WRCO Blog

This Saturday night during Those Were The Days I will dust off a few favorite albums.  Many hours were spent jamming out to albums in my room at the old farm house.  Cassette dubs made it possible to take music with me.  My favorite music from the Those Were The Days era has always been Top Forty pop songs.  I love a three minute (or less) song which was played during radios Top Forty golden era.  Those songs led me to the record department to buy my own copies.  If I had $4.99 burning a hole in my pocket, I would spring for the entire album.  Once in a while I was not happy with my purchase and in other cases I am still listening to the record after all of these years.  During this weekends edition of Those Were The Days,  I will play some of my favorites.  Since I own over five thousand albums, it is a tough task to determine my ultimate albums.   While I like many of their songs, I have never been a big fan of Pink Floyd, Yes,  and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer albums.  A few of their long players put me to sleep.   I like more straight forward rock and roll and pop songs.  When choosing my list I included greatest hits packages.  A poor farm kid could get more bang for the buck with a package of familiar songs.  Live albums also gave me the chance to add more good songs to my collection.  I hope you will join me for the best of the fifties through the eighties on Saturday night during Those Were The Days on WRCO FM 100.9.  The request line will not be open this weekend.  That feature will return next Saturday night.  We have some great ideas lined up for the rest of the year.   Please join us on this blog for updates.  Perhaps you would like to weigh in with votes for your favorite albums.  Drop me a line at this blog site or send me an email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you would like to rate an album or give suggestions for future show themes.  Thanks for reading and we will look forward to playing some good old rock and roll Saturday night.

Phil

Saturday night I will host our annual Those Were The Days Halloween songs party on FM 100.9.  We will play some of the best haunting classics from the fifties through the eighties.  Some of these songs are requested the entire year.   Monster Mash by Bobby 'Boris' Pickett is still loved by many.   It is a song that made the Billboard charts three different years.  The last time was in the Summer of 1973!   Songs with horror movie themes have been popular since the start of rock and roll.  Every once in a while I discover a lost classic that I have never heard before.  A few years ago a listener pointed out 'The Man With The Weird Beard' by Arthur Godfrey.  That is truly a weird one that was released originally way back in 1947.  Maybe it was written about Solid Gold Dancer Ray Schroeder?  Other Those Were The Days faves include:  Frankenstein-Edgar Winter,  Haunted House-'Jumpin' Gene Simmons,  The Blob-The Five Blobs (one guy did this and his name was Bernie Nee....related to me?),  Werewolf-Five Man Electrical Band,  The Legend Of Wholly Swamp-Charlie Daniels Band,  Thriller-Michael Jackson,  Spooky-Classics IV,  Season Of The Witch-Donovan,  and Laurie (Strange Things Happen)-Dickie Lee.  I hope you will be able to attend this weekends Those Were The Days Halloween party on FM 100.9 from 6 until Midnight Saturday night.  Ask your parents if you can stay up until Midnight.  You can request any pop radio classic from the fifties through the eighties.  We will have a six pack of trivia questions for you and perhaps you will be a winner! 

Phil

Through the years Lynyrd Skynyrd has been one of the most requested groups during my Those Were The Days radio show.   The songs of this southern rock band have been used in many movies, television shows, and commericals.  This has brought their tunes to new generations of music fans.   Saturday night October 20th will be the 41st anniversary of the plane crash that took the lives of three group members.  I remember hearing the news about the crash on the radio (D-93, Dubuque)  while waiting for the school bus in 1977.  It was similar to four years prior when I was eating breakfast and heard that Jim Croce had died in a plane crash September 20th of 1973.  Both of these events had an effect on me.  At the time of the Lynyrd Skynyrd accident, they were one of the most popular groups in America.  Shortly after the tragedy the song What's Your Name, from the album Street Survivors, became at top 20 hit.  In 2003 I was able to interview Ed King who was a guitarist and songwriter with the group through the mid 70's.  Ed passed away earlier this year.   Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9 I will play some of that interview and some of your favorite Lynyrd Skynyrd songs. You can even holler out 'Free Bird' if you like.  I will be taking your requests and we will be giving you the chance to win prizes during our trivia times.   The variety of the requests amazes me every week.  Last week we had requests for everything from Muddy Waters to the Beastie Boys!    If you have some time this Saturday night, I hope you will tune your transistor to 100.9 FM. 

