", "We had the right staff, the right soundtrack at the time. [34], Loveline, Westwood One's nationally syndicated call-in show hosted by Dr. Drew, aired weeknights from August 2008 through June 2010. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. He finds himself traveling to LA to kill someone but ends up becoming a part of the theater scene. Rolling Stone Magazine conducted a yearly Readers Poll to which WMMS won Best Radio Station of the Year nine years in a row from 1979 to 1987. Rover regularly takes calls throughout the show, and often interviews guests in studio and over the phone. The top 40 format also failed to make any major ratings impact. Seth "the Barbarian" Williams took the overnight shift when Pennington moved to evenings in 2001. (Plain Dealer file photo), The legendary gravel-voiced, graveyard-shift DJ at WMMS-FM/100.7, Bill Lionel Freeman, is best known in Cleveland by his initials, "BLF." Denny Sanders Denny Sanders 1972 - 1986 Denny Sanders came to WMMS in 1971 from Boston where he'd been working as a DJ from the time he was just 16 years old. Mike Gallagher died on Sunday after a year-long battle with cancer. We all got to know Billy Bass pretty good. It's about an ex-Marine who is a hitman in the Midwest on March 25th. He was also a member of "The Buzzard Morning Zoo" in the mid-1980s. The new logo depicted the sex, drugs and rock and roll image that the owner was looking for. The WMMS Coffee Break Concert was a weekly music-interview show broadcast live from the station's studio, and later with an audience at the Agora Ballroom. For 50 years, WMMS-FM/100.7 has been making its mark on Cleveland's airwaves, breaking iconic rock bands and, lately, creating some of the most popular talk-radio shows in the country. Jeff & Flash were also credited as being major contributors in bringing the Rock Hall to Cleveland, by heavily promoting on-air a USA Today reader poll to decide which city should get it.[82]. Candlebox headlined the 2 stage show at Blossom Music Center on May 18, 1996. (Plain Dealer file photo), A DJ at WMMS-FM/100.7 in the 1980s, Stein went on to work in programming at Westwood One and Launch Radio Networks. A federal offense, the act nearly cost WMMS its broadcasting license. Fowler works for country station WGAR-FM/99.5, and Cronauer is an on-air personality for WKYC-TV/Channel 3 and The Fish, WFHM-FM/95.5. On May 4, 1970 four students were killed by gunfire from the Ohio National Guard at Kent State University. It was the perfect way to keep the party rolling. We never learned what Mr. Leonard looked like, he never discussed it on the air. In 2014, Springsteen finally released the Agora concert officially on CD and download. Joining the Chicago native are Cleveland area comedians Bill Squire and Mary Santora, and former intern-turned-phone-screener Cody (Poundcake) Brown. The Week in Cox is a weekly podcast featuring the best segments from The Alan Cox Show. The station was known as "The Home of the Buzzard" at first. Win a Monster Zero Sugar prize pack from Circle K! His iconic rants have been preserved for posterity on the CD "Murray Saul: The Get Downs, Vol. [33][34], Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, WMMS had a stable of personalities that remained fundamentally unchanged,[26][27] attained a dominant market share in the local ratings[27][35][36][37] and posted market record-high figures "never duplicated by any other Cleveland radio station since. MLB At Bat", "Play-By-Play Streaming Rights: 'The Goal Posts Are Moving. Some other possible meanings "Where Music Means Something" or "Weed Makes Me Smile". [91] As promised, Stern held a party for his fans on the streets of Cleveland a "Funeral" for his local rivals, much like similar events held in New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia and broadcast it nationwide. (Cleveland) - One of our co-workers in the IHeartMedia Cleveland newsroom has passed away. Murray Saul joined the WMMS staff as a salesman. One of their biggest contributions to our fine city was spearheading a grass roots effort to get the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame here in Cleveland. No Doubt shared the 2 stage show at Blossom with Candlebox, Patti Rothberg, The Tragically Hip, 311, and the Holy Barbarians. In 1973 WMMS unveiled a new logo The Mushroom. Spero would go on to become one of Cleveland's early progressive-rock DJs, working first at WNCR and then at WMMS. "Those guys who pilot those ships through here? In 1966, in an effort to make the medium more commercially viable, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandated that FM stations could no longer duplicate the programming of their AM sister stations. Spero is still active as an artist manager. wmms radio personalities. He would read some commercial copy and then "throw them in the bash bucket where they belong" and openly criticize music he didn't care for. The first buzzard which has penned the name The Wrath of the Buzzard can be seen sitting atop a mushroom paying homage to the former logo along with the competitors call letters WGCL and WIXY grasped in its beak. Kinzbach left the station in 1994. Matt the Cat was permanently let go in December 