attack in the mid 70s, Erickson even hosted the show on his own with the help once in a while of Double G and Tim Karlson. Erickson, employed in private industry proved to be a treasure trove of sports knowledge. Between he and Allen, no sports fan could stump them on any question. Erickson became part of the station culture attending and speaking at high school athletic banquets, playing in the WARM Softball Softies games and becoming part of the WARM on air team. When you still mention his name to people of a certain age, they’ll tell you he was a “sports guy” from WARM. Whether it was intended or not (and there are some who will argue that this was an elaborate orchestration masterminded by that promotional genius Ron Allen) the station’s contest for “The Greatest Sports Fan” in WARMLAND yielded positive results in promoting WARM as the place to be for the seminal sports talk radio craze that exists to this day. But it also got in the bargain a person that turned into a legitimate sports presence in the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Radio market for years.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #513

2010-06-14T21:27:00.000-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: WARM AT 70.

WARM-1940-2010

WARM Radio is seventy years old. The logo we are using has a mouse pad. In 1940 when WARM went on the air the only mouses station engineers were concerned with were those at the transmitter. Through the years WARM played music, ran contests and reported the news. That was done via electricity, the phone lines and the old fashioned U.S. Mail. Enter a contest? A stamp. Request a song? The phone. As WARM celebrates birthday #70, listeners can hear the Mighty 590 on their computer and if they want to request a song, they can e mail the guys at the True Oldies Channel. WARM has been here for 7 decades utilizing every innovation to be there for all of us WARMlanders.
http://www.trueoldieschannel.com/ True Oldies link.

http://www.warm590.com/Article.asp?id=598365 Mighty 590 link.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #514

2010-06-08T20:15:00.000-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: WARM "SOFTBALL SOFTIES" SCHEDULE FROM 1984 AND THE SOFTBALL SOFTIES OF THE EARLY 80s. THE VOICE OF THE SCRANTON/WILKES BARRE PENGUINS IS PICTURED ON TOP, BOBBY DAY AND THE PLAYERS ARE FRONT ROW L-R: TOMMY BUFANO, TONY SPADONI, BUDD O'MALIA, TOM DRAZBA, "FAST" EDDIE EGAN.BACK ROW L-R: CLARK KUSCHKE, JACK LAWLESS, BOBBY DAY, GEORGE SMERDON, AND PETE ERIKSON. (PHOTOS COURTESY OF BOBBY DAY).

PLAY BALL

They started out as a roadshow attraction to promote WARM in the early 60s. Then as time went on they took shape and form and actually got pretty good. Through the years the WARM Softball Softies raised money for local clubs and organizations. The team served as ambassadors of the Mighty 590. The games were competitive but also pretty community oriented. At the time this unit of the WARM Softball Softies were playing, these two songs were part of the spring time rotation of WARM's music playlist.

Talkin' Baseball (Willie, Mickey, and the Duke) @ Yahoo! Video

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #515

2010-06-01T19:33:00.000-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: "IT'S ONLY WARM FOR ME" PHRASE.

IT'S ONLY.............................

Ron Allen was the one who took over the phrase. Taking something that was part of the vernacular, Allen answered the question, "Is It Hot Enough For You" in a jeopardy like fashion. "It's Only WARM For Me". The beauty of the slogan was its simplicity. WARM didn't even own the thing! It appropriated it and the next thing you knew, WARM Radio owned it. Countless billboards, voice drop ins and buttons bombarded WARMland for years. To this day if you ask a WARMlander the question, they'll give you the right answer. The slogan typified WARM's association with the summer season and its "Happy Summer Days."

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #516

2010-05-05T20:54:00.000-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: OLD TRANSISTOR RADIO.

TUNING IN

We've all done it, laying in bed at night pulling in the big station. In my youth my favorites were WABC, CKLW and WCFL in Chicago. Once in a while I'd tune in to WFIL Famous 56 in Philadelphia but that was in the afternoon. Others took to listening to WARM Radio in far away places. I recently got an e mail from a listener who tuned in one night to all night deejay R.J. Harkins. He documented it on a special card as well as on YOU TUBE for our enjoyment.
Radio station 590 WARM Scranton, Pa. with R. J. Harkins (ID at 3:28) on the overnight shift. As received in Philadelphia in September 1981. Shown is a QSL card they sent me for my earlier reception of the station. The QSL was a very old card from about the 40s.

There's static.....but that was part of the adventure and AM Radio!

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #517

2010-04-29T19:56:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: WARM RADIO SURVEY SHEET PROMOTING "THE LETTERMEN" CONCERT IN 1970.

SLOWING IT DOWN

WARM Radio was always the rock and roll station of Northeastern Pennsylvania. It made its bones if you will by playing rock and roll. But in May of 1970, with the Beatles breaking up, progressive Rock being played on AM station WBAX, WARM was shifting gears slightly adjusting its formatting to a more adult audience. To be sure WARM was still playing the hits but it became more involved in col sponsoring events that brought the station into more of the music midstream. The concert of the Letterman in both cities of Wilkes Barre and Scranton on consecutive days was a step in a more moderate direction. WARM was still king but it was becoming a tad more inclusive in reaching out to an adult market.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #518

2010-04-22T22:45:00.000-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: THE WARM NEWS TEAM, THE LATE BOB CRAWFORD, RICK HERROLD, NEWS DIRECTOR JERRY HELLER AND KITCH LOFTUS, KEVIN JORDAN IN THE FOREGROUND PLUS THE WARM RV/MOBIL UNIT ON THE RIGHT.

FIRST NEWS FIRST

WARM Radio bridged the gap between young and old for a variety of reasons but a major component of their success was WARM News. WARM made a commitment to news early on. In the old days WARM actually had editions of news. They were at the bottom of the hour and live at 55. In 1966 WARM expanded their morning 6:55AM newscast to 7:05 and the 7:55AM newscast to 8:05AM. Around 1968 or so WARM went to news at the top of the hour. The WARM news staff was full of talented individuals. They were intelligent, energetic and competitive. The station was also the breeding ground for many future TV reporters, the aforementioned in the Photo Index Kevin Jordan being one of them. During the time this photo was taken Jerry Heller was the news director. (Kevin Jordan points out that Jerry is holding a "marni" unit that had the capability at that time to go live anywhere.) WARM's two previous news directors before Heller were Terry McNulty (who announced to WARMland that President Kennedy had been killed and Jack Donniger who later moved on to fame and fortune in the Washington, D.C. market. In future updates on this site we'll be telling you more about WARM news.
Our thanks to Kevin Jordan for providing the photo.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #519

2010-03-16T20:41:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: IRISH SINGER CARMEL QUINN AND A GREEN BAGEL.

