[Description by Uncle Ricky]

The high-energy performance of Long John Silver, aka: Bluebeard, is wonderfully showcased in this hour from legendary WNOE, “located in the Sheraton-Charles Hotel”, in New Orleans Louisiana on November 30, 1962. WNOE had to be one of the most exciting Top 40 stations in America during this period, and this aircheck includes a very “New Orleans” playlist, great production, classic jingles, and that “super-reverb” button!

Bud Connell programmed WNOE in 1960 but was probably not consulting the station at the time of this aircheck (according to comments.) This is genuine “variety” radio. Note the showcased excerpt from Vaughn Meader’s classic First Family, along with multiple promotions and contests: News Tip of the Week, Santa’s Bike Shop, Scrambled Song, Men in Space, and Reindeer Race (mail-in and phone-in versions!) And there’s a chilling and timely ten second news tease, too.

Long John Silver turned up two years later with Jack Gale at Sis Kaplan’s BIG WAYS (610) in Charlotte, N.C. I remember that he really wore an eye patch, and he was the local nighttime DJ that I listened to in high school, and the first jock I heard use the term “submarine races”. At WAYS, I don’t remember “Bluebeard”, but I do remember his Wonder Dog Blue. By then, the phrase “boulevard of better ballads”, heard here, had become the “boulevard of better ballads and broken dreams”. (corrected via listener comment). He stayed at WAYS for at least five years, and was married in a WAYS promotion that included a public ceremony at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Finding this aircheck in John Rook’s many contributions was a special treat for me. Long John Silver was a lot of fun, and in listening to 1967 airchecks of myself (at 16), I hear his influence. Many who came of age in Piedmont Carolina between 1965 and 1970 will remember him, too. Someday, maybe we’ll get to hear him on WAYS.

In the meantime, this aircheck is one of the site’s best for me, demonstrating nearly all the things that I truly loved about this era of the Top 40 format, on one of the greatest Top 40 stations of all time. Special thanks to John Rook for this outstanding exhibit.