Looking back at WMMS

As much as I'd like to pretend this will be of interest to EVERYone... it will probably only make sense to people who are/were from Cleveland.  (Not deceased, I mean people who wised up and moved somewhere that has more than 2 months of summer).


WMMS, in a nutshell, was the wacky-but-cool rock radio station here in the 1970s and somewhat beyond. A brief history... the station started in 1968, playing the "album-rock" FM format that baby boomers so loved at the time.  The station slowly grew into a juggernaut throughout the 1970s, becoming one of the go-to stations for bands like David Bowie, Fleetwood Mac, Cheap Trick, Rush, Bruce Springsteen and numerous others.  Only a handful of stations nationwide -- in Boston, New York, Chicago and LA -- had that kind of clout.  And this was coming from a city experiencing deep and permanent negative change.

Anyhow, all was well till the mid-1980s, when several things happened....
1) The audience grew up, and the new audience wanted something closer to Contemporary Hits Radio.  That meant less of the new Aerosmith album, and more Michael Jackson.  Listeners were fragmenting.

2) Long-time programmer Denny Sanders, and promotion genius Jon Gorman, left for a start-up cross-town rival in 1986.  Two years later, Kid Leo (arguably the most popular WMMS DJ) left for a staff position at Columbia Records.

3) Having been named the top station in the country by Rolling Stone Magazine for several years, WMMS became the subject of a ballot-stuffing scandal.  Most industry insiders eventually admitted that they all stuffed the ballot box to some extent, but the damage was done.

Today, the Buzzard (as it was known, thanks to a cool mascot) soldiers on as an icky quasi-talk-and-alternative-music hybrid.  Imagine hearing your least favorite fratboys, endlessly playing Nickelback and drooling over Kaley Cuoco.  That's today's Buzzard.

P.S.  Music sucks now.

The Rolling Stones, Satanic Majesties

It was the album that should never have been made...

In 1967, the Rolling Stones were at the pinnacle of popular music, bested only by their friendly rivals, The Beatles.  But just as the Fab Four were being crowned the voices of a generation with "Sgt. Pepper," the Stones were facing drug busts and prison.  Not surprisingly, the next Stones LP (recorded during and after legal proceedings) has polarized critics, and even the bandmembers, since its release.

"Their Satanic Majesties" is not a GREAT album on par with those that came immediately before and after ("Between the Buttons" and "Beggar's Banquet").  But a great LP does lurk within!  Try re-arranging the songs thusly:


1. "2000 Man"
2. "In Another Land"
3. "Gomper"
4. "She's a Rainbow"

5. "On with the Show"
6. "The Lantern"
7. "Citadel"
8. "2000 Light Years from Home"


Voila!  Barely a half-hour, but it flows together nicely and rocks out... and it does NOT feature the aimless noodling of "Sing This All Together..."

There's just enough psych-pop and bluesy undertones to make this the worthy bridge between "Buttons" and "Beggar's."