The Greg Barman Collection
Greg Barman, DJ, WFLI 1976 
Greg Barman, Tech Recruiter, 2000 |
Greg Barman writes: "When I was a kid growing up in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois around 1960, WLS nighttime star Dick Biondi and his GM Gene Taylor both moved into the same townhouse complex as mine and right next to each other. Neither realized it until one day when they walked out of their homes at the same time! Having them as neighbors sparked my early interest in radio, and throughout high school and college I was a true radio freak and gathered a lot of aircheck tape. At Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana I majored in Radio-TV/Journalism and spent a lot of time at the student carrier-current station WIUS. We actively sought ties to the "real" world of radio, and some great people like WIBC-WNAP/Indianapolis execs Jim Hilliard and George Johns and WAKY/Louisville PD Johnny Randolph came to Bloomington to visit us. After college I took a stab at the DJ life, doing mornings at WFLI/Chattanooga, Production Director at 15Q (WKVQ)/Knoxville and then overnights at WMEE/Ft Wayne, Indiana. Gradually I got the message I was not made out to be a star jock, so in 1977 I shifted to what became my real calling in radio - news. I was an anchor and reporter for large and respected newsrooms at WHO/Des Moines and WIRE/Indianapolis. Then in 1982 I moved to Denver where I had long been drawn by the skiing and mountain recreation lifestyle. I was also pretty tired of moving by then and vowed to stay in the Rockies no matter what. In Denver I was an anchor/reporter at KNUS, KHOW, and News Director at public radio KCFR-FM. I also did a short stint as a TV assignment Editor. As radio news started shrinking in the 80's I started looking for another career, but continued to do news part-time into the 90's at KBCO-FM and the legendary KOA/Denver. My combined experience in broadcasting and journalism was good preparation for work as a Recruiter/Headhunter for emerging technology industries. I became a Technical Recruiter for the Telecom industry in 1996 and I helped find and hire people for companies such as Qwest Communications. Even though radio lost so much individuality in the consolidations of the 80's and 90's, it's still a kind of magical medium for me and I treasure my work in it. My aircheck collection preserves some great memories of the industry that I loved to be part of." |
The Repository thanks Greg Barman for sharing!
Unscoped
[Description by Uncle Ricky for contributor Greg Barman]
This wonderful aircheck was recorded by a friend of contributor Greg Barman. Because there was a “radio guy” involved, the original ‘scoped aircheck included a lot of the commercial sets and promos, all of the jingles, and every word by the late Jackson Armstrong. A portion of this hour was sponsored by AM&A’s, a long-time Buffalo department store, and Jackson is featured with several “live reads”  never more “live” than when performed in extemporaneous Armstrong hyper-drive.
Sandy Beach, another legendary WKBW personality, opens this exhibit by introducing both Armstrong and newscaster Alan Jennings, better known in later years as a television newsman. Jennings appears frequently throughout this recording, but only for a few seconds each time.
In the last few minutes, this recording jumps from the end of the 8PM hour to the end of the 9PM hour. Prior to that, the music was restored, excluding two tired and/or repeated tunes on the tail. Even with the truncated newscasts, it is obvious from the length of the ‘scoped exhibit that almost half of the aircheck is not music.
The “mass appeal” of Top 40 is illustrated with the broad demographic of spots for Greenmeadow Riding Stables, The Royal Lipizzan Stallions, and a spot for Dragway Park. Cayuga!
Big Daddy Don Garlits beat his 1972 record, and so did Jack Armstrong.
[Description by contributor Greg Barman]
Joe Cobb handled morning drive on WVON, a high-energy jock with superb timing who kept it all tight and cookin’. Recorded in downtown Chicago where WVON had a strong signal, Cobb is working on the Memorial Day holiday, starting his show at 5:30am as usual. Joe has a lot to say! There’s one song he likes so much, he plays it twice.
