The Morning Show 6-10a Monday – Friday
Dr. Dave’s Drive Time Elixir 3-7p Monday – Friday
WRCJ’s Program Director, Dr. Dave Wagner, is a lifelong Detroiter and well-known as an organist, pianist and music educator. He brings his vast musical knowledge and wry sense of humor to our morning airwaves with traffic and weather updates and his famous 7:15a “Sousalarm.” He returns weekday afternoons to ease your drive home with a mix of lighter classics and orchestrated popular tunes.
Percy Grainger spent several summers at Interlochen…
Dr. Dave! Did I ever tell you how much we appreciate you?
Thanks Bob, we appreciate you!
Ironic. Tones of the song “Born Free” while we are on lockdown.
You will once again roam the wide open spaces. Hang in there Mr. Gator!
Dr Dave,
Thank you for playing “God Bless America”. We need it. – how about every day!
Sue
Thanks Sue! Every day? We don’t want you to get tired of it. Maybe just occasionally.
Dr. Dave, I enjoyed your selection from the soundtrack of “Born On the Fourth of July”, but before & after you stated that the flick starred Tom Hanks. The coming-of-conscience film actually starred Tom Cruise. I love your show & always look forward to indulging my audio elixir!
Oh darn it, wrong Thomas! Mistakes were made…
I remember well how NBC Nightly News used to use the opening of the second movement of Beethoven’s 9th as its closing credits during the late 60s. The news was often bad in those days but Beethoven’s hopeful notes would ring @the end of every broadcast. I remember bursting into tears when I heard those strains on the day that Robert F Kennedy died (so soon after the assassination of Dr.King). I was a senior in high school on the first Earth Day 50 years ago. The Cambodian invasion & the Kent & Jackson State killings were soon to come. Dave, I’m glad you played that movement of Beethoven’s 9th this morning . I am @ the edge of old age & we need Beethoven more than ever in this present unprecedented crisis. & yes, I am crying!
Difficult times. Good thing they didn’t ruin Beethoven’s 9th for you. Happier times will come again. Hang in there and stay healthy. Oh and Happy Earth Day!
Thanks so much for always helping us start our day on a harmonious note.
Especially now, the wide variety of music you provide has helped us stay sane and uplifted during these uncertain times.
Rock on.
Thank you Corinna and Roger. Stay sane and healthy!
Mayor Cuomo? It’s Mayor de Blasio, Governor Cuomo. I’m a listener in Queens, so I ought to know!
Uh oh, sorry for the slip up. We appreciate you listening from New York. Sorry it’s hitting so hard out there.
Hi Dave and all the WRCJ crew.
Brilliant that you can do this from your home. I totally enjoy. I am on lock down in Spain
and looks like I will stay here until the coast is clear. Listening to WRCJ is that connection, no matter where you are for a Detroiter. Best wishes to you and your family, including the dogs, and all that work for WRCJ…..
Hi Brad, thanks, we just had to make some changes. Sorry you’re in lockdown. We are thankful we can still operate, while so many others cannot. Good luck to you in Spain.
DEAR DAVE…. i know the virus mess is NOT over BUT I WAS SO RELIEVED TO HEAR YOU VOICE THIS AM…
I HAVE said many times, WRCJ is on 24 hours a day in ALL devices throughout my house/car, wherever i am WRCJ is THERE and when i heard your voice I THOUGHT heaven was talking to me.
maybe it is VIRUS mania, but i truly mean it.
BE SAFE and thank you…
THANK YOU … i look forward to Peter and Jack – all our people… you all have brought me through troubling times… and here you are doing it again …. for what its worth i am a sustainer…
Hi Lynn, we are glad to be back. Please enjoy and be well. And thanks for sustaining!
Good to have Dr. Dave back on the air
Thanks David, we just had to make some adjustments.
