He worked the afternoon-drive shift until 1997 when he headed to Los Angeles. After two years, Cox left The Loop to begin his own radio show. WMMS' decline culminated on April 14, 1994, with the high-profile departure of Jeff Kinzbach, effectively ending "Jeff & Flash" on WMMS (Ferenc would leave the station several weeks later; both would pair up again at WWWE). Date unknown. (Plain Dealer file photo), Korvan was one of the notable rock jocks from the 1970s heyday of WMMS-FM/100.7. of WIXY 1260. 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. Now Debbie joins Dave Noriega to host a daytime radio broadcast "Dave and Dujanovic" where they discuss Utah news, culture, and . SiriusXM Channel Hosts | SiriusXM Canada The show's big following has spawned an annual summer festival, Roverfest, which has been held in Lorain for the past three years. Of special note was the early support of Bruce Springsteen by Kid Leo and others, prior to the release of the Born to Run album. 'Pig Virus,' riles WGN Radio's Chicago fan base", http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1997/RR-1997-02-21.pdf, "Clear Channel Wins Bidding Contest, Agrees to Buy Jacor Communications", "Clear Channel Renames Itself iHeartMedia in Nod to Digital", "At the controls: Clear Channel programmer rules radio in Cleveland", "Buzzard scam gets WMMS what it wanted: more listeners", "Arbitron: Listening Up, Fave Stations The Same", "Browns next to explore market for radio rights", "CCM+E/Cleveland Names Chris Tyler PD Of WMMS, WAKS, 99X", "Jason Carr Named PD Alt 99.1 FM and APD for WMMS/Cleveland", "Pair of Indianapolis Morning Show Changes", "93X/Memphis Flips, ESPN Sportsradio 680 Gets FM Simulcast", "iHeartRadio: Rover's Morning Glory Replay", "iHeartRadio: Rover's Morning Glory On Demand", "June 4th 2014 - Tweens Kill For Slenderman/Chef Steve Schimoler In-Studio/Racism In America", "Rover and WMMS Agree to a Contract Extension That Will Keep Him on the Air Through 2017", "Best of Cleveland 2004: Best Morning DJ", "Best of Cleveland 2005: Best Radio Morning Show", "Best of Cleveland 2006: Best Radio-Host Homecoming", "Best of Cleveland 2007: Best Radio Show", "Best of Cleveland 2009: Best Local Radio Personality", "Best of Cleveland 2014: Best Radio Personality", "Best of Cleveland 2015: Best Radio Show", "Cleveland DJ Helps Cast a Spell on LeBron", "Best of Cleveland 2011: People & Places", "Best of Cleveland 2012: People & Places", "Best of Cleveland 2013: People & Places", "Alan Cox Talk Show Rocks Cleveland on WMMS-FM", "iHeartRadio Shows & Personalities: The Alan Cox Show 24/7", "December 16, 2014 episode - Alan Renews His Contract/The Show Recaps Bad Decisions/Drunk or Kid", "Cody 'Poundcake' Brown is out and entertaining as part of popular 'Alan Cox' show on WMMS", "Aerosmith Frontman Explains New Album Delay (Audio) - June 26, 2012", "Forbes has it in for Cleveland. During his long tenure doing evenings at the station Denny interviewed hundreds of rock stars including the late John Lennon. Kinzbach left the station in 1994. ", "We had the right staff, the right soundtrack at the time. He soon left radio and became an artist manager, working with the likes of Joe Walsh, Michael Stanley, Ian Hunter, Harry Nilsson, Yusuf (Cat) Stevens, Eric Carmen and others. (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. WMMS Cleveland, Ohio United States Broadcast area Greater Cleveland Northeast Ohio Frequency 100.7MHz(HD Radio) Branding 100.7 WMMS: The Buzzard Programming Language(s) English Format Active rock/hot talk Subchannels HD2: BIN 99.1(All-news) Affiliations Cavaliers AudioVerse Cleveland Guardians WOIO Ownership Owner iHeartMedia (iHM Licenses, LLC) "I think it's like a young nation, the changes of the times," said John Gorman, the station's program director during its 1970s and '80s Buzzard heyday. (Additional reporting by cleveland.com staff. [58][59] During this time, WMMS used slogans derived from its call sign: first as "Music Means Satisfaction", and later as the place "Where Music Means Something". ), Bass built one of the most versatile careers in the history of Cleveland radio. The other DJs in the photo are, from left: