Category: Radio

M.I.T. — Home of the Hits!

Denro, true to his historian education, has always said that new insights into old records can come from listening to them in the context of the time when they were new. That means playing them as they were originally heard on the radio, by referencing station playlists.

The more playlists the better, to reveal many fascinating regional variations. Some songs would be a hit in one market, but do poorly in another. Occasionally, a regional favorite like “96 Tears” by ? and the Mysterians (from Michigan), would become a breakout hit and top the charts nationally.

88 Rewound, a very fun show on M.I.T.’s radio station, WMBR, takes the same smart approach that Dennis favors. It’s from M.I.T., so it has to be smart! Each program follows a radio station playlist from long ago. Last Saturday’s show was from a Florida station, during one of the most musically varied years ever, 1968. I can’t embed the player, but that link should be good until the 28th.

Ode to the Underground

As I have mentioned more than a few times, I consider myself very fortunate to have followed Musicradio 77 WABC-AM in New York, and then WBCN-FM in Boston, at their respective best — 1963-68 in Connecticut, then after my family moved to Massachusetts, 1968-73. After I left for college in Western Massachusetts my ‘BCN listening was limited to home visits. I was influenced equally by both stations, despite their radically different formats, with ‘BCN being outright radical. I am finally watching WBCN And The American Revolution and, at the halfway point through the documentary, it has my unreserved recommendation.

"WBCN and The American Revolution" trailer from WBCN and The American Revolution on Vimeo.

Speaking of WABC, the big news is that COUSIN BRUCIE IS RETURNING TO WABC on September 5! He has left SiriusXM, where he was heard for 15 years, compared to his original 11-year run on WABC.

Back on August 16 I posted a shout-out from the King of Jingles, Jon Wolfert. Cousin Brucie will be joining Jon TOMORROW, 8/30, starting at 3 PM ET on Rewound Radio. The link is over on the left, as always, and you can be sure I’ll be tuning in!

To the Victor Go the Spools

With the passing of Dame Vera Lynn at 103, World War II slips a little bit further away from living memory. Thanks to magnetic tape recording — an invention perfected in Nazi Germany — this 1950’s re-recording of Lynn’s “We’ll Meet Again” sounds as though it could have been made yesterday.

I should see if Vera Lynn ever commented on this use of her signature song.

Smarter Than the Av-er-age Songwriter

Before Bill Gates became famous, to me the name Gates meant not only David Gates of the group Bread, but the manufacturer of the broadcasting equipment at the radio station where I worked. Here’s a short air check of another guy at the station, with a bit of a song from, appropriately, David Gates.

David Gates had a string of super hits with Bread, and before that his song “Saturday’s Child” was recorded by the Monkees (and studio musicians) for their debut album. The earliest song by David Gates that I know of came on a record I played to death as a kid. Hey, it was a start!