I grew up in Cleveland in the seventies. I was spoiled. I got to experience the greatest radio station ever at its zenith. The station was WMMS 100.7 (when I started listening it was WMMS 101- but someone complained that only 100.9 and 101.1 could call themselves 101 and they changed the tagline). I was clueless at how much they got right then, but now it is so evident. To this day I can tell you the names of the jocks, their shifts and what made them special.
Mornings: Jeff and Flash. Always upbeat, always wry. Never too serious, except the day John Lennon was shot.
Lunch: Matt the Cat. The hipster, with the edge on.
Afternoon drive: Kid Leo – the voice of knowledge- this guy knew everyone in rock.
Evenings: Denny Sanders- Yeah, hang out with your bud, and enjoy the evening.
Night: Betty Korvan
Overnight: The B.L.F bash. John Gorman- the programmer back then told me that “B.L.F.” stood for William (Bill) Lionel Freeman, his real name- and that “Bash” was the name of the show- but most people thought his name was BLF Bash- so he never bothered to correct it.
Weekends- Len “boom-boom Goldberg- Mr. Laid back. His voice was so low that it worked like a massager on your scalp to help with the coming hang over.
I could tell time by hearing the DJ’s voice, at least a 4-hour window. My day progressed by the passing of time with an ever-present friend. By being a WMMS listener, I was part of something bigger than me.
The station had a following that was seemingly everywhere- the “buzzard” logo appeared on cars everywhere. People would cut the bumper stickers up and customize them. I’m pretty sure someone had it tattooed on their body; it was a super brand- before there were superbrands.
‘MMS listeners were like one huge family. The DJ’s were their friends; they talked about music, life, concerts and how music made them feel. When rock stars came into the studio, there was mutual respect. And it all worked. It was rock and roll. If there ever was such a thing as a play list, or some kind of programming, you never felt it- it seemed like the jocks spun what felt right that day.
It was so different than what passes for radio today, no wonder they talk about the iPod economy.
So what can any business learn from WMMS?
You are as strong as the community you build with your customers.
Do people want to associate themselves with your customers? Do they want to be friends with other customers? Do they know they have something in common by being your customers?
Now, with markets becoming more and more fragmented/segmented, you can’t count on existing groups to automatically be your customers, you need to build your own community. Find out what you can share with them that makes their life more meaningful, and then feed them ties to bind themselves to the others.
The web is an amazing tool for this, but so are events for your customers. Hold owners group meetings for anything from motorcycles to sewing machines. Make sure your customers can wear your brand- give or sell t-shirts that proclaim their allegiance. Let them know that you have their best interests at heart, by tipping them off first to the best deals, or the coolest things they can’t live without- even if you don’t sell them.
I used radio as an example, but it extends out to other media as well; The MTV generation, readers of Wired, or the New York Times.
I don’t have much hope of radio finding it’s way back to the old days, but I do have hope for new marketers, from independent restaurants to shoe stores. They are figuring it out, and we will find new communities to belong to.
What do you think?
I also grew up in Cleveland and woke up with Jeff and Flash and went to bed with Crash Korvan. After school I’d listen to Kid Leo who it seemed always had an artist coming into the studio for an interview.
In their glory days, no station can match WMMS. There are artists today that I still listen to that people in other parts of the country aren’t even that familiar with; ie: Southside Johnny, Garland Jeffries, Todd Rundgren, Ian Hunter, David Johannsen, Roxy Music. All these artists got tons of airplay on WMMS.
I also grew up in Cleveland and listened to Jeff and Flash in the morning! What an awesome radio station in the 70’s! I met Jeff and Flash at a Boston Concert, they were very nice and down to earth! Cleveland Rocks!!!!
WMMS was what FM radio should have been everywhere. and ‘MMS is what FM radio should still be. Too bad it is all corporate BS and “format” garbage today.
Most FM rock stations play 6 stones songs, 2 Boston songs, 5 Eagles songs, that stinky Kansas carry on my wayward son. . . song and a few others over and over and over.
Listen to most Fm stations, rock, country whatever and you will hear 20 songs played in rotation. all day.
Wmms was a station and the pulse of cleveland in its day.
I think they even played Maggot Brain by Parlament funkadelic on saturday night at midnight for a while.
Wanna see some other Music history? head over to Record Revolution on Coventry Road in Cleveland heights if it is still there.
DJS
so am i having a erronious flashback, c. 1981, or did BLF play p-funk’s “maggotbrain” every sunday morning right around the time the bars closed?
no–i can’t be THAT old and senile, i ain’t makin’ this shit up.
man, what a time for cleveland radio. between the buzzard (remember when he sat profiled on a mushroom, w/ long hair and blood-shot eyes?) and old M105, we were blessed, indeed.
one more thing–i’ve been all over this damn country, and outside of my lakefront home, i haven’t met anyone who remembers the sensational alex harvey band. go figure.
“she’s got betty korvan eyes”–oh yeah!
Wow, reading those names brought back a shitload of memories. Remember Kid Leo’s name in Bruce Springsteen’s live recording of “Santa Claus is coming to town”? I went to bed with Betty “Crash” Korvin every night.
The weekend never ends on W M M S, Cleveland!
Yes! Maggotbrain WAS played every Sun. am at 12:30, 3:00? I remember it being played because I looked forward to it. ‘MMS ruled. As a matter of fact I am goin’ to try and find it and download it. Thank God for the internet. Thanx to peer to peer file sharing, I can get my own ole time ‘MMS playlist for FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
One more thought on file sharing. I have paid for evrything i have ever downloaded. I just lost all my old records, thanx Mel!, so the music industry can kiss my butt!
It is unbelievable to be reading this and going back 20 plus years in memories. WMMS was one of the best stations ever. Do any of you remember WIXY 1260(AM) which was around in the late 60s? Then wasn’t it WNCR that came about with MMS following close behind?
Anyway, it seems like yesterday listening to and living during the wonderful MMS days. Every DJ was talented. I even dated Spaceman Scott for a while! Fun and crazy times. Maggot Brain was a ritual. And I forgot about Betty Korvan, she was classic! Do you remember Ruby Cheeks? She started in the mid-80s, about a year before I moved to Chicago.
Kevin, I definitely DO rememeber The Alex Harvey Band. Even this week, I’ve been thinking about them. I have their album, can you find it on CD? It’s the orange one with him wearing stripes if I recall correctly. Now do you remember the Siegal Schwal Band? They played an instrumental tune called Hush, Hush. And how about Sparks? The two brothers and their band had some crazy tunes.
My recollection was maggot brain was played around 2 am every sunday morning just after the bars closed by BLF Bash. Who is BLF Bash and where did he go? WMMS was the best radio station in the nation until they fixed winning it, but every other station who wanted to beat them did the same shit. Kid Leo was a genius and those who remember will remember radio in the glory days. The days when program directors weren’t in one central location and bands like Bruce Springsteen, the Michael Stanley Band, Southside Johnny, and Flock of Seagulls got some air time when nobody else would give it to them.
I AM TRYING TO LOCATE A COPY/RECORDING OF LARRY NORMAN’S (I BELIEVE HIS NAME IS RIGHT) “NIGHTMARE” ORIGINALLY PLAYED ON WNCR B4 WMMS
JEFF AND FLASH KNOW THIS, THEY PLAYED IT ALMOST EVERY MORNING AS I WAS GETTING READY FOR SCHOOL!! 8TH GRADE BACK THEN!
THE SONG WAS ABOUT A GUYS CRAZY DREAM INCLUDING JOHN WAYNE AND BILLY GRAHAM HANDING
BREATH MINTS TO THE CROWD!!
[email protected]
Oh how things were. Yes, those were times. Unfortunatley– It’s impossible for things to be “the way they were…”
While we are still owned corporate– we are hardly that. The industry has changed, and evolved– and I am quite proud of what we have going now with talent on WMMS. We are also using the latest technologies (from web to HD radio on the horizon) The FCC has sucked a lot of the fun out of radio– but lets not forget that WMMS was rated among it’s peers in R and R as the top major market rock station of 2005. While things will never be “the way they were..” I would gladly put WMMS up against any other rock station.
The music might be different– but it was then too.
How much is MMS paying you Bo? I’m sorry to disagree with you but, MMS has sucked since the early ninties. All radio sucks nowadays. There is no more edge. I seriously think Clear Channel and “PIG VOMIT” are the ones who killed the old MMS. Don’t blame the FCC. Blame Clear Channel, they have killed EVERY radio station. How could you put MMS up to any other radio station they all sound the same. I travel a lot and no matter where I go they all sound the same. From LA to New York. Its always the same damn songs repeated over, over, over, over, over and over.
The closest thing to old MMS days is to listen to WNCX on Sat nights after 7:00. They still hold on to most of the old MMS traditions. Such as my favorite “Maggot Brain” @ midnight.
I was curious if anybody knows the answer to when and how did the tradition start with “Maggot Brain” being played @ midnight. I was born in 1978 so the song is actually older then I am I started listening to MMS in the early eighties. Maggot Brain has always been played @ midnight since I can remember. Until the early ninties when NCX took over the tradition.
Haven’t lived in Cleveland area for 26 years (grew up in Medina), but I can stil conjur up in my head memories of Kid Leo, Jeff and Flash, Murray Saul’s weekend thing, and I remmeber like yesterday Springsteen’s live show from the Agora (8-9-78). But I’m drawing a blank on the third song of Kid Leo’s Friday night “Holy Trinity” of Born To Run and Friday On My Mind. What was the third song of the trinity. I’m thinking “Shanty” by Jonathan Edwards but I’m not sure. Anyone recall?
To Medinaman: I think it was Cleveland Rocks, wasn’t it?
It ABSOLUTELY was Ian Hunter’s “Cleveland Rocks”.
(Ohiohiohiohiohiohio….)
