We are so excited to be able to tune and listen to Rewound Radio's WLS / WCFL Rewound Labor Day Weekend again this year. (The 2nd Annual, I might add!)
I had the chance to talk with Ted Gorden Smucker, who is deeply involved in pulling this whole thing together.
kk: Hi, Ted! I don't know if I can even convey my excitement in hearing this year's edition of the WLS / WCFL Rewound Labor Day Weekend radio special.
TED: Every day we are getting emails and texts asking about the 2023 WLS/WCFL Rewound, coming up in just a few weeks. The excitement from last year's event has helped us in acquiring "new to the market" airchecks of WLS and WCFL programs from contributors that are enjoying having some of their treasures on display on an internationally heard station such as Rewound Radio.
kk: I know last year you were able to program over 70 hours of Chicagoland radio memories ... and being somewhat involved for the first go 'round, I know you were constantly editing and changing just what would make the cut right up to the moment the show went on the air! Thanks to other readers who recorded segments of the weekend, I was eventually able to hear the whole thing ... and there were some real gems along the way.
TED: We are planning on having an entirely new show this Labor Day weekend, meaning that our hopes are that we will not be repeating any of the shows from 2022. But please understand that a couple may sneak in from a year ago, if we can't find a replacement show for a well known DJ, but we're still looking.
kk: Well, you guys had a couple hundred of hours of air checks to sort thru the last time around ... and I know we were both hoping that WLS / WCFL Rewound 2.0 might be able to offer more from the real competition days of the mid-to-late '60's ... but also that these tapes were much scarcer to find ... and, in many cases, not as up to par in quality. (I must say that overall the quality aired last year was exceptional, especially given the age of these tapes. Hats off to the "clean-up crew" behind the scenes that made sure Rewound Radio was offering the best-sounding material available.) It had to be difficult trading off between the two stations throughout the long weekend, making sure both radio stations were equally represented on the air. This probably forced some weaker WCFL memories into the mix, just to keep pace with the vast decades of material available from WLS.
TED; You're right ... the first year we did this, we tended to focus on the battle between WLS and WCFL, and gave each station equal time. However, in reality, the WCFL Top 40 years only totaled about 11 years, while WLS spanned from the beginning of the 60s, and ran well into the 80s. So naturally, there are many more WLS airchecks out there than there are from WCFL, and many more jocks to feature, too. So in 2023, the mix will tend to be a bit stronger for WLS, since there is much more availability and variety in WLS programming, spanning over 25 years.
kk: Well I, for one can't wait. When does the whole thing kick off this weekend ... and let's make sure folks out there know how and where to tune in and listen.
TED: The big weekend begins on Saturday Morning, September 2nd, at 6am ET / 5am CT, and will run well past midnight on Monday night. Bill Shannon has been acquiring and cleaning airchecks with me since last year's event was completed.
kk: I know several Forgotten Hits Readers were able to submit airchecks from their own personal libraries ... what is the process in determining what is good enough to air?
TED: The quality of the shows will vary, from Good to Great to Fantastic. Here is how we manage the airchecks ...
We use the following factors in determining what we can air in our playbacks ... not necessarily in this order ... but these are all the things we look at in putting together the weekend:
The DJ and name recognition
Audio quality of the Unscoped Aircheck
Length of aircheck
The date of the aircheck
The music mix during the show
Newscasts and Spot Load
Announcer’s length of time at WLS and/or WCFL
Did the aircheck run the previous year?
kk: I know that between us we were able to round up quite an impressive list of jocks for last year's show, most of whom recorded brand new promo spots to help publicize the show. I think the word of mouth was so good last year that any jock who DIDN'T participate was probably knocking on your door to make sure they were included this time around! (lol)
TED: We were excited that we have had a number of former DJs promoting the event with us last year, and this year we have added even more ... and not just jocks, but some of the news people have joined us to talk about our Labor Day Weekend extravaganza. Listen to RewoundRadio.com and you will hear some very recognizable voices, including Charlie Van Dyke and Lyle Dean. We even plan to share a couple of “inside radio” stories from some of these notable personalities. We want to thank all the air talent for lending their ‘pipes” to the cause and our Production Director, Steve Brelsford, for putting these all together for us again this year.
In fact, here is a picture of Lyle Dean, me and Fred Winston from a lunch we had this summer. I wanted to thank them both for their participation.
kk: We will DEFINITELY be listening!!! Thanks again for your time, Ted ... we are more than happy to help get the word out again this year regarding this very special radio event.
TED: Looking forward to having everyone on board for another three big days, coming up over the holiday weekend. As our friend Fred Winston says, “See you soon.”
Ted also sent us a number of links to share of the promos that the jocks have recorded to help promote the WLS / WCFL Rewound Labor Day Weekend radio special.
Here are a few right now! (kk)
Charlie Van Dyke:
https://app.box.com/s/oy4niu464cdmn900fknk8cye7v6h4vp9
Lyle Dean:
https://app.box.com/s/g4w5yduchuo6ogc2tidevycd59lu9c0y
Chuck Buell:
https://app.box.com/s/uq7q477cvopph6kk2wikybkp4kkt5xtn
Kris Erik Stevens:
https://app.box.com/s/6dsrquf0xfis6pmx6q5ljgkefhjbhbg4
Fred Winston:
