Another 40th Anniversary will be celebrated on March 13th...
In addition to WRKO in Boston, the flagship station of Fox Broadcasting, WNYW/5 here in New York will also turn 40 on the 13th and there's another connection to WRKO - Ernie Anastos, co-anchor of the 10 p.m. news with Rosanna Scotto. Ernie was Ernie Andrews when he programmed WROR, formerly WRKO-FM after moving from WRKO News to programming...
For those not familiar with channel 5, they were as innovative and exciting as WRKO was. We did it with new music, great jocks, great promotions and had a more contemporary presentation and personality than any other music station in Boston. Channel 5, then WNEW-TV, made their niche with the 1st prime-time newscast in the country when they launched a 10pm newscast. Now you can't find a market that doesn't have one. They also came up with a lead-in line to the newscast that has become a classic: "It's 10 p.m., do you know where your children are?"...
The first 10 p.m. anchor at channel 5 was Bill Jorgensen who will return for a visit with Rosanna and Ernie on March 14th. Jorgensen's signature close was: "I'm Bill Jorgensen, thanking you for your time, this time, until next time." WNYW will run highlights of the 40 years next week and present a half-hour special March 16th at 10:30 p.m...Here's a channel 5 40th anniversary promo that contains a snippet of Ernie: http://media.myfoxny.com/40th/40th.html ...
More memories of WRKO are coming up...
Today's music video link can be found in our "Happy Birthday...happy birthday" segment...
Timeline Memories...
"Happy Trails": 1998] Controversial Whitewater figure James McDougal dies in prison of a heart attack at 57 (McDougal took a fall for the Clinton's in the Whitewater case, you might recall)...1999] Baseball Hall of Famer and Yankee great Joe DiMaggio dies at 84 after never fully recovering from lung cancer surgery in the fall of 1998...
A sports trilogy begins: 1971] Muhammad Ali loses a decision to undefeated heavyweight champ Joe Frazier. There will be 2 more fights between the pair to complete one of the greatest sports trilogies of all-time...
"New" Ironsides: 1862] The Confederate ironclad 'Merrimack' is launched...
The Babe breaks the bank: 1930] Babe Ruth signs a new 2-year contract with the Yankees for $160,000. Yankee GM Ed Barrow says: "no one will ever be paid more". When told he had surpassed President Herbert Hoover's salary, Ruth replies, "I had a better year."...
Is Pig-Latin accepted?: 1948] The U.S. Supreme Court rules that religious instruction in public schools is unconstitutional...
DC 5 Debut: 1965] The Dave Clark Five make their 1st appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show"...
"Go East young man": 1968] Bill Graham opens the Fillmore East on 2nd Avenue in the east village...
Solo Supreme: 1970] Diana Ross appears solo for the first time in Framingham (MA)...
Get a whiff of this: 1973] Paul McCartney pleads guilty to growing marijuana outside his Scottish farm but claimed that a fan gave him the seeds and that he didn't know it would grow (o-kay). McCartney is fined $240...
Who is that masked man?: 1986] "Mask" premieres with Eric Stoltz and Cher, who receives the 'Best Actress' award at Cannes...
Wedding Bells: 1991] Harry Hamlin and Nicollette Sheridan walk down the aisle. Their marriage lasts 2 years...
Stretching the good taste barrier: 1993] "Beavis and Butthead" premieres on MTV. It will run until November of '97...
That 'Evil Empire': 1983] No not the Yankees, Red Sox fans. President Ronald Reagan calls the USSR an "Evil Empire"...
Guilty in the highest court: 1999] The U.S. Supreme Court upholds the conviction of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh who will get his just due when executed in June, 2001...
A hockey mauling: 2004] Todd Bertuzzi of the Vancouver Canucks decks forward Steve Moore during a game, knocking him into a forced retirement. Bertuzzi just signed with Detroit and continues to play hockey - Moore never played another game, has a $19.5 million lawsuit filed against Bertuzzi and NHL commish Gary Bettman is trying to get the 2 to settle out of court...
[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in each timeline]...
Gordon Brown remembering the day that WRKO was born - March 13, 1967
"I was promoted from Production Supervisor to Engineer as management wanted younger guys spinning the rock for the new jocks. I was matched with Chuck "Chuckles" Knapp on the 9-midnight shift. He was the screaming DJ from Fargo (ND). My first assignment as a Prod. Sup. was to transfer "Here Comes My Baby" by the Tremeloes to cart. We first had to learn how to get 'em tight, but not so tight as to hear the song re-cue when the tape came back to its start and not recording over the splice so it would be clean on the air. I bet I had to hear that song a half dozen times until I got it right. I was tired of the song before it ever hit the air." (Gordy Brown, class of '67-'76) (Gordy was one of the best of our 'younger' technicians both on air and in production. Chuck Knapp loved him - Mel)...
Frank Kingston Smith a.k.a. Bobby Mitchell
"Not having been part of the original cast, I was doing afternoon drive at WICE Providence. WRKO had a lousy signal into and south of Providence but another radio guy called me to dial up 98.5. I didn't have FM in my car but when I got home and heard Arnie Ginsburg (what's he doing there?), I listened for the next 4 hours into Chuck Knapp and said, 'that's where I want to be!'. Less than 15 months later, I was!. What an experience!"
("Smitch" became our production voice and was voted by Bill Drake & consultants as voicing the best original version of the "History of Rock & Roll" of all the RKO stations, including KHJ Los Angeles. You may remember Frank Kingston Smith when he was on WABC - Mel)...
Shadoe Stevens
"Sorry Mel, I wasn't there yet. But there are a host of vivid memories for some other time. It was an exciting time. Congratulations on having lived through it. Good luck with the salute.
(Shadoe worked from 6 to 9 p.m. for WRKO and had the greatest set of pipes I think I've ever heard. He would leave us for KHJ, hosted American Top 40, became one of the biggest voice-over announcers in the world and then Hollywood called and Shadoe has become an accomplished actor - Mel)...
We'll continue with personal memories of WRKO through Tuesday, March 13, 2007...
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":
Freddie Prinze Jr. (31), Camryn ("Ghost Whisperer") Manheim (46), Red Sox great Jim Rice (54), Peggy March (59) (our music video contains snippets of the Bobby Rydell hosted PBS series of specials, this one covers the 60's with a few from the late 50's. If you look quickly you'll see "Little" Peggy March singing "I Will Follow Him": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wYeUI2xJCo&mode=related&search= Carole Bayer Sager (60), Randy Meisner (61), Mickey Dolenz (62), Lynn Redgrave (64) and Jim Bouton (68)...
Timeline Countdown: 13 days until spring and 24 days until Opening Day...
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