The Ron Riley Collection

[Description by Uncle Ricky for contributor Ron Riley]

This aircheck of The Real Don Steele includes his reading of “Don’t Ever”, a contest entry for KHJ’s Lyric Writing competition. You’ll also hear a great mix of Southern California hit music. In fact, Far Out Man, this IS 1967.

And whadda wrap. The finale is a complete Marv Howard newscast and a report from water-bombed Art Kevin at the Army Induction Center. The Danny Baxter sports report helped several listeners determine the exact date of this broadcast.

This exhibit is UNSCOPED, meaning that all the music is included. We are required to pay a fee for each listener for all musical performances on this recording. Plus, we must also pay the cost of Internet bandwidth to deliver it to you. We are a user-supported organization, and if you enjoy this exhibit, please say thanks with your support.

This exhibit required some concentrated back stage massage (noise reduction, etc.) and I’m tempted to believe this recording was originally taken from a telephone coupler, or that the audio was delivered over a local telephone connection. Did KHJ have an auto-answer phone coupler connected to their air monitor? KFRC did. Did all the RKO stations have this? Very high quality in, telephone quality out. Just dial the number and listen. (The number was supposedly for Big Guys only.) And some of these devices actually passed stuff up to 9Khz, at very low levels, of course. Depending on what you used on the other end, if you were in the local dialing area, and the switches connected “just right”, you could get a fairly wideband recording. The downside was the additional high-frequency noise. Notice the infrequent “dialing noise” here and there. Anyway, that’s my theory. I also removed a lot of 60Hz hum and some other click-click pre-digital nasties.

All in all, a fascinating recording, Thanks again to Ron Riley for this awesome snapshot of RDS on KHJ, August 2, 1967.

[Description by Uncle Ricky] This is an early aircheck of Jay Thomas doing nights on WAPE Jacksonville, where he quickly took over mornings and became Program Director before moving to Charlotte to work with owners Sis and Stan Kaplan at BIG WAYS. Calling himself The King Of The City, Thomas’s energy level is very high, and his humor is more cartoonish and less cynical than we remember in later years. He even has a kazoo as a sidekick! This is also the first aircheck of WAPE in the seventies we’ve heard with PAMS, not Johnny Mann jingles. It’s the NEW WAPE, so I figure this is shortly after the station was purchased by the Kaplans.

[Description by Uncle Ricky] It’s obvious that this unscoped recording of the 4PM hour and Mike Rivers on October 17, 1967 was made at some distance from the powerful CKLW transmitter. I removed a lot of static and crackling, but there wasn’t much that could be done about the high background noise level. REELRADIO pays music licensing fees (regardless of fidelity) to present unedited music online. If you enjoy full-length airchecks like this one, your tax-deductible contribution to our operating fund will help keep this and other “unscoped” exhibits available. So, depending on your system, this exhibit may be OK, or difficult to listen to for an extended period. I’m including it here because it *is* classic Big Eight, with all the memorable Drake-isms (Number One Then, Number One Now,) and the Johnny Mann acapellas. And what a playlist! Nearly half of what you’ll hear never cracked Billboard’s Top Twenty, and there’s a definite Motown/R&B influence with artists like Arthur Conley, Leon Haywood, J.J. Barnes and James & Bobby Purify (and more!) Mike Rivers (Ralph W. Wright, Jr.) passed away September 13, 2004. He was also known as Ed Richards at WIBG.

[Description by Uncle Ricky] Here’s Ron Riley on legendary WHK in Cleveland, on November 3, 1962. Riley was at WHK from late 1962 through early 1963 before joining WLS/Chicago in May of that year. This one is a real treat! You’ll enjoy the outstanding fidelity on this studio recording which includes a Bannerline News report with Bob Engel, a sports editorial bemoaning the cost of attending a World Series game, a couple of classic jingles, a promo for Election news coverage, and a traditional Top-40 mix of Pop and Rock ‘n’ Roll including Tony Bennett and The Cadillacs.

[Description by Uncle Ricky] We suspect this aircheck of Russ Weird Beard Knight on KLIF in Dallas was recorded for sponsor Gillette (Super Blue Blade). What we don’t know is if it was all actually broadcast as you hear it here. But wow, this was wacky radio in 1963. In addition to Knight’s messages to his employer, there are references to various governors and tobacco that may be addressed in COMMENT (below). Ron Riley’s contribution was on CD, with a 50 db range, quite obviously unprocessed (a bit distorted on peaks, at the original source) and more likely recorded in a production room *or* off the console (not the air chain.) It was processed here for online presentation, as are all REELRADIO exhibits. Stop picking at your beard, it’s bugging me! Frequent PAMS (mostly 18) and Tips for Teens – provided by Weird Beard, “Commander of Delinquents Anonymous”. Most interesting of all, KLIF DJ Trading Stamps, Mike Nichols and Elaine May, and how did Russ Knight get Gillette to sponsor a guy with a beard?