Billy Bass, Doc Nemo, Vic Boc and Pat Mack. In July 1973, John Gorman joined WMMS as music director and was promoted to program director and operations manager two months later where he remained for thirteen years. He now does the morning show on WONE-FM/97.5 in Akron. We all got to know Billy Bass pretty good. From 2007-2014, she was owner and CEO of Life After Your Divorce, a company that worked with people going through divorce. BLF also praised musicians and was a great fan of the Texas Tornadoes and Blue Cheer. Based on considerably high record sales in the Cleveland market, Bowie (in his Ziggy Stardust persona alongside The Spiders from Mars) kicked off his first U.S. tour in "The Rock Capital" (a term coined by Bass). Bryan Adams Agora photo credit: Janet Macoska, Sammy Hagar Odeon photo credit: Daune Raz. [88] Management ordered a change to the Buzzard by giving it a flat-top and mullet. Mike McConnell Eddie & Rocky Lance McAlister Mo Egger Gary Jeff Walker America's Truckin' Network with Bubba Bo Mike Allen Ken Broo Rachel Elliot Five Rounds with Rocky Gamble & Fin 700WLW Weekends Big Outdoors NFL Football Talk Dave the IT Guy Reds Hot Stove League TriHealth Medical Minute Features Advertise on 700WLW Rachel Elliot Home Posts She later worked in radio promotion and sales in Chicago and New York. [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]. ", WMMS-FM---FREEMAN,-Bill-'BLF-Bash'--(Date-Unknown). [122] Closing in May 1999, Clear Channel was renamed iHeartMedia in 2014. He is now a professional photographer in Cleveland. Kid Leo was actively involved in the campaign in bringing the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to Cleveland - which lead to the mayor Geroge Voinovich granting him a key to the city in 1990. WMMS also streams it's coverage of selected games on iHeartRadio, even outside of the Cleveland market. While both Rover and Alan Cox are primarily "hot talk" programs, rock music airs during regular middays, nights, overnights, weekends and online during Cavaliers and Guardians play-by-play. 54,419 people like this 52,406 people follow this http://www.wmms.com/ (216) 578-1007 (Lapczinski is at far right in this photo along with his Buzzword crewmates in the WMMS studios) (Plain Dealer file photo), Kid Leo, whose real name is Lawrence James Travagilante, ruled the Buzzard roost at WMMS for 16 years from 1973-1988. Past show members at WMMS include, Ryan Hoppe, Scott Taylor (now a reporter at WJLA in Washington, DC, Kaitlin Geosano, and Rob Garguilo. [136], From the 1994 exit of Jeff Kinzbach and Ed Ferenc until the arrival of Rover's Morning Glory in 2008, WMMS gained notoriety for airing 13 distinct shows in morning drive. alan cox (@alancoxshow) / Twitter WMMS was the first radio station to employ full-time promotion and marketing directors: Dan Garfinkel and his successor, Jim Marchyshyn. ". Heavily bootlegged, the concert further cemented the relationship between the two in fans' minds, and well into the 2000s Cleveland remains one of Springsteen's strongest bases. Where are They Now? Pittsburgh Radio Personalities Cox also frequently takes calls from listeners, and often interviews guests in studio and over the phone. (Billy Bass is at far left in the photo, kickin' it with the WHK crew, circa 1968. 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. Fans were encouraged to drop off a self-addressed stamped envelope to a local record store in order to score tickets. Born in Belgium, but raised in Cleveland and Maple Heights, Matt the Cat Lapczynski was a radio fan from an early age. She remained with the station until 1995. Mama, come get your baby boy! (Plain Dealer file photo). Sanders also booked the acts for WMMS' fame "Coffeebreak Concerts." He also managed Grammy-winning R and B superstar Luther Vandross. WMMS at 50: Moments that made music history (photos) That will never be done again. Mr. Leonard supposedly worked at the Buzzard, as the assistant public service director, but he was never able to make it into the office. [168], WMMS has served as the FM flagship station for the Cleveland Cavaliers AudioVerse since 2014, sharing network flagship status with AM sister