WRCO Blog

He may be the only artist that has been able to claim that he was friends with Buddy Holly, Elvis, and Frank Sinatra.  Trini Lopez will be my guest on the Saturday night show Those Were The Days.  I remember hearing Mr. Lopez's records on the radio when I was just a wee nee.  His first hit came in 1963 with 'If I Had A Hammer'.  He did a killer version of the song 'Kansas City' later that year.  His hard work from humble beginnings paid off when Buddy Holly helped him in Texas, later he was on Frank Sinatra's Reprise record label, and appeared in the classic movie The Dirty Dozen.  He was a fellow Vegas performer with Elvis.  He could have retired years ago, however, he recently put out his sixty-fifth album!  I have had the chance to interview hundreds over the past 28 plus years of doing the program.  Trini Lopez is a first time guest on Those Were The Days.  Join me for pop radio memories from the fifties, sixties, seventies, and eighties this Saturday night between Six and Midnight.  I will be taking your requests and will be playing trivia.  I hope to hear from you!

Philip

This Saturday night on Those Were The Days I will be digging out chart classics from this weekend in 1976.  These were big hits as the Fall was coming on strong.  Hear big tunes from the Steve Miller Band,  Wild Cherry,  Earth Wind & Fire, Gordon Lightfoot, and seldom heard songs from Roxy Music and Ringo Starr. We will take time out for Regional Championship High School Volleyball and than close out the second half of the show with your rock and roll requests.  Take the trivia challenge and impress your friends during Those Were the Days on WRCO FM 100.9.  I will put on my P.F. Flyers and my husky sized bell bottom pants along with my Partridge Family t-shirt to host Those Were The Days.  I hope a bunch of our lady listeners can contain themselves when they find out what I will be wearing!

Phil

This week on our Saturday night program, we will spin some songs from some of our favorite Canadian artists.  There were so many great songs that came from Canada especially in the late sixties and early seventies.  One of my all time favorite groups The Guess Who led the way with many memorable hits and albums.  Paul Anka broke through in the fifties and many followed from the North.  Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Andy Kim, The Band, Lighthouse, and Anne Murray all brought huge hits to the United States record surveys.  Later harder edged groups such as Loverboy,  April Wine,  Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Rush, Triumph, and Trooper hit the airwaves in the states.  Bryan Adams had a big run of great music starting in the 1980s.  Hear the best of Canada on this weeks Those Were The Days radio show.  I will be back to take your requests and play trivia.  From Six until Midnight Saturday night WRCO FM 100.9 will transport you back to great memories and good times.

Thanks to Lon Arbegust for being our guest last Saturday night.  It was great to hear from a Richland Center man who was actually at Woodstock in 1969. 

Phil

On this Saturday nights Those Were The Days show on WRCO FM 100.9 Saturday night,  we will feature a talk with a Richland Center man who was at the 1969 Woodstock Music And Art Fair!  Later in the night you can hear the Top Ten Beach Boys radio hits counted down.  We will share with you some 'Cowbell Classics' and 70's Party Favorite songs during this Saturday nights program.  We will not be taking your requests this week.  Hang on to those and give me a call next week on October 18th when we have our next live request show.  I hope you enjoy this weeks show.  It will be a good one!

Phil

The year of 1967 was a great year for music with a wide array of styles.  It may have been Top Forty radios' finest year.  On WRCO FM 100.9 between 6 and Midnight Saturday night, we will shine our Ford Maverick headlights on that era.  The Box Tops from Memphis were on top of the pop scene with 'The Letter'.  Chicagos' Buckinghams were having one of four top 10 hits that came during the year for the group.  Tommy James was on the radio, Bobby Vee was having a comeback hit,  and Milwaukees' Esquires were in the Top Twenty.  I hope you give me a call to request a song this Saturday night.  Last week you made it tough on me.  I was digging for stuff all night long and I loved it!  Win some food, tickets, and other fun stuff when we play trivia this weekend during Those Were The Days.

It was the Fall of eighty-one and music was in the air as I lined up at center on the mighty Ithaca Bulldogs Football team.  Perhaps if I would not have had songs like Urgent by Foreigner,  Jessie's Girl from Rick Springfield, or The Breakup Song by The Greg Kihn Band running through my brain, I might have been able to block better for our quarterbacks. Poor Scott Crine,  Randy Nelson, Bob Faga and whoever else played the position.   That was a great time to be 17 going on 18.  My friends and I listened to the new Greg Kihn album,  AC/DCs' Back In Black,  4 from Foreigner,  Hi Infidelity-REO Speedwagon and the Blue Brothers movie soundtrack which had been released the year before.  So much water from the Willow Creek has gone under the bridge at Bush Flat near Ithaca since than.  Many things have changed, however, I still listen to those songs and I still go to Ithaca football games.  Thank you to the folks at Ithaca for inducting me in the school Hall Of Fame last Saturday.  It is something I will always cherish.  Who would have ever believed that the boy who spent more time in the principles office than Mr. Modjeski would some day have a legit reason for being in the hall!  Thanks for your kind words and I hope I can keep on rockin' for a few more years.  I will be back to deliver your favorite requests and play trivia this Saturday night on WRCOs' Those Were The Days from 6 until Midnight.  Join me for the greatest rock and roll and pop radio memories ever! 

