WaveOhhh
Joined: Apr 24, 2006
Posts: 236
Plantation, FL
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Posted on Jan 12 2009 12:18 PM
Does anyone in the East Coast US remember the AM radio station WABC in NYC? They had a battle of the bands contest named The Big Break during the late 60's, early 70's. It was hosted by "Cousin Brucie" Bruce Morrow. I wonder if there are any musicians out there who were part of these contests or knows someone who played in one. I am doing important scholarly research on AM radio in the late 1960's.
— What day is Surf Rock's birthday? Looks like Surf Rock and I was born the same year. Maybe we are both Libras?
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mom_surfing
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 5283
the outer banks of north carolina
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Posted on Jan 12 2009 03:41 PM
when all the planets were lined up just right i used to be able to pick that station up in my car when i lived in florida. i don't remember much about it though.
carol
— www.surfintheeye.com
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Surfgitar
Joined: Mar 16, 2007
Posts: 1342
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
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Posted on Jan 12 2009 06:46 PM
mom_surfing
when all the planets were lined up just right i used to be able to pick that station up in my car when i lived in florida. i don't remember much about it though.
carol
Yup. When we went upcoast in the early hours, we could pick it up if the weather was just right.
— CUTBACK
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WillyT
Joined: Jan 13, 2007
Posts: 95
Jersey Shore
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Posted on Jan 12 2009 09:09 PM
Me! The WABC All Americans! Dan Ingram was my fav DJ. (The closest they played to surf, however, was WipeOut.) Surf was pretty much unknown in metro NYC in the 60s.
Another good station back then was WMCA.
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flatwound01
Joined: Mar 03, 2006
Posts: 464
Western MA
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Posted on Jan 12 2009 10:03 PM
I remember . . . of course, I grew up in South Jersey, so it really wasn't too much work to pull in WABC. Locally, our "hits" station was WFIL in Philly . . .
I was just a kid, but still remember listening to the radio then . . . I like to listen to the sound checks that are out there on the Internet - I remember all of those "jocks"! 
-Dick
— Fender Reissue Cap Mod Site
http://home.comcast.net/~rmessick2/
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bIG_wAvE_Dave
Joined: Mar 19, 2006
Posts: 365
Reno, NV
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Posted on Jan 13 2009 06:22 PM
Bruce Morrow aka Cousin Brucie gets my vote.
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DannySnyder
Joined: Mar 02, 2006
Posts: 11039
Berkeley, CA
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Posted on Jan 13 2009 07:01 PM
flatwound01
I remember . . . of course, I grew up in South Jersey, so it really wasn't too much work to pull in WABC. Locally, our "hits" station was WFIL in Philly . . .
I was just a kid, but still remember listening to the radio then . . . I like to listen to the sound checks that are out there on the Internet - I remember all of those "jocks"!
-Dick
WFIL was my favorite too circa 1972-76. Jim O'Brien was my favorite. He tragically died too young in a skydiving accident. So much incredible music over such a short time span, we took it so much for granted. I don't think anyone under 35 could comprehend a time when the top 40 was actually worth listening to.
— Danny Snyder
"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo
Playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta
Formerly a guitarist in The TomorrowMen and Meshugga Beach Party
Latest surf project - Now That's What I Call SURF
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mad_dog
Joined: Sep 23, 2008
Posts: 349
Montclair, NJ
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Posted on Jan 20 2009 08:59 AM
I listened to it constantly, up until FM snuck in in the mid-60s. Grew up in Goshen NY and lived on a hill, so it came in strong. I actually met cousin brucie later. He bought WALL, a station in Middletown NY, and was a fixture on the local scene in the 70s. Cool guy. I really liked Dan Ingram as well.
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surferXmatt
Joined: Aug 27, 2008
Posts: 1570
New York
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Posted on Jan 20 2009 09:09 AM
Lots of rolling hills in the Middletown/Goshen area mad_dog. Very pretty in the fall.
