Sometimes the craziest things spark a memory.
Whether it be the smell of burning leaves that reminds you of fall and spirals you into seasonal depression or the obscured back road in the middle of nowhere that reminds you of the first time you tried out back-seat yoga in your old Chevelle.
Today, I had to go and do a walk-thru of a rental property I own, as the renter is moving out. I lived in this house about 6 years ago and thought I got all my stuff out of it back then, but came upon an interesting stash up in the attic.
In 1987 I got my first job in radio working for Jim & Dorothy Ward at WARD-AM in Pittston, PA. It was a 10,000 watt day timer and one of the few remaining independently owned, yet stand-alone, AM radio stations in northeast Pennsylvania. After Jim’s death in 1994, the place went down the toilet and I moved on in 1997 right before it was sold.
WARD was unique to say the very least. Some day I’ll talk more about my time there and the craziness that went on inside a building that had house trailers attached to it, shag carpeting on the walls, flakeboard for paneling and an oil burner that always ran out of oil during my shift. WARD was the very first station in the market to embrace an all talk format and introduced Rush Limbaugh to northeast PA. High school sports was a big part of the station’s programming (and a big help for cash flow) as was Polka Weekend.
Yes, Polka Weekend.
Sam Liguori, Dale Michaels (aka Rusty Fender / Shadoe Steele), Rob Neyhard, Brunon Kryger and myself, along with rotating part-timers, overtook the radios in every nursing home, bingo hall, VFW, corner bar and Polish household in NEPA beginning at 6am Saturday morning and not giving up until the bars ran out of Bartels late Sunday night.
We did air shifts ranging from 4 to 6 hours, did live on-air requests and dedications without a delay, queued up records, and did more remotes from church bazars and fire company picnics than I care to count, yet remember. There were no computers loaded with MP3 files – we had boxes of records, yes records, that we flipped through and queued up on turntables. Commercials and bumpers were recorded on “carts” – audio cartridges similar to an 8-track tape. There were no CD players and the Sunday early morning religious programs came in the mail on 7-inch reel-to-reel tape. When we had to voice commercials, we had to splice tape with real razor blades, not a Mac running Adobe Audition.
Today, I stumbled upon 2 boxes of those records we used to spin on Polka Weekend hiding in the attic. Notes are taped to some of them which say things like, “Don’t play cut 3 it skips” or “Do not remove from studio” – glad I paid attention to that one. They all look like they’re in good condition and aren’t warped, but I don’t have a turntable to verify.
After finding this cache, I started thinking about the time I spent at WARD and looked for some photos that I had of the old place. Low and behold, I even found some of them, with a very young and thinner looking me.
Some memories you want to forget, some you want to remember. Memories of WARD I’ll always cherish as it was a special, one-of-a-kind place even if the place at 83 Foote Avenue in Duryea is now a junk yard.
Here I am chatting on the phone in the main studio. The Lazy Susan cart rack is in the back holding all the commercials. The black and white TV up in the corner was the only entertainment we had, and also served as the audio source for when we broadcast WNEP-TV news at 6pm and 11pm during the week. The red EBS binder contained the envelope with the secret code and instructions on what to do “in the event of a real emergency!” That strange contraption to the left with the circle of orange felt is a turn table – something that doesn’t exist in radio stations today!
Here I am donning a set of Radio Shack head phones, wearing an Izod shirt and some stone washed denim – sure signs of the 80′s. The Electro Voice RE20 mic in the on-air studio was a big investment at the time.
If you look closely there is a block of wood that we used to prop up the telos telephone interface so we can see it at a better angle. The walls in the studio were wrapped in lovely shag carpeting and the jock sitting at the board faced a clock on the other side of the wall and a big hole in the roof that leaked when it rained, but it was the only way the cables from the satellite dishes in the back got into the building.
Great pictures! The studio looks the same as when I was there 1981-1985. Which was WARD’s heyday. When I started May 1981 as a account executive we were still @ the bottom of the ratings. We had Sam Ligouri in the morning with news and of the ever famous garage sale 9-10. Then came the beginning the WARD’s savior. How could we ever forget the “Coping Connection” hosted by Jim Ward. It truly was unique. Many times he would literally being crying when listening to people’s problems then do an about face with one of his famous live spot that sometimes ranged from 3-5 minutes. The rest of the day was playing adult contemporary music until sign off (Still 1,000 watts daytime then till about 1985). Some of the DJ’s were Maggie King, Norm Hill, Clint Morris and Chet Newhart. But things took off in late 1981 when Andy Thomas was added. Although he and Jim did not see eye to eye; he helped the station received unpredented ratings. In the winter of 1982 we finished 6th out of about 23 stations. Joe Gries came along as Sales Manager and added high school and college sports. In 1983 Polka Weekend was added with Jolly Joe leading the way and overall the station did not leave the Top 10 until Jim added the network talk in the summer of 1985 shortly after I left the station. Although Jim was erratic in his decision he was great to work for and miss him dearly. I learned a lot from him that I still practice to this day.
Hi Rich,
Good to hear from you! I remember you quite well. Some great memories of WARD out there! The Garage Sale where you could sell a size 8 blue dress for $3 but no hand guns! Or Sam in the morning with the talent line with people calling in either singing or having their dog bark. Jim is the only guy I knew who could have an idea for a format change at 3pm in the afternoon and make it happen by 7am the next morning!! Hope you’re doing well.
Scott thanks for remembering me. Glad to see you’re doing well. Jim was also great for inventing sales packages at the Monday Morning Sales Meetings
But let’s remember who was the best @ selling. I saw Jim have very little info yet still sound like an expert on that business. Some of the others that make a mark on the talk format in the mid-80′s were Ed Walison, Rob Neyhard, Bob Murphy and Kay Tracy whose husband was the engineer for Rock 107 at the time. She was a great talent and wrote great copy but unfortunately she didn’t get along with Joe Gries and he found a way to get her out the door.
Old radio in central pa! I was at BRX in the mid 80′s when Paul Grimes ran the joint. Got to work with the Bill Brady, did nights and weekends with Nikki and John Garcia. Was working there when Challenger exploded. Got to do mornings after the station caught on fire one morning. Had a pretty good run doing the “Solid Gold Sunrise” there. It was a more honest radio then, not the mega corp sanitized thing they do now,