WRCO Blog

When I think of Top Forty music from the early 1970's,  it takes me back to K-tel records. These were greatest hits albums very much like the more recent  Now That's What I Call Music series of current hits collections. K-tel records were advertised an incredible amount on t.v. and available at a few participating stores.  There was no chance for a boy with a rural Richland Center address to get one of those albums.  Almost all the retail places were in the Madison, Wisconisn area such as;  Rennebohm and Rexall Drug Stores, Robert Hall, Wolff- Kubley,  Galaxy Of Sound, and Copps Department Stores.  Fortunately I had first cousins that lived in Madison about two blocks from a Copps store.   It was the greatest day of my life (up to that point) when I got to visit the city of Madison and have a fifteen cent McDonalds cheeseburger, visit the cousins, and buy my first K-tel record album!  It was called Believe In Music and it contained 22 original hits and original stars.  It included the title of the album which was recorded by the group Gallery. Most of the songs were short edits so that they could get that many songs on one album.    If I want to go to my happy place,  I can still put this record on and instantly I am back in the Spring and Summer of 1972. A few years ago,  I made my own copy for a burned cd and used the full length versions of the songs.   This week on my radio show (Those Were The Days),  I will be taking a trip to the Spring of 1972. Our featured group will be Gallery (one of the most played groups of 1972).   WRCO FM 100.9 will be the spot for more music medicine from the fifties through the 1980s.  You can contribute a request and you are wecome to be a part of the trivia contests.  This will be our first show in the month of May and the forecast is favorable for a night to sit under the stars and listen to WRCO FM 100.9 between six and Midnight for Those Were The Days.

Phil-'Connoisseur Of K-tel'

I was able to get my drivers license in early 1980.  Later that year I somehow convinced this young lady to attend prom with me.  My buddy Marty also was able to secure a date. We double dated and as I remember we had a nice night.  Today these two women have gone on to amazing careers and great lives despite bad choices in high school!  Transportation to the big dance was courtesy of mom and dads'  1979 Chevy Impala.  That car had a a great radio (only AM of course).  I remember hearing songs that night such as; Call Me-Blondie,  Ride Like The Wind-Christopher Cross,  Another Brick In the Wall-Pink Floyd,  Fire Lake-Bob Seger, Cars-Gary Numan,  Any Way You Want It-Journey,  Funkytown-Lipps Inc.,  You May Be Right-Billy Joel,  and Train In Vain-The Clash.  All of those are songs that have aged well after forty years!  We will bring back some of those hits this week on Those Were The Days when we flash back to the Spring of 1980. I will not be wearing a tux, however,  I will be in the studio to take your requests and to weave them all together.  Perhaps you will be one of the winners of our trivia games!  Tune in for the great vinyl records of the fifties through the eighties this Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9.    

Phil

Saturday night during Those Were The Days on WRCO FM 100.9, we will fly back fifty years to April of 1970.  The Beatles announced that they were breaking up,  Apollo 13 was flying on fumes back to Earth, and a group originally from Indiana, the Jackson Five, were taking the music world by storm.  The songs emerging from the static on my AM radio included:  Come And Get It-Badfinger,  Spirit In The Sky-Norman Greenbaum,  Vehicle-Ides Of March,  Little Green Bag-George Baker Selection,  and Get Ready-Rare Earth.  It was a great time for Top Forty radio and for the young farm boy to lip sync all the hits to the cows. In the old barn, there was a door in front of the stanshions.  I would pretend that was my stage and the bovines were my audience.  I am sure my dad's milk production went down the mornings and nights that the Phil Nee show was being put on.  I hope you will join our Those Were The Days family this Saturday night between six and midnight.  Music is a great cure for all of the fear and boredom that we are going through.  Take it from me,  Dr. Phil, and we will give you a dose of rock and roll on WRCO FM 100.9 Saturday night.