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WaveOhhh
Joined: Apr 24, 2006
Posts: 236
Plantation, FL
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Posted on Jan 22 2009 05:50 PM
So does anyone remember "The Big Break" battle of the bands contest? from WABC?
— What day is Surf Rock's birthday? Looks like Surf Rock and I was born the same year. Maybe we are both Libras?
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coanjn
Joined: Oct 14, 2023
Posts: 1
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Posted on Oct 14 2023 04:02 PM
Hey Bill!
I just happened to see your post about the WABC Big Break. Of course, it's been awhile since you posted, but I thought I'd respond anyway. I, along with my high school buddies, participated in and won the Big Break in 1969. We were in a band called The Strangers This was the year Steppenwolf was the featured act where we witnessed the keyboard player falling over backwards in the middle of a song. Got to meet them in their dressing room. They were mighty trashed...
Anyway, I'm still in touch with some of the members of The Strangers. We have lots of memories and even some paraphernalia from the show. Fond memories.
Jamie Coan
Last edited: Oct 14, 2023 16:04:21
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JohnnyMosrite
Joined: Jun 14, 2006
Posts: 884
New York City area
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Posted on Oct 14 2023 05:20 PM
I remember the show. Most of the acts were at low volume and at low talent.
Bruce Morrow would throw in his pitch to keep kids off marijuana and drugs in between acts and commercials. Nevertheless, some of the acts were pretty zonked.
John Zacherley (the Cool Ghoul) had a similar show on WNJU-TV (Newark, NJ), a UHF station which was hard to tune in. I had to play with the TV antenna to get a halfway decent signal.
Cousin Brucie also hosted a TV show (WABC au Go-GO?) with Scott Muni (ScotSo). I saw Cannibal and the Headhunters and Jay and the Americans on that. The show's opening theme was the Safaris' "Wipeout".
I met Bruce Morrow once in the Wall Stret area of NYC. He asked me for subway directions.
The guy is in his mid-eighties and still kicking. Good for him.
J Mo
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Squid
Joined: Aug 22, 2010
Posts: 1015
Portland, Oregon with Insanitizers
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Posted on Oct 15 2023 07:29 PM
I was there. My band (with me) competed in the contest in Summer 1967. On a Sunday we drove to the Empire State Building in Manhattan from the Sheepshead Bay area of Brooklyn. The parking lot was in the basement of the building and we took an elevator into a music studio belonging to radio station WABC. We met disc jockey Bruce Morrow ("Cousin Brucie") https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Morrow, who hosted our one-song recording session in person--and still works at WABC as a D.J. They played the recording back for us while we were there--it sounded totally professional, far better than our impression of our sound. It took me twenty seconds to recognize my own guitar playing on playback.
To get a spot in this competition all we did was volunteer.
Three of our five band members were the same as had performed at the NY World's Fair in 1965. One of my sisters replaced the drummer and another sister added bass guitar. We had prepared two songs for the competition, our own instrumental arrangement of "Goldfinger" (and it was dynamite) and an uptempo vocal cover called "He's the Kind of Guy." I could not find this song on Youtube or streaming, only unrelated songs. We should have played Goldfinger but we played the cover.
The entire experience was overshadowed by our drive. Twe blocks into the voyage from my parent's home the windshield wipers on my dad's old Ford station wagon died, with rain pouring down hard and continuously. I steered the car based on looking through the water streams on the windshield, sticking my head out the window, and receiving reports from band member Don, who sat by the front passenger window. Our desire for the adventure overcame the irrationality of driving through New York City nearly blind.
Fortunately, the rain quit while we were performing and the trip back was uneventful. So was the result as we never heard another thing about it.
— Insanitizers! http://www.insanitizers.com
Last edited: Oct 15, 2023 19:31:41
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Brian
Joined: Feb 25, 2006
Posts: 19246
Des Moines, Iowa, USA
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Posted on Oct 24 2023 06:06 PM
Great stories, thanks for sharing!
— Site dude - S3 Agent #202
Need help with the site? SG101 FAQ - Send me a private message - Email me
"It starts... when it begins" -- Ralf Kilauea
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