WRCO Blog

I am happy to have grown up when I did.  Being born at the end of the 'Baby Boomer' generation, I got to hear first hand stories of the great depression.  Stories from veterans of the greatest generation have stayed with me my whole life.  Many Summer nights were spent with family and friends telling true life tales while sitting on the front porch of the old farm house.  Neighbors would stop by and everyone was welcome as mom would pull out steaks from the Westinghouse chest freezer and throw them on the grill for the gathering.  I used to love to play disc jockey and would prop the speakers of my Airline brand stereo against the screen door so that everyone could hear my tunes.  I recall nights like those when listeners call me on Saturday nights during Those Were The Days and tell me about their get togethers.  It is like I am still that kid playing his records through the screen door!   When I think of Summers in the early seventies, I think about pick up softball games on Sunday afternoons.  Young and old would show up and a game would start.  Sometimes we would play until it was time to start the next round of farm chores.  After a hot Summer day, a great treat would be a sweet and sticky popsicle.  Does anyone remember black cherry popsicles?   A door to door salesman would stop at the farm.  He was independent of any brand name company.  He had all kinds of groceries in his truck.  You could go inside and shop.  One of the items I would convince mother to buy was a box of black cherry popsicles.  They were the double stick kind.  You could hold on to your sugary treat with both hands!  The radio provided a soundtrack and Summer songs are nearer and dearer to me than songs from any season.  In the Summer of 1971 there were many great tunes including:  Treat Her Like A Lady-Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose,  Don't Pull Your Love-Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds,  Love Her Madley-Doors,  It Don't Come Easy-Ringo Starr,  Joy To The World-Three Dog Night,  Brown Sugar-Rolling Stones,  It's Too Late-Carole King and many more.  I will be in the studio Saturday night for another edition of the fifties through the eighties Those Were The Days radio show.  You can request any pop hit from that era and I will see if I can find it.  Let's create some new Summer memories and have a popsicle this Saturday night between six and Midnight.

Phil

This Saturday night on Those Were The Days, I will dig out some of the hot hits from the Summer of 1970.  Courtesy of ForgottenHits.com we will look at the biggest songs of 1970 Summertime in the Chicagoland area.  Many of us tuned into those Chicago radio stations and the music was the soundtrack of our summertime lives.   Our friend Kent Kotal, the gate keeper of Forgotten hits, has given permission to use countdowns from his website for our favorite Summer tributes.  Join me this weekend for a look back at 1970 featuring songs from artists such as: Jackson Five,  Three Dog Night,  Stevie Wonder,  Mungo Jerry,  and Chicago.  These were the hot hits during a magical Summer. 

This Sunday is Fathers Day.  My father was a music lover.  He had a wonderful collection of 78 r.p.m. records and always had the radio on in the barn and in the kitchen of the old farm house.   He was always aware of current songs and would often tell me that he liked a song that I liked.  I can't imagine what it is like to not have a good relationship with your father.  My dad was a farmer but inspired me more by his love of music and sports on the radio.   He was always listening to a local, state, or national game.  I consider myself very fortunate to have had such a great father.  He had a great sense of humor and the goal was to get him to laugh.  He used to listen to Those Were The Days and he liked to laugh at some of the foolish commercials that play during  the show.  I hope you will join me this Saturday night between 6 and Midnight for the best of the fifties through the eighties.  Perhaps you can request a song for your pops!  I will be in the studio with another edition of Those Were The Days.

Phil

During the Summer of 1965, some of the most memorable Top Forty radio hits of all time were released.  While I was very young that year,  they tell me I was already on the radio.  My parents had to get me down before I scratched the finish on the old RCA radio in the living room.  Remember how those stereo record player/radios were centerpieces of many a front room?  My dad bought the one in our living room in the late 1940's.  It was made way before stereo.  It had a radio that could pull in signals from all over the country.  Those old radios had such a warm sound to them.  We were still listening to that set until one day in the late sixties when we waited for the tubes to warm and the radio never came on.  It is now in my living room today.  The radio and record player still don't work, however, it is such a beautiful piece of furniture and it does hold a lot of dvds in the cabinet.  This week on Those Were The Days from WRCO FM 100.9,  I will be playing a few of those classics that you may have heard coming through the radio speakers in 1965.  Some of the 1965 Summer hits included:  Satisfaction-Rolling Stones,  Save Your Heart For Me-Gary Lewis,  Wonderful World-Hermans Hermits,  Help Me Rhonda-Beach Boys,  Down In the Boondocks-Billy Joe Royal,  I Can't Help Myself-Four Tops,  Wooly Bully-Sam the Sham,  For Your Love-Yardbirds,  and Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me-Mel Carter.  All of those hits have been in constant rotation on oldies radio since 1965.  You can certainly request any pop radio hit from the fifties through the eighties Saturday night.  Last week we talked to more new friends around Southwest Wisconsin that were discovering our show for the first time.  I will be at the controls again this weekend.  Tune in 100.9 and crank it up!

