WNNNNNNNNBC

by Kevin Walsh

After WABC dropped its MusicRadio format in 1982 and went to all-talk I switched over to WNBC 660 (when I wasn’t listening to WLIR or WNEW for rock). The station featured both Imus In The Morning and Howard Stern at one point in the afternoons (the two couldn’t and still can’t abide each other) and overnights, until October 1988, the Time Machine, a recreation of 1960s pop radio complete with era music, jingles and the golden throat of Big Jay Sorenson (today employed by CBS-FM). The Time Machine would play stuff WABC wouldn’t touch in its heyday.

Jay would run “Record Pig” trivia contests and in the days before Google and wikipedia you had to know your stuff. I won boxes of Dunkin’ Donuts, sweatshirts and keychains.

For example, I got this correct: ‘Who pulled their “Weight” highest?’

The fun ended in October 1988 when WNBC became WFAN, and the fast-talking DJs were soon replaced by Chris “The Mad Dog” Russo.

9/5/13

16 comments

George Cassidy September 5, 2013 - 4:27 am

The Band.

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Steve September 5, 2013 - 9:27 am

Thanks for the radio trivia history, but the real question is where did you find this very old bumper sticker stuck? The NBC logo was one used for only a very few years in the late 70s and early 80s and it looks in very good shape.

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Kevin Walsh September 5, 2013 - 11:27 pm

Garbage bin shelter at my apt complex

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Gerry September 5, 2013 - 11:12 am

The Band?

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John September 5, 2013 - 5:31 pm

WFAN 660, WCBS 880 & WQEW 1560 are the ONLY three medium wave broadcast band radio stations that are licensed to New York City that have their transmission towers physically located within the boundaries of the five boroughs. The WFAN & WCBS towers are located on High Island, The Bronx, New York on Long Island Sound. The WQEW tower is in Queens. The Remaining other NYC-area medium wave stations have their towers in New Jersey. The above mentioned stations broadcast using 50Kw (50,000) watts power, and I can receive all three here in Flint, Michigan every night with the signal strength varying from night to night. Reception is better in autumn & winter. My local WWCK 1570 does not cause to much interference to WQEW 1560 due to the fact it broadcasts on just a mere 179 watts at night.

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Bill Tweeddale September 5, 2013 - 8:05 pm

I got this correct: ‘Who pulled their “Weight” highest?’
So, don’t leave us in suspense. Who was it?

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Kevin Walsh September 5, 2013 - 11:26 pm

Aretha Franklin

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Pat September 6, 2013 - 2:44 pm

What ever happened to “the mellow sound of WKTU”?

Was a cousin Brucie fan of WABC (770) and switched back and forth between that and Imus in the late 70s. (I can go one hundred miles per hour……)

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Steve P September 6, 2013 - 3:16 pm

WNBC had a program where if you were called on the phone and you answered it with “WNBC is gonna make me rich” instead of “Hello” you would get $50,000. Many people won.

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Warren Westbo September 6, 2013 - 3:21 pm

And check out the infamous “N” logo. That boondoggle not only cost NBC a reputed $600,000+ to design, but also a lawsuit with a healthy settlement for Nebraska Public TV. Its logo had been designed prior to NBC’s at a cost of about $100.

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Glen Norman September 7, 2013 - 2:19 pm

I HATED that logo; glad it didn’t last too many years. I remember Saturday Night Live mocking it, using various random placements of the squares and triangles on the News Update set. The “N” was identical to the Nebraska Public TV logo, except Nebraska used only one color–the red if I recall. NBC finally slapped the peacock on top of it, and phased out the N all together by the mid 1980s.

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TomfromNJ September 7, 2013 - 6:12 pm

WLIR (92.7FM?) was a great station back in the 70s and early 80s. Great old free form FM. Also some great DJs such as Earl Bailey, now on XM/Sirius and Ray White.

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april July 28, 2015 - 1:21 am

Do you also remember Michael Tapes aka Flowers from LIR? Those were the days (before it became WDRE and later returned to its original call letters, of course). I also had a thing for WRNW (Briarcliff Manor), which played the best Euro rock every Sat. morning for two hours. And, of course, WBAB. Way back in ’63, a young girl sat in a blue-grey rocking chair listening to Sukiyaki spun by The Good Guys, and then Cousin Brucie went front and center. One day she switched bands and almost never flipped back. One day I won an LP for some trivia – same LP I already owned. Figures.

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roger_the_shrubber September 9, 2013 - 12:34 pm

WNEW was the best rock station back then. Scott Muni was the man.

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april July 28, 2015 - 1:29 am

He was truly the big kahuna over there, and despite his personal problems (long unknown) we all loved him. While Alison Steele could sometimes be a bit grating, once gone I too took flight. Long Live The Nightbird along with our memories of the greatest era in rock radio. One just can’t find any good guys to replace ’em.

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april July 28, 2015 - 1:30 am

A little nostalgia so those radio days won’t be forgotten either: http://www.nyradioarchive.com/wabcfm.html

Reply

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