On-site, play-by-play announcer Tim Alcorn calls games alongside color analyst Jim Chones, a former Cavaliers center. He offered "Solid Goldbergers" and ordered us to "EN-joy". [74] Of all the personalities that worked at WMMS, Len "Boom" Goldberg remained the longest. When WMMS program director John Gorman found out Rio was not under contract in Houston, he offered Rio a job, and the comedian eventually moved to Cleveland. [94] Station management initially claimed that Alford acted alone,[93] however WMMS Promotions Director Heidi Klostermanworking under the name Heidi Kramerlater pleaded guilty to a felony charge of attempted disruption of a public service and a misdemeanor of receiving stolen property; Greg Smith, a former Klosterman colleague, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor of breaking and entering. Warren Zevon, John Mellencamp, Lou Reed, Tim Buckley, Peter Frampton, and a host of others performed on the program over the years, recordings of which are still widely available as bootlegs. The eight-year radio host . (Plain Dealer file photo), Proud Parma natives, this longtime duo is better known as the affable hosts of "The Brian and Joe Show." One listener was selected to marry the love of his life or at least at the time during a live broadcast on 100.7 WMMS. People in radio say he was not an easy guy, that dealing with him was like a daily root canal. The ritual lasted through his entire career at the Buzzard. [125] As part of the stunt, Denny Sanders returned to host an airshift, programming the music at his discretion. (Billy Bass is at far left in the photo, kickin' it with the WHK crew, circa 1968. [167] WMMS also transmits text to compatible analog receivers, such as station IDs and artist and song information, via the Radio Data System (RDS); similarly, WMMS transmits text to HD Radio receivers known as Program Service Data (PSD). Stern's ratings exploded and this along with a growing urgency from management not to compete with or mention Stern on the air led to a sudden and steep ratings decline for The Buzzard Morning Zoo. Danny Czekalinski and Darla Jaye teamed up in October 1997 with Liz Wilde holdover Cory Lingus (Cory Gallant) until August 1998. WMMS is known for breaking artists like Bruce Springsteen, Rush, Fleetwood Mac and David Bowie, and for its Coffee Break Concerts that featured live performances by many of the top acts of the days, including Springsteen, U2, Cyndi Lauper and Warren Zevon. what are the non legislative powers of congress. (Plain Dealer file photo), One of Cleveland radio's most popular -- and enduring -- morning teams, Jeff Kinzbach and Ed "Flash" Ferenc were a cornerstone of WMMS-FM/100.7 during its Buzzard heyday. There's proof! [33] Regarding the change, WMMS program director Bo Matthews (Alex Gutierrez) said, " nobody's killing anything Chief Wahoo is not on every piece of Indians promotional material Ronald McDonald is not in every McDonald's commercial We're not losing the letters. [98][101] Gorman brought back the original Buzzard design, now drawn by David Helton's successor Brian Chalmers. (Plain Dealer file photo), A DJ and music director at WMMS-FM/100.7 from 1974-78. [170][171][172], WMMS has also served as the FM flagship station for the Cleveland Guardians Radio Network since 2013, again sharing network flagship status with AM sister station WTAM. She was on-air from 1993-1997, and had a popular 7-midnight show. The WMMS Mushroom Logo can be seen a few times throughout the movie - During a backstage scene at the Music Hall right before Stillwater takes the stage and when groupie Penny Lane played by Kate Hudson is dancing alone in the empty venue - you can see a banner with the Mushroom Logo and the slogan Where The Music Means Something. With content being supplied by journalists and WMMS personnel, it was the perfect companion to what WMMS was doing on air at the time with a focus on the new bands and artists of the alternative music era. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WMMS broadcasts over two HD Radio channels and is available online via iHeartRadio. (Plain Dealer file photo). His iconic rants have been preserved for posterity on the CD "Murray Saul: The Get Downs, Vol. He returned to Cleveland radio in 1997, working at both WMJO-FM/105.7 and WZJM-FM/92.3. In July 1973, John Gorman joined WMMS as music director and was promoted to program director and operations manager two months later where he remained for thirteen years. [127] A new airstaff was assembled after the stunt: Tim "Slats" Guinane was hired for afternoon drive replacing Brian & Joe, who were transferred to WMVX, and music director Mark Pennington replaced Bill "BLF Bash" Freeman in overnights. Before FM took over the airwaves, before WMMS became the undisputed champ of Cleveland rock radio, WIXY 1260 AM ruled. You gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta get dooooooowwwwn!, His rant followed Bruce Springsteens Born to Run. The kickoff to the weekend continued with Ian Hunters Cleveland Rocks and Earth