2025 LIU Post & WCWP Homecoming Weekend September 21, 2025
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Education, Football, History, Internet, Interviews, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, Pop, Radio, Rock, Sports, Technology, Travel, Video, Weather.add a comment
NOTE: Two of the alumni hosts, Alana and Tom, do not use their last names on the air. So, I have omitted their last names from this post.
This year, Homecoming Weekend on WCWP (simulcast on WXBA) and at LIU Post was the earliest it’s ever been: September 12 to 14. The date was made public during the WCWP-FM 60th anniversary broadcast on March 16. (Read about that celebratory weekend here.) Homecoming Weekend coordinator Ted David assembled quite the lineup, which began with me at noon (well, noon-ish) on Friday, September 12, and ended at midnight on the 14th/15th as Grandfather Rock Chris MacIntosh closed Rock ‘N’ Soul Gospel with “Red Hot and Cooking” by Garth Hewitt.
The centerpiece of the weekend was the LIU Sharks football team‘s Homecoming game (and home opener) against the Sacred Heart Pioneers. (That was the LIU Post team name before the Post and Brooklyn athletic programs merged and moved from NCAA Division II to Division I.)
Once again, as unofficial station historian, I documented as much as I could of the entire weekend – on campus Friday and Saturday, and from home on Sunday.
I airchecked off the FM web stream on PCs in my bedroom and guest room via Audacity, where I would export as individual files, and then edit in Adobe Audition. Unfortunately, my internet betrayed me on Saturday. I recorded nearly nine hours of silence. I’m grateful to WCWP station manager Dan Cox for filling the gaps with his official airchecks and to Bernie Bernard via her show files.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12
I arrived at the Abrams Communications Center at 11:30 AM. While Project Independence and You (one week shy of its 14th anniversary) finished up in studio 3, I prepped for my live Instrumental Invasion. It was the first time I led off Homecoming Weekend since 2017.
I made a separate recap of that show here, but I’ll at least share Pat Kroll’s photo of me during one of my sets…
…and the aircheck video (with an edited open):
Pat and Jeff Kroll had the next show at 2PM. Since their show and Strictly Jazz at 4PM would be rerun from 2AM to 7AM, Jeff had to be prompt, fading out my last song with 1:40 remaining.
Herb Alpert fans that we are, we both began our shows with Tijuana Brass tracks. My lead was “Spanish Flea” while Jeff used “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” (covered on S.R.O.) as the intro bed.
Jeff ran the board during his show and Strictly Jazz. 
Neil Marks joined in the second hour to preview the LIU Sharks’ Homecoming football game against the Sacred Heart Pioneers. 
Neil Marks 
Neil Marks and Pat Kroll
Out in the lobby, Neil Marks talked to Strictly Jazz hosts John LiBretto and Hank Neimark about his long trip to LIU Post earlier Friday.
Hank had the honor of signing on WCWP-FM on March 16, 1965.
The Krolls with fellow alumni (and fiancés) Sami Jo Negron and Pete Sacoulas:
A partial video of Jeff and Pat’s show:
…and a full scoped aircheck:
John LiBretto and Hank Neimark hosted Strictly Jazz, the third show of the weekend, Friday at 4PM.
John LiBretto 
Hank Neimark 
Despite the title, Strictly Jazz deviated to pop in hour 2 by playing “Wooly Bully” by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs. Pat Kroll returned to read the song’s quirky lyrics. 
Jeff Kroll had additional “Wooly Bully” tidbits.
A partial video of Strictly Jazz:
…and the full scoped aircheck:
From jazz to rock, John Zoni was next at 7PM:
We went from rock to dance just after 9PM with Jay Mirabile and a special edition of The DFK Show.
If you’re wondering, I took a rideshare home around 6:30 PM.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13
We jump ahead to 7AM and a prerecorded show hosted by John Commins:
David Friedland was live in studio 2 at 9AM, leading into the Sharks’ Homecoming game:
After editing what I’d airchecked so far, my mom drove me up to LIU Post half an hour later than Friday. We had to clear a security checkpoint before reaching the parking lot by WCWP. I unpacked and walked toward Shark Stadium (no naming rights this year) for photos around and above the field.
The bulk of my Shark Stadium photos were taken on the roof where Travis Demers, Neil Marks, and Jeff Kroll called the LIU Sharks Homecoming football game. Pat Kroll was the coordinating producer.
It was the 2nd quarter when I reached the roof. Travis Demers handled play-by-play for the middle quarters with Jeff Kroll leading the first and last. 
Travis Demers’s field view 
Remote equipment 
Pat Kroll’s notes 
You can’t call a sporting event without spotter charts. 
Just for fun, I took a short video on my iPhone that I later synced to the relevant portion of Dan Cox’s game aircheck:
Travis and my fellow alumni were impressed when I posted that video to the WCWP Alumni Association Facebook group.
Before we return to WCWP, let’s look at photos on the field, sidelines, and bleachers.
I made it back to WCWP just before halftime where co-hosts John Zoni and Jeannie Moon narrated highlights and analyzed the first half. At the board was Andrew Scarpaci.
John Zoni 
Jeannie Moon 
Highlights, lowlights, and other elements were run in Zetta by Andrew, as seen at halftime.
The studio portion of the halftime report:
You saw how Zetta looked at halftime. This image after the game tells a different, but predictable story:
For the second year in a row, the Sharks squandered a lead. They gave up 17 unanswered points to the SHU Pioneers, losing 24-21 on a field goal as time expired.
In spite of another down ending, it was another exciting game for Jeff Kroll, Neil Marks, and Travis Demers to call on Long Island’s 88.1 FM.
I kept my camcorders and tripods in studio 3 to cover John Zoni and Jeannie Moon’s portion of the postgame show.
This YouTube video compiles the studio 3 halftime and postgame reports:
I’ll spare you the details of what happened in the Sharks’ next game.
On a happier note, programming moved back to studio 2 after the Sharks postgame show. At 3:30 PM, Homecoming Weekend coordinator Ted David hosted the 2025 WCWP Hall of Fame inductee announcement special.
Ted getting in touch with Bernie Bernard to call in and announce the 2025 WCWP Hall of Fame inductees
The lucky quartet of 2025 inductees was Cande Roth, Ellyn Solis-Maurer, Tony Traguardo, and Chris Maffei.
(Full disclosure: This was my fourth year on the Hall of Fame Committee.)
Below is the announcement, featuring a cameo from me, here:
…and listen here (without the video’s cutaways):
Bernie Bernard’s prerecorded show ran at 4PM:
As Bernie’s show ran in automation, I joined my fellow alumni outside for the Homecoming barbecue. We’ll use this time for a photographic interlude.
First, Ted’s selfie with me:
Bobby Guthenberg (Bobby G.), Neil Marks, Lew Scharfberg 
Neil Marks, Laurie White, Jeannie Moon, Lew Scharfberg 
Ted David, Rich Lacourciere, new HOF inductee Tony Traguardo, John Zoni, John Mullen, Frank Iemitti, WCWP station manager Dan Cox 
Mike Chimeri, Rich Lacourciere, Tony Traguardo, John Zoni, John Mullen, Frank Iemitti, Dan Cox 
Mike Chimeri and Travis Demers 
Mike Chimeri and Alana 
Mike Chimeri and John Zoni 
Alana next to the WCWP-FM 60th anniversary banner
Live programming returned to studio 2 at 6PM with Bobby G. and Mike Riccio. The dynamic duo counted down most of the 50 songs in the “First Annual WCWP Beatle Spectacular Hit-List.” Published in December 1969, the list represented the most popular Beatles songs as voted by WCWP listeners.
Bobby G. 
Mike Riccio 
With candid photos of Bobby G. and Mike Riccio out of the way, I had them pose for this photo. 
I took this selfie early in the second of two talk breaks.
You can watch those first three talk breaks here:
…and here is the full scoped aircheck:
Incidentally, this is my scan of a copy of the First Annual WCWP Beatle Spectacular Hit-List:
Vincent Randazzo and a host of others were on hand for a special edition of The Alternative Jukebox at 9PM:
Vince’s show was three hours, but half the time was spent chatting with current and recently-graduated staff. It was quite informative. (Shoutout to Post-Party Depression.)
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14
The prerecorded Instrumental Invasion ran at midnight. Click here for a full recap, then come back for the rest of this recap.
I will again share the aircheck scope, though:
9/23 UPDATE: And why not include a 65x speed montage of the two Twitch streams that served as recording sessions?
All other info is in the show recap. If you’re returning from that post, welcome back.
Tom was up bright and early at 6AM for the Homecoming Weekend edition of The Dad Rock Show:
Jay LaPrise followed at 8AM with a playlist featuring songs by artists he saw live in concert:
Alana’s The Rockin’ Sunday Show normally airs at noon, but aired in its original 10AM slot on Homecoming Weekend.
Jumping ahead to 1PM, Ted David and Jeff Kroll co-hosted The Joe Show, a remembrance of the late Joseph P. “Joe” Honerkamp.
Joe was a fixture at WCWP for over 50 years, and had a long professional career which included radio stints at WYNY and WHN, and TV production on the weekend Today show.
Among those to reflect on the life and times of Joseph P. were his widow Kathy Honerkamp and their daughters Melanie and Diana. Kathy and Melanie are seen here in studio 2. Diana spoke by phone.
Bruce Leonard and Joel Feltman were also among those to call in.
The scoped aircheck (there were a few songs played) can be heard here:
Ted David shifted to the board at 2PM, playing a wide variety of music over the next hours:
Billy the Kid (Billy Houst) and Joey C. (Joe Conte) had the last two-hour show at 4PM: Masters of Metal.
The penultimate show of Homecoming Weekend began at 6PM: The Ladies of Prison Break Radio, Jamie Mazzo and Sara Dorchak.
And putting a bow on the weekend, my children, was Grandfather Rock Chris MacIntosh and Rock ‘N’ Soul Gospel. Check it out.
Post-production, no pun intended, began as Homecoming Weekend was in progress on September 13 and concluded on the evening of the 21st with publication of this post and the Instrumental Invasion posts.
Thank you very much for reading all the way to the end. It bears repeating: documenting events like this is a labor of love. The next time I step on the campus of LIU Post will be March 25, 2026, for a twice-in-a-lifetime experience thanks to Bobby Guthenberg. My mom and I will get to see Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass and Other Delights again for their Tilles Center set. (Read about their April 1 Jazz at the Lincoln Center show here.)
This post is not only dedicated to the memory of Joe Honerkamp, but also Jett Lightning. Jett (Julio) fell ill in the days leading up to Homecoming Weekend and passed away on the morning of September 13. He will be sorely missed at WCWP. I’ll leave you with a photo of Jett taken last year…
…and a scope of his 2022 Homecoming Weekend show featuring Jay Elzweig, who is also no longer with us.
Instrumental Invasion, 9/14/25, 12AM (Homecoming Weekend) September 21, 2025
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Computer, Internet, Jazz, Jazz Fusion, Livestream, Media, Music, Personal, Pop, Radio, smooth jazz, Technology, Video Games.add a comment
Other posts: 9/12 12PM live show recap, comprehensive Homecoming Weekend recap
The prerecorded edition of Instrumental Invasion for WCWP‘s alumni-run Homecoming Weekend programming block aired at midnight on Sunday, September 14. Unlike last year, this show was only two hours.
Let’s get the scoped aircheck out of the way before I detail how the show came to be.
I said in the live show recap that I knew well in advance I’d have that and the prerecord.
The playlist was created July 29 and 30 with two hours in mind. That duration was confirmed to me on August 5. There wasn’t much poaching from older playlists, meaning less copying and pasting of annotations. The annotations were drafted July 30 and August 1 and 4. The first draft of the script was written August 5 and 6. I wanted to get as much pre-production out of the way before Long Island Retro Gaming Expo.
Little did I know the consequences of referencing Casiopea‘s fifth era with a new keyboardist, Jun Abe, and tying Brian Simpson‘s “Wonderland” to Taylor Swift‘s namesake from 1989 D.L.X. On August 12, Taylor announced a new album, The Life of a Showgirl, in an episode of New Heights, a podcast hosted by the Kelce brothers, Travis (her boyfriend) and Jason. Then, a few days later, I found out T-Square released an album called Turn the Page! and that Casiopea was about to release True Blue. That led to script revisions on August 15 and 17. Then, August 20, the playlist, annotations, and script were all tweaked to accommodate song replacements.
I planned on recording one hour per day – August 28 and 29 – during livestreams on my Twitch channel, just as I had done for last year’s prerecord and the final regular Instrumental Invasion. To save time during the streams, I prepared the Adobe Audition multitrack sessions for each hour on August 25. That’s when I realized I’d made a timing error for both hours! I was four minutes over in hour 1 and two minutes under in hour 2. So, I had to make further tweaks to the playlist, annotations, and script with different songs to make up for the oversights.
But I still wasn’t finished! I mistakenly thought one minute and 55 seconds was enough time to assign talk breaks. Unfortunately, most talk breaks were overly wordy. When I reached hour 1’s last talk break, I noticed I was well over. Drastic cuts had to be made to the talk breaks. The plan worked.
