Anybody Care to Go Back to 1973? Three Hours of Music from Fifty Years Ago on Chicago's WXRT

If you're like me, 1973 was a very important year.  The first half was a college year at NIU (they're playing "Two Hangmen" by Mason Profitt right now at 9:09 AM) and then I graduated, got married, bought my first car and started my one and only job teaching.  You might say it was quite a year for me.

Anyway, right now, Chicago's WXRT, 93.1 FM is doing their weekly Saturday Morning Flashback to this year.  It streams, so check it out until noon, CDST.

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I also wrote down every song they played in my RoadDog's RoadLog Blog.  Check them out.

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Also, if you're into Beach Music, WVCO, the Surf 94.9 FM,  in South Carolina is having the Beach Music Top Twenty songs ftrom now until noon EDST.

Tomorrow, Terri Hemmert has her Breakfast With the Beatles show on WXRT from 8 to 10 AM and Bob Stroud does his Rock and Roll Roots show from 9 to noon CDST on Chicago's WDRV, 97.1 FM.  The show features music from the 1960s and 1970s.  All shows stream.

Lots of Great Music to Listen To.  --RoadMusic

Chicago's WXRT

WXRT, 93.1 FM is one of the main radio stations I listen to in Chicago.

Right now WXRT is tied for sixth in Chicago according to the most recent Nielsen ratings.  The station is owned by the Philadelphia-based radio chain Audacy.

Recently deceased Lin Brehmer, who I have been writing about the last several posts, has been an integral part  of the station throughout its history.  It began as a pioneering Chicago rock station in the early 1970s, launching under local ownership with an underground melange of  free-form album cuts, but only at night, after its ethnic-based programming like Korean gospel and Spanish talk radio had concluded their day.

The rock format station went full time in 1976.

They became a part of CBS Radio in the late 1990s.  In 2017, Entercom acquired WXRT and half a dozen other Chicago radio stations through a megamerger with CBS.

This company rebranded as Audacy in March 2021, is the second-largest radio chain in the U.S. behind iHeart-Media, and operates more than 235 stations nationwide.

Other Chicago Audacy stations include all-sports WSCR-Am 670 and news station WBBM-AM 780.

--RoadDog

WXRT's and Chicago's Lin Brehmer: 'Your Best Friend in the Whole World'

I've always had a hard time spelling his name in my blogs and journal. If I heard him say "Your best friend in the whole world" once, I hear him say it a thousand times.

Yesterday, WXRT had a lengthy show on Lin Brehmer and all the local news channels had bits on him.  He even had his name, birth year and death year on that iconic scorebeoard outside Wrigley Field, home of Lin's beloved Cubs.

I wonder if he gets cremated, will they spread his ashes around the field?

Lin Brehmer was a Queens, New York native and Colgate University graduate.  He started his radio  career at a station on Albany, Nerw York, before joining WXRT as a music director in 1984.  He left the station in 1990 for a one-year stint as music director at KTCZ- FM in Minneapolis before returning to host mornings at WXRT -- a position he held for nearly thirty years.

In 2020, he shifted to the mid-morning slot when Terri Hemmert retired.

I used to listen to him every morning after I retired in 2006.

Sure Going to Miss Him.  Our Best Friend in the Whole World.  --RoadDog

So Sorry to Hear About Death of WXRT's Lin Brehmer

Yesterday while doing these blogs I came across notice of the death of one of my favorite disc jockeys, Lin Brehmer on Chicago's WXRT, 93.1 FM.  I listened to him mornings until he shifted to midday.  Like he liked to say, "Your Best Friend in the Whole World."

He  had left the airways back in this past July because of cancer treatments and had a strong desire to get back on the air.

Listening to his show was like sitting with a good friend and talking music and especially his beloved Chicago Cubs (but, I didn't hold that against him).  And, how in the world did he come up with what he said on his Lin's Bin bits.  For any of you unjfamiliar with Lin's Bits, it was a lot like listening to that deejay on "Northern Exposure" only with bits of songs and lines from movies.

This past year has been rough on me as along with Lin Brehmer (always hard to spell his name), I lost two other of my favorite disc jockeys in Chicago:  Bob Stroud on WDRV and Terri Hemmert on WXRT.  But, though they are not on regularly, their signature shows are.  With Bob that would be Rock and Roll Roots, Ten at Ten and One 45 at 1:45.  Terri Hemmert has Breakfast With the Beatles.  Those shows still are on, so it is not like they are entirely gone.

