WRCO Blog

Saturday night on WRCOs' Those Were The Days, we will cruise back to the summer of 1981.  You can request any radio hit from the fifties through 1990 and our featured year will be the second year of the eighties.  When I look at the radio charts for the second weekend of June, I am right back hauling hay,  weeding corn,  tending the hogs, and going on dates.  Most of the time I showered before those night time ventures.  I remember attending the Dane County Junior Fair and seeing Air Supply in concert.  They were one of the top selling groups of the year and their song, The One That You Love, was riding high on the chart in the month of June.  Rick Springfield was one of the top artitsts of that time on radio and television.  Chicago area band Styx had one of the top songs 'Too Much Time On My Hands'.  REO Speedwagon (also from Illinois)  had the must have album of the year (Hi Infidelity).  Other Phil Nee faves that blasted out of the speakers in '81 include:  Stars On 45 (medley)- Stars On 45,  This Little Girl-Gary U.S. Bonds,  You Make My Dreams-Hall & Oates,  The Waiting-Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers,  Winning-Santana,  Gemini Dream-Moody Blues,  The Stroke-Billy Squier,  and What She Does To Me (The Diana Song)-The Producers.

We will join you with radio hits and trivia between six and midnight Saturday night for the next Those Were The Days show.  I hope you will play along with our trivia games and perhaps you will recall happy thoughts from years gone by.  Congrats to our winner of the Starlite 14 Drive-Inn Encore Live concert giveaway from last weeks show.  We hope that Katie will enjoy the Florida Georgia Line concert and all of the special nights at the local outdoor theater.

Phil

When I dream back to the summers of my life, I always think of the seventies.  The year of 1974 featured a summer in which I was old enough to work on the farm.  My earnings were spent at the local music stores.  Many times my mom would give me the sermon about how her and dad had scraped up money for my allowance and how I blew it on a record.   This had come to a head in 1973 when I came home with 'Dead Skunk' by Loudon Wainwright III.   I have proven my mom wrong because many of my collected tracks have made their way to my job site.  This weekend on Those Were the Days, we will take some time to remember some of the great tracks that were on the radio during the first weekend of June in 1974.  When I hear these tunes today, I remember them on my transistor while fishing Lee Lake in Cazenovia, or riding my bike one mile to our mail box at Aubrey Corners.  I thought I was in love for the first time in the summer of '74 and this helped me through the reality that the Brady Bunch and Partridge Family were cancelled by the ABC television network. 

Some of my favorite radio hits during the first weekend of June 1974 include:  Band On The Run-Wings,  Dancing Machine-Jackson Five,  Sundown-Gordon Lightfoot,  The Locomotion-Grand Funk,  The Show Must Go On-Three Dog Night,  Hollywood Swingin-Kool and the Gang,  Come and Get Your Love-Redbone,  and Already Gone-Eagles.  We will spin a few of those classics along with your requests Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9 and dot com.  You can call for any radio hit from the fifties through the eighties between six and midnight.

I will be in the studio this Saturday night and I hope to hear from you.  Last week we had a listener that called from San Francisco.  He grew up in southwest Wisconsin and was enjoying the fact that he could hear us online.  Spread the word to your long lost family and friends out their in the world and perhaps dedicate a song to them Saturday night during Those Were The Days.

Phil

During our retro Saturday on WRCO FM 100.9 and wrco.com,  we will set sail Saturday night.  On Those Were The Days radio show, we will play holiday weekend songs that will take us to the water.  We will go 'Sailing' 'Beyond the Sea' don't 'Rock The Boat'.  Perhaps we will go to 'Green River' 'Up On Cripple Creek' or we could see the 'Dirty Water' , the 'Black Water',  'Smoke On The Water' 'Down By The Lazy River'.  I hope you will join the fun Saturday night during our six hour tribute to the fifties through the eighties.  Take your radio or listening device with you this weekend and tune in if you are on the 'Dock Of The Bay' at 'Indian Lake'.  There is an entire radio format known as 'Yacht Rock'.  Many of the songs we will be highlighting would fit in that theme.

Maybe you can request a song or take the trivia challenges during Those Were The Days.  I will be in the studio to take your calls and usher those songs on the air.  We were very busy on last weekends program and I was not able to get all of the requests on the air.  Maybe we can carry some of those over to this weeks show.  Give me a call during our six hour show this Saturday night during Those Were The Days.

