[139], Bo Matthews (Alex Gutierrez), who became the station's program director in early 2004, hired Ohio native Benjamin "Maxwell" Bornstein that April for a more "personality-driven" afternoon show following the departure of Tim "Slats" Guinane for WXTM. He gave many new up and coming artists exposure and put them on the map to their road to stardom. Denny Sanders & Fred Griffith. [120] Finally, The Bob & Tom Show aired in the time slot from 2006 until April 2008. Gorman credits his decision to leave to changes in management, and the station's overall shift to a more "corporate" mentality. (Plain Dealer file photo), Matt Lapczinski, better known as "Matt The Cat," started at WMMS-FM/100.7 in 1974, fresh out of Cleveland State University. [51] Like most early FM stations, WHK-FM mostly simulcast the Top 40 programming of its AM sister station. Live at the Agora Ballroom on August 10, 1983. Win tickets to The Sonic Temple Art and Music Festival, 'People Magazine' Hits Newsstands On This Date in 1974, We're Celebrating Women Who Make Music & Culture. He died in 2014 at the age of 86. Halper left Cleveland in 1975 to work at Mercury Records in New York City, then spent years working in radio as a consultant and various other capacities. According to her LinkedIn page, she now works as a freelance voice actor and author. The announcement came less than two weeks before the show. [51] Seeing a small but significant groundswell of support for the medium in the market, WHK-FM adopted a new progressive rock format on August 15, 1968. Other artists that shared the main stage were No Doubt, Patti Rothberg, The Tragically Hip, 311, and the Holy Barbarians. [127] A new airstaff was assembled after the stunt: Tim "Slats" Guinane was hired for afternoon drive replacing Brian & Joe, who were transferred to WMVX, and music director Mark Pennington replaced Bill "BLF Bash" Freeman in overnights. The trio moved to WMMS in 1971, laying the groundwork for the station's Buzzard heyday. With content being supplied by journalists and WMMS personnel, it was the perfect companion to what WMMS was doing on air at the time with a focus on the new bands and artists of the alternative music era. [136], From the 1994 exit of Jeff Kinzbach and Ed Ferenc until the arrival of Rover's Morning Glory in 2008, WMMS gained notoriety for airing 13 distinct shows in morning drive. Kid Leo Interviews Van Halen April 20, 1980. He was best known as the voice for the station's hourly IDs, music segues, sweepers, and commercials, and was also a member of The Buzzard Morning Zoo in the mid-80s. The company will move its regional office, including nine stations, downtown from the suburbs. [161][162] The House of Hair with Dee Snider also airs on Sunday evenings. "I gotta blast this baby all the way to New Jersey," Springsteen quipped. Cleveland Police wearing riot gear were called in just as headliner Green Day took the stage. [148][149][143][150], Radio personality Alan Cox, formerly host of The Morning Fix at WKQX/Chicago and The Alan Cox Radio Show at WXDX-FM/Pittsburgh, took over weekday afternoons as host of The Alan Cox Show on December 16, 2009. Mama, come get your baby boy! Belkin Productions staged these events, attracting popular hard rock bands and as many as 88,000 fans. During a June 19, 2012 interview with Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler, the show broke news of the delayed release for Music from Another Dimension!, the band's first studio album in eight years. BLF also praised musicians and was a great fan of the Texas Tornadoes and Blue Cheer. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. (Billy Bass is at far left in the photo, kickin' it with the WHK crew, circa 1968. Other shows, like The Buzzard Morning Show with Rick and Megalis (Rick Eberhart, Tom Megalis) and WMMS Mornings with Sean, Cristi, and Hunter (Sean Kelly, Cristi Cantle, Hunter Scott), came and went in quick succession. For 50 years, WMMS-FM/100.7 has been making its mark on Cleveland's airwaves, breaking iconic rock bands and, lately, creating some of the most popular talk-radio shows in the country. Additionally, Rover was the Midwest replacement for Howard Stern under CBS's Free FM branding concept following Stern's move to Sirius Satellite Radio in 2006, originating from Chicago's WCKG. John Gorman and Denny Sanders left the station in fall of 1986, leading fourteen staff members with them to start rival station WNCX. He now runs his own music consulting business, LJT Entertainment, and is program director and an