Long live the old WMMS! Like the original cast of SNL, the original DJ lineup of Jeff/Flash, Matt The Cat, Kid Leo, Denny Sanders, Betty ‘Crash’ Korvan, and ‘Boom Boom’ Goldberg will always stick in my memory as making up one of the greatest rock stations ever. Think of it. How many other radio stations across the country ‘broke’ major artists like ‘MMS did, like The Pretenders, Pat Benatar (Kid Leo used to call her “Little miss reet petite”), The Boss, Southside Johnny, Donnie Iris, RUSH, MSB, Warren Zevon, etc etc etc? And don’t forget the Coffee Break Concerts. *sigh* I’d love to find old recordings from that heyday.
I’ve got some recordings from that heyday
Does anyone recall the artist of the ‘Friday on my Mind’ version tha played on Friday nights ? I can’t seem to find that version anywhere.
Thanks
Wow, what a find. I just went looking for BLF Bash as I had been wondering lately what ever became of him.
I have three main MMS memories: First, we used to go to see Michael Stanley 3-4 times per year. My sister’s father knew Bob Palander (sp?), one of the band members. MSB was so closely tied to that same crowd.
Second, magotbrain would be playing every sunday morning, somewhere between 12:30 – 1:30. I would listen to it one my way home from a girlfriend’s house in Willoughby (I was living in Chardon at the time). But, what none of you have mentioned was that directly afterward was Frank Zappa’s Dynamo Hum (I got a fifty dollar bill says you can’t make me c**; you just can’t do it!).
Third, and truly a mixed memory, was when everyone, I mean EVERYONE in the city was donning MMS gear while faxing, writting and calling the Rock Hall board. MMS led the charge, and we all answered; we all campaigned. We truly felt like one city. Well, wooo – hoo! We won, right? Yeah, right! That has turned into a stinking pile of pig excrement. Don’t get me wrong, the museum itself is ok. But, I don’t believe we campigned so that the induction ceremony could be held in new york! Jeff and Flash would never had stood for that. Instead, we have the corporate stooges of brian and joe.
Oh well, that’s why I have Sirius.
kidd leo is back, he is on sirius underground garage, weekdays 1- 5 mst
1) friday on my mind – Earth Quake (live version) west coast band (dont beleive this was ever recorded to album…the only place I found this was on (the old site) of NAPSTER
2) on friday or saturday nite about 1am or 3am
BLF would play the fever (live) by Bruce Springsteen & the East St. band or so I remember…
3) HEY! anyone remember….”skinny lil boy from
Cleveland , Ohio come to drink your women & chase your beer.(hiccup!)…” *Alex Bevan
Friday on My Mind is on this album:
https://www.amazon.com/Rocking-World-Earthquake/dp/B00KZU1N3I
Alex Bevan used to come into Coventry Audio back in the seventies- when I was a young impressionable teen. I always got a kick out of that song- and Alex (super nice guy). I think the name of the album was Streamline- and it was one of the first I paid full price for (I used to live in the basement of Record Revolution- buying cut out jazz- all on the advice of former Ital frontman David Smeltz)
Thank you Jimmy, for bringing back the memories.
Live and worked in Cleveland area from 71 – 78 and couldn’t wait till 5pm on Fridays. At least I think it was 5 or was it 6pm to hear Friday on My Mind, etc. Was it really 3 song series, I only remember 2. But the age thing is kicking in. Anyone remember “The case of the mad vandal”?
there were 3 songs to “kick-off” the weekend…..
they started to play @ 10 minutes to 6pm (5:50 pm) every friday by Kid Leo… 2 were “set in stone” 1.) “Born to Run” – the Boss & the East Streeters….2.) Friday on my Mind (live) Earth Quake & #3 varied…there was Ian Hunters’ “Clevelands Rocks” and if memory serves me correctly another version was…”We Built This City”..by Jefferson Starship (?)
Shanty was the third piece of the Holy Trinity BEFORE Cleveland Rocks came out. When it did it replaced Shanty.
I grew up in Cleveland and proud of it. I use to cruise my car up and down Mentor avenue listening to one of the greatest stations of all times. I just turned forty and still remember those great years as a teenager. I stayed up every weekend to listen to maggot brain. I went to the midnite matinee to see Led Zepplin’s “The Song Remains the Same” and Pink Floyd’s “The Wall”. No longer living in Cleveland but I sure miss it. God Bless Cleveland! Thank you for the memories.
12/28/06
I still live in Cleveland and your absolutly right the greatest radio station that ever was will always be WMMS.
I have bad news howerver. It was anonced today that Len “Boom Boom Goldburg” died. Not only was he a weekend jock, he also had the distinction of being the voice of the buzzard. He will also be distinguished as the longest running D.J. in the history of Cleveland Radio.
Unfortunetly the heyday of MMS is over. It’s now a alternate rock station. Although John Gorman has been brought back as the station director. Kid Leo has become a record company big shot, I havn’t heard anything about Ed and Flash since the station switched formats and Denny Sanders moved over to WMJI (the old M105).
The good news is we now have WNCX are local classic rock station. Every Friday at 5:00 P.M. (the original Kick off was at this time)Micheal Stanley “kicks off the weekend” with a new weekend kick off written by the same man who did the original for Kid Leo, Mort Saul. And to sweeten the experiance Kid Leo Recorded a spot that is played during the kick off saying Cleveland still Rocks. By the way Born to Run is still the first song to be played.
Does anyone know where a guy can down load Eruption “Fri On My Mind?”
There will never be another station that connected with it’s listeners like the buzzard did.
My sister painted the buzzard on our basement wall.
It’s mostly chicken shit now.
to: Rust Belt Johnny……send me a physical address & I’ll send a cassette tape….no charge of course….
In response to #27 – Jim, I appreciate the comments you made about WMMS. It was the world’s greatest radio team. It was a family that sincerely loved and respected its listeners. Just a quick correction. I left WMMS at the end of 1986 and returned to the station in early 1994 when friends and former associates bought WMMS and WMJI, which I had been programming since the early 90s. We called it Buzzard Radio: The Next Generation. Rather than try to replicate its past, which couldn’t be done (and we were working with a limited budget), WMMS went back to its original goal of playing new music. That version did very well and became the #1 station with 18-34 year olds. By this time WNCX was doing a far better job at maintaining the heritage of the 70s and 80s. The Next Gen format lasted two years and though it did well, Nationwide Insurance, which bought the station from OmniAmerica, felt the format was too radical for their image. I have not been associated with WMMS since July, 1996. Jeff Kinzbach is in the construction business – and quite successful – and living in Dallas. Ed “Flash” Ferenc works with the Cleveland Municipal Court and hosts a daily liberal (thank God!) talk show, which is carried on a few stations in the market. Matt the Cat works for Progressive Insurance. Kid Leo does a show on Sirius’ Underground Garage channel. Prior to that he held various positions at Sony Music. Denny Sanders is the VP/GM of Telos Systems, the leading manufacturer of professional audio equipment, which is based in Cleveland. Before joining Telos, Denny succeeded me as PD of WMJI, which became the number one station in Cleveland and a highly respected oldies station nationally. Betty Korvan is retired and living in Deadwood, SD. BLF Bash works with Giant Eagle. Ruby Cheeks is doing radio in Phoenix. Dia Stein worked in radio syndication and still does radio in New York City. Murray Saul turns 78 this year. He is semi-retired and was a guest on WNCX this morning. He has a CD out featuring a number of “Get Downs,” which is available from Amazon, Little Fish, and other selected on-line music stores. It’s worth your while to find a copy. The whereabouts of Mr. Leonard and Kenny Clean are unknown. The death of Len “Boom” Goldberg hit hard. He was the first of our great team to pass away. It was an honor to know and work with Boom. B.L.F. Bash put it best, “Boom lived the way he wanted to for as long as he wanted to.”
I have just completed a book about those days at WMMS, which is scheduled to be released in September.
John, Thank you SO MUCH on “THE” update of the
WMMS crew that I grew-up to….. it was called “CRUISIN'”…..without WMMS I wasn’t cruisin’….. the BEST to you John.
In response to #30 John Gorman.
Mr. Gorman,
I would like to say first off that I am very much honored that you took the time to read my blurb. Furthermore it is I who appreciate all that you have done. It was your leadership that created the radio station that we now sit and reminisce over. It was truly a unique and special experience that I feel privileged to have the opportunity to have been part of it, if only as a listener. I consider WMMS to be one of the best parts of my youth and often, in my mind return to it with great fondness during moments of nostalgia.
For the inaccuracies that I had stated in my previous entry #27, I humbly offer my apology. I wrote that in remembrance of a person that, like yourself I connect to a better time in my own life. I am a man in the middle of life and unfortunately my memories aren’t perfect. No malice was intended and I hope no offence occurred.
Again, thank you very much for taking the time to respond to my thoughts. It’s very exciting to hear from the Program Director of the greatest radio station that ever was.
I also grew up in Cleveland (Maple Heights) and was a WMMS fanatic during the 70’s. Having lived and listened to radio since 1980 in Los Angeles,I can honestly state WMMS during it’s heyday was the best rock station of all time. It was a perfect blend of disc jockeys, each with their own unique personality. People forget most of the DJ’s were in their 20’s right out of Cleveland State University and did not know how great they were. It’s now 30 years later and I can still hear Jeff Kinzbaugh introducing Steely Dan’s “Don’t Take Me Alive” and following it up with Boz Scagg’s “It’s Over” from the Silk Degrees LP. People also forget that the morning DJ before Jeff & Flash was Charlie Kendall who set the stage for them when he left WMMS. Matt the Cat mellowed the audience from 10AM-2PM after the “Morning Zoo” and Kid Leo was the passion of the station from 2-6PM. Denny Sanders 6-10PM, Betty Korvan 10PM-2AM, and Bill Freeman 2-6AM all were in their perfect time slot for their personalities. You know they were special then and after all this time really appreciate their talents……Phil LeAnza.
