WABX-Air Aces

[polaar]

Also loved Ronnie "Play the Dolls" Legge across the river at CJOM in the early 70s.

[Downriviera]

You hear a lot about ABX and W4, but not much about CJOM. That was a great station. They didn't have to worry about the FCC regs. I may be biased because I was an intern there.

[daddeeo]

Last I saw, Eddie Earlin was still plugging away at the PO and racing his horse.

[eno]

That's about what I know.

[kenp]

Jerry Goodwin, Jerry Lubin, Paul Cannon and Lee Alan

courtesy of http://www.cyberactivesites.com/radi.../page3-05.html

[highhat]

Attachment 5390

wabx 99 1/2

Steve Dahls turn on the hostage crisis...
"Let my people go ...you ragheads"...was only the beginning, should`a sicced Dick the Bruiser on `em ...

[douglasm]

Good point about CJOM, although they didn't last that long. Memory says they went into the "progressive" format as an all blues station.
I wouldn't really have considered W4 a force as a progressive outlet. They kicked off as one of the first "oldies" stations in 1970, but didn't really kick into the "rock" market until Ira Lipson took over as PD a couple years later.

There were a number of things that really helped WABX. First, they were the first in the market, and after stumbling around a while trying to figure out what "free-form" was, developed street cred because they were there before anyone else. WKNR-FM was badly hurt by 1) running their Top-40 format on the FM until noon, then using AM jocks like Jerry Goodwin in the "underground" format. WXYZ's wounds were self inflicted when they went to the ABC "Brother John" syndicated package, about as shallow an attempt to cash in on the format I'd ever heard.

[econ expat]

Good point about CJOM, although they didn't last that long. Memory says they went into the "progressive" format as an all blues station.

Friend of mine was also an intern at CJOM, maybe 73 or 74. Canada's version of FCC was getting tougher than US. National content, etc. That was the end of CKLW's big 8 also.
The owner of CJOM- Gordon[[?) was a hipster, and a Buddhist. He had 'om' [[as in the chant) ' at the end of all his station's call letters.

WKNR-FM was badly hurt by 1) running their Top-40 format on the FM until noon, then using AM jocks like Jerry Goodwin in the "underground" format. WXYZ's wounds were self inflicted when they went to the ABC "Brother John" syndicated package, about as shallow an attempt to cash in on the format I'd ever heard.

Up till mid 70's FM was so little listened most formats were religion or easy listening Muzak/elevator music. It was 'open territory' for innovation like WABX. The FCC did not pay much attention to FM. Then they cracked down, and WABX was changed. It was probably 3-4 years before anyone heard a song with a drug reference again.

[douglasm]

What probably killed CJOM was the "Canadian Content" laws that severly damaged CKLW. Those laws required stations licenced to operate in Canada to [[with some exception) to have playlists that contained a certain amount of material by Canadian artists. I believe Can-Con kicked in in 1971, and required [[at first) 25% Canadian content.
A good point to Can-con? The Dorians would not have had "Help For My Waiting" become a big hit on CKLW.
BTW, I believe Geoff Sterling [[Sterling Communications) owned CJOM through the mid 70's. In the early 70's Mike Linder was the station manager.

[Downriviera]

I started helping Mike Linder at CJOM the first week they went on the air. He was the only one there, doing a live show in the afternoon. The rest of the time it was automated, though sometimes he would just jump on live whenever he felt the need. I was running around putting up posters and stickers, etc. I still have a full size CJOM poster. Its a large picture of the moon that says CJOM Unearthly Rock. Dave Loncao and Greg Frith came on later. They had their ways of getting around the Canadian content, although a lot of Lighthouse and April Wine did get played. I learned a lot from hanging out there, good times for a 16 year old kid.

[factoryrat]

I was an intern at ABX in 1980...Alan Stagg, mornings Jon Bailey, John O'Leary, Rhonda Hart, Tiodd Fowler and a woman that came on at 10. I think she was originally from California...drove a VW Beetle...the bitchiest woman I ever met lol We were in the 3rd floor of an office building at 8 & Coolidge.

Were her initial K.S.?
A friend and I, while in our early teens, negotiated w/ her. to shovel the snow from her driveway. She drove a hard bargain. We did it for $3, the lowest pay we received that day.

[Ravine]

I called up ABX one night, and asked Dennis Frawley to play a particular John Lennon tune. He refused, stating that he didn't like that cut.
At the time, I thought, "What a rat-bastard prick." But looking back, I sure liked radio better when that was how some stations were operating.
Have always ironically used the term, "hauntingly beautiful," which I lifted from Dave Dixon, who would use it to describe cuts that were particularly rough on the ears. He might play something like "Search And Destroy" from Raw Power and describe it with that term.
Mark Parenteau always struck me as a guy who was probably an annoying asshole in person, but that guy could run together a good 45-minute set of killer tuneage when he was on his game.

[Vic_doucette]

Mark Parenteau always struck me as a guy who was probably an annoying asshole in person, but that guy could run together a good 45-minute set of killer tuneage when he was on his game.