Philip

In the late seventies, my Summer income came from helping bale hay.  The parents paid me twenty-five cents for every load of hay I helped unload.  It took about twenty loads to be able to have enough money to buy an album.  Forty years ago the first Cars album was released (June 6th, 1978).  On a rainy day when the hay was wet, I could go blow my hay making money for albums such as the first album by that Boston based band.  I got a lot of use out of this fine album because there were three radio hits and the entire album was featured on album oriented radio stations.  Later I used it for the mobile dj business. Many local bands would play songs from the Cars first album.  There was a local band called 'The Craze' and they played Ithacas' prom.  They played the entire first side of the Cars album (Good Times Roll, My Best Friends Girl,  Just What I Needed,  I'm In Touch With Your World, and Dont Cha Stop).  Tim and Cindy Richardson and the rest of the Craze band impressed at least one 16 year old kid.  I put a lot of black marks on the gym floor from my dress shoes that night.   This week on WRCO FM 100.9, Those Were The Days will be again be cranking out the hits from the fifties through the eighties.  You can contribute to the program by requesting a song.  Take a trivia challenge and enjoy a six hour tribute to some of the greatest melodies ever put on a vinyl disc.   Thank you for all of the positive words about the program.  If I did not have a transmitter, I would still sit around and play the old tunes on Saturday nights.  I am very blessed that it is part of the job and there are people that actually listen. 

Phil

When school would get out in May,  I would get off the bus and get on the Farmall Super C tractor and cultivate corn for the next month.  It was a way for my parents to give me something to occupy my time and perhaps it was punishment for phone calls they received during the school year from Mr. Modjeski.  There were only a couple of bright points of this long and boring job.  Once in a while when I was at the end of the row near Highway B, a cute girl from my school would go by.  I was motivated when I thought about her being impressed by that hard working Phil Nee on his 23 horsepower tractor.  The other bright part of riding the tractor all day, while turtles from Willow creek got to the end of the row before you did, was trying to listen to the radio.  My Panasonic AM radio came with a white ear plug.  You could hear the radio only if you cranked the volume and you held your hand over your other ear.  This made it even harder to stay in the corn rows.  The Super C motor also caused static over my favorite songs.  This week in 1978 I was struggling to hear songs such as:  Baby Hold On-Eddie Money,  Werewolves Of London-Warren Zevon,  Because The Night-Patti Smith Group,  Sweet Talking Woman-Electric Light Orchestra,  Still The Same-Bob Seger,  Only The Good Die Young-Billy Joel,  and Shadow Dancing-Andy Gibb.   Forty years later I can hear the songs better with my radio/hearing protector headphones.  I still do drive a Farmall Super C when I am mowing the grass.  Even after 40 years, the ladies going by on the highway are still not impressed.    This week on Those Were The Days from WRCO FM 100.9, I will be taking those old records off the shelf.  Give me a call this holiday weekend while you are doing fun stuff.  I will be in the studio between six and Midnight Saturday night.   You could be one of our six big winners from the trivia challenges. 

Philip  (corn cultivator boy of the year 1978)

I graduated from high school in May of 1982.  You have never heard such a roar as the one that came from the Ithaca teachers the night they finally got rid of my class!   We were ready to conquer the World.  I noticed right away how much more stress there was when a small community was no longer looking out for you.  There are many more deadlines, student loans, security deposits, competition for jobs, and lonely nights away from home. Uncle Ricco in the movie Napoleon Dynamite felt that pain of missing high school.  In the film he even tried to go back to that year with a time travel machine he bought on the internet. We can't physically go back, so music is the only way.  Music has always been a comfort for me and in the Spring of 1982 there were lots of songs for which I would turn up the volume including:  Heat Of The Moment-Asia, Hang Fire-Rolling Stones,  Fantasy-Aldo Nova,  I Love Rock n' Roll-Joan Jett,  Don't Talk To Strangers-Rick Springfield,  and We Got The Beat-The Go-Go's.  My classmates were also jamming to these songs in May of '82 as Mr. Mojeski (our fearless principle) gave his speech about not seeing 'eye to eye with the class of 1982'.  I wasn't paying attention, because I was worrying about finding a blank cassette tape so I could make a mix tape to impress my girl friend.  My cassette/Walkman had two ear phone jacks so that we could both listen to the cool tunes at the same time.   We will be jamming with the hits of 1982 along with all of the requests for songs from the fifties through the eighties on this Saturday nights Those Were The Days on FM 100.9.  Listen and win during trivia time.  We will have a blast from our past between six and midnight courtesy of 100.9 FM.     

