I can't overstate the importance of Top 40 AM radio in my development as a rockin' pop fan. As a kid in the theoretical process of growing up in the '60s and '70s, AM radio was it, the coolest, the hippest, the brightest, the best. In Syracuse, my stations were The Big 15 WOLF and 1260 WNDR.
Between the competing airwaves emanating from 1260 and The Big 15, I was introduced to the sounds of the Beatles, Chuck Berry, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Dusty Springfield, Freda Payne, Deep Purple, the Bobby Fuller Four, Badfinger, Raspberries, the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, Johnny Nash, Linda Ronstadt, the Jackson Five, Slade, the Who, the Spinners, Sweet, Alice Cooper, KISS, the Bay City Rollers, the Isley Brothers, ABBA, Janis Joplin, David Bowie, Jefferson Airplane, Rufus, Faces, the Hollies, the Four Seasons, Donna Summer, Donna Fargo, Dave Edmunds, the Four Tops, the Grass Roots, Elton John, Melanie, Roberta Flack, Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, Dawn, Black Sabbath, Carly Simon, Olivia Newton-John, War, Gladys Knight and the Pips, the American Breed, Stevie Wonder, the Supremes, Bob Dylan, the Association, the Turtles, Yes, David Essex, Earth Wind and Fire, Aerosmith, Steppenwolf, the Stylistics, the Carpenters, Golden Earring, the Edwin Hawkins Singers, Bobby Sherman, Shaun Cassidy, the Mamas and the Papas, Herman's Hermits, Isaac Hayes, the Cowsills, Brownsville Station, Kris Kristofferson, the Band, Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Temptations, Boston, the Shadows of Knight, Donovan, Lesley Gore, the Royal Guardsmen, the Moody Blues, Fleetwood Mac, Sylvia, Major Harris, the J. Geils Band, Jim Croce, Bruce Springsteen, Nancy Sinatra, the O'Jays, Steely Dan, R. Dean Taylor, the Lovin' Spoonful, Dickie Goodman, Mungo Jerry, Joan Baez, Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye, Todd Rundgren, Argent, Nazareth, Blue Magic, Bloodstone, Bloodrock, Joni Mitchell, Tommy James and the Shondells, the Zombies...
...and that's probably not even a proper thumbnail (Barry Manilow, the Commodores, the Shocking Blue, Queen). WOLF and WNDR were rivals, but together they were large (Pink Floyd, the Trammps, the Castaways, the Village People, Uriah Heep). They contained multitudes. (Wet Willie, the Bee Gees, Heart, Neil Diamond, the Animals, Sly and the Family Stone). More muuusic WOLF! WNDR is Number One, and that's the way it's gonna stay!
Every Syracuse music fan of a certain age knows and cherishes the significance of the number 1260. Recognizing that this week's show is This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio # 1260, it seemed appropriate to salute the sound that built us, closing the show with a set of songs we recall hearing on 1260 WNDR and/or The Big 15 WOLF. But every single one of our shows is a salute to that legacy. We play the hits, or at least what seems like the hits to us. We learned from the best. This is what rock 'n' roll radio sounded like on another Sunday night in Syracuse this week.
This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, streaming at SPARK stream, and on the Radio Garden app as WESTCOTT RADIO. Recent shows are archived at Westcott Radio
You can read all about this show's long and weird history here: Boppin' The Whole Friggin' Planet (The History Of THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO).
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Carl's new book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available, and you can order an autographed copy here. You can still get Carl's previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books, OR an autographed copy here. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.
