I heard many wonderful songs that I still love today on the radio in the barn.  The fact that it had tubes that needed to warm up meant that you would turn it on in the morning and guess the volume while you walked to the other end of the barn.  When it warmed up sometimes it was very loud, once in a while off the station, and sometimes the sound was not loud enough to be heard over the various barn noises.   When you got the station tuned correctly and the sound so that you could hear, the radio was on all day until the milking was done that night.  WRCO AM 1450 was the station that was loud enough to never fail.  Once in a while when dad wasn't paying attention I would turn the dial slightly to 1480 AM and get WISM Madison which was a great Top Forty station

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WRCO FM 100.9 will play great hits from the fifties through the eighties on Those Were The Days Saturday night. We will stop for a time and park in January of 1975.  The chart was full of such comeback artists as Neil Sedaka, Paul Anka, and Frankie Valli.  Stevie Wonder, Grand Funk, The Eagles, and The Doobie Brothers were all in the top twenty. Put on your elevator shoes and your plaid pants this Saturday night.  We are going to have a party and your requests will be welcome.  Play trivia and be the first on your block to win a prize.  It will be a really cool, neat, dyn-no-mite,  radio show Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9.

Phil

This Saturday night on WRCO FM our Those Were The Days radio show will feature coments from Madison area musician Richard Wiegel.  He has a new cd called  'Wiegel Room' which features some awesome guitar work. It has 17 tracks of original instrumental tracks and the lead cut is called 'Buddy Holly'.  We will look back at Richards earlier work in memorable bands including:  The Bowery Boys,  Baby Grand, and Clicker.  I remember hearing 'Keep On Trying' from the first Clicker album on WISM in Madison.  I had no idea at the time that they were a local group.  It was later I learned of their roots in Southwestern and Southern Wisconsin and they hailed from such towns as Belmont and Darlington.  Cubby Tracy, who was the drummer for the group, joined us on Those Were The Days live in the studio way back in 1993.  Richard Wiegel will soon be celebrating fifty years in music!   I look forward to hearing from you this Saturday night.  The request line will be open for all six hours of the program and we will have a trivia stumper each hour.  We will keep it rocking for you this Saturday night from six until Midnight.

Philip

I went to the D.M.V. in January of 1980.  A stern man by the name of Ray Schroeder stepped forward to ride with me and determine whether or not I was worthy of driving freedom.  Somehow I was able to secure a piece of paper that declared my legal driver status.  The first time I drove solo (off the farm) Another Brick In The Wall by Pink Floyd was playing on the radio.  I was driving a 1970 rusty Chevrolet farm truck which had a three on the tree transmission and an AM radio.  On special occasions I could borrow my parents 1978 Impala.  I remember hearing Smokey Robinson singing Cruisin as I drove through the night after dropping my date at her front gate.  The Eagles album The Long Run featured some great music including the title song which was a big hit in January of 1980. Some of my other faves included:  Jane by Jefferson Starship, Head Games from Foreigner, and Romeos Tune by Steve Forbert.  There is still no such thing as a time machine, however, music is the closest thing that I have found.   I hope you will climb in the cab of our old yellow pickup and take a trip back to 1980 this weekend.  I will be playing all of your favorite requests from the fifties through the eighties during this weeks Those Were The Days on WRCO FM 100.9.

Phil-Mr. January 1980

During our Those Were The Days Saturday night old rock and roll party we will pay tribute to Elvis Presley.  The 'King Of Rock And Roll' would have been eighty this week.  He is forever young on the old TV clips and movies that still are shown often.  I have many favorite Elvis songs.  He sang so many different genres of music and it is hard to pick his best song ever.  You can request your favorite 'E'  song Saturday night.  You can also ask me to play anything else from the fifties through the eighties pop radio charts.   We will be playing trivia each hour of the 6 hour program this Saturday night.

I remember watching Elvis movies as a kid on the CBS Late Movie.  My aunt Joyce was babysitting me (I think I was a Senior in High School...no... just kidding) and they would often show an old movie that featured my hero.  Favorites included:  Jailhouse Rock, Tickle Me,  Live A Little Love A Little,  Change Of Habit, and Speedway.  In 1973 there was an offer on television where you could send in money and receive a two record set of some of the best Elvis tunes.  I gathered up my 6 bucks and sent the money away.  I am sure there were some quarters and dimes in the envelope.  In a few weeks I had my first Elvis collection.  I used to try to act and sing like him working my lip moves in front of the mirror and later I would impress my sisters friends with my Elvis act.  My teacher Mrs. Varana used to encourage me to sing 'Hound Dog' in front of the class.  It gave me my 15 minutes of fame at the Ithaca elementary and even some of the girls tolerated me.  