Phil

It has been fifty years since 1968.  It was Top Forty radios'  finest time.  There were songs that were two to three minutes long.  Music in all kinds of styles including: rock, folk, country, r & b, and middle of the road all existing on the same charts.  Some of the first songs I remember hearing on the radio came out in 1968.  Bobby Goldsboro's song Honey played that entire year.  The Beatles' latest was Lady MaDonna,  James Brown was singing I Got A Feelin',  Sly & The Family Stone were encouraging us to Dance To The Music,  and the Box Tops had their second hit with Cry Like A Baby.  The radio in our farm kitchen always had music going.  I remember the radio reports in June of 1968 when Bobby Kennedy was killed, updates on student protests and the violent Democratic Convention in Chicago in the Summer of that year.  While I was not old enough to understand what was happening,  I could tell by the reactions and the conversations of the adults around me that it was a rough time.  The music gave everyone an escape route.   I hope you will join me for musical memories from 1968 and for your rock and roll requests from the fifties through the eighties during Saturday nights Those Were The Days radio show.  We will be offering you the chance to win prizes during our trivia contests.  I hope you will remember to tune in 100.9 Fm Saturday night during Those Were the Days.

Phil Nee

Saturday night on FM 100.9  we will spend some time playing the songs from the fifties through the eighties that you request.  I will also share excerpts of an interview I recorded recently with John Galobich.  He was a member of a group that almost made it big.  The Richochettes had a few 45's that got played in Milwaukee and across Wisconsin and Illinois.  They opened shows for the Rolling Stones, Dave Clark Five,  the Mindbenders, and other big names of the 1960's.  John has great stories about that time in music and has written a couple of books.  Milwaukee had many great bands at that time including:  Esquires,  Legends,  Little Artie & the Pharoahs, Harvey Scales & the Seven Sounds, Messengers, and The Robbs.   We still play some of the records that these groups released.  In those days artists could cut a record and take it to the nearest radio station for airplay.  There were many charts that featured songs from local and regional groups that ranked right along with the Beatles and the biggest bands of the day.    I will attempt to take you back to that magical era this Saturday night during Those Were The Days on WRCO FM 100.9 starting at 6 pm. Get ready for trivia!  Thanks for reading.

Phil

The Spring of 1976 was a wonderful time in my life.  I was twelve and would be thirteen later that year.   The radio was on every where I went.  My Panasonic portable went everywhere with me.  The radio was on while I was riding the bus, at school in the Art room.  The farm truck and the barn radio kept me going while I was doing the chores.   When I look at the chart today, I realize that I could have named the top fifty songs on the pop charts at my tender age back in '76.  Some Spring favorites included:  Let Your Love Flow-Bellamy Brothers,  Right Back Where We Started From-Maxine Nightingale,  Dream Weaver-Gary Wright,  Show Me The Way-Peter Frampton,  Bohemian Rhapsody-Queen,  December 1963 (Oh What A Night)-Four Seasons,   Dream On-Aerosmith,  Take It To The Limit-Eagles,  Lorelei-Styx,  Rhiannon (Will You Ever Win)-Fleetwood Mac,  and Shout It Out Loud-Kiss.  It is still fun to jam to these songs today!  We will spin a few 1976 gems and we will play your requests this Saturday night.  Get ready for trivia because six times (one per hour) we will quiz you on pop culture from the fifties through the eighties.  I may also play a few Record Store Day gems.  Saturday April 21st is Record Store Day across the World.  A journey to Madison with one of my fellow record nerds should produce some vinyl gems.  I have been saving my pop and peanuts allowance (don't tell June).  Hopefully I will find a few rare gems in Madison Saturday.   Thank you for reading.

