While both Rover and Alan Cox are primarily "hot talk" programs, rock music airs during regular middays, nights, overnights, weekends and online during Cavaliers and Guardians play-by-play. [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. Ferenc is now the public information officer at the Cleveland Municipal Court. With news still in her blood, she returned to KSL-TV in 2013 where she rejoined the station's award-winning investigate team. The Buzzard became synonymous with WMMS, Cleveland radio and the city itself, spawning a series of T-shirts so numerous that they are now impossible to catalog, many with slogans like "Where Music Means Something" and "Ruler of the Airwaves.". [62] The WMMS-sponsored concert was a "phenomenal success"[58][63] and prompted the station to sponsor a second show that year. (Halper is at center in the photo above, with members of Rush and WMMS staffers. "[27][36] WMMS played a key role in breaking several major acts in the U.S., including David Bowie, Rush, and Bruce Springsteen. Gun rights advocates on the other hand, have warned this could bring unwarranted scrutiny on the overwhelming majority of law-abiding gun owners. The change was done for many reasons: as a nod to the sudden influence Z100's format had on the Malrite group; Gorman and Sanders intention to stay with the current music trends as the album-oriented rock (AOR) format was, even then, in a state of decline; and as a means to attract a female audience. Denny Sanders came to WMMS in 1971 from Boston where hed been working as a DJ from the time he was just 16 years old. [102], While the change in programming alienated many longtime listeners, many of whom switched to WNCX and their full-time classic rock format, WMMS boosted its ratings for the first time in years with a new, younger audience. Jeff & Flash were also credited as being major contributors in bringing the Rock Hall to Cleveland, by heavily promoting on-air a USA Today reader poll to decide which city should get it.[82]. Amy Murphy (formerly Hasten) The Voices of WIXY 1260. All rights reserved (About Us). He can still be heard on the radio, too. Being one of the highest-rated radio stations in the country, he became the afternoon drive DJ in 1974, all the way until December of 1988 - which he then decided to part pays with Cleveland. Kid Leo interviews David Lee Roth, Alex Van Halen and Michael Anthony before their show at the Richfield Colesium. [98][101] Gorman brought back the original Buzzard design, now drawn by David Helton's successor Brian Chalmers. [161][162] The House of Hair with Dee Snider also airs on Sunday evenings. His radio career began in 1973 with Cleveland on100.7WMMS. 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. Buzzard-Palooza was the first of these: held in July 1994 at the Nautica Stage, the all-day concert included sets from Collective Soul, Junkhouse and Fury in the Slaughterhouse,[111] but was cut short after turning into a "rock-and-bottle-throwing melee." They worked together on four different stations in the Cleveland/Akron area over the years: WONE-FM/97.5, WENZ-FM/107.9, WMMS-FM/100.7 and WMVX-FM/106.5. We were very fortunate that at the right time, the people I had to report to liked what we were doing and encouraged us to keep on going.". The Week in Cox is a weekly podcast featuring the best segments from The Alan Cox Show. 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. Danny Czekalinski and Darla Jaye teamed up in October 1997 with Liz Wilde holdover Cory Lingus (Cory Gallant) until August 1998. When WMMS program director John Gorman found out Rio was not under contract in Houston, he offered Rio a job, and the comedian eventually moved to Cleveland. 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. We joked about the Buzzard becoming Cleveland's Mickey Mouse a "Buzzard Land" amusement park filled with sex, drugs and rock and roll A study conducted by MBA students at Case Western Reserve University in 1975 found that the new WMMS logo was more recognizable to those living in Greater Cleveland than both Chief Wahoo of the Cleveland Indians and even Coca-Cola. (Scott is far right in the photo above, in the WMMS studio with Ed Kinzbach, Ed "Flash" Ferenc and Kenny Clean.) [124], Following Jacor's takeover, WMMS ran a "Death of the Buzzard" month-long stunt in October 1998. Hughes returned briefly to WMMS in the 1990s for short stints on a new "Morning Zoo" and as an overnight DJ. The WMMS Coffee Break Concert was a weekly music-interview show broadcast live from the station's studio, and later with an audience at the Agora Ballroom. [151] In addition to the live broadcast, the show is available on demand through iHeartRadio; and can be downloaded as a podcast through iTunes. He influenced many listeners of the station and kept the momentum alive pushing new music into the ears and speakers of the audience of WMMS. In 1966, in an effort to make the medium more commercially viable, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandated that FM stations could no longer duplicate the programming of their AM sister stations. Date Unknown, William Lionel Freeman, better known by the name of his long time overnight show, "The BLF Bash" began his radio career in Fargo and later landed on the east coast in Boston. 