Denny left WMMS to start another local station, but returned for a long stay at WMJI. Gorman returned to the Buzzard for a second brief run from 1994-96, but has spent most of the past 20 years as a radio consultant. Win tickets to The Sonic Temple Art and Music Festival, Radio Daze: Stories from the Front in Clevelands FM Air Wars, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. After two years, Cox left The Loop to begin his own radio show. The Alan Cox Show is a daily talk show on 100.7 WMMS in Cleveland hosted by Alan Cox with co-hosts Bill Squire, Mary . (Photo by Gus Chain, The Plain Dealer), The affable Spero was born into rock 'n' roll. John Gorman, Denny Sanders and Kid Leo organized the original campaign with Tunc Erim, assistant to Atlantic Records president Ahmet Ertegun. Featuring Kevin DuBrow on vocals, Frankie Banali on drums, Rudy Sarzo on bass and Carlos Cavazo on guitar. [87] Unable to service its growing debt, Malrite chose to leave radio and sold off all its remaining properties in 1993:[37] WMMS went to Shamrock Broadcasting, the Roy Disney broadcasting firm. professional boxing referees; uf college of medicine class of 2023; kalalau valley hippies His was the booming voice on the station's hourly IDs, music segues, sweepers, and commercials. [39][40] Noted filmmakers, including Cameron Crowe (Almost Famous) and Paul Schrader (Light of Day), have called on both TheBuzzard and its personnel while preparing for various rock-themed productions. WMMS sponsored the concerts. In the early '90s, she started her own DJ and karaoke company, Amalon Entertainment, with husband Frank Amato, the lead singer for Beau Coup. The concert was broadcast on WMMS and an additional seven stations, reaching throughout the Midwest to Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis and other markets and would eventually reach far beyond that radius, thanks to the many who were rolling tape to record the concert from their stereo. He left in the late '80s to become program director for WRQK-FM/106.9 in Canton. of WIXY 1260. 26 memorable DJs and radio personalities from WMMS-FM's past: The Buzzard turns 50 This year, WMMS turns 50. [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. Past show members at WMMS include, Ryan Hoppe, Scott Taylor (now a reporter at WJLA in Washington, DC, Kaitlin Geosano, and Rob Garguilo. WMMS beat out large market radio stations like WNEW in New York, WMMR in Philadelphia and KROQ in Los Angeles. He worked the afternoon-drive shift until 1997 when he headed to Los Angeles. He was the station's best-known personality and instrumental in breaking artists such as Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, Pat Benatar and Mott the Hoople. That will never be done again. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. [104] John Gorman was named Program Director of the Year (Rock) in 1995. Among his books: "Radio Daze: Stories from the Front in Cleveland's FM Air Wars." In the '90s, it re-focused on alternative rock programming, and in later years, moved into an active rock program with popular talk programs like "Rover's Morning Glory. On November 11, 1948,[54] the station adopted the callsign WHK-FM. Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Detroit, St. Louis they ran another stations birthday party. On May 4, 1970 four students were killed by gunfire from the Ohio National Guard at Kent State University. (Lapczinski is at far right in this photo along with his Buzzword crewmates in the WMMS studios) (Plain Dealer file photo), Kid Leo, whose real name is Lawrence James Travagilante, ruled the Buzzard roost at WMMS for 16 years from 1973-1988. We never learned what Mr. Leonard looked like, he never discussed it on the air. During his 16-year tenure, WMMS was consistently one of the highest-rated radio stations in the country. [128] WMMS again served as the FM flagship to the Cleveland Browns Radio Network from 2002 to 2012, with Jim Donovan and Doug Dieken as announcers. "[110] Studios were moved again to a combined facility in the suburb of Independence, Ohio. April 16, 1974 the Buzzard was born. ", "We had the right staff, the right soundtrack at the time. In 1988 The Plain Dealer printed a story which said the employees of WMMS had stuffed the ballot box to reign as 10 year champions. 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. Win a Monster Zero Sugar prize pack from Circle K! She left Cleveland to take a radio job in Florida. His father, Herman, created Cleveland's legendary "Upbeat," an "American Bandstand"-style TV musical variety show which aired from 1964-71 and featured live performances of many of the great rock and pop acts of the era, from Simon and Garfunkel to Otis Redding. Brian and Joe were the first to broadcast from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's radio station in 1995. All rights reserved (About Us). Joining the Chicago native are Cleveland area comedians Bill Squire and Mary Santora, and former intern-turned-phone-screener Cody (Poundcake) Brown. For the next three hours, spread across two sets, Springsteen did just that, telling stories and playing the best of his catalog, including a lengthy version of "Growin' Up," in which he told the tale of being sent to have a conversation with God about what he should do with his life, encountering Kid Leo along the way, who was "prayin' for more watts" for WMMS. 