station WTAM. He worked a variety of record-industry jobs after that, becoming senior vice president of marketing at Chrysalis Records during the 1980s. [104] John Gorman was named Program Director of the Year (Rock) in 1995. They were rewarded with a night that they would remember for the rest of their lives. She stayed on when the station switched. Throughout the 1970s and '80s, the station played home to some of Cleveland's most recognizable personalities: Matt the Cat, Denny Sanders, Murray Saul, Betty "Crash" Korvan, Ruby Cheeks, BLF. WMMS-FM started up on Sept. 28, 1968, as a progressive-rock station, and earned fame as one of the country's most successful rock stations in the '70s. The Week in Cox is a weekly podcast featuring the best segments from The Alan Cox Show. Regular segments include "The Shizzy", a daily news update; "Tech Tuesday", where listeners pose consumer electronics questions to an industry expert; and "The Thursday Hook-Up", a call-in dating game. This feature ran at the exact moment of the KSU shootings twenty years later. WMMS's studios are located at the Six Six Eight Building in downtown Cleveland's Gateway District;[48][49] the station transmitter resides in neighboring Seven Hills. [34], Loveline, Westwood One's nationally syndicated call-in show hosted by Dr. Drew, aired weeknights from August 2008 through June 2010. The short-lived music magazine featured a diverse mix of interviews, opinion pieces, album reviews, Buzzard playlists, concert listings and photos from station events. Her LinkedIn Profile says she is now an independent radio professional in New York. Gorman credits his decision to leave to changes in management, and the station's overall shift to a more "corporate" mentality. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Cleveland Police briefly detained Ky-Mani Marley after the singer threatened Rover for comments made during an April 20, 2010 in-studio interview. [47][93] Stern continued on with the program over a phone line as engineers worked to quickly patch together the severed broadcast wire. A major contributor to the ratings success was an airstaff that remained fundamentally unchanged for many years: personalities like Kid Leo, Jeff & Flash, Matt the Cat, Dia Stein, Denny Sanders, Murray Saul, Debbie Ullman, Betty "Crash" Korvan, Ruby Cheeks (Debra Luray), BLF Bash (Bill Freeman), TR (Tom Renzy) and the late Len "Boom" Goldberg were invaluable to the station's popularity. Seth "the Barbarian" Williams took the overnight shift when Pennington moved to evenings in 2001. Kid Leo - Wikipedia Maria Farina landed at WMMS in 1986 fresh out of Ohio University and quickly gained popularity. Danny Czekalinski and Darla Jaye teamed up in October 1997 with Liz Wilde holdover Cory Lingus (Cory Gallant) until August 1998. Win tickets to see Adam Sandler at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Win tickets to see Weezer at Blossom Music Center, Win tickets to see Disturbed at Blossom Music Center. WMMS did remote interviews at KSU all morning which included an interview from 1972 presidential candidate, Senator George McGovern, KSU student and gunshot survivor, Dean Kahler, other May 4th wounded who survived, Governor Dick Celeste, current students and others. He stayed at WMMS until 1992, moving then to WNCX-FM/98.5 and WDOK-FM/102.1. The Alan Cox Show is rated #1 in several key demographics, and readers of Cleveland Scene named Alan Cox the best Cleveland radio personality four straight years (201013). "[83] Negative reaction was swift and widespread;[44][45] some called the scheme a mere "lack of judgement,"[44] while a reporter for the Akron Beacon Journal compared the station's response to that of discredited former Vice-president Spiro Agnew.