"Annoying asshole" is far too kindly a description:

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/liv...ded_to_prison/

[Johnnie Sue Bridges]

eerr...did you actually read my post? Where in it, did I say I didn't like the"5"? I saw them something like 20 times [[at least) at the Grande, at Tartar Field, at the Eastown, at some free concerts in Ann Arbor, etc. I've got all their albums including a couple singles that were released early in the band's career. Guido Marasco [[owner of GM Studios where "Back in the USA" was recorded) was a high school classmate of my mother and had coached me in little league football for 3 years invited me and a friend down [[I lived 2 blocks away) to watch them record. Unfortunately, after about an hour somebody from the band saw us and put an end to our dream come true. So YES, I love the MC5 and YES I've heard "Motor City is Burning" a few times.
My point was that John Sinclair put the interests of Trans-Love Energies [[a commune for artists including musicians, political types, and just plain street people) ahead of the MC5 too often. In fact, ALL of the band's earnings went into a communal fund to support TLE right up until the day the band fired Sinclair and replaced him with John Landau. The band had a roof over their head, food to eat, and money for clothes and equipment, the necessities basically.

I saw the MC5, Frijid Pink and Frost along with many other local bands at the hall parties on 25th and Vernor in Detroit back in the very early 70s. I also saw a lot of local bands at Eastown. WABX was my all-time favorite radio station.

[Ron Detroit]

I just got my satin ABX baseball jacket out of the garage the other day to look at it. I can't quite squeeze into it any more but it's in good condition. It faded from the original purplish lavender to a kind of pink color. It's got my name stitched onto the front. I worked there from about '76 to '79 or so in the news and public service dept. It was an interesting place to work, met alot of famous people. We were in an office bldg. on Coolidge and 8 Mile [[gone). Also was an unofficial intern in '74 or so at the Stott Bldg 33rd floor. Rhonda Tanton, Betsy Strand etc. were there. Seems like Lonna Harris and Dennis Frawley were the only ones that made the transaition from the Stott bldg to Oak Park.

[silverbeauty]

I'm not sure if the original poster is still interested but I was recently told about a book that is about the Detroit radio scene.

Rockin Down the Dial by David Carson.

You can find it at Book Beat on Greenfield Road and Lincoln.

[Ron Detroit]

I don't have any from that far back but I have a few seconds of me on the air doing news +/- 1977

[Ron Detroit]

so you were there just before I left, i think around 1980. KS was already there by then, and I thought she was friendly and pretty good to get along with, very likeable. I was news, etc staff. The office building on Coolidge has been torn down. I was also an unofficial intern at ABX when they were in the Stott Bldg in '74 or '75 and I went to high school down the street. If I recall only Lonna Harris, Dennis Frawley and myself ended up out at the Oak Pk location. A company out of Chicago bought the station then for a while it was run out of Hollywood..working there was wild back then, I was in my early 20s

[Ron Detroit]

It's me again...Solo sold my jacket in December. Somebody out there has an ABX warmup jacket with "Ronald" stenciled on the front. I wonder who.... Now I'm thinking maybe I should have kept it but hey, I've had it for about 30 years, time to let someone else enjoy it.

[black gold man]

BGM Has 99WABX embroidered patch for sale if someone wants it.

[black gold man]

http://www.fuzzymemories.tv/index.ph...&m=xxdetroitxx

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[Vitalis]

Good evening Mr. and Mrs. America and all the ships at sea - Let's go to press!

Regarding Air Ace memories - One afternoon somewhere during the second Nixon administration - I came upon "Help Me Rhonda" on my car radio while I was driving to my ARA vending job downriver. Now I think the jock was Mark Perrento [[sp), and at the end of the tune, on the very last note that could be heard, Mark let's out a guffaw and then repeated the opening lyrics of the song as if revealing these words for the first time. Slowly and distinctly he uttered:

Since she put me down now I do it in my hand...

He paused for a sublime moment of dead air [[I could just imagine his Cheshire cat smile - ear-to-ear), and said: "Wow" before moving on...

[ridgeabilly]

I miss Dixon. The airwaves haven't been fun since he left. The Bombay Bicycle Club on DET was also special. Radio is so damn benign these days, as is the music they play.

[ridgeabilly]

One Sunday night at a small gathering in Lubin's basement and a couple of blokes from the Moody Blues were there. We were taking turns spinning records and I put Pharoah Sanders "Tauhid" on. One of the Moodys walks up to me and asks" "Is that music or something to frighten the cat with?"

[Downriviera]

One Sunday night at a small gathering in Lubin's basement and a couple of blokes from the Moody Blues were there. We were taking turns spinning records and I put Pharoah Sanders "Tauhid" on. One of the Moodys walks up to me and asks" "Is that music or something to frighten the cat with?"

Thats too funny. I used to play Pharoah Sanders on my late night jazz show at WEMU. No wonder there were no cats around.