Phil

This Saturday night on Those Were The Days between six and Midnight on WRCO FM I will dig out more favorite tunes from the fifties through the eighties.  We will continue our year long tribute to the British Invasion of American music that began fifty years ago.  Hear the Top Ten biggest chart hits from Hermans Hermits,  the Rolling Stones, and the Who!  I will also dig out the chart from this weekend in 1972 and spin a few!  This coundown is special to me because I remember writing down these songs in order as I listened to WRCO. There I was sitting at the kitchen table of the old farm house and listening to the old G.E. table top radio with a clock that never worked.  Songs from the Raspberries, the Hollies,  the Doobie Brothers, and America are all like old friends that have been in my life all of these years.  We will not be taking your requests this week.  Save those for next week because I always look forward to hearing from you.

Cheers!

Phil-One Time Member Of The Ithaca Math Team, All Star Center Football/Basketball, Right Fielder, Lead Singer Marty And The Corndogs.

This Saturday night we will cruise back to the year of 1964.  Fifty years have passed since the British group The Animals had the number one hit "House Of The Rising Sun".  That was a staple for many live bands.  Other memorable September of '64 hits include: Because-The Dave Clark Five,  A Hard Days Night-The Beatles,  Oh Pretty Woman-Roy Orbison,  It's All Over Now-The Rolling Stones, and G.T.O-Ronnie And The Daytonas.  What a great time for Top Forty radio.  We will have fun with those songs and more this Saturday night during Those Were The Days. Give me a call and request a song during the six hour request show.  You gave me good stuff last week and I had to dig for several that we seldom play.  Listen for the best of the fifties through the eighties between 6 pm and Midnight this Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9.  

Phil-Host of Those Were The Days since 1986!

This weekend we will go parking in September of 1977.  I promise to have you home by Midnight.  I will play some of my favorite records from artists such as Fleetwood Mac,  Heart,  Pablo Cruise,  Supertramp,  Kiss,  and more.  That era often is given a bad rap from music folks.  These 45s from '77 can put up a strong argument that the music was really strong.  I can remember being a big Junior High kid trying to play football for the first time.  I would run laps with these songs in my head dreaming about getting home to turn on the radio so that I could hear them again.  I saved some of my hay unloading money to buy the debut album by Foreigner that Fall.  It seemed everyone had a copy of Fleetwood Macs' Rumors that year.  Hear great hits from the fifties through the eighties this Saturday night between six and Midnight.  I will be writing down your requests and we will play trivia.  Get the gang together and please tune in FM 100.9 Saturday night!

Phil

The group Survivor had a ton of radio airplay in the eighties.  They had two songs that wound up in Rocky films.  Hear from group member Frankie Sullivan on this weeks Those Were The Days on WRCO FM 100.9.  Frankie wrote many of the hits for the group.  One of my personal favorites is the 1981 release 'Poor Mans Son'.  That will be a good song to play during Labor Day weekend.  I will be in the studio celebrating the music of the fifties through the eighties on Saturday night.  Please listen to 100.9 and if you feel the urge, give me a call and request a song.  The program runs from 6 p until Midnight.

Phil

This Saturday night on Those Were The Days you will be able to hear the fifty biggest Beatles singles according to Billboard magazine.  It is amazing how many flip sides charted large for the boys from Liverpool.  Some of the 'b' sides were bigger hits than the 'a' sides.  The idea for this program came from an avid listener of the show.  They have been telling me for some time that they would like to hear a Saturday night dedicated to the Beatles!   This weeks program will start with an hour of hits picked by one of WRCOs' Walk With G.R.A.C.E. radio auction bidders.  Hear fifteen favorite tunes chosen by Tom Berry.    Tom did a great job picking songs from the eras that we play each week.  He likes songs with great melodies and you will hear them between six and a little after seven Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9.  Our Beatles countdown will follow and than we will wrap up the show with a Saturday night dance party!  We will not be taking your requests until next Saturday night (August 30th).  I hope you will join us for an action packed Saturday night with Those Were The Days on the radio.

