590 MIGHTY MEMORY #139

WARM NEWS PROMO 

(Photo: 590 Forever archives)

Talk about a time warp. WARM Radio always promoted everything it did including the news. This promo though stirs up a type of cultural time warp. Terry McNulty and  Ken Curtis who used to be overnights were doing news. Jeff Lubar was The Washington reporter courtesy of UPI. 
But the one that stands out is Kitch Loftus who turned into one of the most accomplished news reporters in the market was dubbed as "The News Girl". Loftus later went on to work with her husband the late Anthony Mussari on award winning documentaries called "Windsor Park Stories". 
But here is that promo.  

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #140

THE START OF EDUCATIONAL TV AND HOW WARM WAS INVOLVED

We all take WVIA TV and FM for granted. Many in our community think it's always been there. But every great broadcast entity begins with a seed of an idea. That idea spawned by Marywood College at the time grew into public broadcasting. 
In 1955 Marywood offered a 13 week course via television. It was a History of Drama class.  This ad illustrates just how "The world via TV" started. 
Years later WVIA, in 1966 brought Education and Entertainment via TV. 
Later on the radio too. 
Integral in its start was of course WARM TV. Channel 16. Later WVIA started at Marywood with the help of equipment from WNEP. Thanks to our good friend Joe Klapatch for finding this ad.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #141

"KEVIN JORDAN, WARM NEWS" 

(Photo: 590 Forever archives)

Kevin Jordan came to WARM at the ripe old age of 19. He was a hard hitting newsman, loved his work, and had an authoritative voice that WARM Radio listeners loved to listen to in the mid 1970s. 
Jordan later went on to working with Luzerne County and in private business before his death but during his time at WARM, Kevin Jordan was a "must listen to" broadcaster. 
Here's a very brief audio snippet of him on The Mighty 590, WARM.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #142

"TERRY McNULTY WARM NEWS"

Mrs. 590 Forever, the late Terry McNulty and the late Mary Carrano. (Photo: 590 Forever archives)

He was known as "The Big Fella" when he did weekends at WARM, then when he did 9 to noon and ultimately taking over the WARM morning shift after Harry West departed, TBF was the moniker that stuck. He was also known for his serialization of a fictional Wilkes Barre Area (Goose Island) couple Pushy and Reba Bosco as well as his "Pineapple Feature" where locals were included in the joke to pass the can of pineapple around for just a taste.
But McNulty was an accomplished newsman. As a matter of fact, he was one of the first news people on the scene at Sheppton's Mine Disaster in 1963.  To WARMland he announced the shooting and death of John F. Kennedy. McNulty went from on air personality to newsman because he was so versatile. 
From 1978 here is a classic Terry McNulty newscast on The Mighty 590. 

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #143

WARM GROWTH PAINS 

WARM had such an aura about them through the years that its status in the community was elevated to near broadcast canonization. But WARM was a business like any other operating in Northeastern Pennsylvania. There were times as this Scranton Tribune article from 1955 showed that at some point there were some steps backward in order to regroup and move forward. From our good friend Joe Klapatach. 

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #144

GEORGE GILBERT 

NOON 'TIL 3, IT WAS DOUBLE G 

George Gilbert was the main stay of The Mighty 590. Gilbert was there almost from the first day. Gilbert was working at WIBG in Philly when WARM came a calling in the late 50s. His on air career spanned the 60s, 70s, the 80s and even the early 90s on WARM. He was the voice WARMlanders knew. 
It was Gilbert as Program Director who spearheaded the many promotions WARM ran. He later did a stint in Williamsport, worked a year or two in sales and then returned to the airwaves in the 1990 when he and Ron Allen did a return to WARMland music show back to back. Just like the old days. 
But Gilbert is best remembered for those early, upbeat broadcasts that made the Double G show a must hear affair in this market. Here's a sample.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #145

