WNEW-FM is best remembered for one of its previous incarnations, a progressive rock radio format that began in 1967 and lasted into the 1990s. That station became very influential in the development of rock music during the 1970s and 1980s.
The station shared the WNEW call letters between 1958 and 1986 with former sister AM station WNEW (1130 kHz) and television station WNEW-TV, with all being owned by Metromedia.
The big announcement, 1966The lineup of disc jockeys during this stunt included actress and TV personality Peggy Cass, Alison Steele (who stayed on to become the "Night Bird" on the progressive rock format), Rita Sands (later with WCBS Newsradio 880), Margaret Draper, Ann Clements, Arlene Kieta, Pam McKissick, and Nell Bassett. The music was similar to that of WNEW (AM)'s MOR format. But only Cass, Steele, Sands, and Bassett had broadcast experience, and not as disc jockeys.
WNEW-FM profiles.
Meanwhile, the male DJs on WNEW (AM) were still very popular, so it was hard for WNEW-FM to find an audience. The all-female disc jockey lineup endured for a little more than a year, switching in September 1967 to a mixed-gender staff, before a major change the following month.
On October 30, 1967, WNEW-FM adopted a progressive rock radio format. It was not the first in New York to do so – WOR-FM preceded it – but it was the one that prospered and became famous for the format and that in turn influenced the rock listenership as well as the rock industry.
The original disc jockeys were Bill "Rosko" Mercer, who started on October 30, 1967; Jonathan Schwartz, who made his debut on November 16, 1967; and "the Professor" Scott Muni, who first appeared on November 18, 1967. Alison Steele would stay on from the female staff and eventually take over the overnight shift on January 1, 1968.
The station's disc jockeys would broadcast in ways that bore out their personalities: Morning host Dave Herman was not afraid to mix Erik Satie or Donna Summer into the playlist. Noontime host Pete Fornatale promoted the Beach Boys when it was not fashionable and later started his eclectic weekend Mixed Bag program. Afternoon host Muni would use his gravelly voice to introduce largely unknown British artists on his "Things from England" segments.
Nighttime host Schwartz was a raconteur who would sneak in the Sinatra pop standards that he not-so-secretly liked better than rock. Overnight host Steele would play new-age music and space rock groups in between readings of her equally spacey poetry. And weekend host Vin Scelsa started his idiosyncratic Idiots' Delight program, which soon gained a devoted following.
Other well-known disc jockeys who worked at the station included Dennis Elsas, Carol Miller, Pete Larkin, brothers Dan Neer and Richard Neer, Jim Monaghan, Pam Merly, Thom Morrera, Meg Griffin, and John Zacherle.
On October 30, 1967, WNEW-FM adopted a progressive rock radio format. It was not the first in New York to do so – WOR-FM preceded it – but it was the one that prospered and became famous for the format and that in turn influenced the rock listenership as well as the rock industry.
The original disc jockeys were Bill "Rosko" Mercer, who started on October 30, 1967; Jonathan Schwartz, who made his debut on November 16, 1967; and "the Professor" Scott Muni, who first appeared on November 18, 1967. Alison Steele would stay on from the female staff and eventually take over the overnight shift on January 1, 1968.
The station's disc jockeys would broadcast in ways that bore out their personalities: Morning host Dave Herman was not afraid to mix Erik Satie or Donna Summer into the playlist. Noontime host Pete Fornatale promoted the Beach Boys when it was not fashionable and later started his eclectic weekend Mixed Bag program. Afternoon host Muni would use his gravelly voice to introduce largely unknown British artists on his "Things from England" segments.
Nighttime host Schwartz was a raconteur who would sneak in the Sinatra pop standards that he not-so-secretly liked better than rock. Overnight host Steele would play new-age music and space rock groups in between readings of her equally spacey poetry. And weekend host Vin Scelsa started his idiosyncratic Idiots' Delight program, which soon gained a devoted following.
Other well-known disc jockeys who worked at the station included Dennis Elsas, Carol Miller, Pete Larkin, brothers Dan Neer and Richard Neer, Jim Monaghan, Pam Merly, Thom Morrera, Meg Griffin, and John Zacherle.
In the summer of 1969, Pete Fornatale sat in one night for Alison Steele. One of the first spots he read was for the upcoming Woodstock festival. He brought a small, portable recorder with him and sat it near the console and recorded himself. [ LISTEN ].
