Carmen Harlan before her days with WDIV Detroit TV...

[Al Publican]

I'm thinking that she was a disc jockey on a Detroit radio station in the '70s before moving to TV. If so, what radio station was she on and what years?

[DetroitFats]

I think It was WWWW.

[RaumVogel]

I thought it was WRIF .

[Vic_doucette]

Newscaster at W4. Don't think she was a DJ.

[noggin]

Used to be the news babe with Steve Dahl [[disco is dead) on a Canadian station at least 25 years ago.

[canuck]

WWWW = Can't find better call letters for airwaves.

[Vic_doucette]

WWWW was good, but best ever were also attached to a radio station here -- WXYZ. Everybody who speaks English has said those letters in that order many, many times.

[softailrider]

It was either WABX or WRIF......I'm pretty sure about that.

[Al Publican]

Yeah, it was WWWW that Carmen Harlan spun rock records on around 1980. WABX, Dave Dixon's old station, may have evolved into WWWW. Dave Dixon's last radio gig before he died was on WXYT [[previously WXYX). He did a Saturday night talk show from around 8pm to midnight that covered music and cultural stuff. He was good at winging it as a talk show host then while playing some select music.

In 1975, I happened to be in the Ft. Lauderdale area. When I turned on TV late one night, Dave Dixon was hosting a movie program a la Bill Kennedy. Dixon would talk about the movie and toss out some wise cracks and then go back to the movie. What was Dave Dixon when he died, in his early 50s. He was a sometimes guest on Mark Scott's talk show on WXYT at the same time around 1990.

[Meddle]

WABX, Dave Dixon's old station, may have evolved into WWWW.

Nope. 'ABX was 99.5, W4 was 106.9 and they were both competition for the 'RIF. Later W4 went Hick and 'ABX got new WLLZ [[Whole Lotta Led Zepplin) to hold off 'RIF.

Rock radio in the 60s and 70s in Detroit set some standards and launched or accelerated many bands.



I just can't picture Harlen as a Rocker.

[canuck]

WWWW: World Wide Web Wadio. Sounds like something Elmer Fudd would broadcast from.

[Carey]

I don't recall Harlan spinning records on W4. She was the news person, which meant she mainly read news and did little reporting, a la Trudy Daniels on todays's WRIF. Harlan came across as very straight. In the decades since then, she has clearly establsihed herself as an accomplished communicator, but she still almost never covers a story herself or even does much off-the-cuff speaking. To be charitable, her strength is reading from a script and looking into the camera. You won't see her subbing for Devin Scillian on his Sunday show.

[eno]

I can't stand the chuckleheads that read the news on WDIV.

[eastland]

Nope. 'ABX was 99.5, W4 was 106.9 and they were both competition for the 'RIF. Later W4 went Hick and 'ABX got new WLLZ [[Whole Lotta Led Zepplin) to hold off 'RIF.

Meddle: WLLZ was actually 98.7. WABX went "New Wave" and then became an FM talk station [[I think it was the Fox or something).

[mallory]

Yep, WABX was 99.5 and WLLZ was 98.7. Other incarnations of 99.5 include "Class FM" [[failed miserably). WDTX, the Fox [[good ratings but poor sales, went into receivership) and WOWF, or WOW-FM, which tried to be an FM Talker but lasted about 5 months. Why do I remember this useless crap and forget my wife's birthday?

Trivia: what was the last song played on WABX in Detroit? "When the Music's Over" by The Doors.

[ronaldj]

Do not forget Dave Dixon's last radio stint at WDET. His mantra was "Don't tip the gag" which meant every music sequence was to be a surprise.

After WDET let him go, he finished his career as a shuttle bus driver at Metro Airport.

[eno]

Common Harlot?

[SMRJim]

To be real picky, I'm pretty sure WWWW was 106.7. Others corrected the other 'issues'. Not long before it went to a country format, Howard Stern was a DJ for a short while. Heard him talk about it a while back, he doesn't remember those days fondly! I remember when he was a DJ there, couldn't stand him [[to each his own, he obviously has a lot of fans, and he can be entertaining sometimes). When WLLZ first came on the air the DJs said very little, and there were no commercials. The DJs would basically just announce the songs. And they weren't just playing the same old stuff either. But as anyone could have predicted, none of that lasted very long.

As for Carmen, my band was playing at a place called the BellaVita in Belleville about five years ago[[now it's called Johnny's Grille), she was there with her husband and another couple. She came up to us after we'd finished a set, told us how much she had enjoyed the music, was very friendly and personable. We chatted with her for a few minutes.

[txlady]

I had just matured enough to switch from WABX to WWWW, had set my clock radio to the new station, and woke up to country. I managed to make my change the week they went icky.

I grew up on WABX, WRIF, that crappy WNIC in between [[you still had to 'dial' radio stations) and WWWW if you were really hard up on rock. Then Wheels blew in my senior year, that was some kick a** radio.

Some DJ set up a gig in Chicago, you could bring a disco record and get in free, they were supposed to blow up all the records on the field, and they blew a big ole hole, Detroit had to forfit the game.

[wanderinglady]

Ah, txlady, the infamous "Disco Demolition Night". So infamous in fact that there's a Wikipedia entry about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disco_Demolition_Night

[9606 Prest]

Carmen Harlan was the newsperson for Steve Dahl on WWWW in the 1970s. She was not a DJ but just read the news.Steve Dahl moved to Chicago long ago and has been on the air there for many years.

[txlady]

Disco Demolition, Steve Dahl, what a blast from the past!! Thanks for the link, I'm still reading. My wallet got stolen a few years ago, but until then I still had my RIF DREAD card! They can have the damn money, but I'd like to get that card back.

[Bluenote132003]

Still have my DREAD card, AND the much rarer W4 Rock N Roll Legion card...remember when W4 came out with the 3/4 length sleeve jersey? Everyone had one back in the day...