WCJM Free Internet Radio Station: “The Best Guitar Riffs Show – 2000

By WCJM Free Internet Radio:

After the greatness of the Best Song EVER! Show, the WCJM free Internet radio cast wondered how they would top themselves.  If the criteria are music quality and professionalism, then the answer is The Best Guitar Riffs Show.  This show held 26 of the best the guitar riff songs ever made, and even had two songs written by the hosts themselves!  Guitar riffs, or repeating guitar patterns as you hear in the background, were combined with Chris Moore’s radio personality, Jim Fusco’s producing power, Mike Fusco’s color comedy, Alberto Distefano’s lasting sense of humor, and Dave Perrelli’s witty interludes to make this show take over the title of the best Moore Hits in the Morning show ever!

The grouped gathered on the day between Good Friday and Easter (April 22, 2000) to have a part Easter celebration, part guitar riff show.  The show began with Mike’s famous theme song, and a three-minute clip of the best guitar riffs of all time, as you hear in the background.  Then came a shout out to the Parker Farms elementary school homework club, in which each cast member read off a list of names.  After that, the show began with Jim Fusco passing the hosting reigns on to Chris Moore, allowing him to do the tedious job of producing the show.  Right off the bat, they went into a song which also was the first candidate for the best guitar riff of all time.  After that the show moved right into the traffic, News, weather, sports, and technology information reports.  After this, the show went on with six more songs, and then the ending of the first side.

The second and third sides followed the same format, with a twin spin; traffic, News, and weather; and then a block of songs.  The last side however, followed at different format.  The last few songs were played, then traffic, News, and weather followed.  Then came a dedication to Jim Fusco by playing “Birthday” by the Beatles for Jim’s 16th birthday on April 29.  After that, Dr. K’s “Where Have All the Midgets Gone” aired, as well as a special song written by Jim Fusco about a friend of his on vacation in Germany.  The song was to the tune of the Beatles’ song “Back in the USSR”, but was more properly titled, “Back in the Good Ole Deutschland”.  These songs gave the cast some time to calculate the average score of each guitar riff.  (Throughout to show, each host rated each guitar riff on a scale from one through five, and five being the highest)  After the totals were calculated, two songs ended up with a perfect five score.  These two songs were then voted on a scale from one through ten.  After the recount, one song beat the other by only .4 of a point!  To find out what song won, click on the links below to listen to the tape in Real Audio!  Then, after listening to the songs, vote for what you think the best guitar riff is by clicking the poll link below.

If I may quote Chris, “We don’t need any of us here, because we’ve got the music.”  This is very true when speaking of the Best Guitar Riffs Show because of the pure quality of the music that was showcased in it.  The lead-ins to each song sound well thought out, and there are very few times when there is more than one conversation going on.  I guess after doing seven prior shows, the cast has now moved into true professionalism.  Moore Hits in the Morning has now set the standard for its future comedy radio shows.

Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.

WCJM Free Internet Radio Station: “The Theme-less Show” – 2002

By WCJM Free Internet Radio:

The year 2002 started off for WCJM free Internet radio on January 5. This was the day of the “Theme-less” Show. The idea, or lack of one, came from Jim losing the sheet with the show ideas on it! Instead of spending hours thinking of another idea, Dave came up with show’s theme. The cast would play any songs they liked and would throw in any skits they had, with no particular order.

Jim invited the entire cast over, but Jeff had to go to a UCONN basketball game and couldn’t make it. Mike happened to have his friend, Steve Tarca, over and Jim asked Steve to take Jeff’s place. As part of the show, Steve did a great job and had a great time. The cast did a tribute to George Harrison and gave the guitar great a moment of silence.

The show clocked in at almost 150 minutes long! This is the length of a double-play MiniDisc with 23 seconds to spare! The show included all the bands usually showcased on WCJM but with some extras making their first appearance on the station. Matt did his famous comedy routine and a special Bob Dylan skit that left Dave, Chris, Jim, Mike, and Steve gasping for air! Jim did his usual Food Critic and World Report skits including a comedy routine by the Food Critic. Jim also collaborated with Mike to make the “Wong Number” skit that proved to be one the show’s funniest segments.

Dr. Keck came on the show to give another ten minutes of hilarious puns and quips about his height and the world above him! Stuffy D. Bear made his appearance at the end of the show, as usual, and completely brought the house down. He even got his brothers, Stuffo and Stuffu for Christmas this year! And, as always, the Traffic, News, and Weather gang gave their hardly reliable information to the world.

The cast had a great time performing this show and for once, there were no fights! Even though Alberto had to leave three-quarters into the show, the show came out very professional and one of the best to date. Hey, it’s worth it to listen to the comedy radio show just to hear Dave’s new, hilarious, laugh!

Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.