Today, WXRT is going to salute the life of Lin Brehmer starting at 10 am, CDT.  It streams, so I will definitely be giving it a listen.

--RoadDog

Magee Teachers in Bristol. Bob Stroud Retires from Deejaying.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29

We went to Donovan's Reef in Twin Lakes for trivia and those great 1/2 price drink specials during happy hour.

THURSDAY, JUNE 30

Met the usual group of former Magee Middle School teachers for breakfast in Bristol, Wisconsin, at the Bristol 45 Diner.  We had two newcomers to the "club", Karen and Linda.  Always good to get together with people I worked many years with back in the day.  

I also had an Magee '81-'82 yearbook and everyone got a kick out of that.  I must admit I looked quite a bit like Gabe Kaplan of "Welcome Back Kotter" but with less hair.

This was Bob Stroud's last day deejaying before his semi-retirement from Chicago's WDRV after four decades of work, mostly spent at numerous stations in Chicago, the last 21 with this station.  I recorded a lot of his show on cassette tape.

However, he will continue doing my favorite shows that he does: Ten at Ten, One 45 at 1:45 daily and Rock and Roll Roots on Sundays.

He said how he got into the radio business back when he was 12 and living in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and a friend of him told him to tune into WLS, 890 AM, out of Chicago and listen to a deejay named Dick Biondi...and that got him hooked on what turned out to be a long career.

--RoadStroud

WLS Top 25 for Week of July 10, 1972-- Part 3: 'Take It Easy'

Fifty years ago in Chicago, these were the Top 25 songs according to powerhouse WLS. 890 AM.  The WLS stood for World's Largest Store.  And, that meant Sears.  Where is Sears today?

*  Means the song was climbing the charts.  The number after the artist was how high the song got on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts.

15.  *HOW DO YOU DO--  Mouth & McNeill      #8    I still really love her top on the video.  Wow!!  Know what I mean?   Nudge, Nudge.    Their only Top 40.

14.  (LAST NIGHT) I DIDN'T GET TO SLEEP AT ALL--  Fifth Dimension    #8      Formed in Los Angeles.

13.  *WHERE IS THE LOVE--  Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway    #5      Roberta was born in Asheville, North Carolina.   Went #1 on R&B chart.

12.  *BRANDY--  Looking Glass      #1       Still one of my all-time favorite songs.  It really drew a picture in my mind.   Their only Top 10.  They only had one other Top 40, "Jimmy Loves Mary-Anne" (#33-1973).

11.  *TAKE IT EASY--  Eagles      #12        That good ol' Route 66 song.  Where do you think that corner in Winslow, Arizona is?   Their first hit.

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "There's A Port In A Western Bay And It Serves A Hundred Ships A Day."   Answer below.  --RoadBran

"Brandy"

Two Legions, a Band, Sunday Radio and Stucky's

FRIDAY, JUNE 3

Worked in the yard.  Met Barb, Glenn, Kelly and Kevin at Johnny's Cafe in Fox Lake, Illinois, for dinner and then went to the Fox Lake American Legion for 50-50.  Didn't win.

SATURDAY, JUNE, 4

Crummy day, overcast, cool and rain.  So we were forced to go to the Fox Lake Legion for entertainment in the afternoon.  I hate when that happens.  Cold outside, but a band inside.

SUNDAY, JUNE 5

Listened to my usual Sunday morning radio: Acoustic Storm on WDRV, Breakfast With the Beatles on WXRT, Rock and Roll Roots on WDRV and Johnny Miller and Big John Ruth playing Beach Music in WFJA out of North Carolina (internet).

We went to the McHenry American Legion.  I went over to Miller Park to see a band, but there was no band today.  Forced to go back to the Legion and resume.  Stopped at Stucky's in Johnsburg on the way back home.

--RoadDog

Music Deaths: Howard Hesseman (Dr. Johnny Fever)

HOWARD HESSEMAN, 81

Died January 30, 2022

Okay, he didn't sing any songs and wasn't in a band, but he was one of the greatest not-real deejays ever as Dr. Johnny Fever in "WKRP in Cincinnati."  My all-time favorite TV sitcom. I also liked him as teacher Charlie Moore in "Head of the Class."

"WKRP" ran from 1978 to 1982 and had one of the greatest casts ever.  It could and should have been on longer, but the show kept switching days and times.

Fellow babies.

Beware the Phone Police.

JSS: Missing Bob Rohrman-- Recreational Marijuana-- Firefighters' Steak Fry

JSS--  Just Some Stuff

1.  MISSING BOB ROHRMAN

Bob Rohrman died Tuesday, September 1, 2020.  And, I miss his wacky TV commercials for his family-owned auto group were standard TV fodder and who put the ROAR in ROHRman.

