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Hello Again, friends of great music! This show, for all you vinyl lovers, and there are a bunch out there judging by the number of you that have responded to my rare and old vinyl radio shows, is a rare vinyl that you will rarely find on eBay.
IF YOU NEVER BUY ANOTHER RADIO SHOW OR IF THIS IS YOUR FIRST, YOU NEED TO READ ON.
THIS IS LIKE NO OTHER RADIO SHOW YOU HAVE EVER HEARD BEFORE.
NOW, IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT A RADIO SHOW IS, READ ON.
IF YOU DO AND YOU HAVE COLLECTED THEM, YOU WILL NEVER SEE A SHOW LIKE THIS AGAIN.
I HAVE TRIED IN MY COLLECTING LIFE OF OVER 20 YEARS TO GET EVERY ONE OF THE 72 SHOWS IN THIS SERIES
I HAVE FAILED MISERABLY. THEY JUST CANNOT BE FOUND.
PART OF THE PROBLEM WAS THAT IT WAS ONLY A LIMITED DISTRIBUTION SERIES WITH AT THE MOST 100 STATIONS AIRING IT. FOR A MAJOR DISTRIBUTOR LIKE CBS, THIS WAS VERY UNUSUAL AND IT WAS A TRIBUTE TO THEIR FAITH IN MIKE HARRISON THAT THE SHOW EVER AIRED IN THE FIRST PLACE.
THE SHOW WAS DOOMED FROM THE START EVEN THOUGH CBS RADIO, ONE OF THE BIGGEST PLAYERS IN DISTRIBUTION OF RADIO SHOWS, WAS THE DISTRIBUTOR AND STOOD BEHIND IT. THE PROBLEM WAS NOT THE HOST FOR HE IS MAGNIFICENT NOR THE MUSIC BECAUSE THE MUSIC MIX AND THEMES ARE UNEXCELLED IN RADIO SHOWS.
THE PROBLEM WAS THAT SINCE THE SHOW FOCUSED ON ALBUM ROCK, THERE WERE A RELATIVELY FINITE NUMBER OF STATIONS TO AIR IT. TODAY WE HAVE TONS OF ALBUM ROCK STATIONS, BUT IN THE 80'S, THERE WERE NOT AS MANY. SO FOR ADVERTISERS, THEY DID NOT FEEL THEY WERE GETTING THE BANG FOR THEIR BUCK THAT THEY WANTED.
AS YOU WILL SEE FROM THE INFORMATION BELOW, THE SHOW LASTED A YEAR AND A HALF AND ON A MAJOR MARKET RADIO NETWORK LIKE CBS IT IS BEYOND BELIEF.
TIP YOUR HATS TO CBS, THE NETWORK THAT CANCELLED THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS IN THE LATE 60'S BEFORE BRINGING THEM BACK MANY YEARS LATER FOR HAVING SOME INSIGHT INTO THE MOST IMPORTANT MUSIC OF OUR LIVES AND STICKING WITH THIS SHOW FOR THE YEAR AND A HALF THAT IT AIRED
I HAVE DECIDED THAT IT IS TIME TO SHARE THOSE MOST SPECIAL SHOWS THAT I HAVE WITH THE WORLD.
NOTE FROM THE START THAT YOU HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED A MUSIC PROFESSIONAL LIKE MIKE HARRISON.
I SHARE THESE WITH YOU TO BRING TO THE WORLD WHAT MIKE HARRISON PRESENTED IN THIS ONE OF A KIND SERIES.
THEY ARE EXPENSIVE, BUT THE VALUE TO YOU AND YOUR COLLECTION OF RADIO SHOWS IS INESTIMABLE.
MIKE HARRISON IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT DJ'S IN THE 20TH CENTURY MUSIC SCENE BRINGING NOT ONLY THE BEST MUSIC BUT THE BEST COMMENTARY ON THE MUSIC. HE LIVED IT AND LOVED IT. AND THE BEST ARTISTS LOVED HIM. HE ATTRACTED ALL OF THEM AND THE INTERVIEWS THAT YOU HEAR ON THIS SHOW ARE LONG FORM, INSIGHTFUL, AND FASCINATING.