Phil

In the first thirty years of rock and roll there were some awesome 'b' sides.  They were the side of the little 45 r.p.m. records that were not the hits.  There was a never another group that had better flip side songs then the Beatles.   Several times their projected hit side of the record took a back seat to the other set of grooves in the plastic.  Todays music buyers will never get the thrill of buying a song and getting a bonus free tune that you liked even better. During Those Were The Days on Saturday night, I will dig out our old Beatles records and flip them over.  The most requested Beatles 'b' side during the last 32 years of our rock and roll program is Rain, which was the flip of the hit Paperback Writer.  That may be my number one Fab Four flip.  Other Phil faves include:  I'm Down,  I Saw Her Standing There,  Don't Let Me Down,  Revolution,  For You Blue,  She's A Woman,  I Am The Walrus,  There's A Place, and This Boy.   I will be bringing out the records this Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9.  You can request a song from the fifties through the eighties.  If trivia is your thing,  we will have that feature as well.  Lets have a good time Saturday night!

Phil

Back in 1983 I was a mix tape king!  Making tapes with the top hits, oldies, and foolish skits mixed together, was what I lived for.  Once in a while I would put together a tape and send it to a radio station.  While my demos were not very good, I did get a couple of part time offers.  Most were offering a few hours a week for minimum wage in a far away town.  How was a young guy suppose to pay rent, buy the latest 45 r.p.m. records, and a bottle of Ski?   I was helping on the farm during the day and playing my little records at bars, high school record hops, and parties at night.  Some of the most popular songs in the Fall of 1983 included: Burning Down The House-Talking Heads,  Delirious-Prince,  Don't Cry-Asia,  (She's) Sexy + 17-Stray Cats,  Safety Dance-Men Without Hats, Uptown Girl-Billy Joel, Modern Love-David Bowie,  Heart and Soul-Huey Lewis, and She Works Hard For the Money-Donna Summer.   MTV was the number one place for music lovers to discover new music months before it would hit the charts.  I would watch  videos and the next day march to the Music Shop in downtown Richland Center where I would order the latest hits for the dances.   This Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9, I will be cranking out a few hits from 1983.  After going on a long weekend tour to visit friends last weekend,  I will be back to host a live edition of Those Were The Days Saturday night.  Please give a call if you are within range of our signal.  The Solid Gold Dancers and me will be hosting the festivities with trivia and all kinds of jumping hits!  This Saturday night between six and midnight WRCO FM 100.9 will have the live radio light on for you.  Lets party like it's 1983.

Phil

There are many that listen to the same music I do that feel 1973 did not have much to offer in terms of memorable hits.  It really had a variety of soft pop hits, hard rock, country, and novelty songs.  Maybe that is why I consider it one of my favorite years for pop radio memories.  Perhaps it is because I was still a newbie at collecting music and scanning the radio dial.  It was a year that many of the top music artists appeared on television shows such as Sonny & Cher,  American Bandstand,  The Midnight Special,  Don Kirshner's In Concert, or the many talk shows.  We could not wait to see what new artists looked like.  I first saw Jim Croce perform and I remember thinking that Helen Reddy was very pretty!  In my travels to Saffell's in Richland Center, I saw brand new albums in the bins.  They included:  Goodbye Yellow Brick Road-Elton John,  Red Rose Speedway-Wings,  Dark Side Of The Moon-Pink Floyd,  Billion Dollar Babies-Alice Cooper,  Desperado-Eagles,  The Captain & Me-Doobie Brothers,  Now & Then-The Carpenters,  and Aloha From Hawaii-Elvis.  I could not afford to buy many albums on my allowance.  That meant I had to shell out 89 cents for a new 45 single.  This Saturday night I will be playing some of the best of 1973.  I have another family thing going and so I will not be able to take your requests as my services will be needed elsewhere.  I hope you will listen to Those Were The Days this Saturday night.   We will be taking your requests and playing trivia again during the month of October.

