WRCO Blog

Hey Rock n' Rollers!  I will be back with a live show this Saturday night.  I hope you enjoyed last weeks focus on 1973 and 1983.  There were good coments on the outstanding Spring songs from both of those great pop music years.

This week on WRCOs Those Were The Days, we will park in 1979 and show you how good radio sounded that Spring!  There were still a few samples of disco, however, new wave groups such as Blondie were coming up.  Harder edged songs from the likes of Van Halen and Boston were hanging around the Top 40.  The city of Boston also gave us the Cars and that group was blasting out of car radios. 

I hope to hear from you.  Request one of your favorites during the first Saturday night in May.  We will be awarding prizes to those that answer the trivia questions correctly.  Win food, gift certificates, and water park passes this weekend when you hear the 'Magic Cow Bell' ring. Turn it up loud!

Phil Nee

WRCO FM 100.9

Hey Rock and Rollers! Join me for some early 1973 pop radio memories on WRCO FM 100.9 Saturday night.  Hear a few of the 45's I bought at Saffells' music store in Richland Center in 1973.  Some of them I may have to put a washer on the tone arm so they wont skip!  Later in the program I will be sharing with you the results of Rich Appel's annual 'Should Have Been A Top Ten Hit survey.  the poll of music fans from all over the World has had some interesting results.  The Beach Boys fared very well this year, and Chicagos' own New Colony Six have a couple of songs in the top 25.  Join us for Those Were The Days Saturday night when we check out all of the classic hits and misses from the 50's through the 80's.

Phil Nee

Hey Rock n' Rollers!  Tune in 100.9 FM on Saturday night and hear some cool tunes from this weekend in 1969.  Hear stories behind some of the top songs of the day from those that recorded them. Listen for songs from the Fifth Dimension, Gary Puckett, the Beatles and many more!   I hope to hear from you this weekend!  Give me a call on the request line (608) 647-4155.  There have been many great requests during the month of April.  If I can't find what you are requesting, I will work on digging it up for a future show. 

I will be out on Saturday (April 20th) digging for hidden gems during the 6th Annual National Record Store Day.  This day celebrates independent record stores across the nation.  If I find a few golden nuggets, I may bring those back with me and play them Saturday night!

Phil

We will park our magic car in the year of 1976 this Saturday night during WRCOs' Those Were The Days.  You will hear some of the great songs that were on the Billboard music chart including:  Dream Weaver-Gary Wright,  Dream On-Aerosmith,  Lonely Night (Angel Face)-Captain And Tennille, Show Me The Way-Peter Frampton,  Bohemian Rhapsody-Queen,  Love Machine-The Miracles, and December 1963 (Oh What A Night)-The Four Seasons.  When I hear these songs I may want to ride my Huffy bike to the gas station and buy a Double Cola and a Charleston Chew.

Request a pop radio song from the 50's through the 80's during Those Were The Days this Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9.

Phil

This week in 1964, the Beatles were dominating the Billboard Hot 100 Music Chart.  The lads from Liverpool had the top 5 most popular songs in the Country. Here is a list of the top 5 from the first weekend of April, 1964.

#5. Please Please Me

#4. I Want To Hold Your Hand

#3. She Loves You

#2. Twist And Shout

#1. Can't Buy Me Love

This week on Those Were The Days we will look back at the most popular 1964 songs.  A few American artists were having success including: The Four Seasons,  The Beach Boys,  and the Temptations.  We will be playing your favorite requests from the first 35 years of rock and roll. You can be the winner of food, tickets, and perhaps even your own collectable WRCO hat!  I hope you tune in 100.9 FM this Saturday night for this weeks edition of Those Were The Days.

Phil Nee

This Saturday night Those Were The Days on WRCO FM 100.9 will hilite a few tracks from Saturday Night Fever.  It was 35 years ago that the movie soundtrack was the number one album.  It stayed on top of the Billboard album charts for 24 weeks in 1978 and was on the charts for an incredible 120 weeks until March of 1980!  It was not just a Bee Gees album.  Other artists that had hits in the movie included:  Yvonne Elliman,  Tavares,  Walter Murphy, and KC And The Sunshine Band with the song Boogie Shoes which was the flip side of the 45 and it became a hit when used in the film.

You help pick the playlist of 50s through the 80s tunes Saturday nights.  I hope to hear from you.  Perhaps you will win one of the trivia prizes.  Listen for the 'Magic Cow Bell' to ring which signals trivia time.

Phil-TWTD Host

Listen for your favorite pop radio memories on Saturday nights Those Were The Days.  Last week was one of the best nights in a while.  Not only were there a good number of requests, but there were many that I have not played in a long while. 

Tune in 100.9 FM Saturday night between 6 pm and Midnight for Those Were The Days.  This time we will feature a few stories from legendary session musician Hal Blaine.  He played on many hits from the likes of Elvis Presley, John Denver, the Ronettes, Simon & Garfunkel, the Carpenters, the Beach Boys, Nancy Sinatra, and the 5th Dimension.  He was a member of the legendary 'Wrecking Crew' that played behind numberous number one hits.  Here is a small list of them: Can't Help Falling In Love-Elvis Presley, These Boots Are Made For Walkin-Nancy Sinatra,  Dizzy-Tommy Roe,  Bridge Over Troubled Water-Simon & Garfunkel,  I Think I Love You-Partridge Family,  Cracklin'Rosie-Neil Diamond,  Thank God I'm A Country Boy-John Denver,  and Love Will Keep Us Together-Captain & Tennille and many more!

