As Rocky and Bullwinkle live on for new generations, apparently so can old DJ’s according to Chris Tarbell. Chris is now entering the latter category himself as he pursues his job with Adelphia in Virginia, but his love is old Erie radio and radio DJ’s in Erie.
Chris has created a website of some of the classic days of Erie radio (Click Erie radio to visit) complete with pictures and station logos. Most of it is from the 80’s (his period) He is actively looking to add more. Posted here are just some of the examples you can find in his collection. They also include, who they are and what they are doing.
Chris has seen on EMGR that there are lots of fans of old Erie radio, especially WJET and K104 (his alma-mater). Yet he isn’t content to leave it there. He is actively seeking more pictures, stories of DJ’s and any other information to update his site. You can write him at musicofthe80s@hotmail.com.
Chris heard about EMGR and has been following some of the posts to know that a lot of you have pretty sharp memories. I couldn’t exactly remember Chris until I saw his picture.
The site brings back what many of you consider the “good old days” of Erie radio. (so do I). Right now it is confined to just WJET and K104 but I think he would like to expand it to others with your help.
I want to thank Chris for writing me. Go to the site yourself and see some real memories and send him any information and pictures you might have on file.
Chris has created a website of some of the classic days of Erie radio (Click Erie radio to visit) complete with pictures and station logos. Most of it is from the 80’s (his period) He is actively looking to add more. Posted here are just some of the examples you can find in his collection. They also include, who they are and what they are doing.
Chris has seen on EMGR that there are lots of fans of old Erie radio, especially WJET and K104 (his alma-mater). Yet he isn’t content to leave it there. He is actively seeking more pictures, stories of DJ’s and any other information to update his site. You can write him at musicofthe80s@hotmail.com.
Chris heard about EMGR and has been following some of the posts to know that a lot of you have pretty sharp memories. I couldn’t exactly remember Chris until I saw his picture.
The site brings back what many of you consider the “good old days” of Erie radio. (so do I). Right now it is confined to just WJET and K104 but I think he would like to expand it to others with your help.
I want to thank Chris for writing me. Go to the site yourself and see some real memories and send him any information and pictures you might have on file.
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21 comments:
ErieDJguy...
I know that Chris wouldn't have found EMGR without you pointing him here. He told me that. I know you were a big help to him. When I saw his picture...I realized I knew who he was.
Many of the pictures and audio on the K104 portion of this came from my archives. I was proud to contribute.
Ahhh...memories of a great time that, sadly, will never return.
Jimmy...
I figured you were a big source for him. You don't throw anything away. It is so great that someone like Chris takes the time to do that.
I wish we had that kind of feeling in Erie radio today. Seems so mechanical now.
That's what's sad. Over the years radio has muzzeled their air personalities so they've become pretty much interchangeable. It used to be that each DJ brought something unique to the air. They may have all been playing the same music, yet they all had their own presentation and style that made them memorable. That's why names like the ones on this site remain fresh in our memories...even after 20+ years. Now thanks to corporate greed, the DJ is becoming an endangered species. Just recently Clear Channel eliminated most all of their overnight live DJ positions. Overnights/weekends used to be the place where all fledgeling jocks got their start...the chance to hone their craft and get good. Now all those slots are canned/syndicated/voice tracked. This may well be the last generation of music jocks.
Makes me think of the Tom Petty song "The Last DJ."
As I have posted before, K104 was the best radio station in Erie for a long time and there has not been a station since to match them. They were ahead of the times with some of the things they did. K104 plays and K104 tracks. News at 20 after the hour. Great promotions (house giveaways, bill payments). The jocks were personable, informative and enjoyable not in your face like a lot of todays jocks.
WJET was a good station when they played rock. When they switched to top 40 the station sucked. One of their best pairings was the afternoon drive of Cook & Kalen.
I'd really like to know what ever became of Jim Cook.
Another good station of the past was Red Hot 102 WSEG.
Today, Z102.3 is the best station in the area (especially since they have been playing a few new songs by classic artists/bands recently - please keep it up and add more, the classic rockers dont get the airtime they deserve in Erie).
Z102.3 has the best DJ's, good promotions and they are not as obnoxious as Rocket 101 can be. The only bad thing is that I think they should have a local morning show rather than Bob & Tom.
Rocket 101 is a good station too. They tend to forget about the classic rockers new music though. They have been around a long time, they have stayed the course with the rock format and should be around a long time.
Erie has had or currently has a lot of other good stations (WXKC,WXTA,The Planet,Froggy, WRIE of the 70's)and some bad ones (Q1400,WLVU, The Point, The Wolf).
The site Chris has brings back lots of memories.
With all that said still nothing beats K104 - You Got It!
Above poster...
If you go to Chris's website and click on Jim's name you will find out more about him. I believe he is with Clear Channel.