ST. PAT'S AND WARM

The Mighty 590 always celebrated St. Patrick's Day. In a big way. During the day the jocks played at least one Carmel Quinn song and later on a tune by the Irish Rovers. WARM played to the crowds by heavily promoting various contests involving green like cash giveaways to supermarkets as well as a cash treasure hunt. But one of the most successful promotions was the green bagel giveaways that usually ran from the 14th of March through St. Patrick's day. WARM became Irish on the big day in its promotions, contests and to a certain extent its music.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #520

2010-02-14T11:35:00.001-08:00

PHOTO INDEX: THE LATE BOB OLIVER.

THE CANDY MAN

Bob Oliver started out at WARM Radio as a newscaster. I remember vividly Oliver reporting the death of former President Herbert Hoover in one of his 1964 newscasts. Oliver also worked the 3 to 11pm, news shift and covered the JFK assassination as well as that historic 1964 Democratic convention where Governor Scranton took center state as an insurgent candidate against Barry Goldwater. But Oliver is best known as the voice for the Gertrude Hawk commercials that ran on all media in the 60s and 70s. Oliver's smooth style and rich voice was the perfect fit for the rich chocolates emanating from the Dunmore kitchens of the local candy company. "FROM THE KITCHENS OF GERTRUDE HAWK FOR CANDY LOVERS EVERYWHERE" was the tag line and Oliver delivered it with style and verve. As the current incarnation of WARM Radio plays love songs via the True Oldies Channel, this current weekend WARM fans think of Oliver's candy commercials as well as his work as a newsman and then drive time disc jockey at the MIGHTY 590. WARM always led the way with Valentine's Day promotions using merchants like Mount Airey, Van Scoy Diamond Mines, Gertrude Hawk, Aldino's Restaurant, the Castle Restaurant in Scranton, Genetti's, the Treadway then the Woodlands and various flower shops to give away gifts for the lovers of WARMland. In return, those listeners loved the MIGHTY 590 right back. A few love songs from the heyday of WARM.

A small sample of the thousands of love songs played on the Mighty 590.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #521

2010-01-24T15:30:00.001-08:00

PHOTO INDEX: TERRY McNULTY HOLDING HIS PRIZED PINEAPPLE WITH MARY ANN YONKI AND MARY CARRANO AT AN EVENT IN THE 80s.

THE PINEAPPLE FEATURE

One of the most popular features of the Terry McNulty Show was "The Pineapple Feature". McNulty started the show when he was doing Sunday afternoon on WARM from 3pm tip 7pm. It was a staple of "The Big Fella'" Show. One of the 590 readers asked the name of the song featured in the Pineapple segment. I knew it was the Baja Marimba Band but couldn't think of the name. Many thanks to Joe Thomas of WILK Radio, a former WARM staffer who worked with McNulty for providing the answer. Here's "Foul Play" by the Baja Marimba Band or as we know it in WARMland, "The Pineapple Feature Song".

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #522

2009-12-27T19:18:00.000-08:00

PHOTO INDEX: WARM'S HARRY WEST HOLDING A RECORD, NO WORD IF IT "A KISS OF DEATH RECORD".

HARRY'S KISS OF DEATH

If you were a listener to WARM's Harry West in the 60s, 70, and 80s, you'd hear him pronounce "The Harry West Kiss of Death Record". West described it as "a song destined to go nowhere because I like it". Sometimes Harry was right but more times than not he was wrong. Here are three songs from three different decades that Harry liked....and they became hits.
From the 60s, The Turtles, "She'd Rather Be With Me".

In the 70s, it was this ballad by Englebert Humperdink.

And in the 80s it was "That's Love" by Jim Capaldi.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #523

2009-12-23T12:12:00.001-08:00

PHOTO INDEX: CHRISTMAS COLORED SURVEY SHEET FROM WARM RADIO 1967. (CLICK TO ENLARGE).

CHRISTMAS AT WARM

WARM Radio never missed an opportunity to promote itself in subtle ways. When you picked up a suervey sheet during the holidays there was a greeting or a colorful addition to the sheet. WARM essentially went all Christmas music around the 22nd and by Christmas Eve WARM ran holiday music non stop until the 26th. It was a nice respite from the frantic top 40 WARM was known for. Information was provided by UPI updates and of course on Christmas Eve there were the tracking updates from the North Pole.
As politicians argue over government spending, there is one line item that is likely to stay in the budget for the foreseeable future: the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD's) yearly Santa Watch. For the last 54 years, the military command -- tasked with protecting the US and Canada against missile attacks -- has answered phone calls from children who want to track the jolly old elf's progress across the Western Hemisphere. Actually, the Santa Watch began long before NORAD came into being. In December 1955, Sears Roebuck ran a newspaper ad with what they claimed was Santa's direct number. Unfortunately, the phone number they offered was one digit off; instead of Sears, it linked to a top secret line at CONAD, the Continental Air Defense Command. When Colonel Harry Shoup, the command's director of operations, answered the phone, he expected to hear about a missile strike against the US. Instead, he got a little kid who wanted to talk to Santa. Although the conversation ended with the child crying and Shoup fuming, the Colonel eventually came around and began giving the children updates on Santa's travels through the night sky. The following year, CONAD offered a new, non-secret, phone number that children could call. In 1958, when CONAD became NORAD, the new command continued the tradition. Over the following decades, the tradition has grown. In 2008, 1,275 people, 100 phones, and 25 computers handled 69,845 phone calls and 6,086 e-mails from around the world. In order to ensure that the many volunteers don't issue conflicting reports, Santa Watch uses a large wall-sized map that integrates the latest Santa sightings with Google maps. For basic Santa tracking, NORAD relies on the same 47 radar installations, fighter jets and spy satellites that help it identify enemy missiles. In addition, the command's website states that it uses digital cameras positioned around the world that capture images of Santa. Presumably, this four-pronged defense system protects against friendly-fire incidents: after all, it isn't hard to imagine how the combination of a red sled, eight reindeer, a red-clad gift giver and a highly vigilant military defense system could result in roasted venison and a ruined holiday. As NORAD has gotten more complex, so has its Santa tracking. In 1998, the command introduced the program to the Internet, enabling children to watch Santa's movement from the comfort of their own computers. In 2007, Google came on board, giving NORAD access to its 2-D maps and 3-D Google Earth resources to improve its tracking. Gmail also provides an address that children can use to email their lists directly to Santa. With a presence on most social networking sites, including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, the program is prepared to tell children around the world about the wonders of Santa -- and NORAD.

