WBEN Alumni: 75 Years of Stories

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

UPDATED: February 21, 2005
A bunch of folks have sent in their memories , bios, and anecdotes to be included here. For questions or submissions… Drop me an E-mail!

Name: Steve Cichon

Years at WBEN: 1993-98, 2003-present

Position(s) Held:
Board Op
Producer
News Anchor

I was 15 when I started as an intern at WBEN, and was working full time hours by the time I was a senior in high school. I remember my first tour of duty at BEN like most people remember high school.

I was the youngest guy in there, by nearly a decade. One of my best friends was the oldest guy there… By probably two decades. While I admit I probably wouldn’t want to work with Ed Little in a busy newsroom, I’m grateful for the time spent with him as a board op. After each newscast, We’d walk down to the basement on Elmwood for a cup of coffee, and Ed would never let me buy.(You can buy when we have STEAK!, he’d say.)

The thing I’d like people to remember about Ed is this.. I went out to lunch with Ed pretty regularly until he died, and I don’t think I ever heard him say a bad thing about anyone. EVER. I knew him for years before I knew he flew bombing runs over Japan in WWII. He put his head down, and got the job done… without any of the Bull hockey that usually gets in the way in this business. Where’ve I been?

After spending a few years and Channel 4, and producing and programming at WNSA, I’m back at WBEN as a news anchor. I also married fellow WBEN alum Monica Huxley in 2001.

Bob Wood 3/9/05

Memories abound:

The log I inherited, with no spotsets at all. “Just do what you feel like doing when you feel like it.” (I changed that pretty quickly.) Hearing Burl Ives into Jefferson Starship into Lisa Minnelli, on my first visit. (I fixed THAT too.) Being one of the first in the country to hire Larry King overnight (via syndication.) Genius Dave May’s first snow closing computer in the USA. Followed by our own music scheduling computer – for WBEN! Trying to win over Clint and failing repeatedly. “Fixing Rock 102 in 30 minutes: “Who changes the tapes – or should I say, doesn’t – “the AM jocks” – ” not any longer, they don’t!”

I remember Tom Langmeyer’s dad calling me and saying whatever you did to my son you turned him into a man this summer. Maybe it was giving Tom responsibility, which he clearly deserved, mastered, and look how he’s thrived! (They say I always had an ear/eye for talent.) Maybe it was a girlfriend.

Jeff Kaye’s pregame show and its AWESOME produced replay on the week before. Speaking with John Facenda (then the voice of the NFL) to arrange promos – turned out he lived only a half mile from where I grew up and was GOD to me. SO sweet, too.

Stan Barron doing a game with a broken leg. Seeing him toward the end in the hospital. I brought him Larry Levite’s stogie just so he’d feel “at home.” Stan would sometimes sit in the studio watching TV, with an earplug UNDER his headphones, tuned to something else.

Kevin O’Connell reporting from the copter with me sitting alongside at Run For Your Life one Sunday morning – there was virtually nothing to see except a few runners below. He does an amazing three minutes. When finished I ask, “How did you do that?” He says, “That’s what I do.”

Howard Lapides doing The Bills postgame. HUGELY talented, and with John The Pearl Demerle they had a powerful interactive show that played listeners like puppets to express the real heart and soul of the game that just ended.

Linda Pellegrino, after her TV began, “the secret – it’s not hard. If you make it hard it is.”

Larry Levite, a mensch. A real caring man. A man-boy. He gave me as much autonomy as you could have. He threw the biggest parties, rented as many hotel rooms as needed so everyone would not drive under the influence. He cared about all his people. He’d say, “I want you to give away Ten Thousand dollars tomorrow.” He’d ask, “why do we play music?” He’d provoke, coddle, inspire, find new boundaries and always try for better and more. Once, when we had a bad episode with a major out of control talent in his office (really bad, and I thought I was going to be beaten with a wielded baseball bat, literally) after the storm passed, just sat with him in his office, trying to recover, and unexpectedly I found myself breaking out crying – I must have had an adrenaline thing happen – I was so embarrassed and couldn’t stop. Finally Larry asks what should we do, and I say, if he’s still here let’s go moon him, WHICH WE DID, from the hall. It was our way of defusing the situation. For us and the temporary nut case.

I saw Rick Jenrette (spelling?) call a game from a black and white 9 inch monitor of the TV broadcast when he missed a flight due to snow. Didn’t miss a call.

I saw Lacy go toe to toe with Stan Roberts and Danny Neaverth at an Art Museum award show and equal or better their best. I hired him from Erie and I still remember sitting by a motel pool listening to him on a trip to uncover new talent. Lacy’s REAL good… smooth and naturally funny.

I wrote a memo back then that everyone should treasure these, as they would become the “Good Old Days” of their career, and I think for many, they were.

We had awesome news and services, a full slate of sports, major, major talent, a great guy to work for, incredible facilities… great pride. I somehow knew this would be the high mark in so many ways.

I still have my souvenir goalpost section from The Day The Dolphins Drowned.

And Fred, aka ROCK 102, just sat and made money. A monster in two countries… a signal to die for. My refuge for music. A nail in the coffin for the once great WKBW.

To anyone from the day (my day) 1978 -1984… it was an honor to work with you.

My best,

Bob Wood

PD, WBEN/ROCK 102

Pete Weber 2/05

Years at WBEN: 1983 – 88

E-mail: pete@peteweber.com

Position(s) Held:

Fill-in for Stan Barron (83-84) on Free Form Sports; Buffalo Bills Game Analyst (1983); Bills Pre/Post-Game Host (1984-88); Buffalo Bison PBP (1985-88); One-on-One Sports fill-in (1985-88)

A Favorite WBEN Story or two:
1) The December Monday night Mark Hamrick was leisurely walking down the hall, having just returned from the basement, munching on chips. This was at 8:58 pm. John Demerle and I asked him: are you ready for your 9 o’clock newscast? He replied: “What happened to Monday Night Football?” We told him — “That ended last week!”

The look of horror on his face, the exclamation of “Holy Shit!” and his scramble to the newsroom, pulling wire copy and carts to the news booth…and his flawless newscast (with the exception of the 8 o’clock temperature he used) were an incredible performance under pressure.

2) The night in 1986, I’m in Des Moines with the Bisons at Sec Taylor Stadium with the threatening Midwestern Weather. My lone connection to the outside world was John Demerle. All of a sudden, the temperature drops and I think I see the Wicked Witch of the West pedalling a bicycle across the sky. WBEN listeners hear the Iowa Cubs’ official scorer banging his fist on the storm door of the visiting broadcast booth: “Damnit, Pete, get off the roof, here it comes!” I quickly told the listeners: “This captain is not going down with the ship,” and disconnected. Later, from the safety of a cinderblock building, I called in to report on everyone’s safety.

What you’ve been up to since WBEN… Sports Director, WGR (1988 – 93); Buffalo Bills Game Analyst (1990); Bills Pre/Post Host (1991-93); Buffalo Bison PBP (1989 – 95); Buffalo Sabres PBP (1995 – 97); Empire Sports Network (1990 – 98); Nashville Predators PBP (1998 – Present)

Helen Tederous 2/05

I only worked for BEN for a little over a year from the spring/summer of ‘92 to the late summer of ’93… it was really fun.