To avoid the same problem with hour 2, I cut back on that hour’s talk breaks before the August 29 Twitch stream, and worked in a congratulations to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce on their engagement (earlier that week). It still wasn’t enough! Not only did I have to make further cuts; I also had to fade songs out early or have them start underneath a liner and the end of the last talk break. I recorded that last talk break first, knowing it would be the longest of the hour. Somehow, my cutbacks worked again, and each hour – or 59:59 – flowed smoothly. Unless you’ve read this post or watched my Twitch streams, you’d never know all the work that went into this show.
Here are screenshots of each hour’s multitrack session:
Only one pickup was necessary, recorded on the morning of August 30. For any talk break preceded by a liner that only acknowledged WCWP, I started with “and WXBA,” to reflect the merger and subsequent rebranding. I neglected to do that coming out of David Benoit‘s liner. David hosts a jazz show on another 88.1 FM, K-Jazz (KKJZ) at Cal State Long Beach. So, the pickup was for one more “and WXBA,” and to rerecord the first few sentences of the talk break to maintain its total run time.
On the Twitch side, I broadcast my streams with a program called OBS Studio. Once per day, there was a brief server disconnection. Friday’s outage happened while recording the fourth talk break of hour 2 (the last recorded that day). Rather than stop until OBS reconnected, I soldiered on. It made for this funny outtake:
And I did.
Read about my elaborate Twitch setup here.
Below is what the two recording session streams looked like at 65x speed, set to “Sweat It Off” by Casiopea:
Now that you know the story of this show, get back to the main recap, picking up with The Dad Rock Show hosted live at 6AM by Tom.
Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass & Other Delights at Lincoln Center: April 1 show April 5, 2025
Posted by Mike C. in Baseball, Film, Food, Game Shows, Internet, Japanese, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, Pop, Radio, Trains, Travel, TV, Video.add a comment
NOTE: This recap will lead with photos at the venue; before, during, and after the concert. That will be followed by photos on the way to and from there: at Rockville Centre‘s LIRR (Long Island Rail Road) station, aboard the train to Grand Central Terminal, inside GCT itself, the long walk through Manhattan to Columbus Circle (including stops at Rockefeller Center and Serafina restaurant, entering 59th Street-Columbus Circle Station to take the 1 train to 34th Street-Penn Station, and watching the Babylon-bound train arrive on track 20 of Penn Station’s LIRR terminal.
Tuesday night, thanks to my friend Lori Downing, I finally got the opportunity to see Herb Alpert live in concert. Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass & Other Delights played two sold out shows in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall. The show I attended – along with Lori, Lori’s son Zach, and my mother Lisa (a mutual friend of Lori) – was the second of the two, one day after Herb’s 90th birthday.
I have been a fan of Herb Alpert since CD 101.9 played “Rise” and “Rotation” on a regular basis in the 1990s. I inherited my fandom from my mom and her dad (my grandpa) Artie. In the summer of 1999, I bought a compilation CD called Classics Volume 20 with some of my high school graduation money. It only covered 1979 to ’87, meaning no Tijuana Brass. I wouldn’t discover that portion of Herb’s catalog until getting another compilation called Definitive Hits. (Yes, I’d heard TJB songs in episodes of The Simpsons and on The Dating Game. I just didn’t have them in my collection.) In 2010, I began buying CD remasters of whole albums, from The Lonely Bull (1962) to North on South St (1991). Outside of Second Wind (1996) and Colors (1999), there’s a 22-year gap in my collection that ends with Steppin’ Out (2013). From there, I’m only missing The Christmas Wish (2017).
When Lori Downing and I attended Dave Koz’s 20th Anniversary Christmas Tour at Tilles Center in December 2017, I quipped that we were in the Bob Uecker seats since we were so high up (but not in the last row). It’s a nod to the infamous 1984 Lite Beer from Miller ad where Bob is at a baseball game and settles into a field level seat. An usher intervenes, telling him he’s in the wrong seat, and Bob says, “Oh, I must be in the front row.” After the ad’s tag, we transition to Ueck in the upper deck (of Dodger Stadium). He shouts to his friend, “Good seats, eh, buddy?,” and to an umpire, “He missed the tag! He missed the tag!”
Life somewhat imitated art on Tuesday. When we presented our tickets to an usher, she escorted us to seats at stage level, a handful of rows from the stage. Seconds after I settled into what I thought was my seat, the usher realized her mistake and referred us to another usher. When I got up, I acknowledged the similarity to the ad and repeated the “front row” line. The second usher had us go up two floors in an elevator to our true location. We were in the last row of the center balcony. Unlike with Dave Koz, we really were in the Bob Uecker seats. However, there wasn’t a bad seat in the house. The rows are arranged in a way that your view won’t be blocked by the person in front of you.
Before we see photos from the show itself, along with the complete set list and background info, let’s backtrack.
Lori, Zach, my mom Lisa, and I reached Jazz at Lincoln Center, one of many portions of the vast Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, just after 7PM.
Using the clear backpack my dad bought for when we went to a Mets game in June 2022, a security guard cleared me in mere seconds. After riding an elevator to the 5th floor, we waited in the lobby until the Rose Hall doors were to open at 7:30.
Zach invited me to look at the view of Columbus Circle from a window at the lobby’s edge.
Then, I took a selfie with my mom.
There was even a WCWP connection to all this. (FM 60th anniversary/2024 Hall of Fame Ceremony recap) Jeff Kroll is an equally big Herb Alpert fan, and he and his wife Pat attended Monday’s 90th birthday performance. Jeff and Pat’s seats were at stage level.
On Tuesday, fellow alumnus Bobby Guthenberg, a.k.a. Bobby G., was among the attendees! Here he is talking to Lisa and Lori:
Zach took a photo of Bobby G. and me:
Bobby treated me to the David Benoit concert at My Father’s Place on December 4.
On the way to the Rose Hall entrance, I saw this poster for an upcoming Bobby McFerrin concert series (with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra):
Jazz legends photo exhibit:
That brings us back to my last row balcony seat. I can’t show every photo I took, and would rather keep videos to myself (and to some the Discord chat servers I’m part of). What I will show are the photos where my phone could make out faces with its AI enhancement.
The lights went down at 8:05 and the monitor showed Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass as the Mystery Guests on a circa 1965 episode of What’s My Line?
The stage lights came up, the new Tijuana Brass assembled, and Herb made his entrance.
The band was made up of:
- Herb Alpert – lead trumpet
- Kris Bergh – trumpet and percussion
- Ryan Dragon – trombone and percussion
- Bill Cantos – piano, synthesizer, marimba
- Kerry Marx – acoustic and electric guitars
- Hussain Jiffry – bass
- Ray Brinker – drums
It was nice to finally put faces to the names (Bill, Hussain) I’d seen in the credits to Herb’s solo albums since 2013. I’m connected with Ray Brinker on Facebook, and knew of him through his work with Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band. So, he was the only Tijuana Brass member I knew by name until Herb’s introduction toward the end of the first encore (spoiler).
Bill, Hussain, Ryan, and Kris provided background vocals on songs that called for them.
Here is the full set list (original album and release year in parentheses):
- The Lonely Bull (El Solo Toro) (The Lonely Bull, 1962) – Original composition by Sol Lake
- The Work Song (S.R.O., 1966) – While writing this post, I finally learned “Work Song” was by Nat Adderley, not Cannonball
- Memories of Madrid (What Now My Love, 1966) – Another original TJB composition by Sol Lake
- Whipped Cream (Whipped Cream & Other Delights, 1965) – One of two music cues used on The Dating Game
- Spanish Flea (!!Going Places!!, 1965) – The other Dating Game cue – Original composition by TJB member Julius Wechter (also leader of the Baja Marimba Band) – Wechter’s original title was “Spanish Fly,” which wouldn’t fly in 1965
- Ladyfingers (audience member request) (Whipped Cream & Other Delights, 1965)
- Lollipops and Roses (Whipped Cream & Other Delights, 1965)
- Bittersweet Samba (Whipped Cream & Other Delights, 1965) – Still another Sol Lake composition for TJB – Serves as the theme to All Night Nippon, a Japanese radio show
- Mexican Shuffle (South of the Border, 1964) – If you’re keeping score, that’s four Sol Lake compositions in the set – I had no idea this was used in TV ads for Clark’s Teaberry gum (one such ad shown on the monitor), or that it was referred to as “The Teaberry Shuffle”
- Tangerine (Whipped Cream & Other Delights, 1965) – See notes below set list for more info
- I’m Getting Sentimental Over You (!!Going Places!!, 1965) – Preceded by Ray Brinker drum solo
- Love Potion No. 9 (Whipped Cream & Other Delights, 1965) – The album’s requisite striptease song
- Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66 (hits medley sung by the group’s lead vocalist Lani Hall (Herb’s wife; he considers Sergio “Cupid” for bring them together): Tim Dom Dom (Chim Dome Dome), One Note Samba, The Fool on the Hill, Mas que nada – Songs 1, 2, and 4 are from Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66, 1966; “The Fool on the Hill” was a 1968 title track, minus the “the”
- Rise (Rise, 1979) (solo album) – Rap fans may recognize one part from its sampling in “Hypnotize” by The Notorious B.I.G.
- A Taste of Honey (Whipped Cream & Other Delights, 1965) – Ray Brinker perfectly matched The Wrecking Crew player Hal Blaine‘s drumming from the original, right down to the bass drum taps to note the 4/4 time signature
- Zorba the Greek (Zorba’s Dance) (!!Going Places!!, 1965) – A clip of the titular film‘s dance scene (with Anthony Quinn as Zorba) was shown during the slow middle
- Encore 1-1: This Guy’s in Love with You (The Beat of the Brass, 1968) – Herb’s lone vocal song of the set – Contrary to popular belief, the song was later reworked as “This Girl’s in Love with You” for Dionne Warwick and other female singers, not the other way around for Herb
- Encore 1-2: Smile (Midnight Sun, 1992; Catch the Wind, 2021) (solo albums) – Requiem for departed friends, including Sergio Mendes, Karen Carpenter, Burt Bacharach (co-writer of “This Guy’s in Love with You”), and A&M Records co-founder Jerry Moss – “Smile” by Charlie Chaplin is not to be confused with “Sweet, Sweet Smile,” which was introduced/popularized by The Carpenters
- Encore 1-3: What Now My Love (What Now My Love, 1966)
- Encore 1-4: A Banda (Herb Alpert’s Ninth, 1967) – Fittingly preceded by band introduction (“a banda” literally means “the band”)
- Encore 2-1: Tijuana Taxi (!!Going Places!!, 1965) – original composition by TJB guitarist Ervan “Bud” Coleman
- Encore 2-2 (True Finale): On the Sunny Side of the Street (Come Fly with Me, 2015; Sunny Side of the Street, 2022) (solo albums)
I knew the title of most songs the instant they began. There were a few exceptions. I had to ask my mom about “Smile,” Zach confirmed “Tangerine” on the train ride back to Rockville Centre (via a set list for one of the Buffalo shows), and I confirmed “Tim Dom Dom (Chim Dome Dome)” on Wednesday morning via the Herb Alpert Presents… Wikipedia entry.
It’s understandable that I wouldn’t recognize “Tangerine.” I gravitated toward the more popular tracks on Whipped Cream & Other Delights. I didn’t really develop awareness and appreciate of the song until hearing it on She Was Too Good to Me, trumpeter/vocalist Chet Baker‘s 1974 comeback album.
Throughout the set, relevant video clips or still photos were shown on a monitor above the stage.
The best of the photos:
“Memories of Madrid” 
“Whipped Cream,” with …& Other Delights cover model Dolores Erickson shown on the monitor 
As Herb and the Brass played “Lollipops and Roses,” a promo for The Brass Are Comin’ (1969) ran on the monitor. Among those to recite the album title was Johnny Carson. 
“Tangerine” 
Ray Brinker’s drum solo before “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You” 
Herb acknowledging his marriage to Brasil ’66 lead vocalist Lani Hall, thanks to Sergio “Cupid” Mendes 
Lani’s entrance 
Lani singing “Tim Dom Dom (Chim Dome Dome)” 
A kiss after the medley 
“Rise” 
“A Taste of Honey” 
“Zorba the Greek (Zorba’s Dance),” accelerando and all 
The false ending 
Encore 1 began with “This Guy’s in Love with You” 
“What Now My Love” 
“On the Sunny Side of the Street” 
The end! 
Herb Alpert has left the stage; you can literally see him exiting stage left 
The rest of the band departs
In conclusion, there were 22 songs, 6 of the encores (4 in the first encore, 2 in the second). It was a night I’ll never forget, and I owe it all to Lori Downing. Crying happy tears, I hugged her and thanked her as we got up from our seats and walked back to the lobby.
There were no accessible stairs. So, we had to take an escalator from the lobby to a set of elevators. We and several other attendees boarded the first elevator to open and rode it down to ground level. From there, we exited back out to Columbus Circle.