And this was the number one song at Christmas time 1967 with a smiling Ron Allen on the sheet.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #524

2009-12-21T16:34:00.000-08:00

PHOTO INDEX: PHOTO FROM POCONO DRAG LODGE.

DRAG LODGE REUNION

A word at the end of this year on an exciting development for 2010 and the good people at Pocono Drag Lodge. Here's an announcement from Drag Lodge Reunion coordinator Charlie Hulzsizer. I know its a ways away, but wanted to fill everyone in on the First Annual (I Hope) Warmland Mighty 590 reunion to be held in Conjunction with the Pocono Drag Lodge reunion, August 14, 2010, from 9 am to 5 pm. What went together better than cars, Pocono Drag lodge, and the best station ever, anywhere???I hope to get as many former WARM personalities, workers, fans, radioheads up at the reunion, which will be once again held at the drag strip on Meadow Run road, in Bear Creek. Last years reunion was a huge success,and we are adding the WARM reunion, hopefully a small reunion of the Lyndwood dragsters that were built in Wilkes- Barre, and the Alison P. Suter blues band will be giving a free concert!!! Joey Shaver has promised me that one way or another he will have the "SUNDAY-SUNDAY-SUNDAY" pdl spot that ran on WARM, and we will be dropping WARM Jingles in between the tunes. Please get me your email addresses so I can get you on a mailing list; mine is ecoair9798@aol.com..suggestions would be greatly appreciated and would help make this a memorable event!!
Thanks
Charlie Hulsizer
These were some of the drag songs you heard on WARM.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #525

2009-12-16T15:07:00.001-08:00

PHOTO INDEX: OPERATION SNOWFLAKE

SNOW, SNOW, SNOW

If you were a kid growing up in the 60s and you wanted a snow day, you turned to WARM radio to hear if your school was going to close. WARM used these announcements as an opportunity to increase sales and audience. School administrators were given special instructions and posters to display the information. With no local TV news shows on the air at the time, WARM dominated what was then the information freeway.

The local Triple A also did road reports for the highways and byways of WARM. These 2 minute road updates ran from early November to March.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #526

2009-12-05T13:46:00.001-08:00

PHOTO INDEX: WARM AD PROMOTION FOR FOOTBALL GUIDE ON BACK OF SURVEY SHEET.

FOOTBALL PROMO

WARM Radio used its relationship with national clients to build an audience and provide little goodies to their listeners. Before the merger of the National and American Football Leagues, WARM ran a promotion with Campbell Soups to sell a combined NFL/AFL guide book. This was just one of many sideline promotions WARM used in the 60s to build audience and increase sales with advertising clients.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #527

2009-11-29T19:28:00.001-08:00

PHOTO INDEX: WARM'S TOMMY WOODS AND THE "WISHBONE".

WINGING IT!!!!!!

Last year we told you about the WARM Turkey Trot, this year we'll let Tommy Woods tell you about a contest gone wrong for the Mighty 590. Building on the success of The Turkey Trot, WARM thought maybe they could extend the contest pass "Thanksgiving" into the Yuletide season. Didn't happen. From Tommy Woods: The worst contest we ever had at WARM and there were many was...."Send in your turkey wishbone and your wish could come true" Well...People just ripped out the greasy wishbone ...put it in an envelope and sent it in. We were in Avoca at the time and the Avoca post office was really pi$$ed. They had bags of greasy, smelly letters and called us to pick them up. That was a great idea!".

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #528

2009-11-20T16:01:00.001-08:00

PHOTO INDEX: THE WORLD FAMOUS WARM DOUBLE DRIBBLERS FROM THE 1960s. LEFT TO RIGHT: JIM WILDER (DEFENSIVE BACK, NY GIANTS TAXI SQUAD), BILL STEWART (DJ AND MEMBER OF THE WILLIAMSPORT H.S. CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM) CLEVELAND "SWISH" MCKINNEY ( SCRANTON MINERS, TEAM USA 1963 ), DON JONES ( PART TIME WITH WARM), WILLIE MURRELL (ALL AMERICAN AT KANSAS STATE UNIV. MINERS IN 65/66 AND LATER PLAYED WITH DENVER AND MIAMI OF THE ABA}, LARRY JONES (TOLEDO UNIV. AND PLAYED 1964/65 W/ PHILA. 76ERS, 65/66 W/ W.B.BARONS AND LATER WITH SEVERAL TEAMS IN THE ABA ), TOM KROH (SALESMAN WITH WARM AND PLAYED BASKETBALL AND ON SKI TEAM IN COLLAGE IN COLORADO, LAVERNE "DOC" TART (DRAFTED BY BOSTON CELITCS PLAYED 65/66 W/ W.B.BARONS AND FROM 67 TO 71 WITH SEVERAL TEAMS IN THE ABA).. IN FRONT WAS TEAM MGR. JOE "MARK CLARK" VERRASTRO WHO CURRENTLY RESIDES IN DUNMORE.

WARM DOUBLE DRIBBLERS

There was the WARM Softball Softies but when the weather got a little nippy, WARM Radio fielded a basketball team. Called the WARM Double Dribblers the team played for charity events all across the broadcast area for charity. As always the draw and allure of WARM packed gyms like St. John's in Pittston, the CYCs in both Scranton and Wilkes Barre, King's Scanlon gym as well as other venues. This photo was forwarded to us by Don Jones who tells us: "I worked part time with WARM in the mid 60's doing live news, re writing news and working record hops with several of the DJs.. I also played on the "Softball Softies" and "Sensational Seven" Basketball team.. Also raced at PDL in 1964.. I'm forwarding a photo taken by the Times-Leader of the team in the 1965 / 1966 season, at Plymouth H.S. I asked Don who he thought were the best and worst players on the team. He said, "No question, Bill Stewart was the best and Lenny Woloson was by far the worst, 2nd worse was Terry McNulty. " WARM at first didn't have ringers but there was a need to do so because of the people the celebrities were playing. Jones said, "We played various school teams made up of coaches, teachers, parents etc. and often they would have an anal player who had to impress his wife or friends by getting physical with someone like Len Woloson. One night when I was working one of the Scranton Miner games with Ron Allen he was telling about this to some of the players and one of the players, I believe it was Willie Murrell, said jokingly that he should play and nobody would mess with him.. Ron ran it by management and talked to Art Pachter and the W-B coach and put together this team. It was a win, win, win, situation since it brought more fans to the high schools, was positive press for the Miners and W-B and kept down the rough play by opposing teams." But even with the added help, the Dribblers were no slouches. "Bill Stewart played high school ball in Williamsport I believe and was a high school All-Star and Tom Kroh was a salesman for WARM who played some college ball at, as I remember, one of the Colorado colleges, "added Jones. Now the Double Dribblers weren't these guys.....but they came pretty close.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #529