Kevin O’Connell 2/05

Steve: I was there in the late 70s/early 80s……We had the opportunity to interview the Beach Boys, Manilow,Dick Clark,etc……I was doing the mid-day Show 12:30-3pm right after Newsday Show…then I would do the evening weather on Channel 4 and the Disco Step by Step Show on the weekends….pretty full day and week…I think that’s why I was so skinny…..left for LA in ’82…and BEN was my last home before that….Kevin

Bill McKibben 2/05

I joined the BEN stations in June of 1965 as “Assistant to the
President” (AHK). My original deal to take over for Bob Thompson
when he retired (Bob’s idea) was derailed by my association with
Kirk, so I moved over to run just radio after two years of running
both under Bob’s wing.

I have also written separate pieces on some of the people I worked
with including an expanded piece on AHK. I am still working on Bob
Thompson who was the real giant at the stations. He did more by far
to shape the WBEN stations than any other individual, and for my
money is the most influential individual in Buffalo Broadcast History.

I will share some pictures with you when I get a moment. I am
grateful that I am up to my ears in meaningful work half way through
my 76th year. My wife says I’ve cut down to half days, 12 hours is
enough.

Are there any plans to celebrate the 75th at this point? I have
always said the station was a gift for my first birthday, I was born in
1929, the station as you know in 1930.

Regards, Bill

Monica Wilson 2/05

First go ‘round was 88-90, i believe -did mornings with Mark Leitner the last year….
started here as News Director July 2001

Kathleen Donovan 2/05

I worked at WBEN as a part-time weekend anchor from 1990 to 1995 and then full-time anchor/reporter from 1995-2000.

I am currently a public relations coordinator for CUTCO Cutlery in Olean, NY.

I have many fond memories of working at WBEN. One that I will always remember is when I signed off from a story saying, “live from the newsroom, Brian Meyer, Newstalk 930 WBEN.” What had happened is I was doing the story live from the newsroom and had just been talking to Brian just before I went on. Why I called myself “Brian Meyer” I’ll never know…what was I thinking? Brian and I still laugh over that one today.

Tom Kelly 2/05

Hello Steve: Thanks for your e-mail. I loved working at WBEN. I was only there for four years… maybe a bit longer. To be sure a very small part of WBEN’s grand history. I was only 23 when I went to work at BEN. What a learning experience! I took over the late midday spot when Kevin O’Connell went to KNBC. Such a pleasure to work with Ed Little, Dave May, Lacy and Mindy. What a great crew. I’ve been at WBIG in Washington DC since ’93. OK – I’m babbling. I’ve only time to add some pictures to your archive… I will do so under separate cover – since the server is lethargic tonight. Sorry for cluttering your mailbox…

Tom also sent along several pics…. They’re on the  picture page.

Mark Hamrick 2/05

My former colleague Pete Weber alerted me to your web site. Congratulations for having done a tremendous job compiling so much material. In this photo, I’m pictured alongside Dave May. I worked at ‘BEN for about 18 months, during 1985 and ’86. I had worked for several years at WEBR Newsradio 1970 before that. My job at ‘BEN was afternoon traffic copter and news with Murph on One on One sports. It was a great place to work, and I keep in touch with Murph, Pete W. as well as Kevin Keenan.

I left to work for AP Radio in Dallas, where I was for one year, and then transferred to the Washington operation, where I’ve been since. I married the former Jeanne Golanka, who worked weekends at ‘BEN, her full time job back then was PR for the Sabres.

I also do a lot of volunteer work for the National Press Club, where I’m Vice Chair of the Board of Governors.

Thanks for helping to relive some pleasant memories.

Cherie Messore 2/05

Hi Steve – Tom Kelly forwarded your email to me. I’m a WBEN alum. I was assistant to the program director from 1983-1985. I have photos I can send you, too!

Please keep me informed about any parties of reunions.

Also, there’s a photo on your site of Kaye Lapping and Eileen Tobias and a third woman. The mystery woman worked in traffic or billing and her name is Ona and I can’t remember her last name. Candy Acierno and Denise Burt (if they still work at WBEN) would remember her.

Cherie Messore

Marketing Manager

Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens

Jennifer L. Randazzo 2/05

Years at WBEN: 6 1/2

Positions Held: Intern, Producer, Local Sales Assistant, Call Screener

Email: JenniferRandazzo@peoplepc.com

Favorite WBEN story: WIll get back to you on that

SInce WBEN: I continue to work as National Sales Assistant/Assistant Paid Programming COordinator at Sinclair (WB49)

Joe Sviatko 2/05

When I left WBEN I took a job at Dean Witter as I attempted to change careers. From Dean Witter I took a job at a bank in Baltimore.. to where we moved in January 2000. Left the bank in April 2001 and went to work as a PIO for a State agency here in Maryland. Left the State in April 2003 for a PIO job with Baltimore’s State’s Attorney (in NY you call them District Attorney.) I have been a spokesman here in Baltimore ever since for the State’s Attorney’s Office.

An aside.. I have been OUT of radio now for the same amount of time I was IN radio.. SEVEN years. Amazing… Ellen and I are still happily married and we have three children: Joseph IV (Joey) age 3, Matthew age 2, Zachary age 3 months.

More from Joe 3/9/05:

Here are two favorite stories.. At one of the February “Christmas” parties I walked into the Men’s room

and Van Miller was standing in the middle of the bathroom with his pants around his knees making sure

his shirt was tucked in correctly, he told me. Sure he would not remember, if you know what I mean. That same night he visibly “checked out” Ellen with an exaggerated up and down motion of his head. That was the night Ellen became a WOMAN. 🙂

Ellen came to the station one night and met Mike Mroziak for the first time.. he proceeded to tell this complete stranger all his love life woes. 🙂

I loved listening to Mark Leitner make the cop calls in the morning.. typical conversation.. “Good morning Trooper, Mark Leitner, WBEN Radio News. Anything exctiting happen overnight. No? So, how are you this morning? How is Marge? And your kids? You don’t say?? First grade? My, they grow up quick. Have you seen Fred lately? I saw him a month or two ago……….” Another favorite.. the Mark Leitner cold season wrap with the cold open” “A-choo. This is Mark Leitner…..” And of course, that :30 wrap would have about 15 actualities in it…..

MaryJane Lynch-Wieleba 2/05

WBEN 1986-still here (I think I’m a lifer)
traffic director for WBEN/WGR/WWKB
email mjwieleba@aol.com
There have too many stories over the years to pick a favorite. So many
people have come and gone and so many are still here. Remember Bill
Lacy’s annual dropping of the pants at the holiday parties. The
impromtu shrimp and champagne parties because we had great books. Or
the parties to drown our sorrows because we didn’t. I grew up here,
got married, had my kids, made friends for life. WBEN is more than a
station its a family.

MJ

Tom Langmyer 2/05
Years at WBEN: 1978-1979
Position(s) Held: Production assistant, board op, some on-air work.
E-mail: telangmyer@cbs.com

A Favorite WBEN Story/Experience: You have it!

