WMCA Airchecks
Here's what The Good Guys sounded like!
B. Mitchel Reed on WMCA October 12, 1963 doing a Saturday night show! The horn blows and the hits keep comin'! The WMCA "Sure Shot" flies by as BMR rocks his scooters. There's a neat promo (by Harry Harrison) for the arrival of Johnny Dark. There is also a great Ed Baer advertisement for a "Brooklyn Fox" album. And, don't miss the "Reed Reactivated Mashback" oldie followed by an uncut Schaefer Beer Jingle! (courtesy Gary Liebisch) (6 mins.)
Joe O'Brien on WMCA October 10, 1963. It's a "Good Guy Thursday" as Joe does the traffic, spars with "Benny" and tells jokes. (courtesy Gary Liebisch) (4 mins.)
Dan Daniel on WMCA April 22, 1963. This aircheck also features Frank Stickle doing the news. A great "Good Guy" song goes by Dan tells tells jokes, plays those great WMCA promos and jingles and does his usual smooth transitions throughout the show. (courtesy Gary Liebisch) (9 mins.)
Ed Baer in June, 1970 doing the midday show. Dave Leeds does the news as Ed plays the hits during the waning days of the "Good Guys". (courtesy Gary Liebisch) (1 min.)
B. Mitchel Reed's last hour on the air on WMCA from March 20, 1965! This is the final hour of the BMR show on WMCA on the "wide wide weird world". He was leaving to return to KFWB in Los Angeles (where he had come from 2 years 1 month and two days before). BMR thanks everyone he can think of at the station from the air personalities to the engineers and news people . He counts down the 15 most voted for songs of the week. "Your Leader" encourages all of his "scooters" to stay tuned for the newest Good Guy, Gary Stevens who started two weeks later. The rest of the "Good Guys" even did a special "California Here He Comes" song for BMR's last night. (There's also a great unedited Schaefer Beer commercial on this aircheck!) (courtesy Gary Liebisch). (25 mins.)
Frank Stickle rocks through a Sunday afternoon on WMCA on November 1, 1964. The music keeps moving and Frank frequently comments on all the WMCA "Sure Shots" that are making it to the top of the survey. (courtesy Gary Liebisch). (5 mins.)
Dean Anthony did the overnight show on WMCA starting in 1964. He had (and still has) a very personable sound and rapport with his listeners. Here he is from a hot summer night, July 15, 1967. (courtesy Peter Kanze) (6.5 mins.)
Gary Stevens first show on WMCA from April 8, 1965. Gary comes out flying on his first night on the air. Lots of enthusiasm and excitement playing the "Goldies" and the "Sure Shots" and, of course, the hits! (courtesy Peter Kanze) (4.5 mins.)
B. Mitchel Reed on June 28, 1963. Your "leader" rocks on with his "scooters" with his horns, whistles and "Name It and Claim It". You have to listen to this aircheck a couple of times before you can figure out much of what he says with that rapid fire delivery! (courtesy Peter Kanze) (4 mins.)
Harry Harrison did the midday show at WMCA from 10-1 PM. Here he is in 1965 playing the hits and talking to Mom! This aircheck includes Harry doing his famous "Housewife Hall of Fame", running the "Good Guy Derby" and, of course giving away sweatshirts. Harry talks right TO you, not AT you. Also, listen to some of the production on this aircheck... the sound effects, the jingles mixed with station promos and the constant promotions! Good Guy radio was rocking!! (courtesy Gene Knight, KJQY San Diego) (11 mins.)
Jack Spector in 1965 doing what he loved to do best... RADIO!! Jack loved being on the air. He never wanted to be in management or sales... he just wanted to be an air personality. That was the key to doing this kind of radio... If you were having a good time, it just came through. Just listen to Jack and his enthusiasm. They had a great promotion going at this time: "WMCA the most talked about station in the nation". They were able to get people who identified themselves from as being from other places around the country to "wish" they had The Good Guys in their hometown. Great bit! (courtesy Gene Knight, KJQY San Diego) (6.5 mins.)
"Dandy" Dan Daniel was the "afternoon drive" personality on WMCA. Dan had (and still has) a great voice and a terrific way with words. He's got a WMCA "Sure Shot", and listen to how often Dan mentions a listener's name. WMCA tried to give the impression that EVERYONE was in on it and no one did a better job of that than Dandy Dan on this aircheck from 1965. (courtesy Gene Knight, KJQY San Diego) (7 mins.)
Gary Stevens on WMCA in 1965. Talk about ENERGY! Gary does "Name It and Claim It", and does a TIGHT show. Listen to his talk up of "Back in My Arms Again". He has some great one liners here and keeps both himself and his listeners laughing. Great Top 40 personality radio. (courtesy Gene Knight, KJQY, San Diego) (5 mins.)
This is a montage of WMCA which was contributed by Good Guy Joe O'Brien. It was sent to him by a fan of the station. The quality of it varies but it is very interesting because it includes almost all of the voices heard from 1963 until 1970 on WMCA. Whether you remember the station or just want to hear what it sounded like, this is a good place to start. It includes many of the farewell shows the disc jockeys did toward the end of the music era of the station. The voices heard on this montage include air personalities Joe O'Brien, B. Mitchel Reed, Ed Baer, Jack Spector, Dan Daniel, Gary Stevens (first and last shows), Dean Anthony, Lee Gray, Harry Harrison, Murray "The K" Kaufman, Frankie Crocker, Alex Bennett, and Johnny Michaels. (courtesy Rob Frankel) (43 mins.)
Bon Jour Mon Ami... This was the classic introduction theme song that Joe O'Brien used for years on WMCA. Here he is on March 29, 1965 giving away sweatshirts, helping commuters get through the traffic, telling jokes and sparring with "Benny". (If you want to know where Benny came from check the WMCA Trivia section of this website.) (courtesy Joe O'Brien) (19 mins.)
Joe O'Brien and "Benny" wake up New York on January 4, 1965. Joe plays "Jump Back in Bed", gives away sweatshirts, does "Holiday Loot", has plenty of jokes and features John Lennon doing those famous WMCA dropin liners. And, of course, Benny is always there to tweak Joe! (courtesy Joe O'Brien) (20 mins.)
Joe O'Brien and "Benny" from February 24, 1965. Joe does his "Tongue Twister" giveaway, gives away sweatshirts on "The Most Generous Station in the Nation", and does a great "male nurse" joke. Listen to Joe work his way out of the commercials to keep the flow going. That famous Good Guy camaraderie is evident as Joe and Benny kid about fellow Good Guy Jack Spector. Also, note how often Joe finds a way to mention listener's names. WMCA always tried to involve everyone including the listeners! (courtesy Joe O'Brien) (20 mins.)
WMCA Good Guy Ed Baer gives away a sweatshirt, Gary Stevens does a "Name It and Claim It" call in contest and Dandy Dan Daniel rocks with The Four Seasons in 1967.
A composite of WMCA in 1965. B. Mitchel Reed (BMR) is followed by Joe O'Brien, another Good Guys song and Joe doing "Benny".
Joe O'Brien, Jack Spector ending his show and "America's most adequate disc jockey" Dan Daniel starting his show in 1965
Gary Stevens rocking his way through the "teen" shift at WMCA in 1965. Yes, Gary gives away a sweatshirt and does some great one liners.
Jack Spector doing what he loved to do best... being a disc jockey in 1965
Gary Stevens on September 13, 1968:
Harry Harrison does his final show on WMCA on Saturday, September 21, 1968. He started the following Monday on WABC.
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