Also . . . I seem tor remember, when Mr. Hagen was first promoted to the BOH (:40 - :60) shift in AM drive in September 1993, Paul Smith was still handling the TOH (:00 - :20) rotation; at what point in 1995 did Lee Harris replace Smith there (and Smith moved to the BOH of midday/PM drive after Ralph Howard and Sandi Klein)?

Its kinda crazy to hear Charlie Van Dyke as the imaging voice of an All Polka station...

One reason we didn't hear any of the anchors and reporters reminiscing about the Falklands war was because they were on strike at the time. Same as when John Belushi died, and when "the music died" at WABC 77 and they became a talk station. Between March 1 and the early morning hours of May 21, 1982 (81 days in total), 17 air staffers who were also AFTRA members walked the picket line, and numerous individuals from some of Group W's other stations (namely KDKA in Pittsburgh and WOWO in Fort Wayne, IN; but also Group W food & wine editor Don Brewer who was also an exec at KYW Radio in Philadelphia and, on the very first day of the strike, was one of the anchors handling the AM drive shift; maybe a few also flown in from KFWB in Los Angeles or even WBZ in Boston or WIND in Chicago) filled in instead. (Though the regulars were back on the air by the time the Falklands war wound down.) During those 81 days, every last one of WINS' writing and editing staff refused to cross the picket lines, never setting foot in the building where the station was located back then for the duration. According to an article in (of all places) the Public Employee Press (in an issue dated about a week before the strike ended), 11 of the writers/editors were fired at that point, but four were brought back. Regardless, WINS, of all the stations that had time tones, was the most accurate in the days before they went HD. Their master clock was synchronized with the master atomic clock of the then-National Bureau of Standards (now National Institute of Standards and Technology) in Boulder, CO, and I used to set my watches to them. Naturally, during the strike, WCBS 88 handily beat them in the ratings.

1:52 - Looks like ESE digital clocks there, including the ES-171 and ES-570.

In 1968, ABC subdivided its radio division into 4 networks(FM, I'm, Entertainment, Contemporary and Information).

Other WINS personalities of the time, who were not in this retrospective look, included Jim McGiffert, Brad Sherman, Clarence Rock, Don Baldwin, John Meagher, and Palmer Payne. Two who were there during the 1980 murder of John Lennon - Bob Howard and Pat Hernon - were no longer at the station by this point - Howard having moved to L.A. to work at then-sister station KFWB where, because there was already a Bob Howard on-air (overnight anchor from 1981 to 2009), the ex-WINS anchor adopted the more "formal" name Robert M. Howard; and Hernon (ex-NBC Sports-caster and "Weather 6" guy on WRCA/WNBC-TV) having died in 1983. And who here remembers the period from March 1 to May 21, 1982 where, for 81 days, the 17 anchors and reporters then with WINS went on strike as called by their union, AFTRA, and management, non-union, and other personnel (the air staff derived largely from two Group W stations, KDKA Radio in Pittsburgh and WOWO in Fort Wayne, IN) filled in? (I vividly remember two such "subs," from the very first day of the strike - Don Brewer [not the Grand Funk guy, but full name Don J. Brewer], usually their "food and wine reporter" [and based out of KYW 1060 in Philadelphia], anchoring on the AM drive shift then handled by Smith, O'Neil and McGiffert; plus, in that same time shift, Gary Froseth of Group W's Pittsburgh bureau, then news director of WOWO. On a radio message board, Mr. Froseth was absolutely surprised I would've remembered him doing so.) This "other" team was in place both when John Belushi died, as did "the music" at WABC 77 in favor of "Talkradio." (A question I posed has been removed, because: a) it was indeed my imagination - or more rather, a combo of misremembrances, misconceptions, misperceptions and conflations, in short my mind playing a very cruel and dirty trick on me, and b) all of WINS' writing and editing staff never set foot in the building where the station was situated at the time, making it a point of honoring the AFTRA picket line down to the last punctuation mark [never mind the last letter].)

@ 4:10 - From 1986 - or was it 1992 . . . sounds like WINS' teletype SFX from the "Teletypes" track from Elektra's "Authentic Sound Effects, Vol. 2" was played backwards. @ 5:46 - Looks like John Meagher next to Mr. Hagen in that pic.

This video was posted 15 years ago and I just found it. I don’t why this video doesn’t get to be a suggested or a related video on KZbin. I’m surprised that a video of this significance has had so little attention. The KE2XCC tower is a fitting monument.

