Neaverth, perhaps with his boyish good looks and demeanor, evaded arrest for his stunt. The Beatles also played a concert at Torontos Maple Leaf Gardens in August 1965. (Buffalo Stories archives). The Mods, formerly The Buffalo Beetles from Buffalo Teen News magazine. He signed the station on with the words, "Ladies and Gentlemen, WKBW-TV Channel 7 is on-the-air!" Dan Bongino, one of the most right-leaning hosts in the Fox News stable, is leaving the network after the Fox Corp.-backed outlet and he could not come to terms on a new contract. Tucker Carlson is joining a long list of nightly news hosts who once commanded huge audiences before quick departures from their networks. Copyright 2020Buffalo Broadcasters. Enter WKBW Radio, soon with the corporate backing of owner Capital Cities (now THE DISNEY CORPORATION, by the way), and its monstrous 50,000 watt signal. His stories of Buffalo's past have appeared more than 1600 times in The Buffalo News. Listeners were asked to search for the WKBW $200 Mystery Telephone Number, a number chosen from the Buffalo directory. K-BIG Feature #1: Forgotten Buffalo Celebrated the 50th Anniversary of KB's Format Change to Top 40. Starting in the mid 50s, and running through the mid 70s, its fair to say cumulatively, that nighttime KB disc jockeys like George Hound Dog Lorenz, Dick Biondi, Tommy Shannon, Jay Nelson, Joey Reynolds, Sandy Beach, and Jack Armstrong enjoyed more listeners on a single radio station during that clear-channel time in the evening, than any other station in the country. ", Over the years Sandy has changed stations, formats and hairstyles but feels that Buffalo was always a good fit, saying " I managed to pick places where my personality and the things I like to do fit.". Many others agreed, but said it was the combination of talent and different looks that made the Beatles just far out., Buffalo Courier-Express. George Hound Dog Lorenz, the Godfather of rock n roll radio (not just in Buffalo, but PERIOD) first plied his trade in Western New York at Niagara Falls WJJL, as early as 1951. On July 4, 1958, Futursonic Radio was alive on WKBW. . April 24, 2023. However, I was told Channel 4 management wouldnt let her do an interview until after she left the station. There were at least a couple of dozen Buffalonians in attendance courtesy of the WKBW/Orange Crush Beatles caravan, hosted by Danny Neaverth. The half hour program was recorded on these transcription records, sometime before Christmas Day 1954, for playback on that date. I had promised a free Kings Ball rock and roll concert if I won, and also promised the person with the longest list of votes that I would carry their books to school every day for a week. Faron Young, Capitol Records star, flew in to Buffalo from Nashville; The Pony Tails drove up from Cleveland; The Four Dates and Fabian of Chancellor Records flew in from Philadelphia; and the local recording group, The Tune Rockers, performed on the roof of one of the stores in the plaza. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joey_Reynolds&oldid=1089841832, This page was last edited on 25 May 2022, at 23:26. Was it the haircuts, asked the Courier-Express Enquiring Reporter of Western New York high school students? No one could ever find it until the station gave an easy clue on the air. Tom Clay, one of many disc jockeys to use the name Guy King on WWOL, was arrested after his playing Rock Around the Clock over and over again, while perched atop a billboard in Shelton Square. First appeared on album form from the industry periodical Programmers Digest., Steve Cichon writes about Buffalos pop culture history. All rights reserved. Station Management promptly suspended him which created an outcry of public support from his listeners. WKBW-TV followed the team to the current facility in Orchard Park, N.Y. in 1973 (known then as Rich Stadium and now as Ralph Wilson Stadium). As often happens, over the last 50 years, for better or for worse, people who remember Guy King or the earliest Tom Shannon or Daffy Dan Neaverth shows, will think they heard those things on KB, forgetting those early pioneering rock nroll days. Known for his trade mark humor and his cutting edge comments, Sandy says his sense of humor would get him in trouble when he was in school "I had to walk home nearly everyday because I had. Al Anscombe was a sports announcer under Roger Baker at KB before serving in the Air Corps in World War II. Today’s top 694 Summer Internships jobs in Paris, le-de-France, France. http://www.staffannouncer.com/kbhalloween/wotw71.mp3. Stations like WBNY, WWOL, WXRA, and later WYSL and a host of others were capturing the imaginations of young people in Buffalo. It is unclear why these five players asked for releases from their national letters of intent. Schanz landed a job at WXYZ-TV