The end of an era...
Turning on 66 on your New York AM radio dial puts you squarely in the middle of a sports fan's idea of heaven - 24 hours of all the sports you'll ever need and then some. It's called WFAN as in fan, a shortened form of fanatic. The only remnant from what 66 used to be is Don Imus - not a sports fan but a major personality for 35 years now. Tomorrow, October 7th marks the 18th anniversary of the end of WNBC. At 5:30 pm on that day in 1988, WNBC, the station that started as experimental 2XB in 1919 breathed its last radio breath, signing off forever. WFAN took the frequency, something even Kenneth knew...
When I became program director at WNBC in 1976 I inherited Don Imus, Bob Vernon (with a "V"), Oogie Pringle, Bruce Morrow, Dick Summer and Marcia Nicely. Bill Rock, one of the best production voices I've ever heard was acting PD and Jeff Mazzei was the music director. Perry Bascom was the GM. Promotion Director was Gloria "Gibby" Gibson. There were others that I would become life-long friends with like Bob Kwest and Margaret Jones from the traffic department. Brenda Graham was my assistant and the only PD secretary in the history of WNBC. I made some immediate jock changes - switching Cousin Brucie back to nights and brought in Joe McCoy, Walt "Baby" Love and Johnny Michaels. As good as this station sounded, we never made enough of a dent in WABC's ratings due to lack of support in corporate funds to properly promote the station both on and off the air and more importantly, a lack of commitment from "upstairs" to stick to a plan...
Shortly after the demise of WNBC, business executive Harvey Eckstein put together a book containing the history of this legendary station and I was proud to be included in the list of program directors. All the jocks who ever worked at WNBC and well as management are also represented in the book. To all that worked at WNBC through the years, October 7th, 1988 was a sad day as we said goodbye to a legendary radio station that meant so much to us all...
WNBC (1919-1988) R.I.P...
Ten Timeline Memories...
- [1945] The "Billy Goat Curse" begins in Chicago when a Cub fan is refused admission to a Cubs World Series game because he had a goat with him. William "Billy Goat" Sianis, owner of a local tavern puts a curse on the Cubs (it works. Not only do the Cubs lose that WS but they would never win another one. There must have been a curse on the Cubbies earlier, too. The last WS they won was in 1908)...
- [1949] American-born Iva Toguri D'Aquino is convicted as Japanese wartime broadcaster "Tokyo Rose". She's sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined $10,000 (the woman known as Tokyo Rose passed away on September 26th at 90)...
- [1956] Dr. Albert Sabin discovers the oral polio vaccine (just about eradicating the disease)...
- [1961] President John F. Kennedy advises American families to build or buy bomb shelters to protect them in the event of a nuclear exchange with the Soviet Union...
- [1963] The Dodgers sweep the Yankees in the 60th World Series as Sandy Koufax wins 2 games and is voted series MVP...
- [1973] "The Yom Kippur War" erupts in the Middle East as Egypt and Syria attack Israel...
- [1977] The Yankees win the AL Pennant when Chris Chambliss hits a dramatic home run against Kansas City...
- [1979] Pope John Paul II becomes the 1st pontiff to visit the White House where President Jimmy Carter welcomes him...
- [1983] The New York Jets announce they are leaving Shea Stadium for the Meadowlands (they play their 1st game in NJ in 1984)...
- [1996] Bob Dole and President Bill Clinton meet in their 1st debate in Hartford (CT) as a TV audience of 46.1 million viewers look on...
"Happy Trails": 1981] Egyptian President Anwar-el Sadat, 63, is assassinated at a military rally in Cairo by Muslin extremists...1983] Cardinal Terence Cooke of New York succumbs to cancer at 62...1989] Bette Davis dies in France at 81 - from cancer...
"Wedding Bells": 1978] Benny Andersson and Frida Lyngstad of ABBA rock down the aisle...1991] Larry Fortensky becomes victim #8 for Elizabeth Taylor...1996] Faith Hill and Tim McGraw become a duo...
