Billboard Hot 200 Albums from 1968:
#1 Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced?
#2 Simon/Garfunkel/Soundtrack - The Graduate
#3 Cream - Disraeli Gears  
#4 Beatles/Soundtrack - Magical Mystery Tour
#5 Diana Ross/The Supremes - Diana Ross And The Supremes'
    Greatest Hits

Late 60's
A radio station can't operate without people (except WTVR-fm that played Music for Your Life on 18" reel-to-reel tapes) and WJRB was no exception. We had people coming out of the woodwork every September to volunteer until they learned that they wouldn't get paid. The staff kept the station on the air from 9:00 am in 1967 and later starting at 7:00 am to late at night, or at least as late as someone could stay up. Later we had the UGLY program sign on at midnight, but we don't know how late they went because the rest of us were asleep. We enjoyed a unique audience, one might even call a "captured audience", since the dorms all had curfews which meant we were not hanging out with friends from other dorms or at the Village or Gus' restaurants after curfew. Richmond had WLEE-am for contemporary Top 40 music and then there was WJRB. We were so popular that we received calls from the elevators in Rhoads Hall from the girls that just couldn't wait to request their favorites after checking in at the front desk and saying goodnight to their dorm mothers.
The WJRB studio in 1967. Doug Riddell is singing his heart out and is ready to play the next "45".

First song played on his first WJRB program: Different Drum, Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Ponies.

studio request line phone hot 45's Cigerattes cost 25 cents per pack in 1968 Doug Ridell
The studio was equipped with the latest state-of-the-art tube equipment. The rack of equipment (right rear of photo) maintained the levels of voice and music to a FCC specification required of all broadcast stations.

AC outlet microphone eggplant headphones Blank panel to cover up large open space in rack. Doug Ridell
Fred Whiting (seated wearing headset) had lots of help in preparing the newscasts circa 1967. Ties were required of all on-air personalities and ladies could not wear slacks or shorts except in their dorm rooms. Actually this is a staged picture since Fred wasn't actually on the air. He had forgotten his tie and a news recording from a previous day had to be used for his entire shift.
 		 Jim Webb Fred Whiting Jim Kent ventalation fan acoustic wall treatment on-air speaker Lynn Meadwell (Cox) Alan Davis John Alford John Legard Mrs. Alan Davis

Left to Right: (standing) John LeGarde, (seated) Fred Whiting, Unknown (Davis), Lynn Meadwell.
(standing back row) Jim Webb, Alan Davis, John Alford, Jim Atkinson. (move mouse over faces in IE)
The station members gather in the basement lounge to discuss the politics of the day along with the latest happenings with Dobie Gillis. The guy wearing a T-shirt (far right) must have been one of those anti-establishment guys (note the missing tie).


 		 Jerry Williams "Dusty Roads" Doug Ridell Allen Seawell Bill Phlager Dee Nichols Help Us Identify These People - Please These guys may have been the the Glee Club - we don't know These guys could be big record producers today - do you know them?
Left to Right: (lower row) Bill Phlager, Unknown, Doug Riddell, Allen Seawell, Unknown, Unknown.
(back row) Wayne Clark, "Dusty Roads", Dee Nichols, Jerry Williams.
Fred Whiting (left) discovered that wearing his headphones actually made his visits to the station much nicer as they muffled the sound of the rowdy station members that frequently gathered around him during his air shift to read the news. On this afternoon, Frank Minor (far right) was conducting interviews with the staff as they prepared to follow Fred into the studio. Al Smith is seen giving one of his biting sarcastic yet pithy remarks to Frank which summed up the excitement of the day.

Notice that this spot in the basement lounge (see photo above) was a frequent gathering place for staff. When we got chairs and a sofa it got even more popular.

Fred Whiting Elise Medding Doug Stell Judy Marshall (Stell) Barry Fitzgerald Cliff Sleeman Karl Strandfeldt Mark Meuller Bill Kaffenberger Linda Baker Kathy Doran Jim Kent Al Smith Frank Minor NOT AN EXIT expensive radio station taperecorder concreate floor that wasn't dug up trying to find the underground tunnel.

Left to Right: (standing) Fred Whiting, Elise Medding, (standing tall) Doug Stell, Judy Marshall (Stell), Barry Fitzgerald, Cliff Sleeman.
(kneeling) Mark Meuller, Bill Kaffenberger. (standing) Karl Strandfeldt, Linda Baker, Kathy Doran, Jim Kent, Al Smith, Frank Minor (with microphone).
Steve Antonacci (right) in the upgraded 1968 studio. Cart machines were introduced into the studio to play commercials and station IDs. It also made it look more like a real radio station studio.

John LeGarde went pro (broadcast engineer at WRNL-AM) and served as a liaison between WRNL and WJRB as he helped our engineers with technical issues, donated equipment and providing us news feeds.		 real 1960's hippie dippie psychedelic WJRB studio poster
Classic year book group photo of the station members. Seems the year book photographers weren't so interested in seeing the people that they were shooting as putting them in interesting poses and situations. Here the photographer has been chased onto a nearby roof during a photo session.
Barry Fitzgerald coming into work at the station for the famous underground radio program, UGLY.

Barry Fitzgerald
Midnight meant it was time for the Ugly program. Our answer to Casey Kasem.
(click on the poster)
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