Phil

The Packers play for a second weekend in a row.  This weeks preseason game will start with the pregame at 1:00 p and kickoff at 3:00.  Join us Saturday night at app: 9:00 for Those Were The Days (following the postgame show).  We will take your requests and play trivia.  I will also haul out a few records from this weekend in 1970.   Dig out your miniskirt and your bell bottoms and join the dance party on WRCO FM 100.9.  We have great shows planned during this month.  Hear a guest dj winning GRACE bidder on August 23rd and Frankie Sullivan of Survivor will join us on August 30th.  Listen for the best of the fifties through the eighties on Saturday nights with WRCO.

Phil Nee

It was an amazing Greater Richland Area Cancer Elimination radio auction recently. Two listeners bid for the chance to program fifties through the eighties radio memories for an hour on Those Were The Days.  The first bidder won the opportunity with a generous $500 donation to GRACE, and the second day total for one hour of Saturday night hits went for $400.  They will get the chance to play their favorite hits for you on Saturday night August 23rd. 

There will not be a Those Were The Days broadcast on Saturday night.  This weekend marks the start of Green Bay Packer football on WRCO FM 100.9.  The pregame is set for just after 5 pm.  Old rock and roll will follow next weeks preseason game on August 16th around 9 pm.

Phil-WRCO

This week on WRCOs' Those Were The Days, I will be playing some of the best tunes from this years Happy Together Tour.  It is my pregame show because the next day while I am at the Wisconsin State Fair, I will be in the crowd as the tour visits Milwaukee.   It will be the first time that I have seen the Happy Together hit makers since the mid-1980s.  This years lineup is again led by Flo and Eddie (The Turtles),  Chuck Negron (Three Dog Night),  Mark Farner (Grand Funk),  Gary Lewis (The Playboys),  and Mitch Ryder (The Detroit Wheels).  During their hit making days in the sixties and seventies, they amassed 30 top ten hits between them!  My friend Kent Kotal posted a list of the best of the best this week on his Forgotten Hits website......
 #1 - JOY TO THE WORLD - Three Dog Night (#1)
 #2 - HAPPY TOGETHER - The Turtles  (#1)
 #3 - THIS DIAMOND RING - Gary Lewis and the Playboys (#1)
 #4 - WE'RE AN AMERICAN BAND - Grand Funk Railroad  (#1)
 #5 - MAMA TOLD ME NOT TO COME - Three Dog Night  (#1)
 #6 - THE LOCO-MOTION - Grand Funk Railroad  (#1)
 #7 - BLACK AND WHITE - Three Dog Night  (#1)
 #8 - SAVE YOUR HEART FOR ME - Gary Lewis and the Playboys  (#2)
  #9 - COUNT ME IN - Gary Lewis and the Playboys  (#2)
#10 - SHE'D RATHER BE WITH ME - The Turtles  (#3)
#11 - Some Kind Of Wonderful - Grand Funk Railroad  (#3)
#12 - She's Just My Style - Gary Lewis and the Playboys  (#3)
#13 - Shambala - Three Dog Night  (#3)
#14 - Easy To Be Hard - Three Dog Night  (#4)
#15 - Bad Time - Grand Funk Railroad  (#4)
#16 - Everybody Loves A Clown - Gary Lewis and the Playboys  (#4)
#17 - An Old Fashioned Love Song - Three Dog Night  (#4)
#18 - Devil With A Blue Dress On and Good Golly Miss Molly (Medley) - Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels ( #4)
#19 - The Show Must Go On - Three Dog Night  (#4)
#20 - One - Three Dog Night  (#5)
#21 - Never Been To Spain - Three Dog Night  (#5)
#22 - You Showed Me - The Turtles  (#6)
#23 - Elenore - The Turtles  (#6)
#24 - Sock It To Me Baby - Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels  (#6)
#25 - Liar - Three Dog Night  (#7)
#26 - It Ain't Me Babe - The Turtles  (#8)
#27 - Green Grass - Gary Lewis and the Playboys  (#8)
#28 - Sure Gonna Miss Her - Gary Lewis and the Playboys  (#9)
#29 - Jenny Take A Ride - Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels  (#10)
#30 - Eli's Coming - Three Dog Night  (#10)
#31 - Shinin' On - Grand Funk Railroad  (#11)
#32 - You Know What I Mean - The Turtles  (#12)
#33 - The Family Of Man - Three Dog Night  (#12)
#34 - My Heart's Symphony - Gary Lewis and the Playboys  (#13)
#35 - She's My Girl - The Turtles  (#14)
#36 - Celebrate - Three Dog Night  (#15)
#37 - Out In The Country - Three Dog Night  (#15)
#38 - You Don't Have To Paint Me A Picture - Gary Lewis and the Playboys  (#15)
#39 - Sure As I'm Sittin' Here - Three Dog Night  (#16)
#40 - Let Me Serenade You - Three Dog Night  (#17)

HONORABLE MENTION:
Pieces Of April - Three Dog Night
Walk Like A Man - Grand Funk Railroad
You Baby - The Turtles
Try A Little Tenderness - Three Dog Night
Footstompin' Music - Grand Funk Railroad
Closer To Home - Grand Funk Railroad
Little Latin Lupe Lu - Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels

You will hear some of these great hits this Saturday night on Those Were The Days along with your rock and roll requests of the fifties through the eighties.  I hope to hear from you Saturday night.

