2019 LIU Post & WCWP Homecoming Weekend October 21, 2019

Other recaps: 2008, 2009, WCWP 50th Anniversary (2011), 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018

Another WCWP Homecoming Weekend has come and gone at LIU Post. This is a recap of all three days of the campus radio station’s alumni-hosted block of programming, including coverage of the LIU Sharks‘ Homecoming game against the Saint Francis Red Flash.

Before the proper recap, an explanation about what’s changed since last year. Starting with the fall 2019 semester, Long Island University athletics for the Brooklyn and Post campuses have merged, which means one color set, one team name, and one big move to NCAA Division I FCS (Football Championship Subdivision). The LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds and LIU Post Pioneers are now, collectively, the LIU Sharks. Now, the recap.

Two days in advance, I scheduled an Uber pickup at my house on Friday at 10AM. The driver was prompt, parking at the curb. With my equipment in tow, I hopped in the backseat and the drive began. I was dropped off at the Abrams Communications Building, home to WCWP, at 10:28. I set down my equipment and set up my laptop in studio 3 on one of the computer tables. After visiting the campus bookstore in Hillwood Commons, I returned to the station and set up the tripod, camcorder, and shotgun mic in studio 4. I was going to record the first show of Homecoming Weekend: Art Beltrone’s PostScripts talk show. Back by my laptop, I connected a portable radio tuned to 88.1 FM to an audio recorder and began recording at 11:50. Then, I walked into studio 4 and waited for PostScripts to begin.

To my left was this banner:

The Long Island University colors are blue for Brooklyn and gold for Post. As you’ll see in the Saturday pictures, the campus’s green signs were all painted sky blue.

Show time:

Art’s first guest was Joan Yonke, the LIU Post Campus Director of Employer and Alumni Engagement (I accidentally left out the “Employer and” part in the show video):

Art’s next guests were Jeff Kroll, who engineered the show…:

…and his wife Pat, who coordinated the guests:

After playing the Krolls’ (and the Yonkes’) wedding song, “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” by Frankie Valli, a milestone was acknowledged:

Exactly 58 years ago – October 18, 1961, at 12:15 PM – WCWP signed on as an AM carrier current station. Art Beltrone was the first student voice ever heard on its air. In honor of the occasion, the sign-on was played at 12:15 in 2019.

Art listened fondly:

When the first non-student voice, Dennis Sullivan, tossed back to Art on the tape, Jeff cued Art in the present:

Following “Hello, Dolly!” by Louis Armstrong, Bill Mozer dropped by:

Jeff Kroll joined in the conversation:

For the last hour, Art spoke to fellow alumni and Vietnam Veterans, Jack Cassidy and Mike Padula:

Jack Cassidy:

Mike Padula:

Art, Jack, and Mike also spoke to guests over the phone, including John LiBretto, Jim Harley, and Ron Zappardino. I had to leave studio 4 at 1:30 to set up for my show, Instrumental Invasion with Mike Chimeri, in studio 2.

Here are portions of PostScripts, some of which were photographed above:

When 2PM came, Art handed off to me, I played a legal ID, and began my show. I thanked Art and all of his guests, then played my first song: “Flash Back Friday” by bassist Julian Vaughn, guitarist Nick Colionne‘s nephew.

As the song played, I went back into studio 4 to take a picture of Jack Cassidy, Jeff Kroll, Art Beltrone, and Mike Padula:

While my second song, “Illuminate” by Steve Oliver, was playing, Pat Kroll took the obligatory photo of me at the board in studio 2:

There was also time for Art’s friend Ed Keller to take our picture:

The show proceeded from there with little to no hiccups. Here were my surroundings:

During my show, Bill Mozer moved the livestream webcam from studio 4 to 2. We spoke while I was off mic. One of the liners I played was of Dan Ingram, legendary New York DJ and commercial voice talent, while visiting the station in 1968. Back then, the university was known as C.W. Post College. The liner went like this:

Hi there, Kemosabe. This is Big Dan Ingram. Whenever I’m on the Merriweather campus, and my bosses in New York don’t know about it, I always listen to WCWP, at 88.1, in Brookville, New York. Love it.

“Merriweather” referred to Marjorie Merriweather Post.

Bill, who worked with Dan at WABC, remarked that he was never “on the Merriweather campus” – besides that day – so he therefore never listened to the station. I replied that he was humoring the students that recorded him.

