LAST JOE FRANKLIN RADIO SHOW, WOR RADIO, NEW YORK, JUNE 27, 2004

LAST JOE FRANKLIN RADIO SHOW, WOR RADIO, NEW YORK, JUNE 27, 2004
The following recording features excerpts I recorded of the very last Joe Franklin “Memory Lane” program over WOR-AM radio in New York. I recorded this on June 27, 2004.
Joe Franklin (1926-2015) was New York's Mr. Nostalgia. As a longtime listener to his radio show over WOR-AM radio in New York, I often recorded portions of his weekend radio program beginning in the 1970s until it left the air 2004. These airchecks were recorded live in New Hampshire, so you will hear some station drift from time to time. For Joe’s vast radio audience, the early hours of Saturday night/Sunday morning will forever remain “Memory Lane” time.
I remember first Joe’s TV show on Channel 9 in New York when I was a kid in Connecticut. Beginning in the early 1970s I became aware of his weekend radio show over WOR-AM. For a few years it aired on Saturday evenings and during this time I began recording excerpts. His show featured largely recordings of entertainment greats and almost greats from the first half of the 20th century. By the early 1980s he introduced his theme song, “Memory Lane,” with a recording made by the Romantic Strings & Chorus. It moved to the midnight to 5 a.m. slot on Sundays over WOR. I continued taping more extensive recordings of the Franklin show, with his relaxing banter, occasional in-studio guests and an eclectic array of sponsors from diamond jewelers to senior care providers. In the 1990s he was was joined on-air by his producer, Richie Ornstein, who became Joe’s on-air booster and provider of trivia questions designed to “stump” Joe.
In the final years of the show WOR had Franklin host during his first hour the syndicated feed of “When Radio Was,” featuring old-time radio shows. Then at 1 a.m. the “Memory Lane” theme kicked in and Franklin was off and running for another four hours. Joe began saying the all-night shift was taking its toll on him and decided to host on June 27, 2004 his final early morning broadcast on the station. For this final show, you hear a portion of his hosting the old-time radio hour, then his final show which featured largely guests. In studio were his fellow WOR broadcaster Joey Reynolds, The Amazing Kreskin and a live phone-in by Kathryn Crosby, the widow of the late Bing Crosby. Note: You will find many earlier Joe Franklin airchecks I recorded on my channel.

[@robertvarner9519]

Thanks for posting. I was a fan of his radio show and miss it.

[@scenes_from_a_life]

thank you for this wonderful post! we love joe franklin's radio show in particular. he plays great records