Phil

When I was just a 'wee Nee ,  I would pretend farm with my collection of Tru Scale toys.  Thanks to my status as a spoiled brat, my imaginary farm had every implement a kid farmer would need.  My parents would buy me toys at Keegan Implement in Richland Center whenever they needed to bribe me into a shot,  a haircut,  staying with a baby sitter, etc.  It may not have been the best parenting, however, I still have all of the toys today and they are very collectable.  My son played with them and, hopefully, my grand kids will.  While playing on the kitchen floor in 1968, the radio was playing the current hits.  As I sent corn kernels up my Tru Scale elevator into the waiting grain bin (an empty Quaker Oat Meal container) some of the hot hits included:  Hey Jude-Beatles,  1,2,3, Red Light-1910 Fruitgum,  Born To Be Wild-Steppenwolf,  I Say A Little Prayer-Aretha,  Hello, I Love You-Doors,  Midnight Confessions-Grass Roots,  and People Got To Be Free-Rascals.  I remember the night in the Fall of 1968  I was doing some Fall plowing on the living room carpet and a video tape of the Beatles singing Hey Jude played on the Ed Sullivan show.  My mom exclaimed (as she had every time they were on t.v. since 1964) "just look at their hair"!  

I hope you will join me Saturday night for my radio show called Those Were The Days.  It will be great to be back in the studio to take your requests for music from the fifties through the eighties.  Perhaps you will win and amaze your friends when we throw our trivia questions on the air.  Between six and midnight Saturday night, Those Were The Days will be on FM 100.9.  Let's have a rock and roll party!

Phil

Future Tru Scale Farmer Of American 1968

This Saturday night on Those Were The Days, we will play some of your favorite 'garage band' hits of all time.  There are so many influential anthems from this era including:  Louie Louie-Kingsmen,  96 Tears-Question Mark & The Mysterians,  Gloria-Shadows Of Knight,  and Blues Theme-Davie Allan & The Arrows.  We will also get a chance to play some rare gems that we have not played for a while from that middle to late sixties era.  During our radio program on WRCO FM 100.9, we will also play for you a few of the top requested artists of the last year.  We will not be taking your requests this Saturday night. The show will be on Memorex.  I will be enjoying my daughters wedding.  It seems like only yesterday when Macey's little voice could be heard during some of my foolish moments on Those Were The Days.  She later worked for us here at WRCO and did a fine job on the air.  She will be getting hitched to Aron.  He is named after Elvis' middle name!  That is pretty cool and he also is a good guy.  For the dad and daughter dance, Macey and I will be dancing to Sweet Pea by Tommy Roe.  That was one of her favorite songs when she was a little girl.  I will return with many stories and an open request line next Saturday night.  I hope you will tune to 100.9 this Saturday night for Those Were The Days and garage rock plus all kinds of classic hits.

Phil

In the late seventies and early eighties, Friday night high school sporting events had the entire community excited and supportive.  These functions also pumped up a young Phil Nee, however, the record hops after the games were even more fun!  That might be why I was such a poor athlete.  Many songs were going through my head when I was suppose to be thinking about the game.  While Coach Rice was telling us to get serious, I was humming Emotional Rescue by the Rolling Stones or Take Your Time (Do It Right) from the S.O.S. Band.  Some of the hot hits at those record hops in 1980 included:  Let My Love Open The Door-Pete Townsend,  It's Still Rock n' Roll To Me-Billy Joel,  Another One Bites The Dust-Queen,  and All Over The World -ELO.  My good friend Gary Gutknecht was often the d.j. and he would play many classic dance records.  That also helped shape my love for music that was older than me.  Wipe Out,  Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress),   Satisfaction,  Mony Mony,  and All Right Now, made me want to get out on the gym floor and squeek my  Pro Keds.  This Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9 my Those Were The Days radio show will flash back to a record hop in 1980 and I will be taking your fifties through the eighties requests.  Perhaps you will try to answer a trivia question.  You could win a fun prize!  I hope to talk with you Saturday night during Those Were The Days.