on-air host of "Underground Garage" on Sirius XM Radio. Cleveland Police briefly detained Ky-Mani Marley after the singer threatened Rover for comments made during an April 20, 2010 in-studio interview. Lonnie Gronek, then general manager of the station, claimed in The Plain Dealer article that the process had gone on "for years", however other accounts dispute Gronek's claim. The top 40 deejays were retained, but it was soon obvious that they were inadequate hosts for a progressive rock format. All we can do is hope to create something cool so that in 20 years people will say, 'Man, remember what WMMS used to be like? Lawrence James Travagliante - aka Kid Leo. "[83] Negative reaction was swift and widespread;[44][45] some called the scheme a mere "lack of judgement,"[44] while a reporter for the Akron Beacon Journal compared the station's response to that of discredited former Vice-president Spiro Agnew.[84]. Seth's Big Fat Barbarian Wedding - August 19th, 2005 at Shooters on the Water. Goldfinger, The Refreshments, Triple Fast Action and others played the second stage at the top of the hill. She remained with the station until 1995. The show was a blend of music, comedy, news and sports, all with a definitively Cleveland sensibility. Those 50 years have seen a lot of change for the station. Get Started Channel Hosts In Your Vehicle Streaming HOWARD STERN Howard 100 Hoda Kotb Today Show Radio Peter Mansbridge Canada Talks Sandra Bernhard Radio Andy Erin Burnett CNN Billy Idol 1st Wave Mad Dog Russo Mad Dog Sports Radio The other DJs in the photo are, from left: Doc Nemo, Vic Boc, Martin Perlich and Pat Mack. She was among the first DJs to put the group's seven-minute opus, "Working Man," into regular rotation. The station continued to decline during the ownership transition from Malrite to Shamrock; then Shamrock sold both WMMS and WHK to OmniAmerica, a broadcasting company run by former Malrite executives Carl Hirsch and Dean Thacker, which already owned oldies station WMJI. She also worked in TV production in LA, including at "Entertainment Tonight," and as a freelance producer, editor and writer for an audio book abridger. His voice is also heard on a number of Cleveland area radio and TV commercials. [134] Following Merluzzo's departure, senior vice president of programming for iHeartMedia's North Ohio region Keith Abrams was named as program director on December 4, 2017. By the late 1980s, most of the original staff members had departed: John Gorman and Denny Sanders left in 1986 to launch upstart station WNCX, and Columbia Records hired Kid Leo in 1988. The first buzzard which has penned the name The Wrath of the Buzzard can be seen sitting atop a mushroom paying homage to the former logo along with the competitors call letters WGCL and WIXY grasped in its beak. [60] Sounds described the station programming at this time as "totally off-the-wall in its choice of records, playing anything it liked. He left in the late '80s to become program director for WRQK-FM/106.9 in Canton. Springsteen's music had become an important cornerstone of the Buzzard playlist and his profile had risen nationally, thanks to the release of the Born to Run album, with the title track quickly becoming an 'MMS staple that would endure for decades. Radio Daze: Stories from the Front in Clevelands FM Air Wars by Mike Olszewski (Kent State University Press), Cleveland Radio Tales by Mike & Janice Olszewski (Gray & Co., Publishers). From 2007-2014, she was owner and CEO of Life After Your Divorce, a company that worked with people going through divorce. [137][138], In 2000, the station turned to Wakin' up with Wolf and Mulrooneyhosted by Bob Wolf and John Mulrooneyfrom Albany's WPYX, which initially continued to originate and simulcast the program. Gun rights advocates on the other hand, have warned this could bring unwarranted scrutiny on the overwhelming majority of law-abiding gun owners. WMMS during this period would play a key role in breaking several major acts in the U.S., including: Rush, Roxy Music, Bruce Springsteen, Southside Johnny, Fleetwood Mac, Meat Loaf, The Pretenders, the New York Dolls, Lou Reed, Mott the Hoople, Boston, and The Sensational Alex Harvey Band. [125] As part of the stunt, Denny Sanders returned to host an airshift, programming the music at his discretion. WMMS beat out large market radio stations like WNEW in New York, WMMR in Philadelphia and KROQ in Los Angeles. "The station, like any radio station, it really reflects the people who are running it and the ownership of the