HERE FOLLOWS A BIOGRAPHY WITH MIKE'S PHILOSOPHY ABOUT MUSIC AND HOW TO PRESENT IT TO THOSE WHO REALLY LOVE THE MUSIC THAT WE ALL GREW UP WITH. IT IS REPRINTED FROM THE PUBLICATION 'INSIDE RADIO'.
Michael (“Mike”) Harrison, whose fascination with radio extends to 1950s’ Long Island, where the pre-Teen enjoyed listening to WINS/New York’s Alan Freed.
“I’d compare charts from each station when they did their [weekly countdowns],” he recalls. “I began seeing this wasn’t something written in stone but rather based on subjective determination.
I figured out how to track music and rooted for [certain] records as I became interested in public sentiment-based research.”
In summer 1967, the 18-year-old landed a job as a department store announcer at Modell’s Shopper’s World. “I loved radio but never made the connection I could do it,” notes Harrison, who attended Nassau College before transferring to Hofstra. “I auditioned at [Hofstra’s WVHC] and they put me on that night to [read the weather forecast].”
Then located in the Garden City Hotel’s basement, Easy Listening WLIR/Long Island was the site of Harrison’s first on-air commercial experience. A three-year staff announcer stint culminated in being named PD (1970) and Harrison shifted (the late) John Rieger-owned WLIR to progressive Rock. “If it weren’t for [Rieger],” Harrison notes, “I don’t know if I ever would have gotten into the business.”
It was one year later when he ascended to mornings at legendary WNEW-FM/New York, whose on-air staff included Scott Muni and Alison (“The Nightbird”) Steele. “I did very well but didn’t quite get along with the culture,” Harrison admits.
“I had my own ideas and [my run there] lasted about [18 months].” Research-oriented Harrison played “too many” hits, a philosophy stemming from the fact he approached radio from the listener’s perspective. “You have to give [listeners] what they want. It was apparent when I played the best progressive Rock music I had better ratings than when I showed hippie friends how much esoteric music I knew. It sounds quaint today, but those were major issues in FM music radio’s [early] days.”
Instantly after Harrison’s WNEW-FM tenure concluded, he received fill-in inquiries from cross-town WCBS-FM and Top 40 WPIX. “I suddenly went from being a progressive morning [air talent] to doing part-time work on two different stations,” he recounts.
“I did five shifts a week and learned a lot about other formats. I was never good but had [an aptitude] for radio mechanics.” Shortly thereafter, John Gehron-programmed WCBS-FM switched to Oldies and Harrison stayed on.
Former co-worker Scott Muni suggested Harrison return to WNEW-FM so for about a year, “I did as many as nine shifts a week on all three stations. I was very much a student of radio and took it terribly seriously.”
This daunting on-air schedule notwithstanding, Harrison had designs of re-occupying a PD chair. After scouring the country for the best opportunity, he found it at KPRI/San Diego, a progressive station he describes as “getting its clock cleaned” by Ron Jacobs-programmed KGB AM & FM.
I had the opportunity to go head-to-head [against] Jacobs with this weak-signal station.”
Within Harrison’s first few months in America’s Finest City, he became friendly with label promoters and ran into KDAY/Los Angeles PD Bob Wilson at a record company party. “Meeting him changed my life,” Harrison matter-of-factly states. “He said he was thinking about beginning a trade publication to compete [against] Billboard and it would be the Tiffany of tip-sheets. I had a beef with Billboard because they only wrote about Ron Jacobs. They didn’t show any interest whatsoever in what I was doing. I told Bob I’d be his FM Rock Editor and began [Radio & Records’] AOR section.
For about 18 months Harrison executed those duties from his San Diego apartment – not R&R’s Los Angeles headquarters.
“Radio & Records didn’t become an overnight success,” he explains. “There was a small staff and it was a struggle for us [but] I became extremely close with Bob. We reached the point in 1975 where R&R was doing well enough that I moved in Los Angeles and became Managing Editor.” It was Harrison’s contention that FM Rock radio’s biggest problem was ad agencies didn’t take it seriously because they thought it was underground, kid radio. “MOR [Middle of the Road] was a very popular term and I thought `AOR’ would work,” he reasons. “`Progressive’ was more descriptive about subjective determination [while] `Album Oriented Rock’ was objective. Radio didn’t know how to research albums – they just researched singles.”