I have many fond memories of K104...the music and the people. The downfall started when..after something like 10 number one books in a row...we were overtaken by Classy 100. By that time Larry Garrett had left the company and the brain trust at Burbach in a panic began to "tinker" with the station. Had Larry been on board, he could have convinced Jack and Bob (Laubach & Burstein...the owners) that this kind of thing can happen in radio...no one can be #1 forever...and there's no need to make huge changes. But that was not the case. And I can remember one consultant after another coming in. Each week it seemed that we were a different station. We were losing our identity. It got to the point where you'd hear Jethro Tull's "Aqualung" and Gloria Estefan within minutes of each other. (I actually saved that hour's music log!!) Air personalities were shuffeled around...there was the disaster that was the Kid Carson morning show. I felt bad for Bill Shannon because he...for a while...had the station "taken away from him." Then he was out of the picture...Bob Mallory arrived and gave us K-Hits 104...need I say more?
But it's nice to re-live the glory days.
Yes, there have been some great and unique stations in the Erie region over the years. My parents listened to WLKK "Lake 1260" most of the time with Rich Peterson on in the mornings. I recall that as well as WHYP AM & FM which consisted of record sides of Kitty Wells, Ernest Tubb, etc. Of course it was fun to hear how long it would take Jim Brownyard to flip the record over to the other side while hearing that "swoosh" sound at the end of an LP side. (It was definitely unique radio.) My stations as a youngster in the 70's & 80's included WRIE, WSEG, WEOZ Saegertown, WFSE (which had a killer rock lineup), K104, AM 1260 with "Zippo in the Morning", WMCE (when they were the only Classic Rock in Erie) and SE93 from Jamestown with Jay Fillippi handling morning drive way back when. The one station I missed out on was Progressive Rock WMDI. From what my brothers have told me, it was a great station. If there are any airchecks out there, please drop me a line at Gravylavery@yahoo.com.
Ah yes...WMDI..."mud in yer eye" radio...live from Turkey Hill. Garrett Hart was their PD and I remember before we switched over to the K104 name, we kept hearing about the impending arrival of someone named "Garrett"...who was supposed to be our new General Manager. I thought it was Garrett Hart that was coming over and I got rather excited cuz I thought he was pretty cool on the radio...and I had visions of this neat album rock format on 103.7. Instead it was Larry Garrett...who turned out to be one of the finest radio men I have ever had the pleasure to know and work for. And the man from whose vision sprang K104.
I could write a book about that place...maybe I oughta 8-)
jimg, if nothing else a K104 website would be great.
The smartest thing they did when they launched K104 in the mid 70's was sponsoring some high school assemblies with Pepsi. I was a freshman at Mercyhurst Prep when a couple of jocks (prob. Shannon) came to school, recorded the school screaming "MPS is No. 1!" and then we listened all that night to hear our school on the air. I was hooked on K104 until I started competing with them in 1983 on JET.
Yeah Jojo, I remember going to those assemblies...although I wasn't at the one for MPS.
But I think the BEST launch promotion we ever did...probably the best that ANY Erie station did...was the handing out of a $100 bill on the spot if you answered the question, "If I say to you The Leader In Erie Radio, what one station do you think of" with "K104 You Got It." No check...but an actual $100 bill right in your hand. And we handed out a LOT of $100 bills. This was 1977. That would probably be the equivalent of $1,000 today. Talk about burning a positioning statement into a listener's brain.
Just curious as to why the Planet was listed as "Bad." Is that because you don't like the format?
I wonder if the "BOB FM" format will hit Erie!?
Bob FM left here in Lynchburg in the past few months...it became a "Planet" station. Bob was good...but a Bible belt station it was not, for some reason.
You forgot Tommy Lopez, Freddy Klutz WWGO(both former Tech Memorial alumni)
I knew Freddie as a very little kid. He grew up several doors from me. As a kid and growing up he was very quiet. Put him in front of a microphone and he was really another person.
A nice guy. Thanks for the update. I had asked Chris if he knew where he was.
Eriedjguy....
Yes his real name was Freddy Klutz. He was the youngest in his family.
He, more than anyone, had to change his air name. Couldl you imagion?
By the way, thanks for adding the picture.
Eriedj guy, thanks for the update. that link to Tommy L does not look like him at all. I barely remember the Kit Carson show, what was that all about?
I remember one summer morning traveling to work and I'm almost positive it was Andy P.on the air and he played Country Joe McDonald and Fish from Woodstock and started it after the "Give me an F" etc. but he forgot the statement in the middle-"There must be 300,000 of you F***** out there",,I could not believe it. That was the early 80's.
Most of the original KHits staff WAS gone by 1990...Dennis was there for a summer at most. Kid Carson (relative to a previous post) did a heck of a lot of voices/characters, is currently out of radio, but IN Oregon. My thanks to Jack for his post regarding the website, as more names have come in since.
-Chris
Yes, I was there for just about 6 months. In that time, I think we had 3 different formats. A 70s based AC/CHR, then a more current based Hot AC. Then as I left it was leaning straight ahead CHR. It was K-104 when I started then about a Month later we switched to K-hits-104.
Some of the worst equipment I have ever worked on, but some really great people to work with. I had a great 6 months.
Dennis Cametti
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