Using Carts For Music (was WABC air console)

["Kirk, Roger" <rkirk@cabletron.com>]

SteveOrdinetz wrote: 
>Maybe Roger Kirk can answer this one... when did WRKO 
>start using carts for music?  I'd thought as early as 
>'68 or so, but I've come across some airchecks from 
>as recent as 1971 where they were definitely playing 
>vinyl (skips, scratches, cue burn, etc).   

When I joined WRKO in summer of '70, they were still 
using records on the air for currents and hitbounds. 
B-side grooves were marked with a white china marker 
to avoid airplay.  There were two wire racks of current 
45's - on-air and backup.  They were rotated weekly.   
All oldies were on cart.  Currents were put on cart if: 
- -> They had no copy of the record. (e.g. it was a 
    <whisper> "WRKO Exclusive" on reel-to-reel.) 
- -> They only had one copy of the record. 
- -> All but one of the styrene copies were cue-burned. 
- -> The air version was edited by WRKO's Ace Editing Team. 

Paul Power - if you're lurking, can you add to this? 

By 1972, the playlist included a sizeable amount of Album 
Cuts and whether old or current, they were all on cart. I 
left in early 1973 and some time later, they went all cart. 

FYI: WRKO re-wound and re-furbished their own carts.  A 
little chore for the techs when production was all done. 

Roger Kirk 
rogerkirk@ttlc.net

------------------------------