Quakes Friday on my mind.. Based on considerably high record sales in the Cleveland market, Bowie (in his Ziggy Stardust persona alongside The Spiders from Mars) kicked off his first U.S. tour in "The Rock Capital" (a term coined by Bass). She left in 1989 to work for Top 40 station WPHR-FM/107. Subscribe Now To Listen Your Favorite Songs On Demand! He was on WMMS for more than twenty years, and would end his show with, "Blue skies and green lights to ya. Rover is pictured in the middle in the 2009 WMMS promo photo above with partners Dieter and Duji. safeway new westminster station parking; pluto conjunct prenatal solar eclipse; shandon hotel balance back Guest spots on WJR's Morning Show for Hollywood and Gossip Reports. After leaving WMMS, he moved to WMJI-FM/105.7, as program and operations director. (Plain Dealer file photo), The legendary gravel-voiced, graveyard-shift DJ at WMMS-FM/100.7, Bill Lionel Freeman, is best known in Cleveland by his initials, "BLF." It was the same logo used by all of the FM radio stations owned by Metromedia at the time. BuzzardFest 2000 took Place on June 30, 2000 at Nautica on the Flats West Bank. The company will move its regional office, including nine stations, downtown from the suburbs. [133] "Chris Tyler" Merluzzo, former program director for Providence's WHJY, took over for Bo Matthews as WMMS program director on February 17, 2014. Goldberg started at WMMS-FM/100.7 in 1972 and remained there until 2004, longer than any other personality employed there during the Buzzard's heyday. 1," released in 1999. Born in Belgium, but raised in Cleveland and Maple Heights, Matt the Cat Lapczynski was a radio fan from an early age. [78] Concertgoers occasionally fell or jumped off the steep stadium upper deck onto the concrete seating area far below, causing serious injury. [151] In addition to the live broadcast, the show is available on demand through iHeartRadio; and can be downloaded as a podcast through iTunes. The top 40 deejays were retained, but it was soon obvious that they were inadequate hosts for a progressive rock format. However, Matt would be dismissed permanently from the station in late 1992, the victim of budget cuts. Buzzard-Palooza was the first of these: held in July 1994 at the Nautica Stage, the all-day concert included sets from Collective Soul, Junkhouse and Fury in the Slaughterhouse,[111] but was cut short after turning into a "rock-and-bottle-throwing melee." 50 Of The Longest-Lasting Celebrity Relationships Jun 09, 2022. (Plain Dealer file photo), First woman on radio in Cleveland as a morning-drive time DJ at WNCR-FM/99.5 and WMMS-FM/100.7. [119] Neumann defended the decision later as the right thing to have done, noting how alternative rock would eventually fade as a format several years later. [113] The Ramones headlined BuzzardFest '95 the following spring (May 1995) at Blossom;[114] other acts included Our Lady Peace, The Rugburns and Face to Face. The phallic like logo depicted a large mushroom with a little elf hanging out smoking a joint. [51] On July 31, 1947, W8XUB began broadcasting at 100.7MHz. She now lives in Santa Monica, Calif. (Stile is pictured here, sitting next to Bruce Springsteen during his 1976 visit to the WMMS studios. Live at the Agora Ballroom on August 10, 1983. The music structure also was modified at this time as artists such as Michael Jackson, Madonna and Prince soon found airplay on WMMS. Cleveland Police wearing riot gear were called in just as headliner Green Day took the stage. [121] The Jacor purchase closed on August 10, 1998; 59days later, on October 8, 1998, Clear Channel Communications won a bidding war for Jacor in a $6.5billion deal. [60] Sounds described the station programming at this time as "totally off-the-wall in its choice of records, playing anything it liked. 26 Celebrities & Their Moms May 06, 2022. Brian and Joe were moved to afternoons in February 1997 after a change in ownership, with shock jock Liz Wilde (Anne Whittemore) from WPLL/Miami taking their place; her firing less than a year later sparked a successful lawsuit against both the station and then-owner Nationwide Communications. We all have such respect for what this station did back in the day. WMMS does not air additional network programming. Cleveland Police briefly detained Ky-Mani Marley after the singer threatened Rover for comments made during an April 20, 2010 in-studio interview. He came to Cleveland as both a DJ and the Buzzard's program director. Listen To The Most Popular Podcasts On iHeartRadio! [120] Geared as a format change to contemporary hit radio (CHR) using the "KISS FM" brand,[30][126] the decision was reversed at the last minute by management. Mama, come get your baby boy! Gorman has also written a book about his days at WMMS, "The Buzzard: Inside the Glory Days of WMMS and Cleveland Rock Radio." David Helton who at the time was working for American Greetings is the man responsible for giving us the iconic symbol we still use to this day. During his 16-year tenure, WMMS was consistently one of the highest-rated radio stations in the country. (Plain Dealer file photo), Maria Farina landed at WMMS in 1986 fresh out of Ohio University and quickly gained popularity. Date Unknown, William Lionel Freeman, better known by the name of his long time overnight show, "The BLF Bash" began his radio career in Fargo and later landed on the east coast in Boston. 