Somewhere after growing up listening to radio stations WABX, WKNR, WWWW, WLLZ, WRIF, and WCSX, and after “good” music continued to disappear from the Detroit area airwaves, the aural landscape seemed pretty bleak.
Then something happened.
I can’t honestly pinpoint it, but I wish I could. I’m guessing it happened somewhere in the late eighties or early nineties. I don’t even remember what station it was on. I know it was owned by the Detroit Public Schools. 90.9 FM. I know it now broadcasts jazz and classical music.
But for a long time, for many years, probably more than a decade for me, I listened to a show called “Old and Gold” that was hosted by Sal and Dottie Leczynski and Bob Silverberg.
Every Sunday night from 6 PM-8 PM, I planned my day around being available to catch that show. They played vinyl, mostly 45s, and took turns doing it—probably like they did years before at home, when the music originally came out. They did segments on blues, rockabilly, doo-wop, Western swing, country, and with a heavy emphasis on mostly local artists. Sound familiar?
Now, I prefer to mix my genres up, but for “Old and Gold,” it worked. Since I came into existence after many of those styles of music were popular, the show was like a musical history lesson, one song at a time! Sometimes they would play a stack of A-sides, flip them over and play the B-sides—not necessarily an original idea, but I like that completest mentality when it comes to music.
Not everything Sal, Dottie, and Bob played was good. Far from it. But they played off each other well and were entertaining in their own way.
I wish I could tell you more about them and the show, but its run was before the internet and I couldn’t even find anything on it or them. I’m hoping this post will maybe point me in a direction where I can find out more. I did spend a lot of time with them!
This summer is the 50th Anniversary of “The Summer of Love.” That’s probably where Sal, Dottie, and Bob drew their line in the music sand.
I really have no desire to play the big hits, the “Top 40,” but I will give a nod to that anniversary on several of my shows.
I have run across some playlists from fifty years ago from stations WPAG in Ann Arbor and WKNR in Dearborn. I will play songs from those lists that in the words of those classic “Old and Gold” DJs, are “the bottom 40 with an anchor!”
The fun starts on Monday night’s “Prime Time Theme Attic,” from 8PM-10PM EDT!!! You can find it at 89.3 FM (WHFR) in the Dearborn—Detroit area, Tune In Apps, or with this special throwback link:
www.whfr.fm/images/stream_audio.html
Join me if you can!!!
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