Jack Miller, WDRC Hartford | June 17, 1972

…Sue, hello Sue – that was terrible!

Jack Miller did a weekly talent show on WDRC where listeners could call in and perform just about anything. It was, of course, all for entertainment, and some of the callers were truly awful. But, Jack Miller is the star of the show, and he DOES entertain. Shown here in this 14 minute original recording, Miller is a great host, who is much more than a disc jockey. His quick wit and ability to control this ‘talent’ show while playing along with the contestants, serves as a lesson to today’s radio people, that there’s far more to being a jock than playing non-stop music and talking like the kids in high school.

Courtesy of Steve from Cape Cod.

Ken Gilbert, 1360 WDRC Hartford | January 1983

I asked Mr. Gilbert what WDRC-AM sounded like before the flip to Oldies, and so here’s a 9 minute high-quality scope from 1983. While Ken didn’t say so, it sure seems like Buckley did more of a slow format turn towards oldies from Top 40 during ‘83. Listen to this, then the aircheck from later in 1983 to get a feel for where the station was going.

Ken Gilbert, WDRC-AM 1360 | July 1983

Our friend Ken Gilbert sent in another goodie! WDRC (Big D, as it was affectionately known) was, by 1983, primarilly an Oldies station. This wasn’t some cheap imitation of an FM, however… as tape restorian Paul DiMarco (who provided the original copy to Ken Gilbert) wrote:

I know times have changed but this is (absurd) !!!
I’d listen to this type of radio before anything else on today’s dial….and it’s AM !!!
….not only is the DJ one of the best anywhere…..there’s some great commercial clips of other radio poineers like Friendly Floyd and Steve Skip.

The audio quality on this AM recording is fantastic. This really is a must-listen!