Phil

Saturday night during Those Were The Days on WRCO FM 100.9,  I will opening up my 45 r.p.m. carrying case and spinning some of the great records from that era that don't get requested very often.  During that decade, I spent time as a mobile d.j. and there were many records that were popular dance requests but now seem to have faded into obscurity.  MTV played a big role in songs being discovered.  At our swinging bachelor pad in the early 80's,  the 24 hour music channel was on all 24 hours.  Some of my favorite songs included:  Frida-I Know There's Something Going On,  Taine Cain-Hold On,  Manfred Mann-Runner,  OXO-Whirley Girl,  Haircut 100-Love Plus One, and Chilliwack-My Girl (Gone Gone Gone). Some of the popular 80's records to play in the bars back then included:  Girls With Guns-Tommy Shaw,  Stay In Time-Off Broadway,  What I Like About You-Romantics,  Autograph-Turn Up The Radio,  The Cheaters (a Madison Wisconsin band)-Easy To Please Me,  and Andy Taylor-Take It Easy.  During this holiday weekend, I will be playing some of those vinyl classics.  You can request a song from the fifties through the eighties.  Perhaps you will come up with one of your favorite 80's songs that you don't hear anymore.  The trivia line will also be open for you to take a shot at winning a trivia prize.  This Saturday night we will have another radio party, and you are invited!

Phil

In 1979 I went to the Wisconsin State Fair for the first time.  It was a hot August day and every where I went the song 'My Sharona'  by the Knack was playing.   That song emerged through all of the Disco and  Adult Contemporary music on the Billboard Hot 100.  I had to go to the Ben Franklin store when I got home from the fair and buy the album 'Get The Knack' by the Knack.  That is still one of my favorite albums.  There were other highlights during the Summer of 1979.  My Summer jams included:  Don't Bring Me Down-E.L.O.,  I Was Made For Lovin' You-Kiss,  Let's Go-The Cars,  Goodbye Stranger-Supertramp,  Bad Case Of Loving You-Robert Palmer,  Drivers Seat-Sniff n' The Tears,  and Cruel To Be Kind-Nick Lowe.  That era is often overlooked when favorite music Summers are discussed.  I was getting ready to start school and see if any new young ladies moved to the district since May.  That was my only chance for a girl friend.  I needed to meet someone that had not heard my same jokes since Kindergarten.  The mighty Bulldog football team would end a losing streak and win a thriller in overtime!  I would get the role I was born to play when I was cast as Snoopy in You're A Good Man Charlie Brown.  It was a stretch because Snoopy was better looking than me.  Join me for more radio memories this Saturday night during my Those Were The Days program on FM 100.9.   I will be in the studio to take requests of music from the fifties through the eighties and to give you a pop quiz.  You could be a winner this Saturday night.

Philip (Snoopy)

  Our all time favorite music Summers have been much fun.  Thanks for your good response to our Summer salutes over the last few weeks.  This weeks Those Were The Days radio show will reflect a bit on the Summer of 1978.  I was getting ready to join the mighty Ithaca Bulldog football team in that part of August.  I was not much help to the team, however, I was comic relief.  They were laughing with me, and most of the time at me!  My Panasonic tape recorder was blasting all of the hits during the bus trips to Seneca,  North Crawford,  LaFarge, Kickapoo, Weston, DeSoto, and Wauzeka.  During this year I also realized that there were cute neighbor girls in both directions of county highway B.  I was able to get the same number of dates as my football team got wins in 1978 (zero).  At least we were consistant.  The Friday night record hops were my chance to show the girls the moves I learned while watching American Bandstand.  Some of the songs that made me get up and boogie included:  Miss You-Rolling Stones,  Life's Been Good-Joe Walsh,  King Tut-Steve Martin,  Hot Child In The City-Nick Gilder,  Two Tickets To Paradise-Eddie Money,  Just What I Needed-The Cars,  and Grease-Frankie Valli.  This Saturday night I will be going back to those days on FM 100.9.   I hope you will join the fun and give us a call to suggest a tune for the playlist.  We had some wild 'meteor watching parties'  join us last week.  Perhaps you can plan a get together and than dedicate a song to your guests during Those Were The Days and the best of the fifties through the eighties.