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 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. It really was an awesome time.' Fowler works for country station WGAR-FM/99.5, and Cronauer is an on-air personality for WKYC-TV/Channel 3 and The Fish, WFHM-FM/95.5. 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. He would read some commercial copy and then "throw them in the bash bucket where they belong" and openly criticize music he didn't care for. Her LinkedIn Profile says she is now an independent radio professional in New York. 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. [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. Cleveland's Rock Station, home of Rover's Morning Glory, The Alan Cox Show, and FM Home of Cleveland Guardians Baseball. [142], Radio personality Rover (Shane French), host of Rover's Morning Glory, took over weekday mornings at WMMS on April 1, 2008, following a contract dispute with WKRK-FM owner CBS Radio; John Gorman compared signing the popular morning personality to a "coup". Image of Bill Hader above wearing WMMS shirt for his upcoming HBO series called Barry. He also did a nightly oldies show there from 1988-2001. 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. 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. "The station, like any radio station, it really reflects the people who are running it and the ownership of the station. Ken Schneck. [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. [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. WMMS (100.7 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, serving Greater Cleveland and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio, commonly identified as "TheBuzzard". [38][39] Considered "a true radio legend," WMMS DJ Kid Leo was chosen for Rolling Stone's "Heavy Hundred: The High and Mighty of the Music Industry" (1980) and named "The Best Disc Jockey in the Country" in a special 1987 issue of Playboy. The announcement came less than two weeks before the show. [53] Buzzard Morning Zoo video featuring Mr. Leonard. Kid Leo Interviews Van Halen April 20, 1980. The ritual lasted through his entire career at the Buzzard. Today, she is a regular DJ on oWOW Radio on Friday nights and Sunday afternoons. The music structure also was modified at this time as artists such as Michael Jackson, Madonna and Prince soon found airplay on WMMS. The top 40 deejays were retained, but it was soon obvious that they were inadequate hosts for a progressive rock format. Brian and Joe talk to Rob Thomas from Matchbox 20. 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. And indeed, it remains a special show in the memories of Springsteen, Weinberg and the members of the E Street Band too. The Cleveland Free Clinic staffed aid stations in the stadium with physicians, nurses and other volunteers, and through 1977, made its treatment statistics public. [142], On April 3, 2009, The Maxwell Show went on the air claiming that Metallicain Cleveland for the 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony the very next daywas playing a free show in the WMMS parking lot later that evening. She stayed on when the station switched formats to modern rock in 1992, becoming 107.9 The End. 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). [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. [33][34], Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, WMMS had a stable of personalities that remained fundamentally unchanged,[26][27] attained a dominant market share in the local ratings[27][35][36][37] and posted market record-high figures "never duplicated by any other Cleveland radio station since. (Plain Dealer file photo), A DJ and music director at WMMS-FM/100.7 from 1974-78. Goldfinger, The Refreshments, Triple Fast Action and others played the second stage at the top of the hill. Win a Monster Zero Sugar prize pack from Circle K! The stations involved are WMMS (FM), WTAM (AM/FM), WMJI (FM), WGAR (FM), WHLK (FM), WAKS (FM), WKAS (HD2) and WARF (AM). [120] Geared as a format change to contemporary hit radio (CHR) using the "KISS FM" brand,[30][126] the decision was reversed at the last minute by management. In 1976, Bash began the tripped out tradition of playing Funkadelic Maggot Brain in its entirety every Saturday night at midnight. John Gorman and Denny Sanders left the station in fall of 1986, leading fourteen staff members with them to start rival station WNCX. Album deejay Denny Sanders was brought in from Boston and key WNCR personnel (including former WHK-FM/WMMS personalities Martin Perlich and Billy Bass, and station newcomer David Spero) were soon hired by WMMS, taking most of their audience with them. 