What you’ve been up to since WBEN: Left WBEN in 1979 for college. After school, worked at WGR as airborne traffic reporter & PD, also on-air at WTAE Pittburgh. Also worked at WNEW New York, WSYR/WYYY Syracuse (Operations Director). Have been at KMOX St. Louis since 1992. Currently VP/GM of KMOX St. Louis & VP-News/Talk Stations Group, Infinity Broadcasting.

An Update from Tom 3/9/05:

I guess you can change the “what I’m doing now” thing for me as I’m now the VP/General Manager at WGN Radio in Chicago.

More from Tom:

Steve—Thank you very much for the email making me aware of your great site, celebrating the history of WBEN! It’s really great! I’ll will dig up a photo as well and have some other photos you might not have that I will email to you. (Tom sent a BUNCH on photos… Theyre on the photos page.)

WBEN was the first Radio/TV I had ever visited. I was 7-years old. My dad and I were involved in the YMCA’s “Indian Guide” program and we toured the “WBEN Stations” on Elmwood Avenue. I saw Virgil Booth, Van Miller, Ken Phillips, John Corbett, Steven Rowan. They were STARS! I saw the studio that housed Clint Buehlman’s “Arthur Mometer,” the piano and a xylophone on which Buehlman would play the NFT bus theme. And on the wall of that studio, there it was!! “Traffic Central!!” Really just a map on the wall. No matter to me, it was great! I was in awe, hooked on radio and I developed a passion for the kind of radio station WBEN was. I liked WKBW, WGR, WYSL, CHUM, CFTR, WLS and WABC. At the same time, CFRB, KMOX, WGN, WJR and WBEN represented something I really appreciated. Nearly 35 years after that tour, a love for radio, which was born at WBEN, still burns. I still hold WBEN in very high esteem. Buffalo is my hometown, and I am very proud to say I worked there (and also proud to have worked at WGR after college).

I started at WBEN (the first station to actually PAY me) in 1978, when I was 17. At first, it was an internship under Bob Wood that turned into a board-op job just a couple of weeks later. I worked evenings, overnights, weekends and babysat Rock 102’s “Fred” as well. Within a month, I was allowed to do basic things on WBEN’s air, such as weather, time, announcements, promos, etc. Bob Wood would critique my tapes weekly. It was a generous thing. He was busy with people who were a lot more important than me. I have never forgotten it.

It was a very interesting time to be at WBEN (during a recovery from upheaval). Before the News sold the station in the late 70s, they took the idea of “younging up” the station too far, too fast. The station dumped long-time, loved personalities and replaced them with “hipper” personalities – Jay Fredericks, Chris Tyler, etc. I will never forget hearing the disc-jockeyish back sell….. “From the album Aja, that’s Peg from Steely Dan on Ninety-Three BEEE–EEEEE–ENNNNN!!” The approach reminded me of a teenage kid taking his father to the mall and outfitting him at “Chess King” so he could have the coolest dad on the block. It just doesn’t work. It just made things worse. Yes, Clint Buehlman was ready for retirement at that time (the stress of the Blizzard of `77 didn’t help things for him), but he was also a loved, legendary part of life in Western New York. He wasn’t happy about “being forced out” and it was no secret to the listeners. Even as a 15-year old kid, I knew this was wrong.

When Larry Levite and his group bought the station, Levite and his team did a superb job at giving Buffalo back the WBEN they expected and more, without taking it back to something that was no longer relevant. He brought back Stan Barron and others. Bob Wood rebuilt the station through a VERY creative approach to content, production and imaging and he added talent to fit the need to appeal to younger demos, while respecting the station’s rich heritage. The Bills returned to WBEN from WKBW and Van Miller was back behind the mike. Levite put up a helicopter for the first time for WBEN (WGR and WEBR had previously been the stations with helicopter traffic). Dave May and Debbie Stamp took to the sky. The station offered the respect due to Clint Buehlman and many listeners by bringing him back to host Sunday mornings on WBEN, while Jeff Kaye was absolutely the right guy for morning drive Monday-Friday! The station was everywhere. There was a beautiful new remote studio for the station and WBEN was on a roll!

I worked many hours at WBEN and pulled long weekend shifts. I often worked from Saturday afternoon at 2pm, straight though until Sunday morning at 9:30. The work consisted of recording public affairs shows, changing the FM automation tapes, doing production and working for Stan Barron on his show (I remember all those forms from Buffalo Raceway!). Then at midnight, I jumped behind the board for the overnight and morning programming before leaving at 9:30 am the next day. I then turned over the controls to Tom Whelan (who was Clint Buehlman’s longtime “operator”).

One Sunday morning at 6:30, I finally nodded off in “AMMCR” during the recorded “City Mission” program. There was dead-air for 2 minutes after the tape ran out before I was awakened by a panicked newsman, Rick Pfieffer. I felt terribly embarrassed about it. It was a 19½ hour shift yet I still felt like I really let the station down!

I was just a kid when I worked at WBEN and a few people there who were just a few years older than me (also trying to work their way up), didn’t seem to appreciate having a “kid” work there. At the same time, the “established” people were wonderful and taught me a lot! Bob Wood, Jim McLaughlin, Jack Mindy, Tom Whelan, Mike Whelan, Pam Legge, Kevin Gordon, Lou Douglas, Roger Christian, Tom Van Nortwick, Wendy Stahlka, Stan Barron, Phil Chordas, Linda Pellegrino, Mike Binis, Dave May, Dave Dibic, Bob Russo, Kay Lapping, Eileen Tobias, Bob Smith and Mark Leitner were just a few of the great people I learned from. There were many others too!

Larry Levite, the President/GM, was incredibly gracious. He even knew who I was, and made it a point to make me feel comfortable. It was apparent that he respected his managers and the staff. He wasn’t pretentious or wrapped in symbols of power. In fact, I remember going to the station’s holiday party in 1978 at Mulligan’s on Hertel Avenue. I was a kid not old enough to drink (even when the drinking age was 18). People drank A LOT in the 70’s and I could have felt really left out, but Larry Levite, Dave May, the other engineers, Bob Russo and others made me feel welcome and part of the team.

I left Buffalo in 1986. I live in St. Louis with my wife and two children, yet I still buy all of my suits at Riverside Men’s Shop. I do it because my dad and Stan Barron did. In fact, Mr. Barron’s picture still hangs on the wall at Riverside. That is how deep roots go between Buffalonians and WBEN.

Today, WBEN has great personalities and an excellent news department. John Zach, Susan Rose, Tom Bauerle and Sandy Beach are “Buffalo.” That’s why WBEN remains so successful.

Happy 75th Anniversary to WBEN!

Steve-Thanks for letting me ramble and remember my radio roots! If you want to use any or all of the above in any way, please feel free to do so. Comes from the heart. I’ll send some pics to you! Good Luck Steve….. Let’s stay in touch. This made my day!

Ed Tucholka 2/05

Please don’t overlook my Dad……..

He was Ed Tucholka, WEBR, WHLD and WBEN.

He was known variously as Uncle Ed, “Tuch”, First Voice of the Niagara Frontier and Ed Tucholka.

Ed retired in September 1995 at 80 years old, took ill in December and died the first week of January 1996. Broadcasting was his life, and when it ended…

He played radio broadcaster as a young boy, started as a boy chorister, first job was at a local department store (“Sattlers – 998 Broadway”) announcing specials.

