WJJL to become WEBR

[SirRoxalot]

Keep in mind that the guy bought it for what, $60K? He's put some more money into it, but it's running out of property he already owns with a skeleton staff. It's largely a vanity project for him that has a shot at breaking even.

So far it seems like it's just continuing with much of the old format. My guess is that the call letter change will usher in a new playlist, maybe with some "new" old Buffalo personalities doing it to pad their retirement pay and their ego. Hey, if WXRL can still keep the lights on, so can WJJL/WEBR.

 

[Mike Sheridan]

The WEBR call letters are cool to radio people, but outside of the 70+ demo, they mean little if anything. Just another Ancient Modulation station playing WEBR-type standards that will appeal to a small and getting smaller audience. But hey, good luck with that.

Point taken, let me add the same goes for AM Radio period.

 

[ckg279]

Bumped because a firm date for the switchover has been set: July 6th. Tom Darro's Viewpoint show also makes the move and will now air from 9-11am weekdays, followed by former Niagara Falls mayor Vince Anello's show from 11am-noon. The long-running Italian show Casa Rico will air on weekends.

The Niagara Gazette recently ran an article detailing the changes(which is basically a re-writing of Yuhnke's Facebook post/press release). Don Angelo is also involved in the re-launch, and Steve Mitchell(who's done voice-over work here in WNY)will apparently become the voice of WEBR.

By the way, Yuhnke's post mentioned a LOT of WEBR's history...and the number of people who worked there is staggering. Some of them are still in local broadcasting, too.

 

[SirRoxalot]

The list of names that came through WJJL is also impressive - including some people who are still in local radio. Perhaps the call letter change will help blow some of the stink off the call letters that became attached during the Phillips era. Sounds like Bill Yuhnke is latching onto some familiar voices to make it more attractive while maintaining what's already bringing in some dollars.

 

[Rusty Bridges]

They have a lot of work to do. Listened while driving near Harlem Road and Cleveland Drive. It was barely good on a car radio that gets better than average reception and reasonable fidelity, all things considered. They'll have to do better for the 75+ demo that will be listening to the format.

 

[CAVEMANager]

A reliable source confirms that the switch to WEBR is indeed July 6. For years WJJL has aired a liner that they cover the hills of Northern Pennsylvania but last summer I had a hard time hearing a clear signal in Southern Erie County. Since then they have started streaming and they come in loud and clear in Arizona. I love the music that WJJL is presently playing. Sometimes there's a song that I haven't heard in 30 or 40 years. No other station is doing what they do and the new format can only be worse. If you like 50s and 60s rock enjoy it while you can. It won't last much longer.

 

[ckg279]

More deets on this from Alan Pergament's column in today's edition of the Buffalo News...

*Bob Stilson(most recently from Sandy Beach's WBEN show) and Gail Ann Huber(ex-WECK & WYRK)will be doing mornings from 6-9am.
*Tom Darro from 9-11am
*Vince Aiello from 11am-noon
*Jack Horohoe(who worked at WEBR in the 1960s & '70s)will do noon-3pm
*Barry Lillis will host "Here's to Life" from 3-6pm

On the weekends: Saturday shows with Dave Gillen, Lenny Rico, Dave Golebiowski(polka, natch!), Ralph Irene and Bob Nicholas....and Sundays will feature Duane Price, Rico, John Farley and jazz veteran Al Wallack.

 

[Bronx]

Those call letters bring back a flood of memories from my youth. I can still hear their TV commercial jingle in my head, "Nine seven oldies".

WEBR was the really old people station. Our parents listened to WBEN and their parents listened to WEBR. Now that I'm a really old person maybe I'd like the format.

 

[ckg279]

Ads for the new WEBR are currently running on WBBZ-TV.

 

[AndyInBuffalo]

More deets on this from Alan Pergament's column in today's edition of the Buffalo News...

...

On the weekends: Saturday shows with Dave Gillen, Lenny Rico, Dave Golebiowski(polka, natch!), Ralph Irene and Bob Nicholas....and Sundays will feature Duane Price, Rico, John Farley and jazz veteran Al Wallack.

Actually, not so "natch" Neither "Dave", nor a polka show

My program will present the wide range of Polish music mainly from Poland (where the polkas we hear in the U.S. are virtually unknown). You'll hear Polish jazz, classical, folk, religious, ballroom, etc. and info. about the Polish culture, whether you're Polish by ancestry, by marriage, or just curious about the culture.


Andy "Andrzej" Gołębiowski
Host of
The Polish American Radio Program
Saturdays, 11-Noon (EST) on WEBR 1440 AM
or anywhere worldwide, at:
WEBR1440.com

 

[ckg279]

Actually, not so "natch" Neither "Dave", nor a polka show

My program will present the wide range of Polish music mainly from Poland (where the polkas we hear in the U.S. are virtually unknown). You'll hear Polish jazz, classical, folk, religious, ballroom, etc. and info. about the Polish culture, whether you're Polish by ancestry, by marriage, or just curious about the culture.


Andy "Andrzej" Gołębiowski
Host of
The Polish American Radio Program
Saturdays, 11-Noon (EST) on WEBR 1440 AM
or anywhere worldwide, at:
WEBR1440.com

Thanks for the clarification. Now I know better than to assume....

