Oldies on WBCN FM Little Walter Aug 27, 1972

***A note to air check traders. Please do not record these air checks and try and trade. I have the original tapes many of which I recorded myself and thus the authenticity can not be in doubt and can be easily traced.

A rare early clip of Boston’s oldies DJ Little Walter and his signature show Time Machine. Walter had paid his dues at MIT’s original WTBS FM.

Oldies were becoming  hip . The Woodstock appearance of Sha Na Na may have been a touchstone. NRBQ was was a contemporary band sounding somewhat retro. Cat Mother and the All Night News Boys had their hit Good Old Rock’n Roll. A number of free form FM stations added an oldies show starting in the early 70’s. This clip provides a good example of that. Another example was John Donabie’s  Sock Hop on CHUM FM and you can catch a brief segment of that here  (at the end of the clip).

On This clip you will hear Little Walter spinning some oldies, a  few cool ads and even an appearance by the legendary Arnie “Woo Woo” Ginsburg,  the pioneering Boston Top 40 jock. Ginsberg was the WBCN station manager at the time of this air check. Listen also for a live cut by Little Richard recorded at the Boston Tea Party in 1970.

CFNY FM The First Day After Power Increase-July 16, 1977

***A note to air check traders. Please do not record these air checks and try and trade. I have the original tapes many of which I recorded myself and thus the authenticity can not be in doubt and can be easily traced.

I had posted this in segments in the Radio Corner of the site. Here is all the tape that I have of CFNY FM on it’s first day after their power increase, Up to that point the station was a low power outfit with a very limited range and the on air talent was mostly unknown.

You will hear former CHUM FM heavyweights David Pritchard and Reiner Schwarz  on this first day and it is apparent that the idea was to bring back the old CHUM FM brand of free form radio. Pritchard was the new program director Sadly the line-up and aspirations of the station were short lived but here is a reminder of what could have been. I should point out that CFNY was a pioneering force after the David Pritchard era but it did not exactly  replicate the old CHUM FM free form spirit.

This tape is not in stereo and that is inexplicable except that I may have dubbed it to reel to reel from a mono cassette recording.

Free Form Treasure Charles L WBCN FM 1971

***A note to air check traders. Please do not record these air checks and try and trade. I have the original tapes many of which I recorded myself and thus the authenticity can not be in doubt and can be easily traced.

The first clip is an absolute treasure . You will hear the great Charles Laquidara with a heartfelt plea for volunteers to help with the phones and some great music including the closing track by Hapshash and The Coloured Coat.  The track may gave been played by others during the free form era but I don’t remember hearing it and it sounds  ahead of it’s time in early 1971.

The second clip features Charles reading the news and playing the Stones. This was not a Stones special but he seemed to be playing them because he wanted to and could.

Radio when it was great and worth listening to. You can hear other clips from the great WBCN FM on this site with more to come.

Most of the WBCN air checks on this site are quite good quality-wise but there are a few hiccups on these particularity at the beginning of the second clip.