Charlie Van Dyke is one of America’s foremost voices, heard on TV, Radio and even in Movie Trailers… but for most of the 70s and 80s, his career was spent behind the mic of some of the best Top 40 stations ever heard. WRKO, by 1979 is feeling the pressure from FM – WVBF, in particular, and unbeknownst to most people, is in it’s final year as a Top 40 station. I consider this the best that RKO sounded, even better than the 60s Drake incarnation.

Charlie Van Dyke & Company, 68 WRKO Boston | April 6, 1979 is a post from: Airchexx.com

It seems kind of odd that WRKO, a new station at this point, having flipped to Top 40 from the former WNAC earlier in the year, would be counting down the Top 300 Best of All Time – I mean, the Rock & Roll era only began 12 years prior… but I digress. J.J. Jeffrey starts out counting down the hits from #232 to #230 before handing the reigns to Chuck Knapp. Chuck continues with songs #229 – #220. The recording ends in the middle of a commercial break with Knapp doing a live read for Surf Music.

This is CLASSIC Drake Top 40! Cue the Johnny Mann Singers, and the original WRKO Jingles. All the formatics are in place, Jeffrey and Knapp are puking (not in a literal sense, puking in this vernacular, describes a way of speaking on the radio… a throaty, high pitched inflective voice that frankly, irritates like fingers on a blackboard.), which drives me crazy!, and the commercial breaks are filled with businesses that no longer exist, or are memorable for many reasons. And, speaking of live commercial reads, there are LOTS of them, and lots of live “tags” – live reads that the deejay would say at the end of a recorded commercial which was part of the spot.

For those of you wondering what radio really sounded like; what the roots of Top 40/CHR radio are, this is a history lesson you won’t learn in school. WRKO today might irritate its listeners with it’s uber-conservative talk shows (and Howie Carr ain’t no Top 40 jock, that’s for sure)… but this is what “The Big 68″ was in it’s glory years, at the very beginning. And there’s just no comparison to now from then. We hope you enjoy!

J.J. Jeffrey/Chuck Knapp and the “Top 300 Best of All Time”, 68 WRKO Boston | October 20, 1967 is a post from: Airchexx.com

Sunny Joe White’s success with Kiss 108 really is unparallelled, at least from a longevity standpoint. While the decade of the 70s saw WRKO as the mainstream Top 40 outlet, RKO never achieved the ratings or fame that Kiss did. At one point in the 1983, Kiss OWNED the CHR format in a four station race that included WHTT, WZOU, Kiss, and even for a time, WROR 98.5, which tried the format for a while in ‘83 before returning to AC.

But this ‘check is from 1989. While personnel changes and a loss of CHR competition would mark the 90s, Kiss is still going strong, in a mainstream battle between itself and crosstown WZOU Z-94. White, in addition to PD was also the night jock, in a position that he would hold a little while longer before a dispute with Balsbaugh would force him out in the 90s, only for him to wind up at Fairbanks’ WVBF.

Kiss really cooks here. White is returning from vacation and is having a lot of fun. The music rotation leans a bit more rhythmic, but the Rolling Stones make an appearance, as does Starship and a few other Rock dinosaurs.

Runs 7:09, scoped. Courtesy of Robyn Watts and “East Coast Airchecks”

Sunny Joe White, WXKS-FM Kiss 108 Medford/Boston | November, 1989 is a post from: Airchexx.com

While relatively recent (at over 10 years old, is this really ‘recent’?), this ‘check from 1998 showcases both the talent and the format at 105.7, which at this time was still an attempt at re-creating the former WROR at 98.5 (Now WBZ-FM “The Sports Hub”) from the early 1980’s. It was a good format, which included, for a time, former WROR (98.5) jocks Joe Martelle and Jimmy Roberts (I remember him as Jim Roberts in the 80s).

This is definitely worth a listen for the humor and for a format that was quite enjoyable to listen to.

Loren & Wally, 105.7 WROR Framingham / Boston | March 21, 1998 is a post from: Airchexx.com

Dorman is one of those jocks who made it big in the RKO chain of stations back when personality really mattered. Once the Morning Show host at WRKO in it’s top 40 heyday, Dorman also spent time doing West Coast top 40 at KFRC San Francisco in the late 60s, and after WRKO was the morning guy at Fairbanks’ WVBF in it’s “F-105″ incarnation.

