Big Apple Airchecks
Danuta, 94.9 KBZT San Diego | Sometime 1980
I wanna remind you about K-Best 95’s series of Friday Night Stereo TV Concerts… 1980 was a year of change in the radio landscape. FM radio was overtaking AM in many markets and San Diego was no exception. Heard here, about a year after changing formats and call letters from a Middle Of the Road format as KLRO-FM, K-Best 95 was doing its best as a Gold-Based, Adult Contemporary station, the music sounding similar to stations like 97.1 WYNY New York, 98.5 WROR Boston, and so forth. Heard here in this recording is Danuta, and I hope the spelling is correct. I can find virtually nothing about her on the web or in the history (what there is of it) of K-Best 95. Hopefully, someone knows and will point her towards our website.
Mike Sheridan, 710 WGBS Miami | April 21, 1978
…Music Radio 7000, the new WGBS… Got the music you wanna hear… When was the last time you heard a complete overnight music show six-hour Condensed down to 39 and a half minutes, scoped, here’s the full six hour live show that Mike Sheridan did – recorded from the station skimmer tape machine! As the story goes, supposedly the reason that WGBS re-branded to call itself Music Radio Seven-Thousand was… well I guess, probably an act of desperation. They wanted a station name that was longer than Y-100* A few personal observations. First, I like Mike Sheridan. He’s up overnight, hopefully with a 32 oz coffee mug! Does the show almost perfect, with only a couple of hiccups, toward the end. Second… the format. This station sounds like a number of AM...
Charlie Cook, 1050 WHN New York | November 7, 1977
Charlie Cook is heard holding down the overnight on the old 1050 WHN, Running 30 minutes, scoped, you get the feel of how “New York’s Country Station” sounded in the second half of the 1970s. Notice what Country songs were being played. Much different than the fare being heard in the 80s, just a few years into the future. There was also an obvious lack of commercial content on WHN overnight, except some live reads. As the aircheck moves along, there is a bit more content, Cook is doing some sports updates and promoting upcoming music – all important to note, since along with open request lines, this is proof of a time long before voice-tracking. And, of course, its all in glorious AM! You can hear a station composite done by Billboard ™ Magazine from May of 19...
“Magic” Matt Craig, New Year’s Eve at “Studio 108”, 107.9 WEBE Westport | December 31, 2004
I am the original and STILL Amazing Magic Matt Craig! We might be a tad early in posting a “First Night” broadcast, but this is a great representation of how Saturday Nights sounded on WEBE 108 for many years. Donated by Big Apple Airchecks (Matt “Craig” Seinberg is the owner), here’s the first, of a new collection from our largest contributor! Curator’s Notes: Matt Craig is broadcasting live, on location from the YMCA. It’s also New Year’s Eve and you can feel the excitement in the air and on the air. Here’s a nearly flawless “Studio 108”, and a VERY happy Matt Craig, who was honored to ring in the New Year on the air… Isn’t that in every jock’s bucket list?
Alison Steele, “The New Groove” – 102.7 WNEW-FM New York | February 11, 1969
“You need a nice, hot, cup of coffee Curator’s Notes: Perhaps the only thing that would make this absolutely perfect, as airchecks go, would be if it was unscoped. Technically, I could probably get away with that, since songs recorded before 1972 don’t require royalty payments. One day I’ll investigate that. Meantime, listen to the jock known affectionately as “The Night Bird”. Alison Steele is on the air on a cold Winter night where the mayor has issued a state of emergency because of a Winter storm that blew through. What you will NOT hear in this recording is anything that remotely resembles a hit song, or even a song you’d hear on a Classic Rock station. Much of her music selection is Jazz, Jazz-Rock Fusion and some album tracks w...
John Lanagan, 1220 WGAR Cleveland | February 4, 1977
“What a pain in your assets!” Curator’s Notes: Every time I hear an aircheck of WGAR from the late seventies, it’s always tight, the jocks funny and the music is right on the mark. One would expect no less from the flagship station of Nationwide Communications – you know, the insurance company.. Now, for this one, we squeeze about 12 and a half minutes out of. The quality is so-so. This has a lot of white noise, which, despite my best efforts, I decided to keep in, instead of take the white noise out and have a recording that sounds like digital artifacts. So, its there. And realistically, one could be listening from Toledo and hear the same white noise. So it’s a throwback to yesteryear in many respects.
