Phil Nee

I know it is a busy weekend, however, I hope you will tune in 100.9 WRCO FM this Saturday night between 6 and Midnight.  You may be a little tired from all of the Christmas get togethers or from taking back gifts that don't fit or work.  Those Were The Days will be on so that you can escape to the fifties, sixties, seventies, and eighties.  I will be in the studio to take your requests and we will throw you a few trivia questions.  We will look at music news from this week and a look back to December of 1965 when the Beatles album 'Rubber Soul' was released for Christmas. 

It marked a big change for the Beatles from pop love songs to deeper folk tunes.  This was one of the first by any artist that was not just a way to get the radio hit on a long playing record and several cover songs for filler.  I did not discover this gem until well after I began my hobby of buying records.  Some of the Rubber Soul songs were familiar because they were on the double 'red' album Greatest Hits 1962-1966.  Canadian songstress Anne Murray had a hit with a song called You Wont See Me in the Summer of 1974.  When I learned it was a Lennon/McCartney song, I had to find the album that it was on.  It is easy to see why this album was and is so highly regarded after all of these years.  I will spin a few from my Rubber Soul album this Saturday night during Those Were The Days on WRCO FM 100.9.  Happy Holidays!

Phil

The Solid Gold Dancers will exchange gifts and I will be the dj Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9.  Rock and Roll Christmas records will spin and anything else you would like to request during our six hour Those Were The Days radio show.  We will take a look at old music news and salute the new Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame soon to be members.  This was the story breaking the news about the inductees courtesy of Associate Press.

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   UNDATED (AP) - The groundbreaking Los Angeles rap act N.W.A. will join a quartet of 1970s era FM radio rockers - Chicago, Cheap Trick, Deep Purple and Steve Miller - as 2016 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Both Miller and Cheap Trick make it during their first year on the ballots. The induction ceremony for the Cleveland-based hall will be held April 8 in Brooklyn's Barclays Center. HBO will carry highlights later in the spring.

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We have certainly played Chicago, Cheap Trick, Deep Purple, and Steve Miller music over the years on Saturday nights.  I hope to hear from you during this weekends show.  I will be in the air chair and the turntables will be turning this weekend.

Phil

This Saturday night you can travel in the time tunnel back to 1983 with me on WRCOs' Those Were The Days. It was a great time to be listening to the radio and it was back when MTV actually showed videos! Hear some iconic

1980s classics along with our usual fantastic requests from the fifties through the eighties. I will be in the studio to take your requests and we will play trivia. You might even hear a rock and roll Christmas tune on WRCO FM 100.9!

Take Those Were The Days with you during your weekend endeavors. We will have a blast from the past together.

Phil

This Saturday night on WRCOs' Those Were The Days we will remember the records of Gary Lewis & The Playboys.  Hear Gary tell a few stories behind those songs and other facts.  There are people that still don't know that he has a famous father.  Gary and the group enjoyed seven top ten songs between January of 1965 and the Spring of 1966.  I will be back in the studio this Saturday night to take your fifties through the eighties pop radio requests and I will throw some trivia questions at you.  Last weeks program was fun to put together.  It was an all Seventies night inspired by the book 'Ranking The 70's'.  There were a few on that countdown that I admit being tired of when they were popular on the radio.  It seemed fun to hear them again this past weekend.   Give me a call Saturday night and we can talk about it.  You can leave a coment at this site, email me This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or reach me on your rotary dial telelphone.

Phil

This holiday weekend I hope you will have a 70's dance party with WRCO FM 100.9.  I will be counting down the most played songs of the decade during our six hour program.  It is a great mix of the variety of songs that made the 1970's so much fun.  There is disco, pop, country cross-over, ballads, dance classics, bubblegum, and folk all represented.  The show is inspired by a new book called 'Ranking The 70's' by Dann Isbell and Bill Carroll.  It is a must have for all 70's children and chart fanatics.  It would make a great Christmas gift.  Find out what the number one song of the 70's is!  This Saturday night we will play songs that were over played on radio back in the day.  Many of them don't get played that much in 2015.  We will hang the disco ball and get our groove on Saturday night with the Solid Gold Dancers during Those Were The Days on WRCO FM 100.9.   I will not be taking your requests this week.  We will return in December with four Saturday nights of requests and trivia.  Happy Thanksgiving weekend.

