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WMMR (93.3 FM) — branded 93.3 WMMR — is a commercial active rock radio station licensed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, serving the Delaware Valley. Local show Preston and Steve airs mornings, and radio personality Pierre Robert is heard middays. WMMR is also the Philadelphia affiliate for The House of Hair with Dee Snider.^[2]

The station is currently owned by Greater Media. The WMMR transmitter is located atop One Liberty Place in Center City, Philadelphia. The WMMR studios are located at One Bala Plaza in Bala Cynwyd, PA.

WMMR tag line[link]

WMMR's tag line, which appears on station advertising and is mentioned periodically by station DJs, is: "93.3 WMMR: Everything That Rocks" and, sometimes, "Philly's First Rock Station", or "MMR Rocks". In the past they have used: "WMMR, the home of rock and roll." as well as "MMR Means More Rock!" They used to go by the slogan "The Big Murmur in the Heartbeat of Philadelphia.". In the 1970s, during its early years as a free form "progressive rock" station the dominant slogan was simply "At 93 point 3 FM, You're listening to WMMR, Philadelphia...The Radio Station." Vintage station IDs with "The Radio Station" slogan can still be heard from time to time on WMMR. This series, along with the overnight hours of programmed music known as "OPUS" (2 a.m. - 6 a.m.), was produced by then Production Director, Paul Messing.

History[link]

WIP-FM was the initial broadcaster at this frequency, starting on April 20, 1942. It simulcast its parent WIP (AM)'s programming, which was middle of the road (MOR) music.

The station changed its call letters to WMMR sometime around 1966; they signified the station's owner, MetroMedia Radio. The WMMR call sign had previously belonged to a student radio station at the University of Minnesota.[1] The MOR format was still being used, but with different programming than the AM side, although the AM disc jockeys' announcements were used for both stations.

Beginning in 1968, WMMR began adopting a progressive rock format, similar to that of several Metromedia-owned stations including New York's WNEW-FM (these two stations had a close relationship, ran the similar promotions, and sometimes featured each other's disc jockeys on the air) and Cleveland's WMMS. KMET in Los Angeles and KSAN in San Francisco were also part of the Metromedia chain and followed similar paths in the 1960s.

Dave Herman was WMMR's first rock DJ. His show, dubbed The Marconi Experiment, debuted on April 29, 1968. Before Herman's arrival WMMR ran an automated "beautiful music" format during the day featuring programs like Sinatra and Company. The Marconi Experiment was very much an experiment for the station, one that succeeded. The first song played on the show was "Flying" by The Beatles over the intro of which Herman recited these words: "Arise my heart, and fill your voice with music. For he who shares not dawn with his song, is one of the sons of ever darkness". This was known as the incantation and continued as the regular show open for The Marconi Experiment on WMMR.

Michael Cuscuna, from University of Pennsylvania's WXPN, replaced Herman in 1970, but was quickly hired away by WABC-FM (now WPLJ) in New York. Michael Tearson, also from WXPN, replaced Cuscuna and remained a mainstay at WMMR for over 20 years. Herman went on to WABC-FM and then to WNEW (now WWFS) where he remained for over 30 years.^[3] Tearson currently works at WMGK, also in Philadelphia.

WMMR's major Philadelphia area competitors in the late 1960s were WIFI at 92.5 and WDAS-FM. Neither station stayed with the rock format. WIFI later became Top-40 and then changed to country music and is now known as WXTU. WDAS-FM switched to urban contemporary in the early 1970s.

Later in the 1970s, two other Philadelphia radio stations became competitors: WYSP (formerly WIBG-FM) and WIOQ. WYSP later became classic rock, while WIOQ is now considered to be a Pop music radio station.