Phil

Saturday night on FM 100.9,  Those Were The Days will feature a few songs to go along with an Easter theme.  We will feature tunes with ties to candy, eggs,  rabbits, and religion.   We will have another celebration of living which will feature the greatest songs of the fifties through the eighties.  The longer this pandemic goes on, the more we need music and humor.   I will be in the studio Saturday night and we will keep an eye open for the Easter bunny!   Easter weekends back when I was a wee-Nee would bring the family all together at the old farm house.  My aunt and uncle knew that I loved music.  They would always bring me a record as an Easter present.   One year it was Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison, another it was the Partridge Family album Up To Date.  Those are great memories.  I have thousands of records, but I remember those two.  I hope to hear from you Saturday night between six and midnight during this weekends Those Were The Days radio show on WRCO FM 100.9.  Stay well!

Phil 

In my sports career I was an all star on the B squad.  In those days the 'A' team was the Varsity,  the 'B' team was the Junior Varsity.  The B team would go in during the last minutes of the game when the A team was getting blown out or was winning (for us that was rare).  The underclassmen would play the early game (a warm up for the main event).    I was also a fan of 45 r.p.m. records.  When I shelled out .78 cents for a popular song,  I wanted the most for my chore money.  If I flipped the record from the popular side to the lesser known hit, I wanted to hear something catchy. My Panasonic stereo had the 45 adaptor that you could put on the spindle.  Up to five 45s could drop down and play one by one.  It was fun to play the 5 A sides and than turn them all over and play all 5 B sides.   Some were better than others.  During this weeks Those Were The Days radio show on WRCO FM 100.9,  I plan to play the B squad!  You will hear a few favorite gems. Some  of my favorites include:  I See The Light-The Music Explosion (B side of Little Bit O' Soul) ,  Summer Wine-Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazelwood (B side of Sugartown),  We Will Rock You-Queen (B side of We Are The Champions),  and Living Loving Maid-Led Zeppelin (B side of Whole Lotta Love).  I will be in the studio to take your requests from the fifties through the eighties this Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9.  Perhaps you can play along with our trivia challenges.  I have found that music is the best medicine during these trying times.  You can escape this 2020 nightmare during Those Were The Days.

Phil

I remember Spring of 1976 very well.  New life was coming to the farm in the Willow Valley.   Favorite hobbies included: riding my three speed down the bumpy gravel road,  listening to my scratchy AM radio late at night under the blankets,  and practicing my favorite sport, ping pong.   Spring hits were blooming on the radio including:  Let Your Love Flow-Bellamy Brothers,  Show Me The Way-Peter Frampton,  Action-The Sweet,  Slow Ride-Foghat,  Right Back Where We Started From-Maxine Nightingale,  and December 1963 (Oh What A Night)-Four Seasons.  When I hear some of these hit songs now,  I am right back there listening for dad to start the tractors in preperation for field work.  Music provided a great escape and during these current times,  I am listening to more that ever.   We had amazing response last Saturday night to our show.  That was the largest amount of requests in a long time.   The good side of this pandemic is the fact that more people are playing cards,  putting together puzzles, reading books, and doing things with family.  I hope everyone stays well and it would be wonderful to talk with you Saturday night during Those Were the Days between six and midnight on WRCO FM 100.9.

Phil

Journey has been one of our most requested groups through the years.  On FM 100.9 Saturday night, I will play a few choice Journey cuts.  We will get some inside info about the groups biggest hits from group member Jonathan Cain.   I will be in the studio to take your fifties through the eighties requests and you could be the winner of a trivia contest!  It is old school radio and I am proud of that!  Our schedule has changed.  The original plan for Saturday night was to feature the Forgotten Hits Essential Classic Rock Top Fifty.  That show will air in the future.  Our families travel plans for the weekend had to change because of the Covid-19 virus.  I will be at the studio and will look forward to talking with you on Saturday night.  That classic rock countdown is going to be awesome and I can't wait for you to hear it.   I will let you know when that will air (most likely whenever the baptism of my new granddaughter can be scheduled again).   Music is a great escape.  That is why I am really looking forward to Saturday nights' Those Were The Days radio show on WRCO FM 100.9 Saturday night.