The experience wasn’t all “Lollipops and Roses,” so to speak. I neglected to disable my iPhone camera’s flash and the flash light was on as I recorded “Memories of Madrid.” An usher had to come to our row and tell me to turn it off. I did as he instructed, and I deleted the video from my phone, but was quite embarrassed and miffed. I gathered my wits within a minute or two. I made sure the flash was off in photo and video mode the rest of the night, and there was no further trouble. I recorded 12 more videos (on top of “The Lonely Bull” before the intervention). Again, I’m opting to withhold them from this post.
Now, let’s turn our attention to the other photos, taken going to and from Jazz at Lincoln Center.
This train was an M9.
By this time, my iPhone’s battery state of charge was down 10%. So, I didn’t take anymore photos, but I had taken 154 photos and 13 videos on my phone, in addition to the two photos provided to me by Zach, which I cropped and upscaled for this post.
I don’t know what more I can say. Thank you again to Lori Downing for inviting me and my mom to see Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass & Other Delights on Tuesday night. And thank you for reading this recap. Check back in mid-May for recaps of this year’s Smooth Jazz for Scholars. Bye until then.
WCWP-FM 60th anniversary celebration weekend, 2024 WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony March 25, 2025
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Education, Football, History, Internet, Interviews, Jazz, Livestream, Media, Music, Personal, Philanthropy, Photography, Pop, Radio, Rock, smooth jazz, Sports, Technology, TV, Video.add a comment
NOTE: Whenever possible throughout this post (no pun intended), I will list an alum’s graduation year in parentheses.
Sunday, March 16, at 4PM Eastern marked 60 years since WCWP-FM signed on. Located at 88.1 on the FM band, the public radio station emanates from the Benjamin and Elizabeth Abrams Communications Center at LIU Post. The school was known as C.W. Post College in 1965, but it has always been part of the Long Island University system. (Wikipedia entry)
WCWP was initially a carrier current radio station, signing on at noon on October 18, 1961. (That 60th anniversary was celebrated during Homecoming Weekend in 2021.) Art Beltrone (1963) was the first student voice heard at sign-on. Here is that sign-on:
Quoting Art from the aircheck:
Two years ago, a group of students and your announcer felt that a school such as Post would benefit a great deal from a radio station. We organized a small club at first, and at the meetings that followed, we talked radio, making hopeful plans for the establishment of a carrier current station, leading eventually into an FM station.
In just over three years, the FM station dream was realized.
WCWP-FM’s 60th anniversary celebration also spanned an entire weekend, from 6PM on March 14 to 6PM on March 16.
The celebration included a dinner on the night of March 15, held in the East Room of the Roosevelt School on the south end of campus. The dinner included the induction of the 2024 WCWP Hall of Fame class: 1984 alumnae Jeannie Moon and Laurie White, and fittingly, Benjamin Abrams. Ben Abrams, a founder of Emerson Radio, whose philanthropic efforts allowed for construction of the building that would house the FM station. In later years, the student-run web station would also emanate from the Abrams Communications Center, but I digress.
I considered splitting the celebration recap into three posts. Instead, everything is here, separated by dates and events in bold font.
This isn’t a personal diary of my experience, meaning I won’t mention things like when I arrived on campus, what equipment I used, and how I spent my downtime. This is a multimedia celebration of WCWP-FM’s 60 years on the air; the students, alumni, faculty, and volunteers who are part of its history; and the latest inductees to the WCWP Hall of Fame. (Full disclosure: I have served on the Hall of Fame Committee since the 2022 class.)
FRIDAY, MARCH 14
Meet-and-Greet, The Rock Show
I only have two photos of the meet-and-greet in the lobby of the Abrams Communications Center.
First is my fellow 2004 alumnus Joe Sacco with WCWP station manager Dan Cox (1985).
Then, Dan took a photo of Joe and me.
All other photos were in Studio 2 for The Rock Show with Jeff and Pat Kroll, and guest host Neil Marks.
Before air, Dan Cox dropped in to speak with the Krolls (Jeff graduated in 1975, Pat in ’79), Neil (’77), and Bobby Guthenberg, a.k.a. Bobby G. (’70).
Jeff Kroll kicked off The Rock Show just after 7PM.
The theme was many songs that topped the music charts on March 16. That date in 1965 was when WCWP-FM signed on. Not every year was represented in the playlist, and only a snippet was played of the number 1 song in 2025, but the songs Jeff did play lived up to their chart-topping status.
Jeff’s wife Pat Kroll (née Champion) served as co-host…
…with the addition of Neil Marks.
About half an hour into the show, Jeff interviewed 2024 WCWP Hall of Fame inductees Laurie White and Jeannie Moon (both 1984 alumnae).
Jeannie Moon 
Laurie White
One hour in, Jeff and Pat spoke to Mike Chimeri (me), WCWP station historian and photographer, and 2021 WCWP Hall of Famer.
Neil Marks took photos on my behalf.
My lead-in was “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley – number 1 on March 16, 1988. So, I began my interview with a nod to my Twitch channel, and gave a shoutout to music streamer GnatChat. Nat does a jazzy rendition of “Never Gonna Give You Up” as her raid song. (She, too, is an event photographer, albeit professionally.) I posted an excerpt of the video below to her Discord chat server and she thanked me for the shoutout.
After that, I discussed my history with WCWP, dating back to my first show on October 5, 2001, on WebRadio WCWP, now known as The Wave. (Select scoped airchecks of The Mike Chimeri Show can be heard here. As for Instrumental Invasion, here’s the recap aggregation page.)
After my interview, Neil Marks returned to his seat. Music and banter between Jeff, Pat, and Neil took up the rest of the show, concluding with “Believe” by Cher, number 1 on March 16, 1999, during my senior year at Wantagh High School. (Neil is a fellow Wantagh High School alumnus.)
Watch a scoped aircheck of The Rock Show below:
More of the beginnings and ends of songs can be heard in the audio version of the scoped aircheck:
SATURDAY, MARCH 15
60th Anniversary Celebration Dinner and 2024 WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony
(with a pictorial tour of Roosevelt School presidential exhibits)
There was an open house at the Abrams Communications Center on Saturday afternoon. In this first photo, WCWP station manager Dan Cox showed the current makeup of Studio 3 to Neil Marks (1977), Fred Gaudelli (1982), and Suzanne Langwell (1983).
Neil, Fred, and Suzanne are all members of the WCWP Hall of Fame. Neil was part of the 2017 class, Fred was inducted in ’19, and Suzanne in ’22 (ceremony in ’23).
Suzanne Langwell and Neil and Lita Marks converse in Studio 3:
Jeff Kroll prerecorded an interview with Fred Gaudelli to air during Sunday’s FM 60th anniversary broadcast. (Scroll down to that portion of this post to see and hear it.)
Fred is not only in the WCWP Hall of Fame, but also the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame (2020-21), and the Pro Football Hall of Fame, receiving the Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award in 2023.
Cynthia Hochman, daughter of Benjamin Abrams, spoke to Jeff Kroll and Neil Marks. Listening along are Cynthia’s granddaughters and Joan Yonke, LIU Director of Development and Annual Fund. (Development webpage)
Suzanne Langwell also spoke to Cynthia Hochman.
Pete Sacoulas (2017) drove me and Neil Marks to the south end of LIU Post’s campus for the 60th anniversary celebration and 2024 WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony in the Roosevelt School‘s East Room.
Photos of the presidential exhibits will be shown at the end of this album. For now, I’ll note this was my first time inside the now-Roosevelt School since my first semester in Fall 1999. It was a building for music courses, such as Introduction to Music Theory. My professor was John Meschi, now the Director of Music Technology.
The entrance to the East Room:
The Hall of Fame banner and plaques, and programs:
As guests filed in, a photo array looped on a monitor to the left of the podium.
A straight-on podium view:
It makes you feel like you’re in the White House briefing room.
LIU President Dr. Kimberly Cline speaking with Marjorie Hyman, daughter of Benjamin Abrams, who was among the 2024 WCWP Hall of Fame inductees:
Dr. Cline speaking with Cynthia Hochman, another daughter of Benjamin Abrams; and one of Cynthia’s granddaughters:
Jeff Kroll and WCWP station manager Dan Cox speaking with Dr. Kimberly Cline and Vice President for University Advancement Kerry Kruckel:
Fred Gaudelli joined the conversation with Dr. Cline and Ms. Kruckel:
Courtesy of Suzanne Langwell, here’s a photo of Suzanne with 2024 WCWP Hall of Fame inductees Laurie White and Jeannie Moon:
The 60th anniversary celebration began with opening remarks from Dan Cox:
Kerry Kruckel, LIU Vice President for University Advancement, was next to speak:
Cindy Rogers, District Director for Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY), delivered a citation on the Congressman’s behalf:
The citation:
Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition
Presented to
WCWP
Long Island University Public Radio
In celebration of its
60th Anniversary
On behalf of the constituents of the Third Congressional District of New York, congratulations on celebrating your 60th Anniversary. This achievement is a testament to your hard work and dedication to providing informative and entertaining content to the community as a student-run radio station. Best wishes for many more years of successful broadcasting.
Thomas R. Suozzi
Member of Congress
Third District of New York
March 15, 2025
Dan Cox read a statement from WCWP founding member Art Beltrone, commemorating the FM station’s 60th anniversary:
That was followed by prerecorded speeches from Hank Neimark (1964) and Ted David (1972):
Hank signed on WCWP-FM at 4PM on March 16, 1965, with the words “WCWP-FM is on the air.” (You’ll see him recite those words again during the 60th anniversary broadcast later in this post.)
Dan Reagan (1981) presented 2024 WCWP Hall of Fame inductee Jeannie Moon.
Dan was a 2022 inductee with Suzanne Langwell and six others, and served as chairman of the 2024 Hall of Fame Committee.
Jeannie Moon posed with presenter Dan and her Hall of Fame plaque:
Jeannie’s acceptance speech:
Fred Gaudelli was one of two presenters for inductee Laurie White:
Dan Reagan (right) returned as the second presenter:
Laurie White holding her Hall of Fame plaque with presenters Dan Reagan and Fred Gaudelli:
Laurie’s acceptance speech:
That brought us to the most emotional part of the Hall of Fame Ceremony: the induction of Benjamin Abrams.
Two of Abrams’ surviving daughters, Marjorie Hyman and Cynthia Hochman, spoke on his behalf.
97-year-old Marjorie Hyman’s speech outlined the life and times of her father.
Marjorie’s son Peter and sister Cynthia watching her speech 
A standing ovation!
It was an awe-inspiring speech, one that I complimented Marjorie for after the ceremony. I also thanked her for the generous donation that led to the renovation of the Benjamin and Elizabeth Abrams Communications Center. I initially shook her hand, and continued to hold her hand for the length of our conversation. I nearly cried.
Cynthia Hochman, another of Ben Abrams’ daughters, was next to speak.
Cynthia Hochman and Marjorie Hyman proudly posed with their father Benjamin Abrams’ Hall of Fame plaque:
The ceremony concluded with impassioned remarks from WCWP station manager Dan Cox:
You’ve seen the photos, now watch the video:
If you’re wondering, Marjorie Hyman’s speech is at the 1:07:59 mark.
Ted David left a highly complimentary YouTube comment:
Superior videography to chronicle a major milestone in the history of WCWP, its 60th anniversary. The speeches by the Abrams daughters were the capstones of an amazing evening. Congratulations to the HOF inductees and to all who took part. Special kudos to Mike Chimeri for capturing this history in audio, video and still photography for our posterity!
Thank you very much, Ted.
Now, as promised, we conclude the Saturday portion of this post with photos of the Roosevelt School presidential exhibits.
SUNDAY, MARCH 16
WCWP-FM 60th Anniversary Broadcast
Jeff Kroll commenced the FM 60th anniversary broadcast at 3PM:
Jeff hosted and Pat produced:
Jeff’s view of Zoom on the Studio 3 monitor:
Larry Brodsky (1968) was the first studio guest:
As 4PM approached, producer Pat Kroll made a cameo for the Zoom participants:
Jeff ran a legal ID from Chris Maffei (2013) at 3:58 to clear the way for Hank Neimark at 4PM.
Hank repeated his sign-on: “WCWP-FM is on the air.”
That was followed by applause from Zoom participants Art Beltrone, Bernie Bernard, Junie Thomas, Jon Korkes, Alan Seltzer (1978), Joel Feltman, John LiBretto (1968) (also on staff for the FM sign-on), and John Commins (1973).
Bobby Guthenberg, a.k.a. Bobby G., was the second guest off Zoom and in Studio 3 with Jeff Kroll.
In honor of the late Joe Honerkamp, a.k.a Joseph P. (1974), Jeff Kroll went through a list of high temperatures on March 16 in 1965 and beyond:
Joe was, and Jeff and I (Mike) are, big weather enthusiasts. Jeff said in a comment to this photo in the WCWP Alumni Association album, “[Joe’s] presence was missed throughout the weekend celebrations.”