WNEW-FM was among the first stations to give Bruce Springsteen significant airplay, and conducted live broadcasts of key Springsteen concerts in 1975 and 1978.
Springsteen would sometimes call up the DJs during records. Later, Dave Herman featured a "Bruce Juice" segment each morning. John Lennon once stopped by to guest-DJ along with Dennis Elsas and appeared on-air several other times during his friend Scott Muni's afternoon slot.
Members of the Grateful Dead and other groups would hang out in the studio; Emerson, Lake & Palmer's visit to Muni's show is often credited for popularizing the group in America. In addition to music, youth-oriented comedy recordings such as from Monty Python would also be aired.
Springsteen would sometimes call up the DJs during records. Later, Dave Herman featured a "Bruce Juice" segment each morning. John Lennon once stopped by to guest-DJ along with Dennis Elsas and appeared on-air several other times during his friend Scott Muni's afternoon slot.
"Bruce Juice"Members of the Grateful Dead and other groups would hang out in the studio; Emerson, Lake & Palmer's visit to Muni's show is often credited for popularizing the group in America. In addition to music, youth-oriented comedy recordings such as from Monty Python would also be aired.
Richard Neer pitching Crawdaddy magazine and another ad for Pioneer stereo equipment featuring Elton John. The last two clips are mostly from Sept 21, 1975 based on the newscast included in the final clip. [ LISTEN ] (13:41) Crawdaddy was an American rock music magazine launched in 1966. It was created by Paul Williams, a college student at the time, in response to the increasing sophistication and cultural influence of popular music. The magazine was named after the Crawdaddy Club in London. Preceding both Rolling Stone and Creem, Crawdaddy was the training ground for many rock writers just finding the language to describe rock and roll, which was only then beginning to be written about as studiously as folk music and jazz. |
WNEW print ads.
Richard Neer, right, in the WNEW-FM studio circa 1986-87 with Glenn Frey of The Eagles, and Lisa Glasberg, who was the newsperson at the station at the time.
Another portion of a Richard Neer broadcast in 1975. [ LISTEN ] (7:25)
Scott Muni circa April, 1971 Grateful Dead Concert coverage w/Bill Graham.
This is a great aircheck in which Bill Graham tells a story of chasing down some creep who stole tickets to the show from some teenage girls.
But as aggressive a front as Bill Graham put up, you can tell that he was really shaken by the incident. And that's aside from the fact that this was still back in the days when WNEW-FM had the guts to broadcast live concerts and before consultants advised it was a bad idea. Some cool dialogue in between the band's sets.[ LISTEN ] (17:54)
The station thrived during the late 1970s when it helped boost the transition of the punk rock/new wave movement into the mainstream.
During this era, the station hosted many live broadcasts from the legendary Greenwich Village night club, The Bottom Line. Among the bands featured live from the club were The Police, Joe Jackson, Squeeze, The Records, Rachel Sweet, David Johansen, Rockpile, Mink DeVille and the Tom Robinson Band. Many of these bands were being spotlighted during their debut New York City performance.
At the same time, the station began to feel the threat of disco. They hired Gianettino and Meredith Advertising to come up with a way to communicate with the New York area. The pitch by creative director George Meredith to station manager Mel Karmazin: "You can't tell them what you want to say, which is 'Disco Sucks,' but you can tell them that 'Rock Lives.'"
That became their battle cry, and it could fairly be said that WNEW-FM earned the slogan "Where Rock Lives". The station's television commercials during these years featured the song "Layla" by Derek and the Dominos and was considered one of the station's anthems.
Alison Steele on December 6, 1978: Here's a nice 30-minute aircheck that begins with the end of the Dennis Elsas show and includes news with Andy Fisher. [ LISTEN ] (30:21)
Beginning in the mid 1970s and extending into the 1980s, WNEW fielded a successful softball team, the WNEW All-Stars, playing in and around the New York metropolitan area and competing in the New York Sports and Entertainment League. Among the All-Stars were DJs Thom Morrera, Jim Monaghan, Richard Neer, Dan Neer and Pat Dawson, along with Crawdaddy editor Peter Knobler at shortstop, music business regulars Bobby Diebold, Jack Hopke, Ed Vitale, Matt Birkbeck, Ralph Cuccurullo and John "Boots" Boulos in the outfield, and Michael "Chopper" Boulos at second base.