THE DON STEVENS SHOW & SUPERIOR SONIC SOUND 

Don Stevens had the voice that was made for WARM Rafio. Stevens was the 9am to noon  guy for many years on The Mighty 590. He also served for many years as an Operations Manager of WARM.
Stevens also did news cutaways on WBRE TV and was known as The Esso Newsman. After leaving Warm in the mid 60s he joined WSCR.
Afterwards, Stevens worked for the government in the Navy Department.
Stevens had two catch phrases, at 10:30 every morning midway through his shift after the news, he loudly proclaimed "We're halfway home!"
Stevens also sang "Welcome To My World" during his show.  Here's a clip from one of his broadcasts.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #146

WARM AND TURKEY DAY FOOTBALL

Do you remember when Thanksgiving was the day for high school football rivalries? Games were played on Turkey Day for high school athletes. Dinner could wait as the kids played their hearts out. 
Now in the age of helicopter parents and kids sitting behind computers, playing on the gridiron is a far distant memory on Turkey Day. 
But back in the 50s kids played ball and people came to see them.
Those who didn't could hear the games on WARM Radio. 
Even that 3pm game in the dead of winter. 
That we will never see again. 
Thanks to our friend Joe Klapatch for providing this ad from Thanksgiving mid 1950s. 

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #147

KIM MARTIN 

He was a known radio name in the Wilkes Barre/Scranton market. For years he did the morning show on WEJL AM, 630 on the dial. Then he moved to WARM first at mid days, then the mornings before he moved on to WIBG in Philadelphia as McClintock. 
Here's audio from this brief  time on The Mighty 590. 

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #148

WARM AND THE AD FROM 1955

Check out this radio ad for WARM Radio, January 1955. This was for WARM TV and 590 AM. 

 

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #149

THE SOUNDS OF WARM (PART 2) 

KING ARTHUR KNIGHT

This video is a small compilation of the work of King Arthur Knight who did a few stints at WARM. Knight was one of the first jocks to arrive and set the standard for others that followed. Knight came from WICK, left WARM in the early 60s to work at the Susquehanna based station WHLO in Akron Ohio and the moved on to WICE in Providence, another station in the chain. He also worked at WMEX, in Boston. At some point in this taping, he mixed up the frequencies when on WARM to 1290 AM.  
Knight then went on to WPRO in Providence where he was named to the Rhode Island Radio Hall of Fame. 
His real last name was Osterhout and he passed away in February 2016. He is buried in Clarks Summit. 
The sound archives come from Joe Middleton, Duplication was done by Bobby Day of WARM and Arena fame and post production was done by some very good people. (Please keep in mind that this is a fifty year old tape of an on air presentation).

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #150

THE SOUNDS OF WARM (PART 1)

LEN WOLOSON 

This video is a compilation of some of Len Woloson's work on WARM, The Mighty 590. Woloson was born in the Honeypot Section of Nanticoke. He began his career at WPTS in Pittston. Woloson was known as The All Nite Satellite on the early days of WARM's rock an roll format. 
When Susquehanna needed him elsewhere, he went to begin the growth of radio station WHLO in Ohio. He did a stint at WSBA in York before returning in early 1969 to WARM as "The Morning Mayor". 
His on the air hallmark was sound bites that he'd drop in utilizing records. Many who saw him work said he was a master at this. 
After WARM, Lenny went to KENO in Las Vegas where he lived until his death a few years back. 
Here is this video. The sound archives come from Joe Middleton, Duplication was done by Bobby Day of WARM and Arena fame and post production was done by some very good people. (Please keep in mind that this is a fifty year old tape of an on air presentation).

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #151

WARM AND THE SONGS OF OCTOBER

The Beatles were dethroned in October of '65 with Roy Head. It hit number one on the WARM charts. Head is best known for the 1965 blue-eyed soul international hit, "Treat Her Right recorded by Roy Head and the Traits. After going solo, Head landed several hits on the Country and Western charts between 1975 and 1985. 
During his career of some 50 years, he has performed in several different musical genres and used a somewhat confusing array of record labels, some too small to provide for national marketing and distribution. Roy Head and the Traits held reunions in 2001 and 2007 and were inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in 2007. 
Number 2 was "A Lover's Concerto" by the Toys. Bob Dylan debuted at number 30 with "Positively Fourth Street" followed at number 31 by The Bachelors and a chapel song too.  


