…”Its time now for my name!!!”
Big Dan Ingram is the highlight of this aircheck, recorded on a sunny, 80 degree day. Its the Summer of Love 1969, and Ingram is as irreverent and witty as ever! Listen how Dan Ingram weaves in and out of songs, sings along with commercials, and creates an atmosphere of hilarity for anyone listening to the big hits of that year. Note the continuous use of the great PAMS jingles!
WABC is beginning to emphasize the music more, you’ll note Dan Ingram here as “press(ing) forward with more Music Power”. In fact, Music Power is the theme of the series of PAMS jingles in 1969.
If I didn’t know better, I’d swear this was recorded from the FM side (WABC-FM 95.5, today’s WPLJ), the audio is crisp and the fidelity wide enough to sound like FM. Of note on this recording is the total absence of WABC’s signature reverb. So this could also have been recorded off the board, although it sounds processed, so I think this was recorded from 95.5. Let the listener decide, someone out there knows for sure.
As always, listener comments are always welcome!
It certainly sounds like FM as opposed to AM; sound quality’s too good for AM. I was a WNBC fan myself, but I had no problem with ‘ABC.
Anti leak but pro Brussels sprouts.
The FM had no reverb. This has no reverb.
Sorry, the legal IDs say “WABC New York.” They would say “WABC AM & FM, New York” if this were simulcast. By 1969, the stations were simulcasting only from 11PM to 9AM. There is also considerable distortion on bass notes; by this time, song and jingle carts were being recorded with a boost at 200Hz, a WABC audio trick designed to make bass notes audible on small speakers. This was explained to me when my band came to the studios to record our song for Cousin Brucie’s Big Break Contest, and I had asked the engineer why the bass guitar sounded so prominent on playback. So any audio with a lot of bass could have been oversaturating the reel tape on which this aircheck was being recorded in the studio. Carts were recorded through a limiter, so that’s the processing we’re hearing.
How talented-everyday-he entertained ! He was on it. RIP Dan.
Sure sounds better than when I DX’ed 770 AM in Georgia back in 69. By the way 1967 was the summer of love.