GROWING UP IN NORTH-CENTRAL OHIO…(MANSFIELD) WE HAD A STRONG NORTH-COAST INFLUENCE…IN MY HIGH-SCHOOL DAYS,IF YOU DID’NT HAVE A CUT-UP MMS STICKER ON THE BACK OF YOUR CAMARO,YOU JUST WERE’NT COOL..IAN HUNTER & DONNIE IRIS BLASTING ON YOUR JENSEN TRIAXELS!!SMOKIIN A “J”,WITH MY BROWNS MMS T-SHIRT,HAND ON MY GIRLS LEG!! WOW!!I TRULY WAS A KING……MMS WAS THE BEST ROCK STATION EVER,FROM 79,TO 83 WHEN I GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL.THERS A PICTURE OF ME IN MY YEAR BOOK OF ME IN AN EARLIER MMS T-SHIRT,WITH MY BUDS….THANKS,MATT THE CAT,THANKS KID LEO,THANKS JEFF & FLASH,THANKS BETTY CRASH KORVAN,THANKS RUBY CHEEKS,BLF BASH,DENNY SANDERS,& LENNY “BOOM-BOOM” GOLDBERG! THANKS FOR THE “COFFEE-BREAK CONCERTS,THAT I SKIPPED SCHOOL TO ATTEND….I DON’T REGRET A MOMENT! THANKS IAN HUNTER,MICHEAL STANLEY,ALEX BEVIN,DONNIE IRIS,BREATHLESS,ITCHY POODLE,ECT,ECT FOR BEING THE SOUND-TRACK OF THE BEST TIMES OF MY LIFE………..
You guys made my eyes tear up!
Listening to the Zoo crew while driving to Ignatius in my busted up Opel GT. Trying to sneak into the Staler Office tower to get mentioned for a Scavenger Hunt for Hawks, my friend’s high school. Hearing Bash on the radio and knowing that I stayed out way too late in the Flats. Those were fun times. A far cry from mid-life in Hong Kong now.
Thanks David, for bringing back those memories. And thanks John Gorman, Jeff&Flash, Matt, Denny, Kid Leo, Ruby, Crash, BLF, and Mr. Lenny for the great programming that’s part of my life’s soundtrack!
I was born and raised in Cleveland 50 plus years ago and ‘MMS ruled. From early morning through the school day and well into the night, The Buzzard was on my radio. Thank God for WNCX. The memories live on.
the crew had one more member that hasn’t been mentioned….I hope this post doesn’t break anyones heart !? The 101 wmmms jock prior to Kid Leos’ airtime 2pm mon-fri
Shelly Style (am I correct with this?)
I am just blown away by reading the comments made here about the “Greatest Radio Station” ever! I was there listening from the start in 1968 and until 1979. I have told friends how WMMS would play new music before anyone else. I would listen intensely knowing something would be played that would be a huge hit within two weeks. Friends and I would ask each other,”Did you hear what was played by Leo”? “THE” Sensational Alex Harvey Band. Only in Cleveland and only by WMMS. It was the life of my teenage years. Thanks to all of those great radio personalities! In fact, even though I am now 50 years old… I still listen for new bands that will break into stardom. Just like I did so many years ago with WMMS growing up in Parma,Ohio.
Indeeeed man!!! You’re the only one who referenced Alex Harvey!! They were integral in helping to make Harvey’s “Ain’t Nothing Like A Gang Bang” a Cleveland cult favorite. I did many drugs, so my long-term memory banks are having difficulties. My recollection is that they played “Gang Bang” right after the Gotta, Gotta rant at 5:00p.m. & not 6:00. Also, Was it Murray Soul who did the rant??
Hey…if anyone’s interested I finally (after an exhaustive search) not only found Earthquake’s version of “Friday On My Mind” on mp3. It’s of CD-Quality too! In fact, I have the whole CD it came from. I’d love to trade it for some Artful Dodger or Eric Carmen’s “The Rock Stops Here.” Contact me at northfieldffl@yahoo
On the 3 songs played every Friday, it was Born To Run, Friday On My Mind and Todd Rundgren’s “Bang on the Drum All Day”. At least for a while in the mid-70’s.
Sounds like it changed, from time to time.
*Question #1: Wasn’t it at 5:00p.m. every Friday vhen one of the DJs yelled “We Gotta, Gotta, Gotta, Get Dowwwwwn”?!! I’m 64 & listened to WMMS from ’74-’76. *Question #2: Was it Murray Saul (sp) who did the “Gotta Gotta…get dowb thing?
*Question#3: Didn’t they play Alex Harvey’s “Ain’t Nothin Like A Gang Bang” immediately after the “Gotta…get down” rant?
Does anyone remember Springsteen’s
“THAT GODDAMN GUITAR”? Does anyone know
where I can get a copy?
Im 45 and am very fortunate to have experinced that great radio. I know live in Denver and when it comes to R&R these people dont have a clue. I Have had to educate my friends in such works as Maggot Brain, Southside Johnny, and Ian Hunter. The song from my previus post was recorded at the Cleveland Agora probably in the late 70s sure would like to find a copy
I grew up in NE Ohio (I’m 44 now) listening to WMMS and M105, but I didn’t know who sang “Friday On My Mind” until did a Google search.
I always loved the kick off to the weekend with Born to Run, Friday on My Mind and Cleveland Rocks.
Brings back great memories.
I met bob golic while working at a waterpark in the browns “heydays” of the mid eighties (cardiac kids). Lots of people were making a big deal about meeting him. I walked up to him, and he looked at me like i was another kid wanting his autograph. I asked him “what’s kid leo really like?”. He about died laughing. There is no doubt CLEVELAND ROCKS!
I am so glad I found this site! My brother and I are headed back to NE Ohio from New Hampshire for a football stadium dedication at Woodridge High School in Peninsula and for his Akron U Sigma Pi reunion in a few weeks. We just found out there is a cover band at Tangier’s in Akron that plays Bruce, Southside and MSB that weekend. I almost freaked when I heard it. While it won’t be the real thing, those guys were all great song writers who knew how to touch your soul that it won’t really matter. It brought back memories of working (and playing) at Blossom, partying in the Flats with Kmeick, Sobek and Sprecher, the St. Eds vs. St Iggy’s annual football romp and seeing Springsteen at the Cleveland Stadium and having Ed sing to me when I first saw MSB in Kent (’79). While it’s been a long time since I’ve lived in NE Ohio, I’ll always be a Browns fan and will never find another radio station to get me pumped for my Friday drive home like MMS! Cleveland Rocks
I don’t see the name Billy Bass mentioned here. He was one of the best DJ’s ever! He played David Bowie so much in the early ’70’s that I think the record company hired him. And one of the female DJ’s at MMS was credited on the back of the first Rush album for giving them airplay. Cleveland was a great town for music in the late ’60s and early ’70s. The memories of those years will be with me forever, thanks to WMMS and the short-lived WNCR.
in-regard to DJ Billy Bass 1) wasn’t he a jock @
1260 AM WIXY ? wasn’t he a jock @ WNCR FM
called “the Atomic Ni**er” ? (questions sent
but didn’t post…..my error)….*****this is
about history & nothing more……*******
Copley 1972.
Just pulled WMMS up on the computer and saw all of the replys. It was great and still is to say I remember Northern Ohio in the 70’s.
There was nothing like Kid Leo playing Michael Stanley, while we all headed for the Audio Warehouse, where EVERYONE bought their stereo gear back in the 70’s. Kid Leo still has the best radio voice the flats has ever witnessed. The best experience Cleveland ever had in the 70’s was WMMS.
I could not wait for work to end especially on Friday’s, just so I could get in my car and see who Kid Leo had LIVE in the WMMS studio, whoever was in town to play the Richfield Coliseum or had just put an album out, you could bet the group was walking thru the halls of WMMS. Lets not forget Kid Leo’s Bookie Joint…and the awesome I.D’s “Trans-Buzzard Airwaves”, and “It’s time to turn so you won’t burn”. The whole line up was awesome, and they were free to play anything they wanted. They were there for you, they became your friends, and I wish I was in radio then, I would have loved to have worked for John Gorman.
I took a trip to San Antonio Texas in 1984, as I was walking with a friend of mine that also took the trip from Cleveland, we were stopped by a man on the street who said “you guys from Cleveland?” I said Yes, and he said I can tell by the t-shirt (I was wearing a Buzzard shirt where the buzzard was dressed in an Indian’s baseball uniform and swinging the bat), he said he had heard of the buzzard and WMMS. We asked him if he had ever been to Cleveland, he said he was never out of the State of Texas, right there it hit me hard, knowing just how much power the Buzzard had throughout the whole United States, and this is before we had Intranet Radio. WMMS was doing something right, and I am glad to have known over the years the staff of WMMS from its heydays, and am glad to still listen to those airchecks I saved of the Thundering Buzzard…Thanks John Gorman for not only everything you did to make that station #1, but for your friendship–Boom was truly a one of a kind and is dearly missed-Rock On Everybody, Jim D.
WOW. How fun to read all of this. I grew up in Chesterland and have vivid memories of my mother, father, brothers and me running around and turning on (and UP) every radio we could (including the cars) and we would scream when “The Get Down Man” Murray Saul came on (now, there’s a man and a memory you don’t ever forget). And I still get chills when I hear the first few bars of “Born to Run”. Nothing like it. How about the bad *SS legal I.D.’s—“The weekend never ends on WMMS—CLEVELAND!!”. The way he said, “CLEVELAND” just made me feel “oh so proud” to live there. We lived and breathed ‘MMS.