Phil

This Saturday night on Those Were the Days, we will stop and park in 1969.  One of our good listeners requested that we feature highlights from the chart of 52 years ago. This is a great idea since it has been a while since we have spent some air time back than.  What a time it was for radio and television.  On t.v. some of my favorite shows were still featuring new episodes including: Green Acres,  Beverly Hillbillies, Get Smart,  I Dream Of Jeannie,  Family Affair,  Carol Burnett Show,  Doris Day Show,  Here Come The Brides,  Bewitched,  Ironside,   Wild Wild West,  My 3 Sons, Hogans Heroes,  and Mannix. It would make me very happy if  I could just watch reruns of all of those shows for the rest of my life and not watch anything else!  The radio was always on in 1969 while I played with my Tinker Toys, and all of my imaginary friends.  Some of my favorite songs from this weeks chart include:  Stand-Sly and the Family Stone,  Gimme Gimme Good Lovin-Crazy Elephant,  Sweet Cherry Wine-Tommy James,  Morning Girl-Neon Philharmonic,  Get Back-Beatles,  These Eyes-Guess Who,  Black Pearl-Sonny Charles & the Checkmates,  Special Delivery-1910 Fruitgum Company,  Lodi-Creedence Clearwater Revival,  Heather Honey-Tommy Roe,  Too Busy Thinking About My Baby-Marvin Gaye,  Grazin In the Grass-Friends of Distinction,  and The River Is Wide-Grass Roots.  It will be an honor to spin some of those 45's during this Saturdays' radio show.

I will be in the studio to have some fun this Saturday night and to hear what you want me to play.  You can request any pop radio hit that we can find from the 50's through the 80's.  Listen and win tickets, food, and fun prizes, when we play trivia during the six hour music radio show on WRCO FM 100.9 and wrco.com.  Congratulations to our winner of the Bon Jovi Encore Live performance at the Star Lite 14 Outdoor Theater.   Troy proved that he is a great fan of the band and I know he will enjoy the show.  The gates will open around 4:15 Saturday afternoon and there will be a warm up d.j. and the concert will be shown at dusk.  Join us for special giveaways and promotions on Those Were The Days.

Phil

In the early seventies, I started buying vinyl records.  Some fifty years later, I am still collecting.  When I would stroll into Saffell's in downtown Richland Center, I would dream about someday owning the majority of the records that were on display.  There were so many albums that came out fifty years ago that I have purchased along the way.  The spring of 1971 was an amazing creative time for artists in popular music.  This Saturday night on WRCOs' Those Were The Days, I will take a look at some of those iconic long players.  Here is a list of a few 1971 albums you may recognize.........

4 Way Street-Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young,  Sticky Fingers-Rolling Stones,  L.A. Woman-Doors,  What's Going On-Marvin Gaye,  Every Picture Tells A Story-Rod Stewart,  Blue-Joni Mitchell,  Who's Next-the Who,  Poems, Prayers, & Promises-John Denver,  Survival-Grand Funk Railroad,  Thirds-James Gang,  and Ram-Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney.

I will be in the studio to spin some vinyl for you and I hope you will take the trivia challenge Saturday night between six and midnight.  Your requests of favorite pop radio memories from the fifties through the eighties are welcome.  It is still amazing to me the number of newbies we get each week.  A couple of camping parties discovered us last week for the first time. One of the groups asked me if WRCO just started doing this show.  I told him it seems like it, however, it is coming up on our 35th anniversary later this year! 

Phil

Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9 and wrco.com, we will be highlighting a few of the big hits from the Spring of 1984.  That year I was a mild mannered farm hand by day, and rock and roll mobile d.j. at night.  The proceeds of my labor were deposited at the Music Shop in Richland Center where I would pick out the top 45's of the week.  I played music at several area high schools, bars, wedding dances, softball tournaments,  community celebrations, dairy breakfasts, backyard parties and church picnics.  I almost got beat up only once.  Those church picnics can get pretty wild!  Some of my favorite songs from the spring of 1984 include:  You Might Think-The Cars,  Love Somebody-Rick Springfield,  Head Over Heals-The Go-Go's,  Authority Song-John Cougar Mellencamp,  Sister Christian-Night Ranger,  The Heart Of Rock and Roll-Huey Lewis,  Rock You Like A Hurricane-Scorpions,  Run, Runaway-Slade,  Girls-Dwight Twilly,  Jump (For My Love)-The Pointer Sisters,  and The Reflex-Duran Duran.

