Memories of Riitz Ballroom/Palladium NYC early 80's
Sept 17, 2024 19:56:50 GMT -5
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Post by flushingjet on Sept 17, 2024 19:56:50 GMT -5
I remember in the early 90s if the weather was clear, you could pick up W ABC or WFAN at night. I would bounce back-and-forth between Joe Benigno or Curtis Sliwa depending on what they were talking about. I was listening to Curtis Sliwa one night when he was talking about alien abductions and I figured I’d call the station and troll him. He made a big deal of the fact that I was listening to the radio station from Tennessee and then he asked me about being abducted by aliens. I told him a car pulled up and Mexicans told me to get in the car and give them my money. He hung up pretty quick .
The 50000 watt stations (most of the above) were
able to be heard for hundreds of miles at night,
I remember driving to Florida myself into the night and hearing WABC in the Carolinas straight down 95 clearly and WFAN to Chicago. It must have been curious/humorous for faraway audiences to hear ads for businesses like “Dennison’s, Union NJ, open 10 AM to 5 AM, money talks, nobody walks”
If you were so inclined, you could fill out a “QSL” card
to send to remote stations confirming your being able to
hear their broadcast…
WOR-AM especially in the morning was what my dad preferred- he
rose early to go to his “factory” located at 33-72 11 Street in LIC, his business as a machine shop he started in 1948 and kept going until fall of 1986. Helping to wind it up, I missed attending the Jets -Miami Wesley Walker shootout game. John A. Gambling was probably the most Ballbathering morning host ever to ensure a gentle awakening, but once Dad left the edgier Imus became our preferred morning program, though Harry Harrison was good too. My older brother and I often played the Byrds Greatest Hits for our morning school warmup, and why not it was a great collection like a big 45. Many years later 2017-2018 I worked for a company who took up a couple of floors in 1440 Broadway where WOR-AM, FM (later WXLO and KISS-FM)!and TV apparently had offices and the radio stations studios. No trace existed by then.
worfm.com/worfm.html