Philip (backup to the backup center for the Ithaca Bulldogs 1978)

It was about this time of year when mother would load me in the 1971 Impala and drive me to the store to get my new school pants.  This was not something I liked to do.  My worst fear was seeing someone that I knew while I was getting my inseam measured.  New school pants in 1977 had changed from bell bottoms to flair legs.  Sometimes they actually had the size marked on the brand name located in full view on the outside waist.  This was another fear for me.  If my belt did not cover up the entire tag, someone would read that I wore size 'husky' pants.  To avoid conflict, my mother would bribe me.  If I did not complain about shopping for pants,  I could pick out a new record!  There were plenty of cool songs to choose from in August of 1977 including:  Barracuda-Heart,  Smoke From A Distant Fire-Sanford Townsend Band,  Give A Little Bit-Supertramp,  Strawberry Letter 23-Brothers Johnson,  Cold As Ice-Foreigner,  Christine Sixteen-Kiss, and Way Down-Elvis.  Little did we know that on August 16th, the World would learn about the death of the legendary rock and roller.   This Saturday night I will be in the studio and it will be my pleasure to take down your song requests.  We will also look back at the first Billboard magazine Top 100 chart from early August 1958!  It will be an action packed Those Were The Days radio show Saturday night between six and Midnight on WRCO FM 100.9.  I will be wearing my new school pants from 2018! 

Phil

Our Country celebrated a birthday in the Summer of 1976.  There were red, white, and blue fire hydrants, mailboxes, and patriotic tributes every where you went.  After a day of haymaking and a quick dip in the Willow creek,  it was time to help with chores in the barn.  The old Westinghouse radio in the rafters of our 1907 built barn kept us in touch.  Some of my favorite songs that made chores go faster included:  Love Is Alive-Gary Wright,  Rock And Roll Music-Beach Boys,  You're My Best Friend-Queen,  Say You Love Me-Fleetwood Mac,  Moonlight Feels Right-Starbuck,  Last Child-Aerosmith,  and Turn The Beat Around-Vicki Sue Robinson.  As August rolled around, it was time to start winding the Summer down.  My mom was making plans to take me to Krouskops'  for my new school pants.  This was a day I dreaded.  Usually I could negotiate a new 45 record in exchange for not complaining about the school pants day.  It seems like only yesterday when I strolled to Shultz Brothers (The Dime Store) and bought a new K-tel record that had a bunch of hits. This would help me have songs to make some mean mix tapes on my Panasonic tape recorder.  This Saturday night I will be making a radio mix tape.  You can help program our Those Were The Days radio show on WRCO FM 100.9 with your requests between six and Midnight.  When I hear those great hits from the Summer of '76, I will be right back there trying on husky size stiff legged school pants with flair legs.  I will be in the studio to have some fun on Saturday night.  I hope to talk with you at that time.

Phil

This Saturday night I will play more little 45 records from the fifites through the eighties.  We will stop and park for a time in the Summer of 1975.  There were so many memorable records that year.  When I hear Grand Funk singing Bad Time I am right back there eating a Coney Dog at Dog N' Suds.  When I hear Rock The Boat by Hues Corporation, I am sitting on the porch at the old farm house shucking sweet corn and snapping green beans.  Wednesday night was the weekly slow pitch softball night in Ithaca.  That was the only night out for many of us farm kids.  The cool kids would pull into the parking lot and set their speakers on the roof of the car.  When I hear Sweet Emotion by Aerosmith, I am transported to the Summer of 1975. Saturday night on Those Were The Days, we will travel through time to another wonderful Summer.  I hope you will enjoy our special features on FM 100.9.  It seems like this is going to be a great show and hopefully you will agree. The request line will be open again next Saturday night.  I will report to you soon with an essay about how I spent my Summer vacation on a future show.

