And now...listen to sounds of the station, requires Windows Media Player and Internet Explorer!
The best way to tell the story of WQMR/WGAY's music... since I can't play entire songs - is to listen to this series of nine "backtitles" captured in 1968, announcer Bob Falcon. While Bob Chandler chopped away the "hourly thematic material" reducing all 24 hours of the day to "The Sound of Music," each portion of the day had it's own previously, e.g., "Morning Overture, "Gaslight Previews," etc. Thomas DeBray, WQMR/WGAY announcer, engineer, and architect of the grand move to the World Building (all them wires and things!) found a tape with a set of Carousel intros for each hour, plus quarter hour treatments, and some great station ID's with the golden Barry Clark voice proudly announcing W Q M R (and WGAY), as I have always said from memory, in the early 60's WQMR was everything, the "new" format, the "new" identity. WGAY came along for the ride but FM for commercial radio was really the domain of the classical music stations at that point.
From the early 60's, an important time for WQMR, Tom DeBray brings us some genuine sounds from the station from that era - we begin with some station ID's, news intros, weather, and returns to music; some of them are heard introduced by Mr. DeBray. Many thanks to him for finding and sharing this bit of the "golden age of WQMR" with all of us!
Station ID, First Hour of CAROUSEL
15 Minutes Past The Hour, including weather theme, then return to Carousel
30 Minutes Past The Hour, News Intro, Cluster, Return To Carousel
45 Minutes past the hour cluster
2nd hour missing
final hour Carousel return music (Limelight to follow)
First Hour Limelight intro after news
- many of these sequences are introduced by Tom DeBray as he committed them to tape. Program intros and station ID's are by the "voice of the station" Barry Clark.
Here's an hour or so of music, some station ID's, and harps 'tween every selection, circa 1966 - relax, sit a spell; this is "beautiful music" radio in Washington - live turntables, of course, and cartmasters at the ready with station ID's and harps between each selection, as was done since the inception of "Quality Music Radio" (WQMR). Backtitling must have started shortly after (within months?) the move to the World Building. Perhaps because my brain has gone bye-bye, I can't identify many of the tracks; please write and tell me the artists and titles.
Note: This is a 55MB .wma file, it may (?) stream at 96 kbps but if not right-click and download.
Set the wayback machine ahead to 1966 and click here to hear a few hourly intros/return to music segments in <<<stereo>>> from the collection of Mark Rockman
"The Sound Of Music" backtitles, announcer Bob Falcon
The real music sounds of WGAY circa 1968 (I captured them 4/1968 but they could well have been put "in the can" a few months prior.) This is the music the station played circa 1967/1968; I taped these segments on my trusty, long deceased Sony 650-D-4 at 7 1/2 ips, these are from the same tape as the backtitles above (now you'll hear some of them with the music announced). This was a long time ago; I was in 10th grade; I am now retired! I cheated a little, these are actually the maintenance tapes that all the announcers took part in creating - the station stayed on the air during station maintenance from 12 midnight Sunday to 6am Monday (sometimes every week, sometimes once a month, I dunno). But there were no commercials, just the great music. The recordings were actually made in the auxiliary studio that had full on-air capabilities but was usually pressed into service for production activities. The station used a lot of compression; anyone remember optimod? I don't think it was, but at any rate, VU meters were pegged a lot and high volume was clipped and low volume raised, all in order to, as we might say now in the 21st century, "get maximum value from station operations" (thank gawd terms like this were not in fashion back then). But you got used to it. Though it doesn't sound hi-fi now, it seemed pretty good back then. The very first track is "Gone With The Wind" by David Rose - and I found the very same album with the very same scratches in the late 90's in a used book store where WGAY's records were sold at $1 apiece. Now we have Rush, talk-hate radio, no discernable music, and traffic and weather on the 8's. You'll hear scratches on some records, the station tried to keep on top of that but in the late 60's the catalogs were cutting out the very music the station played. Sometimes the stylus assembly seemed to be carrying a lot of "fuzz" and guess they just "flicked it off" those old Stantons and Pickerings now and then. Enjoy.
Escape to Beautiful Music 1 - Bob Chandler 1968
Escape to Beautiful Music 2 - Bob Chandler 1968
From The Top Of The World Building - Bob Chandler 1968
Harp 1 1966
Harp 2 1966
Harp 3 (music fade) 1966
Harp 4 (music fade) 1966
1960 Original Harps : 1 - 2 - 3 - 4
Last Backtitle and Signoff (Barry Clark on signoff) 1966, Barry Clark signoff sequence recorded in 1960 (used for many years, and really should have been re-recorded once WGAY went stereo, but I'm glad it wasn't as it gives us this one opportunity to hear the station's original "voice" from the very early 60's. As I recall, he did ALL station ID's, station promos, and some commercials. His great, sophisticated voice would a bit out of place now on your typical adult contemptible radio station, no? As a kid I had a tape of lots of the sounds of the early 60's but open reel tape was expensive and the tape was re-used for something else, I was only about 10 or 11 years old! (Me and my trusty Wollensak durable T-1515 (I think) that featured a stereo "lower channel" preamp - and very microphonic tubes. I thought I could simply re-do that tape and never (gulp) did. While I thought this station was great, way back then, I got into other things and never re-created the tape. I've asked on the internet for several years now, and no-one has volunteered any truly early 60's material. So please: I'd really like to have air checks from WQMR/WGAY circa 4/59 through 4/66 if you have any! Thanks!
