Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Soul on the Air #20 - Rudy Runnels, 1966

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As promised, here's a second installment of "Soul on the Air" for the month of January 2015. After a trio of Chicago airchecks, I'll move on to Washington, D.C. and the "Tall Tan Texan," Rudy Runnels, doing his thing on WOL in August 1966.

WOL, along with WOOK and WUST, was part of D.C.'s soul radio scene. Runnels - who was also the music director of the station - had been on KKSN in Dallas before moving to D.C., where he shared the WOL frequency with Bob "Nighthawk" Terry and black talk radio legend Petey Greene. He eventually moved on to WOOK and then became general manager of WHIH in Norfolk. I'm not sure what followed, though some research suggests that he was involved in Atlanta radio at some point (on WAOK; information is welcomed).

On this 23-minute aircheck, Runnels throws down some serious soul music from artists including Little Milton, Alvin Cash and even the Righteous Brothers, replete with great patter (dig the setup for Little Milton's "Man Loves Two" and Alvin Cash's "Philly Freeze"). Of course, there's the usual fun commercials and jingles as well. The fidelity of this aircheck is stunning, which adds to the greatness of the aircheck, and I hope you enjoy it!

Monday, January 12, 2015

Soul on the Air #19 - Bill "Butterball" Crane, 1968

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As promised in December, "Soul on the Air" is back on "Get on Down"!

WVON's Bill "Butterball" Crane has been featured on this blog before, and I will refer you to that post about information about Mr. Crane. As the comments to that post attest, the Butterball aircheck was one of the most popular ones posted here, and I'm glad to bring you more of Crane on WVON, this time from December 15, 1968. In addition to Crane's great patter, there's lots of good stuff here, including records by Jerry Butler, Ike & Tina Turner (who open the aircheck), Otis Redding, Clarence Carter and the Dells, along with a news break announced by WVON newscaster Clair Nelson.

Keep an eye on this page, because another aircheck will be featured this month. Here's a hint: it's from Washington, D.C.!