A month after turning 18, I left for Phoenix. With NO clue what to do with my life. Oddly, I ended up in broadcasting school. What possessed me? I had NO clue. But, there I was—on the air at age 19. I truly believe it’s due to the wonderful inspiration of WMMS in my childhood. There is NO other explanation. After working on the air in Phoenix for five years, I moved to the Detroit area in 1988. In 1997 I was working at a particular station here and the guy coming on after me was in the studio and just stood in amazement watching me sing every word to “Born to Run” (which included my air drumming, etc). I then filled him in on the Friday night kick-off tradition. Well, months later—that same station was planning a format change and brought in a new Program Director…John Gorman. I couldn’t believe it. I transformed in a flash from a 32 years old woman to a 13 year old skinny little girl from Cleveland. I should have invested in a brown paper bag (because little did I know I was going to learn what it felt like to hyperventilate) when I went in to his office to meet him. The poor man probably couldn’t understand a thing I was saying–I was talking in circles and so fast (similar to a rapid fire machine gun spinning around while firing.) “I GREW UP IN CHESTERLAND, I, I, I, I LOVED WMMS—OMG—WHAT A GREAT RADIO CHILDHOOD I HAD THANKS TO YOU—Blah, blah, blah.” Looking back, I’m surprised he didn’t call security. I was just so very honored to meet him and shake his hand. I’m surprised I didn’t curtsey and try to kiss his Royal Ring. My dad sent me an article from the Plain Dealer back in January about the WMMS gang at the funeral of Boom Boom. I just came across it again the other day (funny how that works) and saw Ruby Cheeks is in Phoenix. I went to that station and actually emailed her my “adoration and accolades”. She was kind enough to respond and now I’ve listened off and on to her with their online streaming. Very cool. She sounds just as wonderful. I actually have a picture of myself at my second radio job (when I was about 20) wearing a WMMS shirt. Now, that’s funny. Thank you to everyone at WMMS in the 70’s and early 80’s for all the great memories and inspiration. I sure am blessed to have experienced it.
Just to let everyone know- John Gorman’s new book about WMMS is available now!
http://www.grayco.com/cleveland/books/28477/index.shtml
and- John has a blog going about the book here:
http://buzzardbook.wordpress.com/the-book/
and his own blog on media here:
http://gormanmediablog.blogspot.com/
So- hurry up and buy the book and come back here and tell us what you think.
Ditto on all stated here prior.
“That Goddam Guitar” was from the MMS 10th Anniversary concert – “Growing Up” I believe.
You can get the whole concert, plus more here: http://www.springsteenliveinconcert.com/darkness.htm
Just to let you all know that there are some very interesting books out there about the Rock and Roll Capitol (Cleveland) such as “The Buzzard” by John Gorman, “Radio Daze” by Mike Olszewski, “Cleveland Rock & Roll Memories” by Carlo Wolff and “Rock n Roll and the Cleveland Connection” by Deanna Adams . In my copy of Deanna’s book I’ve collected 460 autographs of those famous people who helped to make Cleveland into the Rock and Roll Capitol. Rock on People !!
How cool it was to find out that so many other people were struck by the buzzard! thought i was amoung the few. I was looking for old radio clips with the old ‘PUBLIC SERVICE DIRECTOR AND PART TIME EDITORIOLIST’ MR. LEONARD?
I grew up in kent and a couple of the bars (townhouse and deck)would kill the juke box and play mms maggott brain. good times!
I lived in Youngstown until 81, and we always had a hard time picking up the Thundering Buzzard. in 79 I got a job north of Y-town and was able to pick up the station. Greatest music around.
Every Friday at 18h00 they played one song. Does anyone remember which?
I forgot to include this:
when I lived in Central Africa I had a driver that got clothing from a Catholic Charity. Somehow he got a WMMS T-Shirt that was exactly like mine. I got a picture of the 2 of us wearing the same shirt because the odds of that happening are so small.
Richard-
See comments 13-25 for answers.
As to putting in your url in your comments- it’s in the link on your name, no need to post it manually (oh, except for you are one of those SEO types- who doesn’t have a clue about how to rightfully gain good Google rank- I’m tempted to remove your back links entirely- sorry folks, one of the things we do is teach people how to do SEO correctly and ethically)
Is there any one who can tell me where we can all get a download of the live version of Friday on My Mind by EarthQuake?
Friday on My Mind live version by Earth Quake can be found on Muzic.com — http://www.muzic.com/listen/172
Enjoy! It is a real flash back. I had completely forgotten this version but once I heard it I was 19 years old again and it was immediately Friday night.
I grew up in the shadow of Cleveland (as I call the Akron/Canton area to the geographically ignorant out here in the Plains — they all call Ohio ‘the east’ out here, when I know for sure I grew up in the midwest). I was a kid in the 1970s and a teen/college kid in the 80s, leaving the area in 1988. In our part of town it was cool to hate WMMS since all the burnouts, dropouts, and losers in our school wore WMMS gear and we did NOT want to be associated with them. But we secretly listened anyway knowing it was great stuff.
Some of the later WMMS competition was very good — I listened a lot to WONE (Ak Ron, Cleveland, Can Ton!) 97.5FM in the mid-late ’80s. I picked up a great deal of new music from them that I still appreciate today (Joe Jackson’s ‘Big World’, Smithereens, Steve Winwood, etc.) — and they had a great mix of stuff. There was always a Led Zep song during the late afternoon (said the DJ in a mellow voice: “Zeppp-linnn, mannn”). And such a great mix of old and new — I still remember driving to Cleveland to work one morning in 1987 and WONE played Buddy Holly ‘Not Fade Away’. I’d never heard it before and completely freaked out over that song. Maybe a meaningless oldie to you, but combined with the new music of the day it opened a whole new world of music appreciation to me, having survived disco and the other pop slop of the ’70s during my formative pre-teen years. I remember that morning like it happened yesterday — and it was 20 years ago.
Having such an amazing station like WMMS created a lot of pressure on other stations who wanted to compete — and in turn it created a lot of great radio (like WONE). And the music fans of NE Ohio were the better for it.
It sure changed MY life!
Kid Leo puttin the wraps on the afternoon session where you could get your bid on into the kid Hugh, 578-1007 get that song off your mind and on to your speakers!! Time to wash up and punch out and make way for Denny Sanders, as we kick off the weekend in fine style! Are there any radio checks out there, with the kid wrapping it up, Born to Run, Friday on my mind, and cleveland rocks, going into the get down man?? Its funny how i can remember some of the promos to songs and cant remember what i had for supper last night!! LOL ” Hello this is Bruce Springsteen, I dont have a radio, but Miami Steve does, and he lets me listen to WMMS”. And ” This is the whoopa goofa mama toofa Pete Wolf of the J Geils Band, if your into findin good rockin to relieve your stress, keep your dial tuned to the big MMS, 101 if you want your fun”!! Radio changed along with the times, there was nothing cookie cutter about WMMS back in the “High Times”. Just remember, if its too loud, you are too old!! LOL Keep Rockin
Hey IowaDogFan (#61 above) – thanks for the tip re: Friday on My Mind. Hearing it makes me shiver. Two questions: 1. Do you (or does anyone else) have a similar steer toward the Springsteen concert from The Agora in August 1978 – the MMS 10th Anniversary show? I was there. 2. Any way we can get that live Earth Quake version of Friday on My Mind in downloadable form, or to have it made available on iTunes?
Growing up in Cleveland during 1970-1989, you never heard anyone say, “…hey, will someone turn on MMS” because it was always on. Come on and admit it, except for an Indians or Cavs’ game, the dial never left 100.7. We identified with our brothers and sisters at WMMS as family. Every on radio personality made you feel like they were talking to you and they cared. No one else had Live On-Air Monday Nights at the Agora, Wednesday CoffeeBreak Concerts and LIVE IRS Concerts: Instant Radio Spectaculars.
Even holidays, when most stations go automated, WMMS always had Bevan or Stanley in the studio performing or giving Clevelanders their Christmas greetings. Yes folks, WMMS always put the City of Cleveland FIRST, and in return, WMMS had ratings that went through the roof.
Today, most radio managers get their programming “pre-packaged”. No one cares what the listener wants to hear… No one strives to be creative or different.. most radio managers wouldn’t know a good song if it bit them on their ass. Clear Channel and it’s group of Cronies’ have ruined AM and soon FM will be dead also.
John Gorman, Matt the Cat, Kid Leo, BLFBash, Billy Bass and the rest, thank you for a great ride. Peace, Joe Ray Skrha
Me Again, After reading all of these comments since I left mine awhile back shows me just how much of an impact WMMS made on their listeners and the people of Northeast Ohio. One thing I wanted to mention was the amount of people that piled into the Studium for the “World Series of Rock” like in 1977, when they featured Aerosmith, Todd Rundgren, Lynyrd Skynyrd, E.L.P, Ted Nugent, Pink Floyd, and the J. Geils band just to name a few for that day. Let’s see a station try that today. And let’s see a FM station keep the same on-air staff for 17 years. Mention “Token Jokes” and “Blow Something Up” to people today, and they still laugh over that part of the Jeff and Flash show. anyway, Thanks for a ton of memories, music, and a rockin’ good time!!!
RE: 63, item #2: Scott — I used Firefox browser and the DownloadHelper extension. Worked flawlessly.
I had the pleasure to work at WMMS, and WMJI. I was at WMMS 1994-2000. I was there for Nex Generation and more.
Being a Lakewood native, growing up in the late 70s and 80s, my radio was ALWAYS on “The Thundering Buzzard WMMS”.
I remember when it was “101-FM”, and when it went digital to 100.7 sometime in 1984-85.
If you want to read about WMMS then a MUST READ is John Gorman’s new book “The Buzzard: Inside the Glory Days of WMMS and Cleveland Rock Radio”.
I got it Christmas Eve – Almost done with it.
I grew up with WMMS. And later was fortunate enough to work there and get to work with “Boom” and others. Reading the book, as a listener and an alum, brings welcome shivers of giddiness.
WMMS Rocks!
