REEL TOP 40 RADIO REPOSITORY
Joe Evelius is a native of Baltimore and a longtime Top Forty radio fan and broadcaster, having worked part time on the air since 1974 at WNAV, Annapolis; WFBR, Baltimore; WITH, Baltimore and WAMD, Aberdeen. Also, Joe is working on a book featuring Baltimore top forty radio legends - the personalities who introduced the hits on WITH and WCAO in the fifties and sixties. In addition to some great stories, there will also be lots of exhibits including pictures, music surveys and promotional items. About his collection, Joe writes: "Just for starters, some airchecks from Baltimore and Washington recorded by Baltimore native Jim Sheeler, a friend who passed away in 1977. Jim recorded AM top forty beginning in the early 1960's. In 1966 he found WPGC-FM, a legendary rocker with a blowtorch signal blanketing Baltimore, Washington and northern Virginia. Jim recorded WPGC in Cockeysville, Maryland - 40 plus miles from the transmitter site which is in Morningside, Maryland. Hundreds of reels and cassettes remain to be dubbed to digital from both the Jim Sheeler stash and my own collection. There's lots of WCAO, WCBM, WITH, and WLPL, along with "vacation" tapes of KQV-FM (simulcast with AM) and some Florida stuff. Enjoy!" The Repository thanks Joe Evelius for sharing! |
[Descriptions by Uncle Ricky ]
TOP STREAM 44 Kbps (14 Khz)
Classic and Classy Radio Commercials, 1950s - 1970s
(57:23)
. . . Motorola Shirt Pocket Portable Radio, the Transistor X-11 with six transistors . . . [Description by Uncle Ricky] Our thanks to contributor Joe Evelius for this delightful composite of Classic and Classy Radio Commercials from the 1950s, 1960s, and the early 1970s. Joe writes: "For many years I have collected commercials in addition to airchecks, jingles and records. In many ways, commercials are the toughest items to find even though they played such a prominent role on the air. Those jingles seem to stay with people for a long time. I hope this brings more people and their contributions to Reelradio..."Opening with a very early Dr. Pepper spot (at 10, 2 and 4!), this composite is never more than a few minutes from a soft drink song, including Pepsi-Cola, Coca-Cola, Royal Crown, Seven-Up and Frosty Root Beer. Petula Clark is also featured with a 90-second rendition of Things Go Better With Coke (Coke ahfta Coke ahfta Coke). Would you prefer a Budweiser, Hamms, Schaeffer, Pabst Blue Ribbon, or Ballantine instead? Perhaps you'd rather share a Schlitz with Ella Fitzgerald or what sounds like The Carpenters (heard for the finale.) And if you're in the mood for a movie, there are spots for Go Johnny Go (starring Alan Freed!), Tammy And The Bachelor, Pillow Talk, Murder, Inc., Cool Hand Luke, The Dirty Dozen, The Graduate, and Patton. Lots more for automobiles, too - even the Studebaker Lark. And there are spots for L&M, Newport, Pall Mall, Winston and Kent. Of course, these familiar melodies were legislated out of existence in the '60's (though they are still legal products!) Buckle Up For Safety, Buckle Up! Many of these commercials are jingles, and it's fun to hear vocal styles and instrumentation change over twenty years. The entire 57+ minutes is a fascinating aural history and highly recommended for your enjoyment. |
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TOP STREAM 32.0 Kbps (16 Khz)
Todd Chase, KQV-FM Pittsburgh, August 16, 1968
(02:19:03)
. . . People Got To Be Free - to pay taxes . . . [Description by Uncle Ricky] Todd Chase is heard on KQV-FM (simulcasting KQV-AM) on August 16, 1968. The exceptional fidelity of this exhibit is exceeded only by a marathon length: Two Hours and Nineteen Minutes snatched from an otherwise forgotten Friday night in the Steel City. It's not exactly clear what was going on with KQV-FM at this time. ABC News interrupts Down at Lulu's (thankfully!) and Jerry Marshall's National Sound Survey (featuring the PD of KORD in Pasco, Washington) seems to rejoin the Chase show in progress. Perhaps KQV-FM cleared some ABC network features that didn't run on the AM? Bill James is heard with news. He does a fine job until the last five minutes of this aircheck, when you'll hear a seriously-flawed newscast that is SO messed up it's hard to believe it was on an ABC O&O. In addition to hearing James fumble around for carts, you'll hear someone walk into the studio! The final commercial is cut off, but this amazing recording is complete with the official Sign Off, The Star Spangled Banner, and "No Carrier". |
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TOP STREAM 32.0 Kbps (16 Khz)
Tiger Bob Raleigh, WPGC Washington, D.C. July 20 1969 (01:49:27) . . . Let me open up the Maryland Request-O-Matic line . . . [Description by Uncle Ricky] First, this is also a very long exhibit - almost two hours. I couldn't consider any edits because the fidelity is so consistently excellent. So, it's all here, from about 9am until 10:49AM on July 20, 1969. Thanks to contributor Joe Evelius for this great addition to the Repository. Bob Raleigh appears in two roles on this aircheck, and we're told it's the same guy. Tiger Bob Raleigh is the DJ, and Bob Raleigh is the news guy featured during this unscoped hour and 49 minutes of WPGC-FM. It's a Sunday Morning, and it's a Solid Gold Million Dollar Weekend, and we LOVE that reverb! You'll also enjoy an interesting blend of Pepper-Tanner (I think) and PAMS jingles, and a cornucopia of period marketing (for all the important things, of course.) Request-O-Matic and Sound-Off-of-the-Week are fun, but scattered between the expected hard-core Goldens and Top 40 "Hits" of the period, you'll find a bountiful garden of mid-chart weirdness - including at least one cut you *can't* play today, you'd be sued into bankruptcy! Amazing fidelity on this exhibit, reminding us mostly how bad 45 RPM records sounded after being played over and over again on radio station turntables. But for me, nothing can beat Wilmer And The Dukes, featured here as heard then - from a grungy, cheap plastic 45 and a dull needle with a lot of reverb and lots of indiscriminate gain control. Yum. |
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TOP STREAM 32.0 Kbps (16 Khz)
Steve Miller, WLPL-FM Baltimore, December 1971
(48:54)
. . . Congressman Wilbur Mills says the Democrats could beat President Nixon in 1972, if they tell the truth . . . [Description by Uncle Ricky] Contributor Joe Evelius wrote that WLPL-FM was Baltimore's first FM rocker at 92.3 Mhz. Anyone who worked in a small or medium market in those years will recognize the Frankenstein Acapella Jingle Company offerings here. OK, so WLPL owned a few jingles of their own, and they stitched them together with some other jingles. With the exception of Footstompin', which has audible phase error, (the only serious defect in this otherwise excellent recording) it's likely all of the music on this unscoped exhibit was from 45 RPM vinyl singles. Holiday Alert: There are a couple of seasonal musical offerings in this unscoped 48 minutes of the Steve Miller program on a Million Dollar Weekend from a Saturday night in December, 1971. Steve also reads the news - following a muddy musical stager dating back to the early sixties! The lead story advises pregnant women to avoid emptying the cat's litter pan. Please make a note of it. |
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