Phil 

Saturday night during Those Were The Days, we will continue our favorite Summers' series.  When I was growing up the farm chores always went quicker when the radio was playing in the back ground.  In 1974 I felt my first feelings of interest in a young lady.  Her dad and my aunt were dating at the time and she came with them to the farm for a visit.  She was a couple of years older than me but we shared a passion for music.  She could play guitar and sing!   I was quickly smitten by her.  She couldn't wait to get back to her big city.  After her visit I couldn't hear enough of the Hollies singing...'All I need is the air that I breathe and to love you'.....!   Poor Philip was broken hearted for a few days.  Another sad thing happened that Summer.  ABC announced that the Partridge Family show was cancelled.  I would not see Susan Dey again until the eighties in the show L.A. Law.   Songs that got me through my Summer chores in 1974 included:  Taking Care Of Business-B.T.O., Rikki, Don't Lose That Number-Steely Dan,  Band On The Run-Wings,  Rock The Boat-Hues Corporation,  Sundown-Gordon Lightfoot,  and Radar Love-Golden Earring.  It was a great time to listen to Top Forty radio.  I would take my Panasonic radio with me on our rainy day (no hay baling) fishing outings.  No fish would come near the line that came out of my Zebco 202 fishing pole because the radio was so loud.  I was rocking Lee Lake in Cazenovia with my portable radio.  When I hear some of the songs from 1974 I remember those first feelings of love,  farming chores, fishing, and riding my Huffy bike....Those Were The Days.  I will be in the studio to take your requests of great hits from the fifties through the eighties Saturday night between six and Midnight.

Phil

This Saturday night we will continue tributes to favorite Summers.  We will stop and park with 100.9 coming through the dash during the Summer of 1973.  That was truly a great time for Top Forty music.  Many of the top songs of that season are ones we still play on Those Were The Days including:  Smoke On The Water-Deep Purple,  Long Train Running-Doobie Brothers,  Back When My Hair Was Short-Gunhill Road,  Money-Pink Floyd,  Kodachrome-Paul Simon,  Shambala-Three Dog Night, and Feelin' Stronger Everyday-Chicago.  These songs bring back many memories of making hay, eating coney dogs at Dog N' Suds, playing 4-H softball, and  going to Boaz for a Friday night fish fry with my parents.  My mom never had any quarters in her change purse in the seventies because I always had my hand out asking for an advance on my allowance. At Staffords Supper Club in Boaz you could get 4 plays for a quarter on the jukebox!  They also had a Mod Squad pinball machine.  During Those Were The Days on WRCO FM 100.9 this Saturday night, I will pull a few 45's that will take me back to that great Summer.  We will also pay tribute to a few choice albums from 1968 that are fifty years old this year.  One of my favorite K-tel albums will be highlighted late in the night when we play some 'moon tower' melodies.   These are songs that I used to crank from a K-tel greatest hits package called 'Pure Rock' when the buddies would get together.  K-tel records were similar to the Now series of cd's that have been coming out over the last many years with current artists hits of the day.  I will not be in the studio to take your requests this Saturday night.  Please save those for next Saturday night July 14th.   You will still be able to hear many of your favorite songs from the fifties through the eighties between six and Midnight when you are listening to WRCO FM 100.9 Saturday night.

Phil

This Saturday night during our Those Were The Days radio program on WRCO FM 100.9, we will feature another of my favorite music Summers.  Thanks to Forgottenhits.com and Kent Kotal, we will recall some of the hottest hits in the midwest during the Summer of 1972.  When I hear a song that was popular during the Summer months, I am right there helping to bale hay, swimming in the Willow creek, and listening to the radio.  My dad would mow hay for the first time in late June and we would be on the job until snow was falling!  We baled every blade of grass and corn stalk that grew on the farm.  We shared a haybine with our neighbor Carl Lord and we helped each other put up the hay crop on both sides of the road.  That meant that there was never a down time unless the John Deere baler broke and someone had to go for parts.  Once in a while it rained and I could go to town and buy a 45 r.p.m. record. In between first and second crop, I got to go stay with my uncle and aunt in Boaz.  People don't believe me when I tell them that I got to vacation in Boaz.  Some of the hot hits on the Phil Nee want list that Summer were the following:  Nice To Be With You-Gallery,  Take It Easy-Eagles,  Brandy (You're A Fine Girl),  Sylvia's Mother-Dr. Hook,  Rocket Man-Elton John,  and Schools Out-Alice Cooper.  Riding with cousin Joyce in her 1971 Mercury Comet made me feel like a big shot.  The windows were down and the AM radio was playing all of the top hits of 1972.  After a couple of days at the vacation spot in Boaz, it was back to round two of they hay making party.  When I play some of those '72 classics during this Saturday nights Those Were The Days, I will be right back there on the flat rack helping my day stack the wagon.  I will be in the studio this Saturday night to take your requests and memories between six and Midnight.