This brought back SO MANY memories, listening to Jeff and Flash on the way to school we used to laugh till we cried. Anyone remember all the songs that used to kick off the weekend on Fridays at 6:00? Born to Run was one thanks for the memories
I work in Africa and we had a music trivia contest after dinner on Christmas evening at the company compound. While I didn’t win the contest, everyone was impressed with my knowledge of 70’s music. Growing up in Lorain, I listened to WMMS all the time and just took it for granted that every big city had a radio station just like that. Of course, I realized (many years and cities) later, that WMMS as a one of a kind experience.
Thanks for all your postings and all the great memories they produced. Thanks also to John Gorman and any other ‘MMS alum who have read and/or contributed to this blog.
As it used to be called “The best location in the nation.” We grew up in the right place at the right time. I’ve got many great memories of ‘MMS, from painting the Buzzard on my brother’s car and people thinking he was connected to the radio station, to being in “The Back Alley Rally” riding in a former food company van and being mistaken for ‘MMS participation to missing the earthquake at DragWay 42, going to Coffee Break Concerts, picking up bumper stickers and concert tickets downtown at the station and going to the “World Series of Rock” at the old Stadium. These are times I’ll always remember. It just seemed like we were part of ‘MMS and they were part of us. 101 FM FOREVER! “Psycho” class of ’70 Medina High School.
Living in Cincinnati now (Clevelands way too cold) but growing up with the Buzzard in the early 70’s was the best. Remember $1.01 concerts at the Agora (KISS, Three Dog night, Pat Benetar, Gary Apple Band, The Fabulous Poodles, etc…) The Buzzard Morning Zoo was the best way to wake up after a night of partying. How about Filthy McNastys bar on Saturday nights to hear Circus sing “Stop, Wait, Listen” and Molkie Cole sing “Steel Grapes”. Murray Saul was the Greatest. Anyone remember Rolling Stones at Cleveland Stadium in July (Hottest day of the year!) 100,000 People! “Pop Your Magic Twanger, Froggy”
I lived in Solon from 1984-1988. I remember the joke of the day driving to work every weekday. Anyone remember “Mr. Leonard”? I remember a couple of those hilarious songs he sang, such as “Hob-nobbing with the Goober-smoochers” and “My wife just left town with a banana”? Yes, the Buzzard was best!
“Hob-nobbin with the goober-smootchers”! Say that phrase to a bunch of non-Clevelanders and see what you get! You can’t even Google it! Thanks Braz for that memory.
My fading memory recalls a Cleveland version of ‘Dirty Water’ played over the air sometime in the early-mid 1980s. Live version, perhaps?
Any I making up memories here, or does anyone else recall this?
FREE concerts @ mall C ! WMMS made us PROUD !
mistake on the Lake My Ass ! I still live in Cleveland I still Rock and I will always remember !
Cause it’s FRRRIIIDAY,Friiday , Friday,
How close it is to the Weeekend !
Put a brand new wind breaker on for the WEEEEEKEND !!!,
Get a milkshake with an extra scoop of ice cream From Linda THE WEEEEKEND !
Get off the Streets , GET ON THE RACK !!!
Get on the RACK with You Honey for the WEEEKEND,
Eat Your Honey for the WEEEEKEND and Dont even bother to lick Your chin !
And give mee thaaat weekennnd saaaaluuuute !!!!
Cauuuuse Weeee gotta,gotta gottttta, gota gota, gota gota gota gota gota YAIZZZZA, GET DOWN DAMMIT !!!!
The Weekend NEVER END”S ON WMMS CLEVELAND !!!!
Wow, this is a trip down memory lane. I too remember the WMMS culture growing up in Cleveland Heights. It was almost universal – everyone listened, especially on Friday afternoons! The live version of Friday on My Mind (#61 above) is amazing, much better than the two I just downloaded on iTunes looking for “the right one”. If anyone knows how to get a copy of this please post. The other thing that was cool about reading much of the above is remembering so much great music that has become obscure and that I had totally forgotten, e.g., Skinny little boy from Cleveland Ohio!
Note to Doug T. (and the rest of you Buzzard lovers)- I grew up in Cleveland Heights, graduated from Heights in 1980- and then went in the Army- where I all of a sudden realized, every other city didn’t have Buzzard Radio. I was devastated.
Another note: I worked at Coventry Audio (it was “Big Fun” and is now a “Jimmmy Johns”) while I was in Jr. High and HS. We almost always had WMMS on in the store. Alex Bevan and Denny Sanders used to be regular customers, as did Denny’s girlfriend who spun wax on the overnights at Case Western’s radio station- Phyllis would come in each week to buy TDK D-120’s to record her show. She must have hundreds of tapes of great music. I only kick myself now, for not taping WMMS like that.
Earthquake – Friday on my Mind (6:54 @ 320 kbps) available here:
http://my.opera.com/walknthabass/blog/show.dml/336366
Just a little note on Murray Saul’s weekend salute. You can see video on YouTube. Just type in “Murray Saul” on search. Also can search “WMMS” and you can find old commercials of The Buzzard on local TV. I still have my original 45 of “There’s no surf in Cleveland, USA.” by the Euclid Beach Band. Anyone remember when “Rush” came to Chanel High School in Bedford around 1975. It was only $2.00 to get in. How about Record Revolution and Midnight movies in Coventry.
Mr. Leonard(John Rio) is now the morning show host of a country station going by the name John Calhoun.
I came of “musical age”listening to KPRI and KGB, F.M. in San Diego in the mid-late ’70’s. Most of what you describe about WMMS was true of those stations during that short period–DJs playing what they felt, no playlists, varied sets, etc. By the time I left for school in Davis, CA the whole FM “Spring” had deteriorated into something more resembling A.M. radio, and I stopped listening–F.M. radio had turned into boring classic rock and market segmentation began. My salvation was KDVS in Davis–college radio at its finest–and at its best, college radio easily surpasses anything even from F.M. rock’s heyday–it’s uneven, often not not very slick, indeed, sometimes amateurish, but it’s REAL, and you’ll hear great stuff that you’d never hear otherwise. For those who care about music on the radio and are lucky enough to be in a college radio market, ignore pretty much everything 92.0 and higher–I’ll see you “Left of the Dial.”
Growing up in the late 70’s and early 80’s brings back great memories. Went to school in Geneva with the “Cove”. Does anyone remember Wild Horses and their “Funky Poodle”? Only the Buzzard would play them.
Hey Early: I have a treasured copy of the Wild Horses album. Lived in Medina 72-80.
Medinaman,
You lucky dog that is a treasure. I can’t find that anywhere. I do have the vinyl of the WMMS album. There is also a disc on Amazon “Straght Outta Cleveland” that I just picked up to have Funky Poodle on CD. The Exotic Birds and Euclid Beach Band are on this one too.
THE GREATEST RADIO STATION EVER, IN TERMS OF WHAT? LISTENERS? YOU WOULD HAVE TO LOOK AT PAST ARBITRON RATINGS IN VARIOUS MARKETS.I THINK CANADA’S RADIO STATION , CKLW, WOULD QUALIFY FOR GREATEST RADIO STATIONS, IN TERMS OF THE LISTENING AUDIENCE.PITTSBURGH’S WTAE MIGHT BE ANOTHER ONE.
In reference to post 84 from John……..You missed the whole point, read the article at the top from David Esrati. WMMS is considered the greatest radio station ever because of the fantastic relationship it had with the community of Cleveland during it’s heyday. I would know, I was there!…Being raised in the rock ‘n’ roll capital and experiencing WMMS in my early 20’s, I have first hand knowledge. It had nothing to do with pure numbers, Cleveland’s population at the time was only around 1 million people. Only New York or Los Angeles markets would qualify…..Also, it’s considered the greatest radio station ever because of the chemistry of the on-air staff. Kid Leo, Jeff & Flash, Matt the Cat, Denny Sanders, Betty Korvin, and BLF Bash were the All-Star Team of all the radio stations across the country at the time…..These are reasons WMMS has lived up to it’s legacy.
Post 85 was written by Philip LeAnza who grew up in Maple Heights, Ohio (suburb of Cleveland).
CKLW? Windsor. Ontario, Canada, across the river from Detroit? We were able to pick it in Cleveland. It was an AM – repeat AM – pop radio station. We listened to it back in the day when cars had an AM radio or nothing – no FM. I remember that in the summer of ’68 or so they began keeping the Motor City Murder Meter, so numerous were the murders in Detroit. Anyway, it was down low on the AM scan and therefore took advantage of a very wide broadcast area. And no way does anything from Pittsburgh compare favorably to Cleveland. No way.
I have to agree with Philip…When listening to music on WMMS I wasn’t thinking markets , numbers ect.
It was just (cutting edge) Rock-n-Roll & put together by the ‘best of the best’ on the air personalitys! GO BUZZARD GO !
Great memories! I remember timing wherever it was (whatever crappy job I had at the time) so that I was just starting the car at 5:45-or-so p.m. on Friday to crank the Kid Leo out-tro into the weekend! The weekend didn’t officially start until that moment. ‘MMS always seemed to have the hottest new cuts from that day’s best bands (Fleetwood Mac, Seger, Springsteen, Southside, Geils, etc.) well before anyone else, and played the s**t out of them until the “cease-and-desist” orders began rolling in (all before any of the other stations had them, or dared play them). The real difference was indeed the stability of the DJ lineup, and the in-studio guests that always seemed to be “just hanging around with the ‘MMS jocks”. Because we all felt so “close” to the crew on the air, it allowed us to feel that much closer to the rockers and bands being interviewed. Although it was a percieved closeness, it still was the main difference between just listening to any other radio station, and actually feeling like you were a part of something much, much bigger.
Personal favorite momemts:
– Jeff and Flash before the Zoo got too big
– Kid Leo interviews with Southside Johnny
– “The Thundering Buzzard” promo
– Springsteen’s “I don’t have a radio…” promo
– the on-air build up to whichever band was in concert that night.
