This week in WMMR history marks the addition of an important member to our radio family: Ray Koob.
Ray has had three tours of duty on our airwaves in Philadelphia over the past four decades, and in that time, he’s worked every day part from sunrise to sunset, as well as hosting the popular “Rockers Only” heavy metal specialty show from 1988 to 1996.
April 7th, 1984 was his first day on the job. Here’s what Ray had to say about that day:
“I’d been inside the station (then located at Rittenhouse Square) for my intern interview, and then came the Monday morning that I consider the start of time at the station as DeBella’s Zootern (with the Morning Zoo, hosted by John DeBella). They called me Vern, which became ‘Vern the Fern.’ It was a whirlwind to get there before 7am every day for the DMO (Dreaded Morning Oldie) at 7:10! To say I learned a lot would be a massive understatement!
I was also working at Shadow Traffic, and between the two, I never slept much. Later in ’84, I was hired as promotion assistant to “Action Jackson” Quigley, first as part-time, and later full-time. The whole time I was immersed in the daily magic of WMMR. During that time, well, I’d need all day to tell the stories. The memory remains… I’ll mark 40 years on the air this October. Another story for then!”
Below are some of Ray Koob’s highlights from his time at WMMR. Here are a few more:
“When I was still John’s intern I met my first Rock stars: Steve Hackett (Genesis) & Steve Howe (Yes)… Every night in The Spectrum press box was an adventure!… Metallica on “Justice” tour in 89: I had Lars and Geoff Tate of Queensryche on Rockers live from the P.B. after the “Justice” show… 3 part interview with Ozzy on the old ratty backstage couch at Tower!… Hanging with KoRn when they found out the debut went gold…”
It’s been a wild ride! You can still listen to Ray every Saturday from 10am to 3pm. Listen on your radio, right here on this website, via the free MMR App or ask your smart speaker to “Open MMR.”
Ray also co-hosted a rock podcast with fellow Weekend Warrior, Markus in the Darkus. You can find out more about The Imbalanced History of Rock and Roll here.
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Ray Koob Celebrates 40 Years with the WMMR Family