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His current roster includes Kenny Loggins, Marc Cohn, Dicky Betts, Simon Kirke, Richie Furay and others. Spero would go on to become one of Cleveland's early progressive-rock DJs, working first at WNCR and then at WMMS. His father, Herman, created Cleveland's legendary "Upbeat," an "American Bandstand"-style TV musical variety show which aired from 1964-71 and featured live performances of many of the great rock and pop acts of the era, from Simon and Garfunkel to Otis Redding. His "BLF Bash" was an overnight mainstay at the Buzzard from 1976-1994. A comedic mainstay of the morning show at WMMS-FM/100.7 for years, the character is the creation of comedian John Carillo, a California native who uses John Rio as his stage name. Brian Chalmers, Rock 'N' Roll Artist", "Film; Paul Schrader Plumbs Grassroots Rock", "iHeartMedia Cleveland To Move To New Facility As Company Begins Cloud Based Tech Rollout", "Downtown TV station group may move to the suburbs", "Cleveland Broadcast Radio Archives WMMS timeline", "Rock in Akron: The Music Of Greater Akron", "The Second WMMS Music Marathon Station TV Spot", "Recalling a couple of wacky radio guys", http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1994/RR-1994-11-04.pdf, http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1994/RR-1994-12-02.pdf, "Billboard/Airplay Monitor Radio Awards Bestowed", "Kevin Metheny, a.k.a. Over the next twenty years Matt did mostly middays and hosted the weekly Coffee Break Concerts, likely introducing more concerts than anyone in Cleveland history. The second logo, first one in print, used by WMMS was the Tongue Logo. Mr. Leonard, the self proclaimed assistant public service director made appearances on the Buzzard Morning Zoo for many years. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. For the station's tenth anniversary in 1978, WMMS hosted and broadcast a live Springsteen concert at the Agora Ballroom independent of his concert tour. Signing on in 1946 as the FM adjunct to WHK, the WMMS call letters were affixed in 1968 under Metromedia ownership, having stood for "MetroMedia Stereo" and meant as a compliment to the newly established progressive rock format, but have since taken on a variety of other meanings. He's a history buff and writer, too. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band!" For the next three hours, spread across two sets, Springsteen did just that, telling stories and playing the best of his catalog, including a lengthy version of "Growin' Up," in which he told the tale of being sent to have a conversation with God about what he should do with his life, encountering Kid Leo along the way, who was "prayin' for more watts" for WMMS. Seth "the Barbarian" Williams took the overnight shift when Pennington moved to evenings in 2001. Rolling Stone named WMMS "Radio Station of the Year" nine straight years (197987) as part of its annual Readers' Poll, but a February 1988 front-page story in The Plain Dealer revealed station employees had stuffed the annual survey's ballot box for the 1987 poll to allow for the possibility of a tenth straight win the following year. Cleveland Magazine has also described both Rover and Cox as "talk shows with a rock-oriented sensibility". WMMS Art Director, Brian Chalmers was approached by Dreamworks to provide artwork and logos for their movie Almost Famous which came out in 2000. The very first logo to ever be created for WMMS was a red and white rainbow. After two years, Cox left The Loop to begin his own radio show. In 2009, she left KSL to become the spokesperson for the FBI Salt Lake City Division. Past affiliates at WMMS include WAMX/Huntington, WMFS-FM/Memphis, WNDE/Indianapolis, WXEG/Dayton, WRXS/Columbus, and the now defunct Extreme Talk. Cleveland's Rock Station, home of Rover's Morning Glory, The Alan Cox Show, and FM Home of Cleveland Guardians Baseball. Hes heard introducing Bruce Springsteens fabled WMMS tenth anniversary show at the Cleveland Agora which is thought to have been the most bootlegged radio concert ever before its official release. [56], MetroMedia found major success with progressive rock at KMET Los Angeles, KSAN San Francisco, WMMR Philadelphia and WNEW-FM New York, but a lack of commitment from MetroMedia led the company to drop the format at WMMS by May 1969. In studio, WTAM sports director Mike Snyder hosts The Tip-Off Show, The Halftime Report, and The Nightcap Recap the network pregame, halftime, and postgame shows, respectively. [161][162] The House of Hair with Dee Snider also airs on Sunday evenings. Rolling Stone Magazine conducted a yearly Readers Poll to which WMMS won Best Radio Station of