[Description by Uncle Ricky] Ron Riley joined WCAO in Baltimore, Maryland as on-air Program Director in August of 1971, and remained until 1982, when he went into television full-time. And Riley is rockin’ in this aircheck of his afternoon show from October 1972. There was a heavy spot load at this successful Plough station, and he was working a full log on this day, for sure. The few jingles and production elements were from PAMS. You’ll also hear segments of Don Bartell with news, and some classic, long-forgotten commercial moments: Canada Dry tastes like love, It takes two hands to handle a Whopper and George McGovern for President. And imagine, if you wanted to try that new ear-piercing fad, it would be supervised by a licensed physician! This one was taped from the station’s air chain. With the exception of some typically grungy vinyl, the fidelity is outstanding. Our thanks to Ron Riley for a trip back to Baltimore, 1972!

Danny Dark today (courtesy of L.A. Radio People) [Description by Uncle Ricky] As has been noted before, St. Louis was a very hot market for Top 40 in the early 1960’s. Smooth-talkin’ Danny Dark, who later went on to major success as the voice of NBC, Bonanza, Budweiser and Mazda was surrounded by some of the best of the era. Dark shared the spotlight on WIL with Ron Lundy (later WABC) and Gary Stevens (later WKNR, WMCA and President of Doubleday Broadcasting). Obviously, WIL (simulcasting with WIL-FM) was home to some very impressive talent. The production quality is very high, even if the fidelity of this particular aircheck is a bit lacking. It includes a “Blues Street News” feature with Nelson Kirkwood (who does the entire newscast without breathing – with a conservative serving of bells and whistles!) And how about that “WIL Weather Ball” Flashing Blue?! You will also hear some early and interesting jingles, a very stylish sports report, a pre-recorded comedy(?) bit, at least two contest promos, and some classic commercials for Budweiser, Westclox, Pepsi, and a bunch of once powerful and profitable corporations, regional and local businesses. This is some generally hard-core big-time 1963 Top 40 in one of the most competitive markets in the country. Danny Dark passed away on June 13, 2004. His family invites friends and fans to sign The Danny Dark Online Guestbook.

[Description by Ron Riley] This is from the show that Clark Weber and I did for the troops in Vietnam. During the Vietnam war, we had dozens and dozens of requests from service people for WLS airchecks. It was ultimately expensive for WLS to send reel-to-reel airchecks, so they had Clark and I come in one day and wing a show. They had it cut to disc, and sent it out.

[Description by Ron Riley] This is an embarrassing tape! It was my first rock job at WOKY, and it’s pretty creepy hearing all those rhyming lines, jokes from a joke book, and the door bell chime. But this is vintage Top 40 radio from 40 years ago! (Break glass and use only in emergency..)

[Description by Uncle Ricky] Ron Riley writes: “Most of the WLS ‘checks that I have are (unfortunately) from my pre-taped Sunday night show, which I recorded at 7am each Thursday morning. The tapes were easily accessible as opposed to ordering up an aircheck, so that’s why I have them.” REELRADIO pays music licensing fees to present unedited music online. If you enjoy full-length airchecks like this one, your tax-deductible contribution to our operating fund will help keep this and other “unscoped” exhibits available. This aircheck, however, is from a Monday night – January 22, 1968, and with the exception of some drop-outs, (and the limitations of 1968 recording technology) the fidelity is outstanding. It’s very unusual to hear WLS prior to the audio chain (and 50KW of Amplitude Modulation.) This may be the Repository’s first WLS check “off the board”. There was little, if any, AGC or limiting on the original. (This exhibit, like all Repository exhibits, was lightly processed in real-time for levels and response consistency.) This was early in the “more music” phase of the WLS format. The PAMS acapellas were replaced later with different versions (the logo is reversed on these!) Bud Miller is heard on two WLS newscasts; John Shubeck and Don Gardner are featured with ABC Contemporary news. And Riley suggests that Paul Revere and the Raiders’ Too Much Talk (And Not Enough Action) sounds a whole lot like The Beatles’ Paperback Writer. A genuine treasure from 1968, excellently preserved for REELRADIO by The Ron Riley Collection!