2,  RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA COMMERCIALS--  And, on the subject of commercials, now I hear commercials telling people to save money on their recreational marijuana by getting a doctor's excuse.  I really never thought I'd be hearing these on the radio.

Of course, we have had legal marijuana sales here in Illinois for a year now and every month they set new sales records.  And a whole lot of the cost you pay for it is taxes.  Hey, our state is broke so nice to have the revenue.  As for us, we have yet to go buy any.  Personally I have enough problems with drinking and don't need another problem.

We also have never played any of the gambling slot machines that seem to be everywhere in the state these days.  I'm waiting for them to start putting them in bathrooms.

3.  FIREFIGHTERS' STEAK FRY--  Today, the Spring Grove Firefighters are having the annual Steak Fry, so we will be going over to that.

--RoadDog

LAWS OF THE UNIVERSE, THE BEHIND YOU LAW:  When you finally give up looking for that item in a store and ask an employee where something is, you know very well that it will be right behind you.

Good Times Around Here July 31-- Part 2: Front Porch, Radio, Two State Parks and Stucky's

SATURDAY, JULY 31

The usual morning stuff, FP, internet and radio (Bill St. James' Time Warp, WXRT's Saturday Morning Flashback 1992-1993 and the Surf's Beach Music Top 25 Countdown)

Took a nice Firebird Cruise south of here to the Moraine Hills State Park and the McHenry Dam State Park.  These are two of the most beautiful parks you can imagine.  Lots of walking trails and views.

I went to the McHenry Dam Park first and you get a view of the dam on the Fox River which regulates the depth of the Chain of Lakes.  The other side of it you can see the Stratton Locks which boaters use to get up and down the river.

The Moraine Hills Park takes its name from the geologic form known as a moraine, which is an accumulation of boulders and rocks and other debris deposited by a glacier when it melts.

There were a lot of people taking advantage of the two parks with picnics, walking and fishing at the dam.

We went to Stucky's that evening for the $1 draft pints and I had the chicken Kiev special.

--RoadDog

Songs of 1970-- Part 2: Breaking Up and Arriving on Stage

"Given so much unrest, everyone was exhausted," says author David Browne.  "It is no coincidence that the top songs of then year were as much hymns as pop songs."

But, if such anthems brought people together, the bands that created them were, at the time, falling apart.  Both Simon & Garfunkel and the Beatles broke up in 1970, as did Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

Meanwhile, great new musicians and groups rose to take their place, including Elton John, the Jackson Five, the Carpenters and James Taylor, all of whom released breakthrough songs that same year.

Whole new genres emerged as well, making 1970 a unique year that will live forever in musical history and in our memories.

Of course, 1970, was a college year for me, so these songs really strike up the old memories.  I pledge Delta Sigma Phi at NIU and moved out to the frat house in the fall after living freshman year at Lincoln Hall dormitory freshman year.  That spring was also the Kent State Riots when I really thought I was seeing the end of the United States.  Those were some scary times, I tell you.

I was looking out my dorm window when the rioting came to DeKalb and NIU as a confrontation between students and police took place right below me.  With all the police lights flashing, the campus radio station, WNIU played "Lay Down (Candles in the Wind)" by Melanie and any time I hear that song anymore it takes me right back.

1970 Was Quite a Time.  --RoadMusic

The Drive's 20th Anniversary Monday (Chicago's WDRV, 97.1 FM, Classic Rock)

It's hard to believe in this day and age that a radio station has gone on the air and retained its format for 20 years, but that is exactly what WDRV, 97.1, simulcast on 69.9 FM  toward the Wisconsin border where we listen to it.  

It was a classic music station before that for many years (which also featured the late great Mr. A doing his Blues and R&B overnight show).  

This station is one of my three favorite radio stations in Chicago that I listen to most every day: WXRT and MeTV-FM are the other two.

I listen to the Sherman and Tingle Show every morning, then Bob Stroud at midday, especially his Ten at Ten at 10 AM and PM.  Plus, every weekend, they have the Time Warp with Bill St. James on Saturday mornings, the Acoustic Storm Sunday mornings and, best of all, Bob Stroud's Rock and Roll Roots Show.

Never let it be said I don't like my Classic Rock.

Bob Stroud has been with the station the whole time.  I think he has found his Radio Home as he ages.

This Monday marks the 20th anniversary of their first day and they will be playing the songs they played that day in honor of it.