I used to love Dave Wagner and Jack Goggin. I drove back and forth on I-94 to work and home a million times listing to their show. I don’t know if it was Dave or Jack who used to introduce Giuseppe Verdi music by saying, ” . . . and now, a violin concerto by Joe Green.” Cracked me up every time. I believe he also worked at a little record shop on Woodward in Royal Oak for a time as the expert of classical music. I used to get a song in my head and go down to that shop to ask him what song that was. I would hum a few bars and voila! He would produce the recording for me to buy. I am a violinist now living in Seattle. Those were good days!! Thank you David Wagner and Jack Goggin.
Hi Martha, the Joe Green comment sounds like something Dr. Dave would say and Jack used to work at Harmony House. He is quite knowledgeable and could definitely identify a piece for you. Glad we could be the soundtrack to your commute. If you still want to listen to the station you can listen online:
https://www.wrcjfm.org/listen-live/ or on our phone app. Just look for WRCJ in the Apple or Google Play store. Good luck with your music!
I am wondering when Dr. Dave began broadcasting on WQRS. He primarily, but also Jack Goggin (and recently, again, to my delight, Carl Grapentine) have been an important part of my life for many, many years. I would like to know just how many that would be!
Hi Elaine, Dr. Dave did some part time work at WQRS earlier in the 70’s then left to pursue his doctorate. Jack said he started January of 1979 and then Dr. Dave returned a bit after that and began full time.
I am glad you finally mentioned the vernal equinox this morning, though it is not techincally the first day of spring, just the popular notion. The vernal equinox and the first day of spring are two entirely different dates 3 weeks apart. March 1 is the first day of meteorolical spring. So also with other three seasons which begin on the first of the month but usually associated with the solar cycle. Your show is so with good with accurate info about the programming that I thought you might want to make this clarification about spring.
Thank you Ed, good thing the Music Director didn’t program all those Spring pieces he was thinking about!
I was a listener when you were on WOMC when driving back and forth for work. Now in retirement, we are constant listeners now on WRCJ. I have a specific question from my wife, Dorothy. She is concerned with you working a split shift. She asks, “Do you go home between shifts?” “Do you live nearby to the station?” She is worried about you.
Hi Fred and Dorothy, thanks for tuning in each day. Don’t worry about Dr. Dave, we give him some days off here and there. And as long as we change his batteries every so often he’s fine.
I just wanted to say, again; to hear Carl G. back on the mic. Not to take anything away from Dave or Davis or Ron or Peter and all. Your all with us 365(6) days a year. But with Carl we have history. Starting in 1973 when we moved to Michigan. WQRS, wonderful classical commentary, Copland’s Fanfare, the sinking of the Edmond Fitzgerald, etc. His way with words. Who else can turn the station ID, the weather, and the calendar into a professional lecture! Great to hear you again even if it’s only once in a while.
Thank you Dave, we would utilize Carl more often but he is semi-retired! Or maybe just tired.
I click on playlist but it doesn’t show me the playlist. Looking for the song played at 3:22pm1/25/20. “My feelings burn with all my desires and I can’t maintain what I already have” or something like that.
Hello Mark, it looks like it was just instrumental music then. Are you sure of the time? This page will give you the appropriate playlist if you want to take a look: https://www.wrcjfm.org/playlists-schedule/
I really enjoyed hearing Tannhauser today as I drove home. I couldn’t help doing my best Elmer Fudd: “O Bwun Hiwda, you’we so wovwy…”
Lots of fun thanks a lot.
Ha ha, Elmer would be proud. Thanks Daniel!
My wonderful, beautiful WRCJ Staff.
Please do not stop -dead playing that gorgeous Christmas music immediately the day after Christmas. I have your station on all day, and go into sudden withdrawal state for missing all those Corellis , Monteverdis, Charpentiers, Pretorius, and carols of all nations. It used to be ( before the commercialized buying tradition) that the 12-day Christmas season BEGAN with Christmas and not END there. It would be lovely if your ( our) station could bring some of that back. Who knows, maybe this could catch on. . your faithful listener, Luba Kytasta
Hello Luba, yes the Christmas music has decreased quite a bit but we still throw in an occasional one and there are Advent selections, etc…
An additional Thank You to Jack Goggin for Leontovych’s birthday, and for all the years he shared his love and knowledge of music, since the WQRS days to the present. I remember calling him during his night program, pestering him about some mysterious piece he played, persecuting him at the old Harmony House, requesting things, from some unknown early music consorts, to ballet videos . or simply asking for advice. He always came through. God bless you Jack, with health and happiness for many years to come. Merry Christmas and a Great New Year1 from grateful Luba Kytasta
Ha ha, yep that’s Jack. Didn’t know you two had met before. We’ll send this along to him. Merry Christmas!