Matinee at One promo and STAGEDOOR Intro 1966
Station ID - Bob Chandler 1968
From The Top Of The World Building - Bob Chandler 1968
The Sound of Music hourly program intro 1966
LaGondola Italian Restaurant - Bob Falcon - 1966
WQMR Concerto on guitar used for promos and PSA's 1960
Guitar theme used extensively for promos and PSA's 1960
Luxury Listening - Bill Doty 1966
News Headlines plus car commercial November 25, 1966*
*1969 Thanks to Mark Ogden for the precise dates
Time Breaker 1966
Vibe Sequence played on FM while WQMR am signed on at sunrise 1966
Vibe sequence for promos and PSA's 1960
Voice Of Government Reports 1966
Themes for MUSIC IN THE AIR (year unknown, thanks to Art McDougall for the music!)
This program predated the beautiful music format ushered in by Connie B. Gay, the program brought "high brow" music to Washington perhaps as early as 1947??? At any rate it played through the 50's, 60's, 70's, and early 80's (I think). Not a fan of the show, I called it "Commercials In The Air" - live commercials meant to occupy 30 or 60 second slots but with really nothing to say. I guess the pace of the show was not right for me, and I was relieved every Sunday when it was over! Many apologies to the show's supporters whose cards and letters obviously kept it going for decades. The host was Chuck DuLane in the 50's. I'm not sure who programmed the music in the 50's and beyond, but it was not from the "regular blue index cards" used by the station. History! Anyone with info, let me know.
Music In The Air - Intro (presented here in its entirety)
Music In The Air - Exit Music (presented here in its entirety)
CAPTAIN DAN from WWDC who watched the horrible DC traffic from high above as pilot and announcer...
(give part 1 a few moments to start, this is unedited from a VHS tape that was telecine converted from the original 1972 film)
a 1972 documentary in three parts (I can't seen to join them into one huge file) part 1 part 2 part 3
WMAL! TOM GAUGER! ED WALKER!
Here are a few snippets of WMAL of long ago, yes, I admit it, there was a great radio station along with the dependable "relaxing sounds" of WQMR/WGAY - specifically, a station that was brimming with talent and an exciting sound, with announcers who knew about and loved the music they played, and brought us a LOT of the "theater of the mind" aspect of radio. When you hear Tom and Ed together, it's often during Harden and Weaver's two-week vacations. They were great shows. The hunt continues for more airchecks! First, THE MUSIC SCENE, rarely heard, that was used as the "closing bed" for Tom Gauger's daily program.
Next, Tom with the voice of fun in radio itself - Ed Walker - and listen to his Dundalk (Md.) Debonnaires routine
The Dundalk Debonnaires - Tom Gauger and Ed Walker
Next, Tom and Ed - who is "speech coach Mark Gallant"
Mark Gallant - Tom Gauger and Ed Walker
A snippet of one of Tom's fast-paced show endings (with The Music Scene, of course) and the file was sent named "Springer" who must be Herb Springer who was no doubt running the board (and juggling those cart tapes)
Show Closing - Play Those Cart Tapes!
Here is a nostalgic, and beautiful theme, presented vocally and instrumentally, and familiar to those of us in the Washington, DC area a few decades ago - "We Like To Be... in Washington, D.C." (THESE ARE .MP3 files)
WQMR/WGAY's coverage of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, November 22, 1963. The following tracks let us hear the emotions and incredible talent represented a dependable part of the radio dial; as a station that was formatted to play music and rip 'n read news, you will hear and relive the haunting sounds from over 40 years ago, emotional coverage of a quality that goes way beyond what you might expect from a 1kw daytimer... proof that radio of today's corporate world bears no resemblance to what we once had. Hear, for yourself, why I think "Washington's Quality Music Radio" was a very important part of our lives.
As with all clips and sounds on this site, these are provided as a part of radio history and are not for profit and I would ask that they remain a part of this website as part of the tribute to the station. Special note for acute listeners: This is a "produced" album, some sequences are the real-time over-the-air broadcasts, but some, like the very beginning, are re-creations when the album was made, for example, I'd think chances that a air-check tape was running at the time of this event would have been slim-to-none. I've seen elsewhere on the web where song interrupted for the tragic headline really isn't the real thing, and the song likely from some library for station use rather than a David Rose or Jackie Gleason cut from the station libary, the illusion is good, though, it had the sound of the station, and a lot of it IS the real-time broadcast, especially parts 3-5.
FOUR DARK DAYS IN NOVEMBER PART 1
FOUR DARK DAYS IN NOVEMBER PART 2
FOUR DARK DAYS IN NOVEMBER PART 3
FOUR DARK DAYS IN NOVEMBER PART 4
FOUR DARK DAYS IN NOVEMBER PART 5
WARNING: You must have Windows Media Player and correct file extensions set up (and Internet Exploder, of course) or you will get screenfuls of gibberish text and strange characters and symbols, no sound!