in Detroit, the nation's No. Ed Edziu Cichon would sit out there, looking at the comings and goings on Seneca Street with a serene smile on his face, enjoying the music, his grandkids, and life in general. Learn how and when to remove this template message. Remembering former Buffalo radio personality Don Berns who passed away on Sunday March 1, 2015. All contents of this site 2020 byForgotten Buffalo. Since the earliest days of the internet, Cichon's been creating content celebrating the people, places, and ideas that make Buffalo unique and special. This blurb appeared in a Geneseo newspaper during the week leading up to Halloween in 1968. (O . He was the public address announcer for the NBA Braves and the NFL Bills. Well, a week into the contest, a kid playing in the area, finds the bankbook, and his parents claim the prize. As many of the smaller stations in Buffalo were churning out rhythm and blues music all day, at night, for Buffalo and the entire eastern seaboard, the Hound Sound was around.. Friday, July 4th in Independence Day, and WKBW goes K-Boom! Over a thousand imitation firecrackers, each containing the Its Hot flier, were mailed to ad agencies, clients and members of the trade press. The energetic Lawrence formed the National Association of Independent Program Directors while at KB. My initial handshake with the radio station came upon landing in Buffalo, recalls Perry Allan. Reynolds was basically playing a mix of oldies and adult contemporary cuts along with comedy and personality, and was most notably on the air when the station's traffic helicopter crashed on October 22, killing reporter Jane Dornacker. Gotta be careful what you say on a 50,000 WATT radio station., In the latter part of the50sJohn Barrett and Perry Allen evolved a call letter-napping. Someone, as established in the promo spots, had stolen one of our Ws, recalls Allen. The station was located at 1420 Main Street in Buffalo, New York, and the call letters stood for "Well Known Bible Witness". The first broadcast on that snowy night was the Jimmy Cagney classic film, "Yankee Doodle Dandy!" Click image to learn more. Young people were paying attention, but society not yet. Rick Azar & Tom Jolls", "Legendary 7 Eyewitness News broadcaster Rick Azar has died", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rick_Azar&oldid=1098589138, This page was last edited on 16 July 2022, at 15:16. Youll also hear from Russ Syracuse, Johnny Barrett, Art Roberts, and Dick Biondi. http://blog.buffalostories.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/KB58sm.mp3. It was broadcast live from the NASDAQ site in Times Square at 43rd Street and Broadway. In a matrix thathas repeated itself time and time again as American Pop Culture has evolved, the aversion to the Beatles was just as strong as the fanaticism of their young followers. If you ever read this Mike Im sorry I missed I could have improved your looks. I say that affectionately Mike is a genius in radio programming., Dick lasted on the staff for two years before getting fired. The Joey Reynolds Show was a resounding Number 1 in Buffalo. In fact, The Hounds lead-in show six nights a week was Stan Jasinskis Polka Beehive. ", Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way. New Registered Nurse jobs added daily. WKBW-TV was also one of the first stations to travel with the Buffalo Sabres hockey team in the 1970s, broadcasting select games, and is a supporter of the triple A Buffalo Bisons baseball team. Sandy Beach was in the original broadcast in 1968, Jack Armstrong was in the 1971 version, and Shane in 1973. Youll hear snippets of disc jockeys Stan Roberts, Fred Klestine, Jay Nelson, Dan Neaverth, and Joey Reynolds at work, followed by a Henry Brach newscast, and a quick excerpt from Irv Weinsteins documentary Buffalo and La Cosa Nostra. Many KB commercialsand contests follow. Keep reading with unlimited digital access. The day: November 30, 1958. http://www.staffannouncer.com/kbhalloween/peopleplacesandthings.mp3. Born in Boston, educated in suburban Philadelphia, Lawrence considered Washington, D.C. his home. Zach's radio career began at WKBW Radio in September 1961, when he was hired by a news director who would later become a fixture on local television screens, Irv Weinstein. "Folks, reg His first radio job was WWOL in Buffalo with Dick Purtan, then WKWK, in Wheeling, WV. Click image to learn more. Sixteen-year-old Jay Burch of Orchard Park High School described Beatlemania from the midst of it in 1964 this way: The Beatles singing is OK, but its the haircuts and dress that make them standouts. She joined the station in 2012 as a weekend morning co-anchor. The person: Rick Azar. While Program Director Jeff Kaye might be best remembered for that deep resonant voice which he used like Horowitz on a Steinway, he was also perhaps the greatest producer and writer that is to say, the greatest radio mind of the generation. Nicknamed The Singing Evangelist, The Encyclopedia of America Gospel Music calls Beck a seminal figure in the formative years of modern African-American gospel music. His shows aired Sunday nights on KB. It was fifty years ago to the day that Sandy was first heard on the airwaves of WKBWradio. http://blog.buffalostories.