Anyone remember the old WMCA-AM in New York?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by shnaggletooth, Jun 13, 2007.

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  1. ralphb

    ralphb "First they came for..."

    Location:
    Brooklyn, New York
    Don't worry about the pic size. Live large, I say.:)
     
  2. ralphb

    ralphb "First they came for..."

    Location:
    Brooklyn, New York
    Listening to WMCA & WABC in those days was like a master class is music appreciation. I think people who weren't around then don't understand that there was a huge diversity of musical styles coming out of radio speakers at the time. At one point you had all the Brit Invasion bands, plus the Motown stuff, plus whatever American pop was around, Brill Building artists, it was pretty amazing and a large part of the reason why I still spend so much money on music. Well, that and the early days of WNEW-FM, when that format was still wide open and ready to play anything at all. I'm not really big on nostalgia, but radio back then is something I will feel lucky to have experienced.
     
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  3. moeson

    moeson Forum Resident

    Location:
    dayton, nj usa
    My fondest memory of the WMCA and the Good Guys was the night in May 1967 when Gary Stevens and the Wooly Burger debuted Sgt. Pepper. Stevens feigned shock that the Wooly Burger had purloined an advance copy when on a trip to England. To hear that amazing music coming out of my brother's AM car speakers is something that I will never forget.
     
  4. ytserush

    ytserush Forum Resident

    Location:
    Northeast US
    Not music related, but I always listened to New York Islanders Hockey on WMCA.
     
  5. Judi Bogart

    Judi Bogart New Member

  6. Judi Bogart

    Judi Bogart New Member

  7. Judi Bogart

    Judi Bogart New Member

    Joe Bogart in the studio at WMCA


    [​IMG]
     
  8. Judi Bogart

    Judi Bogart New Member

    Back then I knew that my father was choosing the records he thought would be hits and putting them on air, but I didn't appreciate what that actually did in each individual case until now. I'll suddenly hear something from back then and the entire history of the group comes back to me, along with the thought "My father started that!" It's quite a feeling.
     
  9. Judi Bogart

    Judi Bogart New Member

    Thank you, Ralph.
     
  10. Judi Bogart

    Judi Bogart New Member

    As professional as the Good Guys were, there were times it felt like my father was baby sitting a bunch of over 6' tall kids. One night the phone rang at home after 1 a.m. It was BMR. Seemed he was doing a record hop in NY somewhere and had forgotten where he left the rental car, so he called me father in NJ to ask him what to do!

    Joe Bogart had to produce a jingle promoting the station and the dj's. It had girls singing in intro and close and in between the dj's simply had to announce their names. Simply. I was there that day and it was like watching a school teacher who had to crack down on his misbehaving class! At one point I watched one of the dj's standing to the side. He was eyeing a long set of drapes in the studio. By the time he was supposed to just state his name silence fell. He had taken the edge of the drape and twirled himself around until he was fully wrapped up in the drapes. They could be just like a bunch of kids.

    Go to http://www.musicradio77.com/wmca/jingles.htmlhttp://www.musicradio77.com/wmca/jingles.html Six Lively Guys was that jingle
     
  11. Judi Bogart

    Judi Bogart New Member

    Did you know back then how easily the FCC would sue the station if any inappropriate language was used on a recording? Joe Bogart used to have to sometimes slow the recording wayyyy down to see if foul language was hidden. Boy, have things changed now!!
     
  12. Judi Bogart

    Judi Bogart New Member

  13. Judi Bogart

    Judi Bogart New Member

  14. Judi Bogart

    Judi Bogart New Member

  15. Judi Bogart

    Judi Bogart New Member

  16. Judi Bogart

    Judi Bogart New Member

    But none of the WMCA ones are anything like the original...not even close.
     
  17. longdist01

    longdist01 Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago, IL USA
    Recall hearing an Aircheck of later DJ, Al Bennett interviewing. I unfortunately never heard much of the DJ's up in New York area on air.

    Thanks for the cool photos and recollections!
     
    Judi Bogart likes this.
  18. Judi Bogart

    Judi Bogart New Member

    Thank you for enjoying them and letting me know! :)
    I'll put some photos of the guys on and autographs in future.
     
  19. Judi Bogart

    Judi Bogart New Member

    There was a party held on a boat around Manhattan. Somehow word got out and hundreds of people crashed the party. The boat couldn't leave the dock because it was beyond capacity. By the time my father and I got to the party they had to form a human chain to literally pull us through the crowd and onto the boat!
     
  20. Kevin In Choconut Center

    Kevin In Choconut Center Offensive Coordinator

    I'm loving this thread. I had the chance to listen to WMCA quite a bit while growing up as my late grandfather lived
    close enough to New York City that he could pull stations from there in on his car radio.
     
  21. Judi Bogart

    Judi Bogart New Member

    You can't imagine how it feels to talk about this and pull up old memories....especially on Father's Day.
     
    Hep Alien likes this.
  22. stereoptic

    stereoptic Anaglyphic GORT Staff

    Location:
    NY
    Well, he sure had good taste, seems like he picked a bunch a winners, still played to this day. Not to sound nostalgic either, but 'back then' you didn't need a committee to select a song or a computer to determine what to play before and after a song. Radio stations were individual, not part of a syndicate, and had a sense of community because they absorbed the culture, mood, and pulse of those listening.
     
    Judi Bogart and ralphb like this.
  23. ralphb

    ralphb "First they came for..."

    Location:
    Brooklyn, New York
    Exactly. The jocks in New York knew what was going on around them, they didn't live in a vacuum. I remember Cousin Brucie doing spots for runaway teens in the mid 60's. You got the feeling you were listening to people who were on the same page as you, which is where that sense of community came from. They also had the most amazing personalities, the type of people you would like to hang out with and just shoot the breeze. The early FM jocks (talking WNEW-FM early days) took their style from the AM jocks and just made it hipper, much more with the times. But the sense of radio as a reflection of it's audience is long gone, glad I was around to live through it.
     
    Judi Bogart, Hep Alien and stereoptic like this.
  24. emk

    emk New Member

    Good topic - and my first post. Growing up in North Jersey, remember well WMCA, WABC, and, earlier, WINS with Murray the K, still the best to me. Most distinctive voice by far was/is Cousin Brucie. Nice mix on WNEW with, I think, Julius LaRosa among the DJs - also Make Believe Ballroom. WNBC was not rock until it was too late - FM taking over, and their try with Wolfman Jack was too late. WOR talk, but great with Bob and Ray and others. Probably dates me with most readers, but thanks for letting me reminisce. Love, love. love radio - still the best.
     
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  25. Judi Bogart

    Judi Bogart New Member

    :)
    Oh, please let's be nostalgic! That's the only way I can bring back memories of stories from back then! Some day in future I will put on some photos of BMR and some things you might not have seen from back then.
     
    Hep Alien and stereoptic like this.
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