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. The show was a blend of music, comedy, news and sports, all with a definitively Cleveland sensibility. Rolling Stone named WMMS "Radio Station of the Year" nine straight years (197987) as part of its annual Readers' Poll, but a February 1988 front-page story in The Plain Dealer revealed station employees had stuffed the annual survey's ballot box for the 1987 poll to allow for the possibility of a tenth straight win the following year. Alford was subsequently caught, arrested and later sentenced to ten days in jail and a $1,000 fine. Her LinkedIn Profile says she is now an independent radio professional in New York. Other stations carried their birthday show. Gun rights advocates on the other hand, have warned this could bring unwarranted scrutiny on the overwhelming majority of law-abiding gun owners. WMMS, WTAM and the other iHeart stations in Cleveland will get a new home this year. Night on-air personality on The X. Sanders also booked the acts for WMMS' fame "Coffeebreak Concerts." [60] Sounds described the station programming at this time as "totally off-the-wall in its choice of records, playing anything it liked. 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 station also started to devote weekend programming to the classic rock format. [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. In studio, WTAM sports director Mike Snyder hosts The Tip-Off Show, The Halftime Report, and The Nightcap Recap the network pregame, halftime, and postgame shows, respectively. "[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. The Week in Cox is a weekly podcast featuring the best segments from The Alan Cox Show. Everything else in Cleveland was going wrong except us," said Gorman about his early years at WMMS in the '70s. Ratings steadily increased during the time of the First Gulf War, but The Howard Stern Show was soon picked up by a then struggling WNCX. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. 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. In September 1995, he was hired to do nights at WRKR-FM in Kalamazoo, MI. He later took his groundbreaking progressive rock show to WNCR FM/95.5, working alongside pioneering Cleveland rock deejays Billy Bass and David Spero. The trio moved to WMMS in 1971, laying the groundwork for the station's Buzzard heyday. WMMS (100.7 FM) - branded 100.7 WMMS: The Buzzard - is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, serving Greater Cleveland and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio. ), Bass built one of the most versatile careers in the history of Cleveland radio. Kinzbach left the station in 1994. During this time, WMMS also began broadcasting a remarkable number of live concerts, many of which originated in Cleveland and were produced by the station itself. [51] On July 31, 1947, W8XUB began broadcasting at 100.7MHz. Amy Murphy (formerly Hasten) The Voices of WIXY 1260. Maria Farina landed at WMMS in 1986 fresh out of Ohio University and quickly gained popularity. Among the more significant moves taken by WMMS was the formatting of the morning zoo concept created by Z100's Scott Shannon onto the show Jeff & Flash (Jeff Kinzbach and Ed Ferenc) were already hosting. (Plain Dealer file photo), Santini came to WMMS-FM/100.7 in 1994 after a stint at Canton's WRQK-FM/106.9. Most station imaging is produced out-of-market by national voice talents "David Lee" Olejniczak, Malcolm Ryker,[166] Rena-Marie Villano, and former WMMS creative services director Miles Hlivko; additional voice-over audio is produced on-site by WMMS imaging director Billy Black. Matt remains one of the most popular air personalities from WMMS' fifty year history. [88] Management ordered a change to the Buzzard by giving it a flat-top and mullet. 100.7 WMMS Podcasts See All Playlists from 100.7 WMMS Latest News Late Friday we received an email from Cleveland radio legend John Gorman, the former longtime PD of the equally legendary WMMS, who shared the sad news of the passing of former longtime WMMS late-night personality Betty Korvan, who died at the age of 67. Warren Zevon, John Mellencamp, Lou Reed, Tim Buckley, Peter Frampton, and a host of others performed on the program over the years, recordings of which are still widely available as bootlegs. The WMMS morning show Dick Dale & Rick hosted the event. It was the first time Stone Temple Pilots performed in Cleveland in six years. [147], Described by The Plain Dealer as "testosterone-fueled", the show dominates younger demographics, particularly