the Year nine years in a row from 1979 to 1987. BLF also praised musicians and was a great fan of the Texas Tornadoes and Blue Cheer. A major contributor to the ratings success was an airstaff that remained fundamentally unchanged for many years: personalities like Kid Leo, Jeff & Flash, Matt the Cat, Dia Stein, Denny Sanders, Murray Saul, Debbie Ullman, Betty "Crash" Korvan, Ruby Cheeks (Debra Luray), BLF Bash (Bill Freeman), TR (Tom Renzy) and the late Len "Boom" Goldberg were invaluable to the station's popularity. In 1958, both WHK and WHK-FM were sold to Metropolitan Broadcasting, itself renamed MetroMedia two years later. [140] The Maxwell Show gradually evolved from airing mostly music to all talk, with Maxwell joined by WMMS music director Dan Stansbury and Tiffany "Chunk" Peck, the program's phone screener. Photo: Courtesy of John Gorman), One of the young DJs legendary WMMS program director John Gorman brought to the Buzzard when he took over again as WMMS chief in the early 1990s. He became one of the station's most popular jocks during its Buzzard heyday, and was perhaps best known as the host of the live Wednesday "Coffeebreak Concerts." One day a co-worker overheard him ranting in the halls of the radio station and got the idea to feature him on the air with a salute to the weekend. ", "We had the right staff, the right soundtrack at the time. The station continued to decline during the ownership transition from Malrite to Shamrock; then Shamrock sold both WMMS and WHK to OmniAmerica, a broadcasting company run by former Malrite executives Carl Hirsch and Dean Thacker, which already owned oldies station WMJI. [81], In the mid-1980s, WMMS was an important contributor in organizing a campaign (along with former Cleveland ad agency president Edward Spizel and author-deejay Norm N. Nite) which brought the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to Cleveland. During his time at WMMS, Bass coined the phrase, "Cleveland: The Rock 'n' Roll Capital of the World." (Plain Dealer file photo), Korvan was one of the notable rock jocks from the 1970s heyday of WMMS-FM/100.7. One of their biggest contributions to our fine city was spearheading a grass roots effort to get the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame here in Cleveland. Maria Farina landed at WMMS in 1986 fresh out of Ohio University and quickly gained popularity. In November 1972, WMMS was sold to Malrite Communications, a Michigan-based firm that relocated to Cleveland upon purchase. [168], WMMS has served as the FM flagship station for the Cleveland Cavaliers AudioVerse since 2014, sharing network flagship status with AM sister station WTAM. Arriving from Boston in Cleveland in September 1976, BLF was highly opinionated. The Alan Cox Show Corey Rotic 100.7 WMMS Podcasts See All The Alan Cox Show Rover's Morning Glory The Week in Cox The Bill Squire Show Latest Stories Local News VIDEO: Cleveland Police Give Details of What Lead to Fatal Crash Mar 03, 2023 Music News Why March 5th Matters In Rock History Mar 03, 2023 Music News [47] Owned by Malrite Communications from 1972 to 1993, subsequent consolidation in the radio industry saw WMMS change ownership five times in seven years, and has been in iHeartMedia's portfolio (originally under the Clear Channel name) since 1999. July 11, 1995. Korvan now lives in South Dakota. "The station, like any radio station, it really reflects the people who are running it and the ownership of the station. He can still be heard on the radio, too. In 1986, Gorman and 12 other staff members left WMMS to start classic-rock station WNCX-FM/98.5. He now lives in Texas and works at an addiction recovery center, but he still does the Mr. Leonard character on former WMMS DJ Jeff Kinzbach's morning show on Akron's WONE-FM/97.5. She stayed on when the station switched formats to modern rock in 1992, becoming 107.9 The End. [33][34], Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, WMMS had a stable of personalities that remained fundamentally unchanged,[26][27] attained a dominant market share in the local ratings[27][35][36][37] and posted market record-high figures "never duplicated by any other Cleveland radio station since. Denny Sanders & Fred Griffith. Halper left Cleveland in 1975 to work at Mercury Records in New York City, then spent years working in radio as a consultant and various other capacities. Ferenc is now the public information officer at the Cleveland Municipal Court. Ratings steadily increased during the time of the First Gulf War, but The Howard Stern Show was soon picked up by a then struggling WNCX. (Plain Dealer file photo), "Spaceman Scott" - Scott Hughes, better known as Spaceman Scott, was a member of WMMS-FM/100.7's top-rated "Buzzard Morning Zoo" in the 1980s, along with Jeff Kinzbach, Ed "Flash" Ferenc, and others. Contrary to what many believe, the choice of the second Malrite logo had nothing to do with Buzzard Day, the annual "folksy event" held in Hinckley Township, Ohio. Photos.
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