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.add a comment
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:
- “3rd Degree” by Fourplay (4/29/20)
- “Catch the Wind” by Herb Alpert (11/24/21)
- “That Special Touch” by Kim Waters (1/4/23)
Click here to download the scoped aircheck or listen below:
Next week is show 175, with alternate talk breaks recorded for evergreen reruns.
Instrumental Invasion, 7/26/23 July 27, 2023
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, City Pop, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Radio.add a comment
Let’s get the hard part out of the way first before all the stuff written in advance. Automation had difficulties throughout the day. I did not know this until turning on my reference monitors at 9:00 and hearing nothing. I contacted WCWP station manager Pete Bellotti and he told me just what I laid out in this paragraph’s second sentence. The good news is my show was joined in progress once automation was reestablished at 9:10 (after hearing random vocal rock songs for what felt like an eternity). The bad news is the show was joined only eight seconds in. Thus, it was the fifth time in the show’s Wednesday night history, and first time since November 4, 2021, where a show got cut off at 11:00. Five minutes and 19 seconds went unaired and will not be heard until the rerun, whatever date that ends up being. (9/14 UPDATE: It will rerun on September 27.) At least my last talk break aired in its entirety. I tip my hat to Pete for doing what he could to keep WCWP running.
Here is the joining in progress:
And the cutoff:
Now, the alternate reality where things ran smoothly:
The July 26 Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was recorded one hour per day on June 26 and 27 with pickups done on the 27th and 29th. I was getting over COVID at the time and the congestion returned to affect my voice after working on this show. You can hear it in the June 29 pickups.
The playlist was created between June 6 and 11, with annotations coming on the 13th and 15th. The talk break script was drafted June 16 and 19. That script allowed this show to air as an evergreen during an impending hiatus.
Two songs made their second appearance:
- “No Worries” by David Benoit (6/30/21)
- “Ridin’ the Wave” by Vincent Ingala (11/24/21)
Click here to download the scoped aircheck or listen below:
And click here for the backstory on “Ue o Muite Arukō,” a.k.a. [that other title].
Instrumental Invasion, 7/19/23 July 20, 2023
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Bluegrass, Country, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Radio, Video.add a comment
The July 19 Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was recorded one hour per day on May 31 and June 5. I was hoping to get the second hour finished before the WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony on June 3 (recap here). Unfortunately, I had a crisis of confidence on June 2, the Friday before, and was overwhelmed by the impending workload. So, I wasn’t in any condition to record that day, and didn’t until June 5, the Monday after. Pickups were also recorded to make up time left over. An additional pickup was done on June 25 (in my COVID-compromised voice) to remove a dated reference.
Like last week, the playlist was created from May 14 to 16. Annotations came on May 22 and 30. The script for the first talk break was written May 30 with the rest of hour 1 written on the 31st and hour 2 on June 1.
It was also the second week in a row with a song originally played last November 16: “Night in the Algarve” by Nils.
My tease for “Foggy Morning Breaking,” Alison Brown‘s banjo duet with Steve Martin, ended with the line “don’t miss this one.” Bill O’Reilly sometimes said that going into commercial breaks on The O’Reilly Factor, following that up with “right back with it.” I’m not ashamed to admit I used to regularly follow politics and watch cable news. I haven’t done that in years. Nowadays, the less I know, the better.
While working on this week’s show, I had no idea how much hype “Foggy Morning Breaking” was getting. There’s even a music video!
And hours before air, the song was nominated for instrumental recording of the year at the IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards! The award ceremony will be held September 28.
Click here to download this week’s scoped aircheck or listen below:
Instrumental Invasion, 7/12/23 July 13, 2023
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, City Pop, Internet, Japanese, Jazz, Language, Media, Music, Personal, Radio, Video.add a comment
The July 12 Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was recorded on Memorial Day, May 29.
The playlist was created between May 14 and 16. Annotations came on May 22, 26, and 27. (The gap included production on last week’s show.) The talk break script was drafted on the 27th and 28th.
“Forecast” by Jazz Funk Soul was originally played on November 16, 2022.
