The Art Vuolo Collection

[Description by Uncle Ricky, contributed by Art Vuolo] This composite of Top 40 radio is Seven Minutes and Thirty Seconds. Hence, the title. But, I think it falls apart in the last minute, and the ending makes no sense at all. Otherwise, the initial concept was good! Snippets of tightly-sliced loud Top 40 radio are frantic, adrenaline-producing and scary! Yikes! Good Gosh, we were certainly exciting and excited. Yes, it would be possible to compile a full accounting of the contents of this remarkable composite, but it would take a lot longer than seven minutes, thirty seconds. Maybe that’s the point.

[Description by Uncle Ricky, contributed by Art Vuolo] Magic Chris Connor has a full rack of drop-ins and effects, including a personal manservant named “Howard”, on this rare aircheck of high-energy Top 40 on WNAP-FM, Indianapolis. And speaking of drop-ins, Connor uses one of the Super Wonder Dog Blue recordings, which was also in use by Long John Silver at WAYS in Charlotte, N.C., at the same time. That dog sure got around! The station went through some significant changes in the years that followed. This exhibit survived as a scoped, fluttery reel recording, made after Christmas and before New Year’s Eve, 1968. In addition to Connor’s upbeat delivery (inspired by Barney Pip a few years earlier?) there are PAMS jingles, not the custom Heller tracks heard on WNAP airchecks from 1972-1975.

[Description by Uncle Ricky, contributed by Art Vuolo] Here’s MORE of Gary Gears and Bill Shirk on WXLW from 1974. This exhibit is a composite of production elements for WXLW’s Un-Contest and Has Balls promotions, and another SuperShirk aircheck. It also includes the WXLW sign-off (with appropriate editorial comment.)

Here’s The Real Don Steele on K-100, KIQQ-FM, Los Angeles, from 5 to 6 PM on January 22, 1974.

For me, Steele’s work on KHJ will always represent his very best. On this particular K-100 aircheck, he seems a bit disinterested, limiting himself to a number of simple song intros. He hadn’t lost any volume, though, and the excellent fidelity of this (monaural) recording reveals some unfortunate distortion on his microphone, mostly when he’s over music. He was plenty loud without the distortion at KHJ, so we must wonder if he was comfortable with what he heard in his headphones at K-100.

B.R. Bradbury is featured with news at :45. Bradbury, who is also featured on AM drive news the day before, must have been working a double shift. Maybe he was K-100’s only news anchor at the time. This exhibit includes a couple of short “image promos” voiced by Robert W. Morgan, and it ends with the opening set for Billy Pearl.

Here’s The Real Don Steele on K-100, KIQQ-FM, Los Angeles, from 5 to 6 PM on January 22, 1974.For me, Steele’s work on KHJ will always represent his very best. On this particular K-100 aircheck, he seems a bit disinterested, limiting himself to a number of simple song intros. He hadn’t lost any volume, though, and the excellent fidelity of this (monaural) recording reveals some unfortunate distortion on his microphone, mostly when he’s over music. He was plenty loud without the distortion at KHJ, so we must wonder if he was comfortable with what he heard in his headphones at K-100.

B.R. Bradbury is featured with news at :45. Bradbury, who is also featured on AM drive news the day before, must have been working a double shift. Maybe he was K-100’s only news anchor at the time. This exhibit includes a couple of short “image promos” voiced by Robert W. Morgan, and it ends with the opening set for Billy Pearl.

[Description by Uncle Ricky, contributed by Art Vuolo]And now, we have the third entry in the Los Angeles Morning Drive Top 40 Battle Of The Champions, January, 1974!
It’s Charlie Van Dyke on KHJ, along with Marv Howard and extended news reports.

In addition to the Original Radio Spot for the The Original Uncut Uncensored Deep Throat, Charlie takes calls regarding The Exorcist (another controversial movie of the time.) He also plays Smokin’ In The Boys Room, Marv reports on Gay Protests and bad macaroni, and more discounts at Lucky Supermarkets add up to… Less.