Ed Landed a DJ job in the late 1930s at WEBR radio: Did a piece called the “Noon Day Review”, where he highlighted a local GI every day at noon (re: where he was and what he was doing for the war effort).

Late 1940s and early 1950s he was “Uncle Ed” of Uncle Ed’s Children’s hour.

He interviewed many celebs, but was never in awe of any of them; taught radio broadcasting through Junior Achievement and the YMCA; interacted with many local talents (ie: Irv Weinstein). He lived for his listeners; declined a nomination to the Buffalo Radio Broadcasters Hall of Fame (he said “let the young fellas have that”). He was a true radio pioneer.

Timothy P. Tucholka

Thanks to Jack MINDY for a few photo IDs.

Eileen Tobias 2/05

Hi Steve;
Candy Acierno sent me the web page etc., of WBEN people over the years. What a wonderful idea and how great it looks.

I started at WBEN in 1973 and retired at Entercom in June, 2002. When Larry Levite bought the station in 1978 I became his Ex. Assistant for 18 years until he sold in 1996. Stayed on a few years in the sales office at 2077 Elmwood, worked 1 yr. at the Hyatt when stations merged with WGR, etc. and was at Entercom in Amherst for about 2-1/2 yrs. until 2002.

Incidentally I now work p/t at CH. 4 in the receptionist position (can’t get media out of me!!).

Do hope Brian has the get-together again this year as Ron (my husband) and I would like to attend, he has known many of these people over the years.

Incidentally, under the Alumni photos the one of me and Kaye Lapping (who passed away last February, a wonderful lady) the other gal in the photo is Oda Hanners who was Traffic Manager for many years, and now lives in Ft. Myers. Florida. Hope this helps

Again, great you did this. Yes, I also think kindly of Ed Little a real gentleman.

Hope to see you soon,

Eileen Tobias

Jim Kelley 2/05

Wow what a fabulous site.

I don’t have any pics (that I can find anyway), but I have a
slew of memories working with John Murphy (who gave me a chance at radio
with Hockey Night in Buffalo), Howard and Chris and even Dave Kerner.

Meeting Stan Baron and working in the same arenas with Van Miller was a big
deal to a kid from South Buffalo as I progressed through the Buffalo Sports
scene. Any success I’ve ever had in broadcasting is a result of those early
days at WBEN with John Demerle and you behind the glass and Murph and his successors. WBEN is where people gave me a chance. It was a time of innocence and fun and I loved it every bit as much as writing.

Jim Kelley

Eileen Buckey 2/05

I worked at WBEN from 1989-1991 as a reporter/anchor. Best memory  —  Ed
Little coming in around 3pm for his shift, taking off his suit jacket like
“Mr. Rogers”, and putting on his baby blue cardigan sweater, then he would
gather wire copy and head over to the national desk to write his leads and
cart up CBS drive-time packages!!
See you in the field!

Eileen Buckley,
Reporter/Producer WBFO

Reformatted & Updated pages from staffannouncer.com finding a new home at buffalostories.com
Reformatted & Updated pages from staffannouncer.com finding a new home at buffalostories.com

 

The Frycake Lament: Donut Poetry

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

donutFor Donuts
I Go nuts

Whether from Krispy Kreme or Dunkin’,
by the Greasy goodness I am drunken.

The sign reads Always Open… Never Closed,
sitting on the counter stool I take repose

Which shall it be… frosted, honey dipped, or with sprinkles?
Just the thought makes my Extremities tingle…

My coffee-brown lips enveloping a peanut stick…
it’s Nirvana… and that’s no schtick.

Forget the Bagel, Donut’s healthy cousin….
Better to pig out on a Day Old Dozen.

I’ll take six… Filled with Jelly…
Soon they’re just powder on my chin, and goodness in my belly.

Without an early morning fritter,
My whole day’s down the shitter…

If glaze off my finger I cannot suck,
Life isn’t worth a Flying…

Donut.

Reformatted & Updated pages from staffannouncer.com finding a new home at buffalostories.com
Reformatted & Updated pages from staffannouncer.com finding a new home at buffalostories.com

Buffalo in the 70’s: Buffalo Anchorman

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

“Buffalo Anchorman” is a tribute to Buffalo television in the 70s and early 80s as inspired by the recent hit movie The Anchorman. Big hair, flashy suits, and plenty of loud colors makes for a decade we all wish we could forget.

In a picture that looks like it could have been taken on the set of Anchorman, Carol Crissey (later Jasen) poses with the suave Channel 4 anchorman John Beard. Beard joined Channel 4 in 1977, as the station began to move away from it’s ultra-conservative WBEN-TV/ Buffalo Evening News roots.


The dominant news staff of the 70s was the Eyewitness News Team…. Irv, Rick, and Tom. Don Postles rode shotgun at the anchordesk with Irv starting around 1978, and was there throughout the 80s.


Though perpetually at the bottom of the ratings wars, a smarmy anchor with balls of steel brought WGR-TV to the top of the heap for a time in the mid 70s… Ron Hunter. Hunter moved from Buffalo to Chicago, where some say its possible that his cheesy and insecure demeanor could have been part of the basis for Anchorman (one of the writers grew up in Chicagoland.)


 

 

 

WKBW’s Investigative Reporter John Pauly makes an urgent call. Pauly later worked for WGRZ-TV as well in the same role.

 

 

 



The man who perfected Weather with a Beat, Kevin O’Connell, is seen here tending a fire in a Channel 4 pub shot. He was Channel 4’s weatherman in the late 70s before leaving for Los Angeles. He returned to Buffalo in 1990 as a news anchor at Channel 4. He eventually made his way to Channel 2, where he remains as Chief Weather Anchor.


Don Paul and Mike Cejka are still your News 4 Weather team. Both were at Channel 4 by the early 80s. By the time they arrived, innovations like “Weather with a Beat” had gone by the wayside.


A popular Disc Jockey in Buffalo since the 50s, Danny moved fannies to Channel 7 as the noon Weather Outside man.


Mothers hide your tubas. He did weather, He did sports, he worked an inordinate number of puns and plays on words into both. His name: Warren “Clip” Smith.


While WBEN Radio’s Bill Lacy and Tom Kelly weren’t regular TV personalities per se, they were right down the hall from the Channel 4 Studios and pitched in quite a bit. Lacy was the promotional voice of Channel 4 for more 15 years, and Tom Kelly hosted movies, as well as on-air giveaways sponsored by a supermarket during CBS’s mid-morning game shows.


Jon Summers also made the leap from the WBEN Radio hallways to TV. At the time of this early 80s photo, he was the morning jock at Rock 102 (WBEN-FM). After years as the announcer on AM Buffalo, he was recently made an official co-host.


The precursor to AM Buffalo was Dialing for Dollars, in the 70s hosted by Dave Thomas and Nolan Johannes, with, of course, “Johnny & Jimmy”–  Johnny Banaszak and Jimmy Edwin— providing musical accompaniment.


 

Susan Banks came to Channel 7 in 1977. After a short time in Boston, and a few years at News Center 2, she returned to Eyewitness News in 1990. She is now a lead co-anchor at 7-News.

 

 

 

 


 

 

For a time in the mid 70s, Stan Roberts hosted the morning show on WGR55, as well as the weather on WGR-TV.