You can request any pop radio song from the fifties through the eighties between six and midnight this Saturday night during Those Were The Days.  Tell your friends about us.  Light a camp fire and turn the radio on and tune it to 100.9.  Remember if you are listing on line to look for 100.9.  Recently I have talked to some listeners who were confused when they heard music but not Those Were The Days.  They were actually listening on line to 107.7 and 1450. Make sure if you want to listen to us on Saturday night using Alexa, you say something such as..  “Alexa, open one hundred point nine w. r. c. o.”   Listen for our tough trivia questions on Saturday night during our six hour tribute to the days of vinyl, 8 track, and cassettes.

Phil

This Saturday night on WRCOs' Those Were The Days, I will be digging out hits from the spring of 1971.  What a time for Top Forty radio!  This was the era in which I became addicted to listening to the radio and could name most songs after just a few notes.  I won the big argument on my bus one day when several of the older ruffians claimed that the song was called 'Me and You and a Dog Named Blue'.  I knew it was Boo and argued until I was blue.  Someone finally brought the 45 record to school and proved me right.  My credibility was hurt, though, when I was singing the latest Three Dog Night hit and sang some wrong lyrics.  My young ears fooled me and listening on a 4 inch radio speaker did not help.  I really thought they were singing 'joy to the preachers in the deep blue sea'.  Of course the line is 'joy to the fishes', and I was humbled and embarrased by the older scholars.  Some of my favorite radio hits in the spring of 1971 include: Joy To The World-Three  Love Her Madly-Doors,  Doesn't Somebody Want To Be Wanted-Partridge Family,  Eighteen-Alice Cooper,  Wild World-Cat Stevens,  Brown Sugar-Rolling Stones,  What's Going On-Marvin Gaye,  What Is Life-George Harrison,  Albert Flasher-Guess Who,and L.A. Goodbye-Ides Of March.

We will be spinning some hot hits from the spring of 1971 this Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9 and wrco.com.  I will be back in the studio to play your favorite radio hits from the fifties through the eighties and the request line will be open.  I had a great time celebrating my wife June's 39th birthday this past Saturday night.  We had great response to our track one side one album songs countdown that played while I was gone.  We will be playing trivia and having a great time during the six hour tribute to the all time hits.  I can't wait to talk with all of you Saturday night friends this week!

Phil

On Saturday nights' Those Were The Days radio show, I will be playing some of the best album starters of all time.  Track one, side one, is perhaps the most important song on the album.  I eliminated Greatest Hits album from contention.  Those packages are guaranteed to have a quality song to begin the music.  Some of my favorite album starters include:  Good Times Roll-Cars (from the Cars debut album),  More Than A Feeling-Boston (taken from Bostons' first album),  Black Dog-Led Zepplin (from Zepplin 4),  Detroit Rock City-Kiss (begins the album Destroyer),  Blue Suede Shoes-Elvis (from his first album for RCA), and Come Together-Beatles (from Abby Road).  I hope you will join me for the best album starters during Those Were the Days on WRCO FM 100.9 and wrco.com.

During the six hour rock and roll show, we will be stopping in the windy city and spinning some great music that came from Chicago groups during the sixties and seventies.  Join me for other surprises and themes between six and midnight Saturday night.  We will not be taking your requests.  Hold on to those until next weeks show.  This Saturday night I will be the lovely June Nee's date on her birthday (what a present for her!!!).

