Mornin’ Ginchers,
Are you ready to Tune in Tuesday? Let’s go back 30 years … Three Rivers Stadium, Saturday morning til night … the annual 3WS Summer Oldies Celebration! So let me set the stage… about two weeks ago while at my Ginchy store and museum, a young man, I would guess in his late thirties came up to me and asked if I would do a selfie picture with him for his Mother. As we stood there he explained that going through my museum was like a trip back in time. He told me from the time he was a little kid and into his early teens he would go to Three Rivers Stadium to take part in the 3WS Summer Oldies Celebration with his Mom. He said, “I never missed one … I stood on that field for hours looking up at that huge stage with all the people performing that we listened to on 3WS. He said I met you at a meet and greet when I was nine and now here I am standing in your museum reliving those golden days!” Can you believe that it was 30 years ago? I remember those days like it was yesterday … we had to be at the Stadium at 8:00 in the morning, sound checks began at around 9:00, then we would rehearse any of the acts that we were backing up. That took us up to about 4:00, dinner for all the musicians and acts was about 5:00. We then watched as the stadium filled up, 20,000, 30,000, 40,000, people covered the entire field and all the seats from dugout to dugout. There were festivities in the parking lots, all the 3WS jocks participated, contests, bands outside as people came in and music, music, music. The celebration went on into the night and then ended with Zambelli Fireworks! It was a common occurance to be in the holding area talking with our favorite performers, Frankie Valli, The Four Tops, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Lou Christie, the Marvelettes and James Brown … just to name a few. Since I was part of the morning Zoo, I did a double duty by interviewing many of the artists for the station. We even sang some a cappella from time to time on top of the 3WS trailor as people scatttered for a spot on the filed. The day was truly a celebration of music and people … it was America at it’s finest! I would go back to those golden days in a minute to have that feeling of unity and happiness! One thing I know for sure is … these days will live on in my mind forever and a day! Till tommorw, stay safe, stay healthy, help a neighbor when you can … and, GOD Bless!
Johnny