2009-10-17T13:13:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: THE LATE AL MARTINO

A BRIDGE TO ROCK

Al Martino died the other day near Philadelphia. Martino was one of those "bridge" artists used frequently by WARM Radio to broaden its appeal. Martino's songs like "Mary In the Morning", "Spanish Eyes" and "The Theme From the Godfather" never reached the top 15 on WARM. But as an artist Martino received a lot of airplay in the mid morning and afternoon hours on WARM. Martino was 82. Publicist Sandy Friedman, of the Rogers & Cowan public relations firm, confirmed Martino's death in the Philadelphia suburb of Springfield, in Delaware County, but didn't cite a cause.Starting in 1952, Martino was known for hit songs including "Here in My Heart," ''Spanish Eyes," ''Can't Help Falling in Love" and "Volare."Besides acting in the Marlon Brando classic "The Godfather," Martino sang the 1972 film's title score, "The Love Theme From The Godfather." At one point, WARM had three versions in their top 40 of the "Godfather Theme". Martino's, Tony Bennett's and Andy Williams' renditions were all on the charts at the same time. Martino's Fontane character is a singer and occasional actor and is the godson of Brando's Mafia boss character, Don Vito Corleone.Martino was born in South Philadelphia as Alfred Cini and was a longtime resident of Beverly Hills, Calif.Philadelphia radio and television personality Jerry Blavat dined with Martino and his wife on Monday night. Blavat told the Philadelphia Daily News that Martino appeared to be in fine shape and that he was shocked when he learned of the singer's death."He was the last of the show business legends," said Blavat, who has played Martino's songs on the radio for years. "There's nobody else. The last of the performers. A magnificent voice."

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #530

2009-10-11T11:28:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: ANDY PALUMBO, JOHN HANCOCK, TO THE RIGHT OF THIS DUO ARE THE LATE MELAINE APPLE AND PHIL CONDRON, GM OF WARM AT THE TIME.

HANGING ON FOR CHARITY

WARM did various stunts and promotions over the years. One of the most intriguing was when John Hancock, then Program Director at WARM hung suspended on a platform for, what else 59 hours. The photo comes from Andy Palumbo, morning anchor at WNEP today but then a newsman on the WARM news staff. Hancock and Apple had airshifts. What I remember most about Hancock was the way he embraced WARM's heritage even saying on the air what an honor it was to work with the remnants of the Sensational 7 still at the Mighty 590. The fundraiser was for "Easter Seals". Hancock might not have been hanging on for love but certainly for dear life. Here's Sade, a mainstay on WARM in the mid 80s.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #531

2009-10-03T20:55:00.000-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: GEORGE GILBERT OF THE MIGHTY 590.

PICKING THE MUSIC

One of the early duties operations manager and then soon to be Program Director George Gilbert had was picking the music. In the 60s with the Beatles and English invasion, Gilbert struck a fine balance between rock, pop and adult standards. You would see songs from Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Frankie Layne and even Nancy Wilson. Sometimes the songs registered in the bottom third of the top 40 but they were there. Gilbert had a fondness for the harmonies of the Four Freshman and The Lettermen. At one point in the early 60s the Lettermen sang his closing theme. The passing last week of the Arbors Joe Cass reminded me that Gilbert programmed the music of the Arbors amidst Tommy James' "Hanky Panky" and the Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody To Love". Gilbert and his successors in picking the music struck a fine balance that gave the kids the rock and roll but the older folks a chance to "chill" with some adult contemporary. The Arbors in the 60s were a perfect tonic and WARM Radio and its management knew just how to apply it.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #532

2009-09-27T08:50:00.000-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: WARM RADIO HARRY WEST HOLDING A RECORD.

THE RECORD GUYS

Tom McEntee died the other day . He was a former green Beret who served his country and I'm sure he had some interesting times and stories. As a returning vet, he rarely talked about his war service. However after the war, he entered the music field and was associated with ABC/Dot records. Like most record men of the 60s and 70s, he had an abundance of anecdotes and tales associated with this part of his life. Tom was the founder of the Country Radio Seminar which is now a blockbuster organization with a huge turnout at an annual affair in Nashville. He was Southeast editor of the now gone CASHBOX Magazine. To put this in perspective for our Forever 590 readers, Tom was the promotional guy who got the records to the radio stations. Back in the 60s and 70s, record companies would send representatives to various radio stations with promotional copies hoping that the station would add it to their playlist. The hundreds of songs not making the playlist were given away at radio station remotes and appearances. After hearing the song on the radio, radio execs hoped people would buy the song at the music store. WARM was one of the most visited stations in the country because of its ratings success. Stations like the MIGHTY 590 were frequent stops for lieutenants of music executive Tom McEntee. One of the songs McEntee was responsible for getting on the air was "Come Monday", a mellow tune that launched the career of one Mr. Jimmy Buffett. The song was of course played on WARM in the summer of 1974. Here's Jimmy Buffett talking about that song and how he did the video on it. Buffett was the singing star but it was a guy like Tom McEntee that made radio stations aware of Buffett's talent.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #533

2009-09-21T14:31:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: WARM "CASH CARD"

SAVE, SAVE, SAVE!!!

In this blog we've touched on the customer service values of the Mighty 590 and the way the station connected with its listeners. WNEP's Andy Palumbo and former WARM newsman sent this cash card along. This was a card that a WARM listener used as a way to garner discounts and savings at WARMland businesses. Those concerns were also advertisers for WARM Radio. So in effect everyone won. It was a WIN WIN even before business gurus were using that phrase. The sales team won, the station increased its listnership and top of mind awareness and the listener, the consumer got a deal. Or if they didn't, at least they thought they got a deal. The WARM Cash Card, just another inexpensive but inclusive way WARM used to touch its audience.
In 1969 the Doors "Touch Me" was a top song played on WARM. Touching the listeners was paramount to WARM's success.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #534

2009-09-11T20:22:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: THE SOLE VOICE OF WARM RADIO TODAY, TRUE OLDIES CHANNEL'S SCOTT SHANNON.

