WRCO Blog

During this weeks Those Were The Days radio show, we will provide you 20/20 vision with songs about sight.  We could fill all six hours with songs about vision and eyes.  Our goal will be to hit a few highlights from the list.  Some examples include:  I Only Have Eyes For You-Flamingos,  Have You Seen Her-Chi-Lites,  Behind Blue Eys-The Who,  The Story In Your Eyes-Moody Blues,  These Eyes-Guess Who,  Temptation Eyes-Grass Roots,  Double Vision-Foreigner,  Eye Of The Tiger-Survivor,  Blinded By The Light-Manfred Mann,  Green Eyed Lady-Sugarloaf,  Private Eyes-Hall & Oates,  and I Saw Her Standing There-the Beatles.   As you can see, eyes have been a great inspiration for songwriters for many years. 

Those Were The Days will be playing all of your favorite fifties through the eighties tunes Saturday night from six until midnight.  You can baffle everyone with your brilliance when we play trivia.  Just listen for the 'magic cowbell'.  We continue to make new friends after all of these years.  There are more long distance friends phoning in. We have had friends check in to say they were listening in Virginia,  Florida,  Colorado,  Illinois and Minnesota.  Remember The FM 100.9 stream link is here on our hompage.  Alexa users can enable the WRCO FM Alexa skill and then join us by saying..."Alexa, open one hundred point nine WRCO".   Join us Saturday night for Those Were The Days from six until Midnight.

Phil

This week on WRCOs' Those Were The Days, I will head back to this weekend in 1978.  I was celebrating my 15th birthday.  It was a rough winter that year with my dad in the hospital and my sister and me trying to organize the chores. Luckily the radio got me through some tough times.  Music has always been a big part of my life and when I hear some of this weekends chart tunes from 1978, I am right back to my room in the old farm house.  Some of my favorite tunes from this weeks chart include:  Double Vision-Foreigner, Strange Way-Firefall,  Alive Again-Chicago,  Hot Child In the City-Nick Gilder,  Straight On-Heart,  Blue Collar Man-Styx,  Hold The Line-Toto,  New York Groove-Ace Frehley,  My Best Friends Girl-Cars,  and Beast Of Burden-Rolling Stones.   I will be celebrating my current birthday with all of my friends (you). 

We will have several chances for you to win when we play trivia during the six hour rock and roll tribute.  I hope you will request a song and I will dig for it through the massive library of tunes.  Remember you can request any pop song from the fifties through the eighties.  Some folks think they can only request a song from our featured year.  This is not true.   How about trying to stump me.  I love the challenge.  Last week we had a chance to play some songs that I have not featured since my hair was brown.  We even feature at least one song a week that we have never played on the show in 34 plus years.  

Happy Thanksgiving weekend!

Phil 

I have written many times at this site about how good the music was from 1964-1969.  So many of the songs are still alive and well in commercials and movies after these many years.  The year of 1966 closed out with a bang with many memorable hits.  We will revisit some of those during this weeks Those Were The Days radio program between six and midnight Saturday night.  Some of my favorites from 1966 include:  Poor Side Of Town-Johnny Rivers,  96 Tears-Question Mark & the Mysterians,  Nineteen Days-Dave Clark Five,  But It's Alright-J.J. Jackson,  Devil With a Blue Dress On & Good Golly Miss Molly-Mitch Ryder,  and Psychotic Reaction-Count Five.  We will give those a spin and as many of your requests as we can.

We are getting response from around the country now that 100.9 can be heard everywhere.  We will always concentrate on our local over the air listeners first, however, it is good to hear from new friends that challenge us to find songs.  The FM 100.9 stream link is here on our hompage.  Alexa users can enable the WRCO FM Alexa skill and then join us by saying..."Alexa, open one hundred point nine WRCO".  

You might be able to impress your friends if you win trivia during Those Were The Days.  We will feed you one question each hour during Those Were The Days this Saturday night. 