Phil

Saturday July 26th is National Dance Day!  It began in 2010 and was created by Nigel Lythgoe who is the producer of the TV show 'So You Think You Can Dance'.  Young and old across the World are encouraged to have fun and dance this Saturday.  WRCO FM 100.9 will try to encourage you with some of the top titles that feature the word dance.   Those songs include:  Let's Dance-David Bowie,  Dancing In The Street-Martha And The Vandellas,  Come Dancing-The Kinks,  You Make Me Feel Like Dancing-Leo Sayer,  Dancing In The Dark-Bruce Springsteen. and Save The Last Dance For Me-The Drifters.  Maybe you can think of more 'dance' songs.  I hope you will help me decide which way the oldie songs go on Saturday night during Those Were The Days on WRCO FM 100.9. Give me a call on the request line at 608 647-4155.

Phil

This weekend on Those Were The Days, I will dig out a few little 45s from 1969.  American artists were flying high on the charts the Summer that man first walked on the moon.  The top artists of 1969 were all enjoying hot Summer hits.  Creedence Clearwater Revival may not have ever had a number one hit, however, they were the top artist of 1969 according to Billboard.  The Temptations were second, followed by The Supremes,  The Beatles,  and The 5th Dimension.  Groups were ruling the roost in popular music that year!  We will be taking your fifties through the eighties requests during the program which runs from 6 p until Midnight Saturday on FM 100.9.  You can win some cool stuff whenever you hear the 'Magic Bell'.  We will get together Saturday night.

Phil

Join me Saturday night for memories of the Summer of 1984 on WRCO FM 100.9.  Many iconic eighties moments happened during that time.  Bruce Springsteen released his Born In The USA album.  Prince was on the big screen and on the radio with songs from Purple Rain.  Huge hits from Huey Lewis And The News and ZZ Top were getting large amounts of radio airplay.  Chicago was enjoying success with one of its best albums (Chicago 17).  I will spin hits from 1984 this Saturday night and all of your requests from the fifties through the eighties.  Play trivia when you hear the Magic Bell and win a cool prize.   I hope you are having a great Summer.  Let me play a few tunes for you on the radio this Saturday night on Those Were The Days.

Phil

Frankie Ford's song "Sea Cruise" is one of the definitive songs of the 1950s.  I had the chance to ask him about the recording of that song all of those years ago.  Hear about it on Saturday nights edition of Those Were The Days on WRCO FM.  I will spin a few others from the Summer of 1959 and your rock and roll requests from the fifties through the eighties.  Its a holiday weekend and a great time to have a campfire night with family and friends.  I hope you remember to listen to the radio. Maybe you will win a fantastic prize from the trivia games!  Listen for the cow bell (the very one that LadyBelle used to wear) !

Philip TWTD President and CEO

I remember the Summer of 1979 very well.  That time is often blasted because it was the era of Disco music.  That Summer featured much more than Disco!  Tunes from Bad Company,  Styx, Kansas, Blondie, Cheap Trick,  and Supertramp were in regular rotation on the radio. The Disco tunes weren't bad either.

It seemed like I was making hay all Summer.  Once in a while it would rain and I could go for a Coney Dog at Dog N' Suds.  I made 25 cents for every load of hay I helped with!  I would stack up my quarters and head to the Eskin Theatre or the Starlite 14 Drive In and enjoy Summer of '79 movies such as:  Alien,  Breaking Away,  Escape From Alcatraz,  The Frisco Kid,  Moonraker,  Meatballs, More American Graffitti, and The Muppet Movie. 

I haven't found a good enough time travel machine on the internet.  The best way is to listen to the songs that bring back a million memories.  You can do that with me on Saturday nights edition of Those Were The Days on WRCO FM 100.9.

Philip James Nee

With the new 'Jersey Boys' movie being released this weekend, I thought it would be appropriate to feature some classics from the Four Seasons this Saturday night.  Formed in 1955, the group finally hit it big with two number one hits in late 1962.  My personal faves from the group are: Walk Like A Man,  Rag Doll, Lets Hang On,  Opus 17, and Big Man In Town. 

The new movie is directed by Clint Eastwood and it tells the story of four young men from the wrong side of the tracks in New Jersey who came together to form the iconic 1960s rock group The Four Seasons. The story of their trials and triumphs are accompanied by the songs that influenced a generation.

Hear the hits of the Four Seasons along with your pop radio requests from the fifties through the eighties this Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9.  You could be the winner of a cool Summertime prize!

Phil