New England Radio Composite | April 1980
Curator’s Notes: This composite is a collection of various airchecks of stations in the 6 state New England region. One of the real joys for a radio listener up there is, There are a lot of medium market stations, all within earshot of the major cities of Boston, Hartford, Providence, and, while not technically in New England, Albany NY. If you liked radio in the Northeast, or lived anywhere in the central part of Massachusetts where atmospheric conditions varied so much that one could catch stations from all over New England, this will be a real treat for you! Please consider a generous donation to this website for site support. You won’t find many things available for free on the web these days, so take the time to support your favorite website! Use the Donate button below...
Dan Ingram’s First Show – 92.3 WKTU New York | January 14, 1985
…And you’re much better lookin than Chip.. Please donate to Airchexx.com. You can use this “donate” button from any platform, PC, or Mac, Android or iPhone. Consider supporting this website for all of our hard work. Curator’s Notes: For his first time on 92 KTU, Dan Ingram appears a little… lost. He’s just not himself, the confident and outrageously funny guy everyone remembered from WABC. Times change. Ingram is just getting used to this warmup for the next radio gig, as 92.3 would change formats about six months after this aircheck, to AOR, and the call letters to the well known (now) WXRK. Oh, I don’t know. You just have to listen for yourself and make your own judgment. Ever notice that jocks who aren’t quite comfortab...
Big Ron O’Brien, Willie B & Tom Murphy; 68 WRKO Boston | November 30, 1978
Six O’Clock on your cruise through the ozone with Big Ron O’Brien… Curator’s Notes: A full, daytime scope of WRKO and a few of its iconic personalities are featured here in late 1978. It opens with Big Ron O’Brien, then Willie B., and finally Tom Murphy. In the case of Tom Murphy, this is only the second aircheck featuring him, and listening as I edited the audio, I could swear that this was Harry Nelson! As some would say, however, it’s all in the signal processing. You’ll laugh, listening to Ron O’Brien try to pronounce words in this aircheck where Ron’s having a bit of trouble with his tongue this day! Aside from that, this aircheck roars past at the speed of light! This is a super-tight Top 40 format, true to RKO General form, and t...
George Crawford, 1310 WGH Norfolk VA | August 19, 1977
…unusual fact from Crawford’s Almanac Curator’s Notes: Recorded only a few days after the death of Elvis Presley, here’s an aircheck that will evoke strong memories as the Summertime season grinds to a close. The weather in Norfolk is cooler and less humid this day. “The World of Star Trek” contest is still underway and YOU could win! Take note of the high commercial load. There is only one period where there were two songs played back to back, every other song played is followed by a few commericals. Speaking of commercials, perhaps you’ll remember these national brand names: Exxon gasoline, LaChoy Soy Sauce, 7-Eleven and more! There are plenty of creative LOCAL ads for Tidewater area businesses. Listen for a full newscast read by Ira Hall,...
Dan O’Brien, 1310 WGH Norfolk | 1977
…Number one. With more listeners each week than any other station, AM or FM! Original Comments: It’s been said that the call letters WGH stood for “World’s Greatest Harbor”. Perhaps, in the early days of broadcasting. And it’s true in the sense that Hampton Roads, in general, has perhaps the best harbor in the U.S., with a quarter of the U.S. Navy stationed there. But, in the world of radio, WGH holds a special place in the greater Norfolk area. It really WAS Hampton Roads’ first Top 40 radio station (a slogan that WGH-FM would later use in 1987-89). Curator’s (updated) Notes: As evidenced here in this 13-minute scope, WGH, in true Top 40 fashion played it all. Rock, Disco, slow ballads… you name it! Unfortunately, this tape suffers fro...
93 KHJ – “The End” – | January 31, 1986
Dave Sebastian has asked me to announce that I am not running the board… Please scroll down to read an important message Curator’s Notes: I’ve been hanging on to this classic for something like 14 years. Donated to us in the early days of Airchexx by Big Apple Airchecks, this aircheck illustrates perhaps the best format change ever recorded! Apparently, the two-year-old “Car Radio” format of recurrent hits and recent oldies just wasn’t selling well, nor was it affecting ratings as owner RKO General had hoped. In fact, apparently, the results were downright dismal (despite the fact that, especially by today’s standards, the format kicked serious ace in the sound department!). RKO’s idea was to blow the whole station up, and install the KRTH ca...