Phil

The year of 1968 was an interesting year muscially.  The AM Top Forty and the more underground sound of FM radio were melding together.  Heavier stuff from the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Cream were played back to back with Glen Campbell and the Association.   That is what I loved about music radio back in the day on FM 100.9.  You were introduced to all kinds of music.  On Saturday nights' Those Were The Days radio show,  I will take a look at the 1968 survey from mid March.  Saturday March 14th is Pi day (3/14).  We will have to find a few songs with pie in the title...(Apple, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie?).   We also will remember Clark Weber, one of the members of the WLS radio alumi.  Clark passed away last weekend.  He was an amazing talent and was our guest by phone twice on Those Were The Days in the past.  I will be in the studio Saturday night to take your requests and play trivia.  We all need a little escape from the heavy headlines in the news.  Saturday night we will let the music take us a way, Those Were The Days.

Phil

On WRCO FM 100.9 this Saturday night we will take those old records off the shelf again.  We will stop and park during the night in 1975.  That slice of Top 40 hits is an eclectic mix of 70's pop music gems.  Hard rock, soft rock, country, comedy, and r & b, all were blended together.  It was similar to using Roncos' Whip-O-Matic mixing everything up.  We will have to use the Ronco Record Vac and Record Selector so those hits from '75 will be ready to play.  Many of my favorite hits from this weekend in 1975 I heard playing over the bus speakers.  Bus 7 (the 2nd Sextonville route) had the coolest bus in the Ithaca fleet.  Mr. Wanless had an 8-track player/FM stereo installed with two speakers mounted on the front near the roof and 2 more in the back.  He would make mix tapes and we could tune in some cool stations as well.  Some bus favorites this week in 1975 included: Black Water-Doobie Brothers,  Lady Marmalade-LaBelle,  Don't Call Us, We'll Call You-Sugarloaf,  Roll On Down The Highway-B.T.O., Have You Never Been Mellow?-Olivia Newton-John, Best Of My Love-Eagles,  and No No Song-Ringo Starr.  We wont just stay parked in 1975 on FM 100.9 this Saturday night.  You can request anything from the fifties through the eighties during Those Were The Days.  Get ready for trivia and the chance to amaze your friends when you win!  All the cool kids will be listening to WRCO Saturday night.

Phil

Saturday February 29th will be a rare night on Those Were The Days.  Our show has been on WRCO FM 100.9 since 1986.  This will be the second time that we will have an old rock and roll Saturday night party on February 29th.  The first time was 1992.  During this weeks celebration of an extra calender day, we will play for you number one songs from February 29th during the fifties, sixties, seventies, and eighties.  We will also play a few songs with leaping, jumping, and hopping themes.  I hope you will join the fun when we play trivia and spin the best requests for Southwest Wisconsin.  It will be a night of music memories and surprises!  See if you can stump the d.j.!  Don't jump in front of the radio.  My record might skip! 

Phil

In early 1985 I was trying to pay some bills by spinning records at various establishments and schools.  Unlike my Those Were The Days radio show, the life of a mobile d.j. revolves around beats per minute.  There were many dance classics on the radio in early 1985.  Dance floor faves included:  Neutron Dance-Pointer Sisters,  Easy Lover-Phillip Bailey/Phil Collins, and a slow dance jam I Can't Fight This Feeling-REO Speedwagon.  There was always one fellow that would bug the d.j. until a medium tempo head banger song was played that would clear the dance floor.  'Hey, why are you playing this?" would be the cry. "Play something we can dance to", would be the next line.  The life of a mobile dj is a bit easier these days because equipment is lighter.  They do not have to carry heavy cases of record albums (unless they want to).  They can look up songs on their phones and play them almost instantly.  I was happy to retire to the WRCO studios in 1986 because I did not have to worry about whether the song was danceable.  We still try to keep the beat a bit more up tempo on WRCOs' Those Were The Days.  When several slow songs are requested,  I try to spread them out.  We don't want our audience to fall asleep before midnight.  This Saturday night you will be able to hear some of the biggest 45's of early 1985 and your rock and roll requests from the fifites through the eighties.  You can take our trivia challenges.  I will be flying back from Westby and the WIAA Sectional Saturday evening just in time to play the hits.  Make sure to request something fast that you can dance to which will also keep me awake after a busy day!

