The Buzzard: Inside the Glory Days of WMMS and Cleveland Rock Radio--A Memoir

Former employee here (90’s) and when I saw this! I had to have it! I’m so blessed to have worked alongside a few of the greats -who are no longer with us... this includes the late great Mr. Michael Stanley (not WMMS) he was with WNCX, but his music was definitely played on the Great Buzzard! Rock On!! \m/

As a Clevelander, you just have to be ticked off. I was born in 1956 and the Indians haven't won the World Series in my lifetime. The Browns haven't even been to the Super Bowl. So when we became the Rock & Roll Capital of the World, we were proud... until it all fell apart.I started listening to FM radio intently when WNCR and the WMMS started playing truly progressive rock. They turned me on to the groups that are still my favorites to this day. That was the appeal: "I wonder what cool thing I'm gonna hear next?"There is no underestimating the importance of rock in the mind of a Cleveland-area teenager in the 70's. It was a religion. You see, for those of us fortunate enough to have lived through it, IT WAS ALWAYS ABOUT ROCK & ROLL FIRST!!!However, I feel that the book didn't really capture the true essence of the time. I'm not disputing anything factually. According to the author, the Glory Days were 1985-86. WHAT?!?!I just remember that way before that, when they started playing Michael Jackson, Prince, and Madonna... they lost a big part of my loyalty. In fact I stopped listening entirely.According to Gorman's book, I was the prime demographic for their audience (male in my 20's). But by the time MTV's influence took hold, say 1983-84, MMS was dead to me. They started playing the same stuff I could see on MTV and hear in stereo, so why bother? I mean MMS even played Culture Club, which was complete garbage to my discerning musical taste.I was hoping to read more anecdotes about rock stars, but it seems that the author didn't interact much with them, so not much to say. I really could've done without the Joan Jett incident, thanks anyway.If you are interested in ratings and promotions and playing dirty tricks on other radio stations... if you really want to know how charts work, and all that, then buy the book. No wait, that's not really a good enough reason. There are much better books for that.I came away with the distinct impression that at WMMS, it wasn't always about Rock & Roll, it was ALWAYS about the ratings first. That's the only reason why the author could claim that 1985-86 could've been the Glory Days. I mean COME ON, these guys gave us the WORLD SERIES OF ROCK!!!!!!!! Now THOSE were the Glory Days! Emerson Lake & Palmer playing Brain Salad Surgery, Yes, Pink Floyd, the freaking' Rolling Stones, Joe Walsh, Fleetwood Mac, Aerosmith, etc. He barely mentions them in passing.One more thing. Gorman barely mentions MTV as if it were just a blip on the radar. Video killed the Buzzard, John! The only reason WMMS decided to play Michael Jackson, Prince and Madonna was that MTV became the ultimate starmaker. I decided that WMMS had gone corporate at that specific point in time. From then on, only college radio had enough testicular fortititude to play anything original.Gorman tries to convey that WMMS supported local acts, but in reality they didn't really. They paid so much more attention to national stars and taking credit for supposedly making them national stars, that local acts barely got mentioned. They paid tribute occasionally, but I think the personalities at the station wanted to be rock stars themselves. So as a result you have Kid Leo bowing down to Springsteen for the rest of his career. Yawn. In my humble opinion, Kid Leo had a lousy personality on the air. Now in 2008 the Boss sounds terrible while he disses radio. No wonder. I always thought he was overrated, and MMS had multiple orgasms for the Boss. I guess they thought he would compensate them eventually. Who knows... maybe he did, but I truly doubt it.I'll give Gorman and MMS credit for being kind to Michael Stanley. He was a local act that deserved attention. But by the time the Wild Giraffes came around, the corporate Buzzard was itself fodder, and even though ratings were high, it was only because ROCK WAS DEAD thanks to MTV.In fact, the second half of the book is nothing but sour grapes and one-sided stories. It really comes off as childish and pathetic.Unless you are from Cleveland, at least 50 years old, and still smoke pot... save your money. Otherwise, have fun and party like it's 1999 and WMMS is still playing Prince on the radio. Sorry, I have no idea what they were playing in 1999 and couldn't care less.And spare me all the slogans:Rock & Roll Capital of the WorldCleveland RocksRock & Roll Hall of ShameGorman seems to want to take credit for the Rock Hall, which I think is a total joke. Madonna gets in but ELP will never even be nominated even though they kept winning every musicians' poll throughout the 70's.PuleezNothing truly big ever came out of Ohio, except Joe Walsh. And he left Ohio before MMS was even born.I'm serious, these guys acted like they were totally responsible for the success of Springsteen, Bowie, U2, etc.I believed their hype. Then they got caught stuffing the ballot box of Rolling Stone's annual survey and there you have it. They were fooling us all along, the buzzard was laughing at all of us. The bird of prey really did look over the dying city and pick over the remains.KNOW YOUR CLOSE: is a chapter an recurring theme in the book. Too bad Gorman and crew didn't recognize August 1, 1981.Personal note to JG: Your listeners NEVER cared about your double-digits ratings. They always wanted to hear something they couldn't hear anywhere else, the next new and exciting thing. I'm not referring to your so-called "exclusives". You know, the Springsteen Live at the Agora cut that nobody else has. I referring to : "Listen to this awesome local band that nobody else is playing."Left End was the best Cleveland band EVER and you guys never played them!Now I realize you were false prophets, money changers, and ultimately small fish in a small pond.We were loyal to the very end but you abandoned your true calling. You sold us out. So I will close with the inside joke of the book as a message to Gorman himself: "Eff you, Personally."