Since the last song of the week was the Louis Hayes version of “Ugetsu,” I signed off with an homage to Japanese Ammo with Misa. Misa sensei ends her videos by saying, “jaa ma ta ne, bye-bye.” (I left off the “jaa” part.) Here is her latest video:
Click here to download this week’s scoped aircheck or listen below:
Instrumental Invasion, 7/5/23 July 6, 2023
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, City Pop, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Radio, Video, World Music.add a comment
The July 5 Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was principally recorded on May 24 with evergreen pickups recorded on June 25, denoted by my COVID-compromised voice.
The playlist was created on May 14 and 15, alongside the ones for July 12 and 19. It was annotated with those on May 21 and 22 with the talk break script drafted on the 23rd and before recording on the 24th.
I anticipated going over in the last segment, so I made sure to build a significant surplus before then. The surplus ended up at 57 seconds, which wasn’t enough until I swapped out long liners for short ones.
Thanks to Mike Riccio for providing his year jingle compilation so I could play the 1979 one before “1979” by Roberto Restuccia:
“In the House” by Kim Waters was originally played on August 4, 2021. It was included this week with two other songs performed in April at Smooth Jazz for Scholars. Kim and Paul Taylor headlined the second night while Marion Meadows was part of the first night.
The GRP All-Star Big Band recording session was filmed for later video release, and someone posted the “I Remember Clifford” portion to YouTube:
Click here to download the scoped aircheck or listen below:
Instrumental Invasion, 6/28/23 June 29, 2023
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, City Pop, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Radio.add a comment
The June 28 Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was recorded entirely on May 17, following the Smooth Jazz for Scholars hiatus (first night recap, second night recap).
The playlist was created on April 15 and 16 and annotated between the 21st and 26th. The talk break script wasn’t drafted until May 16 and 17, with the last talk break scripted between recording sessions.
My talk breaks were short enough to build a 49-second surplus, which I made up by redoing the top of hour 2 at a slower pace and excerpting the end of Jay Rowe‘s keyboard solo on “Waterfall” from SJFS night 2. Good thing I played “You Did It Again,” a song inspired by “Waterfall.” Watch the full SJFS performance here:
This was the second week in a row with two T-Square and Casiopea songs.
There were references to Back to the Future, Ghostbusters, and Pinky and the Brain.
Click here to download this week’s aircheck MP3 or listen below:
Instrumental Invasion, 6/21/23 June 22, 2023
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Animation, Audio, City Pop, Computer, Education, Health, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Radio, Technology, TV.add a comment
The June 21 Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was still another one-day recording, done entirely on April 24. I’m not bothering with streak stats anymore. It’s a regular thing now. Pickups were recorded April 26 and 27, with extensive rerecording on May 3.
Let’s get the scoped aircheck out of the way first:
The playlist was created alongside next week’s on April 15 and 16, with a tweak on the 22nd to add a Louis Hayes song. Annotations were written between April 21 and 23, followed by the talk break script draft. I hoped to get next week’s show recorded before Smooth Jazz for Scholars, but that didn’t pan out. The playlist and annotations were reworked to coincide with May 3’s rerecording.
I played two songs by The Square/T-Square and Casiopea in order to get through their catalog faster. For a time, I was obsessed with the piano solo at the end of “Night Dreamer.” The credits for “Midnight Dreamer” on Miss You in New York list one of the trumpeters as Allen Rubens, but spotty Discogs credits for that name led me to believe it was Alan Rubin. (Alan’s “Mr. Fabulous” moniker came from The Blues Brothers band and film.)
There were four retreads (down from five before swapping in Louis Hayes):
- “Sweet Revival” by The Crusaders (5/13/20) (with gargly MP3 audio)
- “Down & Loaded” by Bill Heller (6/10/20)
- “Lifecycle” by Nathan East (7/8/20)
- “Monster in the Attic” by David Benoit (8/5/20)
I’ve gotten more playful and goofy in my talk breaks in recent shows, either by going off script or working that shtick into the script. For example, “…East and West play bass the best…but it’s subjective.” Also, I didn’t think there’d be so much spelling.