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/KB72sm.mp3, The famous Jeff Kaye produced and narrated look at KB in 1971, with jocks Danny Neaverth, Jack Sheridan, Don Berns, Sandy Beach, Jack Armstrong, Bob McCrea, and Casey Piotrowski, with Kayes thoughts and insights on each in between. Click image to learn more. Art Roberts, formerly with Gordon McClendon and more recently the afternoon man at WCUE, Akron Ohio handled the 2 to 6 PM slot. He has been a talk show host since. It presented, in capsule from, a regular broadcast day, on the even newer KB. UBs coaching and support staff will earn a combined $424,874 annually, according to salary information obtained by The Buffalo News through a. Buffalo Web Design by. Beatlemania continued at a fever pitch through all of 1964 and 1965. His brother, Carlos Carballada, briefly served as interim mayor of Rochester, New York in 2011 and currently serves as Rochester's commissioner of community and economic development. Each of the new personalities was rated #1 in their respective markets and their reputations for ingenious broadcasting techniques was unmatched in the industry according to Lawrence. By Steve Cichon He writes about Buffalos pop culture history. The promotion worked. With hope and dreams, I turned on the ever present transistor receiver. Stan Jasinskis Complete Christmas 1954 broadcast on WKBW Radio, with the Paderewski Singing Society. Carlson was by far the network's most prominent personality, stepping in smoothly to replace former star host Bill O'Reilly after a series of sexual harassment allegations forced his departure. We offered a reward to the listener who could first find Dick and return him to KB. George Hound Dog Lorenz, the Godfather of rock n roll radio (not just in Buffalo, but PERIOD) first plied his trade in Western New York at Niagara Falls WJJL, as early as 1951. Catching up with names in the news while I was out of the country: Nancy Sanders: A local legend in media circles who has worked behind the scenes at all three local news departments, Sanders left her job as news operations manager at WIVB-TV (Channel 4) this week and is getting social media love from those she has mentored in a 45-year broadcasting career. In 1986, he arrived at then-WNBC in New York City doing the afternoon drive, Howard Stern's previous shift. As many of the smaller stations in Buffalo were churning out rhythm and blues music all day, at night, for Buffalo and the entire eastern seaboard, the Hound Sound was around.. KB was a hit from day one.. Nate Oats: The area not only lost a terrific basketball coach after he left the University at Buffalo for the University of Alabama. Reynolds and Neaverth, on behalf of WKBW, were offered the chance to bring The Beatles to Buffalo Memorial Auditorium on February 10, 1964, the day after the band had appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show. WXRA later became WINE, where Hernando played host. His family owned Lucki-Urban Furniture, sponsors of Jasinskis broadcasts from the 50s-90s. All rights reserved. He was also the color man on Buffalo Bills broadcasts alongside Van Miller. Yes, the dial was indeed properly clicked in on 1520. Program director Dick Lawrence asked Allen to show up to KB prior to the 4th. Starting in the mid 50s, and running through the mid 70s, its fair to say cumulatively, that nighttime KB disc jockeys like George Hound Dog Lorenz, Dick Biondi, Tommy Shannon, Jay Nelson, Joey Reynolds, Sandy Beach, and Jack Armstrong enjoyed more listeners on a single radio station during that clear-channel time in the evening, than any other station in the country. You hear the voice, writing and production of Jeff Kaye; the engineering and production of Al Lafler, Dan Kreigler, and many others; the voices and writing of Dan Neaverth, Jim McLaughlin, Don Berns, Stan Roberts, Sandy Beach, Jack Armstrong, Shane Gibson, Joe Downey, Ron Baskin, Henry Brach, Jim Fagan, Don Lancer, Irv Weinstein, and others. WXRA later became WINE, where Hernando played host. According to Al Anscombe, GM at the time, advertisers who associated with the traditional format were given to option of continuing their schedules free of charge through the Future Sonic change with many renewing at greater levels a month into the new sound. (Buffalo Stories archives). Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. After the war, Baker returned to Buffalo and read the news on WKBW Radio, but eventually moved into the general manager's office at the short-lived Buffalo UHF pioneer WBES-TV, where he also read the news. As the outgoing public face of The Electric Company, Buffalo Bills offensive lineman Reggie McKenzie and his fellow guard Joe DeLamielleure were given plenty of credit for O.J. [6], Azar was noted for his tough, blunt personality and willingness to editorialize on-air in an era when sports talk was not yet a developed medium. If you watched Elvis shake his hips on Ed Sullivan for the first time, and you then listened to Elvis on the radio It wasnt likely KB, even though your memory might tell you otherwise. Tom Shannon, a nationally known disc jockey who made his mark in local broadcasting in the late 1950s with the old WKBW-AM 1520, will retire March 31 as afternoon DJ at WHTT-FM 104.1, a rock. Four disc jockeys, brand new to the Buffalo audience were imported from major markets to from the base for the even newer WKBW. Having the good fortune of working with top talent I knew that the station was headed for the top. Bailey was recently let go as the morning news weekday co-anchor at WBBM-TV in Chicago, a role she has had since 2017. The series ended on April 25, 2011. #KgopoloReports . He returned to WWKB (formerly WKBW) in 2003 astheir morning man (6-10 daily) rejuvenating that station's ratings. WKBW-TV began as an extension of the popular WKBW radio 1520AM, now WWKB. Henry Ford didnt invent the automobile, he was just the first to make the same car available to everyone. He instead stated that, though he was comfortable being in the public spotlight, he did not feel an overwhelming need for it and felt that he retired at the right time. The late newsman Ed Little wouldremember being in the room as packages containing female lingerie were opened; sent from Maryland by an obviously big fan. Sandy says he was prepared for the first day fifty years ago, but Stan Roberts advised him to rent furniture, adding "he didn't exactly say I know you're going to make it big here." On March 10, 2010, it was revealed that WOR would pick up Coast to Coast AM from Premiere Radio and would cancel "The Joey Reynolds Show." The 25-year veteran of Buffalo radio and television has written five books and curates The Buffalo Stories Archives-- hundreds of thousands of books, images, and audio/visual media which tell the stories of who we are in Western New York. "The Commander Tom Show" anchored the afternoons with a mix of cartoons and information with Tom Jolls and puppets "Dustmop" and "Mattie The Mod!" A week into the contest, a lady slid into the car, took out her old Ford key, and fired up the T-Bird. The young lady who won lived 100 miles from Buffalo. If you tuned to WBNY in the late 50s, you were likely to hear the voice of Daffy Dan Neaverth, Joey Reynolds (right), Fred Klestine and Henry Brach. Wendt stayed in the market as a meteorologist on Spectrum News. Shelton Square, featuring The Palace Burlesk and WWOL Radio. [5], Azar also served as a color analyst on WKBW's (now WWKB) radio broadcast of the Buffalo Bills games, play-by-play man on the Bills preseason games televised on WKBW-TV and an intermission host on Buffalo Sabres hockey games televised in the 1970s on Ch 7. James Patterson will stay local to start his professional football career, while Justin Marshall will begin his pro career with the Atlanta Falcons. She had kicked him out, and he came over (to the radio station). With its clear-channel 50,000 watt signal, KB was heard all over the eastern half of North America. It starts with The Perry Allen show, with an Irv Weinstein KB Pulsebeat Newscast with some of the great writing and style Irv would become known for in Buffalo over the next 40 years. But 370 miles away in Baltimore, the show showed up in the ratings as number 4. Rhythm and blues was still working its way into rock n roll, and it was still a little time before Elvis started to become recognized first as the hottest hillbilly attraction and the king of western bop.. With the blessing of the police commissioner and the traffic safety director of the city, KB announcers, during peak driving hours, made public the location of police radar unit and urged motorists to slow down and drive safely. "Because I love numbers" he says. This page is not available in other languages. Steve's Buffalo roots run deep: all eight of his great-grandparents called Buffalo home, with his first ancestors arriving here in 1827. It is unlikely she would return to Buffalo TV. Narrated by Irv Weinstein, Instant KB was actually released on a single-sided album sized record for distribution sponsors on the local and national level. WYSL-AM made a valiant effort to take on "KB" but never managed to topple the legendary giant.
