590 MIGHTY MEMORY #440

The late Art Carlson of WARM Radio, the early days. 

ART CARLSON DIES

Art Carlson, one of the founders of Susquehanna Broadcasting and by extension WARM died earlier this month. Carlson was 81. Carlson was a native of St. Paul , Minnesota and graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1950. He went into radio sales and worked for two radio stations and a television station. He left WDGY Minneapolis/St. Paul in 1957 to go to New York with ABC Radio Services Department. In 1958, he joined the he joined the Susquehanna Broadcasting Company as General Manager of WARM, Wilkes Barre/ Scranton . Art came to Akron in 1960, when Susquehanna acquired WHLO (formerly WHKK). As Vice President and General Manager, he completely revamped the format and made the station a major factor in the Akron/Canton market. He was Senior Vice President of Susquehanna located in York , Pennsylvania. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Radio Advertising Bureau and served as its Chairman in 1988 and 1978. 
When Carlson joined WARM in 1958 he became part of Northeastern Pennsylvania history. He took a floundering radio station and made it into the number 1 radio outlet for years to come. Not only that, he made WARM part of people’s very lives. His training of the WARM air staff even made WARM so popular that NEPA was even nicknamed WARMland. Carlson was instrumental in negotiating the radio station known as WARM from the Scranton family. His training of the WARM disc jockeys was intense, heavily formatted but extremely successful. It didn’t hurt that Carlson was only about ten years older than the radio men he was training. Through the years, he always kept a pulse on WARM and a hand in its operations. 
No one will ever know for sure if the name Arthur Carlson was a tribute or a nod to Art when the show WKRP In Cincinnati came on the air. The character played by the late Gordon Jump was portrayed as a bit of a goof, which I’m told Carlson was not. Still, you have to wonder where the name or idea for it came from. Without it though, Art Carlson was already a legend. Every broadcaster, every manager or man of business wants to have a legacy. Art Carlson’s legacy is not only the unqualified success of WARM and Susquehanna but the legions of radio broadcasters too numerous to mention. But if the Original Sensational 7 and early 1960s broadcasters of WARM were the disciples of rock and roll, Art Carlson was their John the 
Baptist.

  

Editor’s Note: In future 590 FOREVER editions, we’ll relay a few more Art Carlson stories.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #441

The late Dave Stroud, a WARM Sales representative. 

DAVID STROUD 

It seems like every weekend we see be writing a tribute to someone who passed on. Once more we are faced with that task on this Saturday. Dave Stroud passed away on Wednesday and for those of you who knew him, you’ll get what I’m writing about here. For those of you who didn’t, or heard about him, you’ll get more of a glimpse into the guy. I met Dave Stroud in the second act of his career. He had been a long retail person most notably managing a few of the McGrory’s stores in the area. We first met at WARD Radio. It was the early 90s and the late Jim Ward had a talk station. The morning shows however had a concept now used widely by every commercial station in the market called The WARD Home Shopper. Sales representatives went out to area businesses and sold advertising on a barter system. A restaurant or tire place would give a certain amount of certificates and then an advertising schedule would be placed on the radio. At the time I worked with John Kearney, Steve Liebenson and Stroud. 
One time when Stroud was having car trouble, I went out on the road with him. He was a relentless cold caller (defined by stopping In on the fly at a business and trying to sell them something on the spot) and was persistent but not pushy. There wasn’t a strip mall he didn’t know, like or sell. I came to the conclusion that if a broom closet had a sign on it, “Stroudie” would stop and look inside of it to see what was going on in there. And if the mop didn’t talk to him, he’d strike it off his list. Although I missed him at WARM and Magic 93, I did work with him at Cable Rep Advertising. Stroud was very proud about working at the Mighty 590 regaling clients and staffers alike when he told of listening to WARM Radio when he first got his first car. I first bought from him when I did media for some local candidates and then sold with him. A few of the young people in  media sales thought his straight forward old fashioned ways were quaint but his clients loved him. 
In radio the men gossip worse than the women and Stroud was an active listener filing it in his head for future use on the road or at a sales meeting when we were asked why this client wasn’t buying or if they were expanding. Stroud also used that information freely when he was concerned about people he knew. When my first book, “A Radio Story/We Wish You Well In Your Future Endeavors” came out, Stroud tracked me down at my then employer and gave me a detailed report on how many area media reps he knew who bought the book, how many went to Barnes and Noble and how many bought two. He then furrowed his brow and said, “But I have some bad news. Some guy wants to sue you because he says you’re defaming an old girlfriend!” (That guy now is one of my very best friends and even though we don’t see eye to eye on things, they never reached the courtroom). Dave Stroud also had an innate sense of what to do at the proper time. At the end of Jim Ward’s funeral, Stroud said, “Wow that was tough. Now we can go have a drink somewhere and cry. But only for a little while”. When the late Terry McNulty of WARM won his Employment Discrimination case against Citadel Broadcasting, his family threw a party at his home. Everyone was celebrating but wandering around aimlessly until Stroud got the attention of the crowd and offered up a congratulatory toast. At the end he said, “Now let’s get to know each other!” and at that moment, the media people started mingling with the legal people who had triumphed in court. Another time, when I worked at Cable Rep, our manager who was from Florida committed the egregious sin of parking between the trash cans on Center Street in Dupont (where residents carved out spots to park during snow). The residents called the police on the women as she tried to get her car out of the “reserved” places. She then got stuck. Stroud in galoshes and red and green scarf along with his shirtsleeves (not coat) grabbed a little shovel out of his trunk and proceeded to dig her out. The receptionist at the time said, “Who’s digging her out, oh my it’s Stroud, my God that man is always stepping into the fray and is always prepared!” Stroud was also the ultimate optimist. Nothing ever seemed to get him down, even when he had a life threatening injury. One rainy day, I was in Abe’s with a friend and Stroud approached our table in his usual friendly manner. He proceeded to slip on something and stumbled near us. My friend said, “Hey be careful, you’ll break your neck” and Dave looked at him and said with a smile, “I did!!!” He then proceeded to tell my friend how he fell backwards at his home trying to catch his cat breaking his neck. No bitterness, no poor me, just a recap of the facts. Even if you never worked with Dave Stroud, you knew he was working. He had a mainstay of clients that stuck with him through the years and if you heard them on ESPN, you’d know he was still plugging away. 
I last saw him a few months ago in the summer at Victory Pig in Wyoming. He was with a crowd of his family and I didn’t realize it was him until he stopped over. He looked robust but had no hair. He told me he was catching up to my hair style but then told me and Mrs. LuLac that his cancer had reoccurred. He asked if I was writing any more books and I told him I’d send him one. As we left the eatery, I took a glance over at Stroud holding court, laughing, enjoying himself with his friends and family. I’m glad that vision was still in my mind when I read about him the other day. 
Stroud had a license plate on his car that read “IDID26” , which referred to his running in the New York marathon and other running events. He was proud of that accomplishment but I’m sure that the plate is not accurate. Because if I knew “Stroudie” the way I think I did, when he reached that 26 mile mark, he went a little bit further……just to make sure and give it just a little more extra effort. As we say goodbye to him, everyone will agree that he always went that extra mile. Although too short, his life was a road well traveled with a few extra steps along the way. In my mind, Dave Stroud always did more than 26.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #442