Win a great prize from our grab bag of goodies this Saturday night during trivia time.  Those Were The Days is a party favorite around Southwestern Wisconsin camp fires.  I can't wait for that season to finally get here!

Phil

This Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9 we will be playing more of your favorite requests.  We were very busy last Saturday.  Thanks for all of the calls.  It was good to have a full show for the first time in a few weeks.

On Saturday night we will be playing a few rock and roll Irish songs and groups.  Hear the hits of Gilbert O'Sullivan.  He was born in Ireland and had five top 40 hits between 1972 and 1973.  Those songs included:  Alone Again (Naturally),  Clair, Out Of The Question,  Get Down, and Ooh Baby.  I am sure we will spin the Irish Rovers' biggest hit The Unicorn.  That song hit number 7 on the Billboard Charts in March of 1968. 

These tunes, your requests, and trivia on WRCO Saturday night.  I hope to hear from you!

Phil

Rich Appel is again organizing a countdown of should have bigger hits from the 50s through the 90s.  Here is a little more info....Phil

There are many tributes these days to the James Bond Franchise of movies because it is the 50th anniversary year of the first movie.  This week on Those Were The Days we will remember some of the great James Bond music through the 60's, 70's, and 80's.  Shirley Bassey recently tore it up on the Academy Awards show.  The 76 year old singer sang her hit from the James Bond film Goldfinger and looked and sounded great!  Many singers have received the honor of singing a James Bond title song.  Tom Jones,  Nancy Sinatra, Lulu,  Rita Coolidge, Gladys Knight, and Duran Duran!  My two faves are Carly Simon's Nobody Does It Better (from The Spy Who Loved Me),  and Paul McCartney's Live And Let Die (from the 1973 film of the same name).  I have vivid memories of hearing Wings on the radio with that song and I turned it up loud every time I heard it.  Fast forward to 1993 and the only time I was in the presence of a Beatle!  There were 55,000 other people at Milwaukee County Stadium. Sir Paul and the band launched into Live And Let Die and shot off rockets and explosions.  What a great night it was! 

Share your music memories this weekend when you request a song with WRCOs' Those Were The Days.  We feature the best of the 50's through the 80's starting just after 6 pm. 

Phil-Your Grey Haired Host

This week on WRCOs' Those Were The Days we will be taking your requests and playing trivia.  We will also be spinning a few hot ones from this weekend in 1975.  The middle 1970's sometimes gets unfairly tagged as a pop music wasteland, however, I always liked some of the early disco records.  The early March Billboard Pop Chart featured records by the Eagles,  Doobie Brothers,  Grand Funk,  America,  Styx,  BTO,  Sugarloaf,  Bad Company, and Olivia Newton-John.  It was still a great variety of music on the pop charts that crackled out of my Panasonic AM radio on great stations like WLS out of Chicago,  KAAY Little Rock, Arkansas,  WISM Madison Wisconsin, and WRCOs' Music Scene at night.  Go back to that year and all of the 35 years that we play from. Help me program the show with a phone call Saturday night during WRCOs' Those Were The Days! 

Phil-Veteran Host Of TWTD

This Saturday night we will feature hilites of high school wrestling and old time rock and roll on WRCO FM 100.9.  Those Were The Days will drop in for a visit and can be heard wall to wall after the local wrestlers are done with their matches.

We will head back to 1958 for some rock and roll relics from the Happy Days era!  Hear big records from the February Billboard Hot 100.  Songs from Chuck Berry,  Elvis,  Jerry Lee Lewis,  Little Richard, the Chordettes, and more will be featured.  We will be taking your requests.  I hope you will try to stump me.  It is always appreciated when someone asks for a rare one from the 50's through the 80's.  Win a great prize if you answer the trivia question correctly on this weeks Those Were The Days radio program.

Keep on Rockin!

Phil

TWTD Host

This week on WRCOs' Those Were The Days we will be spinning tracks from the first Beatles album which was recorded in February of 1963.  Prior to the Beatles the 33 1/3 album was not a popular format for rock n' roll fans.  The album known as Please Please Me in England and Introducing...The Beatles in America included 14 songs (8 of which were written by McCartney-Lennon).  Hits from the album included:  Twist And Shout,  I Saw Her Standing There,  Please Please Me, Do You Want To Know A Secret?,  and Love Me Do.  Most of the tracks were recorded in one session that last 9 hours and 45 minutes.  This is amazing when you realize that many of todays stars take months and sometimes even years to perfect the album they want.

We will not only spin classic Beatle tracks, but your amazing requests will be a part of the show.  Those Were The Days can be heard Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9 after WIAA High School Sectional Wrestling.  Maybe you will win a trivia prize this weekend!

