REEL TOP 40 RADIO REPOSITORY
|
|
In 1985, Radio & Records dubbed Art Vuolo as "Radio's Best Friend." Art Vuolo (pronounced Vo-Low), Jr. is actively involved in radio, television, video production and journalism. He is a 1969 graduate of Eastern Michigan University with a B.S. degree in speech. In his senior year at EMU he developed the concept of RADIOGUIDES designed for people who travel. Art is president of The RADIOGUIDE People, Inc. and has circulated over 100 million RADIOGUIDES throughout the country since 1972.
Art first lived in New Jersey, spent 11 "wonder years" in Indianapolis (where his passion for radio began) and has been a resident of Michigan since 1962. He got into radio by assisting the late
With the advent of home video in early 1976, Art was one of the first to purchase a He has taken his love of both radio and video and combined them into "Vuolo Video Air-Chex."Windy City" Airchecks from the late Tim Benko are also available from Art.
Art lives and works in Novi, a NW suburb of Detroit. He was made a lifetime member of the Ypsilanti Area Jaycees, and has helped countless people get into the broadcasting business.
The Repository thanks Art Vuolo for sharing!
|
|
[Descriptions credited with each exhibit] |
TOP STREAM 32 Kbps (11 Khz)
Magic Chris Connor, WNAP Indianapolis, December 1968 (04:44)
. . . 1937 was the year . . . [Description by Uncle Ricky, contributed by Art Vuolo] Magic Chris Connor has a full rack of drop-ins and effects, including a personal manservant named "Howard", on this rare aircheck of high-energy Top 40 on WNAP-FM, Indianapolis. And speaking of drop-ins, Connor uses one of the Super Wonder Dog Blue recordings, which was also in use by Long John Silver at WAYS in Charlotte, N.C., at the same time. That dog sure got around! The station went through some significant changes in the years that followed. This exhibit survived as a scoped, fluttery reel recording, made after Christmas and before New Year's Eve, 1968. In addition to Connor's upbeat delivery (inspired by Barney Pip a few years earlier?) there are PAMS jingles, not the custom Heller tracks heard on WNAP airchecks from 1972-1975. |
|
|
TOP STREAM 64 Kbps (14 Khz STEREO)
Mike Griffen, WNAP-FM Indianapolis, IN 1973 (01:19:23)
. . . The Wrath Of The Buzzard . . . [Description by Uncle Ricky, contributed by Art Vuolo]
Without a doubt, this is the most aggressive (musically) and varietal (not diverse!) FM Top-40 station of the early Seventies I have ever heard, at least on the "rock" side. And we get to hear the EEEEE-lectronic Mama jingle up front, too. There are long sweeps of album cuts that will require me to consult my AOR music expert to prepare the music reports (yes, we pay fees to stream music, please
But what a strange LACK of balance - what would otherwise be an Album-Oriented FM of the period interrupted with Tie A Yellow Ribbon and Playground in My Mind! Wow, this is almost surreal, particularly with This is the last hour or so of morning drive, and there's a bit of Mike Charles on the tail. |
|
|
|
TOP STREAM 32 Kbps (16 Khz)
WXLW Indianapolis Wants to Give You 20 Thousand Dollars (13:26)
. . . WXLW Wants to Give You Twenty Thousand Dollars . . . [Description by Uncle Ricky, contributed by Art Vuolo]
For those of you who haven't discovered our first WXLW exhibit, you're about to be truly tweaked. This is the madness of early '70's Top 40 taken to the max, with awesome "imaging" (they didn't call it that, then) by the late Gary Gears. Repetition, Repetition, Repetition! Is it still OK to air a promo that says, "Write It Down"? I think not, I think Arbitron declared this a no-no a few years after this. After all, it's too suggestive to tell your listeners to write your call letters in their diaries. We can't have listeners honestly reporting their listening. |
|
|
|
TOP STREAM 44 Kbps (14 Khz)
Robert W. Morgan, KIQQ-FM L.A., January 21, 1974 (01:17:45)
. . . the new station that won't put you on, but will try to turn you on . . . [Description by Uncle Ricky, contributed by Art Vuolo]
As always, Robert W. Morgan is fantastic. Fidelity is exceptional. I suspect this was the first, or one of the first, Robert W. Morgans on KIQQ-FM (K-100). January 21, 1974 was a Monday, and what better time to introduce a new Morgan guy?