Phil

This Saturday night on WRCOs' Those Were The Days radio program, we will be playing a stack of 45's that were on the charts in November of 1969.  During that time I was taking week day bus rides to Neptune school.  It was a rural school with no phone.  One day a student got hurt and the teacher had to send a kindergarten student down the state highway to use the phone at the nearest farm house.  Can you imagine that happening today?  Songs that we heard on the buses AM radio that November included:  Sugar Sugar-The Archies, Eli's Coming-Three Dog Night, Down On the Corner-C.C.R., Wedding Bell Blues-5th Dimension, and Suspicious Minds-Elvis.  These songs were wrapping up one of the most creative decades of the century.  This Saturday night I will be in the studio to answer the 'old time rock and roll support line'.  If you have a song that you haven't heard on the radio since way back when, please give me a call.  Save a few brain cells for trivia.  We will have a question each hour during Those Were The Days on WRCO FM 100.9 this Saturday night.

Phil

This Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9 we will crank out more great music from the fifties through the eighties.  I will be in the studio for 6 hours of requests and trivia.  We will play a few of my favorite tracks from some great record albums that were released in 1975.  While still just a 'wee-Nee', I was a record buying phenom!  I was starting to make the conversion from buying single hits on 45 r.p.m. records to purchasing complete albums.  I had to decide whether I wanted the vinyl copy or the cassette version.  Some of the favorite albums blasting out of my speakers were..A Night At The Opera by Queen.  The Marx brothers were my heroes and here was this English band naming its albums after the brothers Marx movies!  The first time I heard Bohemian Rhapsody, it floored me...Born To Run-Bruce Springsteen.  I heard the title cut on WRCO in the Fall of 1975.  The opening drum beat is still exciting forty years later.  I wanted the Wilson sisters to baby sit me and sing Crazy On You and Magic Man.  The album Dreamboat Annie was a 1975 purchase for me at Shultz Brothers Variety Store in Richland Center.  The Kiss album Alive came out in 1975.  A friend of mine loaned me his copy and I became an instant fan.  Many of my music friends have made fun of me for liking Kiss over the years.  While their lyrics may not have been as deep as Bob Dylan's, the music was fun.  I still maintain that Alive is one of the best 'live' rock and roll albums ever!  Other great albums from '75 include:  The Eagles-One Of These Nights,  Paul Simon-Still Crazy After All These Years,  Fandango!-ZZ Top,  Fleetwood Mac-Fleetwood Mac, and Venus And Mars-Paul McCartney & Wings. 

Join me for some of the greatest music ever cut on vinyl this Saturday night during WRCOs' Those Were The Days.

Phil

This Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9 our old rock n' roll radio show (Those Were The Days) will highlight hits from November of 1973.  It may have been one of Top Forty radios' last hurrahs.  There was so much good music blasting out of those 3 inch radio speakers!  We will stop and park in that moment for a time.  The show will begin with a guest disc jockey.  Al Hushka has been a long time staff member of WRCO.  You have heard his voice for years reading advertisments during our programs. As of last week, he is now semi-retired.  Al began his radio career with stints in Viroqua and Prairie Du Chien.  Hear 'Cousin Al' remember his days behind the mic when many of the most memorable Those Were The Days' tunes were brand new.  Join Al and me for memories of radio the way it used to be.  The request line will be open between 9 pm and Midnight.  We will also throw a few trivia questions your way.  Since I don't text or tweet, I hope you will call me Saturday night during Those Were The Days. 