In the days Harrison bounced around New York, Metromedia KMET/Los Angeles VP/GM L. David Morehead became aware of him. “ABC was [involved in] the research trip [with Los Angeles Rocker KLOS while] KMET had every [air personality] do his own thing,” Harrison recounts. “The first day I was at R&R, [Morehead] called and asked if I missed radio, [because] he needed a PD for KMET. I said I couldn’t imagine I’d take the job because I had a commitment with Bob Wilson.” Ironically however, one of Harrison’s fantasies was to program “The Mighty Met” and he told Morehead KMET’s music had to be tighter and the station needed to be more disciplined. “Those were sacrilegious things in those days.” A deal was struck where Harrison “very quietly” consulted KMET. “They appointed a bright woman, Sam Bellamy, as PD,” he points out. “There were no computers then and we set up a rotation of `reds,’ `blues’ and `greens.’ We instituted [various] techniques to make the music better and create a station atmosphere.”
The thing Harrison truly coveted from the KMET experience was a weekend talk show. “Alex Bennett did a hippy-dippy weekend talk show on WMCA/ New York that fascinated me. KMET gave me my own Saturday morning talk show.”
While Harrison’s KMET relationship would endure for ten years, the R&R connection soured and ended in three. “Talkers Magazine has always maintained the spirit of the early Radio & Records,” Harrison comments. “Bob Wilson was the right man at the right time. In many ways, he [is] a genius and understood radio’s essence from the listener’s perspective. Considering the volatility and changing nature of those times, Bob Wilson and I were a great team.” Both men at the time however were only in their late-20s. (Wilson is presently progressing after a series of devastating strokes several months ago.) “We were young and very egotistical,” Harrison concedes. “By 1978 our egos clashed and it became a love/hate relationship. Bob felt the AOR section operated in its own universe. We became petty with each other. I look back and regret it greatly because both of us were jerky. I learned a lesson from that experience I never, ever forgot. Don’t go to war against any individual or company – unless you really have to.
I left in 1978 and took several people with me.” That association’s denouement led to Goodphone, which Harrison says reverted to the tip-sheet mode. “It was very futuristic and geared to Rock radio [PDs who] realized the 1980s were coming. By that point, I was already onto the concept of track research. It was clear record company A&R departments didn’t have a clue regarding what kind of singles to release. Album Rock radio couldn’t use singles research to program their tracks.”
But by 1980, Harrison was ready for another challenge. “Of all people, I became friendly with Billboard Publisher Lee Zito and he [proposed Billboard] take over Goodphone Weekly,” he points out. “I was also producing `The Great American Radio Show’ for Westwood One; `Album Greats’ for TM; and other radio specials for my company, Goodphone Communications.” Once Billboard acquired Goodphone Weekly, Harrison maintains they “dismantled” it. “The deal was I couldn’t publish anything in radio trades for at least five years,” he remarks. “I became a Billboard consultant/columnist.”
The dream of programming KMET was realized in late-1983, but by 1985 for “various reasons,” Harrison determined it was time to depart. “I’m not a corporate kind of guy. I thought Talk radio was going to be the big thing in the 1990s [and it’s been] my deep passion. I always recognized the presenter [the on-air talent] is the very core of what makes radio great and what makes it culturally relevant.”
Acting on his theory that Talk radio was simply an extension of AOR – minus the music – Harrison in 1985 accelerated his plan to buy AM stations, joining forces with Los Angeles friend Al Herskovitz. “We weren’t big money guys - we basically just had our savings,” Harrison remarks. “After a year, we located [WSPR/Springfield, MA] that was primed to be turned into a Talk station.” Harsh Reality H&H Broadcasting bought WSPR in 1986. “The idea was [to be] high energy, pop culture-oriented and politics as a spectator sport – everything happening in Talk radio today,” Harrison recounts. “It was a wonderful station.”
Turning WSPR around in six months and buying more facilities was the game plan but Harrison chuckles, “It didn’t work out that way. I was President/morning man; Al was GM/Sales Manager.
I didn’t get a call my first three days on-air. We sold the station in 1988 and doubled our money [but] it wasn’t a fun couple of years and for the first time in my career, I found myself with not much left to do.”
At the same time though, about 100 stations were airing “Mike Harrison’s Rock Connection” via CBS Radio, enabling the host to make a living.
“I must tell you – there wasn’t a lot of money to be made owning WSPR,” Harrison laments. “That was a financial stretch. It’s real hard to sell advertising in a small market.”