station. Seth "the Barbarian" Williams took the overnight shift when Pennington moved to evenings in 2001. In July 1973, John Gorman joined WMMS as music director and was promoted to program director and operations manager two months later where he remained for thirteen years. Under Malrite ownership, WMMS would become an album-oriented rock (AOR) powerhouse, much in the same vein as its former MetroMedia progressive rock siblings. Bruce held on to the innocence and the romance. Tony Tilford, WMMS program director (19992003), WMMS shifted format to active rock on February 17, 1997, under the direction of Bob Neumann, who had previously programmed WNCX and WENZ. [56], MetroMedia found major success with progressive rock at KMET Los Angeles, KSAN San Francisco, WMMR Philadelphia and WNEW-FM New York, but a lack of commitment from MetroMedia led the company to drop the format at WMMS by May 1969. Attendance was by general admission. DJ additions included station engineer Ric Bennett as "Rocco the Rock Dog,"[86] Scooter (WMMS music director Brad Hanson), former WRQC nighttime Personality and later WNCX Afternoon Drive and Production Director, Tom "Jack" Daniels (who returned to the Cleveland airwaves after a successful stint as Program Director of WLEV, Allentown, PA), Lisa Dillon[86] and station veteran Matt the Cat,[86] (who returned to the midday slot in 1990 after a two-year absence.) Ferenc is now the public information officer at the Cleveland Municipal Court. One day a co-worker overheard him ranting in the halls of the radio station and got the idea to feature him on the air with a salute to the weekend. The stations involved are WMMS (FM), WTAM (AM/FM), WMJI (FM), WGAR (FM), WHLK (FM), WAKS (FM), WKAS (HD2) and WARF (AM). Thats how big MMS was. Jeff and Flash ruled the airwaves for 18 years on 100.7 WMMS. (Plain Dealer file photo), Korvan was one of the notable rock jocks from the 1970s heyday of WMMS-FM/100.7. Yes, the station had lost its way for a bit, but MMS was the standard. Bryan Adams Agora photo credit: Janet Macoska, Sammy Hagar Odeon photo credit: Daune Raz. Those guys are f--kin' heroes!" Rosenhaus hosts the network pregame show; and Hamilton hosts the network postgame show. ), Bass built one of the most versatile careers in the history of Cleveland radio. In 1973 WMMS unveiled a new logo The Mushroom. On February 9, 2010, the show aired "Parma State of Mind", both a parody of the Jay-Z/Alicia Keys hit "Empire State of Mind" and a way of continuing the Northeast Ohio tradition of poking fun at the Cleveland suburb. Rio created the Mr. Leonard character over several years at stations in Houston, New York and Philadelphia before his Cleveland debut. Murray Saul joined the WMMS staff as a salesman. [26][38][39][75][76][77], The World Series of Rock was a recurring, day-long and usually multi-act summer rock concert held outdoors at Cleveland Municipal Stadium from 1974 through 1980. WMMS was directly influenced by then and current sister station WHTZ/New York (Z100), which rose to the top of the ratings books immediately after installing a contemporary hit radio (CHR) format. Moms to be participated in the bikini contest for a chance to win $1,000. WMMS does not air additional network programming, and the station only airs select games during spring training. In 2014, Rover pleaded guilty to four misdemeanors in relation to the illegal use of fireworks and a confrontation with an off-duty police officer at the Whiskey Island marina in downtown Cleveland. [47] Owned by Malrite Communications from 1972 to 1993, subsequent consolidation in the radio industry saw WMMS change ownership five times in seven years, and has been in iHeartMedia's portfolio (originally under the Clear Channel name) since 1999. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. The following local and national media outlets have attributed WMMS with this distinction: The following books have attributed WMMS with this distinction: harvnb error: no target: CITEREFNicks2003 (, "Rock Hall to Celebrate 40 Years of WMMS with New Exhibit", "Radio & Records 1981 on the WMMS Buzzard and Other Station Mascots", "The Media Business; Malrite's Buyout Price Disturbs Wall Street Analysts", "R.I.P. The Buzzard was the co-creation of Gorman, Sanders and American Greetings artist David Helton.