male listeners ages 1834. Monday, October 01, 2018. [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. Bryan Adams Agora photo credit: Janet Macoska, Sammy Hagar Odeon photo credit: Daune Raz. Murray Saul joined the WMMS staff as a salesman. He's a history buff and writer, too. The show also drew national attention after holding a book burning party for Fifty Shades of Grey on July 8, 2012. [51] In order to firmly establish a separate identity, and to reflect the station's ownership,[55] the WHK-FM callsign was changed to WMMS on September 28, 1968. Morning Show, Promotions Director KGGI. During this time, with Denny Sanders as his creative services director and Rhonda Kiefer as programming assistant, WMMS broke all Cleveland ratings and revenue records. She was on-air from 1993-1997, and had a popular 7-midnight show. [168], WMMS has served as the FM flagship station for the Cleveland Cavaliers AudioVerse since 2014, sharing network flagship status with AM sister station WTAM. 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 Cleveland Free Clinic staffed aid stations in the stadium with physicians, nurses and other volunteers, and through 1977, made its treatment statistics public. Cleveland Magazine has called the show a "juggernaut", and readers of Cleveland Scene named Rover the best Cleveland radio personality in 2009, 2014, and 2015 (Scene had previously recognized either Rover or his show four straight years, from 2004 to 2007, all prior to the move to WMMS). 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. WHK later became WMMS) (Plain Dealer file photo), Gained fame in local radio in the 1980s as part of "Jeff and Flash's Morning Zoo" on WMMS-FM/100.7. Signing on in 1946 as the FM adjunct to WHK, the WMMS call letters were affixed in 1968 under Metromedia ownership, having stood for "MetroMedia Stereo" and meant as a compliment to the newly established progressive rock format, but have since taken on a variety of other meanings. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. Mr. Leonard, the self proclaimed assistant public service director made appearances on the Buzzard Morning Zoo for many years. [121] The Jacor purchase closed on August 10, 1998; 59days later, on October 8, 1998, Clear Channel Communications won a bidding war for Jacor in a $6.5billion deal. [31] In 1981, Radio & Records identified "the malevolent feathered figure" as "the best-known station symbol in the country. The duo reigned over a zany -- and revolving -- supporting cast of characters on "Buzzard Morning Zoo" for 18 years from 1976-1994. He finds himself traveling to LA to kill someone but ends up becoming a part of the theater scene. [123] WMMS veteran John Gorman has remained a vocal critic of iHeartMedia, once remarking on the company's former Cleveland executive, Kevin Metheny (dubbed "Pig Virus" by Howard Stern during their time at WNBC): "He had a volatile time here. Kid Leo's boxing announcer themed introduction welcomed both the fans in the audience at the Cleveland Agora and the many more listening on the network radio broadcast, to the evening's "Main Event," the 10th anniversary concert celebration for WMMS, which would be hosted by The Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen. Since leaving Cleveland in the 1990s, she has worked in radio in various big-city markets, including Philadelphia and Phoenix. Cox's intelligence, humor, and willingness to do a variety of on-air stunts for the show led to his hiring as a producer. Seth's Big Fat Barbarian Wedding - August 19th, 2005 at Shooters on the Water. He gave many new up and coming artists exposure and put them on the map to their road to stardom. [71], From the onset, Helton's streamlined artwork resulted in an aggressive, yet family-friendly symbol for the station, one that continues to endure more than 40 years later. Some other possible meanings "Where Music Means Something" or "Weed Makes Me Smile". "[66][67] Although never used on the air, listeners alternately knew the callsign as an acronym for "Weed Makes Me Smile" and "Magic MushroomS," the latter referencing the somewhat controversial logo used before the Buzzard. "Born to Run" was the essence of everything I loved about rock 'n' roll. Regular segments include "The Shizzy", a daily news update; "Tech Tuesday", where listeners pose consumer electronics questions to an industry expert; and "The Thursday Hook-Up", a call-in dating game. [90] Stern had arrived on the Cleveland airwaves less than two years earlier, and in that time took his syndicated program on rival WNCX from an Arbitron ranking of thirteen to number one. 100.7 WMMS Cleveland's Rock Station Follow Connect On Air Schedule The Alan Cox Show Live Corey Rotic 6:30 PM-12:00 AM Contests and Promotions We're Celebrating Women Who Make Music & Culture Download Our Free iHeartRadio App! (Plain Dealer file photo), "Spaceman Scott" - Scott Hughes, better known as Spaceman Scott, was a member of WMMS-FM/100.7's top-rated "Buzzard Morning Zoo" in the 1980s, along with Jeff Kinzbach, Ed "Flash" Ferenc, and others. Ken Schneck. Two of her audiobook projects were nominated for Grammy awards in the Best Spoken Word category. Mike had been heard on a number of Cleveland radio stations over the years, putting in 40 years ol the air. Listen To The Most Popular Podcasts On iHeartRadio! [105] John Gorman, who has since openly criticized the industry's current state, departed for CBS Radio in Detroit, but soon moved to media consulting. One lucky WMMS listener won a Harley Davidson signed by Sammy Hagar! 