I showed the following photo featuring Joe Honerkamp (seated at the mic) in the 60th anniversary broadcast before Jeff read the high temperatures:
In the 5PM hour, the studio guest list picked up, starting with Lew Scharfberg (1978) (atop the above photo) and Jeff Jensen (1984):
Lew Scharfberg 
Jeff Jensen
Dan Reagan was next. (His wife Gina looked on outside the studio.)
Dan Reagan was followed by WCWP station manager Dan Cox.
While Jeff Kroll’s prerecorded interview with Fred Gaudelli ran (as seen in the Saturday portion of this recap), I stepped out of Studio 3 to take this photo:
Back live in Studio 3, Jeff Kroll spoke to “Grandfather Rock” Chris MacIntosh, host of Rock N’ Soul Gospel.
Then, it was my turn:
Rather than rehash my WCWP biography from the Friday night interview, I chose to compliment Marjorie Hyman’s speech on behalf of her father Benjamin Abrams.
Vincent Randazzo (2024) and Andrew Scarpaci (2023) were next, the most recent WCWP alumni to be interviewed:
Vincent Randazzo 
Andrew Scarpaci
The last guest of the broadcast was Jeannie Moon:
After noting 26 guests were interviewed, on Zoom and in Studio 3 combined, Jeff and Pat Kroll signed off:
Then, it was back to regular programming: Rock N’ Soul Gospel with “Grandfather Rock” Chris MacIntosh.
That brings us to the comprehensive video of the 60th anniversary broadcast, combining upscaled Zoom video, A- and B-roll from my two camcorders (as in the other two videos), supplemental photos, and the full aircheck. Enjoy.
For good measure, the audio from that video:
Thank you for taking this multimedia journey through WCWP-FM’s 60th anniversary celebration. It is the culmination of 11 days of production and post-production. I sacrificed tens of hours of my time, but I assure you it was a labor of love.
My next blog post should be a recap of Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass & Other Delights: In Concert at Lincoln Center on April 1. (Jeff and Pat Kroll will be at the March 31 concert.) That will be followed by recaps of this year’s Smooth Jazz for Scholars, to be held May 2 and 3.
Otherwise, as far as WCWP goes, see you on Homecoming Weekend, starting September 12. (Yes, it’s a week earlier than last year.)
2024 LIU Post & WCWP Homecoming Weekend October 4, 2024
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Baseball, Books, Football, Internet, Interviews, Jazz, Jazz Fusion, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, Pop, Radio, Rock, smooth jazz, Sports, Travel, Video.add a comment
Last year, due to ongoing renovation of the Abrams Communications Center on the campus of LIU Post, WCWP‘s Homecoming Weekend programming block was cancelled. This year, it was back, running from September 20 at noon through September 22 at midnight. Coinciding with the LIU Sharks football team‘s Homecoming game against the University of Rhode Island Rams, this was the first Homecoming Weekend block overseen by returning station manager Dan Cox since 2021 and first coordinated by alumni Jeff and Pat Kroll since 2019.
Those who attended the WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony on June 1 were given a tour of the Abrams renovation afterward. More alumni would have a chance to see the changes this time.
As the unofficial station historian, a title bestowed upon me by Bill Mozer, I would document this weekend from start to finish, through videos, photos, and airchecks. The airchecks were mostly recorded off the FM internet stream at my Wantagh home via desktop PCs in my bedroom and the guest room. Exceptions are the first four hours of programming Friday and Bernie Bernard’s show after the football game Saturday. For those, I recorded at WCWP using Adobe Audition on my laptop, which was connected to USB phono preamp connected via a Y-adapter to a Sangean radio’s aux out port. The home recordings were done through Audacity and edited in Adobe Audition.
I always seem to develop anxiety ahead of an impending workload, and that was again the case on Thursday, September 19. I had temporarily limited my Twitch streaming schedule to one stream a week to focus on covering Homecoming Weekend and all the post-production to follow. I also, muted all the Discord chat servers I was in and turned off notifications on the many channels I followed and/or subscribed to. I needed to be calm going into the weekend and focus on the task at hand.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20
With all my batteries charged and equipment packed, my mother Lisa drove me up to LIU Post just after 11AM. Once I arrived and entered WCWP, I unpacked and began setting up in studio 3 for the first show of Homecoming Weekend. Project Independence and You! was wrapping up its regularly-scheduled show in studio 2.
Homecoming Weekend led off at noon with Art Beltrone’s interview show.
Art was the first student voice heard on WCWP after its carrier-current station sign-on at noon on October 18, 1961.
Jeff Kroll was the engineer and co-host.
Art’s first alumni guests were Bill Rozea… 
…and Bill’s wife April, members of C.W. Post first graduating class in 1959. 
Art Beltrone presented April Rozea with a bouquet of roses. (Art’s wife Lee is seated in the background.) 
Between interviews, Jeff played “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Elvis Presley, to the delight of the Bill and April Rozea.
Bill Rozea speaking with Art’s next guest, Vinnie Salamone:
Art’s interview with Vinnie Salamone:
Bernie Bernard was next:
She also received a bouquet of flowers. 
Jeff led the interview with Bernie. 
The next four photos are courtesy of Ted David while he dropped by studio 3:
Jeff’s wife Pat Kroll produced and coordinated Art’s show.
Art Beltrone’s other guests included Stewart Ain, via Zoom (a fifth photo by Ted David)…
John LiBretto and Hank Neimark…
Hank was the first voice on WCWP-FM when it signed on at 4PM on March 16, 1965. 
…and Steve Radoff, via Zoom:
After Hank, John, and Steve were interviewed, I gathered my equipment and headed for studio 2 to set up for my live edition of Instrumental Invasion at 2PM.
Here is Art’s full show, minus most of “Can’t Help Falling in Love”:
Aside from the guests listed above, Art spoke to Jon Benson (via Zoom) and Greg Tarone.
Portions of the above aircheck were synced to video I shot on a pair of Panasonic HC-X1500 camcorders, with occasional photo cutaways.
Click here for a recap of my live Instrumental Invasion, with corresponding photos, scoped aircheck, and video. (The link to the midnight prerecorded show comes later in this post.)
Hank Neimark and John LiBretto returned to the airwaves at 4PM to host Strictly Jazz. Jon Korkes served as the third host, appearing via Zoom, and Jeff Kroll was once again engineer.
Jon Korkes’s Zoom window (the text below him is burned in to the monitor)
Here are Jeff, John, and Hank after the show:
Now for the scoped aircheck of Strictly Jazz:
As you’ll see in the composite aircheck video, Hank and John interviewed me at one point:
After becoming obsessed with “My Attorney Bernie” by Dave Frishberg during the drafting of this post, I realized I left the end of the song from the scoped aircheck in the video before jumping to my interview.
As Strictly Jazz proceeded in studio 2, I took two other photos in the lobby:
WCWP station manager Dan Cox (center) with LIU senior philanthropic advisor Charles Rasberry (left) and Neil Marks (right) 
Neil Marks, John Zoni, Andrew Scarpaci, and Travis Demers prepping for the Homecoming game broadcast
John Zoni had the next show at 7PM Friday:
Jay Mirabile followed at 9PM with a special edition of The DFK Show. Unfortunately, I didn’t take a photo of him while I was on campus and he didn’t take one during his show. So, here’s a photo from 2013:
The scoped aircheck is from this year.
There are more alumni hosts below who were not individually photographed (Chris MacIntosh is in a two-shot) by me or anyone else this weekend, and I will include a photo if I have one to go along with their scopes.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21
As the clock struck midnight, my prerecorded three-hour edition of Instrumental Invasion commenced. Click here for that show’s recap, but I’ll say here it was the first time I’d hosted a three-hour show since filling in for Martin Phillips on Thursday Night Jazz in October 2009.
At 3AM, there was Magick Mike Hendryx, seen here live in 2016 following my live Instrumental Invasion:
John Commins was the last of the prerecorded shows early Saturday, airing at 5AM. This was John in 2017:
Jeff Jensen had Saturday’s first live show at 7AM back in studio 2. He’s seen here in 2019:
We now jump ahead to later in the morning atop the Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium prior to the LIU Sharks-Rhode Island Rams game.
This set of photos were taken by Pat Kroll:
Jeff and Pat Kroll 
Jeff Kroll and Neil Marks 
Travis Demers handled play-by-play in the 2nd and 3rd quarters while Jeff
Kroll took the 1st and 4th quarters. Neil Marks analyzed.
The Homecoming game kicked off at noon, and I arrived on campus about half an hour later, setting down my equipment at the Abrams Communications Center.
Then, I took out my Canon EOS R7 and swapped the RF-S 18-150mm lens (a replacement after the Long Island Retro Gaming Expo mishap) with an RF 100-400mm lens. That plan worked for photos of the football field, but for everything else, I’d have to back up a long way for anything close to me.
First, a photo in the parking lot:
And one by the entrance:
When I arrived, it was halftime, and Vinnie Salamone got his second interview of Homecoming Weekend.
Listen to the interview here:
As halftime wound down, Jeff Kroll, Neil Marks, and Travis Demers recapped the first half, told stories, and remarked on the state of WCWP.
My photos atop the press box alternated between my EOS R7 and iPhone 13 Pro.
The LIU marching band’s halftime performance 
The opposite end of the stadium 
Until ten nights earlier at Freeport’s 9/11 memorial ceremony, I was unaware that Bronko Pearsall was one of the 343 FDNY firefighters lost that September morning in 2001. Pearsall was among the names read by Amanda Muldowney, sister-in-law of Richie Muldowney. 
Practice kicks… 
The LIU marching band gets back in position in the stands. 
The LIU Sharks returned to the field… 
…followed by the Rams of URI. 
Jeff Kroll always managed to spot me taking a candid shot, leading to a posed photo. 
Travis Demers, Neil Marks, and Jeff Kroll prepare for the second half, as heard in the earlier clip. 
The second half kickoff 
Travis Demers calling the action with Jeff Kroll analyzing and Pat Kroll producing 
Neil Marks watched on during the third quarter, and would rejoin Jeff and Travis in the fourth. 
Travis’s view of the field 
A final photo at the stadium before returning to WCWP
The Sharks led the Rams 21-14, but went on to lose 28-21. The key moment came late in the fourth quarter. One play after the Sharks recovered a Rams fumble at the 1-yard line, the Sharks fumbled the ball back to Rhode Island at the 5. The Rams tied, and went ahead on their next possession. At least it was an exciting game for Jeff, Neil, and Travis to call.
“Highlights” were run during the postgame show, emanating from studio 3 and atop the stadium press box.
John Zoni handled the out-of-town scoreboard…
…and Andrew Scarpaci narrated the highlights:
Programming returned to studio 2 at 3PM with Bernie Bernard. Here are photos taken while setting up:
To the left of Bernie is Jett Lightning. Bobby Guthenberg (a.k.a. Bobby G.) and Larry Brodsky are to the right of her. 
Bobby G. helped Bernie set up (Photo by Hugh Hammill) 
Photo by Hugh Hammill
The photos were taken after Bernie’s show began.
Hugh Hammill is pictured talking to WCWP station manager Dan Cox with Bernie Bernard prepping the next CD to play. Jeff Kroll is standing on the right and Bernie’s sister Melissa is seating facing away in the foreground. 
Ward Henry and Bernie Bernard (Photo by Hugh Hammill) 
Bernie’s view of Wavecart (Photo by Hugh Hammill) 
Larry Brodsky and Jeff Kroll (after Jeff spotted me taking a candid) 
Travis Demers, Frank Iemitti (capital I; with his back to the camera), John Zoni, John Mullen, Dave Fleischer
I neglected to shoot video, but WCWP station manager Dan Cox addressed the gathered alumni outside at the barbecue.
Dan was joined by Kerry Kruckel, LIU vice president for university advancement. 
This photo includes Joan Yonke (center), LIU director of development and
annual fund, and Art and Lee Beltrone to the right of Joan.
Grandfather Rock Chris MacIntosh and Dan Cox listen to Ms. Kruckel’s complimentary remarks. 
Dan was equally complimentary. 
Back inside studio 2…
Bernie Bernard at the board 
Chris MacIntosh joined Jett, Ward, Bernie, Melissa, and Hugh. 
Me with my Panasonic HC-X1500 camcorders. One had a handle unit attachment, and a great shotgun mic and tripod. The other had an okay tripod and no external mic or handle unit. 
Unfortunately, I forgot to hit record on those camcorders before Bernie interviewed me. Thankfully, Melissa Bernard took the next three photos that I used in the video you’ll see in a little while. 
“I was born in the ’80s!” 
Tony and Winnie Traguardo also dropped by. 
Before Mike Riccio and Bobby G.’s radio show, Bernie tried to stump Mike on who sang covers of two songs. 
Mike went 1 for 2. 
John Zoni told me a story about he came to be involved in coverage of the C.W. Post Pioneers/LIU Sharks Homecoming game, as well as encountering Bill Mozer immediately before and after the university fired Bill as station manager in 1990.
