590 MIGHTY MEMORY #487

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.