Fri, Nov 20 2009
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Published January 16, 2008 08:07 pm - Take it as a comment on the state of commercial radio in 2008 – the media archive of Cleveland’s groundbreaking WMMS, “The Buzzard,” is being restored piece by piece on a Web site, not the airwaves. A Buzzard memoir Man who ran WMMS comes to Lodge Sunday to talk about new book By CARL E. FEATHER - Lifestyle Editor - cfeather@starbeacon.com Star Beacon Take it as a comment on the state of commercial radio in 2008 – the media archive of Cleveland’s groundbreaking WMMS, “The Buzzard,” is being restored piece by piece on a Web site, not the airwaves.
John Gorman, the man who ran WMMS from 1973 to 1986, says he would be using the Internet to promote his station if he were still in the business. “In many ways, I wish we had the Internet 30 years ago. If we’d had the Internet, (WMMS) would have ended up being worldwide.” The phenomenon did very well without the Web, thanks to the creative marketing Gorman and his staff utilized to get people listening to rock on FM, also known as “Find Me” in the industry. AM was still king of the airwaves when Gorman joined WMMS in 1973. The station was an overlooked stepchild of its sister AM operation. Most car radios lacked FM tuners and station owners saw little value in investing in or promoting their FM operations. Gorman and his team of young, long-haired colleagues quickly built a large and fiercely loyal audience by finding free ways to market a radio station with an unlikely mascot. In the book, Gorman tells the story of how WMMS became The Buzzard, and it has nothing to do with Hinkley’s famous birds. Rather, it was a statement on the condition of Cleveland in the early 1970s. “Exit” writer Tim Joyce described it as “a perfect image for rock and roll suiciders pushing 30 and stuck in jobs that they hate in a city that Gorman seems to be symbolizing in a rotting cadaver.” Perceptive fans, however, insisted it was really about the “buzz.” The station’s no-holds-barred approach to promotion, reputation for artistic innovation and dedicated fans helped make it a rock-radio phenomenon that put Cleveland on the map as the Rock ’n’ Roll Capital and helped land the Rock Hall of Fame on its shore. Although its signal barely reached into Ashtabula County, Gorman says he received plenty of letters from fans out this way indicating their willingness to drive west on a Sunday afternoon so they could get some time with The Buzzard. It is appropriate, therefore, that Gorman’s memoir about the station will make its debut at Geneva-on-the-Lake, the outer limit for reliable WMMS reception. Gorman will be at The Lodge and Conference Center 3 p.m. Sunday for a Fireside Chat and book signing. The two-hour, free event is co-sponsored by the lodge, Wine Country Books in Geneva, and North Coast Voice. Reservations are recommended (call 415-1504), but not necessary. “The Buzzard: Inside the Glory Days of WMMS and Cleveland Rock Radio” was published by Gray & Co. late last year. The $24.95 hardcover book tells in very frank language the evolution of one of the most influential and groundbreaking FM rock stations in the United States. Indeed, from 1979 to 1986, “Rolling Stone” readers voted it the top rock station in the U.S. Artists that became associated with WMMS included Bruce Springsteen, Michael Stanley Band, Rush, Patti Smith, Fleetwood Mac and Roxy Music. Listeners will recall Springsteen’s “Born to Run” as a closing theme for Kid Leo’s show. Gorman’s book is an insider’s look at the building and promotion of this radio phenomenon and the overall rock music scene in Cleveland during that time. As to why it took him almost 20 years to get the story into print, Gorman says it had to do with deciding if he or Rhonda Kiefer would tackle the task. Kiefer was Gorman’s assistant programmer and keep every memo, note, letter and other document generated in the course of doing business. Those files ended up in boxes in Gorman’s garage as he and Kiefer bounced the idea of a book back and forth. Finally, Gorman agreed to do it. “I had to write something before the last person retired and moved to Florida,” says Gorman, 57. “The time was right.” The documentation triggered all kinds of memories for Gorman. “You start reliving all those emotions, the highs and lows, so much comes back to you,” he says. Fifteen hundred pages, to be exact. 
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