One of WMMR's most influential disc jockeys during the 1970s was Ed Sciaky, who was known for playing and boosting the careers of new artists such as Billy Joel and Yes. Most of all, he introduced Bruce Springsteen to Philadelphia, and decades later, the city remains one of Springsteen's strongest fan bases and the scenes of many of his best-received concerts. Other alumni include two National Public Radio hosts: David Dye, still a local radio personality and host of the syndicated World Cafe, and Nick Spitzer, now a New Orleans resident and host of American Routes. John DeBella was the morning drive disc jockey of most note, alongside news man and sidekick Mark "The Shark" Drucker (later of KYW AM), while some WMMR jocks such as Dave Herman and Carol Miller would later became more famous on New York stations. Late 1970s morning and midday personality Dick Hungate would in 1981 create and implement the nation's first classic rock format at WYSP, another Philadelphia station.

Pierre Robert[link]

Most notable in WMMR's current lineup is midday (10:30 a.m.-3 p.m.) host Pierre Robert (pronounced 'row-bear'), one of the nation's most influential rock disc jockeys. In November 2011 Robert celebrated his 30th anniversary at the station. He has held the midday airshift for about 25 of those years, starting his stint at WMMR with a brief stay on the overnight shift and spending March 1993 through June 1996 as host of the morning show.

A breakthrough station[link]

Throughout its existence, WMMR has broadcast live rock music shows and interviewed leading rock music stars. In addition to the role it played in expanding the mainstream audience of Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel and Yes, the station has helped elevate many other leading rock bands. It was one of the first East Coast stations to play acts such as Grateful Dead, U2, and Van Halen. The station also has featured local, Philadelphia-area rock music acts, such as The Hooters and George Thorogood, helping promote them to national status within the music industry. The station also has heavily promoted the grunge rock band Pearl Jam; at 10pm every night during the week it played a set of Pearl Jam songs in what the station called "The Ten Club." While Pearl Jam is known as a Seattle band, WMMR was one of the stations that gave it broad, East Coast exposure and played a role in the band's breakthrough popularity. It was a very popular WMMR segment among listeners.

The station also is closely associated with the band The Grateful Dead. Routinely, before playing a Grateful Dead song, WMMR disc jockeys will say "God Bless the Grateful Dead," a station saying that has endured over two decades. Most major rock bands and musicians have recorded tag lines for the station, including Mick Jagger and others. Springsteen once recorded a version of his song "Growin' Up", intermixing the lyrics "Growin' up in Philadelphia," and referencing WMMR in the song.

As with most rock radio stations, over time, WMMR morphed into an album-oriented rock format, and in the early 1990s leaned towards classic rock. WMMR's current format is simply called Rock, which is a blend of energetic classic rock and up-tempo current rock. Though more oriented toward the heavier end of the music spectrum today than in its earlier days, WMMR remains true to its heritage, playing new and old music, exposing local music, broadcasting with live, local personalities 24 hours a day and staying heavily involved in the community. As of today, WMMR is an active rock station since January 2007 because of Mediabase and Nielsen BDS moving them to the active rock panel, and forcing existing active rock competitor WYSP to go all-talk. This is due to most of the classic rock disappearing from the station as its sister station is classic rocker WMGK. WYSP returned to active rock later that year, although WMMR was still an active rock station. WMMR became the only active rock station in Philadelphia again when WYSP went to classic rock in 2008.

Events[link]

WMMR holds annual events and concerts, including:

• Preston and Steve’s Camp Out for Hunger - Started in 1998, Preston and Steve brought the event with them from Y100 when they made the move to WMMR. Preston and Steve spend a week living in a RV broadcasting their show and collecting food and money for Philabundance, a hunger relief organization serving the Delaware Valley.
• MMRBQ - Annual concert started in 2007 to kick off the summer concert series at the Susquehanna Bank Center (formerly known as The Tweeter Center). Inaugural 2007 show featured Velvet Revolver, Evanescence, and Buckcherry among others. The 2008 show, which served as the station's 40th birthday party, featured a reformed Stone Temple Pilots, Staind, Everclear, The Hooters, Ashes Divide, Airbourne, and Silvertide. The third MMRBQ in 2009 featured The Offspring, Papa Roach, ZZ Top, Puddle of Mudd, Saliva, Halestorm and Duff McKagan's Loaded. On February 8, it was announced that the 2010 MMRBQ would be held on Sunday May 23, 2010 and would feature Skillet, Fuel, Three Days Grace, and a double-headlining set of Stone Temple Pilots and Alice in Chains.
• MMRBQII - Annual concert started following MMRBQ to close out the summer concert series at the Susquehanna Bank Center (formerly known as The Tweeter Center). This second 2007 show featured Three Days Grace, Seether, Breaking Benjamin, Collective Soul, Live, Silvertide and Jealousy Curve
• Local Shots Live - Hosted by Jaxon on Tuesday nights at The Grape Room in Philadelphia to showcase local bands. Previously known as Thursday Night Rock Show and Tuesday Night Rock Show at Grape Street
• MMR's Mini Masters - The first ever Mini Masters was held in 2007 at Philly's Electric Factory. A huge mini golf course was set up on the floor of the building and the winning golfer was awarded a new Mini Cooper with $2,500.