– riding out a good bar buzz with BLF (kudos to Mr. Classic and the ‘NCX Saturday Night Houseparty 7:00 pm – 12 midnight for keeping this type of radio alive!)
As someone mentioned previously, EVERY radio was tuned to WMMS. All the other stations at that time were merely competing for second best.
@David Esrati, no worry about SEO in this case. The post was started in 2005 and I stumbled it today – over 3 years later. You need to work the social media, and with 88 comments over 3 years, you have an active link that still draws people.
Think social media and put Google Ads on your site.
Hi Richard-
Yes, I’m aware that we’re experts in Search Optimization and this post is a golden example of our strengths-
but, our real strength is in marketing/advertising/branding, something the radio industry has forgotten. We have a Mix something in every city- a Cool Jazz in all the bigger ones, I’m really surprised that one of the Corporate owners of WMMS didn’t try to bring “Buzzard radio” to every city – without a clue of what the buzzards of Hinkley were.
The choice of the Buzzard as the mascot for WMMS was a bold move. It was something unique to the area- but, not exactly something to hang your hat on for all of Cleveland.
I mean- c’mon, wouldn’t you think that being the place where Alan Freed dubbed the music Rock and Roll wasn’t more apropos for a rock station? But, noooo- lets go with this here ugly buzzard with a smirk.
Yet, somehow, all of Cleveland was under the Buzzard for those golden years of the mid 70’s to early 80’s.
As to commercializing this site- putting ads on a site about an agency that finely tunes a message would be like putting a bumper sticker on a Porsche, only a WMMS sticker- nothing else.
You think I’d let someone like Clear Channel (the devil of radio- buy an ad next to an homage to the greatest radio station ever? not just no- Hell No).
My People!!!! I am SO glad I’ve found you…I, too, grew up near Cleveland during those glory days. I live in Ga now, and there is nothing here that even comes close. I would love to get another REAL buzzard t shirt- when I joined the Army my dad threw them away. Any help in finding one would be really appreciated. Cheers!
your dad needs his butt kicked (re: t-shirts)
Jim-
Have thought of doing that many many times. I had quite the collection too.
Had a flashback from the 70’s the other day. Grew up in Richfield and MMS was the coolest radio station I ever experienced! Spent many nights camped at the doors of the Coliseum for tickets, sometimes at the wrong door, oops wrong planet. Gotta love Todd! Anyway…I could not remember who did the Friday warmup with GOTTA GOTTA GOTTA Get Down Dammit! NOBODY, (bunch of youngins) at work knew what I was talkin about!! I did a search and found this 3 year old blog that has been a walk down memory lane and of course answered my question. Hats off to the old WMMS, Home of the Buzzard!
Robin, Welcome aboard ! Thanks for sharing your memory !
So glad I stumbled upon this website — three years later! WMMS in the 80s was a huge influence for me. I don’t remember paying that much attention to it when we lived in Parma in the 70s. I was just in 4th grade. But when we moved to Stuebenville I sure started to notice. In fact, I made sure WMMS was on the car radio when we’d go back to visit relatives. And it was on until it faded out on the trip back. There was just something about it that made you feel like you were cooler than anyone else. I even made a cassette tape of one hour continuous WMMS greatness (Kid Leo’s shift) so I could play it over at home. I’m still kicking myself for taping over it (damn you Husker Du), but 28 years later I can still remember songs they played, like ‘(Ain’t Nothing But a) House Party’ by J. Geils and ‘Wasted’ off of Def Leppard’s 1st album. You just can’t get songs like that into playlists anymore, unless it’s satellite of course. Currently living in GA now, but I’ll tune in online every now an then. Seems like it’s just for horny metal fans now. Anyhow, there’s always a special spot in my heart for MMS.
OK, I spelled Steubenville wrong. I’ve been trying to block that part of my life out anyways.
OKay , the J.Geils Band where my highschool favorites ! I relocated from Cleveland to Orlando, FL…& me & a buddy went to “Pleasure
Island ” (since been closed down) they featured “live” entertainment….we went to see
Guitarist Robben Ford…after leaving his show
we approached the stage (at the other end of the park), on the way out ! I saw a musician playing harmonica (it was Magic Dick from the J.Geils band ), next I focused on the bass-nothing…then the keyboards-nothing…
then the drums…”what the….!?!” Hey , thats Stephen Jo Bladd ! (from the J.Geils Band)… & the guitarist was a very fat J.Geils himself….
he was playing a Fender Strat Guitar….not the Gibson Flying V that he played in the past ! It was a unique show – in my eyes – that brought back memories..ie. WMMS , Nelson Ledges , Cleveland Stadium Shows, the shows at Richfield Collesium….. Man , What a night!
Anyone remember Black Sabbath & Uriah Heep at the coliseum? Had to have been 1974 or 75. Todd Rundgren on new year’s eve, two years in a row! Kiss at the coliseum (Destroyer tour) on the worst snowfall blizzard in years. WMMS was there for all of them.
Oh yeah, So was I! Sorry
I had stubs for all of those mentioned concerts! Had about 6 inches of snow fall on us while camping out to buy Rundgren tickets. Remember ZZ Top and Black Sabbath? And Led Zeppelin was so loud that I still have ringing in my ears! WMMS brought the best to us!
Talk about loud, how about Deep Purple at the Cloverleaf Speedway (early 70’s?)in valley view, Ohio. How about Yes, Aerosmith, ELO, Peter Frampton and Michael Stanley at the World Series of Rock at Cleve. Stadium. Also Foghat and the Outlaws on the same show (1978).
I’m sitting in Dubai and I’m taken back 30 years,…I sit here and can smell the freshly cut N.E. Ohio grass…and the air through the windows…no AC back then,
Triple play on Fidays
liked Jeff Kinsbach even though he went to Michigan
BLF bash…..
HOME OF THE BUZZARD!!!!
You are sitting in Dubai and reminiscing NE Ohio!? What a testament to the ties that bind and Buzzard Radio that bound a community.
I was “just” informed of this site from a good friend, who like me can remember ‘MMS from the early ’70’s. Reading the posts I saw no mention of one of the DJ’s, Martin Pearlich(sp). I do remember one Coffee Break Concert on Christmas morning with many local musicians of the day, such as Alex Bevin and John Bassette. I was told that John just reciently passed away. To this day that on air show stands out as one of my favorite memories of the station. This was also the era (1970-1975) when the Hestler Street Fare was at it’s peak, and many of the local musicians lived there as well.
Another high school friend who was in charge of the All Campus Programming Board at Kent State, asked me to help him set up this a new band from New Jersy. It was 1974 and the band was the E Street Band. I knew that I was seeing something that would go on to greatness. One year later, at the Akron Civic, Bruce and the boys brought the house down and played for hours.
As someone else mentioned, listen to the college stations for new and old talent, and just a bit of that old ‘MMS format.
Thanks for the memories………..
Hi Friends and Greetings from Alaska…
I couldn’t help but appreciate all the recent posts that refer to great concerts that were once played on WMMS. Does anyone have any of those old 1971-1975 coffeebreak concerts of local talent? or how about Bowie’s first concert at Music Hall in 1972? I recorded it live but loaned out the tape 30 years ago. How about any recordings from either the 1971 (WNCR), 1972(WMMS) or 1973 (WIXY) Edgewater Rock Festivals. I bet some of you folks have copies of these great concerts hiding in your closets. If you do, please email me any maybe we can bring to light some of these great memories. I’m willing to trade too. Peace Friends, Joe Ray [email protected]
cleaning up my Ipod I came upon a 45RPM version of “Funky Poodle” by Wild Horses….while I was laughing at this memory a thought came to me…& that is “….if this 45RPM version is
exactly 3:00 minutes long (Q?) how long is album version ?
thanks for your reply! jim
I don’t know Jim. I’ll have to get the LP out of storage as my basement flooded up here in Michigan as a result of Ike and I moved everything to a higher level. I’ll let you know as soon as I can.
Hi, I’m the wife of Steve Jochum, formerly of Wild Horses, and writer and singer of Funky Poodle. I love the comments about the band. Steve is still an active musician in the Cleveland area. Check out http://www.Funkypoodle.net
MMS was he greatest!
Christmas/snow will soon be upon Cleveland….
A MEMORY – The wife & I came up to Cleveland from Orlando, Fl (where we are now)… It was winter time & we were having dinner at the Sweetwater Cafe (downtown) We were the only ones in there & it was snowing & the snowflakes were “silver-dollar” size…”Lets have (2)bottles of Mumms Extra-dry Champagne from Reims France ! In-conversation all those that worked at Sweetwater Cafe were/ are actors / actresses @ the Cleveland Playhouse….My wife & I LAUGHED & LAUGHED & drank more champagne!
todays date is December 7th (remember Pearl Harbor 1941) & its coming close so…….
Merry Christmas everybody!
The Best of Holidays to One & All!
jim
In 1983, I had enlisted in the Air Force and moved to Texas and Arkansas and WMMS was one of the things that I missed the most about home. Many times just out of the blue, I would call the station to see what was going on back at home. Everybody I spoke with was always very kind and patient, seeming like they would talk to me all night. They were all great but T.R. is the one I spoke to most often. One night he asked me for my mailing address, saying he was going to send me some bumper stickers. A few days later a package arrived stuffed with T-Shirts, Pencils, Bumper Stickers, a calendar, the latest Scene magazine and many other odds and ends. I was so thrilled I could barely contain myself!