1992 due to "budget problems. WMMS Art Director, Brian Chalmers was approached by Dreamworks to provide artwork and logos for their movie Almost Famous which came out in 2000. The show's big following has spawned an annual summer festival, Roverfest, which has been held in Lorain for the past three years. He worked the afternoon-drive shift until 1997 when he headed to Los Angeles. The show itself rapidly covers a range of topics in a comedic format, from major current events to obscure pop culture; regular segments like "Sperm News", "Why Florida Sucks", and "Are You Smarter Than a Dumbass?" Cox's intelligence, humor, and willingness to do a variety of on-air stunts for the show led to his hiring as a producer. He also did a nightly oldies show there from 1988-2001. [148][149][143][150], Radio personality Alan Cox, formerly host of The Morning Fix at WKQX/Chicago and The Alan Cox Radio Show at WXDX-FM/Pittsburgh, took over weekday afternoons as host of The Alan Cox Show on December 16, 2009. [160], WMMS's program lineup currently features Rover's Mornings Glory in morning drive, Dan Stansbury middays, The Alan Cox Show in afternoon drive and Corey Rotic evenings. 100.7 WMMS Cleveland's Rock Station Follow Connect On Air Schedule The Alan Cox Show Live Corey Rotic 6:30 PM-12:00 AM Contests and Promotions We're Celebrating Women Who Make Music & Culture Download Our Free iHeartRadio App! [114] BuzzardFest II was held the very next fall (September 1995) again at Blossom and featured performances from the Goo Goo Dolls, Alanis Morissette, Jewel, as well as the Dance Hall Crashers, Eleven, Green Apple Quick Step, Prick and Sons of Elvis. She remained with the station until 1995. It was the same logo used by all of the FM radio stations owned by Metromedia at the time. WMMS was the first radio station to employ full-time promotion and marketing directors: Dan Garfinkel and his successor, Jim Marchyshyn. Co-Host of the Power 96 Morning Show with national Radio Personality, Michael J. Foxx. (Plain Dealer file photo), Maria Farina landed at WMMS in 1986 fresh out of Ohio University and quickly gained popularity. From celebrities and high profile sports stars, to iconic DJs who know music, SiriusXM has the best hosts in radio. Each daily call-in would include an excuse that was crazier than the last. Moms to be participated in the bikini contest for a chance to win $1,000. [113] The Ramones headlined BuzzardFest '95 the following spring (May 1995) at Blossom;[114] other acts included Our Lady Peace, The Rugburns and Face to Face. He also managed Grammy-winning R and B superstar Luther Vandross. In the trailer for the new show the character Barry, played by Bill Hader is wearing a vintage WMMS shirt. Today, she is an assistant professor of communication at Lesley University in Cambridge, Mass. [51] On July 31, 1947, W8XUB began broadcasting at 100.7MHz. The call letters WMMS stand for "MetroMedia Stereo". [97][98][99][100] To emphasize this change, WMMS was re-branded and aggressively promoted as "Buzzard Radio: The Next Generation", a reference to the success of Star Trek: The Next Generation and its continuation of the Star Trek franchise. He can still be heard on the radio, too. The announcement came less than two weeks before the show. safeway new westminster station parking; pluto conjunct prenatal solar eclipse; shandon hotel balance back WMMS during this period would play a key role in breaking several major acts in the U.S., including: Rush, Roxy Music, Bruce Springsteen, Southside Johnny, Fleetwood Mac, Meat Loaf, The Pretenders, the New York Dolls, Lou Reed, Mott the Hoople, Boston, and The Sensational Alex Harvey Band. The debut issue of Buzzard Bone, arrived in September of 1995 and featured the brand new Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as the cover story, with an article tracing the history of the museum, which had its grand opening that same month. [95], Already program director at OmniAmerica station WMJI, station veteran John Gorman returned to WMMS as vice-president and director of operations in early 1994. Listeners signed up to participate in the contest What would you do for $5,000 which took place at Dicks Last Resort on the Flats East Bank. This feature ran at the exact moment of the KSU shootings twenty years later. Rumor has it that WMMS had ballots printed so the public could fill them out at various events. [117] BuzzardFest 2000 was held on June 30, 2000, at the Nautica Stage; Stone Temple Pilots, performing in Cleveland for the first time in six years, headlined the event.