Phil

Halloween has not been the same night as our Those Were The Days radio show very often during the past twenty-nine years.  That means we will have a real bash this Saturday night.  I will be in the studio to hand out song treats and a few tricks.  There are so many records from the fifties through the eighties that have a haunting theme.  We will be spinning a few of those.  I am sure that the Witch Doctor and the Purple People Eater will stop.  We will do the Monster Mash with Bobby 'Boris' Pickett.  The song originally hit in 1962 and made it back to the charts in the late sixties.  It made another comeback to pop radio in the Summer of 1973 and it was a top ten hit.  Request a song with a Halloween theme or ask for anything that made the Billboard pop charts during the first thirty-five years of rock and roll.  Play trivia and join the Solid Gold dancers dance team this Saturday night.  Those Were The Days is heard every Saturday night between 6 pm and Midnight.

Phil

During the fifties through the eighties there were many songs with titles about life and living.  We will play a few of those this Saturday night during WRCOs' Those Were The Days.  Songs will include: My Life by the Beatles,  What Is Life from George Harrison, Billy Joel's My Life, Walk Of Life-Dire Straits and many more.  We will flash back to this weekend in 1977 and the request line will be open during the second half of the show.  Celebrate life and living with good friends and WRCO FM 100.9 this Saturday night.

Phil

The Fall of 1966 was one of the greatest times for pop culture.  We still recall vividly the toys, shows, movies, and music after all these years.  Star Trek and The Monkees debuted on tv that Fall.  The Monkees were near the top of the charts with 'Last Train To Clarksville', Tommy Roe was singing ' Hooray For Hazel',  and Neil Diamond was having one his first successes with ' Cherry, Cherry' .  The 1966 Christmas catalog was coming out and young Philip was drooling over cool toys including:  Mr. Potato Head,  Frosty the Sno-Cone Maker, Hoppity Hooper Game, Super Ball, and Batman bath tub toys.  My friend Hal Lifson even wrote a book some years ago about all the fun stuff from 1966.  I hope you will tune in for another Those Were The Days radio show on WRCO FM 100.9 this Saturday night.  Your requests will be welcome and we will have a trivia question each hour that will make you stop and think.  Become a Solid Gold dancer this Saturday night.  Keep that transistor radio close to your ear and hear some fun stuff!

Phil

This Saturday night Those Were The Days on WRCO FM 100.9 will take you back to the way it used to be.  Have fun listening to the radio and enjoy the power of music that can lead you back to who you were with, what you were doing, and what kind of stereo system you had in your car.  On Saturday nights show we will stop and park for a time in 1971.  The Fall of '71 had some great hits including: Maggie May-Rod Stewart, I Just Want To Celebrate-Rare Earth, Do You Know What I Mean?-Lee Michaels, Sweet City Woman-The Stampeders, and more.  I was saving my money made from my farm work and the quarter my Grandpa gave me every Sunday after Church.  These funds would eventually be placed  in my plastic coin holder for a trip to Saffells in Richland Center.  I would soon join the record buying public which I am still a part of forty-four years later. Enjoy the Fall hits from 1971 and request a song from the fifites through the eighties.  I will be in the studio and there will be a pop culture quiz.  You could 'Go To The Head Of The Class' and win a prize.

John Lennon would have been seventy-five on October ninth.  I plan to spin a few in honor of the legendary former Beatle.  I have been a Beatle fan since I was a wee-Nee.  In the Fall of 1980 I remember buying the single (Just Like) Starting Over.  It sounded so good on the radio and it was so great that John Lennon was back on the radio with a hit after several years.  That is what made his death even more sad in December of that year.  He potentially could have given us so much more music.  I was in high school at the time and young people my age were suddenly listening to his music and all the Beatles catalog of songs even more than they were before. 

It will be a busy Saturday night when we feature the Fall of 1971,  some John Lennon songs, and your requests during Those Were The Days.