 

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #152

WARM RADIO AND THE MUSIC OF OCTOBER 

Here are two survey sheets from October of '65. The Beatles were on top at number one with "Yesterday" Barbara Lewis was at number 4 with "Make Me Your Baby",  but those pesky Liverpool Legends debuted again in the top 40 at 27 with "Act Naturally".

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #153

WARM TV AND RADIO BROADCASTS THE BREAKFAST CLUB

Here are the principles from the "Breakfast Club" show that was on WARM.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #154

WARM SPORTS AD FOR TV 

The high school football schedule for WARM TV was ambitious for the time. Check out this article from the fall as that season progressed.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #155

WARM TV LINE UP

Check out this TV lineup from the fall of 1954 on WARM TV. Boxing, Charlie Chan, Ronald Reagan, as well as a chance to lead a band. Who could ask for more! 

 "So You Want To Lead A Band" aired on ABC from August 5, 1954 to January 27, 1955. It was hosted by Sammy Kaye. 
Members of the studio audience are invited to conduct the band. Then through its applause, the audience chooses the winning amateur conductor. The winner receives a prize. Vocalists on the program included Barbara Benson and Jeffrey Clay.

590 MIGHTYMEMORY #156

THE GLOBE AND WARM TV 

Two entities that no longer exist, The Globe Store which was a Scranton institution as well as WARM TV partnered to broadcast high school football. Here is an ad from that era.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #157

WARM HIGH POWER TOUTED IN AD 

This ad in the Scranton newspapers made the announcement about the new power increase of WARM TV.  This was extremely important in the early days of TV because the see was an investment and the less a family could use the old rabbit ears antenna, the better.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #158

WARM INCREASES POWER 

As soon as WARM got the TV license, the management started to address the issue of reaching a wider audience. Here's a news article with news of that increase. This is from September of 1954.

 

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #159

WHO SPONSORED ALL OF THAT FOOTBALL ON WARM TV? 

BANKS 

When WARM TV went on the air, as well as the heyday of WARM 590, banks around here were plenty and competitive. Many advertisers felt the best way to reach customers was sports. And they promoted it heavily in all forms of media at that time.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #160

WARM TV AND FOOTBALL

WARM TV, Channel 16 was broadcasting live football events on the local scene. Plus WARM tapped into the ABC TV networks growing, later to become storied NCAA College Football Saturdays. Here are two ads from the fall of '54. 

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #161

WARM RADIO AND THE SONGS OF SEPTEMBER 

September 1967, fifty years go had a number one song called "Ode To Billy Joe" by Bobbie Gentry. Neil Diamond was coming up at number 6 with "Thank The Lord For the Night Time" while Frank Sinatra was descending at number 7 with "The Word We Knew". Meanwhile Jay and the Techniques stormed into the top ten with "Apple Peaches, Pumpkin Pie" at 8. 
The Mama's and Papa's debuted at number 18 on this WARM survey. 

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #162

WARM"s TV PROGRAMMING

Here's a programming ad from the Scranton Newspapers for WARM TV, Channel 16 in the spring of 1954. One of the show being featured was "Space Ranger". 

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #163

JACK WILSON ON WARM TV TOO

Back in the 1950s when radio first began, radio was more popular than TV. WARM TV saw that and decided to have their popular Morning Man at the time Jack Wilson to do the last half hour of his radio show on Channel 16. 
Wilson's upbeat show then led into a very popular ABC broadcast from Chicago called The Breakfast Club. 
Here's an ad promoting Jack Wilson and then a film clip from The Breakfast Club. 

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #164

WARM TV GETS A BIG THANK YOU FROM THE CITY OF SCRANTON 

The day after WARM TV began, the city of Scranton sent out public kudos to the new broadcast entity. Mayor Bil Hanlon met with the principles and here's the photo from The Scranton Times from 1954. 

