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The Music Factory (3)

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In 1967 and ’68 Tom Wilson hosted a free-form radio program called "The Music Factory", sponsored by MGM-Verve. It premiered on WABC-FM (New York) in June 1967, before going national via 12″ vinyl discs distributed to interested radio stations. Wilson hosted 25 hour-long syndicated episodes, each of which featured interviews with musicians, producers, and engineers, as well as tracks from MGM, Verve, and affiliated label releases. He hosted Lou and John from the Velvet Underground (whose first two albums were produced by Wilson). The VU interview is underwhelming. Program #01 — Tom Wilson Program #02 — Odetta Program #03 — The Velvet Underground (Lou Reed & John Cale) Program #04 — Every Mother’s Son Program #05 — The Cowsills Program #06 — Paul Williams (editor, Crawdaddy Magazine) Program #07 — Tim Buckley Program #08 — Sam the Sham Program #09 — Artie Ripp (producer/hustler) Program #10 — Teddy Reig (producer/legendary character) Program #11 — Richie Havens Program #12 — Janis Ian Program #13 — The Lovin’ Spoonful (Jerry Yester and Joe Butler) Program #14 — Ultimate Spinach (Ian Bruce-Douglas and producer Alan Lorber) Program #15 — Orpheus (Bruce Arnold and producer Alan Lorber) Program #16 — The Appletree Theater (John Boylan) Program #17 — Beacon Street Union (producer Wes Farrell) Program #18 — Dave Van Ronk Program #19 — Sandy Posey Program #20 — Bobby Callender Program #21 — Harumi Program #22 — Mike Jeffery and Mark Joseph (Tom Wilson absent) Program #23 — Recording engineers: Gary Kellgren, Phil Ramone, Sandy Lehmann-Haupt Program #24 — Bret Morrison (voice of radio’s “The Shadow”) Program #25 — William “Rosko” Mercer (popular New York radio voice in the late 1960s) Program #26 — Paul Shalmy, editor of Eye Magazine (article about WFMU from Eye, Nov. 1969) In 1968 Wilson left the show, and comedians Bob & Ray were hired to host the series, which moved to WNEW-FM in September of that year. See also: [l240607]