Phil

I have had the chance to interview hundreds of music makers and tv stars during my twenty-nine years as host of Those Were The Days on WRCO.  This Saturday night my special guest will be making his first appearance.  Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame member Little Anthony will talk about his book 'Little Anthony: My Journey, My Destiny'. He has a new album coming out which features a duet with George Benson.  Anthony will tell a few stories about his sixty year career and the night of his induction when a Rolling Stone bowed to him.  I will be answering as many phone calls as I can this Saturday night during our six hour Those Were The Days radio show.  Request a song, play triva, and enjoy the groovy sounds you hear on WRCO FM 100.9.  Keep the radio on as you travel through Southwest Wisconsin this weekend enjoying the many festivities.  It should be another beautiful time.  Lets have some fun!

Phil

This Saturday night we will feature six hours of great music from the fifties through the eighties on Those Were The Days.  One of our G.R.A.C.E. bidders will be a guest d.j.  Join Jeff Peper when he plays some of his favorite pop radio memories.  It is the second time for Jeff to join us on the air thanks to his families generous bids during our radio  benefit auctions for cancer patients.  It is always fun for me to see the playlists that guest d.j.'s come up with.  Many times there are songs that I have not thought of for a long time.  Jeff does a great job featuring tunes from the different decades and genres that we normally play on Saturday night.  We have two other hours of guest d.j.s, however, they will not be able to make it this week.  They will do their guest shots later on this year.  Later this Saturday night we will say hello to some favorites from this weekend in 1980.  We will visit the 1985 class reunion and hang out for a time during a memorable music Fall of 1972.  We have a full night of Those Were The Days music on WRCO FM 100.9 this Saturday night.  We will not be taking your requests this weekend.  Hold on to those until next Saturday night.  We have more live shows in October.  This weekend I will be making an appearance at the Ithaca School fair and at Ms. Junes reunion.  Thanks for your loyal listening.

Phil

This Saturday night on Those Were The Days we will give you the story behind my favorite 'two hit wonder' group.  The Looking Glass had two memorable hits.  The first hit the radio in 1972.  Brandy (You're A  Fine Girl) was all over the radio during that time and it is still played today.  I also remember it being the first song on my favorite K-Tel album (Believe In Music) that came out that year.  The groups second Top Forty hit debuted on WLS radio in Chicago September 15th of 1973.  It was called Jimmy Loves Mary-Anne.  This song has been lost in the shuffle and has not played as much as Brandy over the years.  While Brandy hit number one in the Summer of 1972, Jimmy Loves Mary-Anne only climbed to number thirty-three in the Fall of 1973 on the Billboard Top 100 chart.  According to Ron Smith's book Chicago Top 40 Charts 1970-1979,  Brandy was number one in Chicago and Jimmy was number two.  I was listening to WISM in Madison at the time as well.  I heard Jimmy as much or more than I did Brandy the previous year.  This Saturday night I will share the stories behind those two hits with Elliot Lurie who was the leader of the group The Looking Glass.  Did you know?---after his hit making days Elliot Lurie went on to work on movie and tv soundtracks.  He wrote the theme song to the Disney channel classic show Lizzie McGuire.  Join me Saturday night for another edition of Those Were The Days.  I will be in the studio to take your requests of music from the fifties through the eighties and give you more cowbell.  Win a prize and impress your friends Saturday night between 6 and Midnight.