Phil

In 1977 my mighty Junior High basketball team was ready for a championship season.  It was not a great debut as we ran out on the court at Seneca High School and lined up to warm up for layup drills.  The three players at the head of the three lines are suppose to pass the ball back and fourth and the third guy to catch the pass than does a layup.  When all 3 players ran into each other and fell down, our coach Fred Dillon walked off the court for a moment to compose himself.  Music on the AM bus radio helped ease the sting of losses on the way home.  Some of my favorites this week in 1977 include:  Help Is On The Way-Little River Band,  Just Remember I Love You-Firefall,  Cold As Ice-Foreigner,  She Did It-Eric Carmen,  Swingtown-Steve Miller Band,  Love Gun-Kiss,  Point Of No Return-Kansas, and Boogie Nights-Heatwave.

This Saturday night on Those Were The Days from WRCO 100.9, we will be spinning some of those hits from 1977, however, you can suggest a song from any of the decades that we play.  Remember to tell your families and friends that they can hear us long distance.  We have been getting a few far away requests from listeners around the country as they listen to wrco.com.  Last Saturday we had several fans of our profile band, Saturday's Children, check in.  We will be playing trivia each hour during the six hour flashback.  Turn back the clock with Those Were The Days this Saturday night between six and midnight.

Phil

On Those Were The Days Saturday night, we have talked with several Chicago area hitmakers of the 1960's.  This week we will talk with the two surviving members of the group Saturdays Children.  Those that saw them play live or heard them on the radio back in the day thought they would make it big.  For various reasons that never happened.  They were the opening act for some of the biggest names in rock and roll. Hear their story on FM 100.9.   Group members Dave Carter and George Paul will join me for a history of Saturdays Children on Saturday night!   Thanks to Clark Besch aka WLS Clark for hooking us up.  

We will be answering the phone for your requests on Saturday night when we take those old records off the shelf.  It was a great night last weekend and we had a record number of requests.  It is so rewarding to talk with many that have listened to us for years and the new friends we have made.  Since we now are streaming, we are hearing from music fans throughout the country.  The FM 100.9 stream link is here on our hompage.  Alexa users can enable the WRCO FM Alexa skill and then join us by saying..."Alexa, open one hundred point nine WRCO". You can also listen on your Six Transistor Radio if you like!

Make sure to join us between six and midnight Saturday night for Those Were The Days.  Take the trivia challenge and win a prize.  Just listen for the 'Magic Cowbell"!

Phil

This Saturday night on Those Were The Days from FM 100.9 and dot com,  I will be hosting our annual Halloween party.  There are so many songs with dark and scary themes which were released during the fifties through the eighties.  The number one song with a Halloween theme gets requested year around.  Bobby 'Boris' Pickett's Monster Mash has been a 'graveyard smash' since it first was released in 1962.  It also made the charts two other times.  Those Were The Days can provide the background for your Halloween parties this Saturday night.  Request your favorite song (Halloween related or otherwise).  We will play trivia and take you on a tour of the WRCO haunted radio station.

Some of our other favorite Halloween requests include:  Purple People Eater-Sheb Wooley,  Werewolves Of London-Warren Zevon,  Haunted House-Jumpin Gene Simmons,  Ghostbusters-Ray Parker Jr.  Thriller-Michael Jackson,  Witch Doctor-David Seville,  Witch Queen Of New Orleans-Redbone,  Frankenstein-Edgar Winter Group,  Superstition-Stevie Wonder,  Bad Moon Rising-C.C.R.,  and The Time Warp-The Rocky Horror Picture Show Cast.

Following Those Were The Days from 6 pm to midnight,  we will present an encore presentation of the UW Platteville-Richland Theatre production of War Of The Worlds.  That will hit the airwaves at midnight Halloween night.  How cool is that?  That will cap off our retro Saturday on WRCO FM 100.9 and wrco.com.  Tune in if you dare and don't be too scared!