Many of his songs have meant a great deal to me.  'The Wonder Of You' was the song I chose to sing to my bride, June,  as she walked towards me down the aisle.  I hope to hear from you Saturday night.  Thanks for listening to WRCO FM 100.9.

Philvis

This Saturday night we will welcome in the new year with another old year.  Join me for Those Were The Days when we play for you some of the big hits from this weekend in 1965.  It is a fun chart to recap because there are several great records from the original wave of the British Invasion.  Some fine 45s from the Beatles, Dave Clark Five, The Rolling Stones, and Manfred Mann.  I will be back and propped up in the studio this Saturday night between 6 and Midnight to take requests for your faves from the fifties through the eighties.  Join me for trivia and all of the regular stuff on WRCO FM 100.9.  Happy New Year!

Phil

This Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9 you will be transported back to December of 1974.  I remember recording the year end countdown on my new Panasonic tape recorder and writing down each song in my loose leaf notebook.  I will admit I was a first class nerd, however, it bolstered my love for music, radio, and countdowns!  The 1974 year end survey is very interesting because it displays the diversity of the era.  There are comedy songs, Country, Pop, singer songwriter tunes, solid rock and roll and all kinds of surprises that you may not have heard for a few years.  I will count them down this Saturday night December 27th between and 6 p and Midnight.  We will not be taking your requests this week.  Request time will resume in 2015.  Thanks for listening and Merry Christmas to you and yours.

Philip

This Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9 we will spin a few classic rock and roll Christmas tunes.  The Solid Gold Dancers will be dancing on the tables and watch out for the mistletoe because Ray Schroeder will be trying to give you a Christmas kiss!  We will play all kinds of tunes from the fifties through the eighties.  I hope you will request a song and join the party.

I have fond memories of listening to the radio during the holiday season.  I would get my little transistor radio out every night and listen for the Cinnamon Bear.   My favorite Christmas songs were the lighthearted ones and the comedy classics.  'Snoopys Christmas' by the Royal Guardsman is my favorite silly one.  It also has a good message.  Join us for Those Were The Days this and every Saturday night on WRCO FM  100.9.

Phil

We will be taking your Top Forty Radio requests this Saturday night during Those Were The Days on WRCO FM 100.9.  We will also be flying back to Pop Radios' finest hour.  The year of 1966 featured hit after hit.  Artists that debuted that year included:  The Monkees, The Grass Roots,  The Association, Tommy James, Neil Diamond, B.J. Thomas, and The Mamas And The Papas.  Groups dominated the year as The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones, The Lovin' Spoonful, and Hermans Hermits ranked as the biggest selling of 1966.  Many recorded jingles for radio commercials.  It was hard to tell the commercials from the full length songs. Tune in this week for great hits from the fifties through the eighties on Those Were The Days. You can play trivia and join the party this weekend.

Phil

This Saturday night on Those Were The Days you will be transformed back to early December 1971.  There were big tunes from Cat Stevens,  The Grass Roots,  Three Dog Night, and Isaac Hayes.  It was a great time for music as I played with my G.I. Joe Adventure Team action figure and listened to the radio.  My first 45 record purchase would soon be made.  Bought at Saffells music store in Richland Center, 'Have You Seen Her' by the Chi-Lites started me on a habbit of buying music that I still have 43 years later.  Tune in WRCO Fm 100.9 this Saturday night and request a song.  Play trivia with us and win some cool prizes.  Lets escape to the fifties, sixties, seventies, and eighties again.

Phil

I turned eighteen in November of 1981.  There were many great tunes on the radio as I drove to basketball practice in the Ford Mav.  Daryl Hall and John Oates had two songs in the Top Twenty.  There were popular tunes from The Police, The Rolling Stones,  Rod Stewart,  Lindsey Buckingham, Genesis, and the J. Geils Band.  These songs were playing in the back ground as I slapped on the Brut and picked up my girl friend.  I am sure she was impressed.

Join me Saturday night on WRCOs' Those Were The Days for some great hits from 1981 as I put another candle on the cake.  I will have a mystery in studio guest to help me celebrate.  You wont want to miss this! 