Phil

This Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9 we will travel back to this weekend in 1984 during our six hour Those Were The Days radio program.   I will be taking your requests from the fifties through the eighties and perhaps you can give me a call and request a song.  Our 'old school' radio program will provide trivia and great memories.  Back in the Fall of '84 I was courting the lovely Ms. June and I was a big shot mobile d.j.  It was big time for fifty bucks a night on a good evening and double that New Years eve at Doug's Pub in Cazenovia. There were many softball tournaments, wedding dances, high school record hops, and class reunions where the Aubrey Sound provided the entertainment.   Those were fun nights playing vinyl records and cassette tapes.  I would buy the latest forty-five hits at the Music Shop in Richland Center.  Big hits at Doug's Pub this weekend in '84 included:  Cover Me-Bruce Springsteen, Let's Go Crazy-Prince, She Bop-Cyndi Lauper, Rock Me Tonite-Billy Squier, and When You Close Your Eyes-Night Ranger.  When things really got rocking, I would have to put a piece of insulation under the turntables so they did not skip.  Hopefully the 'solid gold' dancers don't make my turntable skip this Saturday night when they starting jumping around the WRCO studios!

Phil

Hey Rock n' Rollers!  It will be a real treat to be back on the air Saturday night with another Those Were The Days radio program.  Your requests will help program the show and we will stop the car and park in 1965 with the radio on (don't wear out your battery).  Some of the greatest pop radio hits came out fifty years ago.  I will reach in the archives for a few pieces of interviews with artists that had big chart hits all of those years ago.  We will dial back to an interview with the late Mike Smith who was the lead singer of the Dave Clark Five.  That group was enjoying a top ten hit with 'Catch Us If You Can'.  We will play trivia and have a party with some of the best tunes of all time on WRCO FM 100.9 this Saturday night. 

Did you know?  WRCO went on the air in 1949.  The broadcasts were heard on WRCO AM 1450 until 1965 when WRCO FM 100.9 signed on the air.  Most of the programming was simulcast over the two stations until the last 15 years or so.  In 1965 most people did not even have a radio with an FM band!  I hope you will find our Those Were The Days program Saturday night during your holiday weekend.

Phil

The Green Bay Packers will play a third exhibition game of the preseason on Saturday night in Green Bay.  Join WRCO FM 100.9 for the action.  As the result of this network broadcast,  Those Were The Days will not be heard.  I will be organizing my cds and records in preperation for our September shows.  Among the highlights next month will be the appearance of our Walk With Grace guest d.j.s on Saturday night September 26th.  October 12th is the date when we first went on the air with Those Were The Days back in 1986.  That means that the show will turn 29 in October!  It is still a very rewarding program to host thanks to all of you out there in radio land.  Last weeks requests were awesome.  Just about every week we play at least one song that has never been played on the show.  I can't wait to see what you request during our next Those Were The Days radio get together on Saturday night September 5th.

Phil

It was August of 1973.  My parents were smiling as I got on the school bus for the new school year. It was tough to walk while wearing my new school pants. The bus driver nearly had to pull me up the steps because I couldn't bend my legs!  Some great songs were playing on the radio as I went back to school late that Summer.  Some favorites included:  Brother Louie-Stories, Live And Let Die-Wings, Get Down-Gilbert O'Sullivan, We're An American Band-Grand Funk,  Shambala-Three Dog Night, and Diamond Girl-Seals & Crofts.  The bus radio sounded good except when it went by a farm with a Super 98 electric fencer.  You could hear the snap of the fencer on the AM radio while the bus was rolling along.  Once in a while some Junior High girls would bring their portable 45 battery powered turntable and they would try to play some of the top hits of the day.  Everything was fine until the bus hit a pot hole or drove into a bumpy driveway and the record would skip.  Hopefully none of my records skip this Saturday night when I spin the best radio hits ever on WRCO FM 100.9.  I will be in the studio to answer all of your requests during our six hour Those Were The Days radio show.

Phil

THE LIST -PHIL'S FAVE 45S.

(songs that mean a lot to me and I am not tired of after all these years) Many are on my Wurlitzer Jukebox at home.