At one point I was speaking with a gentleman named Tom Wood, a program director for Magic 105.1, KMJX in Little Rock. During our conversation he discovered I was in the Air Force and not from Little Rock originally. When he found out I was from Cleveland his voice jumped up an octave asking me about WMMS. I was surprised he had heard of it to which he responded, “You cannot be in the FM radio business and NOT know who they are……..they are the standard!” At one point when he found out that I had hours of WMMS stereo tapes, he wanted to get together to give them a listen for ideas to improve his station. As proud as I was of this request, I felt such a loyalty to MMS that I never did it…….it would have felt like I was betraying a friend. Sounds silly, I know but for a young 21 year old missing home and WMMS, it really did feel that way. Speaking of the tapes….
During the week between Christmas and New Year’s in 83, I taped a couple of hours of Betty Corvan’s show and still have it to this day. The following year I was home on leave for the first two weeks of the New Year (1985) when they had one of their “All Request, No Repeat Classic Rock Weekends.” They had HUGE commercial free music marathons, which was fantastic at the time. I have to admit that listening to the commercials today is even nostalgic. Most of the sponsors are no longer in business. I ended up taping roughly 40 hours of WMMS during those first two weeks of ‘85’ and managed to capture Kid Leo, Denny Sanders, Dia, Matt-The-Cat (I think), T.R., BLF and even a portion of Boom Boom’s Solid Gold Sunday Morning. During his show he says….
“That was the Solid Gold Sicky of the morning, the barf bag burger…….Brute Force and the Tape Worm of Love from back in 1966. Brute Force we didn’t know anything about them before they came on the scene, haven’t heard anything since…and we don’t reeeealllly carrrre.”
I recorded these on some great Marantz equipment and even 24 years later they still sound pretty good. I am in the process of transferring them digitally and would love to trade them for what other people might have out there. I can’t be the only one that has lots of MMS tapes. It would be great if there was a site set up to be able to share some of the tapes from our collections!
I apologize for such a long post but in reading all the great posts here, I just had to share!
All the buzzard best to all in 2009!
Tim
I worked with Bill “BLF Bash” Lionel Freeman for two years as an overnight stock clerk, BLF was a gas, a really cool guy that has it all together, man. He would work doing stock, and as a cashier. We used to talk about music all the time. He was a really cool guy, and I miss talking with him…since I am no longer with Giant Eagle.
William “Greekmman” Poulos
Former WMMS Ops Manager/Program Director John Gorman has a blog to support his Buzzard book, and the legacy of WMMS.
http://buzzardbook.wordpress.com/
Thanks Chuck that is a great link
Im 46 and grew up in Medina. I left in the mid 80s I now have lived in Denver for 14yrs and really get home sick sometimes. These Denverites have not a clue about real rock n roll
Its not the same , Dave….WMMS was, is & always will be LEGEND !! My time was the complete ’70s …. Black Sabbath , the Eagles ,
Joe Walsh & the Michael Stanley Band ect. (just to name a few)….but the #1 band ,(in my mind)has to be *Bruce Springsteen & the East St. Band “……the Boss’s 1st 4 albums were COMPLETELY UNTOUCHED by any R&R artists….
*dont get me wrong here* you like who/what you like…in my mind WMMS & Cleveland gave the East Streeters a “HOME AWAY From HOME ! We knew them & they knew us!
Hi Tim Cassidy,
If you see this post, email me at [email protected] and I will touch base about your request of recorded WMMS broadcasts. Peace, Joe Ray ps: no, I didn’t vote for Palin here in Alaska…
Rare airchecks of Kid Leo posted today to http://buzzardbook.wordpress.com/
If you have WMMS audio you’d like to share you can email myself at [email protected] or John Gorman thru the Buzzard blog website.
Hi Denver Dave… I have relatives in Denver. I’m from Lakewood. My uncle and his family live near Aspen. He owns Gregg Builders.
Denver has/had a decent rocker in 106-7 KBPI…but I agree not like the “Buzzard”.
Check this out… Len “Boom” Goldberg voice session for WMMS.
http://www.mediafire.com/file/ue4ejbyqjwn/boom wmms VO session.mp3
To Denver Dave.. meant to say I’m from Lakewood OH, not Lkwd CO
I’m a music fan (not from Cleveland), but had a roommate from Cleveland while in the Marines. He was the biggest WMMS and Browns fan i’ve ever met. #13 Tim Cassidy above mentions that he has some airchecks of WMMS, well, I’m a collector of radio recordings, and have gathered a few WMMS recordings along the way. Tim please drop me an email at [email protected] and we’ll do some trading !! Anyway, i’m not too web site savy, but would definitely donate copies of my recordings to a web site that would store then for all to access and download. Still rockin’ with the buzzard, Chris
Wow, stumbled on to this while searching the web. Brings back a ton of memories! I’ve lived in N.E. Ohio all my life and grew up listening to the Buzzard. There will never be a station as great as WMMS was in its heyday. I can remember listening to it all the time in jr. high and high school. Had a 30 min. ride on the school bus and was happy when we could get the driver to put on the morning zoo. Jeff and Flash and Mr. Leonard were a blast to listen to. Painted the Buzzard logo on anything and everything! Had the t-shirts and your car wasn’t cool unless you had a Buzzard sticker on it! I had hours of tapes of Buzzard broadcasts. Don’t know if any of them have survived. I’ll have to start looking. We were part of something special, something that made us proud to be from Cleveland. Today’s version of MMS is a joke with the exception of Maria in the early afternoon (gotta love Big Hair Wednesday!). I want music, not babbling morons on my radio. WNCX and WONE are still keeping rock alive in N.E. Ohio. Thanx to all for posting, it really takes me back!
I live out in Madison, OH and there’s a station that plays Maggot Brain followed by Dynamo Hum every Sunday morning at 1:00 am. Damndest thing. It’s like the buzzard of old but no jocks or commercials and I can’t seem to pick them up very far from home. Refreshing sound though lol
Jack…what’s the frequency/call letters of the station? Is it The Fox out of Kingsville?
http://www.thefox1075.com/main.php
Owned by Media-One, along with WZOO, WREO and WFUN.
Owner, Tom Embrescia, used to be involved with WDOK and WQAL.
What about “Classic Rock Saturday Night”? Where else could you hear classic “LIVE” recordings of your favorite bands…that no other station had? ZZtops “fool for your stockings” live…it doesn’t get much better than that! Recovering Sunday mornings with the smooth sounds of Len “Boom Boom’s” voice… I know Len is “the voice” of the “Great Big Radio Station” in the sky…RIP. I miss the Buzzard…thanks for the memories!
I grew up in northeast Ohio and listened to Kid Leo RE-LI-GIOUS-LY everyday. Len Goldberg will always be the golden voice “Psychedelic Sunday” to me. The one thing that I really remember the most was the night John Lennon died and MMS going for the next 72 hours commericial free of nothing but continuous Beatles and Lennon songs.
I have always remembered that tribute and felt like it should have continued every year to honor his contribution to Rock N Roll.
I used to live in Warren, Ohio. WMMS was the best in the day. I have maggot brain on disc BLF Bash was my favorite dj. I also listened to and have seen Michael Stanley Band. Speaking of them, do any of you know of a local cover band called the Fabulous Flashbacks? The bass player, Michael Gismondi was a former member of Michael Stanley Band. I remember my mom’s car having an a.m. radio only, and it picked up wmms on a different frequency of course. I miss the Cleveland days. The Richfield Coliseum and Blossom Music Center are where I saw most of my concerts. Man, I saw all the LEGENDS in Cleveland. Anyone remember Gerry Shirley from Humble Pie? He was a d.j. on another Cleveland station …..98 or 97? I used to play “First Verse” with him. He would play some riffs on his guitar and he had two people sing the lyrics and i won a lot probably because it was so early in the morning. But, All of that stuff is probably gone now , like everything great, it doesn’t last. CLEVELAND ROCKS. WMMS, Oh, and Is there still a station called CD 106? I believe it was in the youngstown area.
I’ve noticed several posts by people mentioning recordings of WMMS that they made during the glory years of the station. Being a collector of radio recordings (Airchecks), I attempted to contact these people and get copies of their material with no luck. So, i’ll just say this little piece….. I’ve known several people who over the years have had nice collections of radio recordings. They died. Their recordings, some one of a kind, and what happened to them ? Thrown in the garbage and now lost for all time. So come on guys, don’t just say that you have a box of old ‘MMS tapes in the closet. Dig them out, make copies, and continue the legend.
Yeah, the glory days of WMMS were from the early 70’s to the late 70’s; wow, Friday evenings were so cool as I prepared for a long night of slamming beers and smoking Columbian Gold(is that still available???)by listening to ‘MMS with a few of my brothers in our bedroom, as we traded great hash, weed, thai sticks, etc. amongst ourselves. Born to Run, Murray Saul, Friday on My Mind(I found the Earthquake album with this great song),and we were ready to jam all night. The pussy rock played nowadays on so called rock stations is pathetic,but I am grateful that I was able to experience the aura, magic, madness, and sheer rock n roll joy that WMMS provided for a relatively long stretch(in radio time, anyway). At least Kid Leo is on Sirius Satellite……
Kid Leo does his show daily Monday through Friday from 1PM-4PM PST on Sirius Radio Channel 25 (Little Steven’s Underground Garage). He still sounds good. His show is a mix of new music and oldies. I played an air check of the Kid from 1986 on WMMS and then compared it to now and it’s basically the same show. The big difference is on WMMS you could hear the passion in his voice for his pride in Cleveland. Broadcasting on Sirius from NYC has a different vibe and his delivery is a bit faster.
If you were living in Cleveland in the 70’s and 80’s and listening to WMMS, I have a great book suggestion. Former WMMS PD John Gorman’s “The Buzzard” (Inside the Glory Days of WMMS and Cleveland Rock Radio) is a must read. The behind the scenes stories about M105, WGCL, WLYT, WMJI competing with the almighty Buzzard are legendary. Also, the stories about the WMMS air personalities and corporate management are eye opening! The book publisher is Gray & Company (www.grayco.com)and is available in paperback. I bought mine at Borders.com for $14.95.