Bobby Guthenberg, a.k.a. Bobby G., complimented my playlist on Facebook, and my friend Ryan Grabow texted me after I played “Silver Arrows” by the Rippingtons. When he would appear on The Mike Chimeri Show 15 years ago, he’d always say “a ripping good time” whenever I played a Ripps song. Coincidentally, the next song I played was “Dear Friend” by Patrick Bradley, a fitting title.

Before I knew it, I was signing off and playing my last song: “Nu Som” by Mike Stern and Jeff Lorber Fusion.

Here are the show airchecks…:

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…transitions, with the aforementioned Dan Ingram liner…:

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…the playlist in PDF form…

…and the video:

Jeff Jensen was next at 4PM:

Here are a couple of his airchecks:

I headed home just before 5:00 and was home half an hour later. After editing the airchecks that you heard above, day 1 was complete.

I started my Saturday by editing videos, synced with the aircheck audio, and photos. Then, I got ready to return to LIU Post. While waiting to turn onto Northern Boulevard, I took out my camera so I could photograph what once was green and now is blue.

It was 1:05 when I turned into the campus’s east gate:

MyWCWP, which was WebRadio WCWP when I was a student, was renamed The Wave:

The Wave is also the name of a Southern California radio station that used to play smooth jazz: 94.7 The Wave. Since I’m not on this Wave, there’s no smooth or contemporary jazz to be found.

During the second quarter of the Sharks’ Homecoming game against Saint Francis, I walked over to Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium to take in some of the action:

I was given media access, which allowed me to go up to the press box…at least at first. Saint Francis did not bring a crew to broadcast the game, but LIU did, from the roof. To get there, you had to climb this ladder:

Jeff Kroll (right) and Neil Marks (left) called the game:

A view from the top:

Considering the Sharks were winless coming into the game and were unlikely to score while I was on the roof, I left after I took the above pictures. Before I left, I had Pat Kroll take a photo of me:

2:25 PM UPDATE: Jeff informed that the NEC (Northeastern Conference) had a room in the press box for the video feed and conference announcers. He added:

The video equipment is also used for all play reviews. Cameras manned by WCWP students! Ours was the only radio broadcast of the game.

The walk back to WCWP:

Pioneer Lane is now Shark Street:

The Sharks fell to 0-6, blown out by the Saint Francis Red Flash 30-0. It was 9-0 after three quarters, but SFU exploded for 21 points in the first six minutes of the fourth. Factoring in the Pioneers past, this was the team’s first loss on Homecoming since 2011. It was also the first loss Jeff and Neil called since the Pioneers lost to the Iona College Gaels 9-2 in 1989.

Air traffic was moderate and a couple of planes were low enough for me to get high resolution crops. This is a DHL plane:

I think this might be Alitalia:

After the dust had settled on the Sharks’ loss, studio host John Zoni ran the “highlights”…:

…and listed the scores elsewhere in the NEC:

Due to a lung infection early in the week, Bernie Bernard was unable to make it up from Florida. Bobby G. and Mike Riccio expanded their show to fill in for her. Due to the short length of the football game, the show began at 3:45, 45 minutes early.

Bobby flew solo while Mike was in transit:

Hanging out in the studio were Jay and Arlene Elzweig…:

…and Jett Lightning, who I wanted to get a picture with:

I would pose for more pictures later.

Mike Riccio arrived in time for Bernie Bernard to call in:

Wanting to be a part of the call, I got on my knees by Bobby’s mic, holding up a Rick Wakeman CD at one point:

Once Mike was at the controls, the playlist turned to artists that appeared at Woodstock:

I came on at one point to promote the rest of the weekend, including my second Instrumental Invasion that would air at 2AM:

The big WCWP Hall of Fame announcement was set for 6:00. Before then, I went outside to the barbecue for a burger and hot dog, and some cookies for dessert.

Then, I got to meet fellow alumni Joel Mahan and Jerry Reilly, posing here with Bill Mozer:

I was so glad to see M.J. Lonardo and K.J. Mills:

M.J. complimented me on my running, which I had been writing about on Facebook, with a few milestone posts on Twitter and Instagram.

2019 WCWP Hall of Fame inductee Pete Bellotti made the announcement:

Here’s how things looked on the livestream webcam during this segment (courtesy of Ted David):

The 2020 inductees are…:

Alan Seltzer and Christina Kay!