Phil

One of our all time favorite guests will join us on the phone during our six hour rock and roll retro show on Saturday night.  Ray Graffia of the New Colony Six will look back on the history of that Chicago group.  It has been fifty years since the Six had the big hit 'I Will Always Think About You'.    It has been over twenty years since the New Colony Six celebrated our Those Were The Days anniversary show with a concert here in Richland Center.  My wife, June, was not feeling well that night.  She had just found out that our family was going to expand.  Our son, James, will be twenty in July!  The current NC6 will be a part of the Cornerstones of Chicago Rock show at this years Summerfest on June 28th!  The New Colony Six had a couple of well known national hits, however, several other songs were hits here in Wisconsin thanks to WLS radio.  The group has always been a request favorite on Those Were The Days.  I have talked with listeners that remember their Chicago heros playing at a high school or local community building here in Southwest Wisconsin.   We will hear from Ray Graffia, the request line will be wide open, the trivia bell will be ringing, and I will be in the studio this Saturday night to weave everything together.  What a show we have planned!   Perhaps you can join the party.  Just tune to 100.9  WRCO FM 100.9 between six and midnight for pop radio memories from the fifties through the eighties.

Philip James Nee

Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9, we will be flying back to 1973.  I have argued with other music nerds about that year.  It seems to me that it was one of the best years of the seventies for rock and roll music.  Others seem to feel that there were way to many  non-rock hits and cheese story songs.  They are not wrong, however, that is what makes the year good.  There was music for everyone. I had a great year buying records.  There were songs from Elton John, Deep Purple,  Paul McCartney, Led Zepplin, Carly Simon, Loggins & Messina, Spinners, and Joe Walsh released during the first six months of the year.  We will spend some time hanging out in 1973 during the second half of Those Were The Days.   In the first half of our Saturday night radio show,  I will bring back stacks of one hit wonders from the seventies.  I have dedicated two six hour shows to one hit artists in the past.  It seems the seventies featured more memorable one shots than any other decade.  Some of my faves include:  Reflections Of My Life-Marmalade,  Dancing In the Moonlight-King Harvest,  Beach Baby-First Class,  Magic-Pilot,  Hot Child In The City-Nick Gilder,  Drivers Seat-Sniff n' The Tears,  Do You Know What I Mean-Lee Michaels,  Smoke From  A Distant Fire-Sanford Townsend Band,  Get It On-Chase,  Tighter & Tighter-Alive n' Kickin',  White Lies-Blue Eyes-Bullet,  and Ma Belle Amie-The Tea Set.   It will be a pleasure to spin a few of these on my Close and Play record player this weekend.  I will not be in the studio to take your requests and give away trivia prizes  this weekend. Those features will return next Saturday night.  I hope you tune in to Those Were The Days on FM 100.9 on Saturday night.

Phil

On our Those Were The Days radio program Saturday night, I will be heading back to the Spring of 1981 through the theater of the mind which is music!  It was a great time to be listening to the radio.  There was a new artist on the radio that called himself John Cougar.  His record 'Aint Even Done With The Night' was one of the best coming from those 3 inch radio speakers.  Another top Phil Nee jam was from a band out of Canada.  They had a great rocker back in 1972 called 'Could Have Been A Lady'.  In 1981 April Wine was back on the scene with 'Just Between You and Me'. (I think that was the prom theme for a few area high schools).  Another Canada band called Loverboy was breaking through with 'Turn Me Loose'.  Blondie was heading to number one with the first Top Forty song to feature a rap.  The tune was called 'Rapture'.  I was outstanding in my field playing baseball for the mighty Ithaca Bulldogs.  It was hard to focus on the game for a young fellow that had all of those tunes running through his head and a girlfriend that was running for the track team at the other end of the football field.  How was a guy supposed to be alert for a fly ball in right field and look over his shoulder at a pretty girl at the same time?  The times they were tough!  That young lady surprised me with a gift after a game one night.  She bought me the latest REO Speedwagon album (High Infidelity).   I have transfered that to digital after all of these years and if you request an REO song Saturday night, it will be from the dub of that album she gifted me all of those years ago.  I hope you will tune in to Those Were The Days this holiday weekend while you are hanging out with family and friends.  Request a song and try to solve the trivia questions during the FM 100.9 radio program between six and Midnight Saturday night.  We will be spinning the best of the fifties through the eighties.