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). Other stations carried their birthday show. 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). Len "Boom" Goldberg's unmistakable voice was heard for three decades on 100.7 WMMS. Described by Talkers magazine as "a bold anomaly worthy of industry attention", the show itself has successfully continued the format established by its predecessor The Maxwell Show all talk during afternoon drive on an FM rock station. [145] WMMS itself also airs The Rover Rewind, a weekly recap show on Saturday mornings. Owned by iHeartMedia . Listen To The Most Popular Podcasts On iHeartRadio! BuzzardFest 2000 took Place on June 30, 2000 at Nautica on the Flats West Bank. He now does the morning show on WONE-FM/97.5 in Akron. He became one of the station's most popular jocks during its Buzzard heyday, and was perhaps best known as the host of the live Wednesday "Coffeebreak Concerts." He left in the late '80s to become program director for WRQK-FM/106.9 in Canton. [119] Neumann defended the decision later as the right thing to have done, noting how alternative rock would eventually fade as a format several years later. 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. 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. 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(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. They brought pleasure to the average Clevelanders workday with segments like Token Jokes of the Morning, Spousal Arousal and Blow Something Up. We all got to know Billy Bass pretty good. [125] As part of the stunt, Denny Sanders returned to host an airshift, programming the music at his discretion. Mr. Leonard, the self proclaimed assistant public service director made appearances on the Buzzard Morning Zoo for many years. April 16, 1974 the Buzzard was born. I met great radio personalities like Chuck Knapp, Lou King Kirby, Chuck Dunaway, Big John Roberts and Billy Bass. [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. She started at the Buzzard in 1976, and stayed until 1983, working mostly the evening shift. Since leaving Cleveland in the 1990s, she has worked in radio in various big-city markets, including Philadelphia and Phoenix. She stayed on when the station switched. WMMS, WTAM and the other iHeart stations in Cleveland will get a new home this year. 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. [96][98] Billboard and Airplay Monitor magazines together named WMMS Rock Station of the Year (Medium Market) in 1995,[103] and Modern Rock Station of the Year (Medium Market) in 1996. "Betty was one of the original . Kinzbach and Ferenc had already been a morning team with sidekicks since 1976, seven years prior to adopting the "morning zoo" label, so the basic structure was already in place. We never learned what Mr. Leonard looked like, he never discussed it on the air. [147], Described by The Plain Dealer as "testosterone-fueled", the show dominates younger demographics, particularly male listeners ages 1834. Those guys are f--kin' heroes!" It was the perfect way to keep the party rolling. [120], Co-hosts Duji (Susan Catanese) and Dominic Dieter each worked on Rover's Morning Glory before the move to WMMS; since then, the show has expanded to include sound engineer Chocolate Charlie (Mike Toomey), phone screener Mattitude/Flatitude (Matt Novick), Video Anthony Snitzer, Producer Dumb (Shaun Street) and former intern Jeffrey LaRocque. The company will move its regional office, including nine stations, downtown from the suburbs. [83][89] Lisa Dillon, Ric Bennett and Tom Renzy also would depart the station that same day. This second show sold out immediately, and was held at the city's largest venue: Cleveland Public Hall.