WHAM @ 100: An Oral History

Former WHAM DJ and General Sales Manager Dan Guilfoyle passed away on June 5, 2023.To honor our friend an colleague, we share with you the last music show Dan hosted on WHAM - March 2, 1991Danny loved music and this is the best way we know to celebrate his life.

We've spent the past year looking back on the people, stories and sounds of WHAM's past.We conclude the series with a look at our present - and peer into the future - with iHeart Radio Chairman and CEO, Bob Pittman

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!A special holiday treat with this OPEN LINE show - with Jack Slattery and George Haefner - not heard since it was originally aired on Christmas Day in 1972.

In radio, one group of people have the task of saying station call letters dozens of times a day. They're known as signature voices. And it's a very select group of performers and producers who take on the task of marketing a radio station to its own audience. From how they sound to the attitude behind their performances, signature voices have long been part of radio's sonic landscape. We'll tip the cap to 2 of those signature voice performers from WHAM's past and introduce you to Vistor Lisle - the man behind WHAM's current signature sound.

This never before heard demo version of a 4-part sketch written for the WHAM Holiday Show in December 2018.

Catching up with 2 of WHAM's alumni - one who had a full career in the military before becoming one of WHAM's "oldest rookies" - and another who knew getting the story was what she wanted to do ever since she was in high school. WHAM stories from Gary Tschaepe and Kelly Short (Badger)

A little Christmas snack for this week's bonus. Not sure why they were singing, but some of your favorite WHAM personalities belted out songs of the season in 1995. See how many voices you can identify.

She was with WHAM for only a year - and now she talks sports nationwide. Amy Lawrence fills us in on her start in radio and the path that brought her all the way to New York City.

From the WHAM Holiday Show - broadcast live from the Dryden Theater at the George Eastman House Museum - a re-creation of San Freberg's CHRISTMAS DRAGNET - featuring Don Alhart, Andrea Holland, Jack Garner and Joe Lomonaco.

Though he was only with WHAM for about a decade, he left his mark - with music, sports and a generosity of spirit. A tribute to the late Bill Givens featuring excerpts from his Saturday Night Dance Party shows, some rare Amerks play by play, and interviews with Bill's widow, Connie, and from Rochester native Ken Meyer, who's broadcasting career was launched thanks to Bill Givens.

In this week’s bonus, a montage of WHAM’s DJs, news anchors and talk hosts – collected by a long time WHAM fan. And many thanks to Bill Dulmage for saving so much of our history and surprising us with it for our 100th anniversary. Included in this episode:Johnny Canton, Dave Laird, Bill Masters, Mark Giardina, Mike Ivers, Bill Anthony, Steve Best, Steve Reynolds, Charlie Greer, Chris Summers, Tom George, Ed Ferland, Jay Martin, Dave Kyaza, Chet Walker, Jeff Howlett, Rick Peters and Steve Reuben.

An extra bonus this week - the complete WHAM noon newscast from Thanksgiving Day 1966.

Radio needs big personalities. But it also needs the people working off mic and behind the scenes to keep those big personalities sounding their best. Mike DiGiorgio and Bob Kern do their best work out of the spotlight. Hear how their skills and talents kept WHAM sounding, and running, the way it did.

Later this month, we'll be doing a tribute to one time WHAM Program Director, sports reporter and host Bill Givens. In this bonus episode, we hear the man himself as he, and WHAM's Walter Dixon, in an excerpt from WHAM's 50th Anniversary broadcast of July 11th 1972. Special thanks to the Lavery Library at St. John Fisher University for the audio in this episode.

Continuing the roundtable talk with the newer members of the WHAM team. In this episode, Christina Lynne, Matt Wilson and the newest co-anchor of the WHAM 5 o'clock News Hour, Joe Lasky.

77 years ago this month, ground was broken on a new home for WHAM radio. An engineering marvel that took a decade to plan and 2 years to build. Presented for the first time, the groundbreaking ceremony from November 10, 1945 as well as a description of the building from a souvenir program of the era.

Who will be there to carry on the mission of WHAM - and radio as a whole - when those of us who are closer to the finish line finally cross it? The Next Generation of broadcasters will, hopefully, step in, step up and keep it all going. This week, PART 1 of a roundtable discussion with Pam Allen (Rapp), Sam Schrier and Melody Emm.

The Howard W. Coles collection, The Voice of Howard Coles Audio Recordings. Courtesy of the RMSC, Rochester, NYFive Minutes with Howard Coles” was a five minute show produced by Mr. Coles and aired on WHAM every Sunday from 6:45pm to 6:50pm. “Five Minutes with Howard Coles ran from about 1969 to 1975 and discussed Black history and heritage. In this bonus episode, a few samples of those features.

For over 60 years, he self-published a newspaper serving the black community of Rochester. He was also Rochester's first black broadcaster - a career that lasted nearly 40 years. And his weekly feature - 5 Minutes With Howard Coles - aired on WHAM in the 60s and 70s. Former TV meteorologist Richard McCollough and Howard's daughter, Joan Coles Howard, tell us about the journalist and broadcaster who broke color barriers and documented the history of the black community in Rochester. Howard W. Coles collection, The Voice of Howard Coles Audio Recordings. Courtesy of the RMSC, Rochester, NY

More from John DiTullio - picking up the story where we left off in the last episode. John has arrived in Rochester to be part of the debut of Fox 31 TV, doing a job similar to one he had in Erie, PA. From here, John talks about getting back into radio and getting the call to become part of the WHAM/WHTK team.