Phil

I am happy to have grown up when I did.  Being born at the end of the 'Baby Boomer' generation, I got to hear first hand stories of the great depression.  Stories from veterans of the greatest generation have stayed with me my whole life.  Many Summer nights were spent with family and friends telling true life tales while sitting on the front porch of the old farm house.  Neighbors would stop by and everyone was welcome as mom would pull out steaks from the Westinghouse chest freezer and throw them on the grill for the gathering.  I used to love to play disc jockey and would prop the speakers of my Airline brand stereo against the screen door so that everyone could hear my tunes.  I recall nights like those when listeners call me on Saturday nights during Those Were The Days and tell me about their get togethers.  It is like I am still that kid playing his records through the screen door!   When I think of Summers in the early seventies, I think about pick up softball games on Sunday afternoons.  Young and old would show up and a game would start.  Sometimes we would play until it was time to start the next round of farm chores.  After a hot Summer day, a great treat would be a sweet and sticky popsicle.  Does anyone remember black cherry popsicles?   A door to door salesman would stop at the farm.  He was independent of any brand name company.  He had all kinds of groceries in his truck.  You could go inside and shop.  One of the items I would convince mother to buy was a box of black cherry popsicles.  They were the double stick kind.  You could hold on to your sugary treat with both hands!  The radio provided a soundtrack and Summer songs are nearer and dearer to me than songs from any season.  In the Summer of 1971 there were many great tunes including:  Treat Her Like A Lady-Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose,  Don't Pull Your Love-Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds,  Love Her Madley-Doors,  It Don't Come Easy-Ringo Starr,  Joy To The World-Three Dog Night,  Brown Sugar-Rolling Stones,  It's Too Late-Carole King and many more.  I will be in the studio Saturday night for another edition of the fifties through the eighties Those Were The Days radio show.  You can request any pop hit from that era and I will see if I can find it.  Let's create some new Summer memories and have a popsicle this Saturday night between six and Midnight.

Phil

This Saturday night on Those Were The Days, I will dig out some of the hot hits from the Summer of 1970.  Courtesy of ForgottenHits.com we will look at the biggest songs of 1970 Summertime in the Chicagoland area.  Many of us tuned into those Chicago radio stations and the music was the soundtrack of our summertime lives.   Our friend Kent Kotal, the gate keeper of Forgotten hits, has given permission to use countdowns from his website for our favorite Summer tributes.  Join me this weekend for a look back at 1970 featuring songs from artists such as: Jackson Five,  Three Dog Night,  Stevie Wonder,  Mungo Jerry,  and Chicago.  These were the hot hits during a magical Summer. 

This Sunday is Fathers Day.  My father was a music lover.  He had a wonderful collection of 78 r.p.m. records and always had the radio on in the barn and in the kitchen of the old farm house.   He was always aware of current songs and would often tell me that he liked a song that I liked.  I can't imagine what it is like to not have a good relationship with your father.  My dad was a farmer but inspired me more by his love of music and sports on the radio.   He was always listening to a local, state, or national game.  I consider myself very fortunate to have had such a great father.  He had a great sense of humor and the goal was to get him to laugh.  He used to listen to Those Were The Days and he liked to laugh at some of the foolish commercials that play during  the show.  I hope you will join me this Saturday night between 6 and Midnight for the best of the fifties through the eighties.  Perhaps you can request a song for your pops!  I will be in the studio with another edition of Those Were The Days.

Phil