STAYING TRUE

WARM Radio has been running the True Oldies Channel for a few years now. It is a good format with wonderful music that typifies the tunes heard on The Mighty 590 in its heydey. Popular and nationally know disc jockey Scott Shannon voices and runs the channel. A few weeks ago Shannon asked listeners to e mail him about the first 45 they bought. Naturally I couldn't resist and sent Scott this note:
Hi Scott, loved you on vh1, listening on WARM AM 590 Scranton/Wilkes Barre. My first oldie I bought was the 4 Seasons “Let’s Hang On”. I remember having my buck in my pocket and going to the local 5 and dime. I was looking for Herman’s Hermits “A Must To Avoid” but I kept on calling it “a must to a boy”. I was a dumb kid. So then I saw the seasons jacket that had them all in a singing pose. They were suited up in ties and double breasted coats and I thought, “These guys had style….and could sing”. So with my fifty nine cents I bought “Let’s Hang On”, 3:15. Phillips Records, black label, orange lettering, flip side “Sassy” an instrumental. David Yonki (pronounced YONK-EYE) Wilkes Barre, Pa.
A few weeks later, ironically enough on the day I went to the Woodstock museum Scott played my song and read the e mail. He and his staff were kind enoiugh to let me know when the song would be on. I first received a "shout out" from Scott.
THANKS DAVE...GREAT NOTE.....GOOD TO HAVE YOU LISTENING.. SCOTT
Then I got a confirming e mail from the staff:
Hi! Your song will air around 11:25 Central today. Thanks, Guy Patton
Although I did not hear it, many of my friends did and when I arrived home, my voice mail had many messages saying they heard me on WARM again, but this time coast to coast. Here's the link to the True Oldies Channel http://www.trueoldieschannel.com/ as well as 590 WARM. http://www.warm590.com/Article.asp?id=598365And here are the two songs I mentioned. The first was the 45 that I couldn't remember, Herman's Hermits "A Must To Avoid" and the second was the 4 Seasons "Let's Hang On" from The Ed Sullivan show.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #535

2009-09-04T15:07:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: VAUGHN'S BREAD PROMOTION.

PROMOTIONAL MANNA

WARM Radio had its big days at Rocky Glen Park. We all know that from the hundreds of photos we've seen. But WARM would sponsor promotional days at the park which featured family fun days. People who showed up were treated to discounts at the park, an opportunity to hobnob with WARM personalities but also get some free producct. At one WARM Vaughn's promotional day at Rocky Glenn, a half a semi filled with bread was give away. While WARMlanders got their bread in August of '64, they were listening to these songs:

As George Gilbert used to say, "You could never go wrong with the Beatles" and with this promotion, you couldn't fail with this song.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #536

2009-08-27T22:45:00.000-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: ELLIE GREENWICH A SONGWRITER WHOSE SONGS DOMINATED WARM RADIO IN THE 60s.

ELLIE GREENWICH

Ellie Greenwich, the New York songwriter behind a string of 1960s hits that gave effervescent voice to unbridled teen romance including "Da Doo Ron Ron," "Chapel of Love" and "Be My Baby," many of them in collaboration with producer Phil Spector, died Wednesday of a heart attack. Her song writing partner was Jeff Barry. Their collaborations with Wall of Sound creator Spector are regarded among the greatest singles ever created. The music publishing rights organization Broadcast Music Inc. lists more than 200 songs she wrote or co-wrote, including "Then He Kissed Me" (the Crystals), "I Can Hear Music" (The Ronettes, Beach Boys), "Hanky Panky" (a hit for Tommy James & the Shondells), "Maybe I Know" (Lesley Gore) and the song Spector considered his greatest recording, "River Deep, Mountain High" (Ike and Tina Turner).Greenwich has said that the title phrase of "Da Doo Ron Ron" was never intended to be part of the song; it was improvised as a nonsensical space filler until she and Barry could come up with a real line to follow the tune's opening lyric: "I met him on a Monday and my heart stood still." Here's a song not heard on WARM and many other radio stations.

And here's one song she wrote that was heard constantly on WARM.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #537

2009-08-19T16:30:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: SCENE FROM POCONO DRAG LODGE REUNION LAST WEEKEND. SEE 590 MIGHTY MEMORY #538.

DRAG LODGE REUNION A HIT

This past weekend’s Drag Lodge Reunion was a big hit. So much so that the organizers are planning next year’s event. Here’s an e mail from reunion coordinator Charlie Hunsinger on plans and needs for 2010.
Hi Everyone-
As I wade thru all of the positive feedback I'm getting on the reunion, I guess its just sinking in the enormity of the event. I'm astonished and dumbfounded and really shouldn't be. Sherri and had very little trash pickup. Everyone used their head in parking the cars. I'm not surprised by any of this because the greatest people in the world believed in this project and supported it by helping and attending!!! Sure, we made a few mistakes but everyone rolled with the punches and made the best of it. As I was out on meadow run road helping my traffic guys with the traffic, even the locals were cool about the traffic jam!! I was working with the traffic guys getting the locals thru, and I apologized for the delays,and they were cool about it. The cameraderie, friendliness and all around great folks made this an event to remember. Joe perugino has agreed to let us have another event next year. Here are a few things I need to ponder and will ask your help with: * cutoff date on the cars at 1972??? * need speakers at both ends of the track * need to spread out the porta potties * tent for people to display memorabilia * wristbands for admission?? * ban or tighten up easyups on the track to free up more space * no trailers in display area unless the show car stays on the trailer and anything else. How bout a WARM mighty 590 reunion at the next pdl event?? Joey Shaver loves the idea!! Any other ideas, criticism, send to me and we will make it even better next year!! Your folks are the best..we got somethin' really cool going here.
Thanks again,
Charlie

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #538

2009-08-14T17:34:00.000-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: POCONO DRAG LODGE CIRCA 1960s.