Listen for Backtrackin at 5:30 p Saturday when I talk to Glen Leopold of Gunhill Road.  The group that brought us Back When My Hair Was Short has a new album called 'Every Forty Years'.  Hear the story of the new album this weekend.  We will celebrate with music together Saturday night.  Give me a call and request a song and play trivia.

Phil

The fourth weekend of November in 1970 we were jamming to some cool tunes.  The Partridge Family was a TV hit and 'I Think I Love You' was in the Top Five.  Neil Diamond was singing about 'Cracklin Rosie',  The Supremes were climbing the chart without Diana Ross,  The Jackson Five were the top selling act in music,  British groups like Free and The Who were having chart success.  What a great time to listen to Top 40 radio!  When I wasn't tuned in to hear the latest hits,  I was listening to the Milwaukee Bucks dominate teams.  They would win a championship the next Spring.  When the weather was just right, I could clearly see Marsha Brady on television.  Once in a while dad would have to get up on the roof and adjust the UHF  antenna so I could see the Brady Bunch better.

I hope to hear from you Saturday night during Those Were The Days on WRCO FM 100.9.  I will be in the studio to answer the Bat phone!  Join me for trivia and other fun stuff between 6 pm and Midnight Saturday.

Mr. P

This Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9 our Those Were The Days radio program will spotlight The Box Tops.  My special guest (by phone) will be Gary Talley who was the lead guitarist of the group and at 19 years of age was one of the elder statesmen when they first hit with 'The Letter' in 1967! Other hits followed including: Cry Like A Baby, Soul Deep,  Neon Rainbow, Choo Choo Train, and I Met Her In Church.  After the Box Tops days, Gary has backed up a long list of great artists with his guitar. Hear his story on Saturday night.

We will be taking your requests again this week and playing trivia.  Last Saturday night you did a great job asking for songs that we have not played for a while.  Keep up the good work!

Philip

This weekend on Those Were the Days, we will park the Ford Maverick on a hill far away and imagine that it is 1979.  The songs coming from the radio included hits from such artists as Supertramp,  The Cars,  Cheap Trick and many more.  Relive those hits with us during Those Were The Days on WRCO FM 100.9 on Saturday night.  I was starting to shoot hoops on the basket that hung on the outside of our corn crib.  My big debut with the Ithaca Bulldogs was near and I soon discovered that I was an outside shooter.  When I went inside the gym it wasn't all that pretty.  Speaking of pretty....I was about to go on my first date after dancing to the song 'Babe'  by Styx at the school dance. (the dance wasn't pretty but she was!)  The song 'Lets Go'  by the Cars was playing on the radio a week later as we went out for on a night on the town.  I will be set to play what you say this Saturday night as the best of the fifties through the eighties will be heard on the radio again.  Join us for a good time on Those Were The Days.

Philip

He may be the only artist that has been able to claim that he was friends with Buddy Holly, Elvis, and Frank Sinatra.  Trini Lopez will be my guest on the Saturday night show Those Were The Days.  I remember hearing Mr. Lopez's records on the radio when I was just a wee nee.  His first hit came in 1963 with 'If I Had A Hammer'.  He did a killer version of the song 'Kansas City' later that year.  His hard work from humble beginnings paid off when Buddy Holly helped him in Texas, later he was on Frank Sinatra's Reprise record label, and appeared in the classic movie The Dirty Dozen.  He was a fellow Vegas performer with Elvis.  He could have retired years ago, however, he recently put out his sixty-fifth album!  I have had the chance to interview hundreds over the past 28 plus years of doing the program.  Trini Lopez is a first time guest on Those Were The Days.  Join me for pop radio memories from the fifties, sixties, seventies, and eighties this Saturday night between Six and Midnight.  I will be taking your requests and will be playing trivia.  I hope to hear from you!

Philip

This Saturday night on Those Were The Days I will be digging out chart classics from this weekend in 1976.  These were big hits as the Fall was coming on strong.  Hear big tunes from the Steve Miller Band,  Wild Cherry,  Earth Wind & Fire, Gordon Lightfoot, and seldom heard songs from Roxy Music and Ringo Starr. We will take time out for Regional Championship High School Volleyball and than close out the second half of the show with your rock and roll requests.  Take the trivia challenge and impress your friends during Those Were the Days on WRCO FM 100.9.  I will put on my P.F. Flyers and my husky sized bell bottom pants along with my Partridge Family t-shirt to host Those Were The Days.  I hope a bunch of our lady listeners can contain themselves when they find out what I will be wearing!