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. WHK-FM became one of a handful of commercial stations in the country to try that format, many of which were owned by MetroMedia. (Photo courtesy Lou Santini), Saul is best known the "Get Down Man," whose Friday afternoon riffs and rants on WMMS-FM/100.7 made him a local celebrity in the 1970s. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- It's a big birthday for The Buzzard. Weiland and STP were touring in support of No. (Photo courtesy of Shauna Zurbrugg). [91] As promised, Stern held a party for his fans on the streets of Cleveland a "Funeral" for his local rivals, much like similar events held in New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia and broadcast it nationwide. She worked in radio in Los Angeles from 1973-76 at KLOS and KMET. Spero would go on to become one of Cleveland's early progressive-rock DJs, working first at WNCR and then at WMMS. The show is known for its outrageous stunts and banter. [107][108][109][110], During this time, WMMS held a series of sold-out rock festivals that featured many of the new up-and-coming artists receiving station airplay. In 2009, she left KSL to become the spokesperson for the FBI Salt Lake City Division. There were other really good rock stations around, but those other stations opted in to carry the live broadcast of the MMS birthday show (in 1978). [33] Regarding the change, WMMS program director Bo Matthews (Alex Gutierrez) said, " nobody's killing anything Chief Wahoo is not on every piece of Indians promotional material Ronald McDonald is not in every McDonald's commercial We're not losing the letters. 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. 16 Times Riley Green Was The Hottest Bachelor On Instagram Nov 05, 2020. 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. In 1988 he left to work as an executive at Columbia Records, where he served until 2002. "Those guys who pilot those ships through here? ', Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 19781984, List of programming syndicated by iHeartMedia, List of radio stations owned by iHeartMedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=WMMS&oldid=1137903859, Active rock radio stations in the United States, Articles with dead external links from July 2018, Articles with permanently dead external links, All articles with bare URLs for citations, Articles with bare URLs for citations from March 2022, Articles with PDF format bare URLs for citations, Articles with dead external links from February 2023, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with MusicBrainz place identifiers, Articles which contain graphical timelines, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, The Cleveland Plaza/Statler Office Tower (now, This page was last edited on 7 February 2023, at 00:47. Guest spots on WJR's Morning Show for Hollywood and Gossip Reports. There's proof! 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[133] "Chris Tyler" Merluzzo, former program director for Providence's WHJY, took over for Bo Matthews as WMMS program director on February 17, 2014. Ferenc also has a small advertising agency called Flashpoint. MLB At Bat", "Play-By-Play Streaming Rights: 'The Goal Posts Are Moving. Now Debbie joins Dave Noriega to host a daytime radio broadcast "Dave and Dujanovic" where they discuss Utah news, culture, and . The eight-year radio host . 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. The call letters WMMS stand for "MetroMedia Stereo". 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. [151] In addition to the live broadcast, the show is available on demand through iHeartRadio; and can be downloaded as a podcast through iTunes. 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). The top 40 deejays were retained, but it was soon obvious that they were inadequate hosts for a progressive rock format. She left in 1989 to work for Top 40 station WPHR-FM/107. At Bat only for streaming", "iHeart does not stream Indians games. Mr. Leonard supposedly worked at the Buzzard, as the assistant public service director, but he was never able to make it into the office. One listener was selected to marry the love of his life or at least at the time during a live broadcast on 100.7 WMMS. (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.

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