Phil

I have written many times on this blog about the amazing charts from the late 1960's.  This Saturday night during Those Were The Days on WRCO FM 100.9 and wrco dot com, we will fly back fifty-five years to the spring of 1966.  There were so many songs on the charts that are still being played today.  Some of my favorites include: Secret Agent Man-Johnny Rivers,  Kicks-Paul Revere and the Raiders,  This Old Heart Of Mine-Isley Brothers,  Gloria-Shadows Of Knight,  Try Too Hard-Dave Clark Five,  You Baby-Turtles,  Dirty Water-Standells,  and Time Wont Let Me-Outsiders.  Turn up your Six Transistor radio Saturday night!  Put on your Hush Puppy shoes and get ready.  We will have a record hop between six and midnight Saturday night during Those Were The Days.  You will be able to request a song from the fifties through the eighties. Listen for the 'magic cow bell'.  Every time it rings, you will have the chance to show what you remember from the good old days.  It is a challenge to find questions that can't be found instantly on line.  During the week I search for trivial tidbits that might make good questions.  If you have any ideas for questions, you can always leave me a message here or email me This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  It is always great to hear from listeners and their stories about songs. Give me a call, drop me a line,  put a message on a pigeon, or float a note in a bottle down the Pine River. Let's have a rock n' roll party Saturday night during Those Were The Days.

Phil

Back in the Spring of 1987, I was a new dj on WRCO and was planning a wedding to the lovely June.  I had finished my six month stint as the host of the WRCO Top Forty night time show.  I loved that gig, however, it was time to move to afternoons with the chance to do more sports broadcasts at night. Marv Erdmann and Dave Turk took over the night time hours on WRCO.  As the music director,  my job was to preview all of the new music and decide whether it was air worthy.  Record companies were still sending new music through the mail on 45 r.p.m. records.  This would be fazed out in the next couple of years as cassette and cd singles would take over.   When I hear music from 1987, I can still see the record labels.  Each radio station single had a tag on it which would list the month it was released and the intro time. This meant that the d.j. could talk over the instrumental music before the singer started singing.  There was a box in the radio booth that contained all of the latest records.  Sometimes dj's and their friends would come by and borrow a record.  This made it difficult if you were doing a countdown show...'and the number 4 song is....I am sorry, someone borrowed that one'.  Some of my faves from the Spring of '87 include:  The Final Countdown-Europe,  Don't Dream It's Over-Crowded House,  Midnight Blue-Lou Gramm,  Livin On A Prayer-Bon Jovi, Light of Day-Joan Jett, and I Wanna Go Back-Eddie Money.

This Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9 and dot com,  Those Were The Days will take you back to the late 1980's.  You can request any of your favorites from the 1950's through the 80's.  Make sure to listen for the 'Magic Cow Bell'.  Everytime that rings, that means it is trivia time.  I hope you will join me for some fun on Saturday night between six and midnight.

Phil

We will have a groovy time this Saturday night during the six hour flashback we call Those Were The Days!  One of my favorite years for music is 1972 and on WRCO FM 100.9 and dot com we will be putting on a few 45's that were popular that Spring.  I also will look in the old rock and roll Easter basket for some candy hits such as: Lollipop-Chordettes, Candy Man-Roy Orbison and Candy Girl-Four Seasons.  The girl group the Jelly Beans might even show up, and D.J. and the Runaways may make an appearance to sing about Peter Rabbitt.

Some of my favorites from this weekend in 1972 include:  Heart Of Gold-Neil Young,  Mother and Child Reunion-Paul Simon,  I Gotcha-Joe Tex,  Betcha By Golly, Wow-Stylistics,  A Cowboys Work Is Never Done-Sonny & Cher,  Roundabout-Yes,  Down By The Lazy River-Osmonds,  We've Got To Get It On Again-Addrisi Brothers,  Suavecito-Malo,  Glory Bound-Grass Roots,  The Family Of Man-Three Dog Night,  Doctor My Eyes-Jackson Browne, and Baby Blue-Badfinger.  What a lineup of hits that is!  There was no way a poor farm boy could have afforded all of those records.  A poor disc jockey has been able to afford them since that time.  I can't wait to spin a few from this weekends' Billboard chart in 1972.

I will be in the studio so that I can answer the calls and add your favorites to the playlist.  It is a holiday weekend and there will be lots of old friends coming back to town or joining us on line.  Perhaps you will be among the cool kids that are at the WRCO radio party Saturday night?  On behalf of the 'Solid Gold Dancers' and me, this is Phil Nee inviting you to have some fun with us.

Phil

In the spring of 1982, I was outstanding in right field for the Ithaca Bulldogs.  I did not usually stand for very long as the ball often was flying over my head or bouncing under my glove. While the hits were flying over my head, there were many hits flying around in my head.  Some of my faves that spring included:  Centerfold-J.Geils Band,  Shake It Up-Cars,  Take Off-Bob and Doug McKenzie,  I Love Rock n' Roll-Joan Jett,  We Got The Beat-Go-Go's,  (Oh) Pretty Woman-Van Halen,  Do You Believe In Love-Huey Lewis and the News,  Spirits In the Material World-Police,  Don't Let Him Know-Prism,  Fantasy-Aldo Nova,  and My Girl-Donnie Iris.  All of these songs made for good mix tapes for my friends.  I would buy as many 45 r.p.m. records that I could afford, and try to tape the rest off the radio.  Editing out the d.j.'s voice was the toughest part.  Affording blank cassette tapes was also a problem. You could buy 3 blanks for a dollar, however, those tapes might not last past the first play.  You had to at least find a tape that had its own case.

This Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9 and wrco.com, I will be spinning some of those smash hits from this weekend in 1982.  Please give me a call between six and midnight if you would like to hear a favorite from the fifties through the eighties during Those Were The Days radio show.  You could be the owner of some cool stuff if you are one of our trivia winners.   You can be one of the cool kids if you listen to Those Were The Days this Saturday night.

Phil

Hey rock n' rollers!  This Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9 and dot com we will welcome spring with a few classic tunes.  There are many that talk about the season and still others that were popular in the the spring time.  We will also check out the hot 45's from this weekend in 1961.  That was an innocent time for popular music.  Some of my favorites from this weekend in '61 include:  Runaway-Del Shannon,  Shop Around-Miracles,  Pony Time-Chubby Checker,  Walk Right Back-Everly Brothers,  Calender Girl-Neil Sedaka,  More Than I Can Say-Bobby Vee,  One Hundred Pounds Of Clay-Gene McDaniels,  and (I Wanna) Love My Life Away-Gene Pitney.   Even though these songs are sixty years old,  they still sound so good on the radio.  There is so much energy in the grooves of those little records.

Join our Those Were The Days solid gold dance troupe on WRCO Saturday night between six and midnight.  I will again be studying this week to find the best trivia questions.  Perhaps you will win a prize from our long time sponsors when you solve the trivia puzzles. Help us welcome in the new season.  I hope that you will give me a call Saturday night on the request line (608) 647-4155.  You can also drop me a line through this blog or send me an email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you have an idea or input for the show.   Thanks for rocking with us.

Phil

In March of 1979, I was just putting away my purple low top Pro Keds basketball shoes, and getting out my new baseball glove that I ordered from Coach Pampuch.  The pro player insignia was by Dave 'King Kong' Kingman.  He was known for his hitting and did not catch many in the outfield.  That was similar to my career. Most everything went over my head or in the gap.  I did not need the glove very often.  I always had songs running through my head as I was out standing in my field.  The number one hit this week in 1979 was I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor.  That was my motto as I played the outfield and later tried to avoid a 'swirly'.  Other favorite hits from this weekend in 1979 include:  What A Fool Believes-Doobie Brothers,  Sultans Of Swing-Dire Straits,  Blue Morning, Blue Day-Foreigner,  Every Which Way But Loose-Eddie Rabbitt,  Shake It-Ian Mathews,  and I'll Supply The Love-Toto.  On Saturday nights edition of Those Were The Days, I will be slapping a few of those faves on the turntable. 

I hope you will join the radio party between six and Midnight on WRCO FM 100.9 and wrco.com.  Other than parking in 1979,  we will also be spinning from all of our favorite rock and roll years which include the fifties through the eighties.  You can help program the show.  Please give me a call and we can talk music on Saturday night during Those Were The Days.  Maybe you can impress your friends when you correctly answer a trivia question! 

Phil

This week on Those Were The Days Saturday night, our theme will be 'light' songs.  It will be a light show as we explore songs with titles that include the word light.  That could include titles such as:  I See The Light,  Light My Fire,  Lights,  Green Light,  Turn On Your Love Light,  Light Of Day,  Harbor Lights,  The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia, Paradise By The Dashboard Light,  Shine A Light,  and Blinded By The Light.  If you have an idea of a 'light' song that would make a good addition to our play list, please give me a call on Saturday night.  I will be in the studio to answer the phone and assemble your requests from the fifties through the eighties.  The magic cowbell will ring and we will have a great time.  I hear from families that plan game nights on Saturday night with Those Were The Days on in the background.  That makes me happy. When I was growing up, my family would often play cards and board games with the radio on.

