Musicradio WABC Promos

Over the years, WABC ran many promos for contests, music, events, and disc jockeys. Most all of these were recorded by Dan Ingram. They are arranged chronologically. Here are a few:

1961

A Series of 1961 Dan Ingram WABC Promos:

Dan Ingram did almost all of WABC's on air promos. These are a series from 1961 and early 1962. The first two are actually jokes that Dan did but the rest were used on the air. Note the tremendous range in Dan's voice. WABC fans always recognize Dan for his humor and DJ skills, but his versatility and talents in the use of his voice made him a top voice over talent. Listening to these early WABC promos will demonstrate why! There are also two Charlie Greer promos included. Courtesy Peter Kanze:

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Scott Muni Promo: (40 secs.)

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The WABC "Who's Calling His Dog" Contest. (1 min)

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Promo/Advertisement for the movie "The Devil at 4:00" where WABC gave away prizes as part of the promotion: (1 min.)

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"Operation Feedback": A rare promo featuring Hal Neal the WABC General Manager who was responsible for making WABC a Top 40 Music radio station. Hal Neal was also responsible for hiring the original WABC Disc Jockeys. (45 secs.)

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1962

WABC Principal of the Year contest promo: (52 secs)

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WABC Christmas Giveaway Promo from 1962. Note the use of the term "WABC Good Guys" in this promo. Terry Morgan, who donated this clip, wrote that "one of my missions is to remind people who are interested in classic Top 40 radio that WABC had the "Good Guys" first in New York City". As NYC radio people know, WMCA later used the "Good Guys" slogan to great success. But, WABC really did have it first! (1 min.)

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WABC "Good Guys Tie Exchange" Promo from 1962. Great voice work by Dan Ingram (courtesy Terry Morgan). (40 secs.)

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In December of 1962 a newspaper strike hit New York. WABC-FM was actually an all news station for a short time. This promo ran on WABC-AM in an effort to promote "expanded news" by the ABC New York outlets to feed "one tenth of a news hungry nation": (35 secs.)

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1963

Each of the WABC air personalities had "membership cards" which were sent to listeners who wrote in for them. These included: The Bruce Morrow Fan Club, Cousin Brucie's Pillow Talk Club, Charlie Greer's Happy Huggy Bear Club, Bob Dayton's Help Stamp Out Fan Clubs Fan Club (complete with a drawing of Dayton Place on the back of the card), Bob Lewis' Chick-nik card from the All Nite Satellite, and The Beatles Fan Club card. Dan Ingram's was the "Kemosabe Kard":

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1964

The famous "Gasser Promo" which ran for fourteen years: (35 secs.)

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"Plan Your Weekend With Music and Us" Promo: (1 min.)

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1965

Musicradio WABC ran weekly promos for their current playlist. This is one of those promos, (voiced by Dan Ingram) followed by a brief Charlie Greer clip from 1965. (45 secs).

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Another weekly music promo:

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In the early years, WABC was under contract to carry lots of non music programming such as Jets football. The trick was to get the music audience back after football. Here is one promo which tried to accomplish that: (56 secs.)

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WABC gave away the Beatles backdrop from a television appearance in 1965. This is the promo from Scott Muni and Cousin Bruce: (50 secs.)

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The WABC "Fourth Annual Principal of the Year Contest" promo: (30 secs.)

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1966

The famous "Fenwick Mouse" Promo recorded by Dan Ingram with introduction by Bob "Bob a Loo" Lewis". Dan recorded this by playing the "All American Go Go Team" jingle at half speed while recording his voice over top of it. Then, when he played it back at normal speed, his voice was now running at double speed. This created the "mouse" effect heard on this promo. Both versions are featured here.

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"The Beat Goes On" Promo: (31 secs.)

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How about a "Mink of the Month" contest? Well, here it is! (60 secs.)

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1967

In 1967 there was an AFTRA perfomers strike that the WABC DJ's were forced to honor. Management and other staff had to fill in on air. Rick Sklar had the following promo recorded. Rick can be heard at the beginning of this clip doing the news! (51 secs).

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1968

When Roby Yonge arrived at WABC in 1968, WABC found a way to introduce him: (60 secs.)

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WABC "Armored Car" Promo. This was a contest used to keep listeners tuned in to WABC during newscasts. (1.75 mins.)

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Each year, over the Holidays, WABC ran the Top 100 most popular songs of the year. You could obtain a free copy of that list. Here is the promo from 1968: (68 secs.)

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1970

These are a series of promos recorded by Dan Ingram with Julian Breen between 1970/71. These were quick "drop in" promos for the station: (2 mins.) (courtesy Keith Messner)

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1971

WABC "Top 100 of 1971" Promo: (35 secs.)

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1974

$25,000 Button Contest Promo: (25 secs.)

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