The Buzzard
Inside the Glory Days of WMMS and Cleveland Rock Radio--A Memoir
by John Gorman | Tom Feran
- Format: Softcover, 320 pages, 5.5 x 8.5 inches
- Illustrations: 37 black-and-white photographs
- ISBN: 978-1-59851-051-5
- Price: $14.95
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Description
Now in Paperback!
This rock and roll radio memoir takes you behind the scenes at the nation's hottest station during FM's heyday, from 1973 to 1986. Sex and drugs, music and merchandising—it was a wild time when the FM airwaves were wide open for innovation.
John Gorman led a small band of true believers who built Cleveland's WMMS from a neglected stepchild into an influential powerhouse. The station earned high praise from musicians and even higher ratings from listeners.
Gorman tells how WMMS remade rock radio while Cleveland staked its claim as the "Rock and Roll Capital" by breaking many major international music acts.
Filled with juicy insider details, this fast-paced story will entertain anyone who listened in during those glory days when FM delivered excitement and the Buzzard ruled the airwaves.
Reviews
- “Gorman's book is filled with anecdotes that transport the reader back to the rebellious days of radio (before corporate culture took over and deals could still be made with words and handshakes alone,) and his recollections provide a fly-on-the-wall perspective of the station's hallways, concert events, DJ personalities and celebrity interviews . . . Gorman's memories and behind-the-scenes accounts are the next best thing to having the WMMS of the late-1970s to mid-1980s still on the air. This entertaining and amusing read will be appreciated by avid listeners of “The Buzzard” during its heyday and anyone interested in Cleveland's music history.” — Cleveland Magazine
- “Written in an easy manner, parading zany, wonderful stories in a coherent, wildly entertaining style . . . If only radio today was as energized as this lot.” — Goldmine Magazine
- “Gorman's memoir isn't just about a radio station in Cleveland; it's about the precarious place of rock radio in American culture . . . His love for the station he helped to create is apparent on every page. In fact, Gorman's tale is so engaging that it's hard not to become a fan of WMMS even for those of us who never had the chance to tune in.” — Small Press Reviews
- “The Buzzard was well worth the wait. Graced by period photographs from the likes of Anastasia Pantsios, Janet Macoska and Bob Ferrell,[the book] is a largely riveting read. It's esssential for Clevelanders who lived through the glory days of WMMS, the FM station that virtually symbolized the city from the mid-'70s through the mid-'80s. . . Gorman is a personality and an astute radio guy . . . his energy and ingenuity-and the requisite ego-shine through here, making The Buzzzard a vivid, entertaining addition to the Cleveland rock story.” — coolcleveland.com
- “In his new memoir, Gorman takes us on a nostalgic, narcotic ride through the history of a station that broke some of music's top groups while leaving local competitors in the dust.” — Currents
- “What was it like behind the scenes at WMMS, the nation's hottest station during FM's heyday from the early 1970s to the mid-1980s? John Gorman, who ran the Cleveland radio station as music and program director and later operations manager, provides a riveting look at the events and people who shaped the station's history.” — Maple Heights Press
- “For those who grew up listening to the beat of the Buzzard (WMMS) while they went about their lives, Gorman's book might be just the ticket.” — Morning Journal
- “For baby boomers, the 320-page volume acts as a vivid walk down memory lane to a time when the Buzzard ruled the ratings books.” — News-Herald
- “. . . a time capsule of an era when FM rock stations were emerging from the underground and becoming big business. The stories Gorman tells-- of the sneaky ways WMMS obtained preview copies of new releases and evaded record company cease and desist orders, of the battles between station staffers and corporate management, and most of all the promotional and programming wars between WMMS and the many stations that tried (never with any great success) to knock it off its perch.” — Northeast Radio Watch
- “For anyone who remembers the days when the Buzzard ruled the airwaves, this is a rare glimpse into the sex and drugs, music and merchandising that made the station so successful.” — Northern Ohio Live
- “His memoir brings back all the eccenric personalities we remember, plus insight into the running of a radio station. And it's often funny. I love this book!” — Record Courier
About John Gorman
John Gorman began his broadcasting career in Boston and in 1973 moved to Cleveland to join WMMS, a small, free-form FM station then under new ownership. Over the next thirteen years he would help turn WMMS into one of the most popular and influential rock stations in the country. He served as music director and program director, and eventually became operations manager of WMMS and WHK.
In 1986 Gorman and twelve other staff members left WMMS to start 98.5 WNCX in Cleveland. He also founded a radio consulting firm, Gorman Media, and has worked with stations in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Cleveland, and other markets.
Gorman won the Radio Consultant of the Year award at the 1985 annual Pop Music Convention and was awarded Operations Director of the Year in 1995 by Billboard magazine. He was inducted into the Ohio Radio-TV Hall of Fame in 2000 and received an Award for Excellence in Broadcasting from the Cleveland Association of Broadcasters in 2008. He lives in Bay Village, Ohio. More About John Gorman
About Tom Feran
Tom Feran has been a writer and editor for the Plain Dealer since 1982. He was named Best Columnist in Ohio in 2007 by the Society of Professional Journalists, and is former president of the Television Critics Association of North America. His work has appeared in publications including Ohio, Cleveland and DirecTV Magazine, and he has been a regular pseudonymous contributor to the tabloid Weekly World News. He is author with R.D. Heldenfels of Ghoulardi: Inside Cleveland TV's Wildest Ride and Cleveland TV Memories. He was co-author with John Gorman of Gorman's memoir The Buzzard: Inside the Glory Days of WMMS and Cleveland Rock Radio, and with Chuck Schodowski of the memoir Big Chuck! He is a graduate of Harvard College, where he was president and editor of the Lampoon, and of Cleveland St. Ignatius High School. He and his wife are the parents of two daughters and two sons. More About Tom Feran