Phil-WRCO

This Saturday night during Those Were The Days on WRCO FM 100.9 and wrco.com, I will be playing highlights from this weekends 1969 music survey.  Hear stories behind the songs with such artists as Gary Puckett,  Ron Dante, and others.  There were so many Top Forty classic songs on the charts this week in 1969 including:  Can't Get Next To You-Temptations,  Suspicious Minds-Elvis,  Come Together-Beatles,  Green River-C.C.R.,  Honky Tonk Woman-Rolling Stones,  and Hot Fun In the Summertime-Sly & the Family Stone.I was just a 'wee-Nee' 51 years ago, however, I can vividly remember riding around on the tractor with my dad during Fall harvest.  The radio was always on in the barn and when we would jump in the truck.  It seemed that Sugar Sugar by the Archies was on the radio all of the time.  My dad loved music and even though he was a fan of music from the 40's and 50's, he often would tell me that he liked a song that he heard on the stations that I listened to.  He would even come home with a record for our collection after he heard a song on the radio that he liked. My love of music came from my dad.

I will be in the studio this Saturday night and hope to hear from you.  You can request anything from the fifties through the eighties during that time.  Perhaps you will be the winner of trivia.  We will have some fun whenever the 'magic cow bell'  rings.  Now that it is getting colder, you may have to move inside from the campfires to the fire places while you listen to Those Were The Days on Saturday night.  I listened on line a bit last week while I was playing with the grandbabies.   I am going to try to teach them about good music. 

Phil

This week on WRCOs' Those Were the Days, we will be digging in the library for some great songs for a record hop.  The Solid Gold Dancers will be dancing on the tables.  It will be a mix tape night and for the theme we will go to the alphabet.   You might hear a song from ABBA, followed by Bachman Turner Overdrive, Cars,  Neil Diamond,  ELO,  Foghat,  Guess Who, Heart, and so on and so forth.  Join WRCO for an alphabet of hits this Saturday night between six and midnight on WRCO FM 100.9.  We will not be taking your requests.  That feature will return next Saturday night. 

Congratulations to our winners of the Stevie Nicks Drive-In concert tickets.  That show is coming up Saturday night October 24th at the Starlite 14 Drive-In in Richland Center.

Those Were The Days debuted on WRCO Saturday night October 11th of 1986.  We turned 34 this past week and we are going into our 35th year with this Saturday nights show!  I can't believe how fast that time has passed.  Thank you for all of your support over the years.  It seems like I get more calls now than ever. It is very rewarding to host this show.

Phil

John Lennon would have turned 80 on October 9th.  It is sad to think about all of the music that he would have created had he not been murdered at age 40 in December of 1980.  Friends used to debate on which Beatle was their favorite. John Lennon was never my favorite group member.  I always related more to Paul and Ringo based on the personalities that I saw on tv and what I read about them.  John seemed to be more on edge, angry, and intimidating.  As time passed, it seemed like he became more down to earth and I related to some of his later solo music. I bought the Double Fantasy album just before his death.  That contains some great music that  I loved and still do after all of these years.    This Saturday night on WRCOs' Those Were The Days, I will spin  our favorite Lennon Beatles songs of which he was the lead singer.   We will also take a look at some of his most requested solo stuff. It is mind boggling to think that John Lennon has been gone as long as he was alive.

It has been another rough week for those of us that love music from past decades.  On FM 100.9 Saturday night, we will remember the lives and careers of Eddie Van Halen, and Johnny Nash whom we lost this past week.  I always appreciated Eddies music.  The group Van Halen was very popular in the Midwest and their early touring always included Madison, Wisconsin.  Johnny Nash helped bring reggae music to the states.  His hits Hold Me Tight, and Stir It Up are both on my Wurlitzer juke box.  I Can See Clearly Now has become an anthem.  His 1973 release called My Merry-Go-Round got some radio play in these parts, but it was never a big hit.

I hope you will join WRCO's tribute to old rock and roll this Saturday night from six until midnight on FM 100.9 and wrco.com. Request your favorite old song.  We will try to stump you with our trivia games.  You could be the winner of a ticket to attend a video concert featuring Stevie Nicks October 24th at the Starlite 14 Drive In theater in Richland Center.  Listen and win Saturday night during Those Were The Days. 

