BobLassiterAirchecks.com

It’s a great time to be a regular visitor to this website. We still have almost half of the Keith Newman collection to post, featuring around 100 shows between 1987 and 1990 from WPLP, WFLA, and WLS.

Not only that, but–as you’ve probably noticed–we’ve also recently been sent the collection of one Ms. Ellen Halberstadt: over 300 full-length shows from WFLA, 1996-98.

So, keep checking back. It’ll only get better from here.

In the meantime, join us here as Michael J. West blogs on ‘Dancing with the Stars’!

Actually this clip from Bob’s morning-show days is pretty much a hodgepodge, but the section that’ll hit you the hardest is Bob ruminating on the forthcoming Father’s Day and his relationship with his own father.

DOWNLOAD - Happy Father’s Day

COMMENT on this Show!

• Station: WSUN 620AM
• Date: June 18, 1993
• Time: 30:32
• Format: mp3
• Size: 7MB

Courtesy of Keith Newman & the General

A double topic of sorts: Bob discusses (1) an abortion bill being debated by the state legislature in Tallahassee, and (2) the subtle racism embedded in his colleagues’ statement that New York subway shooter Bernhard Goetz “didn’t have a jury of his peers.”

DOWNLOAD - Abortion Rights and “A Jury of His Peers”

COMMENT on this Show!

• Station: WFLA 970AM
• Date: April 24, 1996
• Time: 2:42:07
• Format: mp3
• Size: 37.1MB

Courtesy of Ellen Halberstadt

No apparent topic in this clip. Callers discuss the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the lottery, and Bob responds to an article in USA Today about stock prices.

DOWNLOAD - Baseball, the Lottery, and Stock Bargains
COMMENT on this Show!

• Station: WFLA 970AM
• Date: June 28, 1999
• Time: 38:02
• Format: mp3
• Size: 8.7MB

Courtesy of Jerry Nelson

The first hour of this show is a revisiting of an old WPLP monologue where Bob lists the things he likes–things more important than the damn football team. The rest of the show is about homeschooling, and how it’s a symptom of a steadily more divided nation…a marvelous monologue here, based on an article in the Tribune about a former Bucs player (who calls into the show to defend himself).
DOWNLOAD - Things I Like (Not Homeschooling)

COMMENT on this Show!

• Station: WFLA 970AM
• Date: April 23, 1996
• Time: 2:46:12
• Format: mp3
• Size: 38MB

Courtesy of Ellen Halberstadt

Tampa Bay is up in arms because the Florida state Senate has effectively killed public financing for the football stadium; it looks like the Bucs will be leaving town, and “Tampa will become a second-class city.” Bob points out that no city ever benefited in any meaningful way from having an NFL team.

DOWNLOAD - “Buffalo. Buffalo. Buffalo.”

COMMENT on this Show!

• Station: WFLA 970AM
• Date: April 22, 1996
• Time: 2:46:51
• Format: mp3
• Size: 38.1MB

Courtesy of Ellen Halberstadt

Concerned about a caller from the previous night who accused him of being anti-religious, Bob takes this evening out to explain his beliefs about religion, as it applies to him, to you, and to everybody.

DOWNLOAD - Views on Religion

COMMENT on this Show!

• Station: WFLA 970AM
• Date: April 17, 1996
• Time: 2:51:45
• Format: mp3
• Size: 39.1MB

Courtesy of Ellen Halberstadt

On a Saturday night in June, Bob does a remote broadcast from Walt Disney World in Orlando. That place, he says, represents Middle America, and he asks listeners to call him up and tell him about what their vision of America was. Almost nobody does–until Rocky calls and turns the whole show inside out.

DOWNLOAD - Lassiter at Disney World

COMMENT on this Show!

• Station: WFLA 970AM
• Date: June 24, 1989
• Time: 2:05:35
• Format: mp3
• Size: 28.8MB

Courtesy of Keith Newman & the General

Just in case you didn’t really believe the phrase “Anything Goes Friday,” the women on the WFLA sales staff can be heard partying with Flounder in the control room while Bob conducts his show. Some highlights include a call from Rosemary and a few drop-ins of Sharon Taylor yelling from the bathroom.

DOWNLOAD - Party with the Salesgirls

COMMENT on this Show!

• Station: WFLA 970AM
• Date: April 19, 1996
• Time: 2:46:54
• Format: mp3
• Size: 38.2MB

Courtesy of Ellen Halberstadt

Col. Burke (US Army, Ret.) is a tactical weapons expert who discusses military strategy in Europe and the Middle East with Bob. Bob is clearly very knowledgeable, and the Colonel is both a tough guy and a smart one. At 9:00 Reagan makes a speech about Iran-Contra, and afterwards Bob hosts open phones about the speech.

DOWNLOAD - Col. Jack Burke

COMMENT on this Show!

• Station: WPLP 570AM
• Date: March 4, 1987
• Time: 2:41:26
• Format: mp3
• Size: 36.9MB

Courtesy of Keith Newman & the General

Bob debates Ed Oliver and Bob Carver, professors of theology at Clearwater Christian College, on the historical and logical merits of the Bible.

DOWNLOAD - Biblical Scholars

COMMENT on this Show!

• Station: WPLP 570AM
• Date: March 3, 1987
• Time: 2:20: 29
• Format: mp3
• Size: 32.1MB

Courtesy of Keith Newman & the General

What starts as leisurely talk about Lee Iacocca and his new autobiography turns into a heated discussion of the black community in America. And it does so without a full moon, or even a call from Rocky.

DOWNLOAD - Ripley’s Believe It or Not

COMMENT on this Show!

• Station: WPLP 570AM
• Date: March 2, 1987
• Time: 49:38
• Format: mp3
• Size: 11.3MB

Courtesy of Keith Newman & the General

Possibly our shortest clip, but important nonetheless. Lassiter’s in the studio with WPLP General Manager George Joachim, for a round of “Ask the Manager,” and the caller wants to know why Bob gave up his Saturday night show.

DOWNLOAD - Ask the Manager

COMMENT on this Show!

• Station: WPLP 570AM
• Date: January 15, 1987
• Time: 0:52
• Format: mp3
• Size: 827KB

Courtesy of Anonymous

“Your Nickel” is another one of Bob’s many different names for “Open Phones.” There’s some talk of Pete Rose, and a photo in the St. Pete Times. But what makes this clip special is what nobody yet knew when it was originally broadcast: that it was Bob’s last Friday show. The next Wednesday he would come in and announce that he was leaving the station to take a job at WLS in Chicago.

DOWNLOAD - Your Nickel: The Final Friday

COMMENT on this Show!

• Station: WFLA 970AM
• Date: June 22, 1989
• Time: 14:44
• Format: mp3
• Size: 3.37MB

Courtesy of Keith Newman & the General

Technically it’s an open program, but the conversation is mostly about flag burning, with China is a distant second and a few sidetracks. Plus a brilliant letter from a union hater, and an equally brilliant call from Rosemary.

DOWNLOAD - Flag Burning, Etc.

COMMENT on this Show!

• Station: WFLA 970AM
• Date: June 22, 1989
• Time: 56:41
• Format: mp3
• Size: 13MB

Courtesy of Keith Newman & the General