I spent last Saturday at my granddaughter, Oaklee June's, first birthday party.  It was a great time and my kids suggested that we all play games that night.  They were all dozing by 8:30 and I was ready to play.  The old man is used to staying up late on Saturday nights!  I hope you enjoyed the Forgotten Hits TV Themes countdown.  It was fun to remember all of those great shows.  In case you missed it, these were the top ten television themes....

10.  Gilligan's Island   9.  The Beverly Hillbillies  8.  M*A*S*H   7. Cheers   6.  The Monkees  5.  Secret Agent Man  4.  The Mary Tyler Moore Show  3.  Mission Impossible  2.  Bonanza  1.  Hawaii Five-O

For the complete list of 100 tv theme songs, please check out Kent Kotal's Forgotten Hits website.  I hope you will remember to listen to Those Were The Days on WRCO FM 100.9 and wrco.com this Saturday night between six and midnight.

Phil 

This Saturday night on Those Were The Days, I will be counting down the Top 50 television themes.  This countdown came to us courtesy of Kent Kotal at forgottenhits.com.  He compiled some 25,000 votes from the readers of his blog.  It is a fun list of songs that is guaranteed to bring back many memories.  We will be featuring choice sound bites, interviews from our archives, and trivial stuff about the shows.  Can you guess what the number one tv theme will be?   Could the top one come from shows such as; the Monkees,  Gilligans Island,  Happy Days,  Green Acres,  Brady Bunch,  Hawaii Five-O,  Mary Tyler Moore,  or the Beverly Hillbillies?  Find out Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9 and wrco.com.  I have so many memories of watching those shows.  Many of them I still watch today.  There are few new shows that I watch today.  If I need a little getaway time, I pull out my dvd collections of the Munsters,  I Dream Of Jeannie,  The Partridge Family, or Green Acres.  Just last night I watched the two part episode in which Arnold Ziffel inherits 20 million dollars and Oliver (his lawyer) has to prove his pig client is a relative of the deceased.  I was on the edge of my seat!

I will be extracting a slice of the chart from this week in 1967 for your listening pleasure.  That is still a favorite year of mine for music.  The Monkees, Buckinghams,  Supremes,  Casinos,  and Electric Prunes were all doing well with charted records this week in '67.   Please join us for music memories this Saturday night on WRCOs' Those Were The Days.  We will not be taking your requests this weekend.  Hold on to those and give me a call next Saturday night.

Phil

There have been many movies and tv shows about time travel.  The thought of moving back in time and seeing your former self, is a fun idea.  The only way I have found a successful trip back in the day is through music.  If I was to go back to a year, it might be 1981.  That was a year before life got a little more hectic for me.  In '81 I was still under my parents roof and cruising in my 1975 Ford Maverick.  The only worry was where the get together was.  My social network was the barn phone and a big fear was getting left out of something my friends were doing that was really fun.  When I hear a song like Treat Me Right by Pat Benatar, I am right back there.  This week on WRCOs' Those Were The Days, I will go back to February 1981.  The soundtrack to those crazy nights long ago included:  Kiss On My List-Hall & Oates,  Seven Bridges Road-Eagles,  Hearts On Fire-Randy Meisner,  (Ghost) Riders In the Sky-Outlaws, Don't Stand So Close To Me-Police, and Hey Nineteen by Steely Dan.  I was friends with a young lady who had a sister named Leah.  Whenever I would walk into their house,  I would be singing Ah! Leah by Donnie Iris.  Whenever I spin that song these days,  I think of Leah, whom I have not seen since 1981!

Those Were The Days on WRCO FM 100.9 and wrco.com is heard each Saturday night between six and midnight.  We feature the best of the fifties through the eighties and trivia questions.  We have a great time and I hope you join us and tell your friends.  Music has provided me with a great escape during this recent cold snap.  There is light at the end of the tunnel as they are predicting high temps in the upper 30's at the start of the week.  Woo hoo!!!!