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #165

THE HISTORIC McCARTHY HEARINGS ON WARM TV

April 1954 was a pivotal time in American history. Senator Joseph McCarthy appeared before the United States Senate to answer questions about his claims about Communists in government. The televised hearings were in effect the Waterloo of McCarthy's career. WARM TV, Channel 16 took the live broadcast of those hearings from mid day to late afternoon. 
Prior to that, WARM TV signed on at 4pm. The hearings added heft to the programming schedule. 

One of the most memorable moments was when the Counsel for the Senate, Joseph Welsh took McCarthy straight on. This happened in June of 1954, this ad was placed when the hearings started in late April.  

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #166

WARM TV LOCAL LINE UP

Here's an ad from the Scranton Tribune touting the new Channel 16 local team as well as a preview of the TV programming. 

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #167

WARM AND HIGH SCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIP BASKETBALL

As far back as the 1940s and 50s, WARM Radio would broadcast basketball games. Here's an ad from 1954 on an out of area game between Scranton Prep and Allentown Central Catholic. At stake, the Class A Eastern Semi Finals.  
This was from March of 1954, a type of early version of March Madness before it was March Madness. 

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #168

ELVIS GONE @ 40 

WARM Radio and Elvis essentially grew up together and then faded away as the rock icon each one was in their own right. This month  we look at the 40th anniversary of the death of The King. It was a Tuesday afternoon in August 40 years ago. The weather was muggy, oppressive and cloudy. One of those dog days of August that was neither pleasant nor horrible. Just blah. 
I was working at WVIA FM and TV at the time. My shift was 2pm to 10. I had a rather forgettable program at 4pm called “Mostly Pops” where we played nothing but Boston Pops Music. In the evening, I was George Graham’s newscaster for his program (still going strong I might add,) “Mixed Bag”. Fridays on TV they let me do a Phone In program on TV about……..wait for it…politics. 
For some strange reason I remember what I was wearing that day. I had on one of these soccer shirts with the fat stripes of Kelly green and black. I also had on, sadly, green shoes. After I got settled and did the Pops program, I went to check the news wire. Back then the news came from a teletype machine. WVIA had the UPI (United Press International) Service. 
Right around 5:20 pm Bill Kelly, the then Vice President of both TV and Radio strolled through the hallway between the Control Room and the broadcast studios. We started to chat in the hallway about the station and the news of the day which included the troubles of Jimmy Carter’s Budget Director Burt Lance as well as the Panama Canal debate. All of a sudden, the bells started to sound on the teletype machine. 
DING. DING. DING. DING. 
Kelly asked me, “Do you mind while I look?” Hey Bill Kelly was an iconic Newsman on WARM before he came to WVIA, who was I to say no. As it rang, Kelly said, “Presley!” I said, “Is it about the concert tours?” He looked at me and said, “No, it says here he died!” “Died?” I replied. “Died”, he emphasized. 
He grabbed the bulletin and I got the second one that came in as a correction. My recollection is that he went to the TV booth and cut a brief announcement for the next break and I broke in on WVIA FM. Bill is about 7 year older than I but it had an impact on both of us. We had both listened to the music. Seen the movies. We both knew that Presley was part of pop culture. Americana if you will. 
That night on “Mixed Bag” I did news updates and George Graham talked and played artists influenced by Presley. When I got home that night, all three networks at 11:30pm had Elvis retrospectives. Throughout the days, Elvis was the news. The way he died, the funeral. The legacy. All of it was front and center. Even during the rest of that summer into fall, the best icebreaker in a bar to speak to a woman was to say, “Shame about Elvis wasn’t it?” 
Years went by and Elvis’ image has been chipped to bits. But to this day, he is still revered as a classic entertainer. He is parodied to death. He is sometimes belittled and dismissed as a puppet of the Movie and Record industries. All of that though is submerged by the raw talent of Elvis. His image has been bruised and battered. But the music, the thing that we were all brought together around him….40 years later, and beyond…. will remain timeless. This was the song that was on the Radio from Elvis the night he died. “Way Down”.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #169

THE MORNING MAN OF WARM IN THE MID 50s 

Before there was Harry Newman, George Gilbert, Harry West,  Lenny Woloson, Kim Martin, Terry McNulty and others in the morning drive time slot on WARM, there was Jack Wilson. Positive, upbeat and filled with information, Wilson put WARM listeners on the sunny side of the street.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #170

OPERA ON WARM RADIO???