So, Happy 3/15 Ides of March, WDRV.  --RoadDrive

Back to the Seventies on the Radio: 1972 and 1974 and a Beach Shot

Bill St. James is back to 1972 on his Time Warp Show on Chicago's WDRV, 97.1 FM.  Right now, he is playing Alice Cooper's "School's Out" which inspired the name of our last boat, "School's Out..." which then had "Forever" after we retired.

It goes to 10 am, CST and streams.

Then, at 9 am, WXRT is doing 1974 on their Saturday Morning Flashback.  It goes to noon CST and streams as well.

This has been an exceedingly crummy winter so far this new year with lots of snow with no chance of melting as we've only had a few days in the 30s since Jan 1 and since last Friday, Feb.5, no temps higher than the mid teens.  That's why giving WVCO, the Surf's Beach Music Countdown today from 9 to 11 am, EST will help get me in the proper beach mode.

Good Listenin' on the Radio.  --RoadBrrrr

STUDENT TEST ANSWERS:  Persian cats is the chief industry of Persia, hence the word "purr."

The Story Behind Dan Fogelberg's 'Same Old Lang Syne'

This morning I was listening to Jim Morgan who is a disk jockey at Myrtle Beach's WVCO, 94.9 FM, the Surf, which plays Carolina Beach Music as I often do on internet radio.

Every Monday to Friday, he has a segment I especially like called Music Spotlight where he takes a song and tells you the story behind it.  Usually the song has something to do about the date of its release, recording or the artist's date of birth or death.

Today is the anniversary of Dan Fogelberg's death in 2007.  The song Jim Morgan chose of Dan Fogelberg was "Same Old Lang Syne."  There is quite a story behind this song that Dan wrote.  It is based on an actual event in his life from 1975.

He was back in his hometown of Peoria, Illinois, visiting family for the holidays and on Christmas Eve, they needed something for dinner and he drove over to a local convenience store to get it since all the stores were closed.  While there, he met his old high school girlfriend.

You can go to You Tube and view  Bob Natale's video "The Story Behind Dan Fogelberg's 'Same Old Lang Syne' " to hear what Jim said.  After that, go to the Track X Track video "On Location: The True Story of Dan Fogelberg's 'Same Old Lang Syne' " and view that which takes you to the places mentioned in the story.

After that, go to the video Dan Fogelberg- Same Old Lang Syne (Lyrics).  The lyrics are shown as the song is sung.

This Is Quite the Story.  --RoadDog

What a Long Strange Election This Has Been

And, it seemed like it started ten years ago.  I have never seen America so divided over this one.  Even my wife and I voted differently for the first time ever, thus cancelling our votes essentially.

I sure won't miss all the political ads on TV and the radio.  Every year they get nastier and dirtier.  I am now of the opinion to vote for any candidate not using the smear tactics.  If you believe them, then every politician should be imprisoned.

This is also the first time we voted by mail because of you-know-what.

If I had my rathers, I would vote for Lauren Underwood and Joe Biden, but unfortunately, they are Democrats and that party scares me even more that Donald Trump with their blind allegiance to the BLM movement in an effort to have Blacks sweep them to victory.  I voted for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in the last two presidential elections.

But, I can't do that this year.

Plus, there is the Democratic efforts (along with BLM) at Confederadication, the removal of all things Confederate from U.S. history.

Well, Regardless, I sure will be happy when all this is over.

How Soon Can Tomorrow Get Here?  --RoadTired

On the Radio

"It was the thing that grabbed ahold of me at eleven and pointed me in the direction that became my life.  The Radio.  Whether the Big 89 or especially WCFL or even my hometown stations in Kalamazoo WKMI and WKLZ, I like to think I speak for many of us when I say we owe so much of our lives' enjoyment to the radio."  Bob Stroud

I totally agree with you. The Beatles on the radio got me into music, something that I still am enjoying.  These were songs played on Chicago's Drive, 97.1 FM.

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ON THE RADIO

ROLL OVER BEETHOVEN--  Beatles
ROCK & ROLL--  Velvet Underground
RADIO GA GA--  Queen

FM (NO STATIC AT ALL)--  Steely Dan
LIFE IS A ROCK (BUT THE RADIO ROLLED ME)--  Reunion
TURN UP THE RADIO--  Autograph
W.O.L.D.--  Harry Chapin

SONG ON THE RADIO--  Al Stewart
RADIO RADIO--  Elvis Costello
SPIRIT OF RADIO--  Rush

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "B.B. Bumble and the Stingers, Mott the Hoople, Ray Charles Singers."  Answer below.  --RoadDog


"Life Is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me)"

Hey! Hey! Hey! Chicago's Bob Stroud Is a Nominee for the Radio Hall of Fame!