 

 

 

 

 


Stephen Rowan, left, was a part of several failed re-births for Channel 4 in the 70s. He came to WBEN-TV from CBS, replacing Chuck Healy at the news desk. The station was feeling the heat from 7 and 2, and changed the names and faces, but not the monotonous news delivery. Mike Mombrea, Sr, is the cameraman in the photo, and a member of the Buffalo Broadcasting Hall of Fame.


Irv & Don, c.1980.


Look at the jacket/hair/tie combo on Uncle Van. The classic leisure suit was probably from Kleinhans, for whom Van was a spokesperson for many years.


 

Bob Koop brought his cool, professional delivery and incredible writing skill to Buffalo from Salt Lake City in 1981. He co-anchored with Carol Jasen on Channel 4 until he was stricken with the effects of Leukemia in 1992. After several brief comebacks, Koop died New Years Day 1995.


Wadi Sawabini was a working man’s reporter, and got to the soul of every story during his days at News 4.


 

AM Buffalo with Cindy Abbott and Brian Kahle. Are co-hosts these days allowed to be so close… Ever?. Note Kahle is sans the ‘stache.


A later shot of a mustachioed Kahle.


Ted Darling called Sabres Games on WGR-TV and WKBW-TV for the entire decade of the 1970s.


When Ted was on TV, Rick Jeanneret was calling the games on WGR Radio. For the 2004-05 season, Rick is once again calling the games on WGR Radio, as well as on the Empire Sports Network.


Television stations felt the need to tackle “difficult issues” with special reports in the 1970s. Here is an ad for one on Channel 4. The name of the show? VD.


Maria Genero, Rich Newberg, and Brian Blessing were the News 4 Weekend Staff for a good part of the 80s.


The NewsCenter 2 Team of Molly McCoy, Rich Kellman, Ed Kilgore, and Barry Lillis


 

The News Four Team of the late 70’s. Top row: Gary Gunther, Larry Hunter, Marie Rice, Allen Costantini. Middle Row: Kevin O’Connell, Carol Crissey (Jasen), John Beard, Van Miller. Bottom Row: Brian Blessing, Sandy White, Rich Newberg, Suzi Makai (Thanks to many friends on the net for the IDs, including Mike Cunningham, who took the pic in the first place!)


The Eyewitness News Team was always well promoted, and never afraid to take shots at themselves.. Take, for example, these “fan letters” to Irv Weinstein.


Breaker, breaker… Ken Philips was the main weather anchor on WBEN in the late 60’s and early 70’s.


Frank Benny was Channel 2’s weatherman in the 60’s and 70’s.


Clean Dan Neaverth with not so clean Don Rickles.


Van Miller, seen here in at the Aud, was not only Channel 4’s lead sports anchor, he also called NBA Braves games, NFL Bills games, NCAA Niagara Basketball games, and hosted Its Academic. After Chuck Healy retired, he also took over Beat the Champ.


As he was so busy, Van was rarely at his desk. Here is a rare shot of him there, no doubt making a call to Liberty Cab to make sure he gets the winning puck for the 11 o’clock Big Board Sports.


Don Polec, the King of the Kicker, was a Burger King manager when he sent a tape to Channel 7. Since leaving Buffalo, he’s been in Philadelphia TV.


After being a contributor to a local PM Magazine show in Connecticut, Mike Randall landed the job of The Eyewitness Jester in the mid 80’s. He’s now the main weather anchor at Channel 7.


No fluff here, Dunkirk Native Allen Costantini is a newsman’s news man, and was so at Channel 4 in the late 70’s.


This is Election 71 on WBEN-TV Channel 4. Grim faces, NPR-like delivery. Both John Corbett, second from right, and Steve Rowan, right, were from the old school. Also, Ray Finch, seated, left; and Larry Hunter, standing.


By 1977, WBEN-TV had been sold off by the Buffalo Evening News, and the call letters were changed to WIVB-TV, and the grim faces had turned to smiles.


 

 

 

 

John Beard was a part of the News 4 team from 1977 through 1981. He is now at Fox News in Los Angeles.

 

 

 


The constant in Buffalo TV News from the mid 60’s to the late 80’s was IRV, RICK & TOM.


Irv, c.1967.


Irv, c. 1980


Dave Thomas was the Host of Rocketship 7, Dialing for Dollars, and filled various news capacities over the years at Channel 7. Now going by the airname Dave Roberts, he’s been giving Philadelphians their weather for the past quarter century.


Commander Tom Jolls was the last of Channel 7’s “big three” to retire. He left WKBW-TV in 2001.


Rick Azar, Eyewitness Sports. Retired from WKBW-TV in 1989. He was the announcer who signed the station on the air in 1958.


Don Postles has spent time at all three stations in the Buffalo market, the first anchor/reporter to hold that honor. For the past 10 years, he has been at Channel 4.


 


Reformatted & Updated pages from staffannouncer.com finding a new home at buffalostories.com
Reformatted & Updated pages from staffannouncer.com finding a new home at buffalostories.com

Buffalo Broadcast Pioneers: 8th Annual Hall of Fame Inductions

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

This story was published in Living Prime Time magazine

sept2004The Buffalo Broadcast Pioneers is a not-for-profit organization that seeks to collect and maintain the articles and stories of the great history of radio and television on the Niagara Frontier, as well celebrate those who embody the great spirit broadcasting today and into the future.

Once a year, we like to take the opportunity to celebrate the lives and careers of those men and women of broadcasting who, through their superlative efforts, have left an indelible mark not only on the history of Buffalo Broadcasting; but on the lives of those who watched and listened as well. For the seventh of our eight years, we will convene at the newly remodeled Tralfamadore Café for The Buffalo Broadcast Pioneers Hall of Fame Night, Tuesday, September 28, 2004 at 6:00pm.

Enshrined in our Hall of Fame are the broadcasters who make us proud to work in the wake of their legacy. They’ve all contributed something special to Western New York. Just like periods of history are noted by Kings and Popes, you might be able to trace your memory by who was on your radio as you woke up and went to school or work… Or who hosted the cartoons when you got home from school or read the news on TV as you went to bed. Hopefully the mere mention of some of the names below will help conjure some of those memories.

The Buffalo Broadcast Pioneers was founded in 1995, and we still have a lot of catching up to do. The Golden Age Award is reserved for the pioneers in the truest sense of the word: Those who did it first, the people who had no pattern to follow, no lead blocker. These folks blazed the trail, and set an example for future generations to follow.

Stan BARRON 2004 Golden Age Award
Stan BARRON
2004 Golden Age Award

If you ever heard Stan Barron, you’re standards are likely a bit higher in sports broadcasting. Stan came to Buffalo in 1952, and spent a decade at WKBW Radio and television, as a play-by-play man on radio, and serving as WKBW-TV’s first sports director. Stan is perhaps most remembered, though, for his time at WBEN Radio, where he was half of the Stan and Van team calling Bills Football for 14 years. It was also at WBEN that he, with out the aid of a producer for most of the shows run, ran Free Form Sports, a show that might have the Bills quarterback on one minute, then switch to an 11 year old Little League pitcher who threw a perfect game.