There was a whole talk break centered around something related to anime because of the original David Benoit song I had in mind, “Yusuke the Ghost.” The May 3 rerecords removed all references (including later callbacks) and changed David’s song to “Monster in the Attic.” The morals of the story are don’t do fandubs if you want to work professionally in voice-over, and don’t blab on your radio show and blog about every little thing a creator you support does or has done.
As if all that weren’t enough, this show aired on the day I tested positive for COVID-19. It finally got me after three years and three months in the U.S. This adds to my production delays that began with the WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony and continued with my mom’s retirement party last Friday and replacing my computer desk and hutch on Saturday. (Thanks to my uncle Scott for assembling the new one.) The advance buffer is down to four shows. After next week, what I’ve recorded so far (through July 19) has been reworked as evergreens without dated references. This will allow them to air as reruns if I need a hiatus. Beyond that, I’ve made playlists for four shows (including show 175), annotated and scripted one (as an evergreen), and partially annotated two others. Depending on how I feel, those will be the last shows until September or October.
Thank you for your continued support. I’ll close with before and after* photos:
*The true after photo won’t come until my dual monitor setup is complete. As of today, I am waiting for a replacement monitor (dead pixels) and its mate that I bought separately to replace the old one (seen alone in before, on the left in after). That monitor got scuffed when the tripod/webcam fell on it. At the time, I was vacuuming off sawdust from a hole my uncle drilled for the speaker’s power cord.
9:15 AM UPDATE: This is another one of those shows where I went the entire time between recording and airing without noticing a mistake: omitting Masato Honda on alto sax for “Midnight Dreamer” by T-Square and Friends. I also made a research mistake for “Over Nine Waves” by Alison Brown. Compass Records is her and Garry West’s own record label and Compass Sound Studio is their studio.
6/27 UPDATE: My dual monitor setup is complete. The replacement and mate arrived today and neither had dead pixels on their screens.
Instrumental Invasion, 6/14/23 June 15, 2023
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, City Pop, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Podcast, Radio, World Music.add a comment
The June 14 Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was recorded entirely on April 17, along with pickups. An additional pickup was recorded the next day. This makes for the sixth show in the last seven where talk breaks were principally recorded in one day, and fourth in five shows/fifth in seven shows recorded and mixed in one day.
Kudos to Adobe Audition‘s denoise filter. It perfectly removed the sound of my auxiliary location’s central air conditioner indoor unit which ran nonstop throughout my session. (It wasn’t cooling properly at the time, and was fixed the next day.)
The show playlist was created March 28 with a Keiko Matsui song swapped in on April 1. Annotations were written from April 3 to 7, and the talk break script was drafted April 15 and 16.
“Dave G.” by David Benoit was first played on May 27, 2020, and “Reverse” by Marcus Anderson recurred from July 13, 2022, 11 months ago yesterday.
Allow me to quote my talk break script for the many instruments on “Midnight Picnic” by EKO (John O’Connor):
[John] wrote the description and the composition itself, playing acoustic guitars, electric guitars, mandolin, bouzouki (boo-zooki), and charango.
…
Bob Loveday was on violin and recorders, Paul Ellis on keyboards and programming, Steafan (“Stee-fahn”) Hannigan played uilleann (“illin'”) pipes (stop illin’), Alec Dankworth on acoustic bass that was mixed in a way that sounded like synth bass, Neal Wilkinson on drums, and Geraint (“Grynt”) Watkins on accordion.
I learned the backstory of “Silent Storm” by Ken Navarro through a preview podcast he posted on April 5. The extra pickup was to redo a line that originally started with “and you can’t disturb the neighbors, right, Ken?” I thought that was obnoxious. Since recording, “Silent Storm” became the latest single off Love is Everywhere, and Ken went into the making and mixing of the song in another podcast episode.
Click here to download this week’s scoped aircheck or listen below:
2022 WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony June 12, 2023
Posted by Mike C. in Audio, Baseball, Basketball, Education, Football, Health, History, Hockey, Internet, Media, Music, News, Personal, Photography, Radio, Rock, Sports, Technology, Travel, TV, Video.add a comment
Other Hall of Fame ceremony recaps: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020-21, 2023
On Saturday, June 3, 2023, the WCWP Hall of Fame 2022 class was inducted in a ceremony at LIU Post‘s Alumni Hall.
