WODE Oldies 99.9 Air Check Legends Weekend - Part 7 of 10 Doo Wop Shop Sunday Night Hall Of Fame

Rod Wolfe WODE 1999 February 28 LEGENDS Part 7 of 10 - The Doo Wop Shop. February 28, 1999 - WODE Sunday Night Hall Of Fame Reunion - Part # 7 of 10 parts: The Doo Wop Shop was broadcast between 10 and 11 PM. The Sunday Night Hall of Fame Show was broadcast from 1980 to 1992 on WAEB 790 AM and WKAP 1320 AM in Allentown, Pa. My show returned between 1999 and August 2001 on WODE Oldies 99.9 located in Easton, Pa.
Artists in this portion of the show include: The Four J’s, The Regents, The Excellents, Randy & The Rainbows, The Re-Vels (The Revels), The Skyliners, Norman Fox & The Rob-Roys, The Elegants, The Capris, Anthony & The Sophomores and The Camelots. Quite a few of the songs in this segment were hits only in the North East portion of the USA, and are also considered “Northern Soul” to record collectors all over the world. Songs like “Morse Code Of Love” by The Capris, which is now much more popular than when it was released in 1982. I started playing the record as soon as it was released and it was through Marty Pekar of Ambient Sound records that I was able to have The Jive Five visit the studio for an interview in 1983. The series of albums produced by Marty have stood the test of time.
Another unique song in this segment is “Don’t Leave Me Baby” by The Camelots. Disc Jockey Jerry Blavat is many times credited with taking that obscure acapella song and making it a hit in the Philadelphia region. In the Lehigh Valley, Jerry Deane at WHOL - 1600 AM was playing the song on the radio and at his weekly “The Hub” dance at the YMCA-YWCA in Allentown. I played the record throughout my nearly 30 years on the radio in the Lehigh Valley and in Northwest New Jersey. For a record that was not a hit anywhere else, it has the distinction of being released on at LEAST (5) different record labels: Aanko, Crimson, Cameo, Lost Nite and Collectables. Four of the labels are shown on this video.
In very early January, 1999, I was contacted in my South Carolina home by Jeff Frank, my previous boss at WAEB in Allentown, and WODE DJ and friend Joey Mitchell. Jeff explained that he was planning to bring back a number of radio DJs for a special “Legends Weekend”. He told me he would love to end the weekend with a special 5-Hour “Sunday Night Hall Of Fame Reunion” show. I said that due to my work schedule in South Carolina, I was sorry but could not make it back home. Jeff then asked if I would consider recording the show and shipping it to WODE. When I told him I could, and would love to do that, he scheduled my show to wrap up the weekend.
That weekend of February 26 through February 28, 1999, WODE - “Oldies 99.9” was a special treat for the Allentown - Bethlehem - Easton, Pa area listeners. WODE was able to bring back many of the Lehigh Valley’s favorite rock era radio Disc Jockeys. The DJ lineup included: Gene Kaye, Jay Edwards, Johnny Michaels, “Frantic” Freddy Frederick (aka Freddy Milander), Mickey Haggerty, Super Lou, Jim Lloyd, Barry George, Jim Reed, Bob Pharo, Guy Randall Ackley, Neil Stevens, Guy Harpo, Bill Sheridan and Jeff Frank. I was both honored and proud to participate in the special programming.
Many of the commercials, station promos and jingles of the other top radio stations back then were aired by Oldies 99.9.
The “Legends Weekend” was an incredible success for everyone involved. Afterwards, I was contacted by Jeff Frank, Joey Mitchell and Program Director Bill Sheridan, and they asked if I would consider producing the Sunday Night Hall Of Fame Show again on a weekly basis.
If took a while to work out the logistics, but my show did return in year 2000, and was on the air again every Sunday Night through Labor Day weekend 2001, when WODE changed their music format.
However, the one-shot Legends Weekend show was recorded on (5) ten-inch reel to reel tapes and mailed to WODE. Apparently a short time after that weekend, all original reel to reel tapes were erased and re-recorded on by WODE production personnel. For a decade or so, I thought the Reunion show was lost forever. Then I was contacted by a listener that had recorded most of the Legends Weekend off the air on cassette tapes. Included on the cassette tapes was my Hall Of Fame Reunion Show. I received a copy of the Hall Of Fame cassettes and digitally restored them for this set of CZcams videos. As far as I can tell, the only missing audio of the show is when the cassette tape would run out. Either the cassette tape had to be flipped over or a new one started.
I hope you enjoy listening to my Sunday Night Hall Of Fame Reunion show on the fantastic “Legends Weekend” at WODE - Oldies 99.9 !!
(Music in this video, which I produced, features my original radio broadcast from February 28, 1999 on WODE 99.9 FM, Easton, Pa. I was a contract employee of WODE: writing, producing and hosting The Sunday Night Hall of Fame Show. All shows were pre-recorded and mailed to WODE.)