Upon Stan’s death in 1984, then WBEN disc jockey Tom Kelly commented that the first thing he heard on Buffalo radio as he drove into town was a gravely voice reading youth soccer scores on WBEN. He didn’t understand that night but he soon did. Stan Barron wasn’t a sports announcer; he was a beloved institution who enjoyed, understood, and celebrated sports and athletes at every level.

Alfred KIRCHHOFER 2004 George Goodyear Award
Alfred KIRCHHOFER
2004 George Goodyear Award

AHK(as he referred to himself) or Mr. Kirchhofer (as everyone else referred to him) was the man in charge of WBEN Radio before there was a WBEN Radio. His influence was key in the News’ purchase of the station in 1930. From 1927 until his retirement in 1967, Mr. Kirchhofer ran and expanded a News Empire that included the Buffalo Evening News, and added WBEN Radio in 1930, in 1936 added WEBR Radio (then a News property), WBEN-FM in 1946, and WBEN-TV in 1948.
Despite his founding of four broadcast outlets, Kirchhofer was first and foremost a newspaper man. After joining the Buffalo Evening News in 1915, he opened the News’ Washington Bureau, and became a familiar figure to Presidents Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover, all the while being Buffalo’s eyes and ears in the nation’s capital. Realizing the potential for radio beyond selling newspapers, Kirchhofer developed a staff of radio writers and newsmen for WBEN and put the station on top to stay for decades. The Evening News Stations were always ahead of the curve for not only Buffalo, but helped put Buffalo in the media avant-garde for the nation. The FM and television stations developed under Kirchhofer were not only Buffalo’s first, but among the first in the nation.

The staunch conservative content and dry delivery at the News Stations that survived well into the 1970s was a direct result of Kirchhofer’s editorial style. His approach made the News Stations “The Stations of Record” for generations.

Mike MERIAN
Mike MEARIAN

Despite a decades long career in radio, television, and on the stage, Mike Mearian might best be known to the thousands of children who grew up watching him on Channel 4 in the 50s and 60s as the guy with Buttons. Mearian filled the imaginations of kids with thoughts of far off places as the host of Children’s Theatre on WBEN-TV, as well as the voice of Buttons the puppet.

After winning three purple hearts in World War II combat, Mearian started in radio in a small Texas town in 1947. He eventually made his way to Buffalo, and after stints as the morning man at KB Radio and Kenmore’s WXRA, Merian spent the next 14 years at WBEN Radio and TV. Perhaps best remembered for those of a certain age for his work with children’s programming, older folks will remember his live Statler Hilton Lunch Club shows and his evening comedy show on WBEN Radio.

Mearian values his time in Buffalo as a time where talented people were given free reign to make good radio and television without interference from above. You may have recognized Mike over the years in commercials, on soap operas, even on Law & Order as a judge… and wondered, “what ever happened to Buttons?” Not to worry, since leaving Buffalo in 1966, Mearian has lived in the Big Apple with his wife and the puppet friend brought alive here in Buffalo.

Stan ROBERTS
Stan ROBERTS

Ba-Dum-Bum! That vocalized rimshot crashes quite easily (and often!) from the lips of Buffalo’s beloved self-fashioned Corny DJ… For parts of seven decades, Stan Roberts has been on the radio making us laugh… and groan. From the time of his arrival at WKBW Radio in the early 60s, through his days at WGR, WBUF and WBEN, Stan has made a career of not taking himself too seriously. And so long as you were laughing, or at least smiling (no matter with him or at him) he figures his job well done.

For all of the lampshades Stan has worn on his head in TV commercials, he’s also been a part of many of Buffalo’s most exciting times. Thousands of Sabres fans still cherish the Memorable Sabres Highlights record Stan voiced in commemoration of the 1975 Stanley Cup year. Thousands of Bills fans ignored his warnings to “Stay off the Field” as they tore down Rich Stadium goalposts at the beginning of the Bills Superbowl run. Stan also helped organize Light Up Buffalo… inspiring some of the most stunning night time photos ever taken of Downtown Buffalo. He’s also made his mark in radio sales, as one of Buffalo Radio’s top billing salesmen of the past quarter century.

But most importantly, from his time as a teen DJ in Asbury Park, NJ in the late 40’s; to his role as one of Buffalo’s senior radio salesmen, Stan Roberts has always had the gift to make us smile whether we want to or not.

Buffalo Bob Smith began his broadcasting career in his hometown of Buffalo, but of course gained worldwide fame as the human friend of America’s favorite puppet, Howdy Doody. Despite his international celebrity, Bob never forgot his hometown, and even adopted it as a part of his name. Each year The Buffalo Broadcast Pioneers honor a broadcaster who has made his or her mark away from the Niagara Frontier, but is a Buffalonian at heart.

Mark RUSSELL 2003 Buffalo Bob Smith Award
Mark RUSSELL
2003 Buffalo Bob Smith Award

After growing up on Buffalo’s East Side and attending Canisius High School, Mark Russell became interested in comedy during a hitch in the Marine Corps. It was while in the Marines he began performing in clubs around the Virginia base at which he was stationed. Influenced by the likes of Mort Sahl and Tom Lehrer, Russell’s act had become increasing political by the time he landed at the Shoreham Hotel. There, Russell spent 20 years entertaining and skewering the men leading the nation.

He also met a few fellow Buffalonians — WNED executives – who offered to produce a PBS special starring Russell.

Nearly 30 years later, Russell still returns to Western New York to spend part of the summer and to star in those specials, on a street named Mark Russell Way by the City of Buffalo in his honor.

Don YEARKE 2004 Behind the Scenes Award
Don YEARKE
2004 Behind the Scenes Award

The quarter century Don Yearke spent as an award-Winning videographer and Chief Photographer at Channel 4 is the basis for which he has been awarded the Behind The Scenes Award. But his work as a camera man is only the second half the story.

After signing on Buffalo’s WNIA Radio as the first Tommy Thomas in 1956 and spending time at Radio Tokyo as a soldier stationed in Japan, Don made his way to KB Radio in 1958. There he started as Dick Biondi’s newsman, and, eventually, became KB’s overnight Rock Jock, where his show could be heard in Maryland, Michigan, and Sweden. As Don Keller, the Farm Feller, he delivered agricultural news to the Niagara Frontier on WKBW Radio every morning, and on WKBW-TV on Saturday mornings. As his role at Channel 7 grew, Don became Buffalo’s first modern street reporter, both gathering news and interviews, and then presenting them himself on camera.

It was in the Channel 7 newsroom that News Director Hal Youngblood sent reporter Don Keller to a fire, and told him to point the camera at the flame. Since that first assignment as a camera man with a black and white Bell Howell wind up, Yearke’s pictures have brought the world to our living rooms. From Popes and Presidents, to the Blizzard of ’77, to Superbowls, Don’s eyes have provided our vision of the news of the day. Since his retirement as WIVB-TV’s Chief Photographer in 1999, Yearke has continued to work as a free lance videographer.

We always welcome new members to the BBP, broadcasters and fans of broadcasting alike. It’s our mission to preserve and promote Western New York’s rich TV and radio history, and to salute and bring attention to quality broadcasting of today. Membership is $25, and anyone with a passion for broadcasting can join as a member. It’s just as easy to join us in celebrating this year’s honorees. Tickets to our Hall of Fame event are available for to general public at $50 per person. Send your ticket order or membership request with payment to: The Buffalo Broadcast Pioneers; 5672 Main Street; Williamsville, New York 14221.