LAST NIGHT OF THE FILLMORE EAST
June 27, 1971. Bill Graham wisely did not want to choose one radio station to present a live broadcast of the last concert at the Fillmore East to the detriment of another, so both WNEW-FM and WPLJ broadcast the event. The acts included Albert King, J. Geils w/ guest John Lee Hooker, Edgar Winter's White Trash, Mountain and the Beach Boys. The Allman Brothers and Country Joe McDonald also played that night, but either they weren't included in the broadcast or weren't included in this aircheck.
Jocks heard include Scott Muni, Pete Fornatale, Dave Herman, Michael Cuscuna, Alison Steele, Mike Harrison, Howard Smith, Mike Klefner and Vin Scelsa.
Note Pete Fornatale's closing genius prediction about the potential future ability to purchase such a concert in some form of video. That wasn't so obvious back in 1971.
Note that as usual, the songs are scoped. Blame the DMCA for that.
On the evening of December 8, 1980, following news of the murder of John Lennon, WNEW-FM opened up its lines for calls from listeners.
In the 1980s, the station gradually adopted a more conventional album-oriented rock format, and sometimes seemed stodgy compared to college radio stations playing alternative rock.
When long-time competitor WPLJ switched away from rock in 1983, WNEW-FM picked up some of its most popular DJs, such as Carol Miller, and years later, Pat St. John, who would take over the morning show and programming duties.
By the 1990s, the station was further losing relevance in the face of the popularity of grunge rock and so became more of a classic rock station. It spent its remaining music days flip flopping between a variety of classic, adult album and alternative rock.
In late Fall of 1967, when WOR-FM dropped free-form rock in favor of a Bill Drake format, WNEW-FM hired ex-WOR-FM jocks Rosko (Bill Mercer) and Scott Muni and added Jonathan Schwartz and Dick Summer along with Steele and Bassett. Bassett left soon after but Alison became "The Nightbird".
November 27/28, 1967. Judging by the newscast, this aircheck representing about an hour of air time about a month after Rosko joined WNEW-FM. The music is quite diverse with tracks from Captain Beefheart, the Cyrkle, Melanie, Richie Havens, Jefferson Airplane, The Sandpipers, the Bee Gees, Miriam Makeba, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and others.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3. Rosko again interviewing John Lennon in July, 1969. Yoko and Timothy Leary also join the call, recorded over a phone line. [ LISTEN ].
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3. Rosko again interviewing John Lennon in July, 1969. Yoko and Timothy Leary also join the call, recorded over a phone line. [ LISTEN ].
Alison Steele, February 11, 1969 (62:08) The Nightbird, doing her flight till dawn, setting up musical moods and motifs that were suitable to late-night radio in the psychedelic sixties. Part 1 (29:14) | Part 2 (32:54)
On February 13, 1975, John Lennon stopped in at WNEW-FM to play DJ and to promote his new album of rock standards, Rock 'n Roll, which would be released four days later. Lennon's visit to WNEW-FM was mostly a promotion for the album.
After his death in 1980, a special was put together by The Source that included many segments of this show, but also added other Lennon tracks. The version heard here, contributed by both Dan McCue and Ken Tullipano, merges the two versions together. [ LISTEN ]
(TOP RIGHT) Unknown, Dennis Elsas, Alison Steele, Richard Neer, Scott Muni, Dave Herman, Pete Fornatale, and Vin Scelsa, circa 1979.
(BOTTOM RIGHT) From WNEW-FM's 1979 calendar reinforces the image of WNEW-FM as a rock station for adults. It's therefore welcoming all those who "graduated" from listening to top-40 stations, especially AM stations. WNEW-FM produced and sold these calendars each year with the proceeds going to charity. It was a great promotion that garnered station and air personality loyality while also doing some good.
WHO WORKED AT WNEW-FM? Here is the list: 'Brooklyn's Own' Joe Causi, Wolfman Jack, Bob 'Bob-A-Loo' Lewis, Scott Muni, Rosko, Vin Scelsa, Pat St. John, Allison Steele, Dick Summer, and Andi Turco.
Some materials found on this page were originally published by the following: Let The Universe Answer, New York Radio Archive.
