Re: WRKO thoughts on the 4rth Wknd.

["Sandra G. Gitschier" <gitchzoo@bellsouth.net>]

> On Tue, 7 Jul 1998 PWerlin@aol.com wrote:
> Can someone help me out, since I didn't grow up during the real heyday
> of top 40 radio -- why did WVBF - and I think maybe WABC, use that echo effect?? Was it to make them sound "different" or give them an air of excitement or was it a standard thing that stations did?? I've always
wondered about that.  I don't remember MEX sounding like that.

{A. Joseph Ross Replied:}
I don't think WMEX used an echo all the time, but certain DJs used it
for certain effects.  In 1985, when WROR did its Rock & Roll Reunion
Weekend, Mel Miller/Melvin X. Melvin started out his shift by saying
"Turn up the echo!" and the echo came on.  Back in olden times, he did a
morning shift as Mel Miller ("The Housewives' Hit Parade") and an
afternoon shift as Melvin X. Melvin ("The Gold Platter Show").  My
recollection is that he used a bit of an echo on his voice as Mel
Miller, perhaps so that we wouldn't guess his secret identity.

I always loved the name "Melvin X. Melvin."  It seemed like the epitome
of the zany atmosphere that made WMEX sound so special in those days.

I think that WCOP, for many years, had a slight echo all the time, for
some reason.

>  A. Joseph Ross, J.D.                                         

{And now Ron adds:}
I remember that WLLH 1400 Lowell & Lawrence used reverb in thier chain
in the 70s. Also, in the early eighties I noticed the old WOTW 106.3 in
Nashua, NH used it alot since they were trying to hide the fact that
they were using a mono audio chain on FM. They used a (tone or signal)
generator to get the stereo indicator to come on listener's receivers. 
They had me fooled for awhile as I was just beginning to listen to FM in
earnest after more than a decade of listening to music on such stations
as WLLH WRKO and WFEA (occasionally WCOP or WOTW-AM as country stations,
riding shotgun w/ grandpa) living in the Lowell / Merrimack Valley area.
I liked the effect they had (including WVBF).

Ron Gitschier, Jr.
WLLH alum 1978 (office clerk)
WYHI/1570 Fernandina Beach, FL (No reverb yet)

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