God this whole thing takes me back. Gorman is and was a great mind in radio.
But the one thing I thought always set them apart was how comfortable the artists were. Any one else remember Joe Walsh and Rick the bass player taking over on overnights, locking the doors and eating cheetos into the microphones? One of the only highlights of my Cleveland life…
The memories!!! As one who also had the knob welded in place (my kids area amazed that you actually had to turn a knob to tune in a station; there’s a lost art, huh?), MMS was always the constant in the wildly ‘variable’ years that were the 70’s & early 80’s. It saddens me that my children are listening to the dreck that is on MMS today and think that it is good or even relevant!
Enough of the bitter old-timer…..
Mike from N.O reminded me of the Joe Walsh promo along the lines of: “Hey kids, this is Joe Walsh on WMMS. Did you know that WMMS backwards is SMWUH?” (spoken as a word by the chemically enhanced JW).
Finally, going back to early MMS; my brother built an AM/FM receiver as an electronics project in high school and put a ‘101-FM WMMS’ sticker on it that had a pipe-smoking Leprechaun under a mushroom (Gee, what could that mean?!?). Naturally, the teacher asked him “What’s the meaning of it (the sticker)?” “It’s rock and roll” was the answer that earned him an after-school detention.
He still has the receiver and I still get a kick out of the story as well as the pre-buzzard logo/sticker. Anyone else remember that one?
Like everyone else, I could go on and on with the MMS memories, but I won’t….
As a dislocated Collinwood/Clevelander now living in Missouri,I know what all these posts mean. There was nothing like WMMS. After joining the USAF and traveling, I realized I enjoyed a special time in my life listening to our favorite jocks… And by the way, remember Sensational Alex Harvey Band’s “Faith Healer” or “Midnight Moses” why hasn’t SAHB got the respect they deserve. Alex Harvey was a pioneer. I was hoping some young band like Avenged Fold Seven would cover a SAHB tune, like “Gangbang”. Oh yes, those were the days. By the way does anyone have a copy of “The weekend never ends on WMMS followed by Friday on My Mind, Born to Run and Cleveland Rocks? I will love to have a copy on a CD. By the way I’ll trade ya for some SAHB? I can be reached at [email protected]
Also, wow did Cleveland enjoy the concert scene back in the 70’s and 80’s. Anyone remember Roxy Music, David Bowie, AC/DC (with Bonn Scott and Thin Lizzy with Phil Lynott playing downtown together (my first concert), or the Stadium Jams with Bob Seger, Aerosmith, J. Geils Band, (which by the way kicked ass live), Nugent, or even when April Wine hosted a benefit concert for cans of food, or even Melissa Etheridge (when she released her first CD) playing at a WMMS lunch time concert for free, wow…We had so many top acts, it was tough to decide, darn it I knew I should have went to that Bob Marley concert at the Front Row, when I had the chance
Hey did you remember what the brothers called WMMS? White Mans Music Station…
Does anyone remember the song that Alex Bevan and The Buzzard Band did in honor of the buzzard’s 10th anniversary called “The Buzzard Song”?
Gary, I totally agree with you about The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, they have never gotten the respect they deserve. As far as I am concerned, they should be inducted into the RNR Hall Of Fame! I had The Sensational Alex Harvey Band Live album (aaaah yes, vinyl!) when I was a kid and it was one of my favorite albums.
Hey Gary Brown & Brian, There are lots of soundbites and on air stuff from the Glory days of WMMS on John Gormans Website http://buzzardbook.wordpress.com/
Also if you go on YouTube and search WMMS and Murray Saul you can see video of WMMS commercials and the Get Down Man at Cleveland Stadium (World Series of Rock). If I am not mistaken there is a Sensational Alex Harvey Band Album Live from Cleveland in the 70’s.
Sensational Alex Harvey Band “Gang Bang”. Priceless!
Best on-air promo on MMS in the 70s, IMO: Pete Townshend “Rcok and Roll will always, always, always, always, always overcome…..eventually.”
Ok, I found Earthquake’s version of Friday on my Mind, on Youtube. Does anyone know how I can transfer it to ITUNES?
Now if I can find a recording of “The weekend Never ends on WMMS”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_r-W-Rlomk
Link to old WMMS TV spot on Youtube- note it was when it still was 101, not 100.7!
http://www.sahbofficial.co.uk/home.htm
Link to The Sensational Alex Harvey Band site!
if you want WMMS ID’s, former Buzzard PD John Gorman has some audio posted on his blog, including “The Weekend Never Ends”
http://buzzardbook.wordpress.com/
Gary
to transfer to iTunes, simply connect and resync your library.
What memories… growing up here on the Mistake on the Lake – The city with a tower that’s terminal and a lake that’s Erie. A river that caught on fire (as did mayor Perks hair) Home of Ghoulardi, Dorothy, Barnaby and most Importantly WMMS…
We were the butt (and maybe deservedly so) of a lot of national jokes, But I have never been more proud than when WMMS was voted the top station in the country and ultimately was the driving force behind the landing of the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame. Jeff and Flash, Matt, Kid,Denny,BLF, and Boom this city owes you all BIG TIME for landing that one! Every time I pass that beautiful monument on the Lakefront I’m proud to say “We did that!” against all the odds and with every force in the universe (or so it seemed) conspiring to deny us. Even after they extended voting for a second day nobody else was even close. That’s simply because as Ian Hunter so eloquently said; “CLEVELAND ROCKS!!!”
Best MMS Promo EVER – “This is Bruce Springsteen, and I don’t have a radio, but, Miami Steve Does… and when we’re in Cleveland he lets me listen to WMMS”
Second Best – This is Southside Johnny and whenever I’m in Cleveland I listen to WMMS because they’ve got Kid Leo… What for, I don’t know…”
Thanks to all of you for making growing up here on the Northcoast truly “The best location in the nation” (if you happened to like Rock-n-Roll)
Gilb, you forgot Betty “Crash” Corbin! How could you forget her?
Here is something you may like Gilbhttp://buzzardbook.wordpress.com/2007/11/29/bruce-springsteen-radio-id/ The whole website is excellent. Lots of soundbytes and videos. let me know what you think.
Who could forget “Betty Corbin Eyes?”… Sorry about that! The Bruce cut is exactly as I remembered it! I saw he recorded that the day before the Allen Theater Concert. We were lucky enough to be there for that concert and thanks to my best friends cousin were already huge Bruce fans after he saw him at a 101 night out at the original Cleveland Agora. He went out the next day and bought “The Wild the Innocent and the E-Street Shuffle” that was, and still is, one of my favorite albums. The 10th Anniversary Concert with “The Boss” has been hailed as one of the most bootlegged concerts in history. There used to be a copy of it on 8-Track (even outdated at that time) my best friend recorded right off of the radio and somehow we all knew that was going to be a part of Rock-N-Roll History. I also remember when Southside Johnny first broke onto the local scene (Thanks to Kid “Why wait for the Record” Leo). I also heard their file of Cease and Desist orders from sneak peaks of albums was also the stuff legends are made of. But the nights spent at the Cleveland Agora back before they remodeled it are some of my fondest memories! Even saw Bruce there when he sat in with Southside after he had performed at the Coliseum earlier that night! The concert didn’t start until really late because they had to wait for Miami Steve to get there from the Coliseum I think we finally got to Denny’s around 4:30 and had to be up for work at 6 – time well spent if you ask me! Funny how I can’t seem to remember where I parked my car at the mall but I can still remember all this stuff from my miss spent youth!
Man,what can i say,finding this page just blows me away!!! I grew up in lorain and the thoughts of the summers on the northcoast just take me back to some of the great times in the history of rock and roll mms is simply the corner stone that rock and roll radio was laid on.Lets not forget donna halper one of the great program directors at mms and her small contrabution of playing for the first time on radio a small unknown canadian bar band Rush!thanks for the great summer nights on the lake…….lost in costa rica jj
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDNwxsiu-bE&feature=related
Here is another link to an awesome WMMS commercial. “Greetings from The Home of The Buzzard” Also Rush has a new DVD out that has footage from the early years. With Alex Lifeson wearing a old WMMS Mushroon T-Shirt.
Gary, I totally agree with you about The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, they have never gotten the respect they deserve. As far as I am concerned, they should be inducted into the RNR Hall Of Fame! I had The Sensational Alex Harvey Band Live album (aaaah yes, vinyl!) when I was a kid and it was one of my favorite albums.
Sensational Alex Harvey Band “Gang Bang”. Priceless!
Here is the You Tube link to the WMMS “Lost Tapes” from New Years Eve, 1985 with Jeff & Flash and the “Morning Zoo”!….Part 1 of a 5 part series posted on You Tube…..The sound quality is excellent!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO0YQouIaJU
Best on-air promo on MMS in the 70s, IMO: Pete Townshend “Rcok and Roll will always, always, always, always, always overcome…..eventually.”
mms rocks
I grew up in Aurora & willnever 4-get Buzzard day at G-lake Park [rip will miss ya]&remember seeing Wareen Zevon, American Noise..I recorded the Springsteen 10th anniversary concert alas on 8 track long gone now. In the mid 80’s I moved to Dallas tx. One of the rock stations was having a morning show promo @ a What-a-Burger with a stump the DJ contest..I went in with a BUZZARD shirt on & they saw it and said “This guy cannot play he know too much & will win!!” They gave me one of their T’s & tried to get my BUZZARD shirt..NO WAY!!! so I was sent on my way..I was soo proud at that moment to be recognized as a listener of the GREATEST ROCK STAION IN THE WORLD!!
Does anyone have a copy of the Solid Gold Sunday Morning Psychedelic Oldie? You know the
one with the hippies waking up saying “Is it Sunday already man? Wow look at all the flowers wooowwww…” Used to have it on tape but it got destroyed . Good memories of a good show.
Thanks man !