1. Light My Fire-The Doors

2. Go All The Way-The Raspberries

3. We're an American Band-Grand Funk

4. Day After Day-Badfinger

5. Pleasant Valley Sunday-The Monkees

6. Needles and Pins-The Searchers

7. A Hard Days Night-Beatles

8. Suspicious Minds-Elvis

9. Things I'd Like To Say-New Colony Six

10. Free Ride-Edgar Winter Group

11. Aint Too Proud To Beg-Temptations

12. Star Baby-The Guess Who

13. Rock Around The Clock-Bill Haley & The Comets

14. Walk Away Renee-Four Tops

15. Family Of Man-Three Dog Night

16. The Night Has A Thousand Eyes-Bobby Vee

17. A Ticket To Ride-The Beatles

18. Just What I Needed-The Cars

19. The Break Up Song-Greg Kihn

20. Pretty Flamingo-Manfred Mann

21. I Was Made To Love Her-Stevie Wonder

22. Watching The Wheels-John Lennon

23. Glory Days-Bruce Springsteen

24. I Just Want To Celebrate-Rare Earth

25. Mainstreet-Bob Seger

26. Honky Tonk Woman-Rolling Stones

27. Photograph-Def Leppard

28. I Woke Up In Love This Morning-Partridge Family

29. Maybe Baby-Buddy Holly

30. But Its Alright-J. J. Jackson

31. Hard Luck Woman-Kiss

32. You Got What It Takes-Dave Clark Five

33. Black Pearl-Sonny Charles and the Checkmates

34. Heat Of The Moment-Asia

35. Romeo's Tune-Steve Forbert

36. Big Man In Town-Four Seasons

37. Raspberry Beret-Prince

38. Stay In Time-Off Broadway

39. Its Up To You-Rick Nelson

40. Mama We're All Crazy Now-Slade

41. Rock n Roll Hoochie Koo-Rick Derringer

42. Right Back Where We Started From-Maxine Nightingale

43. My Back Pages-The Byrds

44. Ahh Leah-Donnie Iris

45. Vehicle-Ides Of March

46. Rock and Roll Fantasy-Bad Company

47. Crystal Blue Persuasion-Tommy James & The Shondells

48. Bring It On Home-Sam Cooke

49. Only The Young-Journey

50. Love Is Like Oxygen-The Sweet

51. Stand-R.E.M.

52. Kicks-Paul Revere & The Raiders

53. Forget Him-Bobby Rydell

54. Poor Side Of Town-Johnny Rivers

55. Soul Man-Blues Brothers/Sam & Dave

56. Can't You See Me Cry-The New Colony Six

57. Jam Up And Jelly Tight-Tommy Roe

58. Long Long Way From Home-Foreignor

59. Don't Do Me Like That-Tom Petty

60. Say You Love Me-Fleetwood Mac

61. Venus In Blue Jeans-Jimmy Clanton

62. Arms Of Mary-Chilliwack

63. What Is Life?-George Harrison

64. Lady Willpower- Gary Puckett

65. The Weight-The Band

66. Paperback Writer-The Beatles

67. Rio-Duran Duran

68. Slow Ride-Foghat

69. The New Girl In School-Jan & Dean

70. Incense and Peppermints-Strawberry Alarm Clock

71. The Guitar Man-Bread

72. Til The End Of The Day-The Kinks

73. Here I Go Again-Whitesnake

74. Bad Time-Grand Funk

75. Glory Bound-The Grass Roots

76. Run Run Run-Jo Jo Gunne

77. Crocodile Rock-Elton John

78. You May Be Right-Billy Joel

79. Walk Away-James Gang

80. Let It Rain-Eric Clapton

81. I've Been Loving You To Long-Otis Redding

82. Trying To Get To You-Elvis

83. Love Really Hurts Without You-Billy Ocean

84. Heart Of Gold-Neil Young

85. No More Mr. Nice Guy-Alice Cooper

86. God Only Knows-Beach Boys

87. Make Me Smile-Chicago

88. Hit Me With Your Best Shot-Pat Benatar

89. Already Gone-Eagles

90. Absolutely Right-Five Man Electrical Band