Phil-TWTD Host

The Five Americans were a Dallas based rock and roll quintet in the mid to late 60's.  Most famous for the song Western Union, they also had memorable top 40 hits such as: I See The Light,  Sound Of Love, and Zip Code.  The lead singer of the group has written a new book called 'High Strung'.  Mike Rabon will talk about his rock and roll days and the new book on WRCO FM 100.9 Saturday night.  He was in public school administration until he retired a while back.  He was afraid to publish a book about his rock and roll past for fear his students would read about his previous wild life, so he waited until he retired.

Join us for Those Were The Days Saturday night and request a song from the 50's through the 80's.  Win a prize when we play trivia.  Just listen for the 'Magic Cow Bell'.  You could win 2 passes to a special Valentine showing of the movie 'The Notebook' at the Center Cinema Twins in downtown Richland Center on Saturday afternoon February 16th.  Listen for details on WRCO FM 100.9 this Saturday night.

Phil-Host Of TWTD Since 1986

This week on WRCOs' Those Were The Days, we will be spinning your requests and remembering 1971.  I recall going to Saffell's music store in Richland Center and checking out the charts and trying to buy the best 45 rpm record of the bunch.  That was a difficult job since there were so many good tunes from such artists as Tony Orlando and Dawn (number one with Knock Three Times),  Elton John,  the Jackson Five,  the Grass Roots, and CCR.  Those little records cost me 89 cents and that was big money when your allowance was around a quarter a week!

Join us for great pop radio memories this Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9 from 6 pm until Midnight.

Phil

Hey Rock n' Rollers!  This Saturday night you will hear more greats from the 50's through the 80's.  We will stop during the night and park in 1963.  There was a lot of cool tunes blasting out of those AM radios during that year.  According to Joel Whitburn's Pop Music Annual, these were the top artists of 1963:  1.  The Beach Boys 2.  Dion  3.  Rick Nelson  4.  The 4 Seasons  5.  Bobby Vinton.  It was the last year before the Beatles hit in America and there were a lot of artists enjoying their last moments in the sun prior to the British Invasion! 

We will be taking your rock and roll requests and ringing the bell when we play trivia.  Many times trivia sparks conversations and arguments.  Those Were The Days can be the bet settler.  Give us a call Saturday night at WRCO and have a great time from 6 p until Midnight.

Phil Nee-TWTD Host

Those Were The Days returns to the airwaves of WRCO FM 100.9 Saturday night.  It will be our first show in 2013 and I am getting fired up!  The last 2 weeks while the Packers were playing, I was pretending to do a show.  This was just to keep me in practice, and it created a diversion from the intensity of the Packer games.  This time we will hop in the Maverick Time Tunnel and head on back to 1978!  Many people think that pop music from that era was all disco.  While there were many delving in disco, there was also a new wave of artists featuring a pop and rock sound.  Artists that made radio debuts in 1978 included:  Van Halen,  Eddie Money,  Journey,  Kim Carnes,  The Cars,  Cheap Trick, Toto, and Prince.  We will play for you a few of those artists and more from 1978 this Saturday nightl  Those Were The Days will waiting to hear from you with a request for a hit from the 50's thru the 80's this Saturday night from 6 p to Midnight.

Rock on!

Philip Nee

Those Were The Days Host                                              

Singer songwriter Sammy Johns died recently.  I had the pleasure of interviewing him for Those Were The Days about ten years ago.  His song Chevy Van really captured the 70's sound and the dream of care free highways and care free love!  Here is the story that was sent by the Associated Press this week.

Phil

"CHEVY VAN" SINGER SAMMY JOHNS DIES
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - The singer-songwriter who made "Chevy Van" a hit in 1975 has died. The Charlotte Observer reports Sammy Johns died Friday at the age of 66. A cause of death was not given. Johns recorded "Chevy Van" in 1973 but it was nearly 18 months later before it was released. It peaked at number five and sold more than 3 million copies. Johns had said the song wasn't about a specific woman. Johns never had another hit of his own, but he wrote "America" for Waylon Jennings and "Common Man" for John Conlee.

The Packers will play this Saturday night.  This really reminds me of my athletic career.  With the big game going on, I am on the bench with nothing to do except cheer on the team.   Those Were The Days will be postponed because of Packer coverage this week.  We have some really great shows to bring you in 2013.  If the Packers win this week, they will play a week from Sunday.  That means the new season for Those Were The Days will start next Saturday.  With all of this energy from having a couple of weeks on the sidelines, I could get out of control next week!  Tune in WRCO FM 100.9 for all of the fun during future Saturday nights.

Phil

Since the Packers did not get the second seed in the NFL playoffs, they have to play this weekend and the FOX network has the rematch with the Vikings slated for Saturday night at 7 pm.  This added insult to injury for me this week.  Not only is it a chilly week at my house after the Bears did not make the playoffs (my wife and kids are die hard Bear fans!), but I was looking forward to sharing with you a few of my Christmas presents on Those Were The Days. The Packers will be heard this Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9.  If they are going to take the place of my show, they had better win!  Go Pack Go! 

Phil