[118]. [148][146][152][153][154][155], A devoted fan of heavy metal, Cox considers himself more of a comedian than a disc jockey. During his time at WMMS, Bass coined the phrase, "Cleveland: The Rock 'n' Roll Capital of the World." [129][130] Radio & Records twice named WMMS "Rock Station of the Year: Markets 1-25" (200506) as part of the now defunct publication's annual Industry Achievement Awards. (Additional reporting by cleveland.com staff. [128] WMMS again served as the FM flagship to the Cleveland Browns Radio Network from 2002 to 2012, with Jim Donovan and Doug Dieken as announcers. WHK later became WMMS) (Plain Dealer file photo), Gained fame in local radio in the 1980s as part of "Jeff and Flash's Morning Zoo" on WMMS-FM/100.7. Sanders eventually turned over the program director job to Gorman, too, and they were close partners in building the station into a powerhouse. [94] Station management initially claimed that Alford acted alone,[93] however WMMS Promotions Director Heidi Klostermanworking under the name Heidi Kramerlater pleaded guilty to a felony charge of attempted disruption of a public service and a misdemeanor of receiving stolen property; Greg Smith, a former Klosterman colleague, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor of breaking and entering. The top 40 deejays were retained, but it was soon obvious that they were inadequate hosts for a progressive rock format. Kid Leo's boxing announcer themed introduction welcomed both the fans in the audience at the Cleveland Agora and the many more listening on the network radio broadcast, to the evening's "Main Event," the 10th anniversary concert celebration for WMMS, which would be hosted by The Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen. Cleveland Magazine has also described both Rover and Cox as "talk shows with a rock-oriented sensibility". Radio Home of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Mark Madden, and The Woody Show. The music structure also was modified at this time as artists such as Michael Jackson, Madonna and Prince soon found airplay on WMMS. As a kid he was part of a sophisticated bootleg radio station in his neighborhooduntil the FCC shut it down. Guest spots on WJR's Morning Show for Hollywood and Gossip Reports. Matt remains one of the most popular air personalities from WMMS fifty year history. After a brief relocation to Chicago in 2006, the show returned to Cleveland in 2008 to become a part of the morning programming at WMMS-FM/100.7, where it remains today. Widely regarded as one of the most influential rock stations in America throughout its history,[a][b][26][27] the station has also drawn controversy for unusually aggressive tactics both on and off the air. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. For the station's tenth anniversary in 1978, WMMS hosted and broadcast a live Springsteen concert at the Agora Ballroom independent of his concert tour. "Discover Financial Services (DFS.N), a provider . He stayed at WMMS until 1992, moving then to WNCX-FM/98.5 and WDOK-FM/102.1. Hes heard introducing Bruce Springsteens fabled WMMS tenth anniversary show at the Cleveland Agora which is thought to have been the most bootlegged radio concert ever before its official release. Image of Bill Hader above wearing WMMS shirt for his upcoming HBO series called Barry. February 7, 2021 WMMS. Warren Zevon, John Mellencamp, Lou Reed, Tim Buckley, Peter Frampton, and a host of others performed on the program over the years, recordings of which are still widely available as bootlegs. [112] WMMS scheduled a second Green Day performance just two months later this time at Blossom Music Center and at a near-record-low cost of $5 per ticket, the station gave fans a "second chance" to see the band live. She has written several books, including "Boston Radio: 1920-2010." [135] Former Lex and Terry producer Jason Carr was named the new WMMS assistant program director on February 1, 2018. [122] Closing in May 1999, Clear Channel was renamed iHeartMedia in 2014. Cleveland Police briefly detained Ky-Mani Marley after the singer threatened Rover for comments made during an April 20, 2010 in-studio interview. In the '90s, it re-focused on alternative rock programming, and in later years, moved into an active rock program with popular talk programs like "Rover's Morning Glory. Denny Sanders came to WMMS in 1971 from Boston where hed been working as a DJ from the time he was just 16 years old. Perlich moved to Los Angeles in 1972 and became a radio legend in that town, too, working at KMET and later KFAC and KCSN, where he hosted acclaimed interview shows. 'MMS listener favorites like Green Day, Letters to Cleo, Everclear, Better Than Ezra, Alice in Chains, Garbage and Silverchair were just a few of the bands featured in Buzzard Bone. In addition to Boom's deep pipes being used every hour in the Top of the hour ID's, station sweepers and commercials, he held two on-air shifts on the weekends which he coined the Boom 'till noon. [38][39] Considered "a true radio legend," WMMS DJ Kid Leo was chosen for Rolling Stone's "Heavy Hundred: The High and Mighty of the Music Industry" (1980) and named "The Best Disc Jockey in the Country" in a special 1987 issue of Playboy. All we can do is hope to create something cool so that in 20 years people will say, 'Man, remember what WMMS used to be like? He is part of the permanent radio exhibit in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. April 16, 1974 the Buzzard was born. He later took his groundbreaking progressive rock show to WNCR FM/95.5, working alongside pioneering Cleveland rock deejays Billy Bass and David Spero. In 2014, Rover pleaded guilty to four misdemeanors in relation to the illegal use of fireworks and a confrontation with an off-duty police officer at the Whiskey Island marina in downtown Cleveland.