POCONO DRAG LODGE REUNION

In the 1960s WARM Radio’s music personified fast cars and fast music. The station’s bell shaped signal provided great booming coverage into the Pocono Area. It was a natural for the participants in the Pocono rag Lodge to listen to WARM as their station of choice. And WARM Radio, the Mighty 590 seeing a promotional opportunity used to provide information on the events. Night time jocks Joey Shaver, Bill Stuart, T.J. Lambert III and the late Tim Karlson used to promote the races on their shifts during the 60s and 70s.
On Saturday 8/15/09 there will be a Pocono Drag Lodge reunion. For those that remember, it was a great track in the 60's and 70's. The hours are 9-5. That's where Joe Amato got his start. Pocono Drag Lodge was a 1/4 mile NHRA drag strip located in Bear Creek, Pennsylvania, near Scranton/Wilkes Barre. The strip has been idle for decades, but was once a major NHRA site. A plan to revive the track for a 1998 opening fell through the cracks but a reunion, long planned for this weekend will be a chance to reconnect with some of the drivers and their cars. For those of you not able to attend, here’s some information on a DVD produced in time for the reunion.

DRAG RACING - WHEN IT WAS FUN!

This one hundred and twenty-three minute original movie production includes Drag Racing action from the 1960’s at various drag strips: Pocono Drag Lodge, Pocono International Raceway, Kel-Rica, Wind Gap, Vargo, Numidia, Island, Forty Fort, Tri Cities and Maple Grove. The video has an assortment of Gassers, Altereds, Dragsters, Super/Stockers, Funny Cars and Stockers. The big names of the sport appear as well as some of the regular racers and their cars. I started off doing this video for the first annual Pocono Drag Lodge Reunion but as I got into it I realized that the people who went to PDL also traveled to several other drag strips within the same geographical area. It was common for many of the same cars to tow into Island, Tri Cities (NY track) or Vargo on the same weekend. Of course they also went to Numidia and Maple Grove on a regular basis. Wind Gap Drag Strip was one of the first tracks in the area and we have a short story about racing there in 1961. I have also included a story on the Kel-Rica track and you have to see it to believe it. Some of the track is still visible today and I had a chance to talk to the owner about it. I believe you will really enjoy this story. I have also included some very rare footage of drag racing at the Pocono International Raceway. They ran two drag races there in 1969 and we are able to show you some of the action in both of them. Jungle Jim and Brutus ran the first match race there and you get to see the action. I have also included some interviews with people who competed at these tracks: Joe Amato talks about his early years in drag racing, Bob Chipper does the same for his career. Both of these super stars of the sport got their start at PDL. We also talk to Jerry Hotchkiss about the ’63 Z-11 Chevy he bought from Malcolm Durham. We show a best of three-match race with Al Joniac and his A/FX Mustang against Fast Eddie Schwartman’s ’65 A/FX Mercury Comet at Vargo Dragway then talk to Al about it. Tom Sneeden talked to us about running the Bob Banning Funny Car at Pocono International Raceway. We also talked to Wally Bell about his ’57 Chevy Gasser and his role as Manager of PDL. Bob Strunk raced at both PDL and Numidia back in the 1960’s and he gives us a history report regarding Numidia. This video has several stories about Gassers. Included are: Joe Amato (5 time Top Fuel Champion) ‘32 Chevy, Fiat AA/A, 40 Chevy; Bob Chipper ‘55 Chevy, 40 Willys, 33 Willys, 70 Cuda BB/GS; Wally Bell 57 Chevy; Tony Durso C/MP 55 Chev. In addition we show numerous gassers at all the tracks. If you are a fan of gassers this will surely appeal to you. For Super Stock fans we have a match race between the Lawman Plymouth and the Tasca Tbolt at Island Dragway in 1964. Cool stuff. The Joniac vs. Schwartman match at Vargo is killer. The close up shots on the return road will knock you out. We also follow Wally Bell, Jack Schaffer, George Whalen, Tim Richards, Jerry Hotchkiss, Lee Malkemes, Bob Harrop and others to match races at Tri Cities, Island, Numidia and PDL. As always we have taken the time to dub real car sounds on to the movie footage in order to give you the most realistic sights and sounds available of the golden era of drag racing. We have also included relative narration in the video so you can follow all the action that takes place. Get your copy today on DVD or VHS. Our DVD includes 30 Chapter markers so you can quickly navigate to your favorite part of the video. Cost is $19.00.
Here are two videos from YOU TUBE on the Pocono Drag Lodge.

From Jan and Dean: "Bucket T:"

Then there was Jan and Dean's "Drag City". Heard on WARM many, many times during drag racing season.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #539

2009-08-08T13:14:00.000-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: LETTER FROM SCOTT ARTHUR TO MY FRIEND, JOEY DELLARTE. (CLICK TO ENLARGE).

CUSTOMER CARE AND WARM

You walk into a car dealership and want to buy a car and the salesman won't go the extra mile to help you. You complain to his manager and the head honcho calls you out for your "bad attitude". You order something in an eatery and it's wrong. No apologies, just eat it and shut up. The State Liquor Bureau is paying a guy $70,000 to teach State Store Clerks how to be nice to customers. Consultants travel around the country making millions chatting up the marvels of good customer service in business. Crazy. All customer service means is doing the right thing and treating people like you'd want to be treated. WARM Radio understood that long before the gurus were paid big bucks to state the obvious. My late friend, Joey Dellarte entered a WARM contest with all night deejay Scott Arthur. Joey didn't win the contest...............but got a nice thank you letter anyway. That's the type of customer care WARM practiced one listener at a time. That's why they were king of the hill for decades. And their jocks didn't need a consultant to tell them how to treat a loyal listener.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #540

2009-07-27T13:05:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: THE LATE MANNY GORDON.

MANNY AND WARM

A big part of my childhood at Christmas time was being terrified that our Christmas tree would burn the house down. My father was kind of like the dad on "The Christmas Story" so things sometimes were jerry rigged. Every year, I dutifully waited for the Manny Gordon Christmas tree recipe which kept the tree moist and less brittle. Through the years, Manny Gordon was on the radio so much you'd think he was a member of the WARM staff. Even after his retirement from the Forestry Department, Manny would be on WARM joshing with Harry West or Len Woloson or George Gilbert on various charities he ws involved with at the time.
Manny Gordon died last week at the age of 97. He lived a very good life of enjoyment. His mantra was "Enjoy Enjoy". With Manny's life, we in WARMland did. We enjoyed Manny to the Max.
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590 MIGHTY MEMORY #541

2009-07-24T19:20:00.000-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: THE SCRANTON FAMILY FROM THE COVER OF LIFE MAGAZINE, JUNE 1964.

