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WCWP donation and renovation announcement August 23, 2023

Posted by Mike C. in Education, Media, Photography, Radio, Video.
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June’s 2022 WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony ended with a big announcement by master of ceremonies Dan Cox, WCWP station manager from 2002 to 2022.

Marjorie Abrams Hyman, daughter of Emerson founder Benjamin Abrams, graciously donated $500,000 to WCWP! The donation will go toward new equipment and a complete renovation of the Abrams Communications Center.

Dan will oversee the renovation, which began this Sunday, August 20. This meant the June 3 ceremony announcement was unofficial; for attendees’ ears only. We were not allowed to divulge publicly until the official release. Now, we can.

So, here are the photos I couldn’t include in my ceremony recap:

  • “To the tribe! I love you all!”

Video of Dan Cox’s closing remarks:

There is no more uncertainty. WCWP is here to stay for at least another decade. Thank goodness. Thank Marjorie Abrams Hyman. Thank Joan Yonke. Thank LIU (Long Island University) and LIU Post.

Instrumental Invasion, 8/16/23 August 17, 2023

Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Radio.
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The August 16 Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was my last show before going on hiatus. It was recorded from July 12 to 14: the first hour on the 12th, the first segment of hour 2 on the 13th, and the last two (and a pickup) on the 14th.

An additional pickup was recorded on the 23rd. I was dissatisfied with my “to South Central while drinking your juice in the hood” add-on to the long title of The Jazz Crusaders album Old Socks, New Shoes…New Socks, Old Shoes.

The playlist was created on June 19, annotated over several unknown days after that, and scripted on June 30, July 1, and before recording on July 12.

This was yet another show where I built up a time surplus from short segments. It was as high as 47 seconds, down to 40 with two segments to go. So, I chose to record the last segment first and see what was left. There were 32 seconds left, but a timing error in segment five worked in my favor and allowed me to break even.

Click here to download the scoped aircheck or listen below:

Listen for me at least once on Homecoming Weekend, which starts October 6. October 11 is the date of my next new Wednesday night show. Until then, thank you for your support over 176 out of 177 weeks.

8/28 UPDATE: I will still return October 11, but Homecoming Weekend has been postponed until renovation of the Abrams Communications Center is complete.

9/14 UPDATE: The return date has been pushed back to October 25. WCWP and The Wave were off the air from August 30 to September 8 while the transmitter was moved, and I allowed station manager Pete Bellotti to delay my reruns two weeks.

Instrumental Invasion, 8/9/23: Show 175! Same Name Song Trios August 10, 2023

Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Comedy, Film, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Radio.
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The August 9 Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was the 175th Wednesday night show. It was recorded from July 4 to 6.

The playlist was created on June 6, before the prior two shows. Again, I lost track of when I made annotations, but I drafted the talk break script on June 29.

The theme, same name song trios, was a step up from song pairs in show 150, a reflection of my current three-song set format.

Let’s get the scoped aircheck out of the way now:

I recorded one segment ahead of random daytime fireworks on the 4th of July. At the office on the 5th, I recorded top-of-segment talk breaks for all but the top of hour 2. That was followed by the second talk breaks for the other two hour 1 segments as I mixed them. From there, I opted to pump out the remaining talk breaks before leaving for home. Naturally, I struggled and drove myself mad, but I completed them. I didn’t think I’d have any trouble editing those talk breaks and mixing them into segments, which means I did have trouble.

While I made up a 66-second surplus from the first segment, the first two segments of hour 2 left me with 76 seconds! I only made up three in the last segment. Since this was a themed show, I couldn’t throw in a short song to make up the time. So, I had to painstakingly re-record talk breaks in all six segments at a slower pace. I padded transitions between three songs further by adding bumpers. Mind you, any talk breaks with 175th show references required a pass for the evergreen version (scheduled to air September 27). (10/12 UPDATE: It was delayed to October 11.) I had to have both versions in a segment’s multitrack session so I could save the milestone mix, then swap out and save the evergreen mix. Three hours and a headache later, I succeeded in breaking even at 1:49:00. It cost me my morning exercise routine, but I gained a Young Frankenstein reference when talking about Tom Scott following his father Nathan‘s compositional “footsteps, footsteps.”

Retreads:

One more show and my hiatus begins. It couldn’t come at a better time. (That’s how I felt on July 6.)

10/12 UPDATE: Here are the evergreen talk break variations heard last night:

Instrumental Invasion, 8/2/23 August 3, 2023

Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, City Pop, Internet, Jazz, Jazz Fusion, Media, Music, Personal, Radio.
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The August 2 Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was recorded one hour per day on June 28 and July 3. The gap between sessions came because my voice sounded nasally again as COVID continued to linger. I felt my voice was close enough to normal on July 3.

The playlist was created between June 6 and 11, same as the one for last week. Annotations followed in a period I don’t remember, but the talk break script was drafted on June 24. As you can see, I had to add a song – “Memorex Reprise” by The Jeff Lorber Fusion – to make up a 45-second surplus after the final talk break of the show. The surplus had been a whopping 116 seconds after four segments.

The following songs were played a second time:

Click here to download the scoped aircheck or listen below:

I realized you can right-click the audio player to save, but why break the “click here … or listen below” habit now?

Next week is show 175, with alternate talk breaks recorded for evergreen reruns.