As noted during the announcement in October, there were eight inductees (listed by name and graduation year):
- Jon Cole, 1980
- Kim Dillon, 1980
- Cosmo Leone, 1980
- Dan Reagan (“reegan”), 1981
- Suzanne Langwell, 1983
- Roger Luce (Lussier), 1984
- John Mullen, 1988
- Travis Demers, 2003
(In full disclosure, I was on the 2022 Hall of Fame Committee.)
WCWP station manager (and 2019 inductee) Pete Bellotti tapped me as the ceremony’s official photographer, in addition to the supplemental video I shot with my camcorder and GoPro to later combine with what his students recorded.
(NOTE: In prior recaps, I used the title “director of broadcasting” in place of “station manager.”)
Despite my best efforts, the performance anxiety issue I had with Smooth Jazz for Scholars affected me again ahead of the WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony. My essential tremor got progressively worse, reaching its peak when my dad dropped me off outside Alumni Hall at around 12:30. I’m feeling stressed again merely writing about it.
I put my equipment down on a table in the back and began snapping away while also talking to inductees and attendees.
2022 inductee John Mullen speaking to ’19 inductee/WCWP station manager Pete Bellotti and Maureen Tuthill, interim dean of Long Island University’s College of Arts and Design (Brooklyn and Post campuses) 
Cosmo Leone, Dan Reagan, and family 
2022 inductee Travis Demers with ’17 inductee Neil Marks 
2015 inductee Jeff Kroll speaks with ’22 inductee Kim Dillon and her first presenter, Ellyn Solis. 
2022 inductee Roger Luce with ’13 inductee Bill Mozer, Suzanne Langwell’s presenter
The ceremony was hosted by Dan Cox, WCWP’s station manager from 2002 to ’22:
Current station manager Pete Bellotti had opening remarks:
John Mullen was the first inductee, presented by Dan Cox:
John’s acceptance speech:
Rich Kahn presented the second 2022 inductee, Jon Cole:
Jon’s acceptance speech:
Inductee 3 was Cosmo Leone, presented by Larry Lamendola:
Cosmo’s acceptance speech:
Kim Dillon had three presenters, led by Ellyn Solis:
Next, 2019 inductee Lew Scharfberg:
Third, Cande Roth:
Kim and her three presenters:
Kim’s acceptance speech:
At the halfway point, the Art Beltrone Founders Award was presented to graduating senior DeAnna Aguinaldo. After Pete Bellotti’s introduction…
…there were presentations by DeAnna’s WCWP colleagues: senior director Michael Moffa…:
…and Vincent Randazzo, student program director and vice president of The Wave (formerly WebRadio WCWP and MyWCWP):
DeAnna’s acceptance speech:
DeAnna with Pete, Michael and Vincent:
Before introducing Dan Reagan’s presenter, Dan Cox had kind words for his former student:
Like last year, the ceremony was streamed live on Zoom:
2019 inductee Fred Gaudelli presented Dan Reagan (“reegan”), the fifth ’22 inductee:
Dan began his acceptance speech by acknowledging Fred’s upcoming honor in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: the 2023 Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award.
With eight inductees, WCWP’s 2022 Hall of Fame class matched the amount of players, coaches, and executives enshrined annually in Canton, Ohio.
This shot my camcorder viewinder became the new cover photo for my YouTube channel and LinkedIn page:
Dan thanked me at one point, which explains why he emailed me before the ceremony asking how to pronounce my last name.
He also talked about Post professor Chris Dodrill, who I remember fondly from my time as a student. I asked Dan for Professor Dodrill’s email address the following Monday. Chris replied to me the next day, noting that he watched the ceremony on Zoom, and congratulating me on my induction last year (2021 class). He gave his regards to my aunt Robin Rose, who was an academic counselor at then-C.W. Post, and the reason I went there in the first place. Dodrill is now a music researcher for the Library of Congress, to whom he generously donated his vast John Philip Sousa collection, answering questions from fellow Sousa enthusiasts.
