What’s New is a post from: Airchexx.com

WABC, with Hoffman in the lineup, is a much different sounding station than that of just over a year prior, when PD Al Brady cleaned house, getting rid of most of the staple WABC jocks except for Ron Lundy and Dan Ingram (who, at the time of this aircheck, was doing mornings). Still, this is Top 40 WABC and the brand with it’s late 70s Jam jingles is still intact.

There aren’t many recordings of the end of the Top 40 era at WABC, and this one from 1980 is an original recording available no place else but right here. We invite you to listen now to this unique slice of history!

Howard Hoffman, 77 WABC New York | April 8, 1980 is a post from: Airchexx.com

These are the pre-disco days of the 1970s. Sure, a few stiffs are sneaking in, like The Sylvers – Hotline, but this is real Top 40 variety, with a generous dose of Jam jingles, Dan Ingram voiced imaging and that hot reverb!

Here’s an original, never posted on the web anywhere – so pass the word and tell your listener friends that WE have the airchecks most coveted around the world!

George Michael, MusicRadio 77 WABC New York | February 28, 1977 is a post from: Airchexx.com

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

Its the night show, and they are doing the New Music Showdown… a battle of the bands kind of thing. Lots of phone calls, high energy and all the old commercials are left in for identification. See if this brings back some memories to our Canadian visitors!!

New Music Showdown/Night Show on Kiss-FM Calgary | 1996 is a post from: Airchexx.com

This was the first time visiting Dallas, Texas; I was in town for a week for my mother’s teacher’s convention. I found that the city had some great CHR radio stations: Y95 and 97.1 KEGL. They also had 100.3 Jamz, whiched seemed to be leaning towards CHR/Rythmic. However, there was plenty of good music being played on these three stations and, even back as a teenager, I was able to tell that both Y95 and KEGL were in a state of war with one another. A lot of the sweepers and bumpers were typical of the early 1990s and within a few years-when many CHR stations ceased operations or flipped formats to either Hot AC or Alternative-they were almost nonexistent. In fact, less than two years later when I returned to Dallas, KEGL was playing rock music and Y95-I believe-was playing lite music. However, here is a sample of one my earliest airchexx collection and one of my favorites. For those of us who used to listen to the FM dial after school around this time, I hope it conjures up a plethora of memories.

Dallas Composite | November, 1992 is a post from: Airchexx.com

Marc Viquez sent this in and, well… he can describe it better than your webmaster:

Here is a collection from February 15, 1992 from various cities from thousands of feet in the air. I was traveling from New Jersey to Los Angeles by plane and recorded whatever I could on my AIWA portable stereo recorder; what I was able to record was priceless, crystal clear sweepers, airchecks and bumpers from Syracuse, NY; Youngstown, Ohio; Ft. Wayne, Ind; and Lincoln, Neb. Syracuse and Lincoln are prominent on the collection, but it is amazing what you can pick up from close to 30,000 feet in the air. Here are the stations that were recorded that night:
Philadelphia Q102
Syracuse 93Q
Youngstown Hot 101 WHOT
Ft. Wayne 97.3 WMEE
Quad Cities Power 98.9 WPXR
Lincoln Q102 102.7 KFRX
Unknown Q102 KRMQ

This aircheck is unedited except I boosted the volume a bit.

Assorted Stations From 30,000 Feet | February 15, 1992 is a post from: Airchexx.com

We don’t do this as a rule, but then again we don’t get too many demos out of the blue. So, listen and see if you like.

Jeffrey Holland, Demo, Mix 94-5 is a post from: Airchexx.com

WWCO is a family owned station these days with local talk programming and a long running Polka music show. But back in 1978, it was a hot Top 40 station, complete with jingles and reverb. This aircheck was recorded by Bob Gilmore. This came from the source tape that sounds like it came from a wide-band AM receiver. It probably was, in fact, since AM signals were allowed several more HZ of bandwidth than they are today – 13 vs 9.

Runs over 22 minutes, scoped.

Charlie White, 1240 WWCO Waterbury (CT) | February 20, 1978 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