Goodbye, at least for awhile

Since 1998, WRKO, the Big 68 Remembered has served some tens of thousand of visitors.  Research for and construction of this huge site has consumed thousands of hours and has been quite expensive.

While it is true that nobody asked me to build it, I was for some time blessed with people who helped me cover my costs.  But now, the mindset of the people using the Internet seems to be that "everything should be free".  Unfortunately,  my grocery store doesn't want to hear that, nor does the phone company, or my company I'm paying my mortgage to.

I love and have always loved trolley cars, but time has displaced them.  So has time crept up on WRKO, a station that would have been as popular as WABC, but for its signal, albeit 50,000 Watts just like WABC, which was so directional that it didn't really have much more effective coverage than WMEX on 1510.  Therefore, it was not heard much west of Worcester, Massachusetts, in most of Connecticut and Rhode Island,  and not even all of southern Massachusetts enjoyed a good signal after sunset.

It has been my privilege to get to know some of the wonderful WRKO jocks, management, and engineers who made it happen.  While many of the jocks have been happy to contribute their information, too many have been apathetic, unlike so many who gladly chipped in to help the other tribute sites.  I have finally realized that kicking a dead horse is not what I want to do for the rest of my life!

 I have also been, through the site, privileged to make more friends outside of WRKO than not!  They include national broadcast consultants who never spent a minute at WRKO, famous DJs from other stations, and more.  No regrets there at all.

Perhaps it's time for me to admit that at least, the Red Sox have finally won a World Series and many of us will be able to be able to go to our graves with a smile on our faces.  That's good news, for sure.  Those once-great MTA and BERy trolley cars, subways and buses have moved on to their own graveyards, yet remain fresh in the memories of those of us old enough to remember simpler times.  Days when "gay" meant happy.  "Diversity" was not another word for the advancement of alternative lifestyles and the advancement of the hiring of people to fill quotas; not necessarily as the right persons for the jobs.  "Homophobia" was not invented, and most of us got along just fine, until certain radical groups forced their lifestyles in our faces, stating if we didn't like it, we were homophobes, right-wing religious zealots, chauvinist pigs, etc.  Diversity has proven to be divisive, which was its intention.

While I support our President, he, as is brother, Florida Governor Jeb Bush, remains out of touch with the real needs of the citizens they were elected to serve (by the way, I am considered a political conservative).  They don't get it because they may  never have had to work a day in their lives.

If you discipline your children today, you're likely to end up in jail.  If a gentleman holds a door open for a lady, he's considered to be a sap, instead of a decent person.  The norm of integrity today is a lie.  But in my day, integrity meant truth.  It meant not cheating people.  Not so, today.  It's getting away with whatever we can that seems to be the norm.  But I don't buy it and I don't have to. Nor do you.

What's my point?  The world is now backward.  What was good is now considered bad, and what was considered bad is now good.  Take the kind of hip-hop  and rap music that is prevalent today, so much of it preaching hatred, racism, sex with pre-teens, the acceptance of illegal drugs, the denigration of women, etc.  A woman coming home from the doctor with news of a new pregnancy was once considered a big, happy blessing for the whole family.  Today, it seems to be that it is a "Oh God, now what are we gonna do?" situation, often ending up in a killing abortion.  That's the norm for them — but it isn't for me.

I may be a relic of a different era, but I was brought up with decency and respect, which is what I promote, because as the Bible says, there are no laws against love.  And I will keep promoting that through my ministry as long as I have breath.  In fact, I am in the process of writing a book defining what love is, and how to use it to overcome all of life's situations.

So what about WRKO?  Yes, what about it!  For its first ten years, it was a fun, uplifting station.  Since 1977, however, it became a revolving door of a cornucopia of talent; some excellent, yet some worthy not of a major market.  Most of them you and I can't even remember!   Dale Dorman left WRKO, and it did to WRKO what the passing of Ted Williams and Tony C. did for the Red Sox: the station was never the same.  But by that time, RKO General didn't seem to care.  The company knew it was going to lose its stations due to an FCC finding o guild against the company, anyway.

But some of the gems of WRKO are still making people happy: Mel Phillips, still at WCBS-FM in New York, J. J. Jeffrey, still on the air in New Hampshire.

Radio personalities at one time did all they could not to offend us.  But today, it's backwards.  Former Todd Storz stations programming executive Bud Connell. who programmed KXOK / St. Louis to top ratings (as well as other stations), a friend I truly respect, put it this way:

"I am convinced the old KXOK would blow away all of today's broadcast wunderkind, including those in the smut-filled control rooms of the present day audio-porn purveyors."

Strong words?  Certainly true, but not politically correct, but true.  The Howard Sterns dominate, and the rest of today's so-called talent seem to be more engaged with time, temperature, and the day of the week than anything else.

I remind you about the great top40surveys.com series of sites, which will remain, featuring, among others, the WRKO surveys both in photo and transcribed.  But for now, I'm hopping the trolley for a place that gives me more time to help other, rather than kicking a dead horse.

I very, very much appreciate those who over the years kept us going monetarily, but it ain't happenin' now.  Seems people would rather pay for drugs, pornography, and prostitutes rather than support that what is good (as a church minister, I know).  So I wish you the very best,  And until someone can generously support us on a regular basis, I simply cannot afford to keep this site going anymore.  When I have asked for help before, many have considered it to be whining, and even appalling because "everything on the Internet should be free."  Talk host Michael Savage says, "Liberalism is a mental disorder."  He also differentiates that he is not talking about Democrats, because there are often good ideas from both sides of the partisan  aisle.  There are both liberal Republicans and Democrats.  I say that liberals also believe that everything should be free — at the expense of others.  Sorry, but I don't buy that.

You may contact me at shelswartz@gmail.com if you wish to discuss or to help.  Or call me at (561) 686-2133.  There is hope for the Big 68 Remembered, but it's got to come from you, as I'm simply tapped out.

As WRKO's last DJ, Justin Clark said, "Thank you, New England!  Might I add, may God continue to bless you.  Keep checking back, as you never know what may be in this space some day!  Maybe some generous angel will get us back online soon, with the Big 68.