WARM AND THE GREAT CAMPAIGN

It was 1964, a scant half year after John Kennedy, the President of the U.S. was killed. Midway through '64, the name of Pennsylvania Governor and WARMland native William Warren Scranton's name was being bounced around as a possible nominee for the Republican Party. Although Barry Goldwater led in the delegate count, many of the moderate Republicans wanted a more left of center voice. William Scranton, the progressive Republican Governor of the Commonwealth fit the bill. Scranton was unsure about running until Senator Goldwater voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Scranton, whose family virtually founded the GOP in the state was outraged that the party of Lincoln had as its possible nominee a man who voted to deny basic rights and dignity to all Americans. In mid June he jumped into the race for President. WARM Radio had reporters, Jack Donniger and Terry McNulty in Atlantic City to follow the proceedings. Special interviews with local delegates were featured. WARM also followed the convention via their UPI News Service with veteran reporter Pye Chamberlain providing minute by minute coverage. WARM of course kept its music format humming but the Scranton effort was not that far off the radar. A promo ran constantly that stated: "Did the Governor start too late? Or is Bill Scranton, WARMland's hometown boy poised to pull an upset in Atlantic City. Stay tuned as WARM News takes you there as it all unfolds". Scranton needless to say did not get the nomination but the coverage of his bid by WARM Radio made for an exciting political summer.
And in that political summer, here was one of the top songs played on WARM.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #542

2009-07-20T12:21:00.000-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: MAN ON THE MOON.

WARM AND THE MOON

WARM Radio, in the summer of '69 promoted its news operation as the lunar landing approached. Utilizing UPI News, WARM had special reports during each newscast and broke in with bulletins as needed. On the night that man first landed on the moon, WARM suspended local programming (it was a Sunday night so it was no big financial loss for sales) with UPI coverage.

HERE'S WHAT WE WERE LISTENING TO ON WARM:

AND OF COURSE, WARM PLAYED THIS OLDIE FROM 1965.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #543

2009-07-16T14:43:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: WARM HURRICANE GUIDE FROM 1969. (CLICK TO ENLARGE).

STORMY WEATHER

Forty years ago WARM Radio actually published a Hurricane Guide. When I heard about Tropical Storm Carlos making its way therough the seas last week I thought of this piece of WARM trivia. Apparently WARM decided to put out this guide for travelers as well as an aid in planning summer road trips. Little did the powers that be at WARM realize that in 1972 a tropical storm named Agnes would wreck havoc on parts of WARMland. A song WARM played, "Stormy" by Dennis Yost and the Classics 4.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #544

2009-07-10T12:16:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: SUMMERTIME FUN ADS ON THE BACK OF WARM SURVEY SHEETS AND MC TOMMY WOODS. (CLICK TO ENLARGE).

SUMMER CONCERTS

Many people who remember WARM readily point to the concerts at Rocky Glen Park for summertime fun. WARM day was held toward the end of summer and drew thousands of people. But during the summer, WARM promoted cncerts featuring various artists at places like Pocono Downs, San Souci Park and Hanson's Amusement Park. WARM was the summertime clearinghouse for information on the hot groups and of course summertime fun. Here's one of the featured bands, Cannibal and the Headhunters:

Also, here from Allentown is Jay and the Techniques:

And then there were The Dells:

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #545

2009-07-03T19:23:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: FIREWORKS.

WARM AND THE 4TH

WARM Radio in its heydey celebrated the Fourth of July in a very low key manner. WARM, prior to the big day would run contests like giving away charcoal and picnic supplies but by and large, WARM conveyed the image that on the 4th, it was "family" time. And WARM Radio, wanted to be part of the family. Promos urged listeners to take WARM to the State Park, the beach or on that ride to a 4th of July celebration. WARM never sponsored a fireworks event but did everything it could to piggy back and promote others big explosive events. This weekend, WARM True Oldies Channel is promoting the "Great American Road Trip" as a celebration of music and this great country. What better way to think back to the good times of rock and roll then to travel down Route 66:

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #546

2009-06-26T18:29:00.000-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: THE JACKSONS.

WARM AND THE "J 5"

WARM Radio played the hits. To be sure, WARM was never a trendsetter or had "breakout" debut records. But when a group was hot, WARM played their tunes. Such was the case with the Jackson 5. WARM dutifully played every Jackson song that came down the pike. And the jocks added their commentary to the songs whether it Bob Woody's making fun of the group's ode to a rat, "Ben" or the simple but upbeat song "ABC". Former WARM staffer Joe Middleton spent some time with the group in the mid 70s and was interviewed by The Times Leader today as well as this sister blog, "The LuLac Political Letter". From the Times Leader. Joe Middleton of Pittston worked for the Jackson 5 during the group’s 1973 tour. Middleton assisted with the merchandising on the tour and said he spent a lot of time around the young pop sensation. He recalled Jackson with both fondness and sadness on Thursday. “The kid was a prankster,” said Middleton. “He was great. He was fun to be with. You could tell he had talent, but he didn’t have a normal childhood. Michael had no life. That’s why the kid was screwed up. He never left his father’s side. He was the cash cow. Nothing could happen to Michael. Without Michael, there was no Jackson 5.” Middleton said he wasn’t surprised to hear stories, years later, about the negative impact that Jackson’s father, Joe, might have had on his son’s psyche. “The father was a very stern taskmaster,” he said. “The other boys would have some time to have fun, but Michael was under the father’s thumb all the time.” To look at Joe's comments on LuLac, go to Edition #859, dated June 26th, 2009. Of the many songs played on WARM from the Jacksons, perhaps the one that bridged the music gap between the WARM of the 50s to the WARM of the 70s was their remake of "Rockin' Robin".

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #547

2009-06-21T04:01:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: WARM LOGO AND FATHER'S DAY LOGO.

WARM AND DADS

WARM Radio had a promotion for everything and Father's Day was no exception. WARM had a "Dress Your Dad" contest with Kranson Klothes for many years. The old Packard suit outlet in Scranton ran a promotion with WARM called "Suit Yourself Dad". Various eateries had "Breakfast For Dad" contests while the Mr. Kleen car wash in Exeter (still thriving by the way) ran a few remotes around Father's Day weekend in the early and mid 60s. Yes WARM honored the dads and even to this stay WARM's True Oldies Channel format is featuring "The Founding Fathers of Rock and Roll". Now here is a few dad oriented tunes WARM played over the years for all the dads on Father's Day.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #548

2009-06-17T15:28:00.000-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: FORMER WARM PERSONALITY PETE GABRIEL NOW AND PETE GABRIEL THEN ON WARM SURVEY SHEET.