Phil

Ever since I began collecting records close to fifty years ago, I have been a big fan of the artists from the original British Invasion.  My top five favorites are The Beatles,The Rolling Stones,  Searchers,  Hollies, and Herman's Hermits.  Formed in Manchester England in 1964, by that years end the group had its first hit with "I'm Into Something Good".  Peter Noone and the boys appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show,  The Dean Martin Show,  The Jackie Gleason Show, and many other shows.  They were on the radio nearly non-stop from late 1964 until 1967.  Many of their two and one half minute records were appreciated by teens and adults.  This week on Those Were The Days,  I will feature a few favorites from Herman's Hermits and your rock and roll requests from the fifites through the eighties.  Hear highlights from an interview I did with Peter Noone and play along with our on air trivia games.  Thank you for all of the good feedback about the show.  It has been a pleasure to host and play my record collection faves since 1986.  WRCO FM 100.9 is the place where all of the cool kids hang out on Saturday night.  The party will start at 6:00 and end at Midnight which is curfew time! 

Phil

In early 1972 I got serious about collecting records.  I was aware of lots of songs before that, however, I can point to Valentines Day 1972 as the moment my love of music really blew up.  My dad was a music collector back in the forties.  He decided to possibly pass this hobby on to his kids when he brought home some 45's on Valentines Day along with a chart that listed the top songs.  I started listening to the radio even closer so that I could keep track of the songs that were on that chart.  Every week I would go back to Saffell's in Richland Center to pick up another chart. When I saved up seventy cents, I could buy another record! I am still doing that today although it takes a bit more money to buy a new piece of vinyl.  The Billboard Top Ten this week in 1972 was a great slice of popular culture............

1.  Let's Stay Together-Al Green  2.  American Pie-Don McClean  3.  Without You-Nilsson  4.  Precious & Few-Climax  5.  Never Been To Spain-Three Dog Night  6.  Hurting Each Other-Carpenters  7. Down By The Lazy River-Osmonds  8.  Joy-Apollo 100  9.  Brand New Key-Melanie  10.  Day After Day-Badfinger

I will be on the air this Saturday night on FM 100.9 and some of my faves from early '72 will hit the airwaves.  I will be in the studio when the WRCO pedal helicopter gets back from sports coverage on Saturday.  I will write a few trivia questions that we can have fun with.   Saturday night listen for Those Were The Days featuring the greatest tunes from the fifties through the eighties

Phil                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

On Feburary 1st of 1950, RCA introduced the 45 RPM record player.  Manufacturing began in early 1949 of those little seven inch pieces of plastic that eventually replaced the very breakable 78 RPM platters.  The 45 would soon catch on with the younger generation and the seven inch vinyl format would rule for the next forty years!  That was the way we took home music.  Sometimes the flip side was even better than the A side which was playing on the radio.  Celebrate the 45 on WRCO FM 100.9 on Saturday night during Those Were The Days.  The fifties through the eighties music will be back to life over the airwaves between six and midnight.  I look forward to hearing from you with your requests and perhaps you can recall a story about buying a 45 record when you were young.  My first purchase was 'Have You Seen Her' by the Chi-Lites.  I have since collected thousands.  Some of them did not play without skipping on the record player at home.  A sinker or a nickle would usually give the needle enough weight so the song would play all the way through.  When I first began my career at WRCO, the station was still mostly playing records.  There was a box in the studio that contained the most popular Pop and Country records.  You would pull the record from the front and after playing it, you put it to the back.  A few years later, record companies began fazing out the 45.  We started getting music on cd and cassette singles.  The last 45s sent to the station came in the mail in early 1990.  We began a music service in November of 1989 that sent us new music on reel to reel tapes.  They would send a new one every week and shuffle the tracks.  I was very sad when we took the record box out of the studio at WRCO.  