Phil

Saturday night during Those Were The Days on WRCO FM 100.9, we will be slipping back to this weekend in 1971.  When I hear those hits, I am right back to cool nights,  football games at Krouskop park, and doing my chores in the barn with the radio on.  When I would listen to the those distant radio signals from Madison, Milwaukee, and Chicago, I felt like I was connected to the world.  For a farm kid in a small town in Wisconsin, it was exciting to hear about a concert going on in the windy city or a new movie debuting in Milwaukee.  Each city played most of the same hits, however, there were some regional tracks that were getting airplay as well.  Some of my fave hits from this weekend in 1971 include:  Do You Know What I Mean-Lee Michaels,  I Woke Up In Love This Morning-Partridge Family,  I Just Want To Celebrate-Rare Earth,  Rain Dance-Guess Who,  The Story In Your Eyes-Moody Blues,  Birds Of A Feather-Raiders,  Tired Of Being Alone-Al Green,  and Smiling Faces Sometimes-Undisputed Truth.  I was not yet buying records, but I was enjoying the radio and taping songs on the families reel to reel tape recorder.   On tv in the Fall of '71l, I was watching the Brady Bunch,  Partridge Family,  Love American Style,  All In The Family,  Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour,  and Room 222.

I hope you will tune in Saturday night to our rock and roll showcase on WRCO. You will be able to hear songs from the first forty years of rock and roll.  Thank you for a wonderful night last time.  We had some new listeners checking in.  Now that the show is also on line at wrco.com, we are hearing from more people.  This makes it sometimes difficult to get all of the request played.  That is not a bad problem to have.  The trivia games will be up and running.  We will try to stump you when we ask about stuff that you thought you had forgotten!  Let's talk Saturday night.

Phil

It has been a little while since I have visted 1967 during my Those Were The Days radio show.  On this blog we have many times mentioned what a great year for music '67 was.  Music changed a great deal in 1968.  It could be argued that 1967 was Top 40 radios' last great year.  There were so many 2 to 3 minute melodic hits on the radio.  Saturday night between six and midnight, I will be dropping in a few choice cuts from this weeks Billboard chart from all of those years ago. A group from Memphis had the number one song.  It was one of the shortest songs ever to top the survey. 'The Letter' by the Box Tops clocked in at just under 2 minutes and wound up to be the biggest of the year.  Other Phil favorites from this week in 1967 include:  Come Back When You Grow Up-Bobby Vee,  Never My Love-Association, Brown Eyed Girl-Van Morrison,  I Had A Dream-Paul Revere and the Raiders,  Gimme A Little Sign-Brenton Wood,  Gettin' Together-Tommy James,  Things I Should Have Said-Grass Roots,  Expressway To Your Heart-Soul Survivors,  Blues Theme-Davie and the Arrows,  and Museum -Hermans Hermits.  I hope you will join us for radio fun this Saturday night and request something from 1967 or from any of the years that we feature.  We play stuff from the fifties through the early '90's. 

We have fun with trivia every time we get together. Listen for the 'Magic Cow Bell' on Saturday night which signals another question. Those Were the Days can be heard on WRCO FM 100.9 and wrco.com each Saturday night.  It is a part of the stations 'retro' Saturdays.  It follows music and headlines of the past on the Backtrackin show that airs at 5:30. I have enjoyed hearing Saturdays With Simo on Saturday afternoons.  Chris Simonson plays great tunes from the fifties through the seventies.  Many of those tunes you may have first heard on WRCO radio all of those years ago.  That program will now be starting at 12:30 and it will air until 5 pm each week.  I hope that you will make us a part of your Saturday.

I count my blessings each day.  My family welcomed a new granddaughter recently.  I hope you will join 'poor old grandpa Phil' on Saturday night.

Phil Nee

Back in the eighties, I was a legend on the baseball and softball diamonds.  Noone had seen a player like me.  I had the ability to make an outstanding play and than drop a routine pop up.  I did much better playing the hits on my record players.  I could get a good hit once in a while.  Like my career on the diamond, the 80's had a lot of one hit phenoms!  This week on Those Were The Days, we will play the Top Ten 80's One Hit Wonders.  This will be a fun countdown and if you would like to hear an 80's gem or any tune you can think of from the first 40 years of rock and roll, please give me a call.  I watched a lot of MTV when I wasn't playing softball or annoying the ladies.  When I hear some of those 80's hits, I can picture the cheesy videos that went with them.

