WBAI Folio forApril 11 - May 8, 1966

When this Folio was issued, I was both Acting Program Director and Manager. I had made up my mind to leave about two months earlier, but I deliberately waited until we were up and running with our new, more powerful transmitter installed in the Empire State Building. Once that was in place, I told Hallock Hoffman and the Pacifica Board of my decision, letting them know that I was willing to stay on with a new manager long enough to acquaint him with the job. Hallock asked me to announce my decision on the air, look for replacement candidates, and conduct preliminary interviews. The idea was that, once I had found a few promising applicants, he would come to New York and make the final selection.

I made announcements in my weekly Thursday evening Report to the Listener, a live program that was rebroadcast on Sunday mornings (unlike today, WBAI's management was highly accessible, as it should be).  As you can imagine, there were quite a few applicants and I selected three who, in my view, were eminently well suited for the job. One especially: I don't recall his name, but he was an assistant to Norman Cousins, then the highly respected Editor of The Saturday Review.

Letter from Hallock Hoffman re the position he offered me.

I called Hallock, who expressed excitement when I ran down capsule resumes on the candidates (no faxing back then). He said he'd fly to New York the following week, and asked me to schedule interviews—which I did. Imagine my surprise when Hallock walked into my office on the morning of the first interview and told me to cancel all three, because "we have found our manager." I still don't know what that was all about, but it turned out to be a disastrous decision on Hallock's part, for the man he hired so hastily was Frank Millspaugh. More on that at a later date.

That is the reason why Millspaugh is listed as "Assistant Station Manager" on the first page of this Folio, Hallock wanted it that way. I know that this contradicts the story written by a so-called Pacifica "historian" and picked up by a lovesick WBAI groupie who tried her damnedest to sully my past association with WBAI, but this is the truth.  Anyway, at this point Hallock had offered to create for me a new job with Pacifica in California, and I came close to accepting it. Hallock kind of jumped the gun, assuming that I would accept this offer (see letter above), but I wondered if they could pay this new salary, and the Millspaugh hiring episode gave me serious second thoughts—an offer to go to the BBC solved that dilemma for me.

This edition of the Folio covers four weeks, so it is over 30 pages long. On page 5, you will find an interesting article by Lorenzo Milam, whose own station, KRAB in Seattle, was modeled after Pacifica. You will also see many noteworthy offerings in this issue's listings, including jazz programs hosted by Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, who had just formed their big band, Dave Lambert of Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, Toshiko Akiyoshi, who was married to Charlie Mariano at that time, and the wonderful Marian McPartland, who got her start in radio at WBAI, but was cancelled by Millspaugh (she, of course, moved on to wider audiences). This is also the Folio that marks Larry Josephson's debut on the air (the morning show), which turned out to be another regrettable mistake (mine, this time), and you will find a healthy sprinkling of programs from KPFA and KPFK. The three stations that made up the Pacifica network all had excellent producers among their staff and volunteers, and the exchange benefitted us all. 

So, here is another WBAI Folio. Don't forget to click on the images to make them more readable. If your browser will not allow you to zoom in further, please send me a note at stomp.off.jazz@gmail.com and tell me where to send a pdf file.

WBAI Folio for June 8-21, 1964

Widely distributed sticker of the day.

Here is another WBAI Folio from 1964. You will notice that we, on most nights, signed off around midnight. Exceptions were Saturday night, when I kept am audio melange going until the wee hours—or whenever I felt like calling it a night. Another exception during the period covered by this Folio was "The Big Tune-out," our live satyrical coverage of the National Conventions. This program—co-produced by Richard C. Neuweiler—featured  members of the Second City, headed by Severn Darden, and included truly clever input from Elaine May, Barbara Harris, Taylor Meade, Burns and Schreiber, and—in a memorable role as Ladybird Johnson—David Amram. A renaissance man of impressive accomplishments, David, is still a WBAI habitué, most often heard on the perennial Bob Fass show.

Apropos accomplished people, note the photo of our Music Director, John Corigliano, whose Sonata for Violin and Piano won him that year's Spoleto Chamber Music Competition and started him off on the road to numerous awards, including the Oscar and Pulitzer Prize. John composed and recorded marvelous fund-raising jingles for WBAI and "updated" Bizet's famous opera to "The Naked Carmen" with Melba Moore adding some Harlem soul to the cigar factory. 

The promo single came in a cigar box.

Getting back to the early sign-offs, we did not end on a prayer (although there was always plenty to pray for), but my predecessor, Joe Binns, had us going out on the Star Spangled Banner. It was something all stations did back then, so I thought it was required by one of out odd laws. I found out, however, that there was no such requirement, so I decided to add a little twist when I became the manager—I wrote to the U.N. and asked if they could get us recordings of all the national anthems for membership nations.  We received the tapes and began ending each broadcast day with a different anthem.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the national anthem of Rwanda......" Most people loved it, but there are always those who find something wrong, and, of course, some thought we were being unpatriotic.

On to the Folio (the drawings of Igor Stravinsky are by Barbara Mercer). Don't forget that a click on the image enlarges it.

I wonder if this lady saw WBAI's future? :)

Another jazz moment from the 1965 WBAI marathon

Here is another snippet from our first marathon. We served New York's artistic community well, and it responded overwhelmingly. These musicians came straight to our little studio from a club date—it was six o'clock in the morning and pianist Walter Bishop, Jr. had just finished playing a set for us. I will post some of that here, too. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy Mr. Jordan and his group—their music offered WBAI listeners a far more satisfying and relevant "premium" than all the gloom and doom DVDs and phony cancer cures that are on the fund-raising menu these days. 

WBAI Folio for November 23, 1964

This issue of the WBAI Folio covers two week and introduces our documentary series, This Little Light, which Chris Koch produced from tapes he and Dale Minor recorded in Mississippi during the tumultuous summer of '64. Dale had been there before, when he produced the extraordinary series, Freedom Now, so he knew how dangerous an assignment this was. What WBAI produces today pales by comparison. Neither Chris nor Dale referred to themselves as "investigative reporters"—they didn't have to, their work made that evident.

And WBAI offers as premiums the works of shameless scammers? It does not make any sense.

Please click on pages to enlarge them.

A Davis dumb-down...

On the WBAI Listeners Forum, I have often posted my alarm at hearing how WBAI's programming has been dumbed down. The station that once was the brainy spot on New York's FM dial is... well, listen to this excerpt from Public Affairs Director Kathy Davis' Heart of Mind  program and tell me that this isn't the kind of gobbledygook that belongs on SNL. Ms. Davis probably means well, but I am told that she is responsible for bringing to WBAI much of its shallow, pseudo spiritual fare. She has, I think, listened to too many shallow wannabe Swamis and read too many comic book level subway handouts. This except from today's program is typical and I would be interested in your comments. Mind you, this is not an attack on Kathy Davis, I just think she is among the decision makers who—either deliberately or inadvertently—are shortening the life of WBAI as a vital station.

Excerpt from Heart of Mind as broadcast on WBAI June 13, 2011. (Note: I shortened the injected "music from the earth" interlude but made no cuts in Ms. Davis' words)