Your Very First WFAN Memory

[DoItForDoris]

In honor of this 20th anniversary whoopdeedoo, I figured I would post my personal first recollection of 660 AM after it changed formats.

That would be:

Coming home from high school in the fall of 1988 and excitedly flipping on the radio to listen to Pete Franklin's shows before the Mets/Dodgers playoff NLCS games.

Some other watershed WFAN memories of mine:

-Becoming a Captain Midnight afficianado and discovering that I could receive said program on my clock radio while I was away in college way up in Ithaca, NY.

-Cracking up laughing the first time I ever heard Chris Russo's voice over the airwaves. I think they originally gave him a weekend afternoon spot (?). I don't recall the year, but I remember that I was driving down Glen Cove road wondering how in the world this spaz was allowed on the air. If I had only known the immense talent lied behind that hideous voice....


Any of you guys remember your very first WFAN experience?

[Oh the Pain]

I was only about 10 or 12 years old at the time, but I vaguely remember Russo and Francesa arguing about who was better - Will Clark or Don Mattingly?

[Gordon Gekko]

Backseat of my car, losing my virginity to some brunette who worked at Carvel, listening to Joe Benigno talk about how hot Anna Kournikova was, very disturbing indeed, almost ruined my experience.

[FreeBobKemp]

I was listening to it the very moment it went on the air. They used to start their updates with an audio clip of a famous sporting event, the very first thing broadcast by WFAN was a clip from the Jets Super Bowl III win. Then to Suzyn Waldman for an update. Then to Jim Lampley for the first show.

[Gun to your head]

Originally Posted by FreeBobKemp

I was listening to it the very moment it went on the air. They used to start their updates with an audio clip of a famous sporting event, the very first thing broadcast by WFAN was a clip from the Jets Super Bowl III win. Then to Suzyn Waldman for an update. Then to Jim Lampley for the first show.

Ditto..

[FreeBobKemp]

Original weekday host lineup, if I remember right:

Midnight-6 a.m. Steve Somers
6-10 a.m. Greg Gumbel
10 a.m.-1 p.m. Jim Lampley
1 p.m.-3 p.m. Art Shamsky (co-hosted by Jim Bouton on Tuesdays/Thursdays)
3 p.m.-7 p.m. Officially Pete Franklin, but he had a heart attack about a week before the station went on the air, so a rotating series of guest hosts filled in for the summer and into early fall, until Pete was ready to go.
7 p.m.-midnight Mets/Howie Rose

I don't remember the original weekend crew quite as well. I remember Jody Mac overnights, Dan Lovett late mornings, Lou Palmer evenings, was it Mad Dog in the afternoon?

[I Knew That]

I don't remember the original weekend crew quite as well. I remember Jody Mac overnights, Dan Lovett late mornings, Lou Palmer evenings, was it Mad Dog in the afternoon?

it was dan lovett in the morning. lou boda did updates. then lou palmer in the noon to 6pm or 8pm slot. i think john o'reily was doing updates for palmer. a game in the evening. ed randall doing updates. then jody mac did overnights. remember on sundays-they used to carry bob costos coast to coast? then it was the fan final show where mark boyle and ed randall used to wrap up the weekend's sports stories.

mad dog didn't really have a regular shift on wfan yet. he really didn't appear on the scene for a couple of years yet.

[Nobody Cares!]

Remember Stan Martin flashbacks.

and also they used to play these recorded bits before each update, which came every 15 minutes. (Pete Franklin said he would not do updates every 15 minutes). Like Babe Ruth saying "Baseballl is the best baseball game there is", and the play by play of Sandy Koufax's perfect game "2 and 2 to Harvey Keane"

[Jim Clark of Team Lotus]

I remember talking to one of my friends who listened to Jim Lampley the first day. He thought it was too choppy "Why do they have to go to a scores update every 20 minutes". Not sure when I first listened..I was waiting for Pete Franklin to get healthy after listening to his Cleveland/WWWE show 10 years earlier. Did he lose a lot in those years,,or I was easily satisfied back in the 70s.

[Nobody Cares!]

Remember when Pete Franklin would "Flush" a caller???