So as early as 1985, WINS was using Track B14, "Teletypes," from the 1964 Elektra album "Authentic Sound Effects Volume 2" (EKS-7252) behind its anchors, replacing their homemade (and relatively muffled- and muddy-sounding) teletype SFX they'd used up to that point. (As heard here from 0:24-0:39.)

Dang. RIP WCBS AM 880 NYC. I remember hearing them once or twice all the way in Chicago at night on my transistor radio when the weather was right. Now that these guys are gone, I think WBBM AM 780 in Chicago might be the last of the big 3 CBS all news stations still on-air.

Thanks to Major Armstrong we enjoy static free FM and in stereo since 6-1-61. You wonder what he thinks about HD Radio and Sirius XM.

I knew as soon as he started talking his name isn't Paul Smith.

I was going to explain quadrature modulation (use it to make PM which is of course pre-emphasized FM but also cell phone digital modulation) to my long retired father in law and he said, "I know how it works." What? "I built the first one for Dr. Armstrong, my graduate advisor." Oh... I had no idea my father in law even knew Armstrong but he also worked for him during WW2.

Seen Bill a few times in Indiana. Still one of my favorite guitar players!

Gone too soon.we used to always get tickets when bill perry came to town. He and his band were amazing. I sure have missed him over the years.

Ahh, memories. Grew up listening to the BIG 89 WLS in the evening and through the night on my transistor radio from Pembroke Ontario Canada. Great Jocs and Yes, WLS was truly the Giant of the midwest. Thank you for this wonderful piece of retro therapy.

Picked up "Records Really Is My Middle Name" written by John. I am about half way through the book. Intimate look in to his life as an air personality. Definitely worth the read if you're from this era when WLS was king of the airwaves.

WLS would come in loud and clear even way down in Dallas loved listening to John at night. I had to drive into work super early and would listen to Larry Lujack in the early morning on the way in.

Wls. Was it in northern Indiana in back in the day

Listened to him in southeast Missouri in the 70s. Mostly came in at night.

I knew Bill

Senior year in High School at Mendel Catholic High school

I grew up 100 miles south of Chicago in the corn and bean fields of Illinois and WLS was about the only station that we could get with rock music. All the jocks were great to listen to and animal stories always was good for a laugh.

Was this the show where he opened for Junior wells ?

Listened to WLS, driving at night drinking a few beers, on backroads in Oklahoma. Back in the 70s.

You know these people are dead now.

Далее нато даст два корпуса для бомб

Вымораживать в морозильнике😅

This guy was the real real! I miss serious journalism. I miss the hard living newsman who knew too much. ❤️❤️❤️

oh yeah !! burning guitar!....this man was a flame !

Man, this is great.

Listened to him in Joplin, MO.

KE2XC

Roger's raison d'être. Bravo.

Features Lee Harris who moved on to 1010 WINS in New York City and now is moving to NewsNation in Chicago.

If it weren't for Major Edwin Armstrong, there would be no shock jock radio...thanks, Maj. Armstrong, your creation of FM radio helped create the Morning Zoo nationwide!

If it weren't for Major Edwin Armstrong, we would not have FM radio. But if it weren't for him, we wouldn't have Howard Stern and Morning/Afternoon Zoo Radio...

You will always be in my mind Miss you 💖💖💖

Happy birthday Bill 🎉

I listened to this guy every night as a teenager. When I worked in radio, I was surprised at the amount of paperwork involved, but it was a great job while it lasted...we were all put out of work by the big mergers and automation, though...kind of a shame, really.

Interesting….21,000 views and only 13 comments prior to this one.

Awesome

When I first saw him there was nothing online. Thank you to those who post!

Will always be in my heart

From a tennessee old 60 yr old. My oldest brother Dave controlled our little nighttime radio. It was everynight wls chicago radio 89. We listened to nothing else. What memories. And John, they were some ladys who became women listening to you. According to our high school reunions,they havent forgotten about it either. Thanks john

Je l’avais vu au Bikini à Toulouse en juin 99, tournée Chesterfield cafe. Un show dense, intense. Le souvenir d’un guitariste en transe, véritable torche humaine qui se consumait devant un public ébahi. La voix, le son, la présence. Bill ne s’économisait pas, donnait tout…. En rappel je me souviens d’un voodoo chile incendiaire…. Ses CD tournent souvent dans la voiture, ça donne la pêche. Merci Bill. Rest in peace

TU NOUS MANQUE BILL

RLM?

They got one of the on-screen names wrong. It wasn't "Martin Rush," it was Martin Bush. I worked at ABC Radio as an engineer.

Wow.. Back then a radio station could still afford to employ lots of people.