#1 on this date: 1970] "Cracklin' Rosie" - Neil Diamond...
Released on this date: 1979] "Heartache Tonight" - The Eagles...
"Gold Standard": 1976] "Disco Duck" - Rick Dees (quack quack)...
Premiered on this date: 1927] "The Jazz Singer" premieres in New York starring Al Jolson (the 1st "talkie" is based on the short story "The Day of Atonement" by Sampson Raphaelson)...1959] "Pillow Talk" starring Doris Day and Rock Hudson (it's the 1st of 3 films starring the box office favorites)...
[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]...
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":
REO Speedwagon's Kevin Cronan (55), Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd (57)...Former Met pitcher Gary Gentry (60), Millie Small (64) and Britt Ekland (64)...
Timeline Countdown: 15 days until the World Series, 86 days until 2007 and 91 days until NFL playoffs...
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Saturday, October 7, 2006...
Ten Weekend Timeline Memories...
- [1918] Georgia Tech beats Cumberland College 222-0 (as Warner Wolf would say, "if you gave 221 points in this game, you would still win") and here's the kicker: Georgia Tech gained 978 yards on the ground, never throwing a pass (now that's running out the clock)...
- [1952] Second baseman Billy Martin makes a game-saving catch as the Yankees win their 4th straight World Series, beating Brooklyn in Game 7...
- [1960] JFK and Richard Nixon square off in round 2 of their presidential debates (JFK wins all of them)...
- [1967] Game 3 of the World Series between St. Louis and Boston goes to the Cardinals 5-2 as they go one game up with a 2-1 game edge in the series...
- [1985] 4 Palestinian terrorists hijack the Achille Lauro. They surrender after 2 days but push wheelchair bound passenger Leon Klinghofer off the boat...
"Happy Trails": 1988] Lou Piniella is fired as Yankee manager by George Steinbrenner for the second time (don't look now but here comes "Billy V"....heeeeeee's back). All Piniella will do is win the World Series as manager of the Cincinnati Reds in 1990...
Elected on this date: 2003] The Governator, Arnold Schwarzenegger is elected Governor of Cahl-e-for-knee-uh in the recall election of Gray Davis... Released on this date: 1978] "Hold The Line" - Toto... Premiered on this date: 1960] "Route 66" starring George Maharis and Martin Milner (the series will run 4 years)...1982] That horrible screeching and wailing you hear is coming from the Wintergarden Theater as "Cats" opens (it becomes the longest running show in Broadway history....meow)...1995] Boston's Fleet (Fleece ?) Center opens with a 4-4 tie between the Bruins and Islander's despite Cam Neely's 3 goals for Boston... [To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]... "Happy Birthday...happy birthday": Toni Braxton (40), Simon Cowell (47), Yo-Yo Ma (51), John Cougar Mellencamp (55), Oliver North (63), Desmond Tutu (75) and Al Martino (79)... Timeline Countdown: 14 days until the World Series, 85 days until 2007 and 90 days until the NFL playoffs... ... Sunday, October 8, 2006... More Weekend Timeline Memories...
Recorded on this date: 1957] "Great Balls of Fire" - Jerry Lee Lewis... Released on this date: 1971] "Imagine" - John Lennon...1977] "The Stranger" LP - Billy Joel... "Wedding Bells": 2003] Vivendi Universal and General Electric announce an agreement to merge into NBC Universal [To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]... "Happy Birthday...happy birthday": Matt Damon (36), Emily (CSI Miami) Procter (38), Darrell Hammond (51), Robert "Kool" Bell (56), Sigourney Weaver (57), Chevy Chase (63), Jesse Jackson (65), Paul Hogan (67) and Rona Barrett (70)... Timeline Countdown: 14 days until the World Series, 84 days until 2007 and 90 days until NFL playoffs. ... |