Bob Stroud, affable midday host on Chicago's WDRV, 97.1 FM, the Drive, has been nominated for the Radio Hall of Fame.   Host of the long-running "Rock and Roll Roots" show which recently celebrated its 40th year and has been running in Chicago for forty years as well as the M-F's Ten at Ten and his "One 45 At 1:45."   His knowledge of rock and roll is extensive.

I always learn something listening to one of these shows.  He knows so much I  sometimes think he must look some of it up.

You often see his playlists right here in this blog.  As a matter of fact, his annual Root Salute to a Bygone Summer will be my next post.  This year, we're going back fifty years to the summer of 1970.  Bob remembers that hairy year.

Bob is one of 24 nominees in six categories.

We're all pulling for you Bob.  But don't let it go to your head.  Look what happened to your hair the last time.

Proud Member of the Stroud Crowd.  --RoadStroud

EATING IN THE FIFTIES  (From FaceBook):  Pasta had not been invented.  You ate macaroni or spaghetti and liked it.

WLS Top 40 for Week of May 11, 1970-- Part 1: "Lay Down (Candles In the Wind)"

Here we go again, with the Top 40 songs in Chicago fifty years ago according to super station WLS 890 AM.

(D) means a Debut song.  The number after the artist refers to how high the song got on Billboard Hot 100 chart.

40.  UNITED WE STAND--  Brotherhood of Man    #13    (D)  Good song for these days.  Back then, it would be Kent State.  Their biggest hit.

39.  QUESTION--  Moody Blues        #21    (D)   Love the guitar solo at the beginning.  Wonder how his fingers didn't fall off.  Especially a good song to listen to on your earphones.   From Birmingham, England.

38.  LAY DOWN (CANDLES IN THE WIND)--  Melanie      #6   (D)      Actually, this was not her biggest hit.  That came in 1971.    What a beautiful voice. This song takes me right back to the campus of Northern Illinois University after Kent State.  I listened to this on the campus radio station, WNIU, while I watched protesters line up outside Lincoln Hall and the police attack them..

I thought I was watching the end of the United States.

37.  RIDE CAPTAIN RIDE--  Blues Image    #4    (D)    From Tampa, Florida, in 1961.  One-Hit Wonders.

36.  RED RED WINE--  Vic Dana   #72    Cover of a Neil Diamond song.  His last Top 100 song.

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "Seventy-Three Men Sailed Off To History."  Answer below.  --RoadDog


"Ride Captain Ride"

Get Your Music Here

Right now, I am listening to the WLS Top 40 songs from May 11, 1970, on You Tube.  Once a month I do the whole Top 40.  The other weeks I just do a Top Ten and Debuts. This really takes me back fifty years.

However, here are some other really good places to hear music.  Some of it probably not what you're used to listening to, but good nonetheless.

All of these are available over the internet:

**  JUKIN' OLDIES--  A group of deejays on the internet but not in the same studio.  They really play a lot of different songs, many of which are Beach, Boogie and Blues.

**  WXRT (Chicago)  Blues and Soul Channel.  Go to the site  Click on Music at the top and scroll down to Chicago's Blues and Soul and click on it.

**  WVCO, 94.9 FM, out of North Myrtle Beach, S.C.  Beach Music.  On Wednesday's, DJ Jim Morgan takes you out to the beach and plays some of the best Beach Music ever.  (And this isn't West Coast/Beach Boys Beach Music either.)

Give To me the Music.  --RoadDog

LAUGHTER HELPS WITH THE "V":  "If you're upset about regular folk hoarding toilet paper, wait till you hear about how a tiny percentage of rich people have managed to hoard most of the world's wealth.

Who's Tired of "Uncertain," "Trying" and "Challenging" Times?

Watching TV and listening to the radio, I am getting just a bit tired of hearing these "times."

"Uncertain Times"

"Trying Times"

"Challenging Times"

A drinking game for those of you stuck at home these days.  Every time a commercial comes on using one of these terms are a similar "times" word, take a shot.  You'll soon forget.

Also getting tired of the dirge piano plinking away in so many commercials.

Plink the Times.  --RoadDog

LAUGHTER TO DEAL WITH THE "V":  To the tune of "Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover."

"This isn't Spring Beak, Jake
Stay home if you're sick, Dick
Just follow the rules, fools
And stay virus free!"