Give me a call and we can talk about old times this Saturday night.  We will feature the usual trivia treats.  Tell your friends that they can listen to Those Were The Days live on line.  You can do a special long distance request.  Between six and midnight Saturday night you can hear the greatest grooves ever on FM 100.9.  Those Were The Days, my friend.

Phil

It was the fall of 1980.  I was a rough, tough, ( in my mind), center on the Ithaca football team.  There was a lot of responsibility expected of me.  My job was to snap the ball and help protect the quarterback.  If I could fall just right, I could slow down the nose guard just enough to give the qb more time.  It did take the defense a little longer to step over me as I lay on and sometimes in the sod.  The center always wound up at the bottom of the pile especially on extra points and field goals.  As I was being used as a chisel plow by the other team, there were many great songs from 1980 running through my brain.  Some of my favorites from this weekend in 1980 include:  Emotional Rescue-Rolling Stones,  I'm Alright-Kenny Loggins,  All Over The World-E.L.O.,  Hot Rod Hearts-Robbie Dupree,  Let My Love Open The Door-Pete Townsend,  Drivin' My Life Away-Eddie Rabbitt,  Boulevard-Jackson Browne,  and Take Your Time (Do It Right)-S.O.S. Band.  With those great tunes in my head, I wonder how I even remembered the count to snap the ball!

This Saturday night on my radio show, Those Were The Days, I will be playing some of the hot hits from 1980 and the tunes from all of the decades that we feature.  The request line will be open again and I will be hosting trivia contests during the six hour show.  If you have friends and relatives outside of the big broadcast signal of WRCO FM 100.9, let them know that Those Were The Days can now be heard worldwide!  Go to this website (wrco.com) and look for the headphones.  Make sure you click on 100.9 and you will be able to hear WRCO programs whereever you are.  I hope to talk with you on Saturday night between six and midnight.  We will keep on rockin'.

Phil

In 2018 we featured a countdown of top albums from the rock and roll years.  At that time, I asked for listener votes so that another countdown could be featured at a later date.  This Saturday night, during Those Were The Days, you will be able to hear Southwest Wisconsins' favorite albums.   The list features albums from 1965 through the late 80's.  Groups such as Queen, the Cars,  Def Leppard, Steve Miller Band,  Journey, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones,  C.C.R., and Pink Floyd all will be well represented along with many more.  It will be a special Labor Day weekend feature from WRCO FM 100.9.  I hope that you will tune in Saturday night between six and midnight.  Every song that we play will be a winner.  You will hear some of the best known tracks from the best albums of all time.  We will not be taking your requests during this weekends show.  That feature will return next time.

I was always a fan of the 45 and for a poor farm boy a 98 cent record was what I could afford.  If I was patient, I could save my chore money and spend $3.98 for an entire album.  A greatest hits album would give me the most bang for my buck, however, some releases had enough good songs which made them like a best song compilation.  There were times when I would borrow an album from a friend and tape it on cassette.  After a few listens, I would determine whether it was worth spending the extra dough to buy it.  Thousands of albums later, I still get a thrill when I buy a vinyl record and play it for the first time.  

Have a safe and a relaxing Labor Day weekend.  I hope you will join the fun Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9 during our Those Were The Days show.

Phil

It seems that we have celebrated many fifty year milestones of iconic events during the last couple of years.  Last year marked fifty since man walked on the moon and Woodstock.  This year we mark a half century since Apollo 13, the Beatles breakup and final new record,  and the album Tommy.  On this Saturdays' Those Were The Days radio show, I will take a look at the Billboard chart hits from this weekend in 1970.  That year saw the debut of soft rock acts such as; Bread, Carpenters, and Dawn.  Singer songwriters such as James Taylor, Neil Diamond, and Joni Mitchell had lots of success.  Motowns' Stevie Wonder, Supremes, and the Spinners were on the charts.  Creedence Clearwater Revival was the top band in the land.  The year of 1970 was a great year for music and on WRCO FM 100.9 we will spotlight all that was going on in pop culture fifty years back. 