WCJM Free Internet Radio Station: “The That Was Then, This Is Now Show” – 2007

By WCJM Free Internet Radio:

The show’s theme had been thought-up many years ago, and the ninth anniversary of WCJM free Internet radio would be a memorable one. Songs were chosen as a “then” and “now” from each band, for instance, a Beach Boys song from the 60s and one from the last couple years.

The skits would follow the same format. Before each skit or appearance by such standards as Dr K., Ben Case, the Food Critic, Traffic, News, and Weather, and others, a clip of some great lines from past shows would play. That would be our “then” before the guys busted out with their material from “now”!

As you listen to this show, you can hear how each of the cast members just loves being there. Being around old friends that you see maybe once or twice a year is special enough, but when you add comedy and creativity, it just ups the excitement. Matt was on, as usual, with his comedy routines and Celebrity Jeopardy. Chris had the cast rolling with his “Lightsaber Accidents” skit. Jim wrote more material than ever. Mike and Alb cracked about whatever they found funny. Jeff provided his usual hilarious segments, plus a Top Ten list.

For this show, there was an eighth member. Cliff Huizenga, a college friend of Jim’s, fit right in to the WCJM cast. Let’s just say that he can dish the insults right along with the usual cast. Cliff was invited as a special guest for this show because of his tireless (okay, maybe he was tired) efforts on the WCJM website. His knowledge and skill helped put this site together and the entire cast is very grateful.

The show was recorded differently this time. Two condenser microphones were used back-to-back in the center of the room. This allowed the cast to sit in an on-obscured circle, plus the microphones picked everyone’s voice up perfectly! If you listen to this show on headphones, note the great stereo effect. It really sounds like you’re in the room with them!

This is clearly the longest WCJM show to date- about four hours! But, there’s over 20 segments and skits combined with great music to make that time just fly by. Well, there’s one thing about WCJM- the funny radio shows are great- both then and now!

Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.

WCJM Free Internet Radio Station: “The Best Song EVER! Show” – 2000

By WCJM Free Internet Radio:

Jim Fusco’s constant quest for perfection reached its final destiny.  He had obtained perfection due to hours of careful planning and tedious work to make The Best Song EVER! Show a free Internet radio masterpiece.  First, Jim asked everyone in the cast, which now included Dave Perrelli as a permanent member, to pick the top three songs of all time (in their opinion).  He also threw in a suggestion for everyone to pick the worst song of all time, just to add a little comedy to the show.  After all the times were given to Jim, he wrote up an elaborate, down to the second, 3 page, typed outline of the proceedings of The Best Song EVER! Show.  But the show was going to be a little different from all the others.  There was too much music to put the whole show on one 90 minute tape.  Therefore, he was forced to choose two 60 minute tapes, making it an interesting double album.  Each of the 30-minute sides had a total time allowed for the essentials: 29 minutes 30 seconds for side one, 26 minutes 30 seconds for side two, 27 minutes 30 seconds for side three, and 22 minutes 35 seconds for side four.  Although Jim knew he was very liberal on the allotted time for each side, Mike made complaints that Jim’s down-to-the-second planning would be too strict, just as it was during the Millennium “Mayhem” Celebration tape.  But he was proven wrong, because there was plenty of time for all that was needed, even giving leeway for free time and debate.

The tape went off without a hitch, the first side having traffic, news, weather, sports, and technology coupled with the third picks of all time.  Side two then continued with the second picks of all time and another information report.  The beginning of tape number two, or side three overall, followed the same pattern of the first two sides: an information report, and the first picks of all time.  Side four, however, started with a three minute heated debate.  The side then moved on to the elimination of the first ten songs, would whittle the list down to number 5.  The songs were eliminated from worst to best going around the table using the “seniority rule”.  A person could pick one song to eliminate at a time, or could pass their turn.  After getting down to No. 5, the group kept the audience waiting by then playing thirty seconds each of the worst songs ever (or as long as they could take it).  After that came an information report, then finally eliminating all the songs down to No. 1.  As it turned out, Alberto had the final choice between numbers one and two, finally selecting the number one song of all time.  The number one song was played over again, and then a promo for the “Party!” tape was played, and finishing off the tape with a debate.

There were some problems, though, that the cast faced during the recording of this tape.  Jim stereo does not stop recording once the side of the tape has ended, so when the cast lost track of time on the second side, the tape flipped over and started recording over the first side!  So, the first five minutes of the beginning had to be recorded over again, but the cast learned their lesson, and checked periodically for the end of every side.

Even though that incident left the first couple of minutes of the tape a little choppy, listening to the tape again, the sound quality is great, everyone’s microphone levels are perfect, there is no feedback, the content is perfect, and everything seems to blend together.  Jim had finally received what he had worked so hard to do.

This is merely the first step on the road to free Internet radio (and funny radio!) perfection…

Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.