“Jukebox Saturday Night,” hosted by Mike Saffran, on “Oldies 98.9”/WKLX-FM (98.9), Rochester, N.Y. Originally aired 7 p.m.–Midnight Sept. 17, 1994.
Special notes: On this night, I was subbing for then-host Nick Evans (aka “Nick at Night”). The show began with “’70s at 7” (7–8 p.m.) and ended with “Backseat Memories” (11 p.m.–midnight); thus, “Jukebox Saturday Night” technically ran 8–11 p.m. (though I always generally considered both “’70s at 7” and “Backseat Memories” to be segments within “Jukebox Saturday Night”).
On a few occasions, slight pauses occur before phone-call playback (for example, after the end of the weather jingle, while a music bed played). This likely was due to needing to either cue up a phone call and/or correctly set the board for playback. Recall that at the time we were still using an analog reel-to-reel tape recorder to record listeners’ phone calls. Also, although I had previously hosted request shows and, through the years, aired dozens of phone calls on other radio stations, “The Jukebox” was not yet my show (so I wasn’t as acclimated to it as I later would be); plus, it was especially intense due to its high volume of phone calls (received and aired) and the show’s overall quick pacing (including typically very short — three minutes or less — “oldies” songs).
A couple other interesting notes related to this show:
• Another different request line: 222-WKLX (it was 222-1600 the prior time I had subbed — in April 1994)
• For “Backseat Memories,” we played “crickets” SFX in the background of mike breaks and phone calls (simulating the sound of being in the backseat of a car, with the windows rolled down, on a summer night — although we did this year-round).
Callers aired and other show highlights:
00:17 Unidentified male/LeRoy (“American Pie”)
01:49 Unidentified male/Avon (“The Things We Do For Love”)
02:21 Amy/Rochester (“Hey Jude”)
02:59 Unidentified female — asking about Dan Fogelberg concert-ticket giveaways
03:46 Debbie/Brockport (“Leader Of The Pack”)
04:15 Unidentified female (“Up-Up And Away”)
04:35 Live on-air contest giveaway of Dan Fogelberg concert tickets (Auditorium Center, Oct. 1, 1994) and qualification for Tomasello Limousine transportation and Carmella’s Café dinner
05:33 Dom/Henrietta (contest winner)
06:12 Unidentified caller (“Indiana Wants Me”)
06:51 Unidentified male/Rochester (“The House Of The Rising Sun”)
08:01 Unidentified male/Penfield (“Speedo”)
08:34 Sarah/Gates (“Unchained Melody”)
09:47 Unidentified male (“Another Saturday Night”)
10:18 Nikki/Bloomfield (“Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen” — dedication to Kelly and April on their 16th birthdays)
11:26 Unidentified female/Sodus Point (“Yellow Submarine”)
12:05 Unidentified female/East Rochester (“Hot Rod Lincoln”)
13:12 Jenny/Brockport (“Happy Together”)
13:37 Angie (“Red Rubble Ball” — dedication to Stephanie)
14:03 Tara/Irondequoit (“Daydream Believer” — dedication to Jennifer)
14:22 Unidentified female (“Rockin’ Robin” — dedication to Nicole and Elizabeth on their birthday)
15:12 Gary/Waterloo (“When A Man Loves A Woman” — dedication to Christine)
15:43 Nicole/Greece (“Earth Angel [Will You Be Mine]”)
16:22 Justin/Rochester (“The Loco-Motion” — dedication to his mother on her birthday)
16:47 Unidentified female/Holiday Hill Campground (“A Hundred Pounds Of Clay”)
17:10 Unidentified male/Rochester (“The Lion Sleeps Tonight”) — plus, a compliment: “You’ve got the best station in the country!” :-)
18:00 Unidentified male (“Beep Beep”)
18:26 Leslie (“Lil’ Red Riding Hood” — dedication to husband, Tom)
18:46 Donna/Holiday Hill Campground (“Tears On My Pillow” — dedication to Gary)
19:32 John (“It Hurts To Be In Love”)
19:58 Carol/Hemlock (dedication to ex-husband-in-law Bob)
All content (radio aircheck, audio podcast – all components, and show notes): © Michael J. Saffran
