WRCO Blog

Saturday June 11th will be the exact date that the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off was released by in 1986.  Saturday night on Those Were The Days, we will pay tribute to the film thirty years later.  It is one of our favorite VHS era movies.  The main characters don't interest me as much as Principle Ed Rooney (Jeffrey Jones),  his secretary Grace (Edie McClurg), and the economics teacher (Ben Stein). In my humble opinion, these 3 make the movie.   We will play a few songs from the movie and ask a trivia question or two.  You can request a favorite song from the fifties through the eighties Saturday night between six and Midnight.  I will be in the studio drinking cans of Ski and playing your songs.  Get the campfire started and tune in 100.9 WRCO FM on Saturday night.

Phil

This Saturday night on Those Were The Days from WRCO FM 100.9, we will be taking your requests and playing trivia.  The past two Saturday nights have been crazy busy.  I have been hopping around taking song dedications, digging for songs, and playing trivia.  It has been awesome!  Thank you for remembering to turn on the radio.  This weekend in edition to the open line, we will stop and park during early June of 1964.  This Billboard Hot 100 chart is very interesting.  The Beatles were still present, however, some of their English counterparts were getting many spins on the radio waves.  American artists were fighting back for chart space.  The Beach Boys, Four Seasons, Rip Cords, Jan & Dean, Elvis, and Chuck Berry were all fighting off the English attack.  Two of my favorite British bands had a pair of songs in the Hot 100 this weekend in 1964.  Dave Clark Five were rockin' Do You Love Me, and I Knew It All The Time.  The Searchers were climbing with Sugar And Spice, and Don't Throw Your Love Away.  We will attack some of these songs from 1964 on Saturday nights' Those Were The Days.

Phil

Memorial weekend is often thought to be the first weekend of Summer.  We were usually out of school by the middle of May back in the day. Dad would start finding farm jobs that fit with my age. When I was old enough to drive a tractor, Memorial weekend was prime time for cultivating corn.  Driving the Farmall Super C in first gear through the endless rows was boring for a young boy.  I would take my Panasonic radio with the white ear phone and try to hear songs over the roar of the mighty 23 horse motor.  It was difficult to stay in the rows and not knock down corn when a hot record came over the airwaves.  Memorial weekend number one songs that I still like hearing on the radio include:  Groovin'-The Rascals, Brown Sugar-Rolling Stones, Frankenstein-Edgar Winter Group, Sir Duke-Stevie Wonder, and Let's Dance-David Bowie.  This weekend during Those Were The Days on WRCO FM 100.9, I will be playing a few songs that were at the top of the charts during Memorial weekend during the fifties through the eighties.  Give me a call Saturday night and dedicate a song.  We will have six trivia questions (one per hour) during our Those Were The Days radio show between 6 pm and Midnight.

Phil

By this time in 1975 I was out of school and ready to dream up ways to get out of work.  When it would rain I would get a day off to go to the music store and make mix tapes.  My sister Sue graduated from high school that Spring and soon would be going away to school.  I was making plans to lay claim to any 45 records that might have been hers.  There were so many great songs on the radio.  Many of these tunes I still love to hear including:  Jackie Blue-Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Killer Queen-Queen,  Sister Golden Hair-America, Bad Time-Grand Funk, Magic-Pilot,  Shining Star-Earth Wind & Fire, and Philadelphia Freedom-Elton John.  The number one song on the Billboard Hot 100 was He Don't Love You (Like I Love You)  by Tony Orlando & Dawn.  While I like the original, (He Will Break Your Heart by Jerry Butler)  I have always been a fan of the remake.  I liked the T.O. & Dawn variety show on television and I have always been partial to the arrangement of their number one hit from the Spring of 1975.  I remember cool dudes with c.b. radios talking back and forth that year.  If they taped the switch open, they could lay the c.b. mic on the car speaker and listen to music on the p.a. speaker outside the car.  I remember walking through a parking lot and hearing Bad Time by Grand Funk playing over someones c.b. system.  We will drive back to 1975 Saturday night during Those Were The Days on WRCO FM 100.9.  Bring along your pet rock.

I will be back in the studio this Saturday night for more musical memories.  Please give me a call.  We will be featuring trivia questions and the best pop and rock tunes from the fifties through the eighties.  Thanks again to Kent Kotal and his almost daily blog forgottenhits.com.  Last weeks 'What's The Name Of That Song' show has received great reviews.  It was fun to play a few hits we haven't played for a while and a few of them aired for the first time.  Thanks to Kent for giving us the playlist.

Phil

This Saturday night on WRCOs' Those Were The Days we will team with the website forgottenhits.com for a look at great songs that have titles that are not mentioned in the lyrics.  For a better explanation, here is a list of a few of the great songs that we will shut in the 'Close And Play' on WRCO FM 100.9:

Bohemian Rhasody-Queen, D'yer Maker-Led Zeppelin, For What It's Worth-Buffalo Springfield, Space Oddity-David Bowie, Snoopy vs. The Red Baron-Royal Guardsmen, Uneasy Rider-Charlie Daniels, Ode To Billie Joe-Bobbie Gentry, The Weight-The Band, Land Of 1,000 Dances-Cannibal And The Headhunters and many more!  A full six hour episode of songs that are well known, however, you may not be aware of the titles.  This idea came to us directly from Kent Kotal's Fogottenhits.com web site.  It was a monthly Sweet 16 feature during the almost-daily blog.  Check out this amazing site.  I do every chance I get.   We will not be taking your requests this Saturday night.  That portion of the show returns next Saturday night (May 21st).  Have an awesome weekend.

Phil

In the early 1970's my mother learned that the best way to deal with a problem child was to bribe him.  The best way to get me to the barber's chair, help with chores, or behave in Church was to offer the chance to pick out a sixty-three cent forty-five record or $4.99 album.  It planted a seed which grew into a life long hobby of collecting music.  Mom helped me buy records that I still play on the air today.  Most have been converted to a digital format.  I remember her letting me buy the three album set 'Wings Over America' which chronicled Paul McCartney & Wings tour of 1976.  I must have really needed an attitude adjustment for her to spend that much on me.  During this Mothers Day weekend, I need to say thank you to her for all of the sacrifices and all of the vinyl.  Join me this Saturday night for Those Were The Days featuring the best of the fifties through the eighties.  This weekend on WRCO FM 100.9 I will play a few songs with mama or mother featured in the title or song lyrics.  Dedicate a song to your mom or to yourself.  Win a trivia prize for you or your mom!  I hope you will check in with me.  Happy Mothers Day.

Philip James Nee!

"yes mother"?

Back in 1968 I was driving my first wheels.  I got a Hot Wheels car set with the Super Charger that would push the cars through and around the track.  It never worked like it did on television.  The kids in the commercial would laugh with glee as their car went upside down through the loop de loop.  My cars had trouble making the corner before they ever got to the upside down portion of the track.  My Slinky never walked down more than two stairs in a row.  The only reliable toys I owned were my G.I. Joe and my Billy Blastoff action figure.  I was playing with all of these toys in the upstairs of the old farm house while great songs from the Spring of 1968 were coming out of the radio speaker.  Tunes such as:  Lady MaDonna-The Beatles, (Sittin On) The Dock Of The Bay-Otis Redding, Cry Like A Baby-Box Tops, Dance To The Music-Sly & The Family Stone, and many more.  This Saturday night during WRCOs'  Those Were The Days radio show we will park with the radio tuned to 1968 for a while.  I will be in the studio for a time to take your requests from all of the decades and genres that we play from.  We will be throwing some trivia questions at you as well.  We will talk with members of the Madison, Wisconsin based band known as the Gentlemen.  They will be playing a 50th anniversary show at Chief's Tavern on Cottage Grove Road in Madison this Saturday night.  Hear some of their memories during our Saturday night Those Were The Days show on WRCO FM 100.9.

Phil

Streaking is a fad I never took part in.  One time during the Summer of 1974 my swim trunks (which had a faulty draw string) slipped off while I was doing the mud crawl in the Willow Creek.  I did run nakedly back through the woods to the farm house before anyone saw me.  Technically that might qualify as streaking, however, I did not run naked on purpose.  Other than streaking, the Spring of 1974 had many pop culture highlights.  I loved watching American Bandstand, Don Kershner's In Concert, and the Midnight Special.  There were not very many chances to see what the singers on the radio looked like.  When we saw them on television, we were sometimes disappointed and other times impressed.  There were no video recording possibilites so I had to stay awake.  Sometimes I would fall asleep and miss the Midnight Special.  I would often wake up to the sound of gunfire as reruns of The Riflemen would air following my favorite show.  Chuck Conners trusty firearm would tell me I had just missed Steely Dan, Olivia Newton John, Brownsville Station, Gladys Knight & The Pips, and the Wolfman on the Midnight Special.  I would than have to hope to see the show as a rerun in the Summer.  April of 1974 featured many great 45 RPM records.  My favorites included:  Bennie & The Jets-Elton John, Hooked On A Feeling-Blue Suede, Come And Get Your Love-Redbone, Oh My My-Ringo Starr, The Loco-Motion-Grand Funk, Dancing Machine-The Jackson Five, Jet-Wings, and Let It Ride-B.T.O. You will hear a few of these this weekend.

Join the rock and roll party this Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9 during Those Were The Days.  I will be in the studio between 6 p and Midnight to collect your requests and man the 'Close & Play'.  We will ring the trivia cow bell once per hour.  Lets get together Saturday night.

Phil

After getting set to send your tax payment to the government this weekend, you can tune in to WRCO FM 100.9 Saturday night (during Those Were The Days) for a refund.  While I wish I could give you cold hard cash, you will have to settle for songs about money.  Here is a list of favorites:

Money (That's What I Want)-Barrett Strong/The Beatles

Money Money Money-ABBA

Money For Nothing-Dire Straits

Money-Pink Floyd

Money Changes Everything-Cyndi Lauper

The Gambler-Kenny Rogers

Take The Money & Run-Steve Miller Band

Lawyers, Guns, and Money-Warren Zevon

Rich Girl-Hall & Oates

anything by Eddie Money

If you want to contribute to this list, give me a call Saturday night.  You can request any pop song from the fifties through the eighties.  Thank for the great night this past weekend.  You made me dig for a few songs that haven't hit the WRCO airwaves in a while.  Perhaps you will win a trivia showdown with your friends and neighbors.  Those Were The Days is heard each Saturday night between 6 p and Midnight. 

Phil

It was the Spring of 1979 and number 19 was patroling right field for the Ithaca Bulldogs 'B' squad baseball team.  His uniform pants were so baggy that the excess material was almost like a sail that would push him backwards when the wind blew.  There were so many pop songs running through his head that he could barely hear all the other eight players on the field giving instructions such as:  "back up Nee, he burned ya last time",  "wake up Nee that was the third out",  "lift up the plow and run after it this time".  There was such team unity!  It was so difficult to keep my mind on the game when the pretty track girls were practicing nearby.  On the radio in the Spring of 1979 were instant classics like 'Renegade' by Styx, 'Rock And Roll Fantasy' from Bad Company,  'Good Times Roll'-The Cars, 'What A Fool Believes' by The Doobie Brothers, and many more.  This Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9 I will be spinning the hits from the fifties through the eighties on Those Were The Days. We will stop and park in 1979 during our six hour tribute. It will be great to be back in the studio to take your requests.  You could win some great prizes including tickets to a special Elvis tribute in Viroqua.  Listen for the trivia questions that can win you a prize and help you amaze your friends.

Phil

Hey Rock & Rollers!  This Saturday night I will be digging out the biggest records from 1966.  On WRCO FM 100.9 we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of an awesome year for popular culture.  It was a fantastic year for movies, television, cars, junk food and music on the radio.  The Monkees debuted in the Fall of 1966.  Other debuts came from the Mamas And The Papas, Association,  Tommy James And The Shondells, Simon And Garfunkel, Neil Diamond, Young Rascals, and Chicagos' own New Colony Six.  I will countdown forty of the greatest tunes of the year during Those Were The Days on WRCO FM 100.9 this Saturday night.  We will also be spinning a few tunes by Wisconsin groups.  Hold on to those requests.  We will not be taking those this time, however, the hot line will reopen next Saturday night.  Enjoy your weekend in Southwest Wisconsin and remember to listen to Those Were The Days Saturday night.