It was 20 years ago in April when Fred Gaudelli and Dan Reagan spoke to a class taught by Prof. Dodrill, after which I posted for a photo with them:
2013 inductee Bill Mozer presented Suzanne Langwell, and tied up loose ends from his brief acceptance speech when the ceremony format was different.
Suzanne receiving her plaque from Bill:
Once I took the photo, Bill introduced me to the ceremony attendees as the station historian, a moniker he first bestowed upon me at the 2014 ceremony. Perfectionist that I am, I don’t know if the title fits since I don’t know everything about WCWP’s history, though I’m flattered to be called that.
Suzanne’s acceptance speech:
John “J.P.” Parise presented his radio co-host, inductee Roger Luce (Lussier):
Roger and J.P.:
Roger’s acceptance speech:
Roger spoke to broadcasting students at Humanities Hall in March 2002, and again, a photo was taken with me afterward:
The inductee presentations were bookended by Dan Cox, presenting the last of the afternoon, Travis Demers:
Travis’s acceptance speech:
The ceremony concluded with Dan’s closing remarks:
After the ceremony, we see seven of the eight inductees and the Art Beltrone Founders Award recipient:
DeAnna Aguinaldo and her parents:
Dan Reagan and Cosmo Leone:
Fred Gaudelli, Dan Reagan, Brian Miles, Mike Maimone:
A group photo with inductees, presenters, friends:
I was taking shots without asking them to look at me, but Bill Mozer directed them to me. 
Travis Demers with 2021 inductee Mike Chimeri (me):
Travis and his wife Hannah:
A selfie with Joan Yonke, LIU Post Director of Development, formerly Director of Employer and Alumni Engagement:
To paraphrase Bob Barker, Joan is a loyal friend and true of WCWP.
Mozer and me:
Bill was praised by several inductees and their presenters, and rightly so.
Me with Roger Luce (21 years after the first time) and Dan Cox:
Roger and his sister Christine:
Roger, Christine, and her husband Neil Sass, editor for ABC News’s Nightline:
Finally, candid shots:
Joan Yonke grew up in Atlanta and was pleased to meet Dan Reagan, longtime director of Braves telecasts. (Hannah Demers [right] is also a Georgia native.) 
Preliminary stress aside, it was a pleasure to capture the day, catch up with those I knew, and meet those I hadn’t.
Congratulations to Art Beltrone Founders Award recipient DeAnna Aguinaldo, and to the eight Hall of Fame inductees: John Mullen, Jon Cole, Cosmo Leone, Kim Dillon, Dan Reagan, Suzanne Langwell, Roger Lussier (the one time I didn’t use his on-air name), and Travis Demers.
As of publication, I am working on the ceremony video and will update with the video once it’s ready. Thank you for reading this recap.
7/9/23 UPDATE: The video has been ready for a few weeks, but an unofficial announcement made at the end has yet to go official. So, I uploaded a version without the announcement yesterday, and after hours of processing, it’s ready for publication.
Instrumental Invasion, 6/7/23 June 7, 2023
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, City Pop, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Radio, Video Games.add a comment
The June 7 Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was recorded over three days: hour 1 on April 13, the first segment of hour 2 on the 14th, and the last two (plus a pickup) on the 15th. An additional pickup was recorded on May 24.
The playlist was created on March 26, tweaked on April 1 to swap in a Keiko Matsui song. Annotations came between April 3 and 6 with talk break script drafted on April 9 and 10. I was 18 seconds short, so I padded out my outro with the “Blue Birdland” reprise from the end of “The Maynard Ferguson Hit Medley” that I referred to at the top of hour 2.
I got the idea to play “Sister Marian” by The Square (not yet T-Square) after Game Dave reminded me to remind his Twitch stream viewers (in the chat) what it inspired: Koji Kondo‘s Super Mario Bros. [overworld] theme.
For comparison, here is “Sister Marian”…
…and the overworld theme:
I referred to Steve Somers for the second week in a row when I came out of Dave’s liner with “Game Dave knows and I know…”
“7 and 7” by Paul Brown was the only retread this week, first heard last October 19.
Click here to download this week’s scoped aircheck or listen below:
MikeChimeri.com 