PHOTO INDEX: Super Redskins fan Brian Hughes and WARM announcer. 

THE LOCAL BRIDGE 

Any successful radio station has a local identity. That was the strength of WARM Radio in its heyday. WARM Radio as The Oldies Channel has adopted the music that made WARM the most popular radio entity in Northeastern Pennsylvania. To keep the local connection going, veteran broadcaster Brian Hughes is the local bridge between local news and weather and the nationally syndicated oldies heard on WARM. Hughes is the voice you hear every morning doing news briefs and weather updates. 
Brian is a 1984 graduate of the University of Scranton, with a B.A. in Communications. He was a sports intern at WDAU-TV, working with Kent Westling from 1982 to 1984. Hughes also worked at WGBI AM-FM (Country 910 and Stereo 101) from November 1984 until Feb. 1993, when the stations were sold to Keymarket, now Entercomm. Hughes also worked part time at WEJL and WBAX from Jan. 1994 until July 1995. If you were anywhere in your car in the late 90s Brian was a traffic anchor/producer at Traffax, which later became Metro from July 1995 to March 2002. In July 2002, he  joined Citadel, and worked overnights for WARM, occasionally filling in as a news anchor. In January 2003, Hughes became the news anchor for Magic 93, and sidekick to "Frankie in the Morning", while anchoring newscasts on WARM and JR 93.7, now Great Country 93.7. 
Currently, Brian works as the morning news anchor on the Mighty 590, now True Oldies Radio providing a local flavor to the syndicated oldies that WARM runs 24/7. Brian also hosts the Sunday Magazine Show on all the Cumulus stations. So in addition to True Oldies giving you the tunes, Brian Hughes will be telling you what went on while you slept and what type of weather day you’ll be facing as you start your workday in what many still consider WARMland.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #443

An ad for the hub with WARM personality Tommy Woods. 

A FASHION PLATE 

One of the perks about being a WARM personality in the 1960s was the opportunity to get other work. Most of the WARM jocks got gigs as deejays at record hops. Even when schools had bands, the WARM jocks still hosted the show playing records in between the live act. (I met many a WARM personality at the St. John’s dances in Pittston!) Tommy Woods went to the next level actually appearing in an ad for The Hub. Woods’ all American good looks gave him that clean cut well dressed man look guys at the time wanted to emulate and women just adored. Even in retirement Woods is a star in advertising. Recently he was on TV as a spokesperson for a elder care facility.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #444

Not only ladies but WARMland listeners love the '50s. And the True Oldies Channel. 