Phil

This week during WRCOs' Saturday night old rock and roll party I will be spinning your requests and stopping the 'Magic Maverick' so we can go parking in 1984.  During that year I was spinning vinyl records and cassette tapes at bars, wedding dances, class reunions,  high school dances, softball parks, and even a few fun house parties! I was making a whopping $50.00 a night and dropping that money back into buying all of the latest music.  When I play songs on the radio now like Footloose, I often flash back to some of those fun nights.  When the Van Halen song 'Jump' came out in early 1984, I remember spinning for a dance at Reedsburgs' Webb High School and they had a contest to see who could do the best 'flying v-kick' like Van Halen lead singer David Lee Roth.  Air guitar contests were also popular that year.  Even now while I am playing tunes on WRCO FM 100.9 I still play a mean air guitar!  I hope you will suggest some fifties, sixties, seventies, and eighties songs for me to play during our six hour Those Were The Days radio show this Saturday night.

Phil Nee

This Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9 I will be spinning classic rock and roll songs from the fifties through the eighties.  You can contribute to the playlist when you give me a call.  I will lug my cd cases and my phongraph records into the booth at WRCO and we will have a rock and roll party.  Let's take the 'Magic Maverick' automobile back to 1971 and park with the radio on.  The middle of March in 1971 had a great variety of artists with big hits including:  Janis Joplin, Tom Jones, Ike & Tina Turner, Partridge Family, Jackson Five, Grass Roots, and Cat Stevens. 

We always had the radio on in the house and in the barn during those days.  That helped fuel my love of music.  I can still remember where I was standing in the barn while hearing a certain song for the first time or where we were at when a song came on the truck radio.  It was a great time to grow up.  When we fire those old songs up again Saturday night, being grown up is only optional.  I will be remembering a Spring of fun and *frolic on the farm.

Phil

*frolic

To play and move about cheerfully, excitedly, or energetically.

This Saturday night during Those Were The Days on WRCO FM 100.9 we will feature a tribute to this weekend in 1976.  I can't believe it has been forty years since that great time in Top Forty radio.  As Spring was coming on in 1976, I was tuning my AM radio late at night and capturing all kinds of sounds from all over the country and Canada.  Songs that I was recording on my Panasonic tape recorder included:  December 1963 (Oh What A Night)-Four Seasons,  Love Machine-Miracles,  Dream Weaver-Gary Wright, Lonely Night (Angel Face)-Captain & Tennille, Dream On-Aerosmith, and many more.  The seventies decade often gets bad mouthed because of disco music.  I loved so many songs from that era and I still do today. Memories of getting my three speed bike out for the first time and dad getting ready for field work will be back in my mind when I hear some of those '76 tunes.  I hope you will return with me to those sweet days of yesteryear during Those Were The Days.  I will be in the studio to take your requests and to quiz you this Saturday night.

Phil

This Saturday night on WRCOs' Those Were The Days, we will recognize more Top Forty radio gems.  English singer Tony Burrows was the voice of five different groups with five seperate hits in the late sixties and early seventies.  Hear Tony talk about each hit during our six hour broadcast on FM 100.9 Saturday night.  His vocal talents graced hits by Edison Lighthouse (Love Grows Where Rosemary Goes), White Plains (My Baby Loves Loving), Brotherhood Of Man (United We Stand),  The Pipkins (Gimme Dat Ding), and First Class (Beach Baby).  I hope you will help me program the airwaves.  Give me a call Saturday night (not a text or tweet).  We are old school!  It would not be as much fun if I couldn't talk to the listeners.  Many times when you request a song, I can tell you if we have it, if it fits our format, or if I have already played it.  It is harder to communicate that if I am trying to answer through other media.  Saturday nights are busy enough and the 'Solid Gold' Dancers are working the dance floor and they are not much help to me.  I will be in the studio Saturday night to take down the titles of your favorite songs from the fifties through the eighties and perhaps you will be one of the six trivia winners!

Phil

This Saturday night during Those Were The Days on WRCO FM 100.9 we will pay tribute to 'leap year' hits.  These are songs that were at the top of the industry during those years when there was a February 29th.  Starting in 1956 and jumping ahead 4 years each time, we will pay tribute to those 29th of February number one hits.  It will be a busy Saturday night.  I will be in the studio to take your requests and we will play trivia.  We will have lots of high school sports updates including highlights of the local wrestlers at the W.I.A.A. state tournament.  Join the 'Solid Gold' dancers and me for Those Were The Days old time rock and roll variety show this weekend.