Steve Cichon is President of the Buffalo Broadcast Pioneers.

Steve’s Silly Tourist Photos

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

Steve Cichon: World Traveler. Winter Haven, Fl, 1998

BUFFALO, NY – Something that has always struck me is how people always remember and cherish the “important milestones” of life and culture, but the mundanity of daily life is often left to be forever forgotten.

That’s why everyone has 1,000 pictures of themselves as kids on Christmas, but none of you playing outside in the yard on a Tuesday.

Another example, someone will keep their high school diploma, in a box in the basement…. because you’re supposed to keep it. However, the same guy will pay $4000 for a “Car 54, Where Are You” lunchbox on eBay, just like the one he had in 5th grade but threw away at the end of the school year. Makes me think the stuff most of us keep and the stuff we value are too often two different things.

That’s why I collect stuff, tape the radio and tv, and take SILLY TOURIST PICTURES. People tend not to think about what they’ll want to remember in 20 years. I am on a mission to remember and celebrate the crap of day to day life. I love celebrating the under-celebrated.

Reformatted & Updated pages from staffannouncer.com finding a new home at buffalostories.com
Reformatted & Updated pages from staffannouncer.com finding a new home at buffalostories.com

 

Buffalo Broadcast Pioneers: 7th Annual Hall of Fame Inductions

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

This article was published in Living Prime Time Magazine.

may03Every May for the past six years, the Buffalo Broadcast Pioneers gather to celebrate the history and future of Buffalo Broadcasting.

We honor the great broadcasters of the past… Those for whom we have the fondest memories, and the mere mention of their names help us hearken back to a place where time has helped to round the harsh edges. They are the faces and voices that brought us news of wars beginning and ending, plants opening and closing, people being born and dying, and, all the music and sounds associated with those events in our minds.

It’s also our mission to celebrate those in television and radio today who keep the spirit of the media alive. It takes a special person to shine above the numerous television, radio, and internet choices of this day and age, and those who shine today are tomorrow’s fond memories.

The broadcasters who bring and have brought sounds and pictures into our living rooms, into our cars, and under our pillows (when we should have been sleeping!) are really just as much a part of events as the memories themselves. The following are this year’s best of the best… The 2003 Buffalo Broadcast Pioneers Hall of Fame inductees.

 

beach.jpg (10242 bytes)Sandy BEACH

Beach has made a career of straddling the line of the conservative tastes of Buffalo, and has never let office or city hall politics get in the way of a good show. It’s that desire for great radio, no matter the cost, that has allowed Sandy to be a Buffalo radio fixture for 35 years with only a few interruptions.

Sandy came to WKBW from Hartford in 1968. Within 6 years, according to a 1972 interview, 2002 BBP Hall of Famer Jeff Kaye said that Sandy had “worked every shift on KB except morning drive, and improved the ratings in each part.”

His quick wit and infectious laugh have been a part of Western New York ever since at KB, WNYS, Majic 102, and now afternoon drive on WBEN.

A native of Lunenberg, Massachusetts (hence his long time sign off, “Good Night Lunenberg….Wherever you are”), Sandy’s made his impact for over a third of a century in Buffalo radio as a jock, in programming, and now in as a talker, and always as a wise-guy friend just a dial twist away.

 

Tim Russert headshotTim RUSSERT

2003 Buffalo Bob Smith Award

Buffalo Bob Smith began his broadcasting career in his hometown of Buffalo, but of course gained worldwide fame as the human friend of America’s favorite puppet, Howdy Doody. Despite his international celebrity, Bob never forgot his hometown, and even adopted it as a part of his name. Each year The Buffalo Broadcast Pioneers honor a broadcaster who has made his or her mark away from the Niagara Frontier, but is a Buffalonian at heart.

This year we honor the host of Meet the Press, NBC’s Senior Vice President and Washington Bureau Chief, and South Buffalo native Tim Russert. A lawyer by trade, the Canisius High School grad worked in the Senate and in Governor Mario Cuomo’s office before joining NBC as a producer in 1984. He joined the NBC News air staff in 1990, and has been a fixture ever since. As one of the nation’s leading political analysts, Russert has been the recipient of numerous awards and honorary degrees, and we celebrate him because through it all, he’s never forgotten the Queen City.

 

carolCarol JASEN

She’s the smart, beautiful, authoritative and street savvy woman all women would love to be… and all men would love to marry. Combined with the sense and skill of a good newswoman, her career as a news anchor was a homerun. Voted Buffalo’s Sexiest Woman too many years in a row to count, Carol transcended both television and news to become the unofficial Queen of Buffalo while anchoring the news on Channel 4 for 23 years. Her appeal as a newscaster and person is on many different levels…

Carol Crissey came to Buffalo from Harrisburg, PA in 1979, originally paired with John Beard at the anchor desk. Carol anchored the news at noon, 5, 6, and 11, with the likes of Beard, Bob Koop, Rich Newberg, and Kevin O’Connell until she “retired” to New Mexico last year.

 

webbHarry WEBB

2003 Golden Age Award

The Buffalo Broadcast Pioneers was founded in 1995, and we still have a lot of catching up to do. The Golden Age Award is reserved for the pioneers in the truest sense of the word: Those who did it first, the people who had no pattern to follow, no lead blocker. These folks blazed the trail, and set an example for future generations to follow.
Harry Webb came to Buffalo from Schenectady as a classic music announcer on the new WBEN-FM. At the same time, the Evening News was starting a television station. Webb was Channel 4’s first newscaster, when the broadcast days began at 12 noon, and involved reading the latest edition of the Buffalo Evening News to an audience of several hundred.

By the time Webb retired from newscasting in 1972, he had seen and been a part of the change of television from an avant garde indulgence of a few wealthy families to the modern global apparatus and definitive of disseminator information it is today. Webb recently passed away after several years of retirement in East Aurora.

 

leviteLarry LEVITE

2003 Goodyear Award

The Goodyear Award is named in honor of George Goodyear, the Buffalo philanthropist who co-founded WGR-TV, and is awarded each year to those in Broadcasting’s front office who have made a career of advancing the ideals of the BBP.

Larry Levite spent the 1970’s moving up and down Buffalo’s radio dial breathing new life (and ratings!) into stations like WYSL, WPHD, and WEBR.

When, in 1978, federal regulations forced the Buffalo Evening News to sell off its radio and television stations, Levite formed Algonquin Broadcasting to fill the void, and purchased WBEN AM/FM. Larry continued the tradition of the News stations by bringing in top quality talent in all facets of broadcasting, and did so through the deregulation of the broadcasting industry, until selling the stations in the mid 90s.

whalenTom WHALEN

2003 Behind the Scenes Award

It takes more than just a pretty face or golden voice to put on a radio or television program, and with the Behind the Scenes Award, the BBP celebrates the folks who are the guts of any broadcast: The directors, producers, photographers, writers, engineers… All the often nameless, faceless people on “the other side of the glass.”