It’s obvious that Southern California has already gone insane, and it’s only 1974.

Imagine what it’s like there now.

[Description by Uncle Ricky, contributed by Art Vuolo] This Exhibit ‘SCOPED (15:37) If all you want is Charlie Tuna, the gags, the (few) spots, jingle and promo, this version’s for you! Please remember that in addition to music licensing fees for the mostly UNSCOPED version, there are bandwidth and hardware costs for this ‘SCOPED version, and anything streamed from REELRADIO. We welcome your support. This aircheck was recorded approximately 25 hours after the Robert W. Morgan KIQQ aircheck in this Collection, so it’s a rare opportunity to compare playlists and morning drive personalities in the City of Angels. Charlie Tuna offers a “crisp, clean ten dollar bill” if you can name the flashbacks played in the previous hour on KKDJ. He also opens his Radio Hotline, where listeners can ask for advice. Charlie calls Laughline for a sneak preview World Exclusive — an interview with The Time Lady. And it’s strange to hear a spot for Happy Days, a new program for the ABC television network.

[Description by Uncle Ricky, contributed by Art Vuolo] This Exhibit ‘SCOPED (15:37) If all you want is Charlie Tuna, the gags, the (few) spots, jingle and promo, this version’s for you! Please remember that in addition to music licensing fees for the mostly UNSCOPED version, there are bandwidth and hardware costs for this ‘SCOPED version, and anything streamed from REELRADIO. We welcome your support. This aircheck was recorded approximately 25 hours after the Robert W. Morgan KIQQ aircheck in this Collection, so it’s a rare opportunity to compare playlists and morning drive personalities in the City of Angels. Charlie Tuna offers a “crisp, clean ten dollar bill” if you can name the flashbacks played in the previous hour on KKDJ. He also opens his Radio Hotline, where listeners can ask for advice. Charlie calls Laughline for a sneak preview World Exclusive — an interview with The Time Lady. And it’s strange to hear a spot for Happy Days, a new program for the ABC television network.

[Description by Uncle Ricky, contributed by Art Vuolo] As always, Robert W. Morgan is fantastic. Fidelity is exceptional. I suspect this was the first, or one of the first, Robert W. Morgans on KIQQ-FM (K-100). January 21, 1974 was a Monday, and what better time to introduce a new Morgan guy? Unfortunately, Boss Expert Woody Goulart has a super-secret email address now, so I can’t provide better background for this outstanding aircheck provided by Art Vuolo, nor do I expect to find better background than what will be offered via COMMENT (below). This Exhibit ‘SCOPED (14:06) If all you want is Robert W. Morgan and just a taste of the news and the spots, this version’s for you! Please remember that in addition to music licensing fees for the mostly UNSCOPED version, there are bandwidth and hardware costs for this ‘SCOPED version, and anything streamed from REELRADIO. We welcome your support. Hey, if you spend about 80 minutes with your radio each morning – try THESE 80 minutes – pure joy, though some of the music is way past burned-out for old Top 40 deejays. It’s almost everything broadcast on K-100 FM between 6 and 7:18 AM the morning of January 21, 1974, in mono. I don’t know why it’s monaural, but COMMENTS (below) confirm that K-100 was Stereo at this time. And RWM was offering Stereo Morganization. There is no audible phase error; this mono FM sounds very good. Morgan’s old bud B.R. Bradbury is featured with several newscasts, and the same social problems that existed in 1974 (gangs, violent crime) are as troubling 30+ years later. You’ll also hear a couple of recorded RWM promos for K-100 – they’re quick, listen closely, and remember that it’s the Dawn Of A New Radio Day. Interesting that Drake-Chenault didn’t feel they needed jingles to be successful on FM — they just needed Hit Music and Super Talent. And what happened? How bizarre that Drake’s trendsetting FM stations in both NY (WOR, years earlier) and LA (1974) didn’t have the huge success that seemed appropriate. Perhaps, in both cases, FM penetration (or the sampling methodology) simply wasn’t sufficient to tip the diary totals.