YOU BET!!!!

At one time, as a matter of fact it was January 1954 that WARM Radio programmed opera. In this ad from the Scranton papers dated January 26th, 1954 WARM presented "Tannhauser" sponsored by The Texas Company, later to become The Texaco Company in 1959.
Here is the ad and what WARM listeners heard that day. 

 

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #171

THEN THERE WAS THE INITIAL TALENT LINE UP OF WARM TV

This is an ad that came out announcing the line up of WARM talent, national local. Take a look and you might, or might not see familiar faces. Win and Lynn Foreman were the pioneer broadcasters on 16 and Jack Wilson did double duty on both WARM TV and WARM Radio.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #172

LOCAL PROGRAM TO HELP KICK OFF WARM TV OPENING 

It would have been very easy for WARM TV to just go on the air and run network programming. I'm sure there is a segment of the population that would have been thrilled with that. However WARM TV went big with a local program that was broadcast at 8PM that night. Here is an article fro the Tribune, February 7th, 2 days before sign on. The Scranton Times followed up the next day.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #173

WITH TV, YOU HAD TO HAVE ONE OF THESE

WARM TV started with what every TV station in America started. A test pattern. Not many people over the age of 40 have a clue what a test pattern was. But they looked like this. 

These two newspaper articles from the Tribune and Times, dated January 27th and 29th, 1954  announce the times an of course the station! 

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #174

WARM TV ANNOUNCES DEBUT DATE

These two newspaper articles in both the Tribune and Times highlight just exactly when the new TV station, Channel 16 will go on the air. The ads ran on the 12th and 13th of January 1954. 

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #175

WARM TV AD  PREVIEW PART 4

These two ads from January 30th and February 5th 1954 tells of the competition of the transmitter as well as the installation of kitchen equipment and stage sets in the new WARM Studios. 

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #176

WARM AD TV PREVIEW PART 3 

These two newspaper ads tell of the continued progress of WARM TV. The fellow looking into the WARM TV window now sees the studios have been sound proofed and the heavy duty power circuits for the station have been installed. 

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #177

WARM TV AD PREVIEW PT 2

In this preview from January 18th and 20th of 1954 readers saw more progress for the new WARM TV Channel 16. These ads touted the painting of the studios as well as the lighting for the studios. 

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #178

WARM TV PREVIEW PT. 1

That Union Broadcasting Company certainly could promote WARM Radio since its inception in 1940.  When WARM TV took to the airwaves, there were various newspaper promotions touting the progress of WNEP TV Channel 16. Here are two from January 7th and January 9th, 1954 from the Scranton Tribune. 

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #179

ANOTHER WARM HIRE

WARM Radio in its early days picked off talent from New York City. In an article in The Scrantonian from December 27th, 1953, check out this guy.  He had first class credentials that he used in building WARM Radio.

 Here's a little something from Ozzie Nelson's band.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #180

WARM MOVES INTO NEW BUILDING 

As WARM Radio and TV  grew in the 1950s, so did its need for space. In this ad from December 3, 1953 from the Scranton Tribune, the move is reported in this article provided by our good friend Joe Klapatch. This building was set to house the burgeoning TV operation.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #181

WARM MAKES 24/7 PROMO SPLASH PART 3 

This is the right segment of the ad that heralded the arrival of WARM Radio and its 24 hour broadcasting. The ad appeared in the Scranton Tribune on November 23rd, 1953.