Rival stations[link]

Because the Philadelphia marketplace is the seventh largest in total population in the U.S., and also because the city and its suburbs comprise one of the largest and most passionate rock music regions in the nation, WMMR has typically reported exceptional ratings in its core demographic audience, but several other successful rock and contemporary rap stations also thrive in Philadelphia and its surrounding areas.

The Philadelphia rock radio landscape changed drastically in the year 2005, when most of the stations that competed with WMMR for listeners changed formats. One of WMMR's primary competitors was WYSP, which broadcasts at 94.1 MHz FM. WYSP played slightly more heavy metal music than WMMR, while WMMR prominently featured leading rock, grunge acoustic and heavy metal. With the departure of Howard Stern in 2006, WYSP then changed to the hot talk-based Free FM format by parent company CBS Radio, making it less of a head-to-head competitor with WMMR. This made WYSP an all-talk station during the week, although the station still played rock on the weekends. Though the stations still tended to attract from the same demographic, WYSP's format meant it could no longer properly be considered a competitor of WMMR. WYSP dropped its talk format and became a rock music station yet again. Still, at some times, especially during the evening and weekend listening hours, there was a sense of competition. WYSP, for instance featured its "Mandatory Metallica" broadcast each weekday evening at 10:00 p.m., while WMMR has countered with its "Ten Club" broadcast at the same time, which is a Pearl Jam set, with listeners at that hour forced to choose between a series of popular grunge songs on WMMR and a series of heavy metal music songs on WYSP by two very popular rock bands.

As of September 2, 2011, WYSP's parent company CBS ended WYSP's existence and the frequency is now WIP-FM, a sports radio station.

WMMR's new direct competitor is new alternative rock station, WRFF, Radio 104.5, and is a competitor for new music.

The station also competes in the Philadelphia marketplace with sister station WMGK, which broadcasts at 102.9 MHz FM. WMGK plays classic rock, though its listening demographic tends to be older than that of WMMR.

Signal[link]

WMMR can be heard with a reliable signal as far as Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania to the north, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, to the west, New Jersey Shore to the east, and well into Delaware and Maryland to the south.

Awards[link]

In 2007, the station was nominated for the Radio & Records magazine Active Rock station of the year in a top 25 market award. Other nominees included WIYY in Baltimore, WAAF in Boston, KBPI in Denver, WRIF in Detroit, and KISW in Seattle.^[4] In 2010, the station was honored by the National Association of Broadcasters with the Marconi award for Rock Station of the Year.^[5]

References[link]

External links[link]

• WMMR Website
• Listen live to WMMR's streaming audio broadcast.
• Preston & Steve Website (WMMR morning DJs).
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WMMR
• Radio-Locator information on WMMR
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for WMMR

Lauren Harris
Lauren Harris performing at the Gods of Metal festival in 2009.
Background information
Born	(1984-07-06) 6 July 1984 (age 27)
Genres	Hard rock, heavy metal
Occupations	Musician Vocalist
Years active	2005–present
Labels	Demolition DR2 Records
Associated acts	Iron Maiden, Judas Priest
Website	www.myspace.com/laurenharrisuk

Not to be confused with Lawren Harris the Canadian painter or Lauren Harries the child celebrity.