This book is awesome it's so exciting to read especially since this station was part of me growing up was part of my life how cool to read about this

A fine book.Having grown up in Cleveland as WMMS grew into the great station it was in the 70s and early 80s, this book provides some great remembrances and inside stories of Cleveland, Rock-n-Roll, and WMMS. I moved away, not to return, just as the station peaked and fell from its greatness, and it was good to understand what happened.It is not a particularly well written, or at least well-edited book: spelling errors, grammatical errors, missing or extra words.But overall, I enjoyed the read.Recommended.

I grew up in Cleveland but moved to California in 1986. Shortly after I got out west, the decision for the location of the rock and roll hall of fame was announced. The reaction of my non-Ohio friends was universal: Cleveland? You mean the mistake on the lake? WTF? What about San Fran, Boston, and Philly? But I knew something they didn't, that a radio station born in the previous decade had gone full-speed ahead with a mission, to make the audacious statement that Cleveland, the land of burning rivers, lousy weather, and financial defaults was in fact the "Rock and Roll Capital of the World", and to have the single-minded determination to dare to dream and make that statement come true. This is the story of the people that made that happen. It is the reason, more than any other, that the beautiful museum locals call the "RockHall" exists today at the terminus of East 9th Street. It is the reason for the rise of entertainment districts such as the flats and the warehouse district. It is also a story of a major American city deep in the rust belt reaching the depths of despair, then re-inventing itself.

'MMS was THE radio station to listen to in northeast Ohio back in the day. The book brings back so many many memories. I could not put this book down. It felt like I was like reliving those days. With a smile (or Buzzard grin) on my face.Very fascinating look into the inner workings of the station (and the eventual corporate breakdown). John Gorman did a great job bringing the excitement across in the pages that you felt on air from the radio. The whole cast of characters are there; Denny Saunders, Kid Leo, Matt the Cat, Betty "Crash" Korvan, Jeff and Flash, Murry Saul, BLF Bash, Len "Boom" Golberg, and many more.And of course the music. Bowie, Roxy Music, Stones, Led Zep, Fleetwood Mac, and on and on. But one single dude in particular, Bruce. If you were there, 'nuff said. Great fun.

I was born and raised in Cleveland but now reside out west. I was there when many of the things John Gorman talks about were happening. The Buzzard Morning Zoo was the bomb on the way to school, literally! This book gives the back stories on how WMMS put Cleveland on the map and also explains how it was picked to house the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Sadly it also tells how the Buzzard fell. For me who was there, I had no idea this was all going on as was the case for most non-radio employees. Now that I work at promoting musicians myself this book was so valuable to me, I can't even begin to explain.If you want to know about Rock & Roll before during and after MTV this is the book for you.

If you grew up around Cleveland OH in the 70’s, this is a trip down memory lane. Great book!