Phil

There has always been a debate about which year was the best for popular music.  Many times music lovers will choose the year they graduated from high school or college.  When you are young and have less responsibilities, you seem to have more room in your mellon to store song memories.  The year of 1967 has long been a favorite.  Other years that are very good for memorable pop tunes include: 1966, 1969, 1973, and 1982 (the year they kicked me out of Ithaca High School for good). 

Our featured year on WRCOs' Those Were The Days this Saturday  night will be 1967.  It was a year that is similar to our Saturday night format because of the wide variety of songs that got played on Top Forty radio.  You could hear everything from the Blues Magoos biggest hit (We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet, and Tom Jones crooning 'The Green, Green Grass Of Home'.  'Music To Watch Girls By' by the Bob Crewe Generation (which was the music of a diet soda commercial) was playing on those transistor radios and Chicagos' own Buckinghams were making a name for themselves with a number one 'Kind Of A Drag'.  Hear some of those great '67 tunes and your rock and roll requests of the fifties through the eighties on WRCO FM 100.9 this Saturday night. I will be in the studio and together we will have some fun. There may be an after party at the moon tower.  Those Were The Days my friend!

Phil

Pop radio in February of 1981 featured a wide array of styles.  Disco had fallen out of the spotlight and Country cross over hits from Dolly Parton and Eddie Rabbitt were in the Top Ten.  Kool & The Gang were encouraging everyone to 'Celebrate'.  Music veteran Delbert McClinton was having his most famous pop hit.  I was the Court Jestor for the Ithaca High School basketball team.  I would take my Panasonic tape recorder/player with me on the road trips.  I wired a mini plug onto a large stereo speaker and we jammed all the way to La Farge, Kickapoo, Seneca, Wauzeka, De Soto, Weston, and Riverdale.  Popular groups and artists to play included: Queen, Off Broadway, April Wine, Pat Benatar, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Bad Company, and Styx.  This Saturday night, I will bring in my cassette tapes and we can jam again during WRCOs' Those Were The Days between six and Midnite.  Help program the songs I play from the fifties through the eighties and see if you can find the answers to the trivia questions.

Phil

One of our guest dj's will star on Those Were The Days this Saturday night.  They have the opportunity because their family got the top bid during WRCOs' Walk With Grace radio auction which was held last Summer.  Jerry will get the chance to play some of his favorite songs during the first hour of Those Were The Days after his family gave him the hour of guest djing for Christmas!  I will be in the studio to take your request calls after that.  We will spotlight a Top Forty 'One Hit Wonder' when we talk about Wisconsin born Chi Coltrane who had a hit called Thunder And Lightning in 1972.  Perhaps you will win a prize when we ask a trivia question each hour during this Saturday nights' Those Were The Days'.  Hear the best of the fifties through the eighties on WRCO FM 100.9 Saturday night.

Phil

This Saturday night on Those Were The Days, I will dig out some of the hot hits from this weekend in 1974.  You will hear some Top Forty treasures such as: You're Sixteen-Ringo Starr, The Joker-Steve Miller Band, Helen Wheels-Paul McCartney & Wings, Smokin'In The Boys Room-Brownsville Station,  and Show And Tell-Al Wilson.  It was a wonderful time for popular music and Top Forty radio.  It reminds me of Ma and Pa taking little Philip out with them for a Friday night fish fry (it was hard for them to find someone to babysit me!)  Mom would save up her quarters and hand them to me one at a time so that I could go play the jukebox (three plays for a quarter).  Every other 25 cent piece would go into the pinball machine (I was not a pinball wizard so the money did not last long).  Join me for Those Were The Days this Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9 between 6 p and Midnight.  We have been spinning the old tunes since 1986.  It has been very rewarding.  Last Saturday night a listener requested 'Color My World' by Chicago for her son's 28th birthday.  She told me that I played that for her the night her son was born 28 years ago!  That really made my night. 

Thanks for listening.

Phil