Lauren Harris (born 6 July 1984) is a British vocalist. She is the daughter of Iron Maiden bassist and founder Steve Harris. She was discovered in a pub by Russ Ballard, who was unaware of who she was.^[1]

Career[link]

Lauren and her band toured extensively in 2006 including appearances at the Download Festival at both Donington Park and Dublin, and the German Rock im Park and Rock am Ring festivals. In late 2006/early 2007, she supported Iron Maiden on their European tour and in Dubai and India in March 2007.^[2]

She also supported Within Temptation and The Answer on their European tours in early to mid 2007.^[3] In the summer of 2007 Lauren and her band continued to tour with Iron Maiden and also played the majority of the major European festivals including Download Festival, Graspop, Heineken Jammin' Festival, as well as others. She and her band supported Iron Maiden on their Somewhere Back In Time World Tour in India, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Europe, South America and North America. She also performed at the Heavy Mtl 2008 in Montreal. They will again perform at this year's Download Festival and at the Super Bock Super Rock Festival in Portugal, as well as the Gods of Metal in Italy and the Graspop Metal Meeting in Belgium.

Lauren's debut album Calm Before the Storm was made available for download on 19 May 2008. The full CD version was released worldwide by Demolition DR2 Records on 23 June. The CD was produced by Tom McWilliams for Monstro Visionary Entertainment^[4]

During the break before supporting Iron Maiden again in 2009, Tommy McWilliams was replaced by Olly Smith on Drums. Olly was originally the band's tech.

In 2011 Richie Faulkner left Lauren Harris band to join Judas Priest, replacing K. K. Downing on lead guitar. Later that year Lauren formed the band Six Hour Sundown with Olly Smith remaining on drums, yet with Tom Gentry and Mitch Witham on guitar and bass respectively.

Supporting musicians[link]

• Randy Gregg – bass guitar, backing vocals (2005-2011)
• Richie Faulkner – guitars, backing vocals (2005–2011)
• Tom McWilliams - drums (2005–2008)
• Olly Smith – drums (2008-2011)

Discography[link]

• Calm Before the Storm (2008)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lauren Harris

• Lauren Harris on Myspace
• Interview with Lauren Harris by FREE! Magazine

This biographical article about a British singer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (December 2010)

For the French composer, see: Pierre Robert (composer).

Pierre Robert
Pierre Robert (left) at WMMR's Preston and Steve's Campout for hunger 2011
Birth name	William Pierre Robert
Born	(1955-08-01) August 1, 1955 (age 56) San Francisco, California, U.S.
Show	The Pierre Robert Show
Station(s)	93.3 WMMR Philadelphia
Time slot	10:00am - 3:00pm Monday-Friday
Style	Disc Jockey
Country	United States
Website	Pierre Robert

William Pierre Robert (born August 1, 1955) is a radio disc jockey who, since 1981, has been a highly popular on-air personality for 93.3FM WMMR in Philadelphia, one of the nation's most recognized rock music stations.

He is known as WMMR's most identifiable personality, and is often described as a hippie by many locals. Robert is also famous for addressing his listeners as "citizens", as well as saying "Great day in the morning!".

Robert also holds significant stature in the American rock music industry, where he is held in high esteem by many rock musicians and groups, many of whom have granted Robert rare interviews and appeared in person on his program.

Radio career[link]

Pierre Robert (pronounced "row-BEAR") began his radio career at 94.9 KSAN-FM, one of the country's first progressive rock stations, in his hometown of San Francisco. When KSAN changed its format to an Urban Country & Western style in the early 1980s Robert assumed the on-air name "Will Robertson" for a brief period of time.

Not long after, Robert moved to Philadelphia where he joined WMMR.

Robert has had many positions at WMMR, which include mornings, overnights and middays. His current time slot is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. though his program frequently runs longer (an anomaly explained as "Pierre Standard Time.")

Features of his show include the "Coffee Break Music Marathon", "Pierre's Planner" and the Work Force Blocks where he plays 3 to 4 song blocks of a particular artist based on listener requests.

Robert also features the "Vinyl Cut", where he plays a track from one of the many vinyl records in the WMMR archive.