Phil

This Saturday night on Those Were The Days from WRCO FM 100.9, I will be looking back to 1964.  The Beatles were taking the country by storm after a February 9th appearance on the Ed Sullivan show. The 'Fab Four' were at number one with I Want To Hold Your Hand.  The rest of the chart featured many American artists. Some of my favorite songs from February of '64 include:  You Don't Own Me-Lesley Gore, Hey Little Cobra-Rip Chords,  Um, Um, Um, Um,Um, Um-Major Lance,  For You-Rick Nelson,  Forget Him-Bobby Rydell,  and Popsicles and Icicles-Mermaids.  I hope you will join me as we go back to those black and white nights and the days when rock and roll was still innocent.

You can request anything you like from our box of pop memories of the fifties through the eighties during this Saturday nights six hour show.  It is great to hear your stories that go along with your requests.  I have a massive amount of discs, vinyl, and digital music and every week someone pulls out a request that I am not that familiar with!  Folks say that they enjoy our trivia games.  Last week we had two winners that were listening long distance on this website.  We are now sending prizes around Wisconsin and other states. It is amazing to know that people think enough of the music, and they choose to tune in.  We have many great ideas for special shows in 2021.  I hope you will join us when you can.  You can stay up to date about Those Were The Days right here!  Those Were The Days can be heard on Saturday nights from six until midnight.

Phil

My kids think I am talking about guns when I talk about 45's.  The 45 rpm record was a plastic wonder with a song on each of its 2 sides.  My fascination with records began with my dad and his collection of 78's.  His collection of Harry James,  Benny Goodman,  Bing Crosby,  Mills Brothers, and Spike Jones, helped build my love of music.  In the late 60's and 70's my uncle Ed would give my sister and I the worn out records from the jukebox at his supper club.  My dad would buy us records.  Since he sang for many weddings during that time, he would buy records for songs that he was learning.  Songs such as The Wedding Song (there is love),  Come Saturday Morning, and  We've Only Just Begun, were commonly sung at weddings in the 70's.  I have mentioned many times that the first time I laid down my own money for a record was in the later months of 1971 when I purchased Have You Seen Her by the Chi-Lites.  During that era several were given to me by family members.  My 45 record carrying case included:  For All We Know-Carpenters,  An Old Fashioned Love Song-Three Dog Night,  Two Divided By Love-Grass Roots,  Sunshine-Johnathon Edwards, and  Day After Day-Badfinger.   It will be my pleasure to spin a few of these on my radio show (Those Were The Days) on Saturday night.

WRCO will have the light on for you and the phone line will be open for you to check in with a request Saturday night.  We will also pay tribute to Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper who were killed in a air accident on February 3rd of 1959.  It will be a six hour salute to the greatest music ever cut into plastic!  You can find us on the radio dial at 100.9 FM and on line right here on this website.  Make sure you click on the 100.9 headphones.  I hope to speak with you Saturday night.

Phil

This week on Those Were The Days, I will be pulling a few hits from the first part of 1976.  There were a bunch of great tunes forty-five years ago.  Despite what is often written about that era, it was not all disco dominated.  Sure, some of the polyester songs were played under the lighted ball in the middle of the dance floor, but there were some good pop and rock songs that made the music charts.  Some of my favorite mix tape worthy tunes in early '76 include:  Evil Woman-Electric Light Orchestra,  Fox On The Run-Sweet,  Golden Years-David Bowie,  Slow Ride-Foghat,  Winners and Losers-Hamilton, Joe Frank, and Reynolds,  Squeeze Box-the Who, Rock and Roll All Night (Live Version)-Kiss, and Dream Weaver-Gary Wright.  There were plenty of dance classics such as: Love Rollercoaster-Ohio Players,  You Sexy Thing-Hot Chocolate, and Love Machine-Miracles.  These radio classics remind me of folks making plans for the bicentenial in 1976.  People were painting fire plugs and mailboxes red, white, and blue.  I was hoarding the special quarters that were released in 1975 and 1976.  I am sure I eventually gave them up one by one in the candy machines and jukeboxes.  I could buy a bottle of Ski or Double Cola for a quarter from the machine outside of Gus' Service Station and get ten cents change! 

It will be a full night of Those Were The Days tunes on WRCO FM 100.9 and dot com from six until midnight.  You can call me on my party line and add to our fifties through the eighties playlist.  We had a great time last week.  There were a few first time listeners and callers!  That is so very cool to still be saying that after all of these years.  We had some first time trivia prize winners.  I hope you will tune in for some or all of the show. We will have the light on for you at WRCO. 

Phil