[me here and you there]

My first real memory of WFAN was listening to the Mets Happy Recap while I was in college in 89 or 90...usually listening with my buddy while we sat in his beat up Saab (the reception in the house we lived in was spotty).

Others that stand out are Somers in the overnights. He got me home on many late night drives on the Southern State Parkway.

The other is in 92, I was studying for an exam in grad school while sitting in my car and listening to M&MD. This was at the end of the Giants debacle with Ray Handley and Dog was chanting, 'Ray must go!' to the tune of the Atlanta Braves Tomohawk Chop. I was hooked...

[Nobody Cares!]

Does anyone else remember the morning show before Imus?

I remember that Greg Gumble was the host. He had a spot where an impersonator would call in pretending to be Howard Cosell and others.

Gary Thorne did a "Mets Morning Line", and I think he also did a short legal spot, since he was a lawyer. I don't remember much else about it. It wasn't that bad, although some thought it was.

[Mike's Dissertation Topic]

I'm only 23, so my first memories of anything are early 90's. I honestly dont remember much about the fatman and the nerd pre-96 other than russo's rant on college basketball on saturday morning. Actually it was the 94 tournament, and I believe russo was bashing a team that had lost to arkansas. I never really heard them much in the afternoon, until the later 90's when I would put them on after school every now and then. Actually I remember making sure to listen to them after jet losses when parcells was the coach since i had caught onto mikes love affair with parcells which i didnt know about before.

I do remember listening to somers and salzberg in the morning during school vacations, but especially after an islander-ranger game when the islanders beat the rangers. I remember cisco from manhatten calling in and mocking the two of them after an islander win, which i always loved.

[dr11743]

Has to be Jody Mac , "do me a favor".

[jayjay]

Back in 87 when the station started. I was probably 9 or 10 at the time and my father told me about the new all sports radio station that he was listening to in the car. I'm a Yankees fan but he is a Mets fan and had the station on at home as well to listen to the games on the radio because he loved Bob Murphy....I just ended up falling in love with the station because we had moved into a new house and I was having trouble sleeping at night but when they suggested I put the radio on to help me sleep, I just naturally put it on WFAN and that was how everything started....

[encierro]

It was around 1990, I would listen to Pete Franklin after school. I loved the Mets so I even listened to that scary old guy.

The Mets were in a division race with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Franklin would scream about the Pirates and call them, "Pitts-puke!" while practically spitting. Does anyone remember him calling them that?

[A Goose from Manhasset]

I started listening around 93/94 or so. The Mets sucked (firecrackers & bleach), the Rangers and Knicks were big and of course football. My first fan memory is probably sitting with my brother listening to the Super Bowl trivia contest and being pissed that we actually knew a lot of answers but were too young to call.

[budseligisanidiot]

Originally Posted by FreeBobKemp

Original weekday host lineup, if I remember right:

Midnight-6 a.m. Steve Somers
6-10 a.m. Greg Gumbel
10 a.m.-1 p.m. Jim Lampley
1 p.m.-3 p.m. Art Shamsky (co-hosted by Jim Bouton on Tuesdays/Thursdays)
3 p.m.-7 p.m. Officially Pete Franklin, but he had a heart attack about a week before the station went on the air, so a rotating series of guest hosts filled in for the summer and into early fall, until Pete was ready to go.
7 p.m.-midnight Mets/Howie Rose

I don't remember the original weekend crew quite as well. I remember Jody Mac overnights, Dan Lovett late mornings, Lou Palmer evenings, was it Mad Dog in the afternoon?

don't forget that andy polley (andy poulin from Tony Kornheiser fame) was on with Gumbel as well

[CaptainMidnight]

I don't remember the exact moment but I have many fond memories of when I was growing up 7-8 yrs old, being sick during the middle of the night but Somers always made the illness a bit better as I first began to hear about his disdain for the Icelanders.

I also distinctly remember being in my friend's dad's car coming home from a little league practice and hearing the 20/20 flash which said the baseball season had been cancelled. Damn you Bud Selig, Donald Fehr and all you other money grubbing SOB's that ruined 1994

[Mike0421]

1987 NFL players strike listening to Lampley "Hotel California".