Following a brief programming go-round at WZLX/Boston (where Alan Colmes did mornings), Harrison decided in early-1990 he wanted to revisit Talk radio; the first Talkers issue was published in July 1990. “I’ve never looked back,” he notes. “The history of Talkers is colorful unto itself [but] I don’t feel I’ve ever left radio. I’m doing it on my terms. I’ve done projects that have put me on the air and run Talkers extremely hands-on in terms of my relationship with its readers. I have constant dialogues with broadcasters and feel I’m involved with radio.” Candid Comments In addition to producing documentaries, Harrison also owns Washington, DC’s Talk Radio News Service. “I don’t have the patience to sit in a studio to do a daily four-hour radio show,” he confides. “One hour in the studio is all I can take before I get bored.” A certain degree of objectivity is required in Harrison’s position, although he admits to having favorite personalities (particularly if they are in the mold of Westwood One’s Jim Bohannon). “They’re the ones who work hard; remember that this is an industry; and are kind to their fellow broadcasters. Those no longer feeling any kind of responsibility to anyone else but themselves are the ones I don’t go out of my way to help [but] I don’t go out of my way to hurt them. Today’s most pertinent talent could be obsolete tomorrow.”
As much as he listens to spoken word radio, Harrison also samples a nearly equal amount of music radio and as usual doesn’t pull any punches. “Music radio is horrible,” he asserts. “The [PD] in me goes crazy when I listen because it’s clearly being programmed by `B’ and `C’ students. Really, really good programmers left music radio. I find it outrageously out-of-sync with true categories of demographic tastes. Great radio doesn’t come from corporate offices. It rises up from the sidewalks.” Remarkably, the nationally syndicated personality-consultantPD-station owner-trade paper publisher never considered himself to be that accomplished. “I see myself as having tremendous experiences,” Harrison humbly states. “We tend to view our own careers by what we didn’t accomplish. At this point, I’m happy with what I’ve done [although] my dream of putting together a giant conglomerate of AM Talk stations was a disappointment. I’ve done it all but never achieved prominence as a radio personality like Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity. Most people don’t know my background because radio doesn’t have good historians. Its history evaporates the same way its product does. I’ve always seen myself as a pioneer – not someone from the good old days.”
THE SHOW IS CALLED 'ROCK CONNECTIONS WITH MIKE HARRISON and aired on the COLUMBIA BROADCASTING SYSTEM NETWORK (CBS).
It was an enormously popular show in its day AND AS WE HAVE SHARED WAS A LIMITED EDITION SERIES WHICH MADE IT EVEN RARER.
It was composed of a one hour weekly special, each week with occasional three hour specials on July 4 weekend and Labor Day and Memorial Day.
Each show had a specific theme with many in depth interviews.
This show is in mint new condition played only on its date of network national broadcast and then professionally stored since. It is a rare find and belongs in your most special collection.
It is an enthralling show that will captivate you. You will be disappointed when it is over.
Most have their cue sheets. If they do, they are listed in the listing picture. If there are not cue sheets, I have reproduced from my personal copy the contents of the program.
Please note that the interviews are not listed on the cue sheets but you will be absolutely delighted when you hear them. And of course some shows have co hosts with Mike and they are live the whole hour with him.
This show aired on JULY 31, 1987.
IT FEATURED A SPECIAL TRIBUTE TO THE BEST OF ALBUM ROCK IN A MOST SPECIAL HOUR.
PLEASE NOTE AGAIN THAT THE INTERVIEWS ARE NOT LISTED ON THE CUE SHEETS BUT THEY ARE THROUGHOUT THE HOUR
What you will learn about the music we love is alone worth the cost of the show let alone the great music.
The show contents are presented in the listing pictures.
Remember, when you buy this show, not only will you own the tunes but also interspersed between songs is fascinating commentary on the artists and songs. Also, keep in mind that this and all shows are not just about the music - the music can be found anywhere. It is the mixture of great music and great announcing that makes it so entertaining.
As well, it is a piece of radio history.
You just aren't going to find these shows anymore. Think of what they will be worth in a few years! (IF you wanted to sell.) I am selling to share with other music lovers what I was able to get at a reasonable price
It is a great show and would be a valuable addition to your collection
Good Luck and God Bless You.