Philip Nee

I can vividly recall a classmate bringing 45's of the 1910 Fruitgum Company to school.  The teacher would play Simon Says on the classroom turntable that was built like a tank.  The entire class would play the game.  I rarely got to go out for a recess because of my mouth running (which now I get paid for).  On those rainy days when the rest of the class had to stay inside with me, we would listen to those little records that were pressed on the Buddah label.  This Saturday night I get to talk to one of the founding members of the 1910 Fruitgum Company (Frank Jeckell) during my Those Were The Days radio show.   It was fifty years ago this month when the song Simon Says was peaking in the Top Ten.   Hear about Bubblegum music and request a song between six and Midnight during our fifties, sixties, seventies, and eighties radio show on FM 100.9.  Spring is finally here!  It will not be long before campfire gangs and campers will calling for songs.  It is very rewarding to hear from listeners of all ages.  I hope to hear from you during Those Were The Days this Saturday night.

Phil

I am excited about the arrivial of Spring.  The cold March winds keep slapping me in the face this week.  Perhaps some warm Spring songs on WRCO FM 100.9 Saturday night will motivate Mother Nature to bring on the next season. During our  Those Were The Days radio program, we will play a few Spring related songs from the fifties through the eighties.  One of the earliest rock and roll songs that paid tribute to the new season came from a group of local guys.  They were known as the Kollege Kings and later were renamed Vilas Craig and the ViCounts.  A record called Spring Fever was recorded in April of 1959 at Kay Bank Studios in Minneapolis.  This has been requested during the Saturday night show often over the years.  Many remember seeing Vilas and the band play live around Wisconsin.  Others like the sound of a record that was a hard rocking song and perhaps ahead of its time.  There are other songs that remind me of Spring even though the lyrics don't have anyting to do with the season.  That first time I could ride my Huffy bike (which featured a banana seat) following a long Winter was heavenly for a young boy.  I would strap my Panasonic radio to the back and try to catch some tunes while I rode to the main road.  My dad would be working in the tractor shed getting ready to turn some soil and plant the oats.  It is amazing how certain songs can paint a picture in your mind that is very vivid even though it may have been forty to forty-five yeears ago.  I will be spinning some tunes on WRCO FM 100.9 Saturday night that will paint memories.  We will be playing trivia and taking your requests.  Celebrate Spring, St Patrick's Day,  the weekend, family and friends, or whatever you want!  Just make sure you tune in WRCOs' Those Were The Days on FM 100.9.  It could get wild this Saturday night!

Phil

This week I interviewed singer/songwriter Andy Kim.  When I mentioned to someone that I was talking with Andy, they said "I thought he was dead".  They, like many over the years, are not sure who he is and some think Andy Gibb and Andy Kim were the same person. With all of his success, it is ironic that he remains all but nameless and faceless today.  Most people know Andy Kim's music.  He recorded twelve songs that made the Top 100 including:  How'd We Ever Get This Way,  Baby, I Love You,  Be My Baby and a 1974 number one song called Rock Me Gently.  His most famous song came as a co-writer with Jeff Barry.  The two wrote Sugar, Sugar which went to number one for the cartoon group the Archies in 1969.  Andy Kim is a great guy that I have gotten to know through the years and he has some cool stories.  Saturday night hear how John Lennon presented Andy with a gold record for the record Rock Me Gently.  One of the most rewarding things about this program is that I have had the chance to talk with many artists that I grew up hearing on the radio.  Andy Kim is one of those musicians.  I will be in the studio to take your requests from the fifites throught the eighties.  Perhaps you will be the winner of our always tough trivia games.  Those Were The Days can be heard on WRCO FM 100.9 between six and Midnight each Saturday night.

Phil

This Saturday night on WRCOs'  Those Were The Days,  some of our rock and roll era lady friends may be stopping by.  There have been many songs inspired by and written about ladies.  Some of our favorite rock and roll women include:  Barbara Ann, Ruby Tuesday, Beth,  Sharona, Proud Mary, Brandy,  Sweet Caroline,  Angie, Layla, Sherry,  Roxanne, Billie Jean,  Lucy In The Sky, Peggy Sue, and Donna.  If all of those pretty ladies are going to be in the studio,  I had better thow on a splash of Brut aftershave and take a Saturday night bath!  I hope you will request a song from our vast library of hits.  Perhaps you will ask for a song with a girls name in the title or another lost gem from the fifties through the eighties.  We will be trying to stump you with trivia questions inspired by the era.  This Saturday night during Those Were The Days on FM 100.9.

