590 MIGHTY MEMORY #514

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.