December 11, 1992 – A sad day in the NY tri-state area, as WNEW last crossed the airwaves. WNEW was an extraordinary station and the memory resonates deeply with its listeners. For this reason, we are able to flip the sad to glad as I share with you a listener memory, sent in by Mr. Kevin Haynes.
My Mom had the kitchen radio tuned to WNEW morning, noon and night for my entire childhood, from toddlerhood in Brooklyn to getting ready for school on Long Island in the mid-1960s and beyond.
I fondly remember Klavin & Finch, William B. Williams, Ted Brown (my favorite!) and sportscaster Chip Cipolla, who once told a hilarious story about getting a piece of fan mail addressed to Gypsy Polo.
To this day, I still recall a couple of the station promos as well as the jingles for Chicken Delight and Robert Hall (“School bells ringing/children singing/It’s back to Robert Hall again…”)
I recorded WNEW’s final two hours to preserve the memories, bid adieu to a New York institution and share the fond farewell with Mom.
–End–
Mr. Haynes, Kevin, donated a digitized version of his long held cassette of the last two-hours of programming, saying,
“…I’m delighted to give it a new, loving home.”
Thank you Mr. Haynes, for your contribution.
This website cannot accommodate the size of those files, so, here are a few cuts from each of the 1 hour recordings.
If you are interested in hearing them in their entirety send your request to editor@wnew1130.com.
Cassette 1. Dec 12, 1992 Mark Simone and guests
6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Lena Horne
Jim Lowe
Sinatra
Cassette 2. Dec 12, 1992 Mark Simone and guests
7:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Ted Brown
Tony Monte & John Pizzarelli, Jr sign off / Jingles
Jim Harlan
Final on-air words and song, including some jingles
–MCP–
Thanks so much for the wonderful yet bittersweet attachment. WNEW was ALWAYS on in our house – the soundtrack of my life growing up. I was a weird kid I guess, but I loved the music. I can still hear the end of one of the jingles….”your metromedia station in New York”.
Marianne,
1130 will never fade from my memories. Truly, the most outstanding radio station. Did any other station provide the kind of quality programming of WNEW? In short, no. I was so lucky to grow up listening to WNEW and then WNEW FM. The soundtrack of a lifetime.
Mike
Dear Mike,
I had the great fortune to make quite a few visits to the WNEW studios, where the sounds of music and ticker-tape traded off. When I became a teen, I was permitted to “play” in the music room. There were multiple turn tables built right into the counters, and walls and walls of records. I was just weaning off Cousin Brucie, so this was an emerging music lovers dream come true. I was too young to understand the significance of sign of times with WNEW-FM, but, I did love my T-shirt.
I can’t seem to attach a picture here, so have included a link.
https://www.wnew1130.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/WNEW-t-shirt-scaled.jpg
Hi Marianne:
Thanks for sharing my thoughts with the WNEW community. You did a great job selecting clips from the 2-hour finale. I hope you get a lot of positive feedback and warm reminisces.
Wishing you a happy holiday and a healthy 2025.
All the best,
Kevin
You’re quite welcome, Kevin. And, thank you for sharing your story and the audio. I’m sure it will bring back many memories for many people.
Best wishes-and, have a wonderful holiday season.
Marianne