This Saturday Those Were The Days will be featuring the best music ever released on vinyl!  Join the rock and roll party and request a song, share a 45 memory, or play trivia.  I look forward to talking music with you.

Phil

During 2020, from time to time, we will be remembering 1970 on WRCO Saturday nights.  Our buddy Kent Kotal's Forgotten Hits blog has begun an almost daily look back fifty years.  When I read some of those old headlines, I find it hard to believe that fifty years have passed.  I was a sponge for sports, music, and television in 1970.  A few of my favorite Saturday morning shows included: H.R. Puffenstuff, Scooby-Doo,  Wacky Races,  Dastardly and Muttley in the Flying Machines, and the Cattanooga Cats.  Between six and midnight Saturday night, my Those Were The Days radio show will take WRCO radio listeners back to that time long ago.  I heard a few of that years hits for the first time on WRCO in 1970.  Of course it was WRCO 1450 AM.  I don't believe we had an FM radio in the house at that time.  Some of my fave jams from this weekend in 1970 include:  Whole Lotta Love-Led Zepplin, Jam Up And Jelly Tight-Tommy Roe,  Down On the Corner-Creedence,  Evil Woman-Crow,  She-Tommy James,  Walk A Mile In My Shoes-Joe South, and No Time-Guess Who.

Those Were The Days on WRCO Saturday night features the best of the fifties through the eighties.  Call me and request a song.  Every once in a while a caller educates me about a tune.  Many times it is an album track.  I can recall most any song that was played on Top Forty radio, however, I did not always pay attention to entire albums.  It has been fun discovering new-old music over the years.  Thanks for reading and listening.

Phil-WRCO

In early 1980 I visited the D.M.V. and met a gentlemen named Ray Schroeder.  He was the examiner that my friends warned me about.  Mr. Schroeder was tough, however, he did issue me a drivers license that day.  Little did I know that six years later I would be following his radio show every Saturday with my own!  His big band show has been on WRCO since 1965. Those Were The Days has only been on the air since 1986!

  Like many farm kids, I had driven anything with a motor on the farm.  That first time that the rubber tires hit the black top with me at the wheel was pretty cool!  The AM radio was playing Another Brick In The Wall by Pink Floyd as I started that first road trip to Ithaca to catch the bus for a basketball game somewhere.  January of 1980 had some pretty cool tunes such as:  Cruisin'-Smokey Robinson,  Head Games-Foreigner,  Jane-Jefferson Starship,  Don't Do Me Like That-Tom Petty,  Third Time Lucky (First Time I Was a Fool)-Foghat,  Heartache Tonight-Eagles,  Train, Train-Blackfoot,  and Romeo's Tune-Steve Forbert.  I will be driving my '75 Ford Maverick in my mind this Saturday night when I host Those Were The Days on WRCO FM 100.9.  Please give me a call (608) 647-4155 and request a song or give one of the trivia questions a shot.  Between six and midnight we will fly back to the fifties through the eighties during the radio show we call Those Were The Days.,