From April 1975, this is a bit of Chuck Riley with sportsguy “Hockey Bob” Lamey, reading “The Temperance Letter” and barely able to get thru it, he’s laughing so hard.
Chuck Riley passed away on May 10, 2007 in Sherman Oaks, California at age 66. His passing silenced one of the biggest “unknown” Big Voices heard by millions. Before he became a top voiceover guy, Chuck Riley (real name Charles D. Hanks) was a top 40 jock in places such as Cleveland (listen to the Chuck Dann WKYC aircheck on this site) and Cincinnati. In 1968 he came to WIBC for an 11-year ride, mostly in afternoon drive  the Life of Riley show. Back then, WIBC-1070 had been a tired, old-line 50,000 watt station that had lost its way. Fairbanks Broadcasting took it to #1 in the market and it stayed there for years, with a powerhouse full-service format of MOR music, strong personalities like Riley, aggressive 24×7 local news, major league sports and Indy 500 coverage, and creative promotions  all done in Fairbanks’ unique style.
This aircheck features Riley, with longtime News Director Fred Heckman, in the final hour of a Saturday morning shift in November 1974. Riley’s in great form and obviously enjoying himself. He has a great laugh after a “Hollywood Squares” bit. Pardon the electrical noise near the end, it’s short. Note the mike reverb, and Fairbanks’ unusual formatics like segues from music directly into spots, and the unique Hugh Heller jingles. My favorite is the long, classic “It’s a Shame What’s Happened to Radio” jingle near the end of the hour, complaining how radio just can’t afford to do great things anymore. Except WIBC, of course…
The WIBC “Radio Indiana” Top of the Hour ID and News Intro is Chuck Riley’s voice. WIBC still uses it, 30+ years later  imagine that! (In 2007, it’s a news/talk station.) Riley left Indianapolis in 1979 and moved to L.A. to crack the voiceover business. He did so, bigtime. His commercial and promo work was everywhere, I recall hearing his voice on the CBS-TV network for years. His voice also graced stations such as KMPC-AM, Los Angeles; KZLA/KPOL-AM, Los Angeles; WCKY-AM, Cincinnati; CKY-AM, Winnipeg; WQWB-AM, Fargo; KOMA-AM, Oklahoma City, and many others.
In Indianapolis in May, the upcoming Indy-500 race is all over the radio. And Mike Griffin sounds like he’s enjoying the party atmosphere that usually surrounds Indy for the 500. Plenty of promos here for Race Car 93, the WNAP Airway Buzzard driven by Johnny Parsons.
You’ll hear a trackside qualifications report from Lou Palmer, not that there’s anything to report due to the rain, but he does have a unique style. The brief profile of Johnny Parsons is done by Paul Page, who later went on to anchor the Indy-500 for the Speedway Radio Network and then ABC-TV.
WNAP’s famous “Wrath of the Buzzard” layover ID begins & ends this nighttime aircheck of Buster Bodine, or “Bo-bo-bo-honey”. In between the hits WNAP throws in some creative twists, like the weird airplane-like noises used to bridge Rare Earth and George McCrae. You’ll hear more segues from music into concert spots, and be sure not to miss the Organic Classifieds!
By the way, the voice on the Buzzard ID is Buster’s older brother, Chuck Reilly, who did afternoons in the same building at WIBC-AM.
Buster Bodine is subbing here on afternoon drive. Note lots of segues directly into spots, especially concert spots to reinforce their hip image, even though many of the songs he’s playing are top 40 hits. Lots of jingles too… “WNAP is a 4-letter world”.
Here’s Chris Conner doing an early evening shift (he was also their PD). Plenty of AOR music here, mixed in with Al Green, War, Ringo Starr. Note the frequent segues from music into spots, and plenty of Heller jingles – “Stereo 93, Making People Free” “EEEE-lectronic Mama” and “WNAP Indianapolis YEAH!” I love the Jethro Tull concert spot, where the top ticket price is $5.50 – imagine that!