[31]. Widely regarded as one of the most influential rock stations in America throughout its history,[a][b][26][27] the station has also drawn controversy for unusually aggressive tactics both on and off the air. [120] Meanwhile, ownership would change yet again as Nationwide Communications was bought out by Jacor in November 1997. A comedic mainstay of the morning show at WMMS-FM/100.7 for years, the character is the creation of comedian John Carillo, a California native who uses John Rio as his stage name. The Alan Cox Show is rated #1 in several key demographics, and readers of Cleveland Scene named Alan Cox the best Cleveland radio personality four straight years (201013). "[61], Under the leadership of station manager Billy Bass and program director Denny Sanders, WMMS helped break many new rock artists nationally, most notably David Bowie. She has written several books, including "Boston Radio: 1920-2010." [171][173][174]. [129][130] Radio & Records twice named WMMS "Rock Station of the Year: Markets 1-25" (200506) as part of the now defunct publication's annual Industry Achievement Awards. Joining the Chicago native are Cleveland area comedians Bill Squire and Mary Santora, and former intern-turned-phone-screener Cody (Poundcake) Brown. Reporting news, weather, sports and bringing you daily local programming, each member of the ABC4 Utah team is dedicated to bringing balanced reporting, journalistic integrity, and honesty to Utah's news. As WMMS celebrates the anniversary, both on-air and online, using archival audio, memorabilia and station-related artifacts to offer a cross-section of the station's diverse history and the. Goldberg is at right in the photo above, with Jeff Kinzbach in the WMMS studio. "[32] "De-emphasized" in the fall of 2007, the scavenger was revived the following spring to coincide with the station's 40th anniversary and with the arrival of morning personality Rover. (Plain Dealer file photo). The band clearly enjoyed performing on Nautica's stage, right next to the waterfront, with Weiland stopping at one point to point out the large boats that were passing by. For the station's tenth anniversary in 1978, WMMS hosted and broadcast a live Springsteen concert at the Agora Ballroom independent of his concert tour. "[86] From 1991 to 1993, WMMS served as the FM flagship for the Cleveland Browns, sharing coverage with then-sister WHK; the late Nev Chandler served as play-by-play announcer. The WMMS Coffee Break Concerts were booked and directed by Denny Sanders and hosted by Len "Boom" Goldberg, Debbie Ullman, and later, Matt the Cat. The WMMS morning show Dick Dale & Rick hosted the event. From celebrities and high profile sports stars, to iconic DJs who know music, SiriusXM has the best hosts in radio. Rolling Stone Magazine conducted a yearly Readers Poll to which WMMS won Best Radio Station of the Year nine years in a row from 1979 to 1987. A federal offense, the act nearly cost WMMS its broadcasting license. The contest titled the White Trash Wedding prize included everything needed to make a wedding day special limo, wedding dress, tuxedo rental, flowers, cake and the ceremony which took place at Mickeys Diamond Mens Club in the Flats. [98][106] The sale came almost immediately after passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, a time when radio companies nationwide rushed "at a fever pitch" to acquire new properties. One of the first black DJs in Cleveland radio, he worked at WIXY-AM/1260, and became one of the WIXY Supermen. One of their biggest contributions to our fine city was spearheading a grass roots effort to get the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame here in Cleveland. Listen To The Most Popular Podcasts On iHeartRadio! Already strained by ongoing contract renewal negotiations, the incident further alienated the two parties, and by November of that year the show was cancelled. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. After a brief relocation to Chicago in 2006, the show returned to Cleveland in 2008 to become a part of the morning programming at WMMS-FM/100.7, where it remains today. [117] BuzzardFest 2000 was held on June 30, 2000, at the Nautica Stage; Stone Temple Pilots, performing in Cleveland for the first time in six years, headlined the event.