I stood in front of the camcorder and applauded the inductees:

With the announcement complete, I began to pack up for home, but not before taking the obligatory shot of Mike and Bobby:

John Zoni’s postgame and the segments from Mike and Bobby’s show can all be seen here:

Me with John Zoni:

Dan Cox:

I owe my career in radio to Dan. He was my Broadcasting 4 professor in the spring of 2001 and recommended me to then-station manager Judy Cramer the following semester. A few weeks later, on October 5, I was on the air for the first time.

Bill Mozer:

…and Pete Bellotti:

Joel Mahan wanted a photo with Pete, as well:

The last pic of the weekend for me was Bill Mozer and Alan Boritz, who followed Mike and Bobby at 10PM:

Bill photographed the weekend with his own DSLR camera. Via the WCWP Alumni Association Facebook group, here are his photos – with “no film in the camera” – starting with John Zoni during his 6PM show on Friday:

Jay Mirabile and Pete Bellotti during Friday’s 10PM DFK Show:

The picture was taken with Jay’s phone, but Bill cropped it.

On Saturday, it’s Art Beltrone and Jay Elzweig:

Grandfather Rock Chris MacIntosh:

Pat Kroll and Lew Scharfberg:

And at the mic for his 10PM show, Alan Boritz:

From midnight to 4AM, WCWP had the one-two punch of Strictly Jazz with Hank Neimark, John LiBretto, and Rita Sands – which they recorded in late August – and the second Instrumental Invasion with Mike Chimeri – which I recorded at home back on September 26. It was chocolate and peanut butter back to back. In SiriusXM parlance, they were Real Jazz, I was Watercolors. Hank told the aforementioned Facebook group he was listening to the station, including his own show, from Greece, expressing what a thrill it was.

Here are the airchecks from Strictly Jazz…

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…and Instrumental Invasion:

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And of course, the latter show’s transitions…:

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…and playlist.

I try to work in as many of the notes I write on my playlists as I can, but some notes stay on the paper.

Unfortunately, Magick Mike Hendryx’s show didn’t run, making for the second year in a row where that’s happened to a file designated for Sunday at 4AM. Strictly Jazz reran at 6AM as scheduled.

I spent Sunday working on this post and periodically listening to WCWP. Like last year, Jay LaPrise (“la-PREE”) had the first live show of the day at 8AM. Here are his last two airchecks:

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The ladies of Prison Break Radio, Jamie Mazzo and Sara Dorchak, were next at 10AM. Here are their first four airchecks:

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Billy the Kid (Billy Houst) followed at noon. He was later joined by Joey C. (Joe Conte) and Big L Lou (Lou Raio). Here are airchecks from Billy’s first hour:

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Bill Mozer photographed Billy…:

…Joey C. …:

…and Lou Raio:

Billy the Kid was followed at 2PM by Joe the Honerkamp. Here are five airchecks from his show:

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And one picture of him by Bill Mozer:

That is his index finger, not the other one.

The last three photos in this post were taken by Pat Kroll.

At 4PM, Lew Scharfberg:

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Jeff Kroll ran the board:

6PM had a Homecoming Weekend edition of Rock ‘N’ Soul Gospel with Grandfather Rock Chris MacIntosh:

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Next to last was Alana at 8PM with The Rockin’ Sunday Show, following an introduction by Jeff Kroll:

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And turning out the lights on the 60-hour block was Jeff himself from 10PM to midnight, following Alana’s lead-in:

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I was singled out in Jeff’s credits:

Mike Chimeri! Oh, Mike, a great jazz show; in fact, two of them this weekend. And always with the pictures and the videos. Thanks so much, Mike.

Thank you, Jeff. This is a labor of love for me as I know putting together Homecoming Weekend each year is for you and Pat. If it means I have restless nights as my brain contemplates what tasks I have left to do, so be it. The fruits of my labor make it all worthwhile.

It was great catching up with my fellow alumni throughout the weekend. It warms my heart to be among you.

Thank you to those that stayed with this recap to the end. I leave with Jeff’s last words last night:

Thanks to all here at WCWP. It’s been a wonderful 2019 Homecoming Weekend. We’ll get the schedules together and see what happens a year from now. And it’ll be a new decade: 2020! Thanks for tuning in to the WCWP Homecoming Weekend.

And for posterity, the schedule: