WNEW | Where Rock Lives

A.M. Nuggets: Blast From Jerry's Past (And Ours)

Jerry Garcia lives on in this video unearthed by none other than Dennis Elsas, formerly of 102.7 WNEW-FM, a voice you are no doubt very familiar with.

Dennis keeps a blog at his website, and recently posted a piece he did in 1984 which features some priceless interview time with Jerry at a NY hotel. Jerry looks to be in great health and humor, and speaks fondly of the Deadheads that at that point had been following him around for 20 years. The video also contains footage of some Grateful Dead performances that are sure to bring on the heavy flashbacks (the good kind). Also priceless is the memo from Scott Muni detailing staff responsibilities for WNEW-FM's broadcast of the Dead live from the Felt Forum in 1971.

Thanks for posting this stuff Dennis. Jerry, we miss you buddy.

Knockout Drops' Chris Campion - Author of Escape from Bellevue - sits down for the WNEW Interview

Sometimes knowing how a book ends before you start reading it can run the whole experience. I mean, do you really want to sit through 12,000 pages of Lord of the Rings if you already know that Frodo destroys the ring, lives to tell the tale, and remains with the elves rather than returning to the Shire?
Ok bad example I guess, I've read those books front-to-back multiple times without concern for the ending. But in any case that's the dilemma posed by Escape From Bellevue, the new memoir by Chris Campion, lead singer of the legendary indie outfit the Knockout Drops. The book reads like a travelogue of Campion's life and misadventures: from growing up in a big Catholic family on Long Island, to his early days with the band trying to get a record deal, to later years as an alcoholic and - briefly - mental patient.

I sat down with Campion to talk about the stories in Escape From Bellevue, his theatrical show of the same name, and the current state of his life and music. Here's our conversation from the WNEW studio:

Time to Celebrate: WNEW's 1000th Post!

We've reached a milestone here at WNEW.com - our 1000th post. In a little under nine months, since our launch in April 2008, we've brought you a thousand posts on all things rock 'n roll, old and new, and other stuff we felt like posting. By way of a look back, here are some of our favorite things from the first 1000 posts:

• Interview gems featuring Scott Muni, Dave Herman and other favorite voices from the WNEW-FM archives, talking to the top artists of the day like Robert Plant, Mick Jagger, The Who, Stevie Wonder and David Bowie.
• Festival coverage from venues far and wide, from Tennessee to Oregon, Colorado to Michigan and even New Jersey.
• Incredible studio sessions with legends like Richie Havens, Phil Lesh, Bela Fleck, Warren Haynes, Donna Jean and more.
• Performances and interviews with newer artists like the Rumble Strips, Noah and the Whale, Illinois, Kings of Leon, Michael Franti, Chris Barron, Vampire Weekend, Grace Potter and many more.
• Rock commentary of the highest order from our outstanding roster of writers: J.A. Bartlett, Alex Young, Fusion 45, Bill Melville, Paul Rhodes, Kevin Phillips, Chris Clancy, our hardworking Archivist, big winner Mari S. (go Cards!) and the rest of the many awesome contributors we've had so far.

There have been a lot of great moments captured in these first 1000 posts - here's a look at the posts you've clicked on the most:

• Mike Gordon Fans Flames of Phish Reunion (w/Audio)
• Live Dead: Phil Lesh & Jackie Greene Visit the WNEW Studio
• Warren Haynes Visits WNEW Studio for Acoustic Session
• Cardinals (w/Ryan Adams) Rock Houston: Setlist, Photos
• Chopping Block: The Cure
• Kanye's Bonnaroo Troubles
• All Points West Festival: Photo Show
• WNEW Archived Interview: Mick Jagger 1979

Thank you kind reader for hanging in there with us throughout our early days. We've had a great time bringing you these posts and we've particularly enjoyed the conversations (and controversies - sorry Cure fans!) that have resulted. We hope you'll still be with us when we hit our 10,000th post - this time I promise I'll bring cake.

WNEW Memories: The Who's Vacation Stories

We keep finding great moments in Who history in the WNEW archives, like this one where Scott Muni asked each of the guys to relate a story from their recent vacations around the globe. And after the jump we've got more great vintage shots of the band from our friends at Backstage Gallery. Enjoy.

The Who's Vacation Stories

[photo courtesy of Backstage Gallery]

WNEW Memories: Original Friends of WNEW, The Who

The term "Friends of 'NEW" has been used here at the station for a long time, usually referring artists who could be counted on to pop into the studio unannounced for a chat, a drink, or sometimes even a poker game.

No one is more deserving of the Friends label than the Who. Band members visited their good friend Scott Muni at the old 102.7 studios dozens of times over the years, and never failed to provide entertainment, camaraderie and the occasional incoherent ramble.

In honor of this week's Who special on VH1 we've been digging around in the archives and found some little gems from the good old days - audio reminders of dearly departed friends John Entwistle and Keith Moon, and their partners in crime Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey. Here are three quick bites from the archives, with more vintage photography from Backstage Gallery after the jump.

Pete Townshend's WNEW Promo

John Entwistle's WNEW Promo

Pete signs for Keith's NYC apartment

Vintage Video of WNEW-FM, Part IV

The more we dive into these videos, the more it becomes clear we HAD to bring back WNEW. In this clip Dave Herman gets right to the heart of what radio is all about: "It is live, and it's all I've lived..." Please enjoy this fourth installment of Vintage Video.

Vintage Video of WNEW, Part III

Can't get enough of these old WNEW-FM clips? Neither can we. Digging around on YouTube we found a third installment of vintage footage from the "good old days." This one features Dave Herman and some seriously classic-looking New York scenes.

Here's hoping we create 30 years worth of new memories here at WNEW.com.

Vintage Video of WNEW-FM, Part II

We had a lot of fun with that video of Scott Muni in the old WNEW-FM studio yesterday, so we surfed through YouTube and came up with a few more. This clip is from the 1982 film "Airplay" - we hope you'll enjoy it as much as we did. As always, please leave us your comments and keep sharing those memories.

Vintage Video of WNEW-FM

Digging into the crates here at the new WNEW.com has prompted a trip down memory lane for many a staffer, and from the comments we've been seeing it sounds like you're catching a bit of that feeling as well.

To that end, let's take a look back at some vintage WNEW-FM moments from 1982.

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.