TRUE OLDIES TRUE TO WARM’S ROOTS 

If you are still a regular listener of WARM the Mighty 590, you’ll most likely hear Scott Shannon’s True Oldies Channel. Some of the features during the day are quite entertaining like “The Forgotten Oldie”. The songs are not the same 400 oldies you get on other oldies format stations. But on the weekends, especially Sunday night the True Oldies Channel transports WARM diehards back to the music that started it all. We know that WARM became the Mighty 590 in the summer of 1958 playing the old time rock and roll. Scott Shannon recreates that every Sunday Night from 8pm until 1am with his Cruising America Show. As a WARM devotee, we urge you to block some time out on Sunday night and cruise back to the good old days from 8pm to 1am on the Mighty 590 once again. Thanks to the True Oldies Channel for taking us back there one more time.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #445

A flooded downtown Wilkes Barre. 

AGNES AND WARM-40 YEARS LATER 

If there was every any doubt about WARM being the community station that it was, all of that was eliminated on the weekend of June 22nd, 1972. On the night of the 22nd, the river banks in Corning, New York started to overflow. Civil Defense officials said that was going to be serious trouble. The Civil Defense office in Luzerne County did not order an evacuation until the morning for fear of causing a major panic. Throughout the morning, as volunteers tried to sandbag the dikes, it became apparent that the water was going to destroy the dikes. WBAX AM located on Route 11 was broadcasting. Morning man Sam Lagouri, later a WARM producer in its talk radio era of the 90s was ordered out of the facility in Edwardsville and barely beat the on coming water with his car. WILK was under water as was WBRE TV on South Franklin Street in Wilkes Barre along with its AM & FM combination. WARM stood as the only radio station that was on the air and organized. All hands were on deck. And the music stopped that day too. Not since the assassination of John F. Kennedy did WARM stop its Mighty 590 format of contests, music and fun. It was a total public service effort with civil defense advisories, U.S. Army Corps of Engineer reports, live coverage of news events, as well as live on the scene broadcasts. WARM staffers George Gilbert, Terry McNulty and Ken Curtis toured the areas that were flooded in a boat. The late Dick Bolan who had a brother involved in Civil Defense somehow got hold of a Jeep and waded through flooded areas that were waste high to give reports on what area landmarks were under water. The medium of radio, so important to the imagination now became the mind’s eye TV or newspaper as shocked area residents imagined a flooded downtown theatre, favorite restaurant or department store. Terry McNulty was quoted as saying that he “would never forget the mud and disease”. McNulty said it was one thing to cover a story from afar but to see people who lost everything was incredible. The reports gathered by the WARM staffers was put into a two record album called “River On A Rampage”. The album was later sold and the proceeds were given to the flood recovery efforts. WARM News had an association with UPI (United Press International Radio) and sound was sent to the wire service so that reporters like Pye Chamberlain and Walt Rogers could detail the tragic events in WARMland. When local media people got their act together, a Flood Broadcast Network was formed. All local stations banded together to do what WARM (located in Avoca) was already doing. WARM declined to join the broadcast network. After the flood, WARM became more of a force than ever. While flood victims began to clean up after the horror, it was not uncommon to hear a transistor radio booming out the Mighty 590.. Michael Lewis, a Williams College Professor who grew u p in Kingston said that the play list on the radio during the summer of ’72 seemed like it was preordained. Songs like “How Do You Do”, “Day By Day” and “Lean On Me” were like anthems as people began the arduous efforts to begin again. WARM News was very busy reporting on the visits of President Nixon, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development George Romney as well as weekly visits from Governor Milton Shapp, Lt. Governor Ernest Kline and Community Affairs Secretary William Wilcox.  When businesses began to figure out how to rebuild, close or relocate, WARM was the key ingredient in informing the public.The sales department was working 18 hour days to keep up with the demand of businesses that wanted to advertise. Phil Condron who later became General Manager of WARM in the 80s was a sales person at the time. He told Philip Eberly the author of “Susquehanna Radio: The First 50 Years” that even though the station sales staff made record money, “We’d have foregone the windfall for less rainfall”. Looking back on forty years since the Flood, the historical significance of what WARM did during those trying times will never be forgotten by those of us still around who were ear witnesses to history. Current WARM staffer Brian Hughes will interview legendary broadcaster David DeCosmo this Sunday at 7AM on the Mighty 590 as the two talk about Agnes and WARM, 4 decades later.

590 MIGHTY MEMORY #446

The fruits of labor from a WARMland garden.

Campbell's 1967 Tomato Plant Promotion.  

SURVEY SHEET PROMOS 

 

WARM Radio was the top station in the Northeastern Pennsylvania in the 60s and 70s because they knew how to cross promote. They also knew how to span generations. The older WWII generation of parents who liked their Frankie Laine, Sinatra and slower beat music? WARM populated their top 40 charts with those artists. Who of that generation would not like :Louie Armstrong or Dean Martin? WARM utilized its survey sheets to do promotions on the back side. In 1967 WARM promoted tomato plants of all things courtesy of that venerable iconic American company, Campbell's. WARM’s young listeners could either give the survey sheet to mom or dad, uncle or aunt or grandparents and look like a young considerate teenager. Even though that music on the MIGHTY 590 was oh so loud, at least because of the advertising, beautiful tomatoes would grow in the hot humid August nights in WARMland. WARM in those days took every opportunity, and that’s why the number one designation in ratings was no accident or fluke. Just the way they planned it.