Join us for the usual trivia features, requests, and the adventures of the WRCO Solid Gold Dancers.  I am proud to hear about the family gatherings that feature all ages listening to the radio.  That is truly 'old school'.  Last Saturday night we had a trivia winner that will be going into 8th grade this school year.  That made me happy as that will mean the music I love and enjoy may live on for at least another generation.  Congratulations to our winner, Jay, who will be going to the Starlite Drive-In in Richland Center to enjoy the Encore Live Metallica concert this Saturday night after winning the giveaway last weekend.  He wont be able to listen all of Those Were The Days this week on FM 100.9, but I know he is going to be jamming with friends at the outdoor. 

I will be working all week for Saturday night!  Please give me a call between six and midnight and we will talk!

Phil

During this Saturday nights Those Were The Days, I will be pulling out a few classic songs that have special dances.  Some of my favorites include: The Locomotion-Little Eva/Grand Funk/Kylie Minogue,  Twist and Shout-Isley Brothers/Beatles,  Tighten Up-Archie Bell and the Drells,  Bristol Stomp-Dovells,  Pony Time-Chubby Checker,  The Stroll-Diamonds,  Land of 1,000 Dances-Wilson Pickett, and Kung Fu Fighting-Carl Douglas.  You can dance along at home with WRCO FM 100.9.  Our solid gold dancers will be trying to keep up with the music.  Who will win the WRCO Dance Off Challenge?  The oddsmakers are saying that Ron Fruit might be the winner since he signs the paychecks.

Perhaps you will win one of the trivia contests on Saturday night.  We will give away a pass for up to six in a car to see the Encore Drive-In Nights Metallica concert at the Starlite Drive-In Saturday night August 29th!  You will have to be listening to WRCO FM 100.9 between six and midnight this Saturday night (22nd).  In the words of Ed Sullivan, "we will have a really big shoe" this weekend!  Give me a call at 608 647-4155 with your song suggestions.  I will be sitting by the rotarty dial phone.  It has a long cord that stretches all over the studio.  I can be digging through records and talking with you at the same time.  We are 'old school' on Saturday nights at WRCO.  Let's have another memorable time this weekend as we celebrate summer and classic rock and roll.

Phil

One of my fears of going back to school was getting new school pants.  My mom would load me in the Impala and we would look for good deals at the Richland Outlet,  Krouskops' Department Store, or J.C. Penny.  I was so worried that the clerk would be checking my waist, or inseam measurements just as one of my friends was walking by.  That was why I did not like to go to the barbershop.  One time I was in the chair by the big window with the barber working on my mop.  Some older fellows went walking by and pointed at me and doubled over with laughter.  It was a traumatic moment for young Philip.  After that it was a challenge for my poor mother to get my hair cut.  She had to bribe me.   I was able to get a new 45 record if I did not complain.   This helped me build up my record collection.  

On this weeks Those Were The Days, we will flash back to new husky jeans with flare legs and new 45's in 1974.  Some of my radio favorites included: Taking Care Of Business-BTO,  Rikki Don't Lose That Number-Steely Dan,  Clap For the Wolfman-Guess Who,  You Haven't Done Nothin'-Stevie Wonder,  Tell Me Something Good-Rufus,  The Night Chicago Died-Paper Lace,  and Waterloo-Abba.  You can hear a few of these classics and all of the songs we play from the fifties through the eighties on WRCO FM 100.9 between six and midnight Saturday night.  Perhaps we can bring back a memory that you have not thought of for many years.  The 'magic cowbell'  will signal trivia time.  We continue to meet new friends on the phone each week during WRCOs' Those Were The Days.  Thank you for letting me borrow your ears each and every Saturday night.

Phil

Top Forty radio in 1965 featured so many songs that are still well rememberd today.  During this weeks Those Were The Days show on WRCO FM 100.9, I will be digging out some of the best from the Summer of '65.  WRCO FM 100.9 went on the air for the first time that year.  WRCO AM 1450 first took the air in the Fall of 1949.  AM radio was king for many years.  The FM band was still not popular for a long time, however, Southwest Wisconsin listeners that actually had a receiver found out how much clearer the music sounded.  Some of my faves from 1965 Summertime include:  I Like It Like That-Dave Clark Five,  I Can't Help Myself-Four Tops,  I Want Candy-Strangeloves,  Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me-Mel Carter,  I'm A Fool-Dino, Desi, & Billy, and Help -The Beatles.   We all can use a little fun.  Saturday night is my favorite time of the week.  There are so many listeners that have become like family and if they don't call, I worry about them!  We always have a blast.