I wish to thank Dave Wagner for acknowledging Mykola Leontowych as the composer -arranger of popular the Carrol of the bells (Shchedryk) , several times today. It is particularly fitting and touching, because of the composer’s tragic death in 1921.. As you probably know, Leontowych was murdered by a KGB (Cheka) agent, at his fathers home, during Christmas holidays. Talk of the irony..
Thank you for all the beautiful music on this radio station. I couldn’t survive ,in this town, without it. I wish the entire WRCJ team a wonderful, safe and Happy Holidays. a long-time listener and supporter, Luba Kytasta
Sure thing Luba, our Music Director Jack Goggin scheduled that for Mykola Leontovych’s birthday today. Thank you for the holiday wishes and the support. Happy Holidays to you!
Love your show, long time listener and I haven’t heard but one Christmas Carol. I’ve always looked forward to this time of year and I was never disappointed. I am hoping the upcoming schedule will continue to celebrate the season with the beautiful music your listeners are accustomed to and appreciate.
Good morning Dave,
I’m a long time listener, and have always Loved your shows. My wife has not been that much interested in classical music until recently. One morning, I think last week, during your show, we heard the Brandenburg Concerto #3 in G. She loved it! Although I have a couple of synthesizer versions in my library, I do not have a good orchestral version. I could not find it listed in the published play list for that day, and was hoping you could provide info on the CD, so that I can obtain a copy for her.
Thanks
Hello Timothy, it looks like we most recently played #3 on Nov.1 which was performed by the Taverner Players conducted by Andrew Parrott. It was an EMI CD set and it looks like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brandenburg-Concerti-1-6-Bach/dp/B00000DNLM
Dave, what was the name of the piano concerto wih Helene Grimaud this morning around 9:00 to 9:45?
Hello Bill, that was Piano Concerto #2 In c Op18 by Rachmaninoff.
If possible could you please play the music from the final scene of “dialogues of the Carmelites “
Understanding it is based on an actual event leaves me numb at the end the piece.
Hello David, it looks like we don’t have that one in the music library unfortunately. But yes, the events that scene is based on are quite terrible.
Could you play liebestraum no 3
You may want to tune in Wednesday the 16th in the 6pm hour…
Dave any chance you will broadcast Mozart’s Don Giovanni opera? I was hoping to go but financially can’t afford.
You are in luck William! Indeed we are. That will be on October 19th starting around 7pm.
At around 7:35AM today you were playing something by Gabriel Faure. What is the title of this music? Thank you!
Hello Laura, that was Faure’s “Pelléas et Mélisande” Suite, Op. 80 performed by the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by James DePriest.
what is the cello interlude that is played at the conclusion of your afternoonshow?
Hello Donald, Dr. Dave’s closing music is J.S. Bach’s Solo Cello Suite No. 3 in C Major (BWV 1009) – Bourrees performed by Charles Curtis on the tableau from the album “An Imaginary Dance”. You can take a look at that cd here: http://www.amazon.com/Bach-Imaginary-Dance-Charles-Curtis/dp/B004TB6G3Q
First off, the morning show with Dave Wagner has been a part of my morning commute for at least the past year and I love his commentary and wit almost as much as the music. Thank you for such a wonderful show! This morning, some time between 7:30 and 8:30, he played some kind of Balkan folk music and he mentioned the album and artist but I can’t remember what it was. It was lively and beautiful and I would love to listen to more. Is there any way you can find out and tell me what it was? Thank you!
Thank you Ethan! The piece you mention sounds like “Ta Xyla/Cecen Kizi” performed by Hesperion XXI from their cd called “Balkan Spirit”. Here is the cd: http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=984124