[63]. In September 1995, he was hired to do nights at WRKR-FM in Kalamazoo, MI. The station claimed it was simply "a marketing strategy" and "much in line with what many stations did. Boom also spent time on the Buzzard Morning Zoo and filled in during other air shifts. Sanders was instrumental in WMMS' rise. GLAAD is calling on Clear Channel and Cleveland radio station WMMS to suspend radio personality Dominic Dieter for telling a father to essentially arrange for his daughter to be raped if he suspects she's gay. Good old Red! "Those guys who pilot those ships through here? The other DJs in the photo are, from left: Doc Nemo, Vic Boc, Martin Perlich and Pat Mack. Condolences: Betty Korvan. David Helton who at the time was working for American Greetings is the man responsible for giving us the iconic symbol we still use to this day. 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. [57], Following a legal dispute with a competing station owner over non-compete clauses in their contracts, former Top 40 WIXY personalities Dick "the Wilde Childe" Kemp and Lou "King" Kirby were signed by MetroMedia for the top 40 format. She remained with the station until 1995. "Round for round, pound for pound, there ain't no finer band around. 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. Now Debbie joins Dave Noriega to host a daytime radio broadcast "Dave and Dujanovic" where they discuss Utah news, culture, and . [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. In honor of the station's milestone birthday, we've compiled a list of some of the Buzzard's most memorable DJs and behind-scenes personalities, spanning the full 50-year history of the station. During the 20th anniversary broadcast, Mike Olszewski, along with Jeff & Flash, spoke with Wally Bryson of the Raspberries and one of the National Guardsmen. professional boxing referees; uf college of medicine class of 2023; kalalau valley hippies Murray Saul joined the WMMS staff as a salesman. 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! 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. The phallic like logo depicted a large mushroom with a little elf hanging out smoking a joint. "Born to Run" was the essence of everything I loved about rock 'n' roll. "[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. Kinzbach left the station in 1994. Photo: Courtesy of John Gorman), One of the young DJs legendary WMMS program director John Gorman brought to the Buzzard when he took over again as WMMS chief in the early 1990s. Attendance was by general admission. Play-by-play announcers Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus call games on-site. 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. Win a Monster Zero Sugar prize pack from Circle K! Billy Bass. He worked a variety of record-industry jobs after that, becoming senior vice president of marketing at Chrysalis Records during the 1980s. [74] Of all the personalities that worked at WMMS, Len "Boom" Goldberg remained the longest. 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. wmms radio personalities. He died in 2014 at the age of 86. Before FM took over the airwaves, before WMMS became the undisputed champ of Cleveland rock radio, WIXY 1260 AM ruled. From celebrities and high profile sports stars, to iconic DJs who know music, SiriusXM has the best hosts in radio. July 11, 1995. [88] Management ordered a change to the Buzzard by giving it a flat-top and mullet. However, Matt would be dismissed permanently from the station in late 1992, the victim of budget cuts. [51] On July 31, 1947, W8XUB began broadcasting at 100.7MHz. [44][45][46] Seven years later, members of the station's staff and management pleaded guilty to disrupting a national broadcast of The Howard Stern Show that originated via the local Stern affiliate, cross-town rival WNCX. 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. [78] Concertgoers occasionally fell or jumped off the steep stadium upper deck onto the concrete seating area far below, causing serious injury. His "BLF Bash" was an overnight mainstay at the Buzzard from 1976-1994. Lawrence James Travagliante - aka Kid Leo. Cleveland's Rock Station, home of Rover's Morning Glory, The Alan Cox Show, and FM Home of Cleveland Guardians Baseball. His was the booming voice on the station's hourly IDs, music segues, sweepers, and commercials. He is also the curator and archivist for the Ohio Broadcast Archive and Museum, and now teaches media communications classes at Kent State University and the University of Akron. Since 1998, he's hosted "America's Workforce" a one-hour program sponsored by labor unions on WERE-AM/1490. Rolling Stone named WMMS "Best Radio Station" (Large Market) nine straight years (197987) as part of the magazine's annual Readers' Poll,[26] but the station admitted to stuffing the 1987 ballot following a February 1988 front-page story in The Plain Dealer exposing manipulation.
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