Phil

This week on our Saturday night program, we will spin some songs from some of our favorite Canadian artists.  There were so many great songs that came from Canada especially in the late sixties and early seventies.  One of my all time favorite groups The Guess Who led the way with many memorable hits and albums.  Paul Anka broke through in the fifties and many followed from the North.  Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Andy Kim, The Band, Lighthouse, and Anne Murray all brought huge hits to the United States record surveys.  Later harder edged groups such as Loverboy,  April Wine,  Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Rush, Triumph, and Trooper hit the airwaves in the states.  Bryan Adams had a big run of great music starting in the 1980s.  Hear the best of Canada on this weeks Those Were The Days radio show.  I will be back to take your requests and play trivia.  From Six until Midnight Saturday night WRCO FM 100.9 will transport you back to great memories and good times.

Thanks to Lon Arbegust for being our guest last Saturday night.  It was great to hear from a Richland Center man who was actually at Woodstock in 1969. 

Phil

On this Saturday nights Those Were The Days show on WRCO FM 100.9 Saturday night,  we will feature a talk with a Richland Center man who was at the 1969 Woodstock Music And Art Fair!  Later in the night you can hear the Top Ten Beach Boys radio hits counted down.  We will share with you some 'Cowbell Classics' and 70's Party Favorite songs during this Saturday nights program.  We will not be taking your requests this week.  Hang on to those and give me a call next week on October 18th when we have our next live request show.  I hope you enjoy this weeks show.  It will be a good one!

Phil

The year of 1967 was a great year for music with a wide array of styles.  It may have been Top Forty radios' finest year.  On WRCO FM 100.9 between 6 and Midnight Saturday night, we will shine our Ford Maverick headlights on that era.  The Box Tops from Memphis were on top of the pop scene with 'The Letter'.  Chicagos' Buckinghams were having one of four top 10 hits that came during the year for the group.  Tommy James was on the radio, Bobby Vee was having a comeback hit,  and Milwaukees' Esquires were in the Top Twenty.  I hope you give me a call to request a song this Saturday night.  Last week you made it tough on me.  I was digging for stuff all night long and I loved it!  Win some food, tickets, and other fun stuff when we play trivia this weekend during Those Were The Days.

It was the Fall of eighty-one and music was in the air as I lined up at center on the mighty Ithaca Bulldogs Football team.  Perhaps if I would not have had songs like Urgent by Foreigner,  Jessie's Girl from Rick Springfield, or The Breakup Song by The Greg Kihn Band running through my brain, I might have been able to block better for our quarterbacks. Poor Scott Crine,  Randy Nelson, Bob Faga and whoever else played the position.   That was a great time to be 17 going on 18.  My friends and I listened to the new Greg Kihn album,  AC/DCs' Back In Black,  4 from Foreigner,  Hi Infidelity-REO Speedwagon and the Blue Brothers movie soundtrack which had been released the year before.  So much water from the Willow Creek has gone under the bridge at Bush Flat near Ithaca since than.  Many things have changed, however, I still listen to those songs and I still go to Ithaca football games.  Thank you to the folks at Ithaca for inducting me in the school Hall Of Fame last Saturday.  It is something I will always cherish.  Who would have ever believed that the boy who spent more time in the principles office than Mr. Modjeski would some day have a legit reason for being in the hall!  Thanks for your kind words and I hope I can keep on rockin' for a few more years.  I will be back to deliver your favorite requests and play trivia this Saturday night on WRCOs' Those Were The Days from 6 until Midnight.  Join me for the greatest rock and roll and pop radio memories ever! 

Phil

This Saturday night on Those Were The Days between six and Midnight on WRCO FM I will dig out more favorite tunes from the fifties through the eighties.  We will continue our year long tribute to the British Invasion of American music that began fifty years ago.  Hear the Top Ten biggest chart hits from Hermans Hermits,  the Rolling Stones, and the Who!  I will also dig out the chart from this weekend in 1972 and spin a few!  This coundown is special to me because I remember writing down these songs in order as I listened to WRCO. There I was sitting at the kitchen table of the old farm house and listening to the old G.E. table top radio with a clock that never worked.  Songs from the Raspberries, the Hollies,  the Doobie Brothers, and America are all like old friends that have been in my life all of these years.  We will not be taking your requests this week.  Save those for next week because I always look forward to hearing from you.

Cheers!

Phil-One Time Member Of The Ithaca Math Team, All Star Center Football/Basketball, Right Fielder, Lead Singer Marty And The Corndogs.