Phil

This Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9, I will be pulling out more gems from Top Forty radios' glory days.  During my Those Were The Days radio show,  you will be able to request anything from the fifties through the eighties.  The featured chart will be from the second week of January 1965.  I am a big fan of the British Invasion groups and several had hits all of those years ago.  The Beatles were on top with I Feel Fine.  Considering they had debuted in America less that a year earlier, that record was very advanced from their first U.S. releases.  Some of Phil's other favorites from January of 1965 include:  Love Potion Number Nine-Searchers,  Sha La La-Manfred Mann, She's Not There-Zombies,  As Tears Go By-Rolling Stones,  and  All Day And All Of The Night-Kinks.  When I first began collecting records in the early 1970's, those were some of the first ones that I tried to find.   It was much more difficult to find older titles at that time.  We did not have the internet to see how common records were and how we could buy them.   Sometimes I would go to Saffell's music store in Richland Center and try to order them. Once in a while there would be a sale of Jukebox 45's. Those Were The Days of my wonderous world of discovering new and old songs for the first time.  I would take my 45's to my bedroom and imagine I was broadcasting a big market radio show.   That is what I still do after all of these years.  I pretend that I am doing a big time radio show!   Join the fun this Saturday night.  I will be in the studio, by the rotary dial telephone, so that I can take your requests and dedications.  You will also get the chance to play trivia.  Lets have a old rock party this Saturday night.   I will bring the records and you bring the Ski soda pop, Mallow Cups, Taco Doritos, Corn Curls, and Pepto-Bismol!

Phil

Disco music has gotten cooler over the last couple of decades.  Much of the Top Forty and Dance music of recent days could have easily fit in with 70's disco.   In the early eighties you could not announce that the music you were playing was disco.  I would have been thrown out of many establishments with my little records had I admitted that I liked disco music.   Those seventies and early eighties dance records are guaranteed to get you out of a bad mood.  Many are staples at wedding dances (YMCA, Dancin Queen,  Super Freak, Celebration, etc.).  This week on Those Were The Days, I will play a few of the all time most requested disco songs.  The solid gold dancers will be doing the hustle on the studio furniture.  Join me for Saturday night music and mischief on WRCO FM 100.9 between six and midnight Saturday night.  It will be our first show in the new year!   We have big plans for 2020.  Even though the show has been on the air since 1986, I still have many new show theme ideas. Thanks for tuning 100.9 in the past, and I hope you will join me in the new year for Those Were The Days.

Phil

On Saturday nights edition of Those Were The Days on WRCO FM 100.9, I will be looking back at one of the great year end countdowns of all time.  We have spent the last year remembering the milestones of 1969 and Saturday night we will look at highlights of the year ender.  Our friend Kent Kotal of the Forgotten Hits website has provided us with the definitive top songs of '69 countdown.  I remember listening to those New Years Eve countdowns years ago and writing down all of the songs and recording some on reel to reel tapes and later cassettes.  We will also give you a few motivation songs for your New Years resolutions during Those Were The Days on WRCO FM 100.9 between six and midnight Saturday night.   I will be in the studio to take your requests.  Get ready for some tough trivia questions!  

Phil

During this Saturday nights Those Were The Days radio show, we will play some of our favorite classic rock and roll Christmas songs.  It will be great to be back in the studio to answer the hotline.  We will be playing all of your favorites (not just Christmas songs).  Take the trivia challenges if you dare!  Some of the records that I will be playing Saturday night will be ones that I received as Christmas presents!  There is nothing that has made me giggle with glee more than a wrapped up record to open on Christmas morning.   Some of my favorite obscure Christmas records include:  I Want The Beatles For Christmas-Jackie and Jill (recorded at Sauk Cities' Cuca Studios),  A Christmas Card For You-Partridge Family,  Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas-The Happenings,  Santa Claus Is Coming To Town-Blues Magoos,  The Christmas Game-Popcorn Rebellion, and  Jingle Bell Rock-Bobby Rydell/Chubby Checker.   We will dust off a few of those holiday 45's on FM 100.9 on Saturday night during Those Were The Days. Hopefully the Solid Gold Dancers will be responsible.  I am cutting them off after two bottles of Ski and two Mallow Cups.   Merry Christmas!

Phil