Heres’s a very young Jackson Armstrong (with a slightly higher pitched voice) on WFUN, one of the early AM Top 40 stations in Miami. This has all the elements that many personality oriented stations had, reverb, PAMS jingles, and a lot of jock patter. Certainly not the streamlined Drake approach, more like a WABC approach, circa 1964.
It’s only slightly over 3 minutes in length but you can certainly get a feel for what things sounded like in the tumultuous year of 1968.
This is actually a different “Jackson Armstrong” than the others. This is Ron O’Quinn aka Jack Armstrong. He only used the Jack Armstrong moniker in Miami. He was @ WFUN in 1966 before leaving to serve as program director on Swinging Radio England in the English Channel…and later came back to WFUN (the above aircheck was his return. WFUN ran a newspaper ad with “Jack’s back!”…showing a picture of his back). He later went to KYA in San Francisco & WUBE in Cincinnati, as well as hosting his own nationally-syndicated radio program, “Rock & Roll Reunion”.
and around 1971 and early ’72, he worked with us at WPAX in Thomasville, GA. He was fun to work with and that would have been my 2nd time. The first was when he was Ron Greene on WVLD in Valdosta…early 60’s. Sure does suck to get old
Very cool aircheck. Hearing the Mississippi hippie Gerry Peterson was a nice bonus, too. I didn’t recognize the first song in the three-in-a-row segment. Guess I’ll have to pull my WFUN Go Magazine from that week and figure out what it was.
I just pulled the survey/Go Magazine from this week. It was actually the week ending September 30, 1968 (judging by “All Along The Watchtower” being at number ten, as Armstrong says). The only song I haven’t heard is “Puffin’ On Down The Track” by Hugh Masekela, so that may or may not be the unusual first song in that three-in-a-row segment. Unfortunately the song is not in the iTunes or Amazon stores, and is not on youtube either.
I’ve since obtained that Hugh Masekela 45, and that’s not it, either. The song obviously was not on the 9-30-68 WFUN survey.
Just identified the song as “Combination of the Two” by Big Brother & The Holding Company. Very unusual for this to get played on WFUN in September ’68 — perhaps the d.j. meant to cue “Piece of My Heart” and goofed?
It may have been a different Jackson Armstrong on this aircheck but regardless, he sounded good.
This was the time when the battle was going on between WFUN and WQAM. One of the memorable top 40 radio wars that took place around the country.
When I heard the beginning of the triple play and that song by Big Brother & the Holding Company, I thought how unusual it was to hear that on a top 40 station.
Maybe other places around the country aired it but I don’t know where and when.
Thanks for the aircheck of what WFUN sounded like in 1968.
Short but a great sample of what WFUN sounded like in 1968.
When it comes to top 40 radio in Miami, WQAM seems to get more attention.
Maybe more airchecks of that station exist than is the case with WFUN.
In any case, it was great hearing that aircheck whether it was Jackson Armstrong with a slightly higher voice or someone else using that name.
jackson armstrong was on 1050 chum not sure exact year maybe 66 to 69 dave mickey was on ckey also fast talker both stations in toronto canada