He is also known to play all 18 minutes and 20 seconds of Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant" multiple times during his annual Thanksgiving Day broadcast.

Robert has admitted that he does not follow Philadelphia sports. He typically refers to all Philadelphia sports teams as "The Boys in Blue" regardless of the actual team colors.

Throughout the first 25 days of November 2006, WMMR paid tribute to Pierre for his 25 years of service to the station. A similar tribute was paid in 2011, Pierre's 30th year with WMMR.

External links[link]

Biography portal

• WMMR Website
• Pierre Robert Interview Article
• Philadelphia City Paper article on Robert from 1996
• Philadelphia Weekly article on Robert's 20th anniversary with WMMR
• WMMR Celebrates 30 years with Pierre

Steve Casey
Bronze statue of 'The Crusher' in Sneem
Ring name(s)	Steve "Crusher" Casey
Billed height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Billed weight	238 lb (108 kg)
Born	December 4, 1908 Sneem, Ireland
Died	January 10, 1987 (aged 78)
Trained by	Mike Casey
Debut	March 3, 1936
Retired	1947

Stephen "Steve" Casey (December 4, 1908 – January 10, 1987) was an Irish sport rower and world champion professional wrestler. He was the second Irish wrestler, after Danno O'Mahoney, to become a world champion.

Rowing[link]

Casey was the eldest of seven sons of Mike Casey, a bare-knuckle boxer. Steve Casey rowed in the Sneem senior crew with his father and the O'Connor Brothers. The Sneem/Casey Team won the Tug-O-War Munster Championship in 1932. Casey went on to win the Salter Challenge Cup with his brothers during 1930 to 1933. In 1936, he became the All-England Rowing Champion with his brothers Paddy, Tom and Mick. In the same year, the Caseys qualified for the Olympics in rowing but were disqualified for Steve and Paddy being professional wrestlers because Steve had wrestled two professional matches before the Olympics.

Professional wrestling[link]

In 1935, Steve and his brother Paddy Casey joined the British Amateur Wrestling Team. Steve Casey debuted as a professional wrestler on March 3, 1936 by beating the Irish Canadian Heavyweight Champion Paul Duveen in a non-title match. In October 1936, Boston promoter Paul Bowser brought Casey to the United States.

On February 11, 1938, he received the biggest victory of his career when he defeated Lou Thesz to win the National Wrestling Association world heavyweight championship. On August 26, he wrestled Danno O'Mahony to a draw after ten five-minute rounds in the European style. In September 1938, Casey was stripped of the NWA title, officially for being out of the country. He continued to be recognized as champion by the Boston-based American Wrestling Association. On September 18, he beat Danno O'Mahony in Munster in a finish match in 18 rounds and 97 minutes.

On March 2, 1939, Casey lost the AWA world title to Marvin Westenberg in Boston. On March 29, he beat Gus Sonnenberg to start his second reign as AWA world champion, losing the title to Ed Don George on April 18 in Albany, New York. He defeated George to win his start his third reign as AWA world champion on November 29, 1939, dropping the title to The French Angel on May 13, 1940. In the same year, he beat Richard Codman for the Governor's Cup in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He defeated the U.S. boxing champion Tiger Warrenton and issued a challenge to Joe Louis which went unanswered. On November 12, 1941, he challenged Earl McCready for the British Empire Heavyweight Championship but the match was fought to no contest.

On May 13, 1942, Casey beat French Angel for his fourth reign as AWA champion. While still champion, Casey joined the United States Army during World War II, serving from 1942 to 1944. On June 6, 1945 in Boston, he defeated Frank Sexton to start his sixth reign as AWA champion and lost the title back to Sexton three weeks later. In 1947, he announced his retirement at age 38. He opened a liquor store near Nantasket Beach in Hull, Massachusetts.

Personal life[link]

In 1983, the Casey family organized a family reunion in Sneem, Ireland. On January 10, 1987, he died at age 78.

Championships and accomplishments[link]

In 1982, Casey was awarded the Irish Hall of Fame award by 1956 Olympic Gold Medalist Ronnie Delaney.