It is great to know that some people do remember the trivial things that I do.  After we asked about the peanut butter spread known as Koogle Saturday night,  several listeners checked in to say they remember eating that stuff in the '70's.  A few wondered if they can still buy that.  I googled Koogle and it does not look like it is still manufactured.  It seems that it has gone the way of another 70's favorite, Pizza Spinners.  Those Were The Days radio features the hits and the trivia every Saturday night from six to midnight.   Come along with us to happy times each weekend during WRCOs' Retro Saturdays.

Phil

The Blues Brothers movie was released forty years ago this Summer.  My buddies and me could not wait for it to make its way to Richland Center.  After seeing it at the indoor and later the outdoor theater, we had many of the lines memorized.  We were all Saturday Night Live fans and grew up watching Dan Akroyd and John Belushi each week.  I was familiar with their version of 'Soul Man' when it was released to radio in 1978.  Someone brought their album Briefcase Full Of Blues to the band room at Ithaca High School and we used to listen to that whenever we could. It was so good.  The Blues Brothers introduced us to so many songs that we may never have been aware of. I had never heard of Cab Calloway until the Blues Brothers movie.  The movie music was the soundtrack to my Summer of 1980.  Us fellows would often attempt to dress up like the Blues Brothers. We did not have Donald 'Duck' Dunn or Steve Cropper to back us up, so some guys had to play their combs.  If you put a piece of paper over your comb and hummed, you could almost sound like you were playing a harmonica.  Some of the young ladies in our class were actually impressed for a few minutes.

We will be remembering the Blues Brothers during Those Were The Days on FM 100.9 Saturday night.  There will also be a special spotlight on the movie American Graffitti which was released August first of 1973.  When I saw Wolfman Jack on the big screen, I knew what I wanted to do with my life.  Perhaps you will suggest a song during our six hour music celebration on Saturday night.  The best of the fifties through the eighties will be back in the spotlight.  You will also have a chance to win a prize if you can be the first to answer during trivia time.  Let's have a rock and roll party on Saturday night.

Phil

I have written about K-tel records many times on this blog.  For a farm boy on a budget, these albums were gold.  Even though some of the early ones crammed 22 songs on one album and cut most songs down to about 2 minutes a piece.  A song that was over seven minutes such as Layla by Derek & the Dominoes was only a minute and a half!  It did not make a difference to me.  Other generations can relate with the Now series of greatest hits cd's or spotify. In the 70's and 80's, K-tel was all that we had.  My mix tapes were awesome! There were so many songs that I had never heard before and would have never have bought (especially on side 2 of those greatest hits comps).  Many of those tunes have become favorites of mine thanks to those budget albums.  During this weeks Those Were the Days radio show on WRCO FM 100.9, I will play a few highlights from some of the most memorable K-tel releases including 1975's Out Of Sight,  Disco Mania, and Music Express and from 1980  Rock 80!   There was nothing like putting on a K-tel album and sitting on the front porch at the old farmhouse in the Summertime.  Saturday night I will be back there in my mind.  Perhaps you can contribute to the playlist?  We will spin the best music from the fifties through the eighties between six and midnight Saturday night.  It wont even cost you $4.99 for the record or $5.99 for the 8 track tape!  It is free....but wait there's more.  You could be the winner of fun prizes when we play trivia.  WRCO will leave the light on for you and the phone will be answered.  We are live and local on Saturday nights.  That is hard to find on local radio these days.

It has been a sad last week here at WRCO.  Saturday we will say goodbye to Ray Schroeder.  I have followed his Rem. With Ray program all of these years.  He has been a mentor,  father figure,  partner in crime,  and willing participant in many on air skits.  He was still driving himself here to record his programs until recently.  To be able to do that for 57 years and still be broadcasting at 95 years old was simply amazing.  I will always remember Ray and the laughs that we shared.  WRCO will feature archived shows Saturday afternoons for the near future.

Phil