Unfortunately, Boss Expert
Morgan's old bud B.R. Bradbury is featured with several newscasts, and the same social problems that existed in 1974 (gangs, violent crime) are as troubling 30+ years later. You'll also hear a couple of recorded RWM promos for K-100 - they're quick, listen closely, and remember that it's the Dawn Of A New Radio Day. Interesting that Drake-Chenault didn't feel they needed jingles to be successful on FM — they just needed Hit Music and Super Talent. And what happened? How bizarre that Drake's trendsetting FM stations in both NY (WOR, years earlier) and LA (1974) didn't have the huge success that seemed appropriate. Perhaps, in both cases, FM penetration (or the sampling methodology) simply wasn't sufficient to tip the diary totals. | ||
|
|
|
TOP STREAM 32 Kbps (14 Khz)
Charlie Tuna, KKDJ-FM L.A., January 22, 1974 (58:43) . . . Everybody in the United States has lost an hour - everybody except President Nixon, who's lost an hour and eighteen minutes . . . [Description by Uncle Ricky, contributed by Art Vuolo]
Charlie Tuna offers a "crisp, clean ten dollar bill" if you can name the flashbacks played in the previous hour on KKDJ. He also opens his Radio Hotline, where listeners can ask for advice. Charlie calls Laughline for a sneak preview World Exclusive — an interview with The Time Lady. And it's strange to hear a spot for Happy Days, a new program for the ABC television network. | ||
|
|
|
TOP STREAM 32 Kbps (14 Khz)
Charlie Van Dyke KHJ Los Angeles, January 22, 1974 (01:00:04) . . . K H J Los Angeles, with a cash call stash worth Five Thousand Dollars . . . [Description by Uncle Ricky, contributed by Art Vuolo] And now, we have the third entry in the Los Angeles Morning Drive Top 40 Battle Of The Champions, January, 1974! It's Charlie Van Dyke on KHJ, along with Marv Howard and extended news reports. In addition to the Original Radio Spot for the The Original Uncut Uncensored Deep Throat, Charlie takes calls regarding The Exorcist (another controversial movie of the time.) He also plays Smokin' In The Boys Room, Marv reports on Gay Protests and bad macaroni, and more discounts at Lucky Supermarkets add up to... Less. It's obvious that Southern California has already gone insane, and it's only 1974. Imagine what it's like there now. |
|
|
|
TOP STREAM 32 Kbps (14 Khz)
The Real Don Steele, KIQQ-FM Los Angeles, January 22, 1974 (01:00:31)
This Exhibit 'SCOPED (11:56)[Description by Uncle Ricky, contributed by Art Vuolo] Here's The Real Don Steele on K-100, KIQQ-FM, Los Angeles, from 5 to 6 PM on January 22, 1974. For me, Steele's work on KHJ will always represent his very best. On this particular K-100 aircheck, he seems a bit disinterested, limiting himself to a number of simple song intros. He hadn't lost any volume, though, and the excellent fidelity of this (monaural) recording reveals some unfortunate distortion on his microphone, mostly when he's over music. He was plenty loud without the distortion at KHJ, so we must wonder if he was comfortable with what he heard in his headphones at K-100. B.R. Bradbury is featured with news at :45. Bradbury, who is also featured on AM drive news the day before, must have been working a double shift. Maybe he was K-100's only news anchor at the time. This exhibit includes a couple of short "image promos" voiced by Robert W. Morgan, and it ends with the opening set for Billy Pearl. |
|
|
|
TOP STREAM 32 Kbps (14 Khz)
Bill Shirk, WXLW Indianapolis, IN February 1974 (01:17:05)
. . . for the people who really take the time to listen . . .
[Description by Uncle Ricky, contributed by Art Vuolo] So, now, we can enjoy the awesome production power of Gary Gears on WXLW, in context, with the station owner's son Bill (Super) Shirk in afternoon drive — unscoped! And that Art Theatre spot is just... too bizarre!
At 48:36, you'll hear a CBS Radio commentary by a younger Walter Cronkite. A lot of the great commercial spots heard in this exhibit paid for that, and it's a win-win for the listener, at least, with the advantage of thirty years. If you don't agree, well, you'll need to stick around for the local news by It sounds like this one came right off the station's air monitor, and we only wish there was more. | ||
|
|
|
TOP STREAM 32 Kbps (14 Khz)
WXLW Indianapolis Has Balls and Un-Contest, 1974 (12:08)
. . . from the Mid-America Mother . . . [Description by Uncle Ricky, contributed by Art Vuolo] Here's MORE of Gary Gears and Bill Shirk on WXLW from 1974. This exhibit is a composite of production elements for WXLW's Un-Contest and Has Balls promotions, and another SuperShirk aircheck. It also includes the WXLW sign-off (with appropriate editorial comment.) |
|
|
|
TOP STREAM 32 Kbps (10 Khz)
The 7:30 Tape! (07:30)
. . . A Disc Jockey . . . [Description by Uncle Ricky, contributed by Art Vuolo] This composite of Top 40 radio is Seven Minutes and Thirty Seconds. Hence, the title. But, I think it falls apart in the last minute, and the ending makes no sense at all. Otherwise, the initial concept was good! Snippets of tightly-sliced loud Top 40 radio are frantic, adrenaline-producing and scary! Yikes! Good Gosh, we were certainly exciting and excited. Yes, it would be possible to compile a full accounting of the contents of this remarkable composite, but it would take a lot longer than seven minutes, thirty seconds. Maybe that's the point. |
|
|
More to Come from The Art Vuolo Collection,
part of REELRADIO since October 18, 2004.
Reel Top 40 Radio Repository ©1996-2010 REELRADIO Inc.
This Exhibit 'SCOPED (14:06)
If all you want is Robert W. Morgan and just a taste of the news and the spots, this version's for you! Please remember that in addition to music licensing fees for the mostly UNSCOPED version, there are bandwidth and hardware costs for this 'SCOPED version, and anything streamed from REELRADIO. We welcome your