Sport rowing[link]

• Tug O' War Munster Championship (1932)
• All-England Rowing Championship (1936)

Professional wrestling[link]

• American Wrestling Association (Boston)
  • AWA World Heavyweight Championship (Boston version) (5 times)
• National Wrestling Association
  • NWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• Other titles
  • Governor's Cup (1940)

External links[link]

• Profile at OWW

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. Its references may not meet Wikipedia's guidelines for reliable sources. Tagged since May 2012. It may have been edited by a contributor who has a close connection with its subject. Tagged since February 2012. The notability of this article's subject is in question. If notability cannot be established, it may be listed for deletion or removed. Tagged since May 2012.

Nick Perri
Background information
Origin	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Genres	Rock music Alternative
Instruments	Lead Guitar Rhythm Guitar Bass
Associated acts	Shinedown Perry Farrell Silvertide Matt Sorum Sinai Christina Perri

Nick Perri (born: Nicholas B. Perri) is a professional lead guitarist, songwriter, producer-engineer, and business owner. He has played for Shinedown, Perry Farrell, Silvertide, Matt Sorum, Sinai, and Christina Perri. In 2009 Perri launched "Perri Ink. LLC" as a parent company for his future endeavors off stage. In 2011 the company's first product was debuted: boutique electric guitars.^[1][2][3] Later that year he started releasing instrumental singles under the moniker "Nick Perri Music",^{[citation needed]} and on October 3 opened the doors to the Perri Ink. Cartel, his first retail store.^[4][5]

Personal life[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (May 2012)

Perri grew up in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, a Philadelphia suburb with his younger sister, singer-songwriter Christina Perri, who wrote the song Jar of Hearts. He attended Father Judge High School for three years, and Bensalem High School for part of the fourth. During his time there, he was very involved in the theater department, and in his junior year at Judge, had the starring role in The King and I. He married in 2011.

Career[link]

For the last eleven years, Perri has been playing, recording, and touring around the globe,^{[citation needed]} and has bounced between living in Los Angeles and Philadelphia depending on the project.

In 2001, Perri co-founded the Philadelphia based blues-rock group, Silvertide. They released their first EP American Excess in 2002. Their first full album, Show and Tell, was released in 2004. After completion of their debut album in 2003, Silvertide hit the road and toured straight until 2006, with bands such as Van Halen, Velvet Revolver, and Motley Crue.^[6]

Following the disbanding of Silvertide, Perri moved back to Los Angeles in 2007 and picked up a role as lead guitarist for Perry Farrell. After touring and playing with Farrell and Satellite Party for a year he left the group and took another lead guitarist role with the modern rock band Shinedown.^[7]

He stayed with them from 2008 through 2009 touring in support of the The Sound of Madness record. On December 18, 2008, Brent Smith announced via Shinedown's website that Perri would be leaving the band.^{[8][unreliable source?][9]}

In 2009, Perri began a stint with drummer Matt Sorum. Perri and Sorum played throughout the year in Los Angeles and Las Vegas with a group called The Darling Stilettos.

In 2010 Perri moved back to Philadelphia, and with former Silvertide frontman Walt Lafty started a new rock band called Sinai. They spent over a year writing and recording music, and in February 2012, announced a full length album was finally on the way.^[10] The record, entitled "A Pinch of Chaos", was released on April 1st as a limited edition hard copy, and then worldwide via download on May 1st.

Citing his love for custom guitars, custom motorcycles, tattoos, clothing, and old school barber shops as influences for the decision, In October 2011, Perri announced his return to Los Angeles to open the first "Perri Ink." retail store. The All-American boutique opened its doors for a soft opening on October 3, followed by a grand opening on November 11, 2011.^{[11][12][13][14][15]}

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• Silvertide - American Excess (EP) (2003)
• Silvertide - Show and Tell (2004)
• Satellite Party - Ultra Payloaded (2007)
• Shinedown - The Sound of Madness (2008)
• SINAI - A Pinch of Chaos (2012)

Singles[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Perri Ink.
• Personal Blog
• Online Store
• Sinai Band