 

[AndyInBuffalo]

Thanks for the clarification. Now I know better than to assume....

NP. I think that what's been out there on radio since the Stan Jasinski show, and his one-year successor Halina Jawor, have led listeners to assume.
And hey, I will play a polka once in a while It's a great American genre.

Andy "Andrzej" Gołębiowski
c: 716-510-7562
Host of The
Polish American Radio Program
Saturdays, 11-Noon (EST) on WEBR 1440 AM
or anywhere worldwide, at:
WEBR1440.com

 

[CAVEMANager]

Looks like WEBR debuted a day early. Mostly old standards that were composed as far back as the 1930s but recorded much more recently. Absolutely no rock. Constant use of the "Sound of the City" jingle package that I think was produced by Heller Ferguson maybe fifty years ago. I wonder if they have a legal right to use those jingles. I can't see anyone much younger than 80 listening to this programming. Their ratings can't get any lower so I suppose they have nothing to lose.

 

[Rusty Bridges]

Checked 1440 out of curiosity @11:40 a.m. Sunday. "Misty" was playing. The signal was barely audible on a well-respected AM receiver. No backsell on the song. If a station is featuring songs from the Great American Songbook, wouldn't a backsell make sense?

By comparison 1400 was strong. 1230 was loud and clean, playing "a Ronnie Milsap song" by Elvis as introduced by the station owner. Technically, 1230 may be the best sounding music station on the AM band, at least during the day when the signal isn't conflicted as it is at night by co-channel and other AM hash. Zoomer Radio 740 would be a close second, day and night.

Constant use of the "Sound of the City" jingle package that I think was produced by Heller Ferguson maybe fifty years ago. I wonder if they have a legal right to use those jingles. I can't see anyone much younger than 80 listening to this programming.

Fifty years ago would have been 1970.

Just for reference, 1970 was the year great songs like Fire & Rain, Close To You, Bridge Over Troubled Water and Lola came out. That's the Great American Songbook to aging boomers. When KB was King, and WYSL and WNIA were servants in the court.

The Heller Ferguson jingles seem much older than 50. Just a guess, but the copyright on those jingles may have long ago expired, somewhat like many of the people who first enjoyed the songs.

No disrespect intended.

 

[TheBigA]

Just a guess, but the copyright on those jingles may have long ago expired, somewhat like many of the people who first enjoyed the songs. No disrespect.

Copyright maybe, but not the publishing. A lot of old PAMS jingles were bought by JAM Productions, so the rights to classic jingles done by that company have been renewed. Johnny Mann jingles were done in LA, and I haven't tracked down current ownership. But publishing of the melody was licensed by BMI. A typical radio station music licensing deal won't cover production music. Johnny himself died a few years ago, and set up a foundation in South Carolina.

Quite a few radio stations used this particular jingle package, including KSFO in San Francisco. Of course the lyrics were customized for every city. The Buffalo lyrics are pretty humorous, incorporating Niagara Falls and the lake.

 

[CTListener]

Fifty years ago would have been 1970.

Just for reference, 1970 was the year great songs like Fire & Rain, Close To You, Bridge Over Troubled Water and Lola[/I] came out. That's the Great American Songbook to aging boomers.

No Great American Songbook status for this one. Ray Davies is British.

 

[TheBigA]

The Heller Ferguson jingles seem much older than 50.

The Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame (where the KSFO version of the Sound of the City jingles resides) dates the original composition to 1960 or 61.

The WEBR version may be 1965. The production sounds early 60s to me. Think Ray Coniff or Mitch Miller, rather than James Taylor or Paul Simon.

 

[Rusty Bridges]

No Great American Songbook status for this one. Ray Davies is British.

Of course he is. The point is the old WEBR Sound of the City jingles didn't sound like the hit music of 50 years ago (production-wise, instrumentally and lyrically); the contention that the jingles were likely older than 50 years. Big A points to the possibility of the WEBR package being produced in 1965 (55 years) or earlier, which was more in line with my thinking.

As to the Buffalo renditions of the WEBR jingles being "humorous," actually they were indicative of the city's landmarks, such as the Niagara River or Lake Erie. (No mention of "Michigan" or "Michigans.") IIRC, the Seattle versions mentioned the Seattle Sound.

As to the publishing rights to the jingles, here's hoping the new WEBR has done due diligence.

 

[TheBigA]

As to the Buffalo renditions of the WEBR jingles being "humorous," actually they were indicative of the city's landmarks, such as the Niagara River or Lake Erie.

I wonder if they sent someone to Buffalo to do the research, or if they merely asked the station for examples of things to mention:

"Faint is the thunder of Niagara, soft is the murmur of the lake." You don't find that humorous? If I wrote that, you'd all howl.

 

[Rusty Bridges]

I wonder if they sent someone to Buffalo to do the research, or if they merely asked the station for examples of things to mention:

"Faint is the thunder of Niagara, soft is the murmur of the lake." You don't find that humorous? If I wrote that, you'd all howl.

Yeah, probably. But you own "Michigans" here, and it's tough to top.