For nearly thirty years, Tom Whalen was the man playing the records and turning the dials for “Yours truly Buehly” on WBEN Radio. Whalen served in the Army Air Corps during World War II on the communications staff, and joined WBEN in 1947.

Soon after, he grew into Clint Buehlman’s right hand man, and remained there until Clint’s retirement in 1977. Part of the reason Buehlman’s show sounded like he was talking to each person individually, is because he was talking to Tom individually about the weather, Tom’s kids… Your AM-MC said often that Tom “was the nicest man he knew,” and it came across in Clint’s warm chats with Tom. Whalen retired in 1983 leaving a 36 year legacy as one of radio’s nice guys, making one of Buffalo’s greatest radio personalities comfortable, and thereby making you comfortable every morning.

 

We always welcome new members to the BBP. It’s our mission to preserve and promote Western New York’s rich TV and radio history, and to salute and bring attention to quality broadcasting of today. Membership is $25, and anyone with a passion for broadcasting can join as a member. It’s just as easy to join us in celebrating this year’s honorees. Tickets to our Hall of Fame event are available for to general public at $40 per person. Send your ticket order or membership request with payment to: The Buffalo Broadcast Pioneers; 5672 Main Street; Williamsville, New York 14221.

Buffalo Broadcast Pioneers: 6th Annual Hall of Fame Inductions

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

This story was published in Living Prime Time magazine.

may02Spring is in the air, the lilacs are in full bloom, and that means it’s time for Buffalo’s premier radio and television event…The Buffalo Broadcast Pioneers Hall of Fame Induction. This year’s slate of honorees continue in the tradition of representing Buffalo’s amazing broadcasting past, present, and future.

Broadcasting is strange in that often, at the end of an 8-hour work day, one might have nothing to show for it all; no tangible proof of that day’s toil. By definition, one speaks into a microphone, or looks into a camera, and images and sounds go up and off an antenna, and are gone forever.

Each year, the Tralf is the location where pulled from the ether are entire life times’ worth of accomplishment. It’s with induction into the Hall of Fame that we make tangible the superlative informing, entertaining, and friendship these select broadcasters they have provided us with over the years.
The following are this years’ inductees:

 

Henry BRACH

BBP-brachThe rock steady pulse of KB’s Pulsebeat news, Henry was the heart of KB… not only as the mainstay news anchor, but as everyone’s gruff but lovable uncle.
As Buffalo’s own version of Lou Grant, Hank’s crusty newsman personality could be counted on by KB staffers to drive in from West Seneca during the ‘77 Blizzard or hop in a news cruiser to cover the Attica Prison Riots. It was his big heart, though, that leaves him remembered as everyone’s favorite person and best friend.

Listeners saw both sides of his personality indirectly: It was his never-contrived voice of reason that warmed the radios of Western New York by talking to each listener individually.

Brach’s career began at WBNY, where as news director he was the first man to hire a fresh-faced Dan Neaverth as an announcer. Though his on air persona was that of a straight-laced newsman, Henry did music shifts at both ‘BNY and beautiful music WYSL-FM before joining KB. Brach died in 1983.

Frankie CROCKER

BBP-crocker

Frankie Crocker… Chief Rocker… The Eighth Wonder of the World!!! Revered as the man who changed the rules for African-Americans as both disc jockeys and musicians, Frankie Crocker started down the road to Gotham fame and nationwide reverence in his native Buffalo.
He was studying pre-law at UB, when he was bitten by the radio bug, joining WUFO as News Director. There, he tasted early success spinning urban wax and never turned back. As a jock at WMCA in the Big Apple, Frankie began playing album cuts and extended mixes from Urban artists, helping to pave the way for the more diverse sound heard today… When Crocker started in radio, music played by Black artists was lumped by mainstream circles into the category race music.

The Chief Rocker’s resume is that of a true broadcast pioneer: He helped to bust the stereotypes, and bring the music of an entire race from the remote corners of the music world to the popular choice of hip New Yorkers. Crocker passed away in 2000.

Ted DARLING

BBP-darling

The career of Edgar Lee “Ted” Darling, the long time Voice of the Sabres, can be best summed by the number of honors he received in a life and career cut short by Pick’s Disease. He was inducted into the Sabres Hall of Fame and the Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame; is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, having been honored with the prestigious Foster Hewitt Award; and has the press box at HSBC Arena named in his memory.

Ted joined the Sabres in their inaugural season after having spent time with CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada as an intermission host. Darling spent the next quarter century in the gondola high above the aud ice, entertaining Western New York’s hockey minions with his play-by-play over WGR, WBEN, WNYB-TV, and several cable outfits, including the Empire Sports Network.

Jeff KAYE

BBP-kaye

Jeff Kaye is a radio renaissance man…. A brash yet steady voice of gold, a masterful way with both the written and spoken word, and a producer par excellence, Kaye blazed into Buffalo in the mid-60’s as KB’s nighttime teeny-bopper leader and soon was at the rudder of the K-Big giant ship as the station’s program director.

Jefferson was responsible for bringing western seaboard phone operators to their collective knees with his 1968 adaptation of Orson Wells’ “War of the Worlds,” with folks calling from all points on the map to see if Grand Island was indeed under Martian control.

In 1977, he took over the most hallowed slot in Buffalo radio, morning drive at WBEN, as only the 3rd man to sit in that announcers chair. Jeff’s decades worth work as the radio producer for Buffalo Bills Football set him up for a job at NFL Films, which he has held since leaving Buffalo, voicing countless NFL video
compilations.

Jim FAGAN

BBP-fagan

His diction, energy and news judgment with just a touch of pageantry made Jim Fagan the quintessential intoner of Pulse Beat News. His sybarite swagger was as much a part of 1520 as were the K and the B from the time he joined the station in 1960 until he went down with the ship in 1988, when the station went to the birds and to the bird… satellite, that is. Fagan was so much a part of KB that he was brought back in 1989 and stayed on until 1992.

Fagan repeated the K-Big story of the moment at only after his days as a disc jockey at Buffalo’s WINE Radio; where he keyed the mic with such names as Mark Hall and Tommy Thomas. Also active as a shop representative, he was President of NABET Local 25, the broadcaster’s union, from 1970-89. He remains active in union affairs today, and is always willing to lend his voice to a worthy project, like Channel 2’s recent look back at the 1901 Pan-Am Exposition.

John ZACH

by wippert 1/21/02 John Zack and Susan Rose at WBEN Radio in their Amherst studios.
by wippert 1/21/02 John Zack and Susan Rose at WBEN Radio in their Amherst studios.

If you’ve listened to top calibre radio news in Buffalo anytime over the last 40 years, chances are good that you heard John Zach dictatorially caressing the airwaves, delivering the news with a style and passion like none other.

First renowned in Western New York for fronting the rock n’roll band “The Furyies” in the late 50’s, Zach’s news skills were first exercised on the Niagara Frontier at KB in 1961. The reigning Dean of Buffalo Radio News, John also spent time at WGR before joining WBEN in 1998, where you can now hear him along with Susan Rose as the station’s morning drive team.
Zach is also the Queen City’s top radio and television historian and scholar, and is active in the affairs of the BBP.

Zach is also the Queen City’s top radio and television historian and scholar, and is active in the affairs of the BBP.