Over 9 minutes scoped from the original 30, here’s Uncle Dave, STILL doing top 40 and sounding like he’s relevant and loves the music despite being generations older than his main audience. And perhaps the point of this is that great talent still commands an audience regardless of his or her age, and that just because a certain approach appears outdated, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t still work. For radio management, there’s an obvious lesson in this. And you know what it is

Dale Dorman, WXKS-FM Medford/Boston (Kiss 108 FM) | May 1, 1999 is a post from: Airchexx.com

For the third time this year, an iconic rock radio station in a major city is shifting formats: Boston’s 104.1 WBCN, “The Rock of Boston,” (left) the airwaves on August 13th. The rock station had been broadcasting for 41 years. According to Billboard.biz, WBCN was a victim of CBS Radio’s desire to launch an all-sports talk radio station on the FM dial. The company’s Adult Top 40 Mix station (made) the jump from 98.5 to 104.1, with the sports station taking over at 98.5. WBCN (lives) on off the radio waves as a Web and HD-radio broadcast.

- Rolling Stone Magazine, July 16, 2009

Part four of this four-day retrospective concentrates on PM Drive. Bradley Jay is an in-studio guest, as is Ken Shelton (continued from the previous segment), and others. You’ll hear more WBCN Lunch songs, lots of promos for “The Sports Hub”, the new Sports station WBZ-FM 98.5, some mention of the new WBCN format going to 98.5 HD2 and WBCN Progressive going to 98.5 HD3… but oddly enough, thus far in their broadcast, no mention of WBMX taking over as “Mix 104.1″.

Meanwhile, Boston.com, the Boston Globe’s online presence, has put up an interview with former WBCN Morning Mattress personality Charles Laquidera. They allow sharing, so, let me post this interview for all to watch… from Maui! Never let it be said that radio jocks don’t get to live the good life sometimes!

And now, WBCN Boston says goodbye – Part 4..

The End of an Era: 104.1 WBCN Boston Says Goodbye, Part 4 | August 8, 2009 is a post from: Airchexx.com

In this part you’ll hear more of Ken Shelton and his recollections, part 2 of a long, live segment with Howard Stern, best wishes recorded by artists like Bono, and more. Runs almost two hours, scoped.

The End of an Era: 104.1 WBCN Boston Says Goodbye, Part 3 | August 8, 2009 is a post from: Airchexx.com

The history of WBCN is described in various places on the web, but the technical and historical aspects of 104.1 can be viewed HERE, courtesy of The Archives @ BostonRadio.org.. We provide this historical link because we feel that the history behind WBCN is as important as the entertainment value of the airchecks featured in this series.

After 41 years as THE Rock station to turn to (some would argue that it was the first 30 years that actually counted), owner CBS, inc. pulled the plug on the format in a move that saw sister station call letters and format of WBMX 98.5 (formerly WROR, WRKO-FM) moved to the 104.1 frequency, a format change on 98.5 to Sports with new calls WBZ-FM, and a format which resurrected the old WBCN ‘Freeform’ radio days of the 60s & 70s placed on the WZLX-HD3 sub-channel (100.7), and the then-current WBCN Rock format re-started on WBZ-FM-HD2 sub-channel.

Here at airchexx, our mission isn’t to describe the stations’ history, but to feature the captured audio for posterity. This is the first in a multi-part series that will showcase the last four days of programming on WBCN 104.1, WBMX 98.5, along with the first few hours of programming of WBMX “Mix 104.1″ and WBZ-FM 98.5 “The Sports Hub”.

The music and commercials have been edited out and only programming content remains, in order to comply with the various copyright laws concerning current commercials and recorded music (for those of you who may be CBS lawyers ). Still, segment one, 3 hours of the original 5 hour file, run about 1 hour 24 minutes long.

There are plenty of programming highlights in this first segment, beginning with a segment of “The Big Mattress” – the Charles Laquidera morning show from sometime in the 80s… then Bradley Jay hosts the rest of the show, with segments of past programs from Ken Shelton… guest disc jockeys Bill Murray (yes, THE Bill Murray the actor) and former jock Albert O.

Stay tuned… there’s plenty more to come in the four day celebration of the history of WBCN – “The Rock Of Boston”

The End of an Era: 104.1 WBCN Boston Says Goodbye, Part 1 | August 8, 2009 is a post from: Airchexx.com

This tape is from one of many in a long series of “East Coast Airchecks” – a popular subscription aircheck service from that era.

QuickCheck: J.J. Wright, WXKS-FM Kiss-108 FM Boston | 1990 is a post from: Airchexx.com

WRKO is a HOT station at this point in it’s history, having launched earlier that year and you can feel the excitement in the air.

Al Gates, Morning Drive, WRKO AM/FM Boston | June 19, 1967 is a post from: Airchexx.com