Recording Date: 11.22.1981
Station: 101.1 WCBS-FM New York (Wikipedia) (Website)
Format: Oldies
Branded: “New York’s Oldies Station”
Ownership: (Then) CBS / (Now) Entercom (Website)
Featured Air Personality: Norm N. Nite (WGAR/WMJI/WCBS-FM/WNBC)
Contributor: Ray Bozzanca
Description by Contributor
On May 1,1982 Norm N Nite would start the Top 20 countdown shows on WCBS FM N.Y. The first Top 20 countdown show featured the year 1966. This aircheck is from Novemeber 22 of 1981 when Norm N Nite countdown the Top 10 songs of 1961 in his last hour of his show.
The Top Ten Countdown was a regular feature. Each Countdown featured a different year, from that particular date. This is a really fun aircheck! Few jocks are as knowledgeable about the artists and the music than Norm.
From 2005 – 2014, Norm N Nite hosted a weekend show on Sirius Satellite Radio (SiriusXM) along with fellow New York City radio legends Cousin Brucie and Pat St. John. He is now retired and resides in Cleveland.
Brought back memories of both 1981 and 1961.
I love Norm. Listened to CBS FM in 70s’s and 80’s I listen to Norm now on Sirius.
Yes, I thought Norm did the best job ever with the Sunday night doo-wop show on CBS FM. (It was called the “Nite Train” show then.) Since Norm is a former Alan Freed listener from Cleveland, he really knows the music first-hand! Norm always seemed to feature many of the doo-wop records on Midwest labels like Chess, VeeJay, and King, probably because that was what Freed was playing in Cleveland in the 50s.
I didn’t know till tonight (at the 2:36 mark) that Len Barry was with the Dovells. However, I’ve known for decades that James Darren’s real name was James Ercolani and Jimmy Dean’s was Seth Ward. James Darren was also a regular on “T.J. Hooker’. Thanks so much for this ‘check.