Memories of the Firecracker 500

Most people associate the Fourth of July with early summer, school being out, barbecues, the beach and more.  But for me, the Fourth of July always meant the Firecracker 500, WNEW's multi-day countdown of the 500 greatest rock songs of all time that always concluded on July 4th.  Not only did it signify the beginning of summer, that magical time of year when responsibility seemed very far away, the '500' signified my time to rejoice, bitch, agree and argue with the voters selections about the top 500 songs of all time. 

Some years, I'd be thrilled with the voters choices, like when Thunder Road would make the top 10.  But then there were other years when I was beside myself, incredulous how a song could rank as high as it did (Genesis' Follow You, Follow Me #22 in 1991 springs to mind immediately).  Sometimes I'd argue about the songs with friends at a party or in the car cruising around. But often, my asides would be spoken to only myself, a muttering of, "I can't believe Tumbling Dice isn't higher."

Listening to the WNEW DJs announce each song, their voices occurring to me like the voices of someone from my family, I would wonder what they thought of the listeners selections: 

"Do they think Meatloaf should be so high?" 

"Are they as sick of the Eagles as I am?" 

And of course, there was always the single question that would hang over the proceedings: "Will Stairway To Heaven be number one again?" 

I would listen to the top 20, each selection passing... a smattering of Layla, Born To Run, Baba O' Reilly, Hey Jude and more, wondering with each song what could possibly top the Zep.  And then #1 would come and it would be Stairway and I would smile. 

Yes, I had heard the song too many times, but it was still Zeppelin, it was still Stairway, and in that seven plus minutes that I would listen to the number one song of all time, all seemed right with the universe.

Comments

[Thomas Michael Dooley]

Oh man, I think I died and went to heaven.
When I saw the blurb in today's NY Times, "WNEW Returns" I almost couldn't believe my eyes.
WNEW-FM was without a doubt the greatest radio station that ever existed.
I spent the early part of my career working the graveyard shift so my fondest memories were of Alison Steele, Tom Morera, Richard Neer, Pete Larkin et al helping me make it through the night.
I'm presently living in the radio wasteland of Phoenix, AZ and am surviving on satellite radio.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

[Andy Curran]

I hope I can hear some old Jonathan Schwartz voice tracks on this stream. I listen to him on WNYC-FM. Favorite jock of all time, but I hate that music he plays on 93.9.

[Steve M.]

This is the highlight of Tax Day for me! Memories floating back of listening to The Professor, The Nightbird and all the other jocks at WNEW-FM.....my 13 yr old daughter is enthralled with The Beatles, and to play Scott-so's interview with McCartney for her today was a treat for Both of us! Thanks So much for bringing back this much-valued piece of the past....

[MasonR]

So far this long-time listener (I started in 1975) is enjoying the rebirth of WNEW-FM! It's so good to hear The Professor's voice again.

It would make my day/year/millennium if you could play Vin Scelsa reading his letters from T. Shirt and Razzoo Kelly. These were a part of my Sunday routine for years. I hope you have the recordings in the archives.

Sunday mornings, around 11:55 am would be perfect. ;-)

Rave on!

[Chuck Benjamin]

Tomorrow (May 1) is the 32nd anniversary of Jonathan Schwartz's last program on WNEW-FM. It would be great if WNEW.COM has a tape of that program and plays excerpts from it!

[BonzoHansen]

Do you have any info on the old WNEW Days in Asbury Park? That would be great, they were so much fun.