Phil

There are many that say that rock and roll was going down hill until the Beatles came along and saved it in 1964.  There is no doubt that the Fab Four brought excitement and several British artists took rock and roll in a different direction.  In 1963 there were some good sounding 45's on the charts.  The great records included:  Walk Like A Man-Four Seasons,  Ruby Baby-Dion,  In Dreams-Roy Orbison,  He's So Fine-Chiffons,  Little Town Flirt-Del Shannon, Up On The Roof-The Drifters, and The Night Has A Thousand Eyes-Bobby Vee.  Although I am not able to remember the first time these songs were on the radio,  I do have fond memories of hearing them a few years later and becoming an instant fan.  Those early Bobby Vee records were outstanding and years later I was able to strike up a friendship with the pride of Fargo, North Dakota.  He was on the phone with me several times during my years of hosting Those Were The Days.  This week during our tribute to the fifties through the eighties, we will stop for a bit in 1963 and feature your rock and roll requests from all of the decades that we play.  We will have a full night of music and sports updates from the high school Winter sports post season.  Lets have some fun this Saturday night between six and Midnight.

Phil

This Saturday night during Those Were The Days we will take a trip back to 1978.  A look at the music chart from forty years ago and your rock and roll requests will be featured on our six hour retro show called Those Were The Days.  In 1978 I was just starting to take mental notes about the young ladies at my school.  They were some of my good friends.  In fact, they would tell me so each time I suggested that 'we go together'!    This was usually followed by "You are so funny Phil. Would you go find out if Paul likes me, likes me"?    I was usually the go between friend that would find out the inside information on the love interests of Ithaca.  I knew all of the cool hits as most of my spare and work time at home involved the radio playing in the background.  This week in 1978 there were many great jams including: We Are The Champions-Queen,  Peg-Steely Dan,  What's Your Name?-Lynyrd Skynyrd, Long, Long Way From Home-Foreigner,  Thunder Island-Jay Ferguson, Name Of The Game-ABBA, and Breakdown-Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.  Those were some good songs to put on a mix tape for a young lady that really liked Paul!  Perhaps when Paul told her that he liked Tami, she would listen to her tape and realize what a great guy old Phil Nee was.  I knew that I was not going to win her over with my looks or athletic ability.  It had to be my wit and my music collection.  Those Were The Days on WRCO FM 100.9 will hit the airwaves with hits this Saturday night between six and Midnight on WRCO FM 100.9.

Phil

This Saturday night during Those Were The Days on WRCO FM 100.9, we will fly back to 1971.  New songs that month which are now classics include:  Your Song-Elton John, Love The One Your're With-Stephen Stills,  Immigrant Song-Led Zepplin, and Knock Three Times-Dawn.  The television show All In The Family was a brand new program,  Apollo 14 was making news,  and Evel Knievel was settting a world record by jumping his motorcycle over nineteen cars.  What a time it was to be listening to my wonderful AM radio and those far off signals on a cold Winter night.  The shows on the Curtis Matthis television set were coming in clear except for an occasional low flying plane taking off or landing at the Richland County airport at Sextonville that would provide interference that was picked up on our VHF antenna.   The music will take us back and make us feel young this Saturday night during Those Were The Days. I will be here to take your requests and we will play trivia with one major question per hour during the six hour show. 

We had a great time this past Saturday night.  There were many requests that we have not had the chance to play for a long time.  The last half hour we were nearly stuck in the late fifties and sixties!  That is what makes the show so much fun.  We never know from week to week where we are going.  The show is listener driven.  Listen again this weekend for the best of the fifties through the eighties during Those Were The Days.

Phil Nee

This Saturday night on WRCO FM 100.9, we will pay tribute to the artists lost fifty-nine years ago in 1959.   Our Those Were The Days radio program will highlight songs from the careers of Buddy Holly,  Ritchie Valens, and the J.P. 'The Big Bopper'  Richardson.  They were killed in a plane crash along with pilot Roger Peterson all of those years ago.  I have been to Clear Lake, Iowa and visited the Surf Ballroom which was the last play the three stars performed.  My visit was nearly thirty years ago and I can vividly recall walking the farm field out to the crash site.  At that time it was barely marked.  It was a strange feeling holding up the picture and realizing it was the same old rusty barbed wire that was there the night of the crash.  Our WRCO weather almanac lists the record high and low temperatures for each day of the year.  It is amazing how many record low temps still remain from that Winter of 1958-59.  Those were horribly cold days and nights and some of the biggest names in music were riding on an old school bus with no heat.  This would never happen in 2018.  During Those Were The Days on FM 100.9 Saturday night, we will not dwell on the sadness of the event and the what might have beens.  We will spin some of the biggest hits of the trio.  We will also take your calls for songs and the trivia games will be going on.  I hope you will join me for a celebration of the greatest music of the fifties through the eighties Saturday night from six until midnight on WRCO FM 100.9.

Phil