THE MIGHTY GABRIEL RETURNS

Pete Gabriel showed up in WARMland the other day and a reunion broke out. Gabriel was on the Mighty 590 from 1968 to about 1971. Known as a Gentle Giant and one heck of a WARM softball softie, Gabriel first did the 10am to 1pm shift then gravitated toward the 1pm to 4pm slot until finally doing drive time from 4pm to 8pm. Here's Bill O'Boyle's recap on Pete's visit and reunion with other WARM staffers from the Times Leader:

Four men gathered at Cooper’s Waterfront Restaurant in Pittston on Monday to reminisce.
You might say it was an evening filled with WARM memories.
Pete Gabriel, Jerry Heller, Harry West and Joe Middleton shook hands, hugged and smiled as they recalled their years at the Mighty 590. All four were employees of Susquehanna Broadcasting when WARM ruled the airwaves in the 1960s.
They were part of WARM – the AM radio station that in its heyday had 60 percent to 70 percent of the radio listening audience tuned in every day. The powerful 5,000-watt station reached beyond Wilkes-Barre, Scranton and Hazleton – its signal pierced the air all the way to Manhattan, Philadelphia, Binghamton and even the New Jersey shore.
WARMland, as it was called, erased the lines of demarcation between counties and towns – creating Northeastern Pennsylvania – and just about every baby boomer and beyond remembers the jingles, the Sensational Seven, record hops, and WARM days at Rocky Glen and Sans Souci parks.
That’s what Gabriel, Heller, West and Middleton wanted to talk about.
“It was a time that will never be repeated,” Heller said.
They told story after story, laughing and sometimes bordering on tears as they recalled events and co-workers who have since passed on.
“What a great time that was working with all those guys,” Gabriel said. “There was such camaraderie; we all got along.”
Gabriel was at WARM from 1968 to 1971. He brought pictures and memories to share with the others. And they had their own stories as well.
“Pete hasn’t seen these guys in a long time – years – and he still feels that closeness from when they worked together,” Middleton said. “They were a team.”
They remembered Len Woloson, Terry McNulty, Ron Allen, Tim Carlson, Bob Oliver and George Gilbert – all deceased – but not with sadness, rather with joy and laughter. They talked about “Little” Joey Shaver, Jim Drucker and Tom Woods who couldn’t make the reunion.
“I’ve never worked with a better group of guys,” Gabriel said. “And I’ve never worked for a station that treated its people better.”
West said the guys haven’t kept in touch much since the station’s heydays, but that will change now. They already talked about getting together again – soon.
“Frankly, there’s not many of us left,” Gabriel, 71, said. West just turned 79, Heller is 69 and Middleton is 60.
Heller served as WARM’s news director and the station placed great emphasis on news.
“I was living in Illinois and I answered an ad for news director at WARM that read: ‘One of America’s great radio stations is looking for a news director,’” Heller said. “That really did sum it up.”
Gabriel and his wife, Sandy, live in Youngstown, Ohio, and they stopped in the area on their way to a family reunion in Plymouth, Mass.
“When I read the story about Harry (West) and WARM in The Times Leader, I was really happy to see a lot of the guys were still around and I wanted to look them up,” Gabriel said. “It was such a great time back then – the kids, the music, the events, and the fun. What station today would allow a personality (McNulty) to pass around a can of pineapple to people who weren’t even in the building?”
The “Sensational Seven” became the “WARM Good Guys” – a collection of on-air talent perhaps seldom seen in radio then, before, or since.
Four of the “Good Guys” ate dinner, laughed a lot, then hugged and vowed to meet again.
It will always be WARM for them.
One of the songs that hit the top 10 while Gabriel was at WARM was Tracy by the Cufflinks:

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #549

2009-06-16T13:05:00.000-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: GRADUATION CAP.

WARM AND THE GRADS

WARM RAdio was the soundtrack of our lives. As high school ended, the Mighty 590 held a special place in the hearts of all the grads. After all, our class came of age listening to Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" in late 1968 as Freshman. We danced to The Buoys "These Days" at the St. John's dances on William Street with Harry West, Terry McNulty and Joey Shaver doing the dance hops. Our class celebrated Earth Day in 1970 listening to Three Dog Night's "Celebrate" as well as mourning the break up of The Beatles listening to "The Long And Winding Road". In the summer of 1971, we slow danced to the Temptations "Just My Imagination" our last summer before senior year. On the night of my senior prom, I stopped off at WARM to see the all night guy, Ken Curtis to impress my date. She wasn't but I enjoyed the visit even though he said I was wearing "a monkey suit". Which I was. Graduation day from St. John's in Pittston in June of 1972 culminated with one of the top ten songs, "Morning Has Broken" also being our class song. WARM Radio was the constant companion for untold graduation classes in WARMland. Years later, the WARM line up can be recited sometimes more accurateluy than the roster of our teachers.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #550

2009-06-09T21:48:00.001-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: JOEY SHAVER CIRCA 1966 AND PROMO FOR STUDENT OF THE YEAR.

STUDENT OF THE YEAR

When WARM Radio first took to the airwaves in 1958, the station played that rock and roll music criticized by the older generation at the time. However with its news presence, WARM quickly won over the WWII era moms and dads. To further cement WARM's reputation as a family station, the outlet began to give out scholarships to worthy, achieving students in WARMland. Every year, night time jock Joey Shaver would run a contest culminating in the recognition of a student who not only had good grades but showed good responsibility and citizenship. And of course WARM being WARM, good music was mixed in with the awarding of a student's achievement. After all, WARM never wasted a good demographic.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #551

2009-06-05T18:26:00.000-07:00

PHOTO INDEX: BACK OF WARM SURVEY SHEET PROMOTING FREE TRIP TO LONDON TO SEE THE DAVE CLARK 5.

WARM AND THE BRITS

WARM Radio in the mid 60s hopped on to the British music invasion bandwagon. WARM was involved in a contest with the Revlon Company. The cosmetic firm was touting a product called "Natural Wonder" which was a foundation make up for young women. The contest was nationwide, and according to my records no one locally won the trip but there were more than 9,000 consolation prizes offered. While the Beatles dominated the WARM weekly surveys, The Dave Clark 5 never lagged far behind. Here are two great songs heard on WARM in the 60s by the DC5."Everybody Knows" and "Because".