NEW! The featured WWWW Doug Podell audio file, in its original and unrestored form was selected for today’s special aircheck “restoration” presentation.
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Newly restored! This selected audio recording was digitally remastered by Motor City Radio Flashbacks.
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NEW! A special THANK YOU to Mark Yurko, of Langhorne, PA., for this CKLW aircheck contribution for our Motor City Radio Flashbacks airchecks repository.
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Newly restored! This selected audio recording was digitally remastered by Motor City Radio Flashbacks.
NEW! Our first WTAK audio inclusion! A special THANK YOU to our friend, Jim Nuznoff, of Port Charlotte, Florida, for this WTAK 1090 contribution (he personally recorded in 1969) for our Motor City Radio Flashbacks airchecks repository.
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Jim writes (January 9, 2024) — “This track features Paul Winter, as mid-afternoon host on “W-Talk.” The caller’s voice is that of Tom Morkemo, who was 16 years old, and was a former neighbor of mine whose father was transferred by his employer to the Phillipines for several years. Tom, at the time, prided himself as a young history buff and was trying to impress Winter, in this recording, with his knowledge of current affairs and the world of politics.” –Jim Nuznoff
Newly restored! This selected audio recording was digitally restored by Motor City Radio Flashbacks.
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A special THANK YOU to Kip Brown, of Three Rivers, MI., for having contributed this WKNR aircheck, many years ago, for our Motor City Radio Flashbacks airchecks repository.
Our contributor, Kip Brown, first wrote to us, nine years ago:
“Hello there! As I write this I am transferring a 45 year old WKNR FM log recorder reel from October of 1970. It is from a collection of them I purchased many years ago that included both AM and FM tapes from March to October of 1970. As you may know, log recorder tapes were off-air recordings done for commercial performance or if something controversial happened and management needed a playback of the incident. They were recorded at a very slow speed so as to maximize available reel space. They contain hour after hour of continuous WKNR radio, uncut. I sold copies of some of the recordings years ago from the AM tapes. Most of the 1970 tapes on this very site came from those transfers. I have never circulated the FM transfers.
Thanks, and I enjoy your site very much!”
Kip Brown
Three Rivers, Michigan | 2015/12/31 at 8:30 pm
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The featured audio presentation was extracted from an actual 12-hour WKNR logger tape from March 30, 1970. Today, we are featuring the first two hours of Bob Green’s show on WKNR from that day. Fifty-four years ago.
Bob Green is a legendary broadcaster in Detroit radio history. He began his broadcasting career in Detroit at WKMH in 1961, then moved to Miami before returning to Detroit in 1963 to join “the new WKNR radio 13”, where he stayed until early 1968. He came back to WKNR for a short period between 1970 and 1971. Bob, today, is fondly remembered as “the voice of Keener 13.” Currently, he resides in Austin, TX, after having run Bob Green Productions, which was previously based in Houston.
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About the logger tape: The logger tape recording was an essential technology for radio stations before the digital age revolutionized recording and playback.
Here’s a breakdown of what logger tape is and why it was crucial:
Logger tape refers to a continuous reel-to-reel tape used to record radio broadcasts. The term “logger” comes from the concept of “logging” or documenting broadcasts for various purposes. The logger tape would run continuously at ultra slow speed, recording everything that was broadcasted over a particular period.
The large tape would continuously record broadcasts over a 24-hour period, typically using a loop of tape that was automatically replaced once it was full. This ensured that all broadcast content was captured without manual intervention.
Logger tapes also provided evidence that specific content, like public service announcements or political broadcasts, was actually aired as required.
Broadcast verification. Regulatory bodies, such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the U.S., required radio stations to keep records of their broadcasts. This was to ensure that stations adhered to regulations and maintained the integrity of their content.
Logger tapes served as evidence in legal disputes or complaints, such as copyright issues or allegations of improper content. If there were disputes about what had been broadcasted, the logger tape served as a complete record that could be reviewed in such cases, and if required.
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Newly restored! This featured WKNR (logger tape) audio recording was digitally remastered by Motor City Radio Flashbacks.
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NEW! A special THANK YOU to Mark Yurko, of Langhorne, PA., for his WJR aircheck contribution for our Motor City Radio Flashbacks airchecks repository.
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“If the day is slipping away from you by early afternoon, Mike Whorf can stop the clock and recapture the excitement of time–past, present and future. His ‘Kaleidoscope’ will take you on a walk through Caesar’s Rome–whirl you back to Detroit’s bootlegging days or capture the moments of Balboa’s first glimpse of the Pacific. Mike Whorf’s Kaleidoscope is the theater of your mind . . . and now it’s a matinee at 1:15 every day on WJR 760 . . . where we couldn’t leave well enough alone!”   Â
WJR Radio 760 [Detroit Free Press] ad, January 5, 1974
Mike Whorf, passed away on November 10, 2020. He was 88.
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New! Newly restored! This selected audio recording was digitally remastered by Motor City Radio Flashbacks.
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When WHND AM first launched in April 1976, its jingle package for the station’s new automated format was produced by Drake/Chenault. Bill Drake provided the taped voiceover between song sets, and stamped the time (on the hour) and the ID introduction, “This is WHNE Birmingham, WHND Monroe,” as part of a rollout for the new “all oldies” format, which was also used by Greater Media stations in Pasadena (KRLA 1110) and Philadelphia (WPEN 950).
In the early 1970s, as AM and FM stations of all sizes began adhering to FCC rules and adopting large market models, Drake-Chenault significantly expanded into radio syndication. They started offering taped formats to non-RKO stations and established a studio (under Drake-Chenault) at 8399 Topanga Canyon Blvd. in Canoga Park, CA. Their early format offerings included Classic Gold (for KHJ-FM, later KRTH), Solid Gold, Hit Parade, and Great American Country. They also made the original 48-hour History of Rock and Roll, initially created for KHJ, available nationwide, followed by other syndicated “special” programs.
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NEW! A special THANK YOU to Mark Yurko, of Langhorne, PA., for his recent WHND aircheck contribution for our Motor City Radio Flashbacks airchecks repository.
AUDIO REMASTERED! This audio recording was digitally enhanced by Motor City Radio Flashbacks.
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NEW! A special THANK YOU to Mark Yurko, of Langhorne, PA., for his recent WKNR aircheck contribution for our Motor City Radio Flashbacks airchecks repository.
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Motor City Radio Flashbacks extends warm, birthday wishes to Scott Regen, b. July 23, 1941. Happy Birthday! We hope your one special day was truly fabulous. And thank you again, for those wonderful WKNR radio memories, when you were the #1 night-time radio deejay on the dial in Detroit in the mid-1960s. 🙂
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Newly restored! This audio recording was digitally remastered by Motor City Radio Flashbacks.
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Newly restored! This selected audio recording was digitally enhanced by Motor City Radio Flashbacks.
This WHND Richard D audio file, in it’s archived, original and unrestored form was selected for today’s special aircheck “restoration” presentation.
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Newly restored! From the MCRFB collection. This selected audio recording was digitally remastered for this feature presentation by Motor City Radio Flashbacks.
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Motor City Radio Flashbacks extends warm, Birthday wishes to Dick Purtan. Happy Birthday, Dick! We hope your day was truly special. And thank you again, for all those great D.P. radio memories you shared with us for well over four decades on both sides of the Detroit radio dial. 🙂
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Newly found! Newly added! Newly restored! From the MCRFB collection. This selected audio recording was digitally remastered for this feature presentation by Motor City Radio Flashbacks.
