Monticello,NY- On Sunday,
October 8, the longest running show in the Catskills, WVOS-FM’s “The Bop Shop”
hosted by John Manzi, will celebrate its 34th Anniversary. The four-
hour radio show is heard on Sunday nights from 8pm until mid-night.
The unique
program which features music—mostly vocal group harmony records-- from
the late 40’s, 50’s and early 60’s is available on WVOS radio at 95.9FM and on
Time Warner Cable channel 1962 in southeast New York. And the show can be heard
world-wide on the internet at wvosfm.com.
“We have a fun
program and we play enjoyable songs from small labels that never really go much
airplay and since we’ve been on the internet we’ve been getting calls from
listeners in Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, New Jersey, Michigan,
Pennsylvania, the greater New York area, including Long Island and all
over the East Coast; even from Alaska,” Manzi relates.
"We go back
to the roots of rock n roll and rhythm n blues playing great songs from what is
now known as the doo wop era. Sure we play chart records but mostly we feature
vocal group harmony records but we also play some rock-a-billy and blues
records, too.”
Currently with
features like “the name game”, “name that tune”, “same thing only
different”, battle of the (record’s) B-sides”, “rate a record”, and
“common denominator”, Manzi tries to keep his audience involved in the
show.
Over the years
Manzi has had live in-studio a cappella from vocal ensembles like Larry Chance
and the Earls, Guy Villari & the Regents; The Shallows; the Cliftonaires; Mystique;
the Creations, the Arrogants, the Excellents; Sentimental Journey; and BQE, to
mention a few; and recently, Little Isadore and the Inquisitors .
Every Sunday Manzi
is joined by his sidekicks, Cindy "G" and Steve "the
Eggman" Ristano. But it is not unusual that visitors, knowledgeable in doo
wops, join Manzi in the studio from time to time.
Before his passing
earlier this year Joe “Doo Wop” Greco had been with Manzi since the beginning
of the show which started in early October 1983.
Besides playing
the music, Manzi informs the listeners of the background of the songs; talks
about the personnel and where they originated from, as well as where songs
placed on the Billboard charts.
Manzi recently
retired from Monticello Raceway -after 41 years- where he had been the longtime
director of publicity and public relations. He has always been a fancier of
oldies music and his personal collection of 45RPM records exceeds 50,000; and
his albums number more than 3000.
Though it’s rare in today’s
world he still plays his 45RPM records over the airwaves.
For the first 25
years the Bop Shop was heard on WSUL-98.3FM but eight years ago Watermark
Communications, which owned both WSUL and WVOS, switched the program to
WVOS-FM when that station began an “oldies” format. Recently, both WSUL and
WVOS have been purchased by Bold Gold Media.
When Manzi took
over the Sunday night oldies show at WSUL radio in October 1983 little did he
fathom that 34years later he’d still be at it.
“The beautiful
part of this music is that even though the records are 50 years old, and most
older, I’m always coming across vocal group harmony songs that I never heard
before,” Manzi said. “It’s like listening to new music.”
“I really look
forward to Sunday nights. I love the music and I love our audience.”