[118]. Ferenc also has a small advertising agency called Flashpoint. Subscribe Now To Listen Your Favorite Songs On Demand! She left in 1989 to work for Top 40 station WPHR-FM/107. [113] The Ramones headlined BuzzardFest '95 the following spring (May 1995) at Blossom;[114] other acts included Our Lady Peace, The Rugburns and Face to Face. I met great radio personalities like Chuck Knapp, Lou King Kirby, Chuck Dunaway, Big John Roberts and Billy Bass. Among his books: "Radio Daze: Stories from the Front in Cleveland's FM Air Wars." She now lives in Santa Monica, Calif. (Stile is pictured here, sitting next to Bruce Springsteen during his 1976 visit to the WMMS studios. Win a Monster Zero Sugar prize pack from Circle K! Springsteen Concert Poster - Agora - August 9th, 1978, Springsteen - Agora - Scene Magazine - August, 1978. The very first logo to ever be created for WMMS was a red and white rainbow. The debut issue of Buzzard Bone, arrived in September of 1995 and featured the brand new Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as the cover story, with an article tracing the history of the museum, which had its grand opening that same month. Image of Bill Hader above wearing WMMS shirt for his upcoming HBO series called Barry. Brian and Joe were moved to afternoons in February 1997 after a change in ownership, with shock jock Liz Wilde (Anne Whittemore) from WPLL/Miami taking their place; her firing less than a year later sparked a successful lawsuit against both the station and then-owner Nationwide Communications. "Those guys who pilot those ships through here? Brian Chalmers, Rock 'N' Roll Artist", "Film; Paul Schrader Plumbs Grassroots Rock", "iHeartMedia Cleveland To Move To New Facility As Company Begins Cloud Based Tech Rollout", "Downtown TV station group may move to the suburbs", "Cleveland Broadcast Radio Archives WMMS timeline", "Rock in Akron: The Music Of Greater Akron", "The Second WMMS Music Marathon Station TV Spot", "Recalling a couple of wacky radio guys", http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1994/RR-1994-11-04.pdf, http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1994/RR-1994-12-02.pdf, "Billboard/Airplay Monitor Radio Awards Bestowed", "Kevin Metheny, a.k.a. All we're doing is shifting an image. WHK-FM became one of a handful of commercial stations in the country to try that format, many of which were owned by MetroMedia. [170][171][172], WMMS has also served as the FM flagship station for the Cleveland Guardians Radio Network since 2013, again sharing network flagship status with AM sister station WTAM. Denny Sanders Denny Sanders 1972 - 1986 Denny Sanders came to WMMS in 1971 from Boston where he'd been working as a DJ from the time he was just 16 years old. Win tickets to see Adam Sandler at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Win tickets to see Weezer at Blossom Music Center, Win tickets to see Disturbed at Blossom Music Center. She stayed on when the station switched formats to modern rock in 1992, becoming 107.9 The End. WMMS's studios are located at the Six Six Eight Building in downtown Cleveland's Gateway District;[48][49] the station transmitter resides in neighboring Seven Hills. He briefly transformed WNWV-FM/107.3 into the adult album alternative station V 107.3. [98][101] Gorman brought back the original Buzzard design, now drawn by David Helton's successor Brian Chalmers. Buzzard Morning Zoo video featuring Mr. Leonard. WMMS News anchor, Mike Olszewski paints a picture of the scene on that dreadful day. The ritual lasted through his entire career at the Buzzard. The show is now syndicated to WKGB-FM/Binghamton, WRKK/Williamsport, and WZNE/Rochester; replays continuously on a dedicated iHeartRadio channel; is available on demand through iHeartRadio; and broadcasts over the Livestream video platform. "Round for round, pound for pound, there ain't no finer band around. [72] Rather, WMMS adopted a buzzard as its mascot in April 1974 because of the then tenuous economic state of Cleveland less than five years away from becoming the first major American city to enter into default since the Great Depression[73] and the winged-creature's classification as a scavenger. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WMMS broadcasts over two HD Radio channels and is available online via iHeartRadio. who killed athena in the witch of portobello; what game relates to a rainbow; ventura county obituary past 3 days; sri lanka parliament election 2015 preferential votes; Night on-air personality on The X. Stern's ratings exploded and this along with a growing urgency from management not to compete with or mention Stern on the air led to a sudden and steep ratings decline for The Buzzard Morning Zoo. [41] WMMS also lured popular morning personalities Brian Fowler and Joe Cronauer away from rival WENZthen also an alternative rock stationas the successors to Jeff and Flash (Jeff Kinzbach, Ed Ferenc) on The Buzzard Morning Zoo.

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