As John and I continued to talk, I could hear Bernie wrapping up her show. So, I rushed back into studio 2 to record camcorder videos.
Here is a scope of the entire show:
And a composite aircheck video:
Outside the studio, a photo of Dan Cox (right) with Winnie and Tony Traguardo:
A candid shot of Bobby G. and Jeff Kroll:
Bobby took a photo of me and Jeff:
I should note I bought that blue and gold LIU polo on my way out of the stadium. I chose to wear a green and gold LIU Post shirt that predated the “One LIU” athletics merger and move to NCAA Division I, but it felt wrong wearing that shirt. I changed into the new one when I got back to WCWP.
Pat Kroll took this photo of me and John Zoni:
She also found a CD in my name in one of the station mail slots, per this photo taken over a week later:
The artist said there was one instrumental track for me to play on Instrumental Invasion, unaware that my weekly run ended last November.
Anyway, it was on to Mike Riccio and Bobby G. at 6:02 PM. The theme this year was songs from 1961 to 1989 albums that have been streamed the most on Spotify. Bobby, Jett Lightning, and Bernie Bernard had to guess what the most-streamed song was before Mike began each set.
Mike Riccio 
Bobby G. 
Jett Lightning 
A posed photo of Jett Lightning 
Bernie Bernard returned to studio 2 by the 1970s portion of the show. 
Before I packed up my equipment and left for home, I got a photo of Mike Riccio and Bobby G.:
Here is a scope of most of their show. I edited out a talk break I intruded on and would like to forget.
And a composite aircheck video of all but that one talk break during their first 82 minutes:
Vince Randazzo came on at 9:03 PM with Alternative Jukebox. Yet again, I dip into the archives for a photo of him, taken at the 2022 WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony:
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22
Photos from Sunday are courtesy of Pat Kroll and Ted David.
I airchecked the last 18 hours of the weekend, beginning at 6AM with a pre-record of The Aural Fix Transmission with Mike Ferrari:
From here on out, everything was live, beginning at 8AM with Jay LaPrise:
The Ladies of Prison Break Radio, Jamie Mazzo and Sara Dorchak were next at 10:02 AM.
At 12:01 PM, it was Joe “Joseph P.” Honerkamp:
Photo by Ted David 
Jeff Kroll, Ted David, Joe Honerkamp (photo by Pat Kroll)
It was Ted David’s turn at 1:59 PM:
Thank you, Ted, for complimenting me and Travis Demers.
Ted, in turn, was followed by Lew Scharfberg at 4PM (photos by Pat Kroll):
Lew’s show was one of many on Homecoming Weekend engineered by Jeff Kroll.
Alana (seen below in 2022) hosted a special edition of The Rockin’ Sunday Show at 6:01 PM:
Grandfather Rock Chris MacIntosh was here with Rock ‘N’ Soul Gospel at 7:59 PM:
And Billy the Kid closed out Homecoming Weekend at 10:02 PM with Masters of Metal.
Post-production, no pun intended, began on the morning of September 23 and concluded on the morning of October 4 with publication of this post and the Instrumental Invasion posts.
Thank you very much for reading all the way to the end. In spite of any anxiety and stress, documenting events like this is a labor of love. I’m already looking forward to next Homecoming Weekend, but before then, WCWP celebrates its 60th anniversary as an FM station this March. I’ll surely have a recap of that.
Cheers to WCWP, the Abrams Communications Center, LIU Post, my fellow alumni, and the faculty I’ve gotten to know. I’ll see you soon.
10/5 UPDATE: I have a public Google Drive folder with airchecks and scopes of the Homecoming Weekend programs I recorded, while station manager Dan Cox has a folder with unscoped airchecks of all programming.
SJFS 2024 Night 2 recap May 2, 2024
Posted by Mike C. in Audio, Classical, Health, Internet, Jazz, Jazz Fusion, Livestream, Music, Personal, Pets, Photography, Pop, Radio, smooth jazz, Travel, Video.add a comment
The night of Saturday, April 20, would bring the second set of Jay Rowe‘s 20th Smooth Jazz for Scholars, benefiting the Milford Public Schools music department. Before I recap that, I have another long preamble listing how my day went before the show itself. (Scroll down to Kevin McCabe’s first photo if you don’t want to read it.)
I got six hours of sleep, waking up around 7:30 AM. I neglected to pack mouthwash and could only rinse with warm water on Friday evening. My room at Hampton Inn – room 144 – lacked a bottle of complimentary mouthwash. Upon returning to the hotel from Veterans Memorial Auditorium at Parsons Complex, I asked the front desk if they had any, since a message in my bathroom said to ask there. The clerk had bad news: no mouthwash there, either. Thus, upon waking up Saturday morning and doing a few sets of push-ups, I got dressed, put on my jacket with a sun visor to keep the jacket’s hood from drooping below my forehead, and walked to a nearby supermarket on Boston Post Road (U.S. 1). The approximately quarter-mile walk took me across Plains Road, through a shopping center that featured an Aldi, and to Big Y. Once inside Big Y, I bought pairs of Cool Mint and Total Care Listerine travel-size bottles, a three-pack of ChapStick Medicated (the tube I had was almost finished), and a $1 reusable bag. That should hold me over for the next year or so.
Once back at Hampton Inn, I entered from the south side with my key card and went back to my room. I showered, got dressed in clean clothes, and brought my laptop to the lobby for breakfast and mingling with any musicians or fans I happened to see. Estella Taylor-Greene and Norma Rohadfox were there, Rob and Mel Hoogenboom were there with their dog Olive (third photo below), Mark and Phyllis Abrams had their dog Cody (first and second photos), and Friday night headliner Althea René was there (fourth and fifth photos with Rob, Mel, and Estella).
All the while, I sat at the elevated table with my laptop, eating banana muffins and drinking apple juice. (I didn’t feel like eggs or waffles and it was too late for cereal.) On the laptop, I went through the 401 photos I kept from Friday night, deleting anything overly blurry or where Althea wasn’t blowing into her flute’s lip plate or fellow headliner Marcus Anderson wasn’t on his alto saxophone’s mouthpiece. I struck up a conversation with a young couple who were in town for a friend’s wedding as the boyfriend marveled at the photos I was going through. Diane Roth and her partner Rich said hello and I spoke them for a bit, as I did with John and Theresa Monteverde. I’ve seen John and Theresa since the Houndstooth Pub shows in the early 2010s. They live in Merrick here on Long Island and John was retired from working at the Citibank in Freeport, near my day job. There wasn’t any caffeine free tea available in the lobby; only black tea, which has caffeine. So, John offered a green tea bag from his room and I drank from that instead.
My parents Lisa and Bill came down to check out of their room around 9:30 and said goodbye before driving back to Long Island. My dad is in the Freeport Fire Department (in Truck Co. 1) and they were holding their annual installation dinner Saturday night at a hotel in Melville. It was there that fellow Truck 1 member Joe Falco was named honorary chief for his 50 years of service. (Joe is a 9/11 survivor, and was the focus of a documentary that served as my college senior project.)
Saturday headliner Steve Cole came down to the lobby at one point and I struck up a conversation with him and another fan that was seated next to him.
By 11:30, the lobby began to thin out, so I brought my laptop back to my room. Before finishing up winnowing Friday’s photos, I walked to the fitness center to lift weights. As I exercised, I listened (on my phone) to the remaining “from the vault” tracks on the redone 1989 (Taylor’s Version), one of the CDs I bought when building my Taylor Swift studio album collection earlier in April. “Is It Over Now?” accompanied me back to my room where I completed the winnowing process. 280 of the 401 photos remained.
After eating a protein bar, I used a newly discovered time-saving tool to easily rename the photos from my Canon EOS R7‘s filename system to my date specific names. The old way was long and tedious. Since these photos were taken April 19, 2024, the filenames would begin with “MC41924” and follow with 001 and beyond. A My Life in Gaming video (released exactly two months earlier) introduced me to Advanced Renamer. Thankfully, my task did not require paying for registration. I imported the files, typed “MC41924” in the “new name” section, clicked on “<Inc Nr> – Incrementing Number,” clicked “start batch,” and “start” in the prompt. Immediately, all photos were renamed, from MC41924001 to MC41924280. The process was just as easy for renaming the watermarked photos chosen for the blog posts. Watch this clip from my April 27 photo editing Twitch stream to see how that went. (I streamed most of the photo editing process on my Twitch channel over a seven-day period before going back to video games.)
With the renaming taken care of, I began editing Friday’s remaining 280 photos. I wasn’t going to get them all done, but I did as much as I could. I also jumped ahead to the meet and greet photos since they’d be easier to edit. I listened to various tracks in iTunes by Casiopea, the Chick Corea Elektric Band, and the Dave Brubeck Quartet until around 2:00 when Courtney Visser and Cerian (“kerry ann”) began their Twitch streams. They guided me through the next two hours (and 85 photos) until a second shower and a walk back to Pasquale Pizza for another pasta dinner. I went from rigatoni with meat sauce on Friday to tortellini with meat sauce on Saturday. After paying the check, I went to Cumberland Farms for the same ice cream pints as Friday: Twix Cookie Dough and Snickers. Approaching Hampton Inn’s south entrance, I thought about a line in Taylor Swift’s “Is It Over Now?”: “you search in every model’s bed for something greater.” I joked to myself, yeah, like I have access to models – model cars I made when I was a teenager. (I showed off those cars in the second SJFS photo editing stream.)
My friend Kelly Dacey arrived in the parking lot at 7:00 to drive me to the auditorium. I carried all my gear from my room to her Kia Sportage and put them in the front seat with me. That gear again:
- Canon EOS R7 with RF-S 18-150mm lens
- Panasonic HC-X1500 with VW-HU1 and Rode VideoMic GO II
- GoPro HERO7 with YOLOtek Juicebank
- Magnus VT-300 tripod
- Targus tripod (model number unknown; yes, I said “model”)
We briefly spoke to Steve Cole as he stood outside before his trip to the auditorium. He remembered Kelly from a 2013 Houndstooth Pub gig where she brought her saxophone lesson book with her. After one song, he joked to her “that’s page [I forget the number] in your book.”
Kelly parked in the lot adjacent to Wasson Field, a baseball field where a game was in progress. We walked in to Veterans Memorial Auditorium and I set up my equipment in the orchestra pit. Then, I went back to the lobby to buy a copy of Saturday headliner Blake Aaron‘s latest CD, Love and Rhythm, from Michelle at the merchandise table. I said hello to Jay Rowe’s mother Mia DiStasi who stood at a table next to the 50/50 raffle table. It was there that I bought three tickets for $10. I didn’t expect to win, but I figured I’d take a chance.
On my way back in, I said hello to usher Steve Lewis and his daughter Jen, and to Paul, another usher.
I saw Kevin McCabe and asked if he had a set list for that night, he said no and quickly moved on. There were a lot of things to take care of before the show, after all. Fortunately, I came across Jay Rowe who was able to forward me his e-mail to Kevin with both night’s set lists. So, in the pit, I wrote down the songs on my stenographer pad.
As I was copying the set list, John Monteverde approached me to ask if he and Theresa could drive me back to Wantagh on Sunday morning so my parents wouldn’t have to drive back from Melville to get me in the afternoon. After talking it over with my mom, I agreed. It was set: John, Theresa, and I would check out of our rooms around 9AM, they’d drive me to Wantagh and then drive to their home in Merrick. And that’s why my photo editing streams began Sunday afternoon at my usual approximate 2:00 start time instead of Monday afternoon at around 5:30.
Most of the photographers were the same as Friday night: me, Katherine Gilraine, and Kenny Combs. Dolly Moye’s friend Rick joined us in the pit along with Bill, a friend of Saturday headliner Marion Meadows. Andrew James could only make the sound check, while Ron Hancox couldn’t make it at all. He and his wife Nydia were flying to Greece at midnight.
8:00 finally came, and Kevin McCabe walked on stage to greet the audience:
He introduced the Jonathan Law High School Jazz Ensemble, directed by Dave Pelaggi. Mr. P’s ensemble performed “Blue Moon” and “Cry Me a River.”
Like Friday night, after the crew removed the chairs for the student performers, Kevin returned to thank sponsors and Milford officials…
…and again, showed off a work of art by Marion Meadows.
Then, he introduced the house band, led by Jay Rowe. (Pardon the sheet music tablet.)
In order of appearance, Saturday’s headliners were Blake Aaron:
…and Alex Bugnon:
The four-piece house band was made up of Trever Somerville on drums:
Dave Anderson on bass:
Andy Abel on guitar:
And music director Jay Rowe on keyboards:
This time, I put my earplugs in sooner, during the ensemble performance, and took them out after the finale.
SET LIST (Updated with videos on 5/25/24)
1. City Groove (Jay Rowe)
2023 single
Featured musician: Jay Rowe (keyboards)
2. Groovers and Shakers (Blake Aaron)
Originally heard on: Color and Passion (2020)
Featured musicians: Blake Aaron (guitar), Steve Cole (tenor sax)
3. Crush (Blake Aaron)
Originally heard on: Love and Rhythm (2024)
Featured musicians: Blake Aaron (guitar), Steve Cole (tenor sax)
Blake and Steve both had their share of jokes, but Steve had me in stitches. Before the next song, he said “Alexa…play Steve Cole.”
4. C’mon Y’all (Steve Cole)
Originally heard on: Without a Doubt (2023)
Featured musician: Steve Cole (tenor sax)
Ahead of Steve’s second song, he went from Amazon to Apple: “Hey Siri! (pause) All your phones just went nuts, didn’t they? Play ‘Mirage’!”
5. Mirage (Steve Cole)
Originally heard on: Turn It Up (2016)
Featured musician: Steve Cole (tenor sax)
6. Something About You (Timmy Maia)
Featured musician: Timmy Maia (vocals)
7. Don’t You Worry ’bout a Thing (Timmy Maia) (Stevie Wonder cover)
Featured musician: Timmy Maia (vocals)
8. Wishing on a Star (Marion Meadows)
Originally heard on: Player’s Club (2004)
Featured musician: Marion Meadows (soprano sax) (started in audience)
9. Marcosinho (Marion Meadows; Dave Valentin cover)
Originally heard on: Whisper (2013)
Featured musician: Marion Meadows (soprano sax)
10. Night Groove (Alex Bugnon)
Originally heard on: Soul Purpose (2001)
Featured musicians: Alex Bugnon (keyboards), Marion Meadows (soprano sax)
Jay Rowe did not play.
11. Spellbound (Alex Bugnon) (Joe Sample cover)
Featured musician: Alex Bugnon (keyboards)
The story behind Alex’s cover of “Spellbound” involved filling in for an ailing Joe Sample at Yoshi’s in 2013. Spellbound was the first jazz album I ever bought, in the summer of 1998.
Jay Rowe did not play.
12. Europa (Blake Aaron) (Santana cover)
Originally heard on: Soul Stories (2015)
Featured musician: Blake Aaron (guitar) (played through audience at midpoint)
13. Attitude (Steve Cole)
Originally heard on: Without a Doubt (2023)
Featured musician: Steve Cole (tenor sax)
14. Southern Living (Alex Bugnon)
Originally heard on: Southern Living (2003)
Featured musician: Alex Bugnon (keyboards)
Jay Rowe did not play.
15. Romantica (Marion Meadows)
Originally heard on: Player’s Club (2004)
Featured musicians: Marion Meadows (soprano sax), Blake Aaron (guitar)
16. Can We Talk (Timmy Maia) (Tevin Campbell cover)
Featured musician: Timmy Maia (vocals)
17 (Finale). Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground) (The Jacksons cover)
Featured musicians: Everyone
Photo galleries of the headliners, starting with Blake Aaron:
On to the house band, beginning with drummer Trever Somerville:
Bassist Dave Anderson:
Guitarist Andy Abel:
And Jay Rowe on keyboards:
On to medium shots. First, Steve and Blake’s “Groovers and Shakers” call and response:
Blake and Andy:
Marion and Alex:
Marion and Blake:
Steve and Marion:
Wide shots, led by the end of “Don’t Your Worry ’bout a Thing”:
End of “Wishing on a Star”:
End of “Marcosinho”:
End of “Europa”:
The ovation after “Europa”:
More audience shots during “Marcosinho”…
…and the finale, “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)”:
There’ll be more finale photos after shots of the 50/50 raffle.
Saturday’s pot was $1,250, $400 higher than Friday. As noted earlier, I bought three tickets for $10.
The winner was a photographer in the orchestra pit, but not me. That honor went to my fellow photographer Kenny Combs.
I congratulated Kenny when he returned to the pit.
That leaves the finale, “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground).” Coincidentally, that song closed the first Smooth Jazz for Scholars I attended in 2007, also featuring Timmy Maia as a headliner. Here are Saturday’s finale photos:
I balked at an opportunity to speak (and pose for photos) with Steve Cole and Alex Bugnon inside the auditorium, but did get a couple of photos in the lobby. Kelly was waiting for me there. She’d been talking to Jeff, a trombonist who got to play in a band with Steve Davis, another trombonist that Jeff considers his favorite.
As for the artists seen Saturday night, here I am with Blake Aaron:
I told Blake I’d played several tracks from his prior album, Color and Passion, on Instrumental Invasion. In turn, he noted he also hosted a radio show for a while.
The other photo taken in the lobby was with Marion Meadows:
Kevin McCabe finally got a copy of the set lists for both nights and handed it to me right before Kelly took the above photo.
My last photo of the night was a photo of a photo. Estella posed with Marion and his signed artwork (he signed the back of the print):
I briefly said hello to Timmy Maia before he left for the after party. I spoke to Jay Dobbins, Janet Abel, and Dolly Moye. Then, Kelly and I went back to the parking lot, into her SUV, and back to Hampton Inn. I hugged her goodbye until next year and thanked her for her friendship.
I was greeted in the lobby by Estella, Mark and Phyllis, Rob and Mel, their dogs Cody and Olive, and Bennett. Bennett is a loyal concertgoer who’s brought an acoustic guitar to all the shows he attends – including Smooth Jazz for Scholars – and has musicians sign that guitar. Taylor Swift is among those to sign his guitar!
Here is Bennett’s guitar, as seen Friday night:
To the chagrin of the hotel clerk at the front desk, Cody and Olive barked happily at their new friend Bennett. After she politely asked for the dogs to be quiet or brought back to their rooms, I bid everyone good night and went back to my room. I then repeated the process of unloading the photos and videos onto my laptop, and converting the RAW files to JPGs – 440 of them on Saturday – in Adobe Lightroom. All the while, Emily McVicker and her community kept me company on Twitch. For the second time that weekend, my stream viewership coincided with a resub; the start of my fourth month with Emily.
I’m not sure how much sleep I got, but it was at least four hours. I was awakened around 5:30 AM Sunday by chirping birds outside my room. It was too close to sunrise to bother putting in earplugs and trying to sleep a little more. So, I turned my laptop on and took a figurative machete to the 440 photos moved from my camera. 305 remained, and I swiftly (no pun intended) renamed them with Advanced Renamer.
I did not bother editing anymore photos. Instead, I backed up all photos and some videos to the portable hard drive I brought with me. I took a shower, got dressed, and packed up all but the laptop. Then, I went to the lobby for breakfast sans laptop. There was cereal this time, and I ate one small bowl each of Honey Nut Cheerios, Froot Loops, and Rice Krispies, adding a little milk for the first two. I had to eat very carefully because of my hand tremor, but eat I did. I complemented the cereal with two cups of apple juice. I spoke to Diane and Rich, Phyllis, and John and Theresa.
When I finished eating, I went back to my room. There, I packed up the laptop, gathered all my belongings, and trudged them all to the lobby for checkout. It was shortly after 9AM by then, but John and Theresa had yet to check out. So, I sat in the lobby behind the TV as CNN’s State of the Union aired. Within 15 or 20 minutes, they had checked out and we headed to the parking lot to load up their Toyota RAV4.
According to my watch, we left at 9:31. The ride flew by in time and conversation. With SiriusXM Watercolors on in the background, we spent the whole time talking about Smooth Jazz for Scholars, the other events we’ve attended (or they’ve attended), and other things in our lives. I forgot to check my watch when John pulled up to my house in Wantagh, but I assume at was around 10:51. It only took an hour and 20 minutes, shorter than any return trip from Milford since 2007. I recall fast return trips with my parents taking an hour and 50 minutes, but that’s because we would leave around 11AM. There was even less traffic earlier in the morning. I thanked John and Theresa for their generosity and we vowed to keep in touch. In fact, as I type this, I’m due to write back to John.
Now that I’m a Twitch streamer, I vowed to use my stream time to edit photos from Smooth Jazz for Scholars, and will do so again with later events like the WCWP Hall of Fame Ceremony and Long Island Retro Gaming Expo. From Sunday afternoon to Saturday afternoon, April 21 to 27, I streamed 15 hours of editing and picking photos to watermark for use in these blog posts. Since I didn’t want to get copyright strikes, I downloaded classic video game soundtracks off YouTube and played those in the background. I talked about my experience in Milford, about my progress listening to Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department, and anything else on my mind. I even picked up three photo editing stream followers along the way. I enjoyed sharing the process on Twitch and look forward to doing it again in June with my next event. Until then, it’s back to gaming.
I was in my element at Smooth Jazz for Scholars. I’m honored and privileged to document the event each year and to be surrounded by my fellow fans and musician acquaintances. Thank you very much to Jay Rowe, Kevin McCabe, the headliners, and all my friends. And thank you for reading one or both of my 20th Smooth Jazz for Scholars blog posts.
Until next year, I leave you with a montage of all seven photo editing streams at 100x speed, set to the Wurttemberg Chamber Orchestra performance of Bach’s “Concerto in A minor, BWV 1044 for Flute, Violin, Harpischord and Basso continuo: Allegro.”
SJFS 2024 Night 1 recap May 2, 2024
Posted by Mike C. in Audio, Health, Internet, Jazz, Jazz Fusion, Livestream, Music, Personal, Photography, Pop, Rap, smooth jazz, Travel, Video.add a comment
Friday, April 19, was the first of two nights of the 2024 Smooth Jazz for Scholars, hosted by keyboardist Jay Rowe in his hometown of Milford, Connecticut. It was the 21st anniversary, but 20th overall (postponed by COVID in 2020 and ’21). Each year, this two-night event (one night prior to 2012) benefits the Milford Public Schools music department. And as with most years, each night opens with a performance by student musicians under the direction of their music teacher. The “smooth jazz” part comes from the four to five headliners each night. I’ll name Friday’s four headliners after my preamble. (Scroll down to Kevin McCabe’s first photo if you don’t want to read it.)
A lot has changed in my life since last year (night 1, night 2). A chance browse of Twitch on the evening of May 9 sent me down another rabbit hole: the wonderful world of music streamers. As if my horizons hadn’t been broadened enough by Japanese city pop, idol music, and anime thanks to the likes of Caitlin Myers, I was now exposed to female vocalists from the United States, Canada, and even the UK (England, Ireland). Most have written and performed original songs, but others just do covers. Those covers exposed me to the likes of Maisie Peters, Olivia Rodrigo, and Taylor Swift. Over the last few months, I have become a Swiftie, and after buying her CDs, a savant that can name what album a given song appeared on. It’s weird looking in iTunes and seeing Taylor, Cerian (“kerry ann”), Katie Seto, and Steph La Rochelle juxtaposed with all my instrumentals. (I’ve been on a McCoy Tyner kick in recent months.)
On November 3, I joined the ranks of Twitch streamers, primarily playing video games, but occasionally breaking for media production. At first, that involved recording what part of what became the penultimate Instrumental Invasion show and then recording the finale. That was it until all of last week when I edited most of the photos from both nights of the 20th Smooth Jazz for Scholars, all while listening to video game music soundtracks. (I didn’t want to risk copyright strikes for playing music by the SJFS headliners.) Even though I’m not a music streamer, I raid out to (end by sending my audience to) music streams more often than any other category. My road as a streamer and a stream viewer has not been flawless. I’ve had my share of self-inflicted bumps and costly errors, which I won’t get into. On the whole, however, I’m satisfied with the path I’ve taken.
Unlike last year, I wasn’t the least bit anxious about the workload at the Parsons Complex Veterans Memorial Auditorium. I only feared having a meltdown while in Milford as I’d had at prior events like last year’s New York Comic Con (which I’ll never go to again) or various parties where I was out of my comfort zone. Miraculously, there were no meltdowns. I was in my comfort zone all throughout. Nothing broke me. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
I spent parts of Thursday and Friday morning packing up for my journey to Milford. I would be staying at the Hampton Inn on Plains Road, I-95 exit 36. My parents Lisa and Bill would stay until Saturday morning, return to Long Island for the Freeport Fire Department installation dinner, and drive back to Connecticut to pick me up by Sunday afternoon. (SPOILER: They wouldn’t have to come back for me. Read about that in the Saturday recap.)
We left our house in Dad’s Ford Explorer at 1:02 PM Friday. Despite pockets of traffic on the Northern State Parkway, Lakeville Road, and the Throgs Neck Expressway (I-295), we reached the Hampton Inn parking lot at 3:19, only two hours and 17 minutes later. SiriusXM’s Watercolors smooth jazz channel was on the car stereo, but I watched Twitch streams on my phone with earbuds. I started with Gillian Hayek‘s fishing game stream, then moved on to Natalie Paige‘s last stream before moving to Connecticut (can’t say where) from the Seattle, Washington, area. The stream coincided with my six-month renewal, and I chose Norah Jones‘s sinister-sounding “Miriam” for Natalie to cover.
At check-in, I had my dad request rooms facing the parking lot rather than I-95. I was in room 144, near the south entrance accessible by key card. Once my laptop was unpacked and I’d paid for two days of guest Wi-Fi, I returned to Natalie Paige’s stream and put on Ellie Fier‘s stream after 4:00. Ellie is the reason I became a Swiftie in the first place. Friday was a big day for Taylor Swift fans: release day for the latest album, The Tortured Poets Department. I’d already bought Taylor’s prior albums on CD earlier in the month and would be sure to rip the tracks from my TTPD CD (The Manuscript Edition) once I got home. (Yes, there’s The Anthology. I accessed those additional 14 tracks via YouTube Music.) As noted in my photo editing Twitch streams, I wouldn’t listen to all 31 tracks until the following Tuesday, finishing on the treadmill three mornings later. My only exposure to any track prior to then was Ellie’s rendition of “So High School,” track 22 on The Anthology.
At 5:30, like last year, my parents and I drove a short distance to Pasquale Pizza for a pasta dinner, preceded by garlic knots. When I was finished, I left my parents and walked back to Hampton Inn, stopping at Cumberland Farms along the way to buy two low-calorie pints of Mars candy flavored ice cream to eat in my room. One was Twix Cookie Dough and the other was Snickers. By this time, I paired Natalie’s stream with Katie O’Flaherty. I watched until shortly before 7:00, at which I packed my equipment to bring to the auditorium.
The Canon EOS R7 with RF-S 18-150mm lens was in my backpack with a stenographer pad (the same one I bought at the Milford CVS a year ago) and battery charger with spare battery attached. I kept the Panasonic HC-X1500 with VW-HU1 and Rode VideoMic GO II in a travel bag along with a spare battery, but that wasn’t all. I decided to bring my GoPro HERO7 with YOLOtek Juicebank attached for wide cutaway shots when repositioning the HC-X1500. That meant I brought a second tripod, by Targus (I forget the model number), aside from the Magnus VT-300 for the camcorder.
My parents dropped me off adjacent to the auditorium and I lugged my equipment in. It was all surprisingly lightweight. In the lobby, I stopped at the merchandise table where I bought a CD of Friday headliner Althea René‘s Live in Detroit from Michelle. Then, I proceeded to the orchestra pit, limboed under the rope on the right side, and set up in the center. Jay Rowe didn’t e-mail me the set lists for each night beforehand. So, I had to rely on what was said on stage. I only blanked on one song out of 15, but figured out what it was Saturday morning.
As 8:00 approached, I mingled with fellow photographers Katherine Gilraine, Keith McDonald, Ron Hancox, and Andrew James, and with fellow fans like Robin Morin Stewart, Judy Raphael, Mary Jane Manna, Rob and Mel Hoogenboom, and Mark and Phyllis Abrams.
At last, it was time for the house lights to dim and Kevin McCabe bid us “good evening” (and have us repeat it louder):
He introduced the John F. Kennedy Elementary School Select Grade 4 Chorus, under the direction of Theresa Voss.
I saw a stack of jackets on right side of orchestra pit when I arrived. They belonged to members of the chorus.
Kevin returned to thank sponsors and Milford officials:
Showing off one of Marion Meadows’ artworks, on sale in lobby
(Marion Meadows would be one of Saturday’s headliners.)
Jay Rowe had opening remarks, then went into first track – “City Groove,” his latest single. (The full set list follows introductory photos.)
In order of appearance, Friday’s headliners were Vincent Ingala:
…and Marcus Anderson:
Steve Scales was absent this year, but the rest of Jay’s house band was intact from last year.
Trever Somerville on drums:
Dave Anderson on bass:
Andy Abel on guitar (rhythm during Steve Oliver songs):
And directing at all, Jay Rowe on keyboards:
I forgot to put in my earplugs until the first song below. I took them out when the house lights went up after the finale.
SET LIST (Updated with videos on 5/22/24)
1. City Groove (Jay Rowe)
2023 single
Featured musician: Jay Rowe (keyboards)
2. Rosemary’s Tune (Jay Rowe)
Originally heard on: Live at Daniel Street (2011), Smooth Ride (2016)
Featured musicians: Jay Rowe (keyboards), Vincent Ingala (tenor sax)
3. Snap, Crackle, Pop (Vincent Ingala)
Originally heard on: Personal Touch (2018)
Featured musician: Vincent Ingala (tenor sax)
4. High Noon (Steve Oliver)
Originally heard on: Positive Energy (2002)
Featured musician: Steve Oliver (guitar, vocal sounds)
5. Skyway (Steve Oliver)
Originally heard on: A New Light (2023)
Featured musician: Steve Oliver (guitar, vocal sounds)
6. Pastel Leather (Althea René)
Originally heard on: Pastel Leather (2022)
Featured musician: Althea René (flute)
7. Life on Mars (Althea René) (Dexter Wansel cover)
Originally heard on: Flawsome (2019)
Featured musician: Althea René (flute, “flute talk” while playing through audience at midpoint)
8. Reverse (Marcus Anderson)
Originally heard on: Reverse (2022)
Featured musician: Marcus Anderson (alto sax)
9. Understanding (Marcus Anderson)
Originally heard on: Limited Edition (2017)
Featured musician: Marcus Anderson (alto sax)
10. Chips and Salsa (Steve Oliver)
Originally heard on: 3D (2004)
Featured musician: Steve Oliver (guitar, vocal sounds)
11. GoGo Bootz (Althea René)
Originally heard on: Pastel Leather (2022)
Featured musicians: Althea René (flute), Marcus Anderson (alto sax)
12. Care for You (Marcus Anderson)
Originally heard on: Reverse (2022)
Featured musician: Marcus Anderson (alto sax, rap interlude)
13. Personal Touch (Vincent Ingala)
Originally heard on: Personal Touch (2018)
Featured musician: Vincent Ingala (tenor sax)
14. On the Move (Vincent Ingala)
Originally heard on: Fire & Desire (2021)
Featured musician: Vincent Ingala (tenor sax)
15 (Finale). Miss You (The Rolling Stones cover)
Featured musicians: Everyone; Steve Oliver (vocals, vocal sounds)
Here are photo galleries of the headliners, starting with Vincent Ingala:
Now, the house band, beginning with drummer Trever Somerville:
Bassist Dave Anderson’s “Life on Mars” solo:
Guitarist Andy Abel:
Finally, Jay Rowe on keyboards:
On to medium shots, starting with Vincent and Jay:
Vincent and Dave:
Vincent, Andy and Trever:
Marcus and Jay:
Althea and Marcus on “GoGo Bootz”:
Wide shots from the end of “Life on Mars”:
End of “Chips and Salsa”:
“GoGo Bootz”:
End of “Care for You”:
Audience dancing during “GoGo Bootz”:
After “Care for You,” Kevin McCabe presented the basket of 50/50 raffle tickets.
I didn’t buy tickets on Friday night, but would on Saturday. 
Jay revealed he was in between cataract surgeries and will no longer need glasses. 
Jay picked the winning ticket. 
The $850 winner was Karen Russillo.
The finale, “Miss You“:
As I packed up, Phyllis Abrams showed me the rose she caught from Marcus Anderson, going so far as putting up to my nose. I said it smelled like fabric softener, but I meant carpet cleaner. Then, I introduced myself to photographer Kenny Combs, and said hello to Jay Dobbins, Janet Abel (Andy’s sister), and Dolly Moye. Dolly introduced me to her high school friend Rick. My friend Kelly Dacey was there and we spoke briefly in the auditorium, but more in the lobby during the meet and greet. Below are photos from the meet and greet.
Estella and Steve reprising the “Chips and Salsa” vocal sounds:
The next two photos are by Andrew James: me with the headliners – Steve, Marcus, Vincent, Althea:
Then, Jay Rowe joined in:
Dolly Moye let me have a pair of dancing sunglasses, as seen in this selfie, my last photo of the night:
At least that was the last photo taken that night on the EOS R7. Andrew wanted photos with the headliners and Jay, and Mark (a different Mark) wanted a photo with Marcus.
Kelly helped me bring the equipment to her, then we drove back to Hampton Inn where she dropped me off. She went to the after party, and I went back to my room to unload the photos and videos onto my laptop, and convert all the RAW files to JPGs in Adobe Lightroom. I had SashiBOOM and her dog Perry keeping me company on Twitch until that process was complete. Then, off to sleep.
Instrumental Invasion, 11/8/23 November 9, 2023
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Internet, Japanese, Jazz, Jazz Fusion, Language, Media, Music, Personal, Pop, Radio, Rock, smooth jazz.add a comment
NOTE: This is the last standalone Instrumental Invasion. I have agreed to end the run next week with three more shows airing on consecutive nights at 9:00: show 180 on November 15, 181 on the 16th, and 182 (the finale) on the 17th, my 42nd birthday.
The November 8 Instrumental Invasion on WCWP was another two-four recording: the first two segments on September 25, the last four on the 26th. A pickup was recorded on October 21.
The playlist was created on September 7. Annotations were made between September 13 and 18, with the talk break script drafted on the 20th. Caitlin Myers might have planted the “certified bop” seed, which is why I quipped how “Grooveyard” was that.
“Prince Vlad” by T-Square is probably the most metal thing I’ll ever play and it was followed by Najee‘s very smooth jazz thing.
I had to sacrifice another segment format to allow for more songs from recent releases. Next Wednesday, those songs will make up the entire show.
Click here to download this week’s scoped aircheck or listen below:
As a bonus, here is the music video for “Beyond the Galaxy” by Casiopea 3rd:
Instrumental Invasion, 10/25/23 October 26, 2023
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Audio, Baseball, History, Internet, Japanese, Jazz, Jazz Fusion, Livestream, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, Pop, Radio, smooth jazz, Sports, Travel, Video.add a comment
The October 25 Instrumental Invasion on WCWP marked the return of original shows after a nine-week hiatus. It was to be seven weeks, but reruns were delayed while the WCWP transmitter was moved. The move was part of ongoing renovations to the Abrams Communications Center.
Before I tell you “how I spent my summer vacation,” let’s get the scoped aircheck out of the way:
I was unable to resume radio show production until after finishing work on the Long Island Retro Gaming Expo photos and blog posts (part one, part two, part three).
I filled out my Casiopea and T-Square collections in July, I expanded my McCoy Tyner collection in September, and new smooth jazz CD preorders (plus one big band release) periodically arrived at my doorstep. Not having an outlet for those new releases required me to make up for lost time in this show’s playlist and the three that followed. I worked on all of them together, one at a time.
The show 177 playlist was created September 5 and 6, and annotated with the next three playlists between the 13th and 16th. The talk break script was drafted on September 19. The first four segments were recorded on the 22nd and the last two on the 23rd. No pickups were necessary during a quality control session on the 30th.
In all, it took me eight days to principally record shows 177 to 180, plus one day of checking for mistakes and mixing down segments. I continued my rerun-proof practice of leaving out dated references and will do so for as long as I’m on the air.
“The Bones” was one song I neglected to play from David Benoit‘s A Midnight Rendezvous last year, but I was inspired to end this show with his cover after he used it in a story post to his Instagram account. I made two “Dem Bones” references while talking it up and made sure to end with “‘The Bones.’ The bye!” The “ya see” ad-libs were icing on the cake.
I recycled the “I’ll Take Romance” tidbits from when I played Beegie Adair‘s by-the-books version nearly one year ago (November 2, 2022). An obsession with McCoy Tyner’s solos on his Blue Bossa arrangement led me to include it here. “Point of Departure” by Nelson Rangell was originally played on September 16, 2020.
“The Washington Post,” a John Philip Sousa march performed by the Band of the Grenadier Guards, was the middle song of the first segment due to a timing error I initially missed. While that error was caught before recording, the fourth segment error wasn’t. Like in show 176, however, it worked out for the best because I was building up a surplus.
Himiko Kikuchi‘s Flying Beagle was an additional music acquisition this summer, so expect to hear more from that eventually. “Fluffy” was a nice start, and good opportunity to share some of my Japanese learning. I originally learned of “fuwa fuwa” and other onomatopoeia from this Mochi sensei video. On the subject of Japanese teachers/Twitch streamers, I consider Misa an intermediate gamer, but not a pro. That doesn’t ruin her fun, nor the fun of subscribers like me. I began treating her ever-growing Dark Souls: Remastered death count (“YOU DIED”) like career home runs, syncing them to milestone home run calls when milestones arose. Her 400th is one example:
Misa racked up over 200 more deaths since that video, but 80 minutes before air, she finally defeated Ornstein and Smough! I set that triumphant moment to Russ Hodges‘ call of the Shot Heard ‘Round the World, via a retrospective on The Best Damn Sports Show Period. This time, I left in Misa’s audio. Enjoy!
Back at it next week. I’ll leave you with Anders Enger Jensen‘s “Borderline” video:
My city pop discovery (and reacquaintance with Garfield and Friends) March 5, 2023
Posted by Mike C. in Animation, City Pop, Comedy, Comics, Film, Game Shows, Health, Internet, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Phone, Pop, Radio, Technology, Travel, TV, Video, Video Games, Weather.2 comments
NOTE 1: This is also a Garfield and Friends story with several montages among the city pop material. Those montages led me to city pop.
NOTE 2: I consulted my computer audio recordings of the Garfield and Friends DVDs to ensure the video embed caption quotes are verbatim.
NOTE 3: I even spend a paragraph on The Weather Channel tribute site TWC Classics, a simulator that re-creates the old local forecasts, and recently departed announcer Dan Chandler who lent his narration to the sim.
Nearly 50 years ago, Japan’s economy was booming and a new leisure class developed. That leisure class begat a new Japanese pop music genre, borrowing elements of various Western music genres. They called it city pop. What began in the 1970s, peaked in popularity in the ’80s, then fell out of the Japanese mainstream.
City pop found a new Western audience in the 2010s thanks to blog posts like mine (but earlier), Japanese reissues of the genre’s albums, and YouTube uploads of the albums’ tracks. From a 2023 perspective, I give YouTube most of the credit. Today, it is the best city pop recruitment tool.
The rest of this post is about how I discovered city pop and recounts my first nine days as a fan. If you want to read more about the genre and its resurgence, I recommend Cat Zhang’s 2021 Pitchfork article and Wikipedia’s city pop entry.
On February 19, YouTube recommended a video with random clips from my favorite cartoon series, Garfield and Friends:
Jim Davis created the Garfield comic strip and CBS TV specials, but Mark Evanier (with Sharman DiVono for three seasons) spun comedy gold on CBS Saturday mornings from 1988 to 1994 (the last rerun aired in ’95). I can quote parts of episodes or even whole episodes. So, when watching the above clips, I knew what happened next.
The next Garfield and Friends clip in my recommendations came on February 20:
The evening of February 21 was my city pop entry point, but we’re not there yet. The prelude to the entry was this:
Full disclosure: I met Jim Davis at a signing in March 1995, but I was too shy and just had him sign a sketch. And I interviewed Jon Arbuckle voice actor Thom Huge (HUE-ghee) three times for The Mike Chimeri Show. (In retrospect, I would have held off on the first interview until his voice was back to normal.)
The Jon Arbuckle montage led YouTube to recommend this:
Whoa! What is that song that sounds vaguely like “Burnin’ Up the Carnival” by Joe Sample (from Voices in the Rain)? I scrolled down and saw the song was “4:00 A.M.” by Taeko Onuki (or Ohnuki). I searched Google on my iPhone and the Taeko’s Wikipedia entry (linked in the previous sentence) and found the song. That prompted the YouTube app where I heard the whole thing:
Whoa again, it appeared on an album with the last name of a few of my friends, but with an extra N. Lyrics are here.
1:30 PM UPDATE: A member of the My Life in Gaming Discord server told me the album title was part of Taeko’s fascination with French media, which I confirmed after a Google Search yielded this 2017 interview. Still, Mignonne is one letter off from my friends of Italian descent.
3:10 PM UPDATE: I just finished reading the interview linked in the prior update. It was an interesting read, but I was disappointed to learn Taeko did not like Mignonne because of what transpired during production. The resulting disenchantment, and poor sales, made her take a two-year hiatus from the music industry. Anyway, back to the good stuff.
Taeko’s Wikipedia entry led me to the one on city pop. That’s what I heard and I wanted more.
I could not stop listening to “4:00 A.M.” Ironically, it kept me up past midnight, but not as late as 4AM. I was up at 4AM on March 4 when I drafted this blog post thanks to a period of strong easterly winds that buffeted my bedroom window. The song’s refrain may sound vaguely like the later “Burnin’ Up the Carnival,” but the song otherwise had more in common with the works of Bob James and Grover Washington Jr. The line “ima o” was phrased like “that’s the time” in “Feel Like Makin’ Love” by Roberta Flack, which Bob played on and then covered. The guitar solo on the ending breakdown sounded like it came from Eric Gale‘s hands. (It was from Tsunehide Matsuki‘s hands.) I have repeatedly imagined Grover Washington himself covering “4:00 A.M.” on alto saxophone, soloing (improvising) from the last refrain, through the breakdown, all the way to the end.
I should probably acknowledge that I am on the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum, formerly known as Asperger Syndrome. That probably explains my intense focus on one thing or another, and attention to detail.
I was busy with radio show production on February 22, but “4:00 A.M.” was in the back of my mind and I was intent on extracting the audio and assigning the WAV file to a vintage Weather Channel local forecast flavor in my WeatherStar 4000 simulator. Now, I could hear all but the last 36 seconds with the current conditions and forecast, peppered with Dan Chandler’s re-created narrations. (I was in touch with Dan for a few weeks midway through my tenure at WGBB, and he even called in while I was playing a song. I didn’t put him on, but relayed what we talked about, including “reading the sports pages” as he listened to the live stream. After writing that sentence, I’m sorry to learn that he passed away on February 7 [obituary].) The simulator was already populated by music cues from The Price is Right and adjacent Goodson–Todman game shows. See the February 15 Instrumental Invasion recap for more on that obsession.
While my “4:00 A.M.” obsession continued, YouTube had more city pop recommendations, including a modern music video for Mariya Takeuchi‘s “Plastic Love“:
Oh, and another Jon Arbuckle montage:
As the “Plastic Love” video wound down, I pretended to be Dan Ingram back-selling the song, quipping that it was better than polyurethane love.
My vocal city pop discoveries halted for the next few days when I found a city pop creation befitting my love of instrumental music: jazz fusion supergroup Casiopea!
First, I found “Midnight Rendezvous“:
Then, “Eyes of the Mind” before the “the” was added:
Groups like Casiopea and T-Square (formerly The Square) have influenced generations of video game music composers.
I woke up on February 23 after a full night’s sleep and was greeted with two more Jon Arbuckle videos:
As I listened to my radio show aircheck from the night before, I began extracting audio from whatever Casiopea albums were on YouTube (mostly via their “topics” channel), provided the cover art available online was clear and at least 1500×1500 pixels. If AI upscaling in Adobe Photoshop yielded poor results, I’d buy the CD myself and scan the artwork. That’s what I did for Flowers (1996), but I bought Euphony (1988) because it wasn’t on YouTube. I will eventually buy the actual CDs, but given the inflated import prices, collection take a while. Here’s what I do have:
- Casiopea (5/25/79) (Alfa)
- Super Flight (11/25/79) (Alfa)
- Thunder Live (4/21/80) (Alfa)
- Make Up City (11/21/80) (Alfa)
- Eyes of the Mind (4/21/81) (Alfa) – featuring the aforementioned Bob James
- Cross Point (10/21/81) (Alfa)
- Mint Jams (5/21/82) (Alfa)
- 4×4 Four by Four (12/16/82) (Alfa)
- Photographs (4/23/83) (Alfa)
- Jive Jive (11/30/83) (Alfa)
- The Soundgraphy (4/25/84) (compilation album) (Alfa) – I have the title track, the lone original recording
- Down Upbeat (10/25/84) (Alfa)
- Halle (9/10/85) (Alfa)
- Casiopea Live (9/25/85) (Alfa)
- Sun Sun (9/10/86) (Alfa)
- Euphony (4/25/88) (Polydor/Aura) – the CD reissue I have includes “Halle” from Casiopea Perfect Live II (7/10/87) as a bonus track
- Full Colors (5/25/91) (Pioneer)
- Dramatic (5/21/93) (Alfa)
- Answers (5/25/94) (Alfa)
- Asian Dreamer (12/16/94) (Pony Canyon)
- Freshness (5/19/95) (Pony Canyon)
- Flowers (9/20/96) (Pony Canyon)
- Light and Shadows (9/3/97) (Pony Canyon)
- Material (5/19/99) (Pony Canyon)
- Ta•Ma•Te Box (11/20/13) (Hats Unlimited) (CD tracks only)
- A•So•Bo (4/22/15) (Hats Unlimited) (CD tracks only)
- New Topics (10/12/22) (Hats Unlimited)
I’m still working my way through the albums chronologically in my spare time. Flowers is gradually on its way from a Japan Discogs markeplace seller, so I jumped from Freshness to Light and Shadows. That’s where I am as of publication on March 5. (I got in eight hours of sleep the night before.)
The last item in this post’s Casiopea segment is T2norway‘s video profile of them, preceded by his city pop story:
The night of February 23, YouTube recommended two more Garfield and Friends videos. One was yet another montage:
And the other was a series review by Nostalgia Critic, played by Doug Walker (who was born the same day as me!):
I was let down by his critiques of certain characters and the animation style, not to mention his disdain for U.S. Acres. Nonetheless, I respect his dissent.
My city pop discoveries resumed on the night of February 25, related to “Plastic Love.” Leading off, a Super Famicom/Nintendo rendition:
That was followed by the infamous long version of the Mariya Takeuchi original (lyrics):
(As of March 13, the video was taken down. In the long version, one verse repeated and the ending chorus was extended, exemplified below.)
Since I was watching in a web browser, I saw recommendations on the right side of the tab. The one that caught me eye was an English version of “Plastic Love”:
The singer-songwriter was Caitlin Myers, also a voice actress with a focus in anime and video games. She has two YouTube channels: one in her name and one called Interlunium. I was unaware of the scope of her work as I watched this first video. (3/31 UPDATE 1: Interlunium is a virtual idol group where Caitlin portrays Junko.) (3/31 UPDATE 2: Caitlin’s version of “Plastic Love” was reworked with original instrumentation and new vocals for her 2021 compilation, City Poppin’.)
More city pop discoveries came way on February 26. Figuratively waiting at the door to this new day was “Mayonaka no Door* (Stay with Me)” by the late Miki Matsubara, recorded when she was just 19 (lyrics):
*”Door” is lyrically transliterated “doa.” The full term means “midnight’s door (literally, door of midnight).” In another ironic twist, there were nights after discovering this song when I’d be awake around midnight as the refrain bounced around in my head. Sometimes, I imagined a fast tempo, “Spain“-esque Chick Corea version with a Minimoog solo. Others, I thought of McCoy Tyner.
Sure enough, Caitlin Myers wrote an English version of this, too:
Incidentally, I added both versions of “Plastic Love” and “Mayonaka no Door (Stay with Me)” to the WS4000 simulator, again using the five-minute local forecast flavor.
Knocking on afternoon’s door was the biggest discovery yet: Caitlin covered “4:00 A.M.”!
My city pop journey had seemingly come full circle. Now, I had English versions of the first three vocal city pop songs I discovered to complement the originals.
The Garfield and Friends video journey definitely came to end on the morning of February 28 with this video showing one second of each episode from show (or rather from each cartoon in each episode):
However, there was more city pop to be had that afternoon. Other Caitlin Myers English adaptations were in my YouTube feed, and I felt I had to hear the originals before listening to hers.
“Do You Remember Love?” was adapted from its directly-translated Japanese title, “Ai Oboete Imasu ka.” Sung by Mari Iijima, it underscored the intense climax to the 1984 film, Macross: Do You Remember Love? I foolishly watched that sequence on YouTube instead of a straight recording of the song, unable to unsee or unhear any of it. (And I thought Disney villain deaths were rough.)
Lucky for you, the reader, I found a straight recording (lyrics):
And the Caitlin Myers version:
3/13/23 UPDATE: “Do You Remember Love?” was J-pop rather than city pop, illustrating how songs from the subgenre led me to ones from the main genre.
“Dance in the Memories” was next, written and performed by Meiko Nakahara (lyrics):
Caitlin’s turn:
Closing out my first week in city pop, “Telephone Number” by Junko Ohashi (lyrics):
I had to make a 3-minute, 30-second local forecast flavor to accommodate the song’s 3:58 run time (3:59 for Caitlin).
As a suburban New Yorker, I like Magical‘s cover art of Lower Manhattan featuring the original World Trade Center. I passed by One World Trade Center in 2014 while running the Tunnel to Towers 5K.
The hook – “ah-uu, 5-6-7-oh-9” – brought two things to mind:
- “Ah-uu”: “Werewolves of London” by Warren Zevon – of course, that’s “a-hoo,” not “ah-uu.”
- “5-6-7-oh-9” (56709): Foreshadowing SMS!
Musically, Caitlin did a masterful job replicating the sound of each song she adapted into English. On behalf of city pop fans everywhere, thank you, Caitlin, for your efforts.
Thank you to the many city pop artists whose works inspired by our (the West’s) music have boomeranged back to us.
And thank you, the reader, for making it to the end of this post. Wish me luck on the rest of my city pop journey. Be sure to catch Instrumental Invasion April 26 at 9PM Eastern (April 27 at 11AM in Japan) on WCWP. It’ll be the first show with music by Casiopea, and about ten minutes into the last segment, I allude to some of what I laid out in this post because I play Scott Wilkie‘s cover of “Burnin’ Up the Carnival.” (5/2 UPDATE: Here is that show’s recap, along with my journey since writing this post.)
I’ll leave you with Caitlin Myers’ Japanese versions (lyrics by Datenkou) of “Never Gonna Give You Up“…
…and “September“:
MikeChimeri.com 