[84]. February 11, 2020 Sean Collier, Photos by Becky Thurner Braddock Sean McDowell With time and freedom, longtime DJ Sean McDowell can't get off the road. Murray Saul joined the WMMS staff as a salesman. The WMMS morning show Dick Dale & Rick hosted the event. Brian and Joe were the first to broadcast from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's radio station in 1995. She introduced Rush when they got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in June 2010. He's a history buff and writer, too. In 1973 WMMS unveiled a new logo The Mushroom. Denny left WMMS to start another local station, but returned for a long stay at WMJI. He later took his groundbreaking progressive rock show to WNCR FM/95.5, working alongside pioneering Cleveland rock deejays Billy Bass and David Spero. It's most famous for heavily plugging the MC5, The Velvets and The Dolls on one hand and science-art groups like Soft Machine and King Crimson on the other. Radio Personality Mike Gallagher Has Died - Newsradio WTAM 1100 He is part of the permanent radio exhibit in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. [56], MetroMedia found major success with progressive rock at KMET Los Angeles, KSAN San Francisco, WMMR Philadelphia and WNEW-FM New York, but a lack of commitment from MetroMedia led the company to drop the format at WMMS by May 1969. Described by Talkers magazine as "a bold anomaly worthy of industry attention", the show itself has successfully continued the format established by its predecessor The Maxwell Show all talk during afternoon drive on an FM rock station. Condolences: Betty Korvan - RAMP - Radio and Music Pros [140] The Maxwell Show gradually evolved from airing mostly music to all talk, with Maxwell joined by WMMS music director Dan Stansbury and Tiffany "Chunk" Peck, the program's phone screener. 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. Most station imaging is produced out-of-market by national voice talents "David Lee" Olejniczak, Malcolm Ryker,[166] Rena-Marie Villano, and former WMMS creative services director Miles Hlivko; additional voice-over audio is produced on-site by WMMS imaging director Billy Black. [135] Former Lex and Terry producer Jason Carr was named the new WMMS assistant program director on February 1, 2018. WMMS Art Director, Brian Chalmers was approached by Dreamworks to provide artwork and logos for their movie Almost Famous which came out in 2000. During his 16-year tenure, WMMS was consistently one of the highest-rated radio stations in the country. Pittsburgh Radio Personalities Recently retired from WDVE, longtime DJ Sean McDowell isn't sitting still. Lawrence James Travagliante - aka Kid Leo. It was in use in 1971 but was discontinued after the band the Rolling Stones issued a cease and desist order against MetroMedia for it resemblance to their logo. 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. (Plain Dealer file photo), One of Cleveland radio's most popular -- and enduring -- morning teams, Jeff Kinzbach and Ed "Flash" Ferenc were a cornerstone of WMMS-FM/100.7 during its Buzzard heyday. WMMS was directly influenced by then and current sister station WHTZ/New York (Z100), which rose to the top of the ratings books immediately after installing a contemporary hit radio (CHR) format. iHeart Will Move Cleveland Stations Downtown - Radio World [120] Meanwhile, ownership would change yet again as Nationwide Communications was bought out by Jacor in November 1997. During his time at WMMS, Bass coined the phrase, "Cleveland: The Rock 'n' Roll Capital of the World." "[86] From 1991 to 1993, WMMS served as the FM flagship for the Cleveland Browns, sharing coverage with then-sister WHK; the late Nev Chandler served as play-by-play announcer. His radio career began in 1973 with Cleveland on100.7WMMS. In 1988 he left to work as an executive at Columbia Records, where he served until 2002. [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. Since 1998, he's hosted "America's Workforce" a one-hour program sponsored by labor unions on WERE-AM/1490. He offered "Solid Goldbergers" and ordered us to "EN-joy". Photos | 100.7 WMMS WHK later became WMMS (Plain Dealer file photo), From 1971-1986, Sanders was the nighttime DJ at WMMS-FM/100.7, part of the original Buzzard crew that made the station a national rock 'n' roll legend. Some other possible meanings "Where Music Means Something" or "Weed